Blakes 7 RPG

[Simon W]

Not exactly a new RPG, but certainly new to anyone other than my immediate gaming group and a few people who used to attend Dragonmeet in the 1980's.

Anyway, with the news that Blakes 7 is set for a comeback (there's a link to the official site on my website) I dusted off a game that I designed over 20 years ago, typed it up and you can see it here

http://www.geocities.com/simonwashbourne/blakes7.html

Now the goals then were to design a humerous game, with the feel of the TV series and mainly character based, again to emulate the series. It was also supposed to be playable by fans of the series who wouldn't necessarily have ever role-played before.

I suppose the goals are little different now than they were then, so does this achieve the goals? Is it playable? Would a non-roleplayer fan pick it up and understand what they must do?

(I haven't got round to putting all character sheets on yet, but they will get there)

There we go.

Simon

[Mike Holmes]

Do you actually have the liscence for the franchise to do an RPG? Or is UK law different regarding such things? Or is this just a fan piece?

Mike

[Simon W]

Just a fan piece, nothing more. It is only ever intended to be available for free.

Simon

[simon_hibbs]

Now the goals then were to design a humerous game, with the feel of the TV series and mainly character based, again to emulate the series. It was also supposed to be playable by fans of the series who wouldn't necessarily have ever role-played before.

It's a nice, simple game and seems like it'd be a lot of fun to play. Have you ever tried it with a bunch of players?

I love the 'wobble rating' for scenery. You could do with character sheets for Blake and some of the other crew. The orriginal crew are always the first ones I think of when I remember Blakes 7. Character sheets for Servalan and Tarrant would be nice too.


Simon Hibbs

[Simon W]

Yes Simon,

I will be adding the rest of the character sheets, including those for Servalan & Travis - even one for Orac! (yes one player decided he wanted to be Orac). I just gotta find 'em, amongst all this paper that dates back 20 years!
I ran the game several times with my normal gaming group and with some of them and others at Dragonmeet in the early 1980's. It worked very well as it stands, but it needs a bit more I feel.

Simon

[DevP]

I definitely appreciate this. B7 was a major inspiration for some works in progress.

(Quarry! Yay!)

I liked it a lot, but being a slightly traditiomal roleplayer I was confused by the "meta" aspect of the wobbling or random acting rolls. Am I Avon or Avon's actor? That said, I think of lot of these things are nice and "hooky" for B7 fans who haven't roleplayed much.

Suggestions:
* you could reduce the number of skills (I'd recommend merging Accuracy/Brawl/Bravery, merging Computers/Electronics, and making Fast Draw more like Stunt, to cover all those times that some mook had them from behind and they impossible broke free and took their guns?)
* while I'm uncertain of the Wobble/Acting Rolls, you could allow, once per scene, a player (perhaps only one) to randomly pick a line, and if they choose to say it they get a plot point. This would encourage more instigation of (bizarre?) plot developments via the Plot Influence points.
* you could also go for a "if you roll successfully, you get to narrate" mechanic, rather than a "if you roll successfully, you succeed"
* allow for a group Scriptwriting, perhaps? Everyone submit 3 plot hooks or events, and either they are voted for inclusion (and the Director must use the selected ones), or perhaps if the Director brings on into play, she can give the originating player a Plot Influence point.

[Mike Holmes]

I'd play Orac. :-)

BTW, I'm a huge fan of the show. It's precisely that the characters were all about backstabbing each other, and didn't have the Trek cohesiveness that made me like it so much. And you mention it in the text. Only one problem, however, there's no rules addressing this. Or did I miss something?

Mike

[Simon W]

I liked it a lot, but being a slightly traditiomal roleplayer I was confused by the "meta" aspect of the wobbling or random acting rolls. Am I Avon or Avon's actor? That said, I think of lot of these things are nice and "hooky" for B7 fans who haven't roleplayed much.

Yes, this confused me as I typed it up. I understood it at the time I wrote it, but 20 years on it needs addressing.

you could reduce the number of skills (I'd recommend merging Accuracy/Brawl/Bravery, merging Computers/Electronics, and making Fast Draw more like Stunt, to cover all those times that some mook had them from behind and they impossible broke free and took their guns?

Computers/Electronics merge a bit tricky, because Vila was skilled at electronic lockpicking, but Avon was the computer guy. So in the end, it still requires the 2 skills (whether thay are renamed or not doesn't really matter - say Lockpicking/Thievery or somesuch for Vila and Computers for Avon).

Other points Dev, I'll give some though to. I like some of the ideas a lot.

Mike said:

BTW, I'm a huge fan of the show. It's precisely that the characters were all about backstabbing each other, and didn't have the Trek cohesiveness that made me like it so much. And you mention it in the text. Only one problem, however, there's no rules addressing this. Or did I miss something?

Yes, its not there in the rules and needs to be. I'll give further thought to this too, when I have got all the other bits together that need to be added.

Cheers guys, keep 'em coming.

Simon

[DevP]

Computers/Electronics merge a bit tricky, because Vila was skilled at electronic lockpicking, but Avon was the computer guy. So in the end, it still requires the 2 skills (whether thay are renamed or not doesn't really matter - say Lockpicking/Thievery or somesuch for Vila and Computers for Avon).

Or there could be a blank Key Skill slot, which is filled in for each person. So generalized Thiervery/Escapology for Vila, Computers for Avon, Stupid Amounts of Courage for Blake...

[Simon W]

Or there could be a blank Key Skill slot, which is filled in for each person. So generalized Thiervery/Escapology for Vila, Computers for Avon, Stupid Amounts of Courage for Blake...

There is already.

Tarrant has Pilot, Soolin has Fast Draw, Dayna has Martial Arts, Vila has Electronics, Avon has Computers.

When I get the other character sheets together Gan will have Strength, Cally will have Telepathy and so on.....