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Far Beyond Humanity review

Quote from: middenface;1086861The writer of Hostile - Paul Elliott is also working on The ALIEN RPG

That's a plus.

Well, I'm tentatively sold. Definitely checking it out when it comes out.

Quote from: middenface;1086861The writer of Hostile - Paul Elliott is also working on The ALIEN RPG

Hi, Ian!

Quote from: jeff37923;1084877Point taken, but this way the Ellen Ripley story arc is done and GMs don't have to contend with players trying to trash the story arc (a point in the game's favor*).

*One of the biggest headaches I have in running Star Wars or Star Trek is that at some point the players want to use their OOC knowledge to gain an incredible advantage and simultaneously wreck the established storyline of the franchise. I can easily see this happening with the Alien franchise too.

Catching up on this thread. Using an existing IP that is centered around specific characters has always concerned me. I'm considering running a Lankhmar campaign, but killing off Fafhred and the Grey Mouser right off the bat. Basically have the black wizard kill the heroic duo instead of their girlfriends from the early story, and have the PCs pick up from there. If I was going to do Star Wars I'd have Luke, Han, Chewie and R2-D2 die in the explosion of the Death Star and have the PCs join the rebellion from that point. Has anyone else reading this thread done something similar in their campaigns?

Quote from: wmarshal;1087167Catching up on this thread. Using an existing IP that is centered around specific characters has always concerned me. I'm considering running a Lankhmar campaign, but killing off Fafhred and the Grey Mouser right off the bat. Basically have the black wizard kill the heroic duo instead of their girlfriends from the early story, and have the PCs pick up from there. If I was going to do Star Wars I'd have Luke, Han, Chewie and R2-D2 die in the explosion of the Death Star and have the PCs join the rebellion from that point. Has anyone else reading this thread done something similar in their campaigns?

Did something similar with a Star Wars D20 RCR game we played a few years ago.  Several of us weren't interested in playing a game where the heroes of the universe were all running around.  Game opened shortly after the Battle of Endor, with a Rebel Alliance peace summit being held on the forest moon, and someone released a bioweapon, which killed off Han, Leia, Luke and Chewie (amongst many others - but Lando survived, apparently), and rendered the Ewok's critically endangered, if not extinct.

Made for a decent starting ground.  We were all relatively familiar with canon up to that point, but didn't have the big names running around.  Plus, fuck Ewoks.

Quote from: kythri;1087168Did something similar with a Star Wars D20 RCR game we played a few years ago.  Several of us weren't interested in playing a game where the heroes of the universe were all running around.  Game opened shortly after the Battle of Endor, with a Rebel Alliance peace summit being held on the forest moon, and someone released a bioweapon, which killed off Han, Leia, Luke and Chewie (amongst many others - but Lando survived, apparently), and rendered the Ewok's critically endangered, if not extinct.

Made for a decent starting ground.  We were all relatively familiar with canon up to that point, but didn't have the big names running around.  Plus, fuck Ewoks.

Was your group able to sustain the campaign for a decent amount of time?

My hope is that an interesting setting can be the basis of a successful campaign. I don't know if that's possible with every IP, but I'm hoping so with Lankhmar. I believe a Star Wars campaign can be run without the heroes around, as well as Star Trek.

Quote from: wmarshal;1087167Catching up on this thread. Using an existing IP that is centered around specific characters has always concerned me. I'm considering running a Lankhmar campaign, but killing off Fafhred and the Grey Mouser right off the bat. Basically have the black wizard kill the heroic duo instead of their girlfriends from the early story, and have the PCs pick up from there. If I was going to do Star Wars I'd have Luke, Han, Chewie and R2-D2 die in the explosion of the Death Star and have the PCs join the rebellion from that point. Has anyone else reading this thread done something similar in their campaigns?

I have done something similar a few times. I agree that with an existing IP, it's best that you establish from the start that the RPG is an alternate reality where there is no guarantee that events will follow as predicted.

The closest one to what you suggested was a campaign I did set in Middle Earth, called "All Shall Love Me". The premise of that was that Frodo successfully convinced Galadriel to take the One Ring, and now Galadriel is trying to destroy it by an alternate plan, since just two people trying to sneak into Mordor seemed incredibly risky. The PCs were part of that new plan.

http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/lordoftherings/allshalllove/intro.html

The original Fellowship weren't killed off per se, but they were disbanded, and pursued other avenues - while others took up the quest to destroy the One Ring.

Quote from: wmarshal;1087169Was your group able to sustain the campaign for a decent amount of time?

Fairly long - the campaign didn't peter out due to lack of interest, more real life getting in the way.  People's job schedules changing, or life circumstances, that kind of thing.  We've actually been talking recently about reviving that campaign, so, fingers crossed!

Quote from: wmarshal;1087169My hope is that an interesting setting can be the basis of a successful campaign. I don't know if that's possible with every IP, but I'm hoping so with Lankhmar. I believe a Star Wars campaign can be run without the heroes around, as well as Star Trek.

I've been taking notes for the better part of the past 6 months to initiate a Star Trek campaign set in the TOS era, using D20 Modern and Prime Directive D20 Modern as the basis.  I grew up with TNG and DS9, but from a roleplay and tech perspective, TOS speaks to me moreso than the newer (next? ) generation of the setting.  I blame the Franz Joseph Technical Manual.  

TOS seems more "frontierish" than newer takes on the series, so it seems like something a group of privateers would be better set in.

Quote from: wmarshal;1087167I'm considering running a Lankhmar campaign, but killing off Fafhred and the Grey Mouser right off the bat. Basically have the black wizard kill the heroic duo instead of their girlfriends from the early story, and have the PCs pick up from there.

That's a great point of divergence! :cool:

But when I ran Lankhmar I just ignored Fafhrd & Mouser, they really are not important to the setting. My game was set after the last of the original books, F&GM were off on Rime Isle getting fat and happy with their Rimish consorts.

When I ran Star Wars I kept it in the official WEG time frame and time line, Han Luke & Chewie were off elsewhere while the PCs were stars of their own story a la Rogue One, which feels a lot like my Star Wars campaign including the lethality.

Quote from: jeff37923;1087107Hi, Ian!

Hello Jeff!

Quote from: S'mon;1087230That's a great point of divergence! :cool:

But when I ran Lankhmar I just ignored Fafhrd & Mouser, they really are not important to the setting. My game was set after the last of the original books, F&GM were off on Rime Isle getting fat and happy with their Rimish consorts.

When I ran Star Wars I kept it in the official WEG time frame and time line, Han Luke & Chewie were off elsewhere while the PCs were stars of their own story a la Rogue One, which feels a lot like my Star Wars campaign including the lethality.

I guess it depends on why I love a setting.  If the DM takes out all of the touch stones that I love about Star Wars/Lankmar/Forgotten Realms then I may as well play in their home brew setting.

As Alien/Aliens fan I and a buddy are cautiously looking forward to this game, but damn it's quite pricey for an rpg. $99.99 for a standard edition bundle is the most expensive Swedish-based game I have ever seen. Apparently it's a $50 discount on the total discount for the standard edition rule book, two sets of dice, three decks of cards (that one could probably play without as usual) and some map and markers.

Maybe I'm just a cheap old bastard. Is this a common price tag for game bundles in the US for example?

Quote from: GIMME SOME SUGAR;1091603Maybe I'm just a cheap old bastard. Is this a common price tag for game bundles in the US for example?

Boutique editions, with all kinds of fancy-schmancy props/extras is becoming more common, certainly.