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Aug 30, 2016 17:05
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| # ? May 5, 2024 13:45 |
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TRIGGER WARNING: FURRIES OK, so, the OP mentioned Sanguine Productions' Cardinal System, which is used in Ironclaw, as well as other games from Sanguine. The same system (or a variant, I don't really recall) was also used in Sanguine's Albedo: Platinum Catalyst RPG, which appears to be out of print. Albedo: Platinum Catalyst is based on a long-running comics story by Steven A. Gallacci, called "Erma Felna, EDF". But, it wasn't the first RPG that the comic inspired. There was an earlier, and in my opinion, better RPG, called simply "Albedo". As much as I hate furries and furry-related crap, both "Erma Felna, EDF", and the games that have been based on it, seem to fit the theme of the thread. Besides which, I must grudgingly admit to a fondness for both. Edit: I should add more detail to this post, so it isn't just "hey guys, there is this one game...", which doesn't tell anyone anything interesting about the game. But, I have been putting it off, because there is a lot of ground to cover, and I really didn't feel like making a huge effortpost about why some furry crap is actually cool. But, both the comic and the original Albedo RPG are very cool, so here goes. I'll take it from the beginning. Albedo Anthropomorphics was a furry anthology comic started by Steven Gallacci and published by his company, Thoughts & Images. It was published between 1984 and 2005. It showcased many writers and artists. Besides Gallacci's own "Erma Felna, EDF", and related stories, it is also notable for being the book that Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo first appeared in. "Erma Felna. EDF" was set in the indeterminate future, in a spacefaring universe populated with anthropomorphic animals. Most of known space is governed by the Interstellar Confederacy, or ConFed. The military arm of the ConFed is the Extraplanetary Defense Force, or EDF. Planets within the ConFed retain a great deal of autonomy, and most have their own military force, or Homeguard. There is sometimes tension between individual planets and the ConFed, the latter sometimes being viewed as an occupying force instead of a trusted governing entity. There is, separate from the ConFed, the Independent Lapine Republic, composed entirely of somewhat xenophobic rabbits (although not all rabbits are in the ILR). At the beginning of Gallacci's stories, there exists a sort of uneasy truce between the ConFed and the ILR. Gallacci was a graphic illustrator in the Air Force, and his knowledge of military tactics and procedure, coupled with his detailed illustrations of vehicles and sometimes weaponry, is one of the standout features of his Albedo stuff. But just one. It's really an outstanding comic, if you can get past the furry stuff (and it is a bitter pill to swallow). There is a real depth and complexity to his stories, both at the character level, and on the whole. Moral quandaries and questions about the nature and morality of power abound. There are plots and subplots, and they intertwine with the various characters' personalities and goals in a very compelling way. Loyalty vs.honor, duty vs. self-determination, and the ways in which war tests morality were recurring themes. Gallacci also took care to give different species of animals different cultures and naming conventions, making them more than just generic humanoid animals. It's pretty impressive. His sci-fi setting, though definitely futuristic, is more "hard" sci-fi than say, Star Wars. Slug-throwers instead of energy weapons, and overall a more "realistic" feel, despite the furry setting. In fact, the setting reminds me of Traveller in more ways than one, and I can't help but wonder if that game was an influence on Gallacci's stories. For example, as in Traveller, faster-than-light travel is possible, but not FTL communication. Traveller has what it calls "express boats", or X-boats, to carry info great distances, like a future Pony Express. Albedo has something similar, "news torpdoes". Both settings use familiar ballistic-type weapons primarily. Both settings have a militaristic background. I have never seen any link between the two settings, and military sci-fi is not uncommon by any means. Not to mention Gallacci's own military background. So perhaps it is coincidence. It's not surprising that someone looked at the universe Gallacci had created and thought it would make a great background for an RPG. In 1988, Albedo the Role-Playing game was published by Thoughts & Images as a boxed set (this was back when any RPG worth its salt had to be packaged in a box). The game, written by Paul Kidd (who would go on to write D&D and Gamma World novels), was obviously written with a great love of the comic series and its setting. It used a fairly simple 2d6 mechanic, where the target number is often decided by comparing two opposing characters' competing traits or skills. Degrees of success or failure were taken into account as well. One feature of Albedo, specifically designed to simulate the amount of psychological drama and interpersonal relations in the comic was the SPI, or Socio-Psychological Index, a derived stat that every character had. There were also rules for coolness under fire, and various determinations of the character's mental state that had different effects on play. The "physical" aspects of the game are not ignored, however. Combat has rules for hit location, damage type, shock and blood loss. It was no Phoenix Command, but Albedo had a fairly detailed and comprehensive system. Missile weapons, vehicular combat, etc. Besides all of this, the game featured a detailed description of the setting, as well as many illustrations (all by Gallacci), most of them taken directly from the comic. There were a few short introductory scenarios which showcased the different play styles, from combat to social maneuvering. In 1993, Chessex, Inc. (you know, the dice company) published a second edition of Albedo. This was written by Kidd and Craig Hilton, and published as a single book. The core mechanics were the same (enough to be compatible), with a few tweaks. Character generation was changed to a point-buy system, instead of the random roll system of the first edition. The layout was improved, and more detail was added. The second edition also had two excellent adventure modules available for purchase (The Drift, and Zho-Chaka), as well as the Ship Sourcebook, which is exactly what it sounds like, and is also excellent. I don't know if it was its relative obscurity, that of its source material, or just the whole furry thing in general, but Albedo never really took off. You will rarely meet anyone who's even heard of it. Which is a shame, because the game and its setting are very solid. The comic, as I said, is also top notch. Uncommonly good. Surprisingly sophisticated, and rewarding to those with the patience to navigate its sometimes complex narrative. As for Sanguine's Albedo: Platinum Catalyst, published in 2004, it uses the same background, but has a completely different system. I don't recall much about it except that I checked it out and didn't care for it. Players roll a primary character and 4 underlings, I guess to simulate the command decisions that are a common plot device in the "Erma Felna, EDF" stories. There is a second A:PC book, Structural Integrity, which has most of the rules for vehicular combat and a lot of stuff that was left out of the main book. So, you basically need both to play the game from what I could see. That I'm aware of, there are no published adventures for the Sanguine version of Albedo. The A:PC stuff is available on drivethrurpg, the older Albedo RPG stuff is long out of print, and used copies can be expensive. But, don't think that Albedo's main value is as a collector's item, it's a good, hard sci-fi RPG with a richly detailed background and great possibilities for many different types of roleplaying adventure. Anyway, that's my attempt to explain why a guy who hates furry stuff thinks Albedo is a great comic and a great RPG. Hope it helps. Sex Cop fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Sep 1, 2016 |
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Sep 1, 2016 00:34
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Also bumping because I'll be damned if I wrote a tl;dr justifying furry crap just for it to be ignored... ...for content, the thread title cracks me up because I recently had to tell someone that he couldn't play an elf in our Traveller game. Sex Cop fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Sep 1, 2016 |
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Sep 1, 2016 21:48
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Sex Cop posted:In fact, the setting reminds me of Traveller in more ways than one, and I can't help but wonder if that game was an influence on Gallacci's stories. For example, as in Traveller, faster-than-light travel is possible, but not FTL communication. Traveller has what it calls "express boats", or X-boats, to carry info great distances, like a future Pony Express. Albedo has something similar, "news torpdoes". Must...resist...pointless dispute about meaning of "communication". Seriously though, this is a neat idea. Do the settings interact with relativity/Time Dilation in a similar way? That always seemed like a neat (if finicky) thing to tackle in an RPG. Sex Cop posted:...for content, the thread title cracks me up because I recently had to tell someone that he couldn't play an elf in our Traveller game. Come on. Anything's possible with genetic modification, sci-fi's taught me that much 
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Sep 2, 2016 16:14
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Sex Cop posted:...for content, the thread title cracks me up because I recently had to tell someone that he couldn't play an elf in our Traveller game. Aren't Eldar playable in (one of the) FFG 40k RPG's?
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Sep 2, 2016 18:11
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Drone posted:Aren't Eldar playable in (one of the) FFG 40k RPG's? I dunno, (not really familiar with 40k), but Traveller has Darrians, which are basically pointy-eared humans... Bendigeidfran posted:Must...resist...pointless dispute about meaning of "communication". That I recall, neither game interacts with or addresses these issues...? Bendigeidfran posted:Come on. Anything's possible with genetic modification, sci-fi's taught me that much See above post RE: Darrians
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Sep 2, 2016 19:48
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Speaking of SPESS FURRIES, why do so many anthropomorphic dogs and cats appear in sci-fi RPGs? Traveller: Vargr (SPESS DOGGES) and Aslan (SPESS CATTES) Space Opera: Rauwoof (I poo poo you not) and Mek'Purr (groan) plus they also have avians and reptiles Spacemaster: Tulgar and Falanar Granted, not all of these systems may not be popular today (especially Space Opera). But most old-school roleplayers will have heard of them, if not played them.
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Sep 6, 2016 21:34
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I think it's because anthropomorphic animals provide us with a pretty solid 'personality' to latch onto. We know what dogs and cats are like, and can scale that up to a person pretty easily. Plus they're pretty cool-looking if you don't decide to doodle their dicks all the time. (My personal favorite, Fragged Empire, has the Ursai/Remnant, who are big cat furry types. No dogs tho)
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Sep 6, 2016 21:36
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Mors Rattus posted:I think it's because anthropomorphic animals provide us with a pretty solid 'personality' to latch onto. We know what dogs and cats are like, and can scale that up to a person pretty easily. So new games are doing this, too? That's hilarious.
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Sep 6, 2016 23:11
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Drone posted:Aren't Eldar playable in (one of the) FFG 40k RPG's? Dark Eldar, yeah, in one of the Rogue Trader supplements. I forget which one, though.
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Sep 6, 2016 23:16
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New games definitely do it too. It's a way to make an alien feel not-human but also not-utterly-incomprehensible because like Mors says, we know roughly how we expect a dogman to behave. Some games (like Bulldogs) play with that by having their cute teddy bear aliens be brutal destructive murderers.
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Sep 6, 2016 23:24
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MollyMetroid posted:New games definitely do it too. It's a way to make an alien feel not-human but also not-utterly-incomprehensible because like Mors says, we know roughly how we expect a dogman to behave. Some games (like Bulldogs) play with that by having their cute teddy bear aliens be brutal destructive murderers. The intro to the original Albedo RPG (I forget which edition) said as much. Something about allowing the players to feel like "different" beings while still being able to relate to their characters or something, like you said. Edit: I just read a similar sentiment expressed by the author of one of the Spacemaster books. Sex Cop fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 6, 2016 23:27
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| # ? May 5, 2024 13:45 |
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Sex Cop posted:Speaking of SPESS FURRIES, why do so many anthropomorphic dogs and cats appear in sci-fi RPGs? Man you're selling Space Opera short, because it had -two- space cat races, (The other one being the Avatar, who were proud warrior race to the Mek'purrs technophiles), bear-people, monkey people, and NPC-only spiders and crab-men (Who were called "The Klackon")
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Sep 9, 2016 17:51
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