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I have been thinking lately of running a futures based game inspired by Renegade Legion (probably only the other old farts will know about it).
RL was by far my all time favorite futures game. But the game has been very very dead since the demise of FASA in 1995ish.
If I do in fact run such a game I plan on releasing my rules for free as part of my KromeDragon site.
Obviously I cannot use RL as written for my own thing, but something inspired by the Interceptor, Centurion, and Legionnaire rules would be ok, as I am dealing more with the concept and not the actual setting.
So far the working name of the game (that rhymes!) is Empire Sol.
SOOOOO, the question is this... is there any demand at all for a Space Based game emphasizing space fighter and grav tank combat? Or is that genre pretty much filled? And if so, what are the popular d20 Future games fulfilling that niche?
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What I am trying to do with my Empire Sol is to combine many of my favorite parts of different movies and games.
A Bit of Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and of course Renegade Legion.
The hardest thing I have been trying to deal with is the shock of death in combat. A book I really liked was Blackhawk Down, and I think it really captures the Centurion Legionnaire feel. The nitty gritty personal anguish of combat.
But the d20 system doesn't really deal well with the sudden death aspect of combat. You are meant to take dozens and dozens of shots before you go down. So I am trying to come up with a system that allows you some staying power in battle, but also replicate the shock and pain of being hit, and possibly the one shot one kill aspect. This has been the hardest part yet.
This project is in line after I finish Riddles in the Sand, and may get pushed up before Heart of Fire. :)
Oh and classes! Uggg coming up with classes is a nightmare! I keep wanting to add all these supernatural and spell like abilities! lol darn fantasy games getting in my sci-fi!
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Have you considered the D6 system they use in classic Star Wars and Shadowrun? The more successes you get, the worse the hit in combat. This can also be offset by the hit charcter using actions to conter the "bad" hits with some evasion successes instead of attacking back. I found this combat system very intense, and possibly deadly, but definitely survivable.
That's not bad...
I was planning on using d20 rules modified for 3d6 Bellcurve instead of a d20 (Unearthed Arcana has conversion rules!)... But I like that idea... something to play with thanks!
Remember the Gritty setting for Massive damage, Krome. Any single attack/source that does 10 or more points causes a DC 15 Fort save or you're at -1 and dropping. Combine that with, say, +1 die to each weapon damage, and opponents will drop like flies. If you make the stabilizing rules a little easier, say DC 20 or 25 Fort or Will save, you have more realistic gun fights. A lot of people being hit and jacked-up, but way more WIA's than KIA's
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Thinking about classes, how about if you go in the archtype direction, like shadowrun? Have pilots, soldiers, tankers, and capitol ship techs, etc. Each archtype has a suggested skill set that matches their archtype, but the character can build any skills they deem necessary from other archtypes. Also, have you looked into the renegade legion RPG? It could give you a starting place for these things and just adapt it for your own use. I can shoot you some exerpts if you do not have it, I just gotta dig it out of the mothball section of my gaming room....
Oh yeah, used to play Renegade Legion in the day. LOVED that game. And picked up Shadowrun the week it was released and played it like crazy (won two Con tournaments in Houston playing Shadowrun).
I'm thinking of using classes similar in nature to RL, like you said, and like Shadowrun.
I'm thinking of a three tier system. Starting classes that end at lvl 5. Prestige classes that run from 6 to 15 and elite classes for 16 and up. Cross classing will be easy enough.
I'm compiling a list of Archetype classes for sci fi. If you guys have any ideas you want to post, by all means do so. Or email me at oclark86@gmail.com I check a few times a day.
Sometime soon- next few months- I'd like to get a website up for creating the game. Something open that people can contribute ideas to.