Posts Tagged ‘rpg’

If you've been paying attention or just cruising Amazon for unannounced Serenity stuff (please tell me someone else does that besides me), you probably noticed that the new adventure for the Serenity role-playing game, "Out in the Black" by Tracy and Laura Hickman, didn't come out on March 15 like Amazon promised. Not surprising, since (apart from Harry Potter) books rarely have a firm ship date, but still a bit disconcerting. Never fear! I've got the latest word from Jamie Chambers, vice-president of Margaret Weis Productions:

"With licensing it’s always tricky because of variable approvals, but we’re hopeful to have the book out within the next 6-8 weeks. I’ll send out updates once we know more."

Keep checking back. The Serenity RPG is one of the best games to come along in years, and we want more of it. So do a lot of people, apparently; the game just went back for a fourth printing! The new copy will include errata and an index.

One of the complaints about the otherwise-excellent Serenity role-playing game from Margaret Weis Productions was its lack of user-friendly bits. No character sheet, no quick-roll tips for getting started fast, no sample game. All of those are on the way, according to Jamie Chambers:

"SerenityRPG.com has recently been updated, and we have lots of exciting content coming soon — including a print-friendly index, an official character sheet, and errata for the early printings of the book. Soon after that we'll have an introductory adventure, supplemental rules, plug-n-play characters, and more."

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Need something to push around your Serenity Role-Playing Game maps? Until we get official miniatures we'll need to make do, and for now "Captain Nathan" from Heresy Miniatures will do just fine.

Comes with a base and replaceable weaponry. Click here for better pics, and let's hope we see more. Engineer Jewel, Pilot Alan, Wacko Ninja Summer…

According to this article at ICv2 News, Tracy and Laura Hickman's "Out in the Black," the first full-length adventure for Margaret Weis Productions excellent Serenity RPG, will be released in May.  

"The husband and wife team of Tracy and Laura Hickman (Ravenloft) drew on stories of western boom towns told by Tracy Hickman's grandmother to create this new Serenity role-playing adventure which takes players to the wildest mining town on the Rim on the trail of one of the biggest secrets from the end of the Unification Wars, the disposition of a treasure of mythic proportions."

New! The first official additions to the Serenity role-playing game by Margaret Weis Productions are here, and they look great. An invaluable aid to the GM, the screen is a four-panel foldout with a gorgeous Serenity-in-battle image on the outside and some important charts and reminders on the inside so you don't have to keep digging through the book every time someone does something. Besides, players get more nervous when you roll your dice behind something and cackle. Read on for more descriptions and pics.

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Go traveling in the 'verse your ownself, and see what it's like.

Roll up your own characters and crew and see if you can make your way in the Firefly/Serenity universe. Crammed full of information about the people, ships, weapons, technology, and history of Joss Whedon's brilliant series, plus gorgeous artwork by 11th Hour, the Serenity RPG is just what you need to get your Firefly fix. There are also limited editions available, signed by author Jamie Chambers and publisher/author Margaret Weis at http://www.serenityrpg.com/

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This weekend my 13-year-old son took an important step in his development, a milestone that makes startling new hair eruptions and a drivers license pale in comparison: he bought his first set of role-playing game dice.

For the non-geek among you, gaming dice have anywhere from four to 20 sides, will direct every decision James makes for the next six years, and will quickly become more important to him than any three relatives. Their constant clatter will bring back fond memories even as I yell at him to keep it down.

For over 30 years now "Dungeons and Dragons," the game he is starting to dabble in, has provided a rich haven for kids who enjoy the wonders of a dangerously overactive imagination combined with the never-ending delight of arguments about weapons encumbrance.

Players become knights, elves, dwarves, clerics, and other fantasy figures while the kid who controls the game (the Dungeon Master, or DM) tells them exactly what's about to kill them all. Then they describe their reactions and, based on their individual abilities, character classes, moral alignments, birthmark configuration, and the roll of the dice, events transpire.

DM: "The orc swings a massive club at you, with 2d8+7 damage. The princess you've been sent to rescue is screaming and helpless."

James: "I throw the princess at the orc and dive for the gold. Do I get to it before she splatters?"

DM: (dice clatter) "No, she was so mad she grabbed the club away from the hulking man-beast and now she's beating you in the spine with it while he watches and offers pointers."

James: "Can I still reach the gold?"

Rather than staying pent up in their fetid bedrooms playing video games all day and night, kids stay pent up in their fetid bedrooms becoming someone better than themselves, or at least someone easier to draw. Dragons are fought, wars waged, the helpless saved, and treasure earned, all without risk beyond eyestrain and self-inflicted malnutrition. And, since kids from the last three decades are still playing it — you're never too old, no matter what my wife says — D&D is more popular than ever. This is because D&D teaches valuable life lessons, lessons that will serve you well for the rest of your life.

You learn how to recognize honor, nobility, and self-sacrifice in others, and how to capitalize on it.

You learn how easily the arbitrary whim of one person can drastically change your entire financial situation.

You learn how to placate and bribe that person to improve your prospects. Whether it's with a well-timed handful of Cheetos before a devastating battle or a well-timed kick into the rough so your boss can win the golf game, it's important to know how to handle yourself in a greed-based economy.

You learn to never invoke anything bigger than your head.

You learn the all-important phrase, "And in this one D&D game I was in," a phrase guaranteed to quickly end all of your many, many first dates.

You learn the insightful, transcendent state achieved by living on caffeine and sugar for six days without sleeping, a valuable thing to know come the end of the fiscal year.

You learn to turn your imaginary friends into valuable allies.

You learn that when a religious artifact begins emitting light, you should close your eyes. Thousands of people could be saved every year with this simple safety tip.

You form lasting bonds with friends that will last forever, although this can backfire in the middle of a tricky business merger when the opposing representative turns out to be the guy you shoved into a goblin cave back in '84.

You learn the importance of selecting ceremonial robes that are easy to run in while still affording ample concealment.

You learn that, for some people, rules are all that matter. And you learn how to confound those people.

And now my son will learn these vital lessons the same way I did: at 3 in the morning, surrounded by his weight in empty Doritos bags. Now he will rummage through my old, musty, gaming books, hunting for decades-old tips and storylines he can surprise his friends with. Now his dice bag contains some of my dice, as a way of passing the torch down through the generations.

Not my good dice, of course. I need those. There was this one time, in this game I was in…