Saturday Star Control: Mail Call!

Okay, so technically it's Sunday, but it's been a busy week with the holiday and all--so just a quick post for this week's Saturday Star Control. I was able to snag the box and manual to Star Control I and II a few weeks back on eBay. Turns out that there's a trove of info in the guides that I'd totally forgotten about the game, not to mention a lot of cool art!

Probably the coolest find though is this giant star map, complete with coordinates and spheres-of-influence under the different empires!

Hoping to find a way to scan that bad boy at some point. Anyway, light on actual post material, but a helpful resource for future ones--fleshing out different races for X-plorers. ;)

X-PLORERS PLAY REPORT!!

You have no idea how long I've waited to write those words! With Con of the North just a few weeks away, I desperately needed to get a game together to flex my woefully under-practiced GMing skills. So I conned my wife and two friends to be guinea pigs for my Rad Astra campaign setting for X-plorers box set.

But only one of them has ever played an RPG before, so I stripped down the adventure and threw in some newbie-friendly pretext to get the adventure rolling. Once they rolled up characters (a scout, a soldier, and a scientist) I told them they wake up from cryo-sleep aboard a shuttlecraft.

"BEAUTY SCHOOL DROPOUTS"
A message appears on screen telling them they've been expelled from the space academy (for reasons they can't seem to remember) and are sent back to a central space station with the rest of their tuition (about 150 cr for each of them). Oh and a "Good luck suckers!" farewell from the chancellor.

The scout gets an interstellar text from a school pal letting her know to check in with "Karlo", a pawn shop owner on the space station. He can hook them up with some freelance work.

Alien medallion of unusual origin

Karlo a fat, cigar-chomping T-rex-like alien who uses his tiny claws to control prosthetic arms with joysticks. Think of him as J. Jonah Jameson crossed with Jabba the Hutt, and you'll get the idea. He's a blowhard and a scoundrel, so the scout has her hands full negotiating for their first job. "So you're a couple a 'beauty school' dropouts from the academy, eh?" They were lucky to get laser pistols!

After giving them grief, Karlo loans them some basic gear, weapons, a rickety class 2 scout ship, and a banged up robot to act as their sensor pack to find an alien artifact.

Karlo's muscle, a space yeti by the name of Bema (who provided some comic relief), gets them set up and off they go to some hole-in-the-ground planet. I took the role of the droid, RIGB-E (Roving Intelligence Gathering Bot, E-CLASS) so I could give them hints via his sensors, readings, and memory, etc.

That worked out quite well, I must say--they really like interacting with him. I dropped a few hints that RIGB-E's previous owner was after the same artifact and never returned (to be continued?) and Karlo wiped his memory regarding that incident. So they found themselves both having to trust the robot, but suspicious that he may be Karlo's snitch.

As far as getting to the planet--they NEVER got there. Instead, they have to drop out of hyperspace to avoid hitting an object that wandered into their trajectory.

HEXA-NEST OF DOOM!
The object is a 15 mile in diameter space hornet nest. After fighting the tractor beam that's sucking them in (and a few school bus-sized hornet bugs) they are captured. Then the real roleplaying took place.

Soldier, scientist, scout and robot.

I was so impressed that, given their scant experience, they really threw themselves into their roles. They had to deactivate the tractor beam (The Kenobi Maneuver ) in order to free their ship. To do that they had to navigate a series of hex-shaped (in 360 degrees) hallways filled with robotic bugs (cleaner bugs really--hey, I was going easy on them!) and hook up their robot to the main computer to find out where the tractor controls were.

A menace in numbers--but easy-to-blast, Volkswagen-sized, worker bug.

A tactical error on the part of one of the PCs left the party split (!) if only by a few meters, but it was enough to frustrate them. The soldier (the one who was supposed to blaze a trail for the robot) was on one side of a VW-sized bug, and the droid on the other. Eventually, they had the robot disengage it's wheel servos and just pushed it like a shopping cart as fast as they could run past the bug. Brilliant!

Fighter-sized hornet bugs attack the shuttle.

SINISTER SECRET!
Later on, they stumbled upon a much bigger find--a chamber filled with human and alien prisoners! Some of them dignitaries--definitely worth something to a skeevy wheeler-dealer like Karlo. They also caught a glimpse of the queen herself and the scout snapped some photos of her to sell to Karlo. The scientist downloaded the full schematics of the hornets' hexa-nest, which turned out to be built from composite material that was made out of space junk.

After a space battle with some hornets outside the nest, they escaped back into hyperspace. On the way back to the station, they wiped RIGB-E's memory about the inside of the nest--downloading it to a personal hard drive that they would hold hostage to Karlo.

THE ART OF THE SCAM
Upon arrival, the scout player was now filled with confidence, having navigated the earlier obstacles in the game and really gave it to Karlo. They didn't give him all the info--instead bargaining for pieces in order to get an upgraded spaceship and better equipment to complete their mission. They negotiated a hefty line of credit, plus bonuses if they succeed, in addition to some decent hardware.

So how was the game?
The game ran for about 3 hours, including chargen--which seemed like the perfect amount of time for a first session. By the end, the team had racked up a healthy amount of XP for besting in-game foes, traps, and for some really great roleplaying. I was pleased to hear afterwards that they had a lot of fun.  All three asked to play another session sometime soon. When I heard that I felt a lot better about running it at the con. I know I've still got to practice GMing though--gaming with strangers who aren't novices is a much different bag!

Still, if I can get the group together for regular sessions, I dropped enough hints for future plot points through Bema and RIGB-E to keep them busy enough for an entire campaign. Not bad for a trial run!

Here's the stats for their ship, which is basic enough to convert for use in just about any sci-fi RPG:

In the end, they had the opportunity to name vessel, which I'm still waiting to hear...

Sparrow Type - Scout Ship
CLASS: 2
CREW: 2-7
HULL PTS: 10
WEAPON DAMAGE: two 1d6 front-mounted lasers; one pop-up 1d6 laser (swivels 360 degrees)
AC: 10
XP: 50 (this is more than a scout in X-plorers because of the enhanced weaponry)
COST: 30 million (this doesn't really matter in our game, it was on loan to the PCs)

Last copies of X-plorers RPG box set up for sale

Space Admiral John Adams, proprietor of Brave Halfling games has found a few more box sets of the X-plorers, retro sci-fi roleplaying game! If you missed them the first time, this is your last chance to up a copy (they were only printed in limited quantities). Here's what you get:

• 6″ x 9″ Game Box (This is an actual game box manufactured for just this purpose and both the top and the bottom are tight-wrapped) hand numbered from 1-200 by the head halfling himself! 
• 2 Rule Booklets (Player’s Guide and Referee’s Guide) 
• Cleopatra Station Free Adventure 
• 3 six-sided and 1 twenty-sided dice 
• 2 Ship Deck plans of the Serrona Class Scout and the Cleopatra Station 
• 10 digest character sheets. 

If you like your games rules-light so you can play under the hood and build universes from the ground up, you're in for a real treat!

X-Plorers RPG is NOW AVAILABLE!

CALLING ALL X-PLORERS....

X-Plorers is now available as a box set, softcover print-on-demand, or a no-art FREE download. You now have THREE WAYS to start conquering the galaxy--and you could be doing so as soon as THIS AFTERNOON while you wait for your box or softcover to arrive in the mail. Here's a look at the inside of the softcover....



The game is rules-light and can be played as-is, but it's REAL strength is in it's ability to be fiddled with under the hood. Personally, I like to tinker and I'm working on my own setting using the rules. If you're looking for more resources to help get started, check out the X-Plorers tab on the top of this blog.

On a side note, the venerable Space Admiral and X-Plorers Publisher John Adams is holding a new character sheet design contest. The winner will receive a FREE box set of the game! So submit your designs to Brave Halfling.

In the mean time, pick up the game right now and start X-ploring!

Expiscor Eternus!

X-plorers Box Set is Go for Pre-Order!

Just look at that beautiful black and white box set cover!

X-plorers, the retro, science-fiction RPG crafted by Dave Bezio has been given the royal treatment--a box set! I believe that this is the first sci-fi game in the OSR family to have that distinction. John Adams at Brave Halfling has put together a really beautiful package. You can order now, but there's a limited number.

Here's the box contents from the head space cadet himself:

• 6″ x 9″ Game Box (This is an actual game box manufactured for just this purpose and both the top and the bottom are tight-wrapped) hand numbered from 1-200 by the head halfling himself!
• 2 Rule Booklets (Player’s Guide and Referee’s Guide)
• Cleopatra Station Free Adventure
• 3 six-sided and 1 twenty-sided dice
• 2 Ship Deck plans of the Serrona Class Scout and the Mastodon Class Freighter

I'm proud to say that I helped with this latest version. For those that don't know X-plorers, it's not a direct "retro-clone" per se. Dave created it as a "What-if-the-first-roleplaying-game-was-based-in-sci-fi-not-fantasy" experiment. The result is a great game engine that's  rules-light with tons of homebrew fun potential. It includes a modest setting that can be easily fine-tuned, dropped, swapped, for whatever flavor of speculative fiction you prefer.

And there's more for X-plorers in the pipeline, including additional adventure modules later this year. I'm working on some material of my own for it as well.

I hope you'll give this one a shot. This edition is a labor of love by several of us, including Bill DeFranza and has been officially "blessed" by Bezio himself. It features some fantastic new artwork and improved format (three books makes it easier to use at the game table) that I think serves the game well. The spaceship plans are also new for this set.

Here's to some truly far-out, star-hopping adventure!

More resources.
My earlier post on this latest edition.

Is "space-toilet" hypenated? Another X-plorers update!

Over the course of the last few weeks I've been copy editing the latest version of the X-plorers Referee Guide rules. I did my best to catch everything I could, but I think I went a little crazy in the brain pan, staying up too late, listening to the sizzling of my own neurons. Things get wacky after midnight and you begin to wonder just whether that hyphen belongs there. Here's hoping it's at least a shade improved!

I am extremely happy to report that this post marks the sending of the edits to John over at Brave Halfling! (Man, it feels great to finally say that!). Now, to answer a few questions that I'm sure will crop up:

So, of which game is X-plorers a retro clone?

None! The short version is, Dave Bezio of Grey Area Games had an idea about creating an RPG in the old-school vein under the premise of "what if the first RPG had been based in science fiction, rather than fantasy?". He set out to write rules that were light on crunch and a quick read. The book was even written as if the reader was being introduced to RPGs (more on that in a second). The result was something that's takes into account the philosophy behind the original fantasy RPG, but uses original rules of Dave's own design--in other words it's not a straight port of D&D and into a sci-fi setting, or even an update of it. It's an animal unto itself.

What's updated in the new version?

This set is intended to be Dave Bezio's original rules with copy edits and revisions according to a new style guide I wrote. If any language was updated, it was for the sake of clarity only.

The book's format also saw revisions, making it easier to find information and more user-friendly, overall. There's a glossary now for common X-plorers terms. We also threw together a few appendices for information that took up the bulk of the beginning of the book. So now you can really dive in earlier, without having to read the "What's a Roleplaying Game" stuff unless you're really trying to teach someone the ropes.

Was anything left out?

We'd considered adding some expanded rules, but I think that would have meant we'd be rushing to squeeze those into the book without really having a chance to discuss them or test them out properly. I'm sure that material will surface in future supplements, but this gives us a chance to make sure they're going to work well with X-plorers. It's too early to really say what those rules discussed, but I'm glad we kept it simple for this release.

Then do the rules still constitute a complete game?

Absolutely! Just like Dave's original version, these are basic rules where you have the freedom to build your own outer-space playground. The goal was always to preserve the "take it and run with it right out of the box" style of the game. Which reminds me, John just announced it will have its own Box Set!! Which, as far as I'm aware, is the first sci-fi OSR game to be offered in this manner!

Is there a new look or feel to this version?

John's commissioned plenty of new artwork that I think will really set X-plorers apart from the other sci-fi OSR games out there. Pete Mullen has done a fabulous job with the cover and several other artists have lent their talents to the project. I think the overall presentation gives the game a distinct flavor now. It's a retro-style game with retro-styled art! UPDATE: this latest version will also have deck plans for a couple of spaceships!

What's next?

Down the line we're looking at supplements, adventure modules--you name it. I know of several X-plorers projects already in the works, though I'll leave that to John to announce as they become ready since he's the mastermind behind it all. :)

Keep your hyperspace channel tuned for more to come....

Brave Halfling to Publish X-plorers Sci-Fi Retro Clone!

As creator David Bezio says "it's a done deal" Brave Halfling Publishing has exclusive rights to publish the X-plorers retro clone RPG! I'm so freakin' excited that I can hardly stand it!

I have so many hopes for this that I can't contain them. So John, if you're listening, here's my ultimate X-plorers wish list:

• A bevy of modules and supplements (e.g., rules for creating vehicles, and I'd like to see the proposed psionic and vehicular combat rules part of an "official" release at some point too)
• A BOX SET a la Swords & Wizardry (oh please!)
• Option to buy separate box set booklets (again like S&W)
• An MS Word version for house ruling (one of the best features of S&W, I think)
• New sci-fi art by some beloved OSR artists; Peter Mullen did the cover (see above pic) for the 2nd printing--and it's fan-freakin-tastic!

Finally, sci-fi gets it's due in the OSR!

Check out BHP's announcement for more info.
Check out the X-plorer's Yahoo Group (linked at right)