Firefly - "War Stories" (possibly spoilers)

[Joe Dizzy]

WOW!!

This series is the shiz-nit!
I can't even begin to describe how awesome this series is. The characters, the dialogue, the story-lines, the CHARACTERS!!!

It's badass, in all the right ways. And funny without being silly. Surprisingly brutal & gory at times, and the 8 main characters are already better developed than the three main characters on Enterprise.
And unlike other Whedon-shows you don't have to differentiate between the REAL story and the plot of the week that's built around it.

I was very impressed by the torture scene, and the break-in. Even though the whole crew "coming together" to rescue one of their own was obvious it was still fun to see.

I highly recommend this series to anybody, who can appreciate well crafted entertainment.

And I SOOOOO want a Firefly RPG, right now.

[Argyle]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
WOW!!

And I SOOOOO want a Firefly RPG, right now.

Heh.

Play Traveller out on the frontier, add some cowboy hats and dusters, and you're 95% the way there. I have to keep myself from over-referenceing Firefly when I describe the setting to my players.

Looking forward to catching tonight's episode!

[AslanC]

I dunno. The series just failed to capture me. Might be the western angle and my not over fondness of westerns.

That said the first episode aired had a moment in it that had me on the floor. When he kicked the guy into the... well you know

[Joe Dizzy]

Originally posted by Argyle

Play Traveller out on the frontier, add some cowboy hats and dusters, and you're 95% the way there.

I'm not THAT familiar with Traveller but I'm under the impression that it's a rather crunchy hard sci-fi game. Not really something that fits with my gaming style.
I was hoping for something rules-light. Something quick and dirty with some background on life on the frontier and guidelines on running Firefly-esque games.

you know.. the usual.

[Argyle]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
I'm not THAT familiar with Traveller but I'm under the impression that it's a rather crunchy hard sci-fi game. Not really something that fits with my gaming style.
I was hoping for something rules-light. Something quick and dirty with some background on life on the frontier and guidelines on running Firefly-esque games.

you know.. the usual.

It CAN be crunchy if you let it be. If that's not interesting, lots of that can be hand-waved away or simply taken for granted as every day life. When you decide you want the detail, it's there. In fact, every day life is something Traveller likes. Money, maintenance, fuel, putting bread on the table, keeping ahead of the law, staying alive where there is no law, making the next starship payment, and dealing with the bizarre things that happen to folks just trying to make their way are all major concerns of travellers.

Re: detail. One of my problems playing Star Wars was that whenever someone played a gearhead (and we ended up with an entire party of them once!) or scientist and they began to ply their trade, it quit feeling like Star Wars for some reason. It was like the setting was dissolving under the scrutiny and despite all the fantastic technology, there was simply no room for technologists. Maybe I'm just weird.

I've never played classic Traveller, but your character sheet probably wouldn't take up more than a third of a 3x5 card, and that's not even writing small. There wasn't even a non-combat task resolution system because it was the Elder Days of gaming and fighting was what the rules were for.

The newest one is d20. I don't know if you consider that a blessing or a blight.

[kimq]

My wife and I just finished watching the latest episode. Each and every show impresses the hell out of me. This one has moved things nicely forward by looking backward for a moment.

The writing has been phenomenal. I look forward to this show each and every week. It makes Friday nights at home worth it.

[Sarge]

Good Gawd, that episode blew me away! FF keeps getting better.

BTW, Joe, I think there are 9 characters, not 8. Let's check...

1. Mal
2. Zoe
3. Wash
4. Jayne
5. Kaylee
6. Inara
7. Book
8. Simon
9. River

Yep, that's 9. And every one has tons of personality and story potential. Zoe and Wash were a little bland before War Stories, but they finally had a chance to shine.

Now when are they going to put FF in a decent time slot?! C'mon, FOX, surprise us all and do the right thing for a real quality show!

"This show has gotten the shortest end of the stick in the universe... but it took that end... and, well, it took it! And that's sumthin'."

[qerlin]

I'll be in my bunk...

[Perrryyy]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
WOW!!

This series is the shiz-nit!
I can't even begin to describe how awesome this series is. The characters, the dialogue, the story-lines, the CHARACTERS!!!

It's badass, in all the right ways. And funny without being silly. Surprisingly brutal & gory at times, and the 8 main characters are already better developed than the three main characters on Enterprise.
And unlike other Whedon-shows you don't have to differentiate between the REAL story and the plot of the week that's built around it.

I was very impressed by the torture scene, and the break-in. Even though the whole crew "coming together" to rescue one of their own was obvious it was still fun to see.

I highly recommend this series to anybody, who can appreciate well crafted entertainment.

And I SOOOOO want a Firefly RPG, right now.

Complete agreement here. The stories and the characters are better after (less than) one season than Ent has been. The action carries the show too

[Joe Dizzy]

Originally posted by Sarge

BTW, Joe, I think there are 9 characters, not 8. Let's check...

Actually I just threw out a number at the top of my head, didn't actually count the characters.

BUT... I don't really consider Jayne a real main character, because rumour has it that he was supposed to be written out of the series in Aquiel, but because of his fanbase and the actor enjoying the show so much his contract was extended.

Umm.. that's why I didn't count him as a main character.. yeah, that's it.

@Argyle

I think a game is either crunchy or not crunchy. Most of the times, the rules are tightly interwoven and are there to counterbalance each other. Ignore one aspect and your whole game runs the risk of spinning out of control. And more often than not players expect the GM to use the rules instead of deciding things for himself. After all if there are rules for a situation why not use them? I like to be able to completely re-construct the story around the characters without the players noticing it and without having to re-think and recalculate all the details. That's much easier done with a explicitly non-crunchy game.

In addition to that, while I agree that the everyday aspects of Firefly are one of the cornerstones of the series, I do think that they should be story aspects only. With little to no representation in the rules.

That got me thinking.. what kind of rules would you consider essential for a Firefly game?
Melee combat? Rules for chases? Medic rules? Space travel? Rules for social conflict? Seduction? Rules for favours owed?
Should they be fast? Cinematic? Detailed? Heavily relying on the dice? Skill-based?

What do you think?

[Argyle]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
I like to be able to completely re-construct the story around the characters without the players noticing it and without having to re-think and recalculate all the details. That's much easier done with a explicitly non-crunchy game.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Perhaps you can give an example?

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
That got me thinking.. what kind of rules would you consider essential for a Firefly game?

Need rules for fisticuffs, gunplay, spaceship flyin', fixing and building things, medicine. Chases would be good. I don't think we've seen spaceship combat yet, but we know the Alliance ships are packin' heat.

Come to think of it, CODA might be a good choice.

I'll write more when I'm not falling asleep.