Rules questions and how-to-RPG questions

This forum is set up for player use now and any time in the future. As you read and get familiar with the STAR FRONTIERS: Alpha Dawn book 2007 download (you do not need to download the Printer-Friendly version edition which added more optional stuff), if you have questions you can ask them here.  You can also ask questions about general RPG procedures if you are a beginner.  "There are no stupid questions, only stupid people."   --Mr. Garrison, SOUTH PARK.   :-) There are a few typos in the book, and I had to go to the original edition to see what they were.  I think this is because of the use of scanners and a computer that misinterpreted the text scan, so it should be pretty obvious where that happens.

Wow. This takes me back. Not to this game mind (I hadn't even heard of it until now), but to those heady days of my youth playing AD&D (or as you youngins now call it, D&D 2nd edition). The artwork is so eighties that I can actually hear Dan Felder's "Takin A Ride" playing in my skull as I go through the pages. So awesome. The rules take me back to a time before miniatures. Before  move points, action points, battlefield physics, and hex maps were put ahead of role playing and imagination.  A time where guile and luck made you a hero and death was more than just a temporary inconvenience. A time where battle options were more than just "I attack" or "I attack with magic". Sorry for waxing nostalgic, Pierre. I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to you for  stepping up  and GMing a game like this.

Lou, I'll have to see how things go to get this game launched.  This is "Old School" and meant to be a beginner-friendly game, and it was tossed onto the mass-market bookstores of the nation without any player network to help the far-flung suburban teens. The points of damage in this game create more of a cinematic violence that is more survivable.  Average character stamina points is 47.5.  Laser beams fly through the air like the Star Wars corridor scene just before they take a dip in the trash-compactor.  There are some negative effects that take place when you go to half your Stamina or less:  movement cut in half, carrying capacity (Encumbrance in kg) cut in half, -10% to combat and (why not?) all other skills. There were "miniatures" in this game but it was half-inch cardboard chits with line-art, with absolutely all the characters, vehicles and monsters of the game.  I made a mini-container with tape strung across the little trays of a hardware-store nuts and bolts container to store them all.  I would have to scan these chits and convert them to Roll20 tokens but the efforts would be worth it. You have ample battle options with the science-fiction weaponry.  Technology is the magic.  This was designed by some "rebels" in TSR (they eventually took off and formed their own company called Pacesetter), so the feel was a departure from D&D.  The damage rolls are "not too deadly" and even if they are, the medical devices are quite advanced as well.  This is absolutely a great system though the range modifiers and things might not convey a perfect idea of true odds for purists from other games.  The speed of combat will be worth it, though; the tempo to this game is great.  In one of the STAR FRONTIERS Volturnus modules, I was running combat of 5 characters and 40 alien Kurabanda (who were melee only) versus about 10 pirates--without going nuts.

I agree with Lou.Getting back to more basic roleplaying where the rules don't get in the way, is awesome. I won't even touch the new D&D, it's an abomination. It's like the mutated, bastard, lovechild of Magic:the Gathering and World of Warcraft. *shudder*  One question; will we be using the standard rolling method of character generation, or the optional point-buy system?

Are you talking about a point-buy system from Zebulon's Guide?  No.  I will say if you generate your own character it is according to the book rules.   However I will allow that if you do four d100 rolls to derive pairs of stats, you can move those 4 pairs of stats around the pairs, before applying racial mods and shifting up to 10 points from one stat in the pair to the other.  So if you prefer STR/STA as your strongest pair but you got a crappy roll, I will let you shift that roll to some other pair and get a better pair of stats for STR/STA.

Actually, I was referring to what is titled the Fixed Ability Total, from the Optional Rules in the Remastered Star Frontiers. I am unaware if the origin of that is Zebulon's Guide. As a Savage Worlds player, I like the idea of a point buy system, but I cut my teeth on Basic and 1st Edition D&D, so rolling it works fine too. :o)

Pierre, I have scans of both the original counters and the ones from Knight Hawks.&nbsp; I even have many of them (All the KH ones and a few AD ones) as 100x100 pixel images that I had created for use as tokens in OpenRPG.&nbsp; You can find the ones I do have on-line at <a href="http://starfrontiers.info/pics/icons/" rel="nofollow">http://starfrontiers.info/pics/icons/</a>.&nbsp; If you want the full scans, I can get those to you as well (I've got them at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 600 dpi).

Joseph, now I see what you're talking about (p. 141 of 2007 printing of Star Frontiers).&nbsp; I have nothing against the Optional Rule once I accept character designs.&nbsp; But probably just the Fixed Ability Total.&nbsp; I don't want to mess with the skill system just yet.&nbsp; If point systems give a player more control over a character, that's fine. Awesome, Tom!&nbsp; It would have taken me a lot of work to scan a row of chits from my old set.&nbsp; Since I don't think Roll20 can come up with tokens that are already Vrusk-shaped, etc., these will be the main tokens of the game.&nbsp; I may also for fun make some photos of a box of original Star Frontiers 25 mm miniatures I bought (there were 2 boxes of characters and 1 box of spaceships produced I think).&nbsp; I'll see if 100x100 is enough.

A word about tokens: &nbsp;The "green heart" icon will be for your current Stamina (STA) score . &nbsp;If your Stamina goes down to half or below, I or anyone else can activate the Red dot on the token. &nbsp;It means: --movement rate is cut in half --Encumbrance in kg (carrying capacity) is cut in half --a penalty of 10% to melee and ranged attacks, and most likely any non-combat skill your character would want to use. --number of attacks per turn is reduced to 1. It has no effect on your Initiative Modifier (surprisingly). The "blue lightning bolt" icon will be for ammunition (AMMO) . &nbsp;To show the current bullet clip or powerclip (or power pack powering a weapon), mark off the supply from your character sheet and type in the individual ammunition or Standard Energy Units (SEU) count into the "lightning bolt" circle. &nbsp;For example, take a powerclip from off your character sheet, that's 20 SEU. &nbsp;Type "20" in the circle. &nbsp;When you want to attack, you MUST commit ammo by decrementing (subtracting 1 or whatever) from the lightning bolt circle. &nbsp;Just type "-1" or another negative number (for example, committing 5 SEU to a laser shot, or firing a burst of 10 bullets with an automatic rifle, so type "-5" or "-10" there). For more than one weapon, reassign what the icon means from a selection list when you change weapons.&nbsp; More than one type of ammunition can be set up as an attribute on the sheet. If you have other power sources for powering suits or screens or whatever, maybe you can use the "red heartbeat" icon for the&nbsp;energy count (often removes a certain number of SEU/minute or SEU/successful hit). &nbsp;I abbreviate this as "NRG" (energy) on the sheets.&nbsp; Take off power from your character sheets (I'm counting on honesty!) and transfer it to the appropriate token circles. By the way, power beltpacks and power backpacks can be recharged but it costs 5 credits / SEU at an equipment shop or fuel station.&nbsp; Powerclips are recyclable but can not be directly recharged except by the manufacturer.

Here is a screen-shot of part of one pre-generated character sheet I have worked out.&nbsp; I will tweak the master copy of the character sheet and pre-generated character sheets a little more, but it is pretty complete and easy to follow.&nbsp; The only statistics that vary during the game are your STAmina,&nbsp;AMMO count for one or more weapons (a "clip" is consumed, and individual bullets or energy units&nbsp;are placed on the token and then subtracted from) and energy (NRG) expenditure (usually from a beltpack with 50 Standard Energy Units). To see all the pre-gens, just enter my game if you have the permission. <a href="http://downstat.homestead.com/files/Temp/Star_Frontiers_Character_Sheet_example.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://downstat.homestead.com/files/Temp/Star_Frontiers_Character_Sheet_example.jpg</a>