Looking Forward to Ghengiscon

It is not completely solid, but all indications are I will be attending Ghengiscon this February in Denver. Over Valentine’s Day no less. Most likely the only convention I go to all year (lets hope not). The price to be paid for this running on Valentine's Day I imagine a few grumps and grumbles in the cabin.

The two games I offered have been accepted so I will be running FGU’s Space Opera on Friday and Saturday run my current OSR release, an adventure module for PCs 2-4.

Space Opera needs prep while AA03 not really. For the OSR adventure I hope participants bring their own characters. Put some real money in the game. No one is going to do that though. Players are cautious, paranoid lot. I have been twisting up layout machine to make an original, comprehensible character sheet for SO and is working out well. Unless you are willing to draw one up,like James V. West, I find software creation to be clunky and hard to fine tune. Fortunately sci-fi character sheets lend themselves to structured layouts, clean text and picture frames. 

Character sheets and monster stats! The adventure takes place in a hostile jungle so a variety of critters to encounter should be drawn up into its own monster section. Like an appendix or “New Monster” section you can find in traditional modules. Having a few pages with all the monsters to be encountered in the adventure, with stats, is a must for me when writing dungeons. Detailing and tricking out the flying ATV which will be used in the adventure. In a one-shot adventure players don’t have much to hang their hat on, so useful items and gear begin to define their capabilities. Having depth to the information about the rig will help the players come up with ways to use it and escape danger!

Traversing the canopy below by flying is hazardous, there are large raptors which are attracted to anything they can see in the sky. Having your Air Raft break down deep in the jungle is when you need to call for a lift, and fast. Once I have something worth playing at when the PCs arrive at the “Forbidden City” the rest of the content will be much easier to write.

I’m not sure what kind of presence RPG’s have at Ghengiscon, but I know Savage Worlds is played more than any other thing, followed next by 5e? I think.

There are some luminaries of the OSR-o-Sphere living on the front range so there is always the chance I see someone I’m a fan of. Toughest thing about the con is the drive over the continental divide. It is always a crap shoot. There is no guarantee you  will get where you are going once your on I-70 in the high country.

FGU's Space Opera Combat Tables

All my current Space Opera charts in PDF are found on the Summonings page of this blog.

Your typical one-on-one close, personal combat rules in Space Opera are called (section) 8.0 Ground Combat. This is to cover the fact you are supposed to be able to run small party combat actions as well as large mass battles involving thousands of troops. The rules make no bones about the fact they are a continuing treatment of their rules for miniature mass combat Space Marines. It is also a continuing treatment of the shit editing job which went into the rule book. It starts hard and fast; the first action in the turn sequence is to toss for “move or countermove.” WTF happened to “Initiative”, one of the basic characteristics which “all” in-game action is usually resolved? Maybe we will find out, but yeah, your Initiative score doesn't apply here. Or you could drop this step. Space Opera is cool with you jettisoning whole mechanics. Do it, you won't break it. The game sometimes even offers two different methods to resolve the same action. Yes, instead of move/countermove each side writes down their moves and the moves are revealed and played out simultaneously. This is code for Game Masters everywhere that “yeah you will have to wing it”. Just plow through this crap. You know what the rules really mean. Turn sequence 1. Play a hex-map-based-wargame first. This will take at least one other interested player and like forty hours of your time.

So if you are like me this means you turn to the players and say “Your side lost, bad. What do you want to do?”

And if the players know the rules they will say “covering fire.” But that is sequence #5. Ignore them. Your players are just trying to make you forget sequence #2. Indirect Fire. This is a whole world of random hurt the StarMaster can literally rain down upon the players. Tough talk breaking down at the local spacer bar? PC's smoothly going for their hardware to blast their way out of trouble? Sorry, StarMaster needs to resolve sequence #2. Full salvo of APROBDIF Projectors coming in from the unisex! Oh yeah, the effects are not resolved until sequence #7. Does that mean between sequence #3. and sequence #6 the PC's could move away? On space ships? On power cycles? Humping ass burning Wind? Yes it does. The whole sequence will work to give you hair-breath escapes, but should only be used when you and the players need to drill down to that level of detail cause that is where the game has taken the action. Space Opera is not going to work for newbies. Folks using this game are going to have to be confident gamers and know when to role-play and when to get out the rulebook.

Seriously, it takes a judgmental asshole like myself to run Space Opera. You need to be able to look your players in the eye and say “roll initiative” and get them not to scramble to the rulebook looking for a way out. Because the rules are so poorly edited they will find it.

What I remember from running Space Opera in the early 80's was constantly jettisoning combat rules to get to a “roll to hit” situation. And this is one table and a percentile number. That is it. Again, dead simple. For Direct Fire/Ranged Attacks you roll 1D100 on the Range to Target Table. Shooting someone at Short Range 80% chance or less to hit. Long 15% chance, etc. Now there are six separate tables of DMs to the Direct Fire Roll, I get that. But use my PDF sheets attached and you will have the information you want at your fingertips at the table. Hand-to-Hand, Close Combat is a base 35% to hit for any attack, subject to a very small set of DMs. No, in Close Combat Initiative; deciding who strikes first, has all the multiple DM tables! Space Opera makes a big production out of producing your Hand-to-Hand Capability. But once you have this number, and you need compute it for thirteen different weapon categories, you only use it for establishing strike order for each combat turn! I can see where many folks turn their head, hand out in the universal symbol of “No thank you” and pass on trying to run the game. In this instance it asks you to crunch simple, but time consuming formula for a number which again gets multiple DMs to consider every time you use it. But it does give a sharp distinction between Direct Fire Combat. You don't use the same resolution method for either one of these combats and in real life these are two very different methods of combat. I will have to go with this as a feature of Space Opera and not a bug. Embrace it. And you are going to have to embrace the Penetration Tables. (p. 43-51) Which means rolling on the Hit Location chart. But who doesn't love Hit Location charts?!? Put the tables on a sheet durable enough to last at the actual game table and everyone should get dialed into their Penetration numbers quickly.

Both these methods of combat funnel back into the same method of resolving damage once a penetrating hit has been won. In fact, all weapons do the same damage! Regardless of weapon/attack used damage in Ground Combat is resolved the same way, roll for severity and apply the corresponding amount of damage to the character. There are additional degrees of complexity you can add in from the rules or just as well leave out. You have two described methods of achieving an initiative/turn order for Pete's sake! You can take the Combat Turn Sequence in its entirety or you can trim it down to only the steps you wish to execute in a given combat. In each sequence, each step in the combat “turn” can have additional DMs to add in. The key to using however many combat mechanics you want is having these DM tables not in the book but out on the table to use. And with this reread so far I see nothing which would stop you from scaling the combat mechanics when considering large engagements of troops. The resolution mechanics can be both applied to an individual character as well as an individual combat “unit”. Need to know the rate of fire of your gun in Close Combat? They have rules for that. Don't need that level of detail. No worries. Toss the rule entirely and combat still works.

The attached PDF file is to make generating these numerous DM tables for use in one place easier. I believe once these tables are removed from the book and made more accessible as a two-sided, laminated sheet the game would become remarkably easy to run.

FGU's Space Opera Resolution Mechanics Examined

Space Opera has the reputation of being poorly organized (agreed) and unplayable (not agreed). I recently purchased the perfect-bound copy of the game so I could revisit Space Opera and see if there is a fun, playable game here. I think there is. Nothing groundbreaking, but the game has a voluminous equipment section and the game is a complete science fiction gaming system with a great deal of options available for detailed levels of play per where the StarMaster and PC's want it. Unlike Traveller the game doesn't break with the exclusion or inclusion of many of its rules systems.

Space Opera Resolution Charts PDF FILE 

I will be paraphrasing from the RAW, but I've included relevant page numbers from Volume 1 so you can look this information up if you like.

The expectation is PC resolution revolves around Characteristic Rolls (CRs). Usually a roll-under statistic, but not always. These CRs are to be made only in 'hairy' moments where there is a chance of being injured, killed, losing gear or fixing something where failure has grave consequences. (p.3)

Shock Resistance CR is our first example of this mechanic in action. (p.18) Your SR target number is derived from your Constitution. Roll your SR or lower on a 1D20 to avoid the effects of shock. The book goes on to describe each individual Characteristic's CR mechanic. Each Characteristic CR method is described and they are not identical. Intelligence and Intuition CR rolls are base on achieving a 11 or less on a 1D20 with the target number modified by DM's per the character's Characteristic score. (p.23) The Bravery CR is rolled with 2D6 (p.24) while checking a Surprise CR is rolling your Agility or less on a 1D20. (p.24) PC Initiative is a 1D20 roll plus the character's Dexterity with an additional list of modifiers to consider. (p.26)

Resolving actions by applying a character's Skills follows a similar path; a distinct method of resolution per skill. It is difficult to see a relationship between a character's Skills and Characteristics because of these numerous subsystems as well as the whole employment and reenlistment procedure for the character's background is placed between these two topics in the book. (p.26-42) Reenlistment is completely optional and is resolved with a 3D6, rolling the target number or greater for success.

But the numerous subsystems are not complex. The implementation of roll your stat plus/minus with modification is not foreign to any roleplayer. So it follows a better organization of the game's resolution mechanics would make this easier to play. As a modular system designed to be used in whole or part for your own vision of a space opera game universe it is worth using. I like the game for its fairly simple mechanics with a great character creation system, world generation tables and exhaustive gear list. I cannot speak to its starship combat rules as I have never run them. These rules will get their own look at some point and I may be able to generate a blog post on what I think of this important part of the game.

Careful look at Skills reveals Space Opera takes philosophically different approaches to resolution with whole branches of skill-orientated tasks. Applying your Combat Skills in play is done differently than applying your Scientific Research Skills which is different yet again from how Technical Skills are resolved! Once sorted though these different methods define the fun which can be had with Space Opera. Unified mechanics across the board in a game can get dull. If everything is resolved the same way, nothing you do in the game is truly unique. While the game offers players a chance at custom builds the simple Class system makes playing an Armsman different than playing a Technician or an Astronaut. Want to experience something new in the game for your PC, have your Armsman try and fix a radio. Learn how the other side lives! So I think the diverse subsystems, for this game, work.

Scientific Skills are also used to do Scientific Research. For routine information gathering there is a flat 71%, plus Intelligence and Skill Level, chance or less to make the correct observation. (p.47) To successfully complete Scientific Research requires having the right number of sciences to overcome the research subject's complexity. The chance of success is found by adding all of the success Dms and then subtracting the problem complexity Dms. (p. 48) There is also a table which will give the amount of time required to be spent before a success throw can be made.

The Medical Scientist and Physician have additional subsystems for the application of advanced medicine and healing abilities. Routine forms of medical research have a 75% plus 3% per skill level chance of success. (p. 46) Making the correct diagnoses of known diseases is 40% plus 5% per skill level without computer access. The chance is greater/modified if advanced consultation is available making diagnoses by a Medical Scientist almost certain. (p. 46) Physicians can increase healing rates (p. 47) as well as manufacture drugs (30% chance of success plus 3% per skill level plus 3% per Mk of the Medi-Computer. (p. 47) Engineers follow the same procedures Scientific Research while the Technician has its own unique subsystems.

Tech Skills and training (p. 57) are for the operation and repair of equipment. The rule book here offers a fine example of the numerous misleading typos which need to be faced while reading Space Opera. “The procedure to be followed for repairing breakdowns are described in the 5.0 Equipment Maintainance section, ...” No, there is no such thing. Single-system and Multi-system Breakdowns are resolved per section 4.22 and 4.23. Equipment Maintainance & Repair is described in section 4.21.

Fixing a single-system and multi-system breakdowns are resolved by rolling the target number or less on a 1D20. (page 76-77) Tech level skill can both increase chance of success as well as decreasing time needed for repairs. There is an alternate subsystem for the MediTech as well as fixing battle damage.

The MediTech can diagnose known diseases 20% plus 5% per skill level. (p. 58) A correct diagnoses will allow a MediTech to use medical equipment to treat with a chance of success.

Battle damage is repaired at a rate determined by the Tech's skill level. (p. 78)

That is all you are going to get on how to adjudicate success and failure outside of combat. Combat, both close and ranged, will be covered in another blog post. For now I am going to try and put this list of game mechanics in an easy-to-read PDF format for use at the table. The tools a StarMaster needs to referee are admittedly poorly organized for use in the original rulebook, but being able to see them laid out in front of you can eliminate much of the confusion and allow resolution and saving throws to be decided and rolled quickly. Just like you would want in any roleplaying game.

Space Opera Character Step-by-Step

“To this point, each character has acquired a number of personal traits and capabilities which define the scope of his actions and his reactions only in general terms. All PCs are, as yet, untrained and inexperienced. They lack a background which establishes their expertise in specific areas, and which assists the player to formulate a definite personality for his alter ego which will bring the PC ‘alive’ in the game.” Space Opera Volume 1, Page 30

The game isn't unplayable but it sure is poorly organized. Character creation is fairly simple with some short sidetracks into calculating promotional and material benefits, both which can be jettisoned in favor of a Star Master's own setting information.

I made this step by step guide to help myself quickly navigate the Space Opera rule book when creating a new PC.

1. Choose Character Class. Players are free to choose the class of character they wish to play. Page 9.

2. Random Roll for Personal Characteristics. Fourteen in total, improve with Class specific DM's. Page 11.

3. Random Roll for Planet of Birth. Roll 1d20 for Gravity Field, Atmosphere and Climate. Page 12.

4. Choose Character Race. Note Planetary Types preferred/required. Page 15.

5. Determine Height, Mass(Weight), Stamina (optional), and Damage Factors per rule book tables. Page 19.

6. Choose a “qualified” career and roll Initial Enlistment term. If this initial roll would not qualify as a successful re-enlistment roll too, subtract the minimum enlistment score needed from the base 3d6 roll (unmodified by PC DMs). This negative value represents a penalty DM applied in -2 DM blocks against the chances at promotion in initial tours of service. Page 30.

7. Roll for chance of promotion for every two years term of service. Page 31.

8. Calculate Benefits. Severance as well if PC is not re-enlisting. Page 40.

9. Calculate Skill Points (SP) and purchase Expertise Levels in desired Skills. Page 42.

Armsman: PCs receive 1 SP x sum of Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence, Leadership, and Bravery scores.

Tech: PCs receive 1 SP x sum of Dexterity, Intelligence, Intuition, Leadership, GTA, MechA, and EIecA scores.

Research Scientist: PCs receive 1 SP x sum of Dexterity, 3x Intelligence, 2x Intuition, and any one of GTA, MechA, or ElecA scores.

Medical Scientist: As for Research Scientist, Only with a strong emphasis on medical and biological science fields.

MediTech: A MediTech can be given SP as described for a Tech or he can be awarded I SP x sum of Dexterity, 2x Intelligence, Intuition, GTA, MechA, and EIecA, whichever is more advantageous to him.

Scientist-Engineer: As for Research Scientist, only specialization may be split between general science, engineering science, and technical skills.

Astronaut: PCs receive I SP x sum of Dexterity, Agility, 2x Intelligence, Leadership, Bravery, and GTA.

PC rolls 6d6 for skill points which can be applied to the purchase of General Skills only.

And that is fucking it! I mean, you still need to go to Volume 2 and drool over the equipment lists. Spend whatever cash you have on hand and stock your sci-fi guy. This means you can hand over Volume 1 to the next person on the couch who needs to roll up a character!

Vault of the Ni'er Queyon Review

Okay, there is a review of this FGU module here.

Quite surprised, as I am only pulling out a review of this dated module because it has sat on my shelf since it was printed in 1982, and once again I am vainly trying to find some useful material from its thin pages. No, that's not true. I'm dragging this old school product out so I can vent. I want to vent a bit on some of the garbage which was put on the store shelves when I was scraping milk money together so as to buy material which would give my friends a good game.

Here is my main beef; the module encourages the Star Master to waste the PC's time as much as possible. That they should be taken along a dangerous, fruitless trek across the galaxy pursuing a red herring. Then once the mistake is discovered, turn around and begin another long and dangerous trek across the galaxy and hope they are right this time.

I feel this kind of direction just frustrated my young, budding gamemastering experience. That this type of tutelage was leading me down a similar path of red herrings and fruitless encounters. Tricking my players and giving them nothing for their efforts. Granted I never got to run this module as the Space Opera rules were so difficult for me that we barely made it through character creation and a spacer brawl before it was back to D&D. I had better luck with Champions with my group cause I was a serious student of the medium and who doesn't like throwing Buicks and garbage trucks at each other.

I don't want to completely trash Stefan Jones' efforts. I think I get what he was after, a quest into an intriguing mystery which takes PC's deeper into the history of the game universe with the promise of a lucrative payoff in the end. But there is no evident compelling reason why the PC's should continue burning tremendous resources in the search.

The encounter of the old man pursued by thugs in an alley I can do. While not ripping original, it seems like the good stuff adventure seeds are manufactured from; that being the characters are free to chose how they want to approach the situation presented. Are they noble and wish to follow an honorable path, to seek deeper truths, to defend the value of knowledge? Or are they interested in being black hearted scoundrels worse than the current adversaries involved, only out for financial gain? But the clues which are to be gained from the book I found incomprehensible. I get that this first book is to lead to a second book which is to eventually lead to the secret vault, but the clues don't make any sense. Go ahead, read em out loud to an audience and tell me they get what you are talking about.

So than screw the narrative. You have a couple of ships stat'ed, two planets described and a some intriguing adventure locations. You should be able to do something with that. When  I purchased this module I did have a copy of the Space Opera rule book (which kicked my ass) and I still had a hard time deciphering how the illustrators keyed the deck plans of the ship. Is a deck plan key just too much to ask? Exploration of the first location, some ruins, will basically leave the PC's coming up empty. Trying to get to the ruins is the more interesting part of the adventure considering the details provided. But the ruins themselves are quite lackluster. Clues to continue come from garbage left behind by a previous adventure party. You could make a more interesting story line by making your PC's garbage collectors in a galactic city coming across a winning lottery ticket and trying to figure out how to cash it without looking like thieves.

The end point of the adventure is the treasure vault itself and it is not much. Bill Willingham's illustrations on these pages are actually the strongest feature of the entire module. The module should have been just about the vault. A detailed, mysterious, imaginative treasure vault filled with art collected by an unknown forerunner race is a cool idea. It begs the question, what would this species consider art? How would future species be able to recognize it for what it is? What importance would artistic taste and creativity from 150,000 years ago have to the current game world, what impact would it have? These are the nuggets that this module promised, but just never even came close to delivering on.

Why did I buy it? Cause I hoped a produced module for the game rules I just bought would help me decipher how best to deliver a great sci-fi rpg campaign. I trusted that Jeff Dee and Bill Willingham as artists on the project meant it was good stuff.

The name of the module is really the best part.