Space 1889

[Shrale]

what's your opinion of this game ?

I know very little about it, so if you have a link handy, I'd appreciate any observations or URLs you've got.

Yes, I'm reading the Wiki entry as I type this... :)

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Shrale

what's your opinion of this game ?

I ran a campaign in Space 1889, with tweaks: Victorian costumed adventurers, some just talented, some with mysterious scientifically granted powers, some with steamtech or ethertech. It was a lot of fun, and one of the inspirations for GURPS Steampunk. On the other hand, my players found the rules consistently frustrating and unintuitive. The engine is not a model of elegance. The worldbuilding, on the other hand, is as much fun as any treatment of the age I've ever seen; I like it way better than the Falkenstein treatment.

Bill Stoddard

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Great setting, poor system. Skip the system, play the setting in whatever system you prefer. I used GURPS for my briefly-run game*, basically because I could run it with a complete minimum of extra work. Grabbed a few guns from BASIC SET and High-Tech (this was 3e), roughed up a few stats for some vehicles, and went for it. Very atmospheric and cool setting.


* Brief because of player real-world issues, not because we didn't like it.

[Shrale]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

Great setting, poor system. Skip the system, play the setting in whatever system you prefer. I used GURPS for my briefly-run game*, basically because I could run it with a complete minimum of extra work. Grabbed a few guns from BASIC SET and High-Tech (this was 3e), roughed up a few stats for some vehicles, and went for it. Very atmospheric and cool setting.


* Brief because of player real-world issues, not because we didn't like it.

if you have the time/inclination feel free to elaborate on your high-lights of the campaign.

what sort of starting point did you work from as far as the player's went ? (mercenaries, businessmen, scholars, explorers...etc)

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Shrale

if you have the time/inclination feel free to elaborate on your high-lights of the campaign.

We only got a few sessions in before half of the players couldn't make it anymore. I also used low-level supernatural powers to give the game a central element worth investigating. The PCs were 3e, 120+40+5. We had:

- a Scottish engineer, expert with coal and steam fired engines of all sorts. Utterly filthy. The kind of guy who'd stir his coffee with a oil-covered bolt.
- Jean Francois Rambeux ("John Rambo"), an ethnically-French American, who claimed to be from France (which part depended on who asked). Expert sniper, with a custom-made rifle bought with points (what 4e calls signature gear).
- A US Marine deserter. A boxer in the Corps, he was terminally unlucky...he wanted combat but always got slow postings and got transfered out just before the action hit. Finally deserted, and his bad luck meant whereever he'd go his former sergeant would happen to be there and reckognize him.
- An English gentleman whose Uncle Bob was a wizard and who passed on some of the family secrets.

Rule emphasis was on style over reality. I'd run guns and combat fairly gritty, but anything done stylishly would be rewarded over sheer pragmatism (which would also work, but without extra awards for it). I enforced a "gun control" rule, which was unless the PCs escalated fights, the NPCs wouldn't except in situations of major plot significance. So if the PCs start a bar brawl, it remained a brawl...but if they pulled a knife or a gun the NPCs would follow. If an NPC pulled a gun out of the blue, it meant the scene had Great Import and Meaning. I also ruled outright that no one dies. Period. You can't die unless you kill yourself. Crash your Aphid-class gunboat after a running battle with Martian Pirates? You all crawl out of the wreckage essentially unhurt. Get gunned down in a battle? Spend a CP and you're fine afterwards...don't spend it and you're alive but hospitalized for a short time. That kind of stuff. The goal was to encourage people to roleplay without regard for potential loss of their character and engage in fun heroics. Name NPCs got the same treatment.

We started off on a good roll, but then the players of the engineer and Rambeux started to have life issues that prevented them from coming. We put off sessions until no one could make it anymore. It's on my "to play again eventually" list.

[Shrale]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

We only got a few sessions in before half of the players couldn't make it anymore. I also used low-level supernatural powers to give the game a central element worth investigating. The PCs were 3e, 120+40+5. We had:

- a Scottish engineer, expert with coal and steam fired engines of all sorts. Utterly filthy. The kind of guy who'd stir his coffee with a oil-covered bolt.
- Jean Francois Rambeux ("John Rambo"), an ethnically-French American, who claimed to be from France (which part depended on who asked). Expert sniper, with a custom-made rifle bought with points (what 4e calls signature gear).
- A US Marine deserter. A boxer in the Corps, he was terminally unlucky...he wanted combat but always got slow postings and got transfered out just before the action hit. Finally deserted, and his bad luck meant whereever he'd go his former sergeant would happen to be there and reckognize him.
- An English gentleman whose Uncle Bob was a wizard and who passed on some of the family secrets.

Rule emphasis was on style over reality. I'd run guns and combat fairly gritty, but anything done stylishly would be rewarded over sheer pragmatism (which would also work, but without extra awards for it). I enforced a "gun control" rule, which was unless the PCs escalated fights, the NPCs wouldn't except in situations of major plot significance. So if the PCs start a bar brawl, it remained a brawl...but if they pulled a knife or a gun the NPCs would follow. If an NPC pulled a gun out of the blue, it meant the scene had Great Import and Meaning. I also ruled outright that no one dies. Period. You can't die unless you kill yourself. Crash your Aphid-class gunboat after a running battle with Martian Pirates? You all crawl out of the wreckage essentially unhurt. Get gunned down in a battle? Spend a CP and you're fine afterwards...don't spend it and you're alive but hospitalized for a short time. That kind of stuff. The goal was to encourage people to roleplay without regard for potential loss of their character and engage in fun heroics. Name NPCs got the same treatment.

We started off on a good roll, but then the players of the engineer and Rambeux started to have life issues that prevented them from coming. We put off sessions until no one could make it anymore. It's on my "to play again eventually" list.

sounds reasonable and interesting.

I had developed a D&D setting where the players hunted Undead/Supernatural similar to the 1880's, where the leader was very similar with an ex-British officer and they prowled the streets in coaches and so on. Screampunk looks like it might offer some interesting ideas. I loved Kromm's GURPS Horror book, but never got to put it to use, other than a couple of small items in Technomancer campaign. Loved the Atomic Liche !

[quarkstomper]

I agree with what's been said: Great setting, but I don't care for the sytem. I've run it a few times, usually adapting it to GURPS rules. I wrote a bit about it and a few of my other favorite Victorian RPGs in my "Live and Let Dice" column: Role Britannia. I have some links there that might help you.

[/plug]

[Shrale]

Originally Posted by quarkstomper

I agree with what's been said: Great setting, but I don't care for the sytem. I've run it a few times, usually adapting it to GURPS rules. I wrote a bit about it and a few of my other favorite Victorian RPGs in my "Live and Let Dice" column: Role Britannia. I have some links there that might help you.

[/plug]

interesting...bookmarked until I can get to the printer tomorrow :)

We had fun playing Boot Hill, but it didn't last very long. I never got into Castle Falkenstein, so...$9.95 here I come !

[Shrale]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I ran a campaign in Space 1889, with tweaks: Victorian costumed adventurers, some just talented, some with mysterious scientifically granted powers, some with steamtech or ethertech. It was a lot of fun, and one of the inspirations for GURPS Steampunk. On the other hand, my players found the rules consistently frustrating and unintuitive. The engine is not a model of elegance. The worldbuilding, on the other hand, is as much fun as any treatment of the age I've ever seen; I like it way better than the Falkenstein treatment.

Bill Stoddard

yes, I've finally come across a copy of Steampunk !

some with mysterious scientifically granted powers, some with steamtech or ethertech.

can you elaborate ? or is it in Steampunk ? I'm slowly developing ideas for the setting and would like to hear what others did/do.

I'd probably pick up the books for background, rather than the mechanics. I'm just at the beginning stages and am looking for ideas more than RPGs.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Shrale

can you elaborate ? or is it in Steampunk ? I'm slowly developing ideas for the setting and would like to hear what others did/do.

No, I actually used the published system, but with a number of tweaks. I don't remember all of them any more. But one option was to choose to play a powered character, and then roll 1d6 x 1d6 to choose a randomly assigned power (I figured that powers were often accidentally gained). I made up a list of 36 powers. Most of these were fairly low-key; I was going for something not too much higher than pulp.

Bill Stoddard