Jan 13, 2014
but fall out boy though
seen from South Africa
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Brazil
seen from Philippines
seen from Russia
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from Argentina
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from India
but fall out boy though
Table Talk Review: X-Ploring the Farthest Stars
Ensign's Blog: Star Date 11-8-2013.
"Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Star Ship Enterprise. On a five year mission to explore strange new worlds and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!" -- The opening narration of the original Star Trek television series, from the late 1960s.
Science fiction is one of those genres that has typically been tricky in a role playing game. Thanks to Traveller (at least one version of which I will likely need to review at a later date), there has been an apparent requirement for these games to be incredibly complicated because of a strong focus on realism. Of course, it's easy to just say "Sci Fi gaming is so convoluted because it's not really science fiction unless it's realistic."
What about Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers? Well, yeah, those were kids' comics and probably closer to Space Fantasy than the hard stuff, but Space Fantasy and Space Opera are still a form of science fiction. And let's face it, the most influential science fiction series, Star Trek, hasn't exactly loaded its fans with the actual science behind its fantastic elements; merely kept them consistent enough to provide some veneer of plausibility. As a matter of fact, Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, well known authors of hard science fiction, have taken some pretty far-fetched (even for their contemporaries) scientific liberties in favor of a good story. And sadly, science fiction games have this tendency to come across as being exclusively for people who collect hard scientific doctorates as a hobby.
I finally found a game that actually can be played by the casual SF fan, the guy who looks out to the stars and dreams of a future like Star Trek. One that doesn't need degrees in umpteen different sciences.And that game is called X-Plorers.
The Product
X-Plorers is a 40 page old school science fiction role playing game. It is also a deliberate throwback to the science fiction of the 1970s, which was rather strongly influenced not only by the literature of the time, but by television shows such as Star Trek (which was actually from the late 1960s, but close enough). The chapters tend to run close together, even going so far as to have a chapter end and the next chapter start on the same page. The game was first released in 2009 and is a product of Gray Area Games. The front cover shows a classic rocketship lowering some kind of roving vehicle on surface of a barren, rocky planet. On the back cover, you have a red-shirt about to be eaten by a Grue. Well, okay, I don't know the Zork ore well enough to know what a Grue looks like, but it does look like the red-shirt is blissfully unaware of a scaly, possibly amphibious alien monster that's about to kill him. Both of these cover illustrations are in full color. The interior illustrations are in black and white and look fairly retro as well.
Page One
Yes, the game kinda starts on the very first page. In addition to the credits, you have two forwards.
The first one, written by Dave Bezio, the author of the game, explains that this is a "what if?" kind of game. Basically, what if the very first role playing game was not about fantasy (as in, not Dungeons & Dragons) but about space exploration instead? There's also a warning that much of the content in this book is going to seem outdated. Not just because of the rules, but because it sticks to the state of science fiction as per the 1970s. As such, no cyberpunk. None of the latest innovations in Hollywood special effects. This is science fiction as old school as the mechanics.
The second forward is written by John Adams of Brave Halfling Publishing, who has stated that there were tweaks to the original text to promote grater clarity, but otherwise nothing has been changed and the rules remain completely intact. Also, it was an honor to publish this game.
After that, there's a table of contents on page two and then the introduction.
Introduction
The introduction to the game starts out with a couple of paragraphs that boil down to "monster attacks, the doctor says it light just be a misunderstanding, half my team is dead and I already pulled the trigger." It's a nice touch of flavor, but it's really just that. Flavor. Next up is a description of the United Corporate Nations (UCN), a colection of worlds and colonies that fund space exploration, provide various goods and enlist the help of galactic troubleshooters known as X-Plorers to deal with problems on various worlds as well as exploring worlds beyond their tiny portion of the Galaxy. Needless to say, that's where your characters come in.
Next up, there is a brief description of what a role playing game is. Then a description of what is needed to play, an explanation of what dice you need (one twenty-sided die per player, and a least three six sided dice per player). Then you get a mention that this rulebook is intended to be a reference guide, but not something you absolutely need to have handy at all times, since the rules are actually fairly simple and easy to memorize for the most part. Finally, the most important rule in the game is that if your group doesn't like a rule, or finds something lacking, then by all means change it, "Just like in the good old days."
Chapter One: Character Creation
Character creation in X-Plorers is very simple. First of, you roll 3d6 (three six-sided dice) and ad them together four times, writing the totals in order for the following stats:
Agility (How quick you are)
Intelligence (how smart you are)
Physique (How strong you are)
Presence (How socially capable and strong-willed you are)
From there, you reference a fairly intuitive chart for modifiers, pick one of four classes, record some bonuses, roll 1d6 for your starting hit points and buy 300 to 1800 credits worth of equipment. Then you're ready to play.
For the record, those classes are:
Scientist (An expert at computers, medicine, science and sociology. Like a wizard or cleric without any magic.)
Soldier (Expert at demolitions, martial arts, survival and can favor one particular weapon of choice. He's basically a fighter.)
Scout (an expert at piloting, security, sleight of hand and stealth. Effectively a rogue.)
Technician (The engineer who is an expert at computers, mechanics, piloting and robotics.)
Also during this chapter, they tell you how you do things. Every character has a target number called a "Saving Throw." Basically, you roll the d20 (your twenty sided die), add modifiers from your stats and try to beat that target number whenever you try to do anything that the referee thinks warrants such a roll. The same principle is applied to most skills. There is also an option that exists for multiclassing, which basically means you can pick up another skill and you have to improve that one skill individually at an incredibly inflated cost. Why? Because this is an entirely new field for you to get into, rather than something more intuitive like your class skills. Furthermore, skill costs add directly to the cost of raising your character's level.
Chapter Two: Equipment
The next chapter is a guide to all the available equipment in the game. Nothing too special, it's just a bit sparse in an effort to keep things nice and simple. Adventuring gear that serves various purposes, armor that makes you harder to hit (old school. This was an abstraction), weapons that deal out more damage, a sampling of vehicles, some rules for space ships, robots and ways to modify them, all fairly sparse but all fairly complete in the rules for what they give you. Not bad.
Chapter Three: Playing the Game
So, now comes the part where the game rules are explained. Here, they give you more information on skill rolls and saving throws, before going into Experience points.
Experience is like this. Basically, if the player shows up, that's 100 experience points. More experience comes from defeating monsters and enemies and more still comes from meeting mission objectives. Quite simple. If, at the end of the session, the character gets enough experience to level up, they level up. The points do not go away, though. Rather, the character simply has to rack up more experience points before meeting another level.
Next up is time. Unless the referee thinks that time is crucial, it isn't. Then comes time. In a single combat round, unless the character is weighed down (Referee's call), the character can move 4 meters plus his Agility modifier. If the character is weighed down, then only 2 meters are possible. A day's trekking goes 15 kilometers on foot, unless weighed down to going through troublesome terrein, in which case it's only 8 kilometers.
Then comes combat.
Combat for individuals has initiative being rolled for a whole side first, individual order is determined by the side that has the chance to act. Characters take their actions on their turns and effects take place.
To make an attack, the attacker rolls a d20, adds modifiers for wither Agility (ranged) or Physique (close) and tries to beat a target number called Armor Class (based on Agility and Armor). If you meet or beat that target, you roll damage and that gets deducted from the defender's hit points. All fairly basic stuff, nice and simple.
There's also mention that a Presence based Saving Throw can help to avoid combat altogether if the group is outnumbered and the enemies not too hostile.
When a monster's Hit Points drop to zero, it's death. When a major character, such as one controlled by a player, hits 0 HP, the result is a critical hit. A character could die instantly, die within 1 to 6 rounds, merely go unconscious, not be affected otherwise, or even get an adrenaline surge and keep fighting (but fall unconscious after the fight) depending on a roll of 1d6. Of course, your chances of getting lucky are a bit slim and getting another critical hit means another 1d6 roll with an added penalty.
Healing requires the Medicine skill or rest. If resting, it's 1d6 HP per day or all your HP after a week. This, by the way, means no adventuring while you rest up.
Chapter Four: Space
What's a space exploration game without rules on going to space? Not really a space exploration game.
Okay. At first, you likely are not going to afford your own ship. Those things cost many millions of credits. A starfighter costs 15,000,000 credits. And that's the cheapest! Riding someone else's ship usually requires a payment for the trip, especialy if it's one that's particularly dangerous.
As far as travel times go, Jump drives can make it from point A to point B in mere moments. The nature of the jump is unexplained, as Faster Than Light travel is just a convenience. The course is pre-charted usually with little need to fuss around.
There are six ship classes, which detail the size of the ship. There's a chandy chart for telling you how many pilots and navigators you need, how skilled NPC crewmen are, and how much damage they can dish out or take in a space battle. You also have rules for hiring a starship crew and following that is space combat.
Space battles are more about relative distances and have four phases in action, one for the Navigator, the Engineer, the Pilot and the Gunner, to allow the whole party something to do rather than twiddling their thumbs while the pilot does it all. Past that, it's a bit more like standard combat, which is nice and simple.
Of course, ships have a different set of critical hits results.
Chapter Five: Referee's Guide
This chapter is pretty much all advice. When to call for a check, what makes up a mission, what your job entails, all very stock stuff. There's also advice for random encounters, where to get ideas, and advice that explicitly says that when you create galaxies and planets, don't worry too much about realism. The story comes first.
This is pretty refreshing advice. Especially since the people who write guides on how to write science fiction pretty much say that the science needs to come first, not the story. And the same thing applies to aliens too.
Chapter Six: Creating Creatures and NPCs
Exactly what the title says. First, it has you creating creatures by asking a series of questions which affect its stats, which are simplified from the information needed for a character. This is then followed by a list of abilities and then a list of standard creatures. To be more referee-friendly, there is also a list of stock NPCs as well, followed by many stock aliens.
Then you get a glossary of terms coming from X-Plorers and measurement conversions from customary (American) to metric and back.
Following that, there is a 1-page example of the game as it is played. This example is reserved in most games for the introduction, so placing it here seems just a bit confusing by this point.
Chapter X: The Grey
This chapter simply describes an option for the classic Roswell aliens, some history and statistics.
Chapter Y: Psionics and Other Wierdness
Here are optional rules for having Psionics.
If your Presence is 13 or more, you roll 1d20 and add your Presence modifier. If you roll an 18 or better, you get a psionic power. The options are as follows:
Awareness: The power to influence some of your own bodily processes, usually to heal, boost and action or to put yourself in a trance.
Clairvoyance: Classic Extra Sensory Perception.
Telekinesis: Manipulation of objects with the mind.
Telepathy: Mental communication, mostly, but Rivan Tam can also "kill you with my mind" with this thanks to an offensive power with this.
Visions: Glimpses of the future that cannot be controlled. The referee can basically use this as a plot device.
Symbiotic Entity: The character has an alien symbiote that serves as a secondary NPC attached to the character, but with its own mind and personality.
What's Left?
Following that, there is a character sheet, Space Combat strips and flay paper counters for the ship (it's recommended that you photocopy this page), some ship plans, copyright info and the Open Game License, due to the game being loosely based off the D20 system used in the third edition of D&D and the many retro remakes derived from it.
My Opinion
I love that X-Plorers is incredibly simple, and that it aims for an old school approach. I also recognize that this is not a game for everyone. After all, simple here can seem "simplistic" to a player who wants a more realistic game. Realism takes a back seat to fun. But if this review has piqued your interest, here are a couple of links.
Full version: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/93802/X-plorers-RPG?term=X-Plorers
Free no-Art version: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/93797/X-plorers-RPG-(FREE-No-Art-Version)?term=X-Plorers
Ensign's Blog Supplemental: Alien and Robot Class Design
Well, before I end this review, i would like to also point out a PDF Only supplement to X-Plorers for anyone who want to play somebody like Mister Spock from Star Trek or TWKE from the 1970s Buck Rogers series.
Alien and Robot Class design is a collection of random charts which enable the player to come up with all sorts of alien species and more than a few unique robots. The intended use is to roll these all up on charts, but a lenient Referee can easily allow players to choose from them. Though it seems pretty clear that these two supplements were originally planned to be separate, as there are two open game licenses.
This is a great supplement to allow for more characters in X-Plorers, and it only costs $1.50. If you're buying the main rules, go ahead and add this little gem in.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/118926/Alien-%26-Robot-Class-Design
In conclusion: X-Plorers is a real treat for fans of old school gaming and science fiction, without being so complex and mathematicall/scientifically intensive that casual science fiction fans feel alienated (no pun intended.)
So, here's hoping you find a game that's right for you and have fun!
End Blog.
And now a sci-fi RPG campaign full of bad ideas
IN A FAR CORNER OF THE PASTICHE-VERSE (B-GRADE AND EXPLOITATION MOVIES OF THE 60s, 70s, AND 80s...AND ANYTHING STARRING THE HOFF, PLUS COMIC BOOKS, AND OTHER JUNK THAT CAN BE SQUISHED INTO A NEW X-PLORERS SETTING) COMES A BATTLE FOR THE FRONTIER BEYOND INSANITY AND QUESTIONABLE TASTE...
(May need to click image icon to make images appear)
STARRING: NICODEMUS HASSELFURY, EXPELLED SPACE RANGER AND CAD...
COL. ZYGG ZAYNE, CRASHED TEST PILOT, TURNED STARBARIAN OF AXTERNIA,...
AGENT BIKINI BARBARELLI EXPERT IN EXTRASOLAR ESPIONAGE....
ST. VAL HELLYEAH, WARRIOR OF THE FIRST WARP...
AND SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY SONNY CHIBA, AS HIMSELF!
TOGETHER THEY FIGHT FOR FREEDOM AGAINST THE MERCILESS DRUKHAR EMPIRE, LED BY... KABUKI VADER!
...AND HIS ARMY OF DEMON GLANDROIDS WITH THEIR BURNING BILE BLASTERS!
...BLOODTHRISTY DRUKHAR DOOM SQUADS WITH THEIR INSCRUTO-RAYS!
...AND CRIMINALS OF THE COSMOS, SUCH AS.. THIS PAIR OF OMICRON CLASS ASSASSIN ROBOTS, THE BORON BROTHERS...
BEMA, SPACE YETI...
....AND LADY OF THE LASERSNIPER GUILD, ARCTURA LUX!
--NOT TO MENTION A CAST OF ANTISOCIAL ALIEN TYPES: SPACE RAIDING WARGONS!
KOMODU KHAN AND HIS ARMY OF HUNGRY REPTARNS!
A BATTALION OF XOMBOID NECRON-O-TRONS!
x 1,000,000,000+
...VALCONI BIRDMEN ABOARD THEIR "FLOCK" OF SPACE RAPTORS!
...AND THE MOST TERRIFYINGLY TENTACULAR OF ALL--MENACING MEDUZHANS!
THESE FAR-OUT, SPACEY ADVENTURES TAKE PLACE IN... A GLOBULAR CLUSTER, PARTIALLY POLLUTED WITH BREATHABLE ATMOSPHERES...
...INFESTED WITH NESTS OF GIANT SPACE HORNETS....
...AND TELEPORTING SPACE FORTRESSES!!!
CAN YOU DIG IT?
MORE TO COME!