“Vortex” Update 5b.18 — Miracles on Titan

Interior of Starwind-class pleasure yacht — The "Appomattox"

Fellow role-players, here are my notes for Session 5b.18 of the “Vortex” space opera campaign. Team 2 met on Monday, 15 August 2011, and is using FATE 3e Starblazer Adventures/Mindjammer, Bulldogs, Diaspora, and Limitless Horizons.

In one future, humanity has begun to colonize the Sol system, but ecological degradation and internecine conflicts persist. Open and official First Contact with Galactic societies, themselves at war, threaten Terra’s very survival. Will heroes rise to the challenges?

After encountering robotic probes, regional warlords, and other horrors in an old battlefield and the Ghanki undersea station, a band of grifters and near-humans escaped to the Shepard 2 orbital city. It conducted a successful heist in the Lunar Free State and was involved in medical disasters in the Venusian colonies before returning to Earth to steal a faster-than-light drive…..

>>FATE 3e “Vortex” Team 2 (5b), crew of the “Appomattox:”

-“Gabriel Adams” [Paul J.]-male North American Terran near-human with telepathy, courier and pilot

-“ARTHERR” [Greg D.C.]-Advanced Resonance Theoretical Heuristic Exploration and Research Robot created by megacorp Vimeco

-“Jasmine” [Sara F.] female Martian Felinoid (Synth, “Uplifted” tiger), former professional pit fighter

-“Dr. Richmond Garrett” [Dave S.C.]-male Southern American Terran human, space snake-oil salesman and social climber

-“Hector Chavez” [Beruk A./absent]-male Latin American Terran human, “burned” operative and communications expert

-“Dr. Dieter Klein” [Rich L./absent]-male European Terran human, semi-retired physician, altruist and thrill seeker

-“Nero Bartholomew” [Non-Player Character]-male Terran human, former owner of the “Fortune’s Fool,” ship’s cook

-“Averki ‘Deep Dish’ Dyashenko” [N.P.C.]-male reptilian Synth (genetically engineered humanoid), onetime Venusian miner

>>”4 to 7 October 2194 A.D./C.E. or 0 Terran Galactic Era:” After delivering the Dawn’s Retreat, a vessel believed to be from an alternate universe, to the United Earth Authority, the crew of the Appomattox discusses its next moves while in Earth orbit.

Capt. Gabriel Adams says he wants to learn more about why “fixer” Ramon Sanchez [Josh H./Greg/N.P.C.] arranged for art from the Vatican Museum to be smuggled to Epsilon Eridani. ARTHERR estimates that it will take a few weeks for other Terrans to use the plans for faster-than-light drives stolen from the Ru’ulok (reptilian heavy-gravity aliens), about the same amount of time it would take for the Appomattox to go to Epsilon Eridani.

The robot adds that a proper home should be found for the artifacts, “for the good of all mankind!” Hector Chavez is also suspicious of Sanchez and notes that SRE (Systemes de Recuperation Executif) repossession agents are still looking for the ship in near-Earth space.

Jasmine tells Averki “Deep Dish” Dyashenko that she’s tired of sneaking around and stealing things, but Dr. Richmond Garrett is determined to fulfill his mission for Sanchez, or at least find a higher bid for the relics. ARTHERR notes that Gordon Wong, a rogue artificial intelligence with the Xox Memes, had observed that the United Ecumenical Movement recently reassigned numerous chaplains to the outer Sol system. Perhaps one of them could help, he suggests.

Gabriel has heard that the U.E.M. is looking for humans with psychic abilities. The underworld courier sets a course for Titan, a colonized moon of Saturn. ARTHERR and Hector examine grenades and install missiles stolen from the Star Shark. Jasmine looks forward to finding fellow “Synths” (genetically engineered beings) in the outer colonies.

With ARTHERR’s help, Richmond orders a ministry to become “the revered Dr. Garrett,” despite his complete ignorance of religion. He orders chef Nero Bartholomew to burn an image of the Virgin Mary on some bread, so that he can “find Cheebus” on “miracle toast.” The grifters vacuum-seal the sandwich and put it on a silver platter.

Capt. Adams passes Europa near Jupiter and docks the Appomattox at Eclipse Station in orbit around Titan, which is itself in orbit around Saturn. (The Blackbird visited the orbital habitat just a few weeks earlier.) ARTHERR contacts the U.E.M., which sends two people to inspect the supposed miracle.

At the Ringtown Diner, Jasmine and Dr. Garrett are happy to order real meat with their meals. ARTHERR flirts with the robotic waitress, and Gabriel leaves for the Lucky Garden Casino. Yellow-robed Shifu Nurdin Subaja and space armored Sister Indrani Bhai soon join them.

Shifu Nurdin interrogates Richmond and yarmulke-wearing ARTHERR. Sister Indrani takes an interest in Jasmine, who resembles a Rakshasa. When Nurdin makes an offhandedly disparaging remark about Synths to Richmond, Jasmine angrily douses the cleric with her milkshake and storms out. Indrani follows her into the crowded corridors and invites her and all sentient beings to join her faith.

Meanwhile, at the Lucky Garden Casino, Gabriel is accosted by the attractive Tanya and Galia. He wins a few hands at poker and inquires about local high rollers such as Rev. Winston Jones. Once the telepath realizes that the women are in fact free-willed androids, Gabriel is initially put off but invites them to join the Appomattox‘s crew.

Humbled, Shifu Nurdin listens to Dr. Garrett confess how the toast helped him turn from his sinful ways. In return for the platter, he reluctantly agrees to help the onetime snake-oil salesman obtain an audience with Archbishop Javier Fuentes in New Quebec on Titan‘s surface.

To build his reputation as a holy man, Richmond goes with ARTHERR to the infirmary, where they talk to the beings waiting for appointments. They conduct triage, identifying elderly patients with more money than hope of successful treatment. However, Dr. Martha Curtis soon asks for Dr. Garrett’s help with an urgent head injury!

Jasmine goes to the casino, where she chats with “Uplifted” Chim Faisal and Delphine astrogator Erta Garza. The bioengineered bonobo flirts unsuccessfully with the Tiger Woman wrestler, and Gabriel tells Jasmine to invite Erta to join the crew as backup to Richmond and Deep Dish.

At the infirmary, Dr. Garrett scrubs in and enters the operating theater, with ARTHERR posing as his remote-controlled medical assistant. The droid downloads medical data and conducts surgery, relaying instructions for Richmond to “order” him and Dr. Curtis to execute. After several tense moments, the physicians and fakes manage to save the patient, even as the real Dr. Garrett arrives!

Richmond pretends to faint and later explains that he was “moved by the divine” to assist Dr. Curtis, even without any true expertise. ARTHERR broadcasts the successful surgery through local news media, turning the colonists in the waiting room and student observers into witnesses to Richmond’s “miracle.” The actual Dr. Garrett, who is aware of the former Venusian surgeon general, begrudgingly escorts Richmond from the infirmary to the disused station chapel.

At an impromptu faith-healing rally, Sr. Indrani tells ARTHERR that the performance in the infirmary has moved Richmond up in the queue of appointments with the archbishop. He will receive them at the U.E.M.’s offices in New Quebec. The crew of the Appomattox resolves not to reveal that it has the Vatican art but to inquire discreetly about the church’s shift in personnel to the outer colonies, security breaches, and possible destinations for the precious cargo (such as Epsilon Eridani).

Gabriel begins planning a casino heist, hoping to use Jasmine and her fellow Synths, while Hector monitors communications surrounding Richmond’s revived reputation. The team prepares for its audience with the archbishop…

After our July hiatus because of travel, it was good to see everyone in Team 2! We’ll have a few more scheduling interruptions in the next few months, but I’m also looking forward to continuing the adventures in the Pathfinder/Skype: “the Vanished Lands” telecom game and “Vortex” Team 1! Be seeing you, -Gene

Science fiction games at GenCon 2011

To boldly go... — From the recent Trek MMO

Rounding out my look at some of the news around this year’s GenCon in Indianapolis, here are some observations on science fiction role-playing games. As previously noted, one recent trend is the shift of well-known licenses among game publishers, such as The One Ring for fantasy and Marvel Heroes among comic book games. The Dresden Files RPG (for which a third book may be coming) is another example of a successful tie-in across entertainment media.

Fantasy Flight Games’ announcement that it had won the Star Wars license is in keeping with this trend. There had been some speculation about which company would make the next Star Wars tabletop game, joining West End Games’ popular D6 adaptation and Wizards of the Coast’s polished D20/Saga Edition versions. FFG may look first to the youth market with miniatures, board games, and wargames, since Star Wars: Saga Edition was pretty complete and will be difficult to immediately surpass in quality or sales.

Margaret Weis Productions, whose Cortex system underlies Dragon Brigade, Leverage, and Marvel Heroes, apparently lost the Firefly/Serenity license. Mongoose, which made middling D20 splatbooks and been successful with the latest edition of Traveller, has dropped the Conan and Babylon 5 licenses, even as fans hope to revive those franchises. I’ve enjoyed the sourcebooks for all these fictional universes and look forward to seeing who gets them next.

On the other hand, Mongoose did get Star Fleet Battles and Prime Directive, which are based on the original Star Trek television series (and not its many sequels or J.J. Abrams’ parallel-universe reboot). I already have the GURPS and D20 versions of Prime Directive. I’ve been reading up on Traveller, the granddaddy of space opera RPGs, as part of preparing for my homebrew/sandbox scenarios, so a Traveller/Trek combo could be interesting. Trekkers can also look forward to a board game from WizKids, which used to make Star Wars minis for WotC.

Speaking of my FATE 3e “Vortex” campaign, I recently got Bulldogs. The pulpy SF game (previously in D20) is a good fit for my game — so much so, that I’ll probably refer to it ahead of the hard science fiction Diaspora and the thin Limitless Adventures, if not Starblazer Adventures/Mindjammer, which we used to create characters. The stunts may need tweaking, but Bulldogs‘ rules for alien creation, equipment, combat, and starships are all clearly presented.

In other speculative fiction role-playing, the excellent Stars Without Number will be published in an expanded edition by Mongoose, but the PDF of this retro-clone, sandbox game is still free. I’d compare SwoN favorably with StarCluster 3. I’ve got my hardcopy of the comprehensive Stellar Horizons, and I’m looking forward to the science fiction/horror Ashen Stars and Cthonian Stars/Void (the latter will use its own system).

One reason I’ve enjoyed running “Vortex” is that there’s little danger of either of my face-to-face adventuring parties overlapping in storylines with the many fantasy, horror, or other games that the current Boston-area players are participating in. I’ll blog more about their sessions soon!

Superheroes at GenCon 2011

After looking at fantasy, steampunk, and modern supernatural games at this year’s GenCon, here’s my take on some superhero announcements from the role-playing convention.

The aforementioned Margaret Weiss Productions, which is publishing the Dragon Brigade RPG, will be making the next iteration of a Marvel Comics game using its Cortex system. The new Marvel game will focus on post-“Civil War” continuity rather than the vague “present” of many comic books and RPGs.

TSR’s Marvel Superheroes, which used the “FASERIP” rules, was similar to the more recent Icons, even though that loosely FATE-based, rules-light game uses art similar to the animated DC universe. Speaking of superheroes, I’m still waiting on Heroes & Villains Vol. 1 for DC Adventures.

I have yet to play the third edition of Mutants & Masterminds (also used in DC Adventures) or Icons. But several people in the Boston-area gaming groups have been asking about superhero scenarios, so it’s only a matter of time before I get back to my “Societe de Justice Internationale” setting, if only for one-shots. As previously noted, the steampunk Kerberos Club is also FATE-based, but I’ve also seen a mention of another superhero game based on that system.

In related miniatures game news, WizKids, whose HeroClix for Dungeons & Dragons, DC, and Marvel have been popular, announced more sets for those lines, as well as Lord of the Rings, Pathfinder, and Star Trek figures. As with the forthcoming Lego minifigs for DC and Marvel, I’m sure that some of them will eventually grace my desk or basement tables.

Speaking of metahuman vigilantes, Kim A.G., Steve M.R., and Thomas K.Y. finally wound down their participation in the City of Heroes MMO, a few years after David I.S., Dexter V.H., and I left the “Dimensional Corps Online” supergroup to try other games. It’s the end of an era, and I miss the camaraderie of our team at its best. Jim J.D’B. recently started another Smallville play-by-post game.

Last month, Jason E.R. ran a fun one-shot of the Darkpages noir superhero game. I haven’t had time to write up my notes from his scenario, which involved a Ghostbusters-style haunted hotel, warring angels and demons, time travel, and of course, Nazis! Jason has also graciously offered to run scenarios including the alternate-history “Expeditio Africana” using Fvlminata 3e, “The Tenth Ray of Mars” using Savage Worlds or FATE, and “The New Shadow” using Pathfinder or The One Ring. Time is always in shorter supply than ideas!

Coming soon: Science fiction at GenCon and returning to “Vortex!”

Steampunk and supernatural games at GenCon 2011

Continuing my look at this year’s GenCon, after fantasy role-playing games, steampunk is one of the hottest subgenres right now. Cubicle 7, which publishes The One Ring, will also be putting out the much-anticipated Airship Pirates. Another RPG that looks promising is the FATE-based steampunk/superheroic Kerberos Club.

Margaret Weiss Productions, which already had tie-ins for Buffy: the Vampire Slayer/Angel, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity/Firefly, Supernatural, and Leverage, will use its Cortex Plus system for the similarly themed swashbuckling Dragon Brigade. It might not be Dragonlance, and although the densely packed introductory “Opening Salvo” might intimidate newer gamers, Dragon Brigade could be fun.

Lady Blackbird is a better model of concise presentation in this mashup subgenre. As much as I like such games, after seeing numerous steampunky sky pirates at conventions in the past year or so, I wonder if they’re are all scrambling for the same audience rather than there being a few rules sets that can capture and build upon it.

Although I’m not currently playing in a steampunk game, I have fond memories of Tim M.B.‘s GURPS 3e “Arth” in Virginia in the 1990s and my own “Gaslight Grimoire” (using GURPS Steampunk, Castle Falkenstein and D20 Etherscope). I am currently reading Perdido Street Station.

Josh C.’s steampunk/fantasy combination of AD&D2 Spelljammer and FATE 3e Legends of Anglerre has wound down for now, and Jason E.R. has proposed running some alternate-history one-shots. Speaking of alternate history, it looks like the fantasy Secret Fire, whose breathless promotions said it would honor the memory of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax and “end the edition wars,” may have been a bit hyperbolic.

In other licensing news, congratulations to Evil Hat Productions for the Origins and Ennie awards won by the Dresden Files RPG. Greg D.C. and Paul J. have been running the modern supernatural game (based on Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment, or FATE 3e) for their portion of the Boston-area groups. Janice has read Jim Butcher’s novels.

They, Josh C., and Dave S.C. have also run various horror one-shots. I haven’t played in a longer-term supernatural campaign since Hans C.H.’s Storyteller: World of Darkness-Vampire: the Masquerade in the late 1990s in Virginia, but FATE is one of the more popular systems right now in my groups. Like Wizards of the Coast, White Wolf is moving from strictly pen-and-paper games to multimedia entertainment.

While I’ll leave coverage of board games, wargames, collectible card games, and assorted computer games to others, I’ll look at superhero and science fiction RPGs soon!

Fantasy at GenCon 2011

Cover for Issue 62 of Dragon Magazine — Larry Elmore's cover for Dragon 62

Right on the heels of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con was GenCon Indianapolis, so I’m still catching up on the news from those conventions. In addition to the usual game demonstrations and costumed fans were announcements of new role-playing games and licensees of well-known intellectual properties. Let’s start with some fantasy RPG news that I thought was noteworthy.

Cubicle 7‘s The One Ring is the successor to Iron Crown Enterprise’s Middle Earth Role-Playing (I’ve played MERP, which uses the RoleMaster rules) and Decipher’s movie-based Lord of the Rings. Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s (and Peter Jackson’s) Middle Earth wonder whether the choices of specific eras, locations, and character development options for various sourcebooks are the best approach to that epic fantasy setting. I’ll take a closer look at The One Ring in the next week or so. I’m also curious about WizKids’ Lord of the Rings HeroClix miniatures.

Tabletop publishing giant Wizards of the Coast announced Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition‘s return to the Neverwinter Nights setting (actually a part of the Forgotten Realms) across media, with role-playing, board, card, and video/online game supplements. I think speculation about D&D5e is probably premature.

WotC’s D&D4e continues to face stiff competition, however, from Paizo’s Pathfinder. The Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat splatbooks for Pathfinder provide a wealth of options for Player Characters, restoring some of the “code bloat” from D&D3.5 but doing so stylishly and in a fairly organized fashion. I’ll be using them in my current teleconferencing fantasy game, minus the gunpowder rules.

I liked its D&D3.0 incarnation, so I hope to eventually pick up the Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder. Green Ronin has released a second boxed set for Dragon Age, another fantasy competitor to D&D4e that uses tiered advancement and is oriented at newer role-players. A few of the people in my Boston-area groups have expressed interest in it and A Song of Fire and Ice (for fans of Game of Thrones).

Even though there was a hiccup in plastic miniatures for D&D4e, we’ll soon have prepainted figures for Pathfinder. I understand the economics behind randomized sets of minis, but as a Game Master, I’d prefer, say, a set of Undead, or a set of low-level forest creatures, or a set of Clerics.

After getting inspiration from the retro-clone Lamentations of the Flame Princess (for which there are already some cool hacks), another indie game I’m looking forward to is Adventurer, Conqueror, King. “ACK” or the rules-light Old School Hack might be closer in feel to a lower-powered vision of my “Vanished Lands” fantasy setting than the D&D3.x or D&D4e versions. I’m also still considering the FATE3e Legends of Anglerre.

My Pathfinder/Skype: “the Vanished Lands” campaign has yet to resume after last month’s hiatus and various scheduling snafus, but I look forward to continuing the latest teleconferencing party’s adventures. When we left those Player Characters in the northwestern borderlands, they had returned to the haunted hamlet of Alarn, only to find that several of the knights sent there had been slaughtered…

I first ran games long-distance by “snailmail” back in the mid-1980s with friends such as David I.S. and Cheryl I.L. Later, I tried several “Vanished Lands” and “Vortex” scenarios by e-mail and play-by-post, but they tended not to last more than a few months each. I’ve had more success with the Skype telecom teams — now with members in New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Missouri, and Colorado — but busy parents and my own travel have acted as speed bumps lately.

Other tangential G.M.s also running fantasy include Paul J.’s Pathfinder: “Crossroads of Eternity,” Dave S.C.’s D&D4e “Attos,” Josh C.’s Pathfinder: Golarion/Inner Sea, and Bruce K.’s Conan. I haven’t had time to try any of them out, but I wish every game success! Next up — steampunk RPGs…