Where can I download S&S?

[Falconer]

Starships & Spacemen

[coffee]

I thought this was an early version of Space Opera. It just had that look to it.

Space Opera was a quirky game.

[Falconer]

So I have heard. I don’t know anything about Ed Simbalist’s Space Opera other than what I have read about it on Wikipedia, but other than sharing a publisher and both having to do with space, it doesn’t look at all similar to Leonard Kanterman’s Starships & Spacemen, which I have just read and which I think is very good.

[coffee]

If you can find any images of the games, the graphic presentation is the same.

But that's all I know about them. I've played Space Opera once, but have no experience with Starships & Spacemen.

[szieser]

I'd never seen this one before. Crap; looks like something else I need to buy! ;D

[szieser]

Jan 9, 2010 12:44:16 GMT -5 szieser said:

I'd never seen this one before. Crap; looks like something else I need to buy! ;D

Bought! Very cool stuff!

[Falconer]

Here is a review I found.

[Doc]

S&S was my first sci fi game. It was simple and very easy to add things to. I made it the system for my default SF campaign and have been using it off and on for a campaign that has now spanned over twenty years. My current version is different in many ways from the old book, but it is still very obviously S&S

Space Opera, also by FGU, is far more complex and detail oriented. While it is also a good game, I have always preferred the rules-light, easily modified S&S.

Doc

[Falconer]

Awesome, Doc! Great to hear! Please share some of your stories and experiences with the game with us. S&S is the next game I am going to review, so that should hopefully open up some avenues for discussion. I am very impressed with it, from what I have seen.

[Doc]

Okay, Falconer:

Well, my S&S game started out with a federation consisting of the Terrans (descendants of humanity), Taurans ) a green skinned hyperlogical race motivated by profit and organized into myriad merchant houses), the Rigel (a clone race created by the Terrans for war who rebelled from their masters and claimed a homeworld of their own), and the Andromedans (a race of powerful psionics connected to the universe itself). The federation was at war with the Zangidani, a warrior race with a religion based around conquest.

At the opening of the campaign, the party consisted of two former members of the Rigel military, a charismatic Tauran seeking to stake a claim, his Terran bodyguard, an Andromedan hired as a psionic guide, and a wolflike humanoid from a far corner of the galaxy trying to find a challenge that would win him prestige in the eyes of his race. One of the Rigel was in possession of a modified military scout ship called the Void Raven that was being chartered by the Tauran. The campaign opened up with the Void Raven setting course into uncharted space and about to enter a territory frequented by pirates.

Then, in a single second, every single Andromedan in the entire universe suddenly dropped dead, including some nine billion of them on the Andromedan home world.

THAT’S how the campaign kicked off.

In the years to come, the federation made peace with the Zangidani (a race modeled after the Acroyears from Micronauts) when both sides were threatened by an even more vicious foe, the Videni, who had annihilated several galaxies in an unholy jihad to destroy everything in the universe that wasn’t Videni. Nearly unstoppable in their massive, miles-long warships, the Videni’s presence was felt everywhere although they themselves were never glimpsed outside of their crafts. When the party finally infiltrated an ominous Videni Death Barge they discovered that the dreaded aliens that were attempting to crush the universe beneath their heel were actually only about six inches high. Yep. Smurf Nazis.

Slowly they began to piece together what was happening “behind the scenes” in the galaxy: a race of godlike psionic aliens called the Tem’Nex were returning from their millennia long extinction and were attempting to wipe out all sentient life so that they could start the universe over with a blank slate by the time that they arrived. Their first order of business had been to disrupt the ebb of the universe to destroy the Andromedans, the only ones who would have been able to sense their return.

And that was the gist of our first S&S campaign. Other campaigns followed, all with different characters but connected by the ship Void Raven, and taking place at different times in the history of the galaxy. While not very “Star Trek” in execution, the game proved very versatile. I was able to easily stick in things lifted from Star Wars (Including “the Alien Hunter,” a blatant Boba Fett ripoff), Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, Blade Runner (the Rigel were totally Replicants), Micronauts Alien Legion, etc. If somebody wanted to play a race that they had seen in a movie or book, it was very simple to modify their stats and give them a special ability if needed without breaking the system.

Although I don’t get to post as much as I used to, if anybody has any specific questions I will try to answer them.

Doc

[Falconer]

“To coin a phrase… fascinating!”

It definitely sounds like that could all have taken place in a Star Trek-like universe, but as you say, the execution doesn’t sound very like Star Trek, simply because of the PCs being non-military (non-Starfleet) and, correct me if I’m wrong, but exploration of strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations doesn’t seem to have been the central activity. Of course, that’s a valid approach, and apparently it has made for some very unique adventures!

I look forward to picking your brain with more specific questions soon.

[Ronin84]

I am looking at getting a copy of this ASAP, would like to see what the hub bub is all about. I played space opera a lot in HS and College so a simpler version sounds good to me!

[finarvyn]

I owned a copy of Space Opera years ago and don't remember being very impressed with it, but S&S was a lighter rules set and kind of fun. At the time I chose to either run Traveller or my own homebrew OD&D Space (which we cleverly named "Space Wars") because those rules just seemed easier to figure out than most of the other games on the market at the time.

[Ronin84]

Jan 18, 2010 20:31:10 GMT -5 finarvyn said:

I owned a copy of Space Opera years ago and don't remember being very impressed with it. At the time I chose to either run Traveller or my own homebrew OD&D Space (which we cleverly named "Space Wars") because those rules just seemed easier to figure out than most of the other games on the market at the time.

There were about nine of us playing and three or four of us took turns running the game so if we had an issue it was solved pretty quick. I like Traveller RPG and still run games for it, I cannot say that I will be running any Space Opera soon.

[Ronin84]

Ok...finally got a copy of S+S look forward to reading it tonight...