Dragonlaird Gaming Studios

Serenity Articles : The Dressler Report

(originally published on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on February 12, 2007)

The Dressler Report

This suggestion provides the Gamemaster with a “big secret” of similar scope to “Miranda” to set behind their campaign. It should be laced behind a large arc, a season or two worth.

The exodus from Earth was an achievement on a scale unheard-of in human history. Massive amounts of technology, machinery, and people flew across the heavens to land in a new universe, a star system that promised miraculous possibilities. Planets were settled, terraforming began and in the short time of a few hundred years, dozens of planets were human habitable.

As planets became more difficult to terraform, as the work moves away from the support of the Core Worlds, the effort became more expensive and much slower. There came a point where the drain on the government’s resources became too great and any terraforming efforts now are simply for show.

Most of this is common knowledge to anyone in ‘the know’, business men, senior government officials, masters of the guilds. What is not generally known is contained a highly suppressed document called the Dressler Report. It was written a few years ago by Hiram Dressler, a sharp analyst in a forgotten government bureau. Dressler concluded that the financial base of the ‘Verse, of the mighty Alliance itself was deteriorating quickly and there was no way the government could maintain its size and scope. To attempt to do so would undoubtedly bring everything to a violent economic crash.

The implications of the Dressler Report are staggering. Anyone in government would likely lose power. The markets would crash taking massive amounts of paper wealth with them. A military coup would be inevitable as the ‘Verse descended into chaos and war.

Suppression of the Dressler Report is key to the preventing all these things, to letting people keep their heads stuck in the sand as long as possible. For some, they truly believe that belief in their future will make it come true, that it will overcome the forces of economics and human nature. Perhaps, if they can change the rules of the game… adjust human nature… they can rig the game and avoid the ‘prophecied end’.

Several variations present themselves for introducing this secret into the game.

1. What ever happened to Hiram Dressler? Perhaps he’s still on the run, keeping his secret, perhaps even trying to flee it and its consequences. Is the government hunting him? Do they think he’s dead but then during the adventures he gets ‘rediscovered’? He could be sought by enemies of the government as well, willing to bring everything down.
2. A copy of the report is stolen with the intent to use it as blackmail against the government. That copy gets lost and eventually comes into the possession of the PCs. Do they know what it means? They should hang on to it, even if its for a completely other or bogus reason. Later, when they learn what it is, they’ll have it to use.
3. The report is released somewhere and causes shockwaves across the ‘Verse. The end it predicts starts to come. How you conceive of this playing out is up to you and how drastically you want to affect your version of the ‘Verse. Does the military shatter into independent factions? Is travel and connection to the Core worlds restricted or even cut off with the collapse of the Cortex?

Consider the Dressler Report and how it might bring some of the epic gravity that Joss Whedon introduced with the Miranda plot arc.

Serenity Articles : The Dandy Flyer

(Originally published on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on October 7, 2006)

In the August 17, 2006 issue of TV Guide (large format), there was an article by Billy Campbell (actor, The 4400) who spent 13 months sailing on a square-rigged tall ship (The Picton Castle) as a crew member. His briefing recounting of what he found fascinating about his time aboard the ship (and why he plans to return to sail with her again) inspired this next contribution to the ‘Verse.

At First Sight…

“When I first set eyes on her, I thought I was looking at a Cortex show on the Earth-that-Was. The Dandy Flyer looks more like ancient sailing ships than a real spacecraft with her long booms, solar sails, and sleek lines. I don’t know how long I peered out that portal of the Jazonah Skyplex before I decided to see what she was about. I latched on to an enthusiastic crew member and soon was getting the grounders’ tour of the ship. Kinyeta, the First Mate, told me later he saw something in my face and he knew I’d be joining them. ‘It’s easy to see who hears the song,’ is how he put it.

“The Dandy Flyer was a relic of the great expansions from Sinhon and Londinum, when people were trying all sorts of ways to make travel to the other planets cheaper and easier. There used to be hundreds of her type but she’s one of the few left that doesn’t hang in a museum. When she was built, pulse drives weren’t being built for civilian vessels so she had to make do with reaction drives and an elaborate and elegant set of solar sails. Where a ship today takes an engineer or two to keep the pulse drive running smoothly, the Flyer needed a crew of forty to sail her effectively. And that’s forty experienced zero-g crew, able to spend hours in the black tending the sails, then come inside and keep working, repairing one of the delicate microfiber sheets, fabricating a new part for a broken winch, or just maintaining the rest of the ship. These days you crew her because you want to, not because she’ll make anyone rich.”

“You never got lonely on the Flyer. She can haul twice as much cargo as your typical Firefly-class, but the living space isn’t generous. Fully crewed, you hotbunked at times, and hammocks lined single room serving as crew quarters. (Officers had it a bit better). That makes an unusual community these days, but you soon learn the rules. As Captain Campbell put it one night at his mess table, ‘Serenity, hard work, and good cheer make a good shipmate.’ Kinyeta had his own version: keep sharp objects and sharp opinions to yourself, live and let live, do your job.”

“The crew I sailed with were mostly dark-skinned men from the moons of Londinum, those hot-climate settlements where many of the original African settlers drifted to. That said, the face and character of the crew continued to evolve as some left and new hands were always coming on board. It doesn’t take too long before you either were in love with the Flyer or you couldn’t wait to get to a decent pulse-drive ship. I enjoyed meeting so many different people.”

“In my time, I saw more lonely settlements and outposts than I can count. Captain Campbell was devoted to bringing food, medicine, and other supplies to places forgotten by everyone else. Much of his payment was in trade so while you never had much coin in your pocket for shore leave, I’ve never eaten better.

“They’ll never credit a solar sailer with making a fast crossing, though on a long leg, she can certainly get much faster than just reaction drives would be able to get. So, yes, sailing the black is a slow process but you… you hear the quiet of the ‘Verse better. It isn’t a complicated life, once you get your duties down. It’s a nice escape for awhile.

“I sailed with her for three years before I had to make my parting. And I know, if I see her again, I’ll be sailing the black with the Flyer.”

The Dandy Flyer

Still need ship statistics for here. Any fan want to submit stats for the Dandy Flyer?

Serenity Articles : The Terraforming Consortium

(Originally published on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on October 6, 2006)

There is a group in the ‘Verse that changes whole worlds but never gets any screen time. I felt it appropriate to document the ‘world-builders’ in some way and express their role in the current ‘Verse. Enjoy!

The Terraforming Consortium

Before the War, before even the Alliance, when humanity was still trembling from its multi-generational voyage from Earth-That-Was, there was the Terraforming Consortium. Combining the resources of all the major governments, corporations, and groups of people, it was founded to fashion the dozens of worlds into places for humanity to settle. Wealth of a kind almost unimaginable was poured into the endeavor and technological research focused on little else for several decades. Slowly, the TC began to visit more worlds in the Core, making ‘adjustments’ to climate, atmosphere, water, plant life, etc., always striving for more ‘Earth-like’ planets.

In most respects, the TC was amazingly successful. Few ‘blackrocks’, or uninhabitable planetoids, remain from their early failures and they have shaped dozens of worlds in the ‘Verse for mankind. True, some require a hardier folk to want to live on them, but with populations exploding on the Core worlds, the push to settle and seek new lands is inexorable.

These days (circa 2517+), the TC is less of a Colossus across humanity’s consciousness, but a titan slowly being forgotten. They have active projects on only a handful of worlds now and much of their gargantuan machinery has been abandoned on ‘finished’ worlds, or floats in the black unneeded. They no longer recruit scientists from the Universities and few study the science of it any more.

But where the TC is still active, there are good men and women trying to play God. They breed stock of plants and animals of a stunning variety from the DNA Banks from Earth-that-was. They watch newer planets carefully to detect signs of seismic instability or ecological breakdown. And there are still a few rocks within the warmth of the sun that await the breath of life.

A TC Monitoring Outpost

The most likely way characters will encounter the Terraforming Consortium is at one of their Monitoring Outposts. Placed late in the terraforming process, some sit in what are now cities while others lie in the most remote parts of a planet. They interface with TC satellites in a mesh over the planet, watching countless aspects of the world and waiting for it to fall out of required parameters.

Each Outpost is fairly small, usually a block building or small compound to house the scientists who analyze and direct the data gathering as well as a support staff to secure the valuable computers, sensor equipment, and data. These will likely be poorly-paid, non-Alliance guards, though some are devoted to keeping their charges safe.

Adventure Suggestions: While a petty theft attempt on an Outpost might bring heroes in to save them, it’s also likely that someone will pay top dollar to get some of the information the TC collects. The TC only shares a fraction of what it collects with the general public and on poor worlds, the rest would provide significant economic advantages to miners, farmers, etc. For something more cataclysmic, a world might start to go ‘bad’ (earthquakes, disease, blight, foul air, etc.), drawing in the TC into a crisis which can’t help but affect the people on the planet.

Serenity Articles : Revealing a Bit More of the ‘Verse

(Since this article was written, we’ve seen beautiful ~official cosmologies of the Whedon ‘Verse which purport to identify all the planets and moons in the multi-star system known as the ‘Verse. Well, that is all shiny and good, but as a game master I love the option of creating my own worlds outside of canon to house whatever adventures or ideas I want to spring on my players. So I don’t hold to canon in this instance so enjoy using the planets presented below. – Jim)

(Originally published on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on October 5, 2006)

In the core Serenity RPG rulebook, we detail 30 planets or moons, drawn from the television show or the movie. Sure you get the highlights, but there are a lot more worlds in the ‘Verse so I’ve decided to detail them for the Dragonlaird Gaming readership. Enjoy!

Columbiana

Location: Rim, Away from Reaver Territory

Status: Red-zoned

Common Knowledge: To the man on the street, Columbiana is practically a fable. For decades its been off-limits, ‘red-zoned’, as the Terraforming Consortium continued to work on making it suitable for human habitation. Periodically, rumors spring up that Columbiana is about to be opened for settlement, creating an ‘Oklahoma Land Rush’ atmosphere, but its never been opened. Nothing else is known about it except the conjectures that its either a blackrock (uninhabitable) or a lush garden the Alliance is keeping from ‘average folk’.

Adventure Suggestions: Lots of adventures can be hooked on Columbiana, whether she’s actually opened up or not. Plenty of people would kill to get their first, to get a hold of planetary survey data to see where the best claims would be, even just to find out the secret. A strong rumor of opening would have a ripple affect on other planets as people geared up to settle or speculate or explore the virgin world.

Gamemaster Knowledge: It is up to individual GMs if Columbiana is ready for settlement and if so, why it hasn’t been opened yet. Never-the-less, it does have a strong Alliance naval presence to interdict ships before they reach the planet. It also has a large Terraforming Consortium presence consisting of scientists, guards, and a small cadre of isolated workers. Massive TC machines sit in orbit and at various places on the planet: atmospheric generators, water transfer stations, biological seeding arrays, etc.

Elsine

Location: Border Worlds

Status: Unrestricted

Common Knowledge: Elsine is the poor brother to Hera, once thought to be a second agricultural breadbasket for the expanding population of the ‘Verse. Rumors have it that the Terraforming Consortium tried too hard to convert the planet and ruined it. Conspiracy theorists believe the attempt was made to break the near monopoly that Hera held to exporting foodstuffs. For whatever reason, it is now clear that Elsine is a large, fairly barren world, prone to dust storms, and hard-bitten settlers tending crops on the edges of the wastelands. For a planet as large as Elsine, the population is minute and it is a great place to get lost. The Alliance Penal Colony Hellsgate resides on a large island on Elsine.

Adventure Suggestions: If a person were sent to Hellsgate, it’d be an adventure escaping. Or coming to Elsine intent on breaking someone or a group out of the colony. Loners and hermits can be found, hiding from their pasts and the PCs may be involved in their past coming back to haunt them. Elsine is a great place to hide things as well, even huge things like spacecraft.

Gamemaster Knowledge: Only the penal colony brings Alliance to the planet and the administrative station on its second moon (Oroyos) is continually understaffed. The Alliance might have other facilities on the planet or the first moon (Charon). They might be running experiments or have secret programs there or on the planet.

Serenity Articles : Interview with Floyd C. Wesel

(Originally published on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on October 4, 2006)

The release of the Serenity RPG at the 2005 Gen-Con in Indianapolis created a wave of interest in the game and a need to have a community for fans. Stepping into this gap, Floyd C. Wesel created Waves in the Black, an unofficial fan and support site for Serenity RPG. The site has grown into the premiere, fan-created support site for the Serenity RPG.

Floyd Wesel has been gaming for 25+ years, pretty much 23 of them spent running games. In between games and gaming events he’s been in the military (US Army) and is currently returned to school in the hopes of getting a degree in education. He’s married (near 11 years) with 3 dogs (about 230 pounds worth of canine). In the late 1980’s he stepped into the industry pond while working with WEG’s Star Wars D6 license. Later he also worked with WEG on several of their game lines. In later years Floyd has worked with AEG (7th Sea) and EDEN (Buffy, Angel, and Ghosts of Albion) as well as having playtested WOTC’s “Star Wars d20” and, of course, Serenity RPG by MWP, among others. Floyd prefers RPGs over beer’n’pretzel games, board games and tactical games and he pretty much HATES collectible-anything-games. “But hey, it takes all kinds and I’m glad that folks can find a game that makes them happy. That’s what I love about the ‘gaming’ hobby.” When you get right down to it, Floyd is a storyteller via almost any medium.

We sat down, virtually, with Floyd to talk about Firefly, Serenity, and the website.

Discovering Firefly

Running only 13 episodes in the U.S. in 2002 before getting cancelled by Fox Television, Firefly became a cult hit when it was released on DVD with all 16 shot episodes included, in the order they were meant to air. Much has been made of how Firefly was mishandled by Fox (running episodes out of order, changing when it would air, tossing it around with World Series coverage), but somehow the word got out and loyal Browncoats were born.

JD: When did you first see Firefly/Serenity?

FW: I watched most of the series when it first ran on FOX, from the first episode that aired. (Though it was a bit of a challenge due to the way they aired them to watch all of them at that time. Stupid Fox.)

JD: Do you have a favorite episode?

FW: I love “Out of Gas”. I know most folk say Jaynestown and Our Mrs. Reynolds, and they are great episodes, but “Out of Gas” is just special to me because of the nature of the story and HOW it’s told. It uses a current problem to show off the most obvious and overlooked character of the show, “Serenity” herself, and how Malcolm simply won’t leave ANYONE behind, especially her. And in the course of the episode, shows how the rest of the cast got on board Serenity. It’s a masterpiece, in my mind.

JD: What did you think of Firefly at first?

FW: I was a fan from the get go. (Oddly, it was Firefly that got me later to really look at Angel & Buffy; shows I wasn’t a fan of at the time, though now I am a huge fan. Which is ironic because it was in a Angel/Buffy playtest project that got me into the Serenity RPG playtest.)

JD: What do you like about the show?

FW: Everything. (Boring answer, I know.) I specifically loved the language of the show.

Serenity RPG

Floyd and I participated in the playtesting of the Serenity RPG from November 2004 through its final, frantic stages before Gen Con 2005 when MWP was getting the last bits of ‘cargo stored on the ship’. It was a large community of active playtesters (more than 20 people made serious contributions at one time or another) along with the comments and opinions of their home gaming groups who served as guinea pigs.

JD: How did you first learn that the RPG was being made?

FW: I was doing a playtest for EDEN for Buffy and Angel and was asked to contact MWP about playtesting Serenity.

JD: Have you been involved in many playtests?

FW: I think the number of playtests is around 12 or so, maybe a bit more or less.

JD: Something obviously keeps you coming back. What is it?

FW: Well, seeing games as they come into being is always cool. Working with folks to solve this or that problem is always interesting. And let’s face it, seeing and playing a game before everyone else is not too shabby a thing. Mainly though it’s a matter of just being a part of something.

JD: What did you think of your experience in helping create Serenity RPG?

FW: It was interesting. I wished we could have had another month or two though to be honest.

JD: I’m sure that’s true of all games, creative drive vs. business deadlines. If you could change one or two things about the Serenity RPG engine, what would they be?

FW: Well, while I love the spirit of the game and the system, the book needed some solid clarifications. Something that would have helped the game would have been some good, straight-up examples of how MWP and Jamie envisioned the game running during a session. We have talked about that and I believe that we’ll see something along those lines coming out at some point. (Though it might be more BSG focused, rather than Serenity. Let’s face it, as a game company you want to support all your games, but to make money and stay in business you HAVE to focus on where your money will be coming from.)

JD: What do you think the future of the game is?

FW: Officially, Bleak. Unless Jamie Chambers and MWP can figure out a way around Universal’s unwillingness to go further with the license; which i hope they can. Unofficially however, I think Serenity will have some solid life for the next few years and then slowly it’ll fade to the very hard core players…unless, of course, there’s another movie or a TV show to shoot some life into it. I’d love to say that it’ll be strong forever, but let’s face it, other interests come along, etc., etc. Ultimately EVERY game has life and longevity that pulses with the fan-base.

JD: Are you (still) the informal errata-keeper for Serenity RPG?

FW: Yes. (Unless Jamie reads this interview. Kidding.)

JD: Where can fans find the Serenity errata?

FW: The Errata is in the busy hands of Jamie. He and MWP will release it as soon as they can. I believe the latest printing of the Serenity RPG has the corrections already within it, though obviously, that doesn’t help the folks who bought one of the other print runs.

JD: Do you run Serenity/Firefly campaigns? If so, do you use the RPG rules? Describe the campaigns.

FW: I have done a few mini-campaigns. One was set during the Unification War, the other was set about the time of Firefly. Usually I run Serenity games for Game Days at the local game store or at conventions like GEN CON, where this year I wrote (3 adventures) and managed MWPs Serenity Games at the Con. BTW, you can download those adventures for free from WAVES.

JD: How successful have you or your players been incorporating Chinese phrases to recreate the Firefly-esque dialogue? Any tips?

FW: The players usually scribble one or two to throw in now and again, but really it has not been a major part of our games. I suggest making a pool of phrases on slips of paper and having a player each pick 1-3 slips. If they can somehow manage to use that phrase in game, in character, then give the player a Plot Point.

JD: Do you use music when you live-game? What do you like for Serenity games?

FW: Yes. I even make soundtracks for many of my games. I don’t mean I record my own music for I am a music idiot. What I mean is I simply take tracks of various CDs and make my own compilation CDs. For Serenity? Hmm, well, there’s the FIREFLY and SERENITY soundtracks themselves. As for other CDs, there’s a lot out there, too many to mention.

JD: There are many Play-by-Post Serenity games active on the net these days. Using the web to bring niche gamers together for a game like Serenity is becoming more and more common. Are you or have you ever participated in a PbP Serenity game?

FW: I have never been involved in any PBP. I don’t think I would like them a fraction as to how much I like table-top RPGs. I am not into computer games for the most part. I love the “people connect” aspect of RPGs and since we communicate 90% of the time in a non-verbal sense, I think too much is lost via email and chat and post. (Hell, someone had to invent “emot-icons” just so people could try and understand HOW someone said something not what or why.)

Waves in the Black

As the most popular fan site for the Serenity RPG, Waves in the Black was created in September 2005 to be a home for discussions on rules, adventure ideas, NPCs, ship designs, and much more. Free to join and worth its weight in platinum to GMs and players alike. A “Best Of” PDF is now available with most popular fan contributions. You can talk to Floyd by his WitB-ID: Ravenshadow.

JD: What is Waves in the Black?

FW: Basically it is a Message Board devoted mainly to the Serenity RPG, but there are sections for all things Firefly and Joss Whedon.

JD: Why did you start it?

FW: Basically, I wanted a place to talk about the RPG and there wasn’t any. This was due to the fact that the game was not out at the time. But then at that GEN CON the game was released, so when I got home, I started WAVES. (I also own REVENANT’S, a MB devoted to the 7th Sea RPG.)

JD: How successful do you think its been?

FW: I think it’s been very successful for a niche game in a niche hobby. I think the community is outstanding, there’s a huge willingness to share at WAVES; from story ideas to art to ship layouts and so on.

JD: What are your plans for the future of the site?

FW: Really, to be honest, the only plans are to “keep flying”. WAVES isn’t trying to be fancy or ultra-modern, it’s just trying to be a place to share within the RPG niche. If anything I might expand it to make some space for the new BSG game that’s coming out next year. It’ll be the same base system as Serenity, so it makes sense. I am going to approach Jamie Chambers to see if I might be able to do a “After Action Report” type thing for BSG during the playtest, telling folks about the game as we playtest it, though obviously I won’t be giving out any real secrets. We’ll see.

JD: Is there something you wish you’d see more of on Waves?

FW: No, not really. I mean I love seeing Ship Plans on the site, and folks love having more options for such things.

JD: Have you considered compiling the best material from Waves (with all attribution and ownership clearly established) and making it available in a PDF? It would be nice to see the rule variants and content in one place. Might help establish the “brand” of Waves further.

FW: Something like that would be possible, and some folks have put together a few PDFs already, but such things take time and my free time these days is a bit thin. UPDATE: Such a PDF is now available: HERE!

Battlestar Galactica

Running with their success with Serenity RPG, Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) bid on and won the license to produce an RPG based on the new Battlestar Galactica television show. They intend to use the popular Serenity RPG rules engine with enhancements to address the particular needs of the new genre. Current estimates put a “quick-start” rule set out later this year with a full book to come in 2007. From the start, MWP secured the rights to 6 BSG-RPG product releases, double the 3 they were permitted under the Serenity license.

JD: Any thoughts on the rumored development of BSG-RPG using the ‘serenity’ engine?

FW: Well, it’s not a rumor, MWP is making the game, though the true playtesting hasn’t quite started yet. While Serenity is stalled, it should benefit from BSG, if for no other reason then that any improvements to the game system will be applicable to Serenity. As for BSG, I think there’s plenty of RP potential, and I look forward to being a part of it, so long as MWP is willing to let me.

JD: True, we’re out of the rumor stage, although development has been postponed a couple times so far. Do you anticipate that MWP will embrace changes to the system that would make it not fully compatible with the original Serenity RPG version? What would you like to see changed/expanded/removed?

FW: No, I don’t think so. The game is fairly open within itself. They’d have to make SERIOUS changes to the basic nature of the game and I don’t think that’s needed. As for expanded, well, obviously it’s going to need more hard-written ship combat rules, given the nature of BSG. I am really interested in how the Lords of Kobol and the Cylon faiths and the “mysteries of the universe” are going to play out in the game.

JD: Do you have a set of Serenity “house rules” that you’re hoping will make it into BSG?

FW: No. I have not seriously worked on anything yet. We won’t start at my table until MWP is ready to start. I did make a BSG PC sheet several months back for the playtesters and gave it to MWP, which actually became the template that MWP used for the Serenity pc sheet, which is cool.

JD: Thanks very much for your time.

FW: You’re welcome.

Serenity Articles : Serenity Mood Music

(Originally published on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on August 24, 2006)

Back before the movie was announced, before the TV soundtrack was released, I put together three CDs of music I thought was Firefly-esque. I find it fascinating that in looking at a couple other lists like this that others have posted, there isn’t any overlap. Firefly has some touchstones musically (western guitar, soaring solo violin) but can really adopt many different flavors. Different moods can be set with music that is more modern (core worlds) vs. more throwback to Civil War era (the Rim). Action sequences can be punctuated by judicious use of electric guitars. All sort of possibilities. I hope this list is helpful to your Serenity game.

NOTE: Any tracks not attributed were dubbed off of the DVD set of the Firefly TV series. Most of these have been made available in better forms on the official TV series soundtrack.

Disc One

Firefly Theme Song (with vocals)

A Unification Bar

Aberdeen – David Goodrich

Inara is Leaving

Hunger – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Love Scene

Iguazu – HBO’s Deadwood Soundtrack

Wayfaring Stranger – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

Loved I not Honor More – Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

Arriving in Deadwood – HBO’s Deadwood Soundtrack

Leave No Man Behind – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Still – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Heart of Gold Segue

Smoke N’Oakum – Master and Commander Soundtrack

I Wish My Baby Was Born – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

Into the Fog – Master and Commander Soundtrack

Wounded Button – Open Range Soundtrack

Card Game – Open Range Soundtrack

In Time – Punisher Soundtrack

Last of the Mohicans – Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

Face Off – Open Range Soundtrack

Laudanum Dream – Open Range Soundtrack

Chase Into Atmosphere

Hovercraft Approach

Still Reprise – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

The Man’s Too Strong – Dire Straits

Revenge – Legends of the Fall Soundtrack

Disc Two

Firefly Theme Song (end credits, no vocal)

Vale of Plenty – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Ashokan Farewell – Ken Burns’ Civil War Soundtrack

Ashes to Ashes – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Of the Earth – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Neil Gows Lament – Pete Clark

DVD Montage

Barra Barra – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Jim & Geoffrey’s Visit to the Highlands – Christine Fraser Ramsey

J’attends – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Mogadishu Blues – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

The Cuckold Comes out of the Amery – Master and Commander Soundtrack

Moody Interlude

Synchrotone – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Tribal War – Blackhawk Down Soundtrack

Am I Born to Die – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

Strathgarry Set – Pete Clark

Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

The Doldrums – Master and Commander Soundtrack

Great High Mountain – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

Man of Constant Sorrow – Oh Brother, Where Art Thou Soundtrack

Disc Three

Firefly Pilot End Credits

Far Side of the World – Master and Commander Soundtrack

Theme from Deadwood – HBO’s Deadwood Soundtrack

You Will Be My Ain True Love – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

The Battle – Master and Commander Soundtrack

The Cuckoo – Cold Mountain Soundtrack

Native Funeral – HBO’s Deadwood Soundtrack

Accidentals of the West – David Goodrich

Ride Across the River – Dire Straits

The Courier – Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

I Will Find You – Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

New Old Joe – David Goodrich

Promentory – Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

Going Home – Gods and Generals Soundtrack

Folk Medley – Master and Commander Soundtrack

The Phasmid – Master and Commander Soundtrack

Lonesome Valley – Oh Brother, Where Art Thou Soundtrack

Spooks on the Hill – Open Range Soundtrack

Wagon Wheel – Open Range Soundtrack

The Kiss – Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

Man of Constant Sorrow (instrumental) – Oh Brother, Where Art Thou Soundtrack

Serenity Articles : Ezekial T. Jonah, Frontier Newspaperman

(Originally posted on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on August 23, 2006)

I think a really strong NPC can create all sorts of new situations for an established group of characters. Imagine if the following fellow had booked passage on Serenity for awhile…

First Impressions

Ezekial cuts a striking figure with his long black coat and top hat. He holds himself like an important person and dresses more for appearance than convenience. His voice is strong and really carries in a crowd. When you talk to him or even listen to him, you can sense the energy he has. He makes you wonder why he isn’t a politician.

World View

Ezekial T. Jonah believes that the ‘Verse needs strong voices willing to say the things that ought to be said. Somewhat of a history buff, he became fascinated by tales of newspapers and heroic reporters back on the Earth-That-Was. And that is how he has modeled his life, seeking truth wherever it lies, speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves, dedicating himself to the greater good.

None of this has made him beloved by the Alliance or anyone with a stake in ‘the ways things are’. He craves to be accepted and respected by the very social upper crust that his investigations endanger. But he’d rather tell the truth once than accept a life membership at the Ting Lao Club on Londinum.

Ezekial is also a skeptic. He fervently believes in verifying things and getting multiple sources. Better yet, he’d rather see things for himself. So he has little patience for conspiracy theorists unless they have strong proof.

His belief in the power of the written word is unusual in an age of flimsies and tri-plex video. ‘Tri-plex can be faked,’ he’ll say, ‘But true words penetrate.’ So he will have a small camera with him to capture evidence but his missives to the ‘Verse are either spoken or written.

Gamemaster Advice

Ezekial should be a fun NPC to play. He’ll always have an opinion about something, invariably tying it back to a scandal people haven’t heard of, or some secret he’s trying to uncover. If neither of those fit, he’ll gladly impart ‘advice’ to just about anyone who will listen, coaching the crack engineer on how to care for ball joints, or explaining the defects in the gun-bunny’s favorite rifle.

Adventure Ideas

Good old Ezekial has a great way of stirring up trouble. He’ll gladly pay passage on a ship-for-hire under false pretenses if it gets him to a story. He’s also not one put off by danger, so he could easily drag PCs into quite dangerous situations. And even being associated with him will bring a new cast of friends and enemies to the PCs for being associated with him.

Some of the truths Ezekial would typically try to uncover are: worker slavery, covered up murders, corrupt Alliance officials, neglected settlements, hushed-up plagues, unpublished Alliance ‘programs’.

Game Statistics

ATTRIBUTES

Agl: d6, Str: d4, Vital: d6, Alert: d10, Intel: d8, Will: d12

Life: 18, Init/React: d6+d10, BurstStr: d4+d4

Memorize: d10+d8, Resist: d6+d6

SKILLS

• Covert d6 (Stealth d10)
• Guns d4
• Influence d6 (Conversation d8, Persuasion d12, d8 Streetwise)
• Knowledge d6 (learned)
• Linguist d6 (smattering of many languages)
• Melee Weapon Combat d4
• Perception d6 (Intuition d8 Investigation d10)
• Performance d6 (Stringed Instruments d10)

ASSETS

• Allure (charismatic speaker/writer) (M): +2StepSkill for persuasion with words, spoken or written. Plot Points count double spent on such checks.
• Sharp Sense: Hearing (m): +2StepAlert when trying to eavesdrop.
• Trustworthy Face (m): +2StepWill getting folks to trust him. Better to get the truth.

COMPLICATIONS

• All Preened Up (m): This concern with appearance is focused on social status. Fusses on appearing ‘proper’ even in the worst places.
• Allergy (grasses) (m): Minor reaction (sneezes, rash), -2StepPhysicalAttribute in its presence or until take medication.
• Hyper-Focused (m): Hard to distract when he’s focused on a story.

POSSESSIONS

• Customized Datapad: A ubiquitous possession in the Core as a work tool and communications hub, Ezekial uses his primarily for data storage and for drafting up his Missives to the ‘Verse. He prefers to use anonymous cortex terminals for research, downloading results or data to the datapad. He’s removed the networking card from it and has to transfer information using a short, old-fashioned cable. He keeps the datapad with him at all times. It has been stolen inthe past by people who didn’t want the truth to come out.
• Clothes of Status/Cherry Trunk: Ezekial travels with a large cherry-wood trunk in which he keeps several changes of clothes, all proper for social occasions, though tending toward black. He has almost no working clothes or gear that others would think obvious for a traveller on the Rim.
• Pencil and Pad: A sort of throwback to his Earth-that-Was idols, he can be seen taking notes on the paper pad with the pencil. He keeps the pad with him at all times. It has been stolen in the past by people who didn’t want the truth to come out.

NOTE: Some traits reference Nathan Rockwood’s ‘New Traits’ list available at Cortex System RPG, the best fan-run Serenity RPG site on the net!

Serenity Articles : The Long Reach

(originally published at www.dragonlairdgaming.com on August 22, 2006)

The Serenity RPG provides several large organizations for Gamemasters to use but they aren’t described in as much detail as I would prefer. The following organization is a prototype for the style and depth of description I think a Gamemaster would appreciate. Comments welcome.

Common View

“The Long Reach? That’s them doctors, right? Good folk, I guess. Kinda like priests who know how to save more than your soul and that’s mighty valuable out here. Never had to go ’em myself, but they saved my cousin’s leg back in the miner riots of ’06. Not many folk are willin’ to cause trouble for good folk like that.” – Festus Wright, Street Interview, Eavesdown Docks.

Alliance View

Long Reach Inc is a registered charitable organization within the Alliance and receives the appropriate tax considerations. They have no other formal standing within the Alliance.

Gamemaster View

The Long Reach is a loose association of doctors and other people willing to sacrifice everything to bring medicine and hope to the most destitute and hopeless holes in the ‘Verse. They are primarily a group of doctors who travel the Rim visiting small colonies, settlements, mining towns, and the like, tending to the people as best they can. They struggle to fill one of the Alliance’s most notorious gaps in serving its people.

The Alliance has no official relationship with the Long Reach and usually they have to make their own way in the ‘Verse. (There are rumors of sympathetic Alliance officers leaking supplies to LR groups or giving them unregistered travel to hot spots.) Usually the LR have to hire vessels to ship their gear, medicines, and doctors. They have a few ships that they own, with the crew of each ship counting as Long Reach members.

Adventure Ideas

While initially conceived as a non-player organization, the Long Reach would serve well as a more altruistic campaign theme with characters being all members. They could still have Browncoat or Alliance sympathies, but you would avoid the pattern of “ship for hire” set by the TV show and movie. The PCs could begin as a Long Reach team, catching rides with whatever ships they could, eventually graduating to their own ship either through salvage, a wealthy benefactor, or the like. Their “missions” could be directed or suggested by Long Reach headquarters, or they could be self-directed.

The Long Reach can stick its nose in places where people might otherwise not get involved. Whether the PCs are members or just a hired ship, the LR can get entangled in all sorts of adventures: discovering corporate oppression of workers, uncovering Alliance secret operations or ‘experiments’, even facing down evil men on the smallest scale.

Membership Has Its Privileges

One of the nice aspects of a Long Reach-oriented campaign is that the PCs aren’t alone in the ‘Verse. They can meet fellow Reachers for comaraderie, cooperation, and aid. A Long Reach member can be identified by the leather jackets (bomber-style) with the Long Reach logo on the shoulder. Members can usually find the local clinic and crash for the night, get some fresh supplies, hear the latest rumors, connect with old friends, get a hot meal, etc.

More Details

The Long Reach is technically headquartered on Ariel where it was founded. The offices there are primarily a fund-raising and recruiting face to the organization, snagging young, idealistic medical professionals as they graduate from Ariel’s prestigious universities. They are a fairly successful charitable organization, letting Core worlders assuage their guilt over the plight of the Rim worlders with a small donation. The Ariel offices also house a residential facility for ailing or aged members of the organization (their retirement plan).

On the Border and Rim planets, there is usually a Long Reach clinic or office in the major and even minor cities. Towns and smaller settlements get visited as often as personnel, supplies, and money permit.

Total Membership of the Long Reach is quite fluid, but averages about 100 men and women. There are about twenty staff in the Ariel offices. There are core teams of 3-4 people in the major cities of the Border and Rim planet. The rest are mobile teams, working their way in long circuits across the settled planets.

Design Diary: Azell Valley Campaign 1

(Originally posted on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on May 15, 2009)

At the beginning of 2009, my home group has lost momentum with our Serenity campaign due to nearly two months of cancelled sessions, holidays, etc. It seemed like a good time to start a new campaign. Huzzah!

I was ready to get back to helming a fantasy campaign and after consultation with the group, we decided to return to my Esterra Campaign World. This was done because everyone at the table had played in at least some games set in Esterra and they wanted to leverage their familiarity with the world. I chose to set the campaign about 300 years after the last “Big Thing” when the Dragon Throne was resurrected from underneath Ramal and the era of the Dragon Empire began anew. This kept it close to what they expected, eliminated the meddling of other player characters in the world and let me reset a lot of things.

One thing that I’m always working on is keeping the game focused, tight, and moving. Too often, my players will not maintain a good vision of what needs to be done, what the quest is, etc. Certainly you could blame that on our growing collective senility or the fact that gaming night occurs after a hard day’s work for all of us when we aren’t our freshest. We did finally move from a once every three weeks schedule to a once every two weeks schedule which seems to be helping continuity in the game.

The setup began like this. Each player character was a former apprentice of a scholar-wizard named Vells Gilroth in the Azell Valley. The Valley is in the same nation as most of the other games have been set but far away from Ramal, the capital and most visited location. They came from all different classes but seemed to be dwarves and elves. Each had spent some time at Vells’ manor house, learning all sorts of things like philosophy, history, ecology of monsters, etc. They’d each left Vells in the last year or so but now, based on a message from him, they have been summoned back to the valley.

Vells is important as he is the brother of Erik Gilroth, Lord of Azell Valley and resident of the small castle overlooking the town. Erik and Vells do not get along although both speak with their sister, Anna Gilroth, high priestess of the local temple.

Upon arriving in the valley, they run into two sets of monsters attacking travelers and locals, each set burdened with 300 crowns of gold minted in the Dragon Empire. When they reach the one town in the valley, Shammelvot, they find it draped in mourning banners. Vells Gilroth is dead. (FADE TO BLACK)

Further inquiry tells them that Vells was killed only the night before, his headless body appearing out of nowhere to crash down on his brother’s feast table. Vells’ manor is sealed in stone and covered in dangerous runes. His manservant was sent to Shammelvot a few hours before his death but the groundskeeper is missing.

Here I take the time to describe the death rituals of the predominant religion. One of the player characters also died in those early monster melees. He was dwarven, brother to the other dwarf, so we played out the dwarven rituals as well (somewhat modeled on Jewish traditions). The PCs attend the funeral and the wake being held at the town tavern, the Scarlet Fox.

Soon there is a reading of Vells’ will . The manservant also slipped each PC a piece of vellum, torn from the bottom of the will. Each piece is a symbol. A big hint in the will is that Vells lets slip that he has three siblings (Erik, Anna, and ???). His only inheritance to the PCs is the reference to a working song that he taught them back in their apprenticeship day called “The Pieces Will Go”. He ends the phrase with “99 days and not a moment more”.

Design Diary: Azell Valley Campaign 2

(Originally posted on www.dragonlairdgaming.com on June 12, 2009)

Four sessions in, the jury is still out about the 4e rule system, but we haven’t abandoned it yet. I think it will probably work out okay. Time will tell if we convert all future campaigns over to it. Momentum will probably get us there.

So I signed up for Wizards of the Coast’s D&D Insider service. It comes with a nice character creator, online encounter generation tool, all the rules online, and access to the online versions of Dragon and Dungeon magazine. We used the character builder (MUCH better than the 3e piece-o-feces) and I’ve been using the encounter tool. The encounters have ended up being very tough, usually with one PC getting knocked below zero. By the encounter tool, I was making standard encounter strengths, so we’re thinking its just inexperience with the system. We also have a little bit different mix of players so they are sort of going back to basics, tactics-wise. We’ll see how they do going forward.

I decided to weave Keep on the Shadowfell into the game so the players and I would experience a supposedly balanced module. It didn’t take me long to determine that Dar Hvrenna, the groundskeeper who fled Vells’ death, fled to Winterhaven. That’s the hook that will draw them out of Azell Valley.

I encouraged the players to start their “Plot Map”. Since we only game once every two weeks, after we get off work, remembering what is going on can be a challenge. We do have one player keeping a log but that gets kind of thick to review. The Plot Map will let them see at a glance who the key characters are, the possible clues, and their goals. With that consistent reinforcement, I think their game consistency will improve.

I’ve started a Wiki for my Esterra Campaign world (sorry, it’s private hosted so I can’t share the site, at least yet). The site covers details of all the campaigns and Ohio Games I’ve run in Esterra. It’s under construction (duh) but I’m trying to add things about the current campaign first, then relevant world details, then covering past campaigns and campaign world eras. Since we run our game with some laptops around, people can access the wiki in the game and have done so.

I created a secret GM-only page on the wiki to help me organize all my campaign details (always a struggle since I’m never happy with the tool I use). Going through all the information to put it in the main wiki has really helped my thought process, enabling me to develop my plots and adventures more completely. So here’s the breakdown.

Vells was murdered by his brother, Cyrus. Vells has some ability to see the future so he knew it was coming. He set up his own return, setting his manor house to seal after his death, covered in explosive runes but also some clues. He had a will and parts of it were given to the PCs (all former apprentices). The will sends them to five places around Esterra. Each place will help fill in the story and help them assemble the item that will open the manor house once again. If they don’t have it open within 99 days of his death, he’ll be lost forever. Vells hid all the information in cryptic clues and different places to try to prevent his brother from learning that he’ll come back.

Cyrus was one of the Gilroth brothers, sent away after the death of their father under murky circumstances. He has harbored a BIG grudge, plotting and planning for his day of revenge. He became a fearsome warrior and started a knightly order, pledged to honorable works though he uses them for his own schemes from time to time. He paid orc tribes in the region of Azell Valley to invade with 8 raiding parties to keep everyone’s attention misdirected while he killed Vells and learned what he could about the state of the valley.

Our heroes helped drive off or kill the orc raiders and they got a glimpse of Cyrus, hidden inside a suit of silver full plate armor. They have already guessed that the Silver Knight is Cyrus, which means that Cyrus has taken notice of them too.

With the orc threat gone, next they will pursue the missing groundskeeper, Dar Hvrenna, off to Winterhaven and the module will begin.

That’s it for now. I’ve got a Serenity/Horror one-day game I’m prepping for August and we’ll see how the 4e campaign fares in the next installment of the Dragonlaird Gaming Design Diaries.