Star Frontiersman magazines (free)

https://starfrontiersman.com/magazines.php

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on April 30, 2023, 02:52:26 PM
Copyright law needs to be reformed...
The evil Disney corporation has perverted the law and ruined it for everyone else.

Totally agree. Say I'm twenty years old and I publish something awesome. I can see having forty or fifty years from which to have exclusive rights. Maybe that's even too long before it goes into public domain. But it should go into public domain before everyone who knows the property is dead, because the ability to publish related works (or re-publish it) has little chance of catching the eye of younger generations. Those kids have no relationship with the property and so aren't interested. So everyone who's part of the "Public" and actually interested and engaged gets nothing.

Quote from: Baron on April 30, 2023, 03:39:57 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on April 30, 2023, 02:52:26 PM
Copyright law needs to be reformed...
The evil Disney corporation has perverted the law and ruined it for everyone else.

Totally agree. Say I'm twenty years old and I publish something awesome. I can see having forty or fifty years from which to have exclusive rights. Maybe that's even too long before it goes into public domain. But it should go into public domain before everyone who knows the property is dead, because the ability to publish related works (or re-publish it) has little chance of catching the eye of younger generations. Those kids have no relationship with the property and so aren't interested. So everyone who's part of the "Public" and actually interested and engaged gets nothing.

Eh. While I agree that copyright law in America is ridonkulous, I also think that people should be coming up with their own IP instead of piggybacking off of an existing one.

Have a tired, shitty sci fi idea that no one likes? Slap the Star Wars label on it! 

That's what I should do with Galaxies In Shadow!  STAR WARS! GALAXIES IN SHADOW!  It is a dark time for Disney striking from twitter the internet fanbase has rejected their social engineering scheme to indoctrinate another generation.  Escaping with their plans to convert to the 2d20 system, rebel agents flee from the empire's sinister agents.

1. Why not use a modified D&D system, why did TSR go for a percentile based? And did that work better for Sci fi?
2. Assuming the percentile worked better, why did TSR create a new system when Lorraine shoved Buck Rogers down everyones throat, why not use Star Frontiers system and make Buck Rogers a setting box (as TSR was big on setting boxes at the time).

Quote from: GhostNinja on April 29, 2023, 11:41:30 AM
So my questions are:

1) Is it worth picking up?
2) Should I get it on Ebay or Drivethroughrpg?

Thanks

1) No
2) See previous answer

Quote from: Ruprecht on April 30, 2023, 09:39:29 PM
1. Why not use a modified D&D system, why did TSR go for a percentile based? And did that work better for Sci fi?
2. Assuming the percentile worked better, why did TSR create a new system when Lorraine shoved Buck Rogers down everyones throat, why not use Star Frontiers system and make Buck Rogers a setting box (as TSR was big on setting boxes at the time).

TSR made a habit of using a new system for almost every game. 3e Gamma World piggy-backed on their Marvel rules, but Gamma World, Gangbusters, Boot Hill, Conan, Indiana Jones, Buck Rogers, Star Frontiers, all had different game systems. Very different from Chaosium and their Basic Roleplaying in every game.

IMO if you've got a good system, suitable for multiple genres and vibes, then it makes sense to share it among your game lines. As Chaosium did. OTOH if you try something new with each game launch, well maybe you'll strike gold on one and it will end up head and shoulders above the rest.

Oh right, TSR already had that with D&D. <shrug>

Quote from: Aglondir on April 30, 2023, 02:45:36 PM

Quote from: GhostNinja on April 30, 2023, 11:41:18 AM

Quote from: Tod13 on April 29, 2023, 09:04:27 PM
You might consider DwD Studio's FrontierSpace -- an homage to Star Frontiers.

It's a decent if crunchy (to us) system. And the writer is going to be publishing spaceship creation rules soon. Ignore the "d00lite" designation.

Player's Handbook
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222633/FrontierSpace-Players-Handbook

Referee's Guide
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/225299/FrontierSpace-Referees-Handbook

Thank you for the links.

How is the system?  Is it easy to learn?

Does it have the feeling of Star Frontiers?

Any other information you can give me?  I am interested and may consider this as a cheaper way to go since there are a lot of people speaking against Star Frontiers and it would be a cheaper way to go.

Thanks.

You missed the SF revival heyday. Bill Logan (DWD studios) took SF, added better art, and gave away the pdf for free. Then he started Star Frontiersman, 20 or so monthly pdfs. I think you can still get those for free on drive thru, and they have tons of ideas. He had to yank the original rules though, when WOTC decided to sell the original (pdf).

Bill went on to create FrontierSpace, which was his version of SF. He cleaned up the rules and created his own aliens. I never bought it so I can't say much more. DWD created a few other d100 games, like Bare Bones Fantasy and Covert Ops. I've heard good things about all of them, but if i wanted to do percentile based fantasy I'd use Mythras. Regardless the DWD website is worth a visit, check it out.

FrontierSpace uses the same d100 mechanic as BareBone Fantasy and Covert Ops. But the feel and crunch is very different. We did playtesting with it. Typical d100/d00 mechanics - if I recall correctly roll-under a percent figured from a combination of skills and abilities. (Combinations are pre-calculated on your character sheet.) Lots of tracking of supplies and consumables. It was pretty fun but more crunch than we prefer.

As I recall, character creation was flexible and fun. Characters came out with useful skills - you weren't flailing about unable to do something because nobody chose Cleric.

The main thing is the attitude within the game is just fun. And we love the moral guidelines and character quirks. It gives people that need or enjoy it hooks for role-playing.

Oh, and all DwD Studio stuff that can be is some form of Creative Commons. I think he has (or is) redoing the one or two OGL things he had as CC.

Quote from: Aglondir on April 30, 2023, 02:15:16 PM
That's a great idea. The draw to SF is the four alien races. It uses a not so great percentile system, where atts don't affect skills.

That's what I am most likely going to do.  Turns out I have the main rules in .pdf (got it when it was still available for free) and I will use that to make the convert.

Quote from: Aglondir on April 30, 2023, 02:45:36 PM
You missed the SF revival heyday. Bill Logan (DWD studios) took SF, added better art, and gave away the pdf for free. Then he started Star Frontiersman, 20 or so monthly pdfs. I think you can still get those for free on drive thru, and they have tons of ideas. He had to yank the original rules though, when WOTC decided to sell the original (pdf).

Bill went on to create FrontierSpace, which was his version of SF. He cleaned up the rules and created his own aliens. I never bought it so I can't say much more. DWD created a few other d100 games, like Bare Bones Fantasy and Covert Ops. I've heard good things about all of them, but if i wanted to do percentile based fantasy I'd use Mythras. Regardless the DWD website is worth a visit, check it out.

Cool, I will be sure to check out his website and other games.  Are they still active or just selling what they have already created?

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on April 30, 2023, 02:52:26 PM
If publishers aren't keeping their products perpetually in print, then they should lose their rights to it after long enough out of print. Copyright law was invented to protect authors who wanted to profit from their work for a time before giving it to the public. The law was never intended to lock down content until all records had been lost. The evil Disney corporation has perverted the law and ruined it for everyone else.

I do think that if they are not planning to do anything with the product they should sell it to another company who wants to do something with it and make themselves some money.

Quote from: Aglondir on April 30, 2023, 03:31:31 PM
Star Frontiersman magazines (free)

https://starfrontiersman.com/magazines.php

Thank you!  Bookmarked

[quote author=GhostNinja link=topic=46224.msg1252561#msg1252561 date=1682945839
I do think that if they are not planning to do anything with the product they should sell it to another company who wants to do something with it and make themselves some money.
[/quote]

No, that's the opposite of what WotC did.  Someone wanted to do something with it and make some money so they took the toys and slammed the door in eveyone's face.

Quote from: jeff37923 on April 30, 2023, 11:07:59 PM
1) No
2) See previous answer

Ok thanks for your answers.