Customer Reviews

Serenity Roleplaying Game

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not a role player but I bought this book on the strength of learning how to play. The book is covered with beautiful photographs and design layout of the various ships. It also has a geography for the known 'verse. The book has dossiers on all the crew members with their strengths and weaknesses if you choose to play as a crew member. For the more creative fan, the book walks you through creating a new character. Like all role playing games, the background history is given as well as rules to follow. If you are a gamer and loved Firefly this is right up your ally. IF you are a Firefly fan and do not game , this is right up your ally because of the history and insight to characters is wonderful, along with photos, diagrams, etc. For any fan of Firefly, this is a must have.

Now, seeing as there's two parties that'll be looking at this, I'm going to address this to both of them individually; first to browncoats, and second to roleplayers. Go ahead and skip to the section that applies to you if you want, or you can read my little introduction.

Ok, I've been playing RPG's since I was nine or ten, and I also fair near recently became a big Firefly/Serenity fan, so when I first saw this book, two things immediately leapt to my mind. The browncoat in me said "Sweet! A Serenity RPG!" While the

roleplayer in me said "Oh no, not another cheap movie rip-off."

I'd been a roleplayer for a much longer time, so that side of me won out at first. I figured I had d20 Future, so I could make a campaign set in the 'Verse we all know and love if I wanted to. Eventually, though, I read some reviews, and decided to go ahead and get it. Worst case scenario, I ended up with a lot of interesting stuff about the movie. Now, if you haven't already guessed from the rating, it was a wee bit better than that.

And now on to the review!

To Browncoats:

When I first opened this book, it nearly blinded me, it was so shiny. In addition to all sorts of information about the ships, the stuff, and the 'Verse, it really does a great job of representing all the characters. The system is simple and easy to learn, but it's complex enough that it'll last you a while. It's easy to roleplay, and for all y'all that I'm sure will find yourselves as new gamemasters, it's easy to adjucate as well. Browncoats in general should have no problem with it, and a lot of fun.

To Roleplayers:

First off, I'm going to say this: powergamers need not apply. The leveling system is rather simple, combat is quick and deadly, and the game is mainly focused around roleplaying. If the roleplaying is what you like, though, there are few systems that combine roleplaying and mechanics better. Also, it introduces a couple of new mechanics that I find really interesting, such as:

Plot Points: You get these for doing stuff right. If you accurately roleplay a complication, if you do something the GM just happens to really like, if you achieve a character's goal, you get a/some plot points. Sure, there's the basic spend them to improve your checks, but you can also use them to affect the story in a limited way ("It turns out, the mayor used to be in my platoon in the war, and is willing let us off with a warning.").

Ability/Skill Dice: Rather than having a strength score of, say, 12, you have a strength score of d8, or d12+d2, or the like. Likewise, you have a d6 in Unarmed combat, and a d6(d10) in Guns (Pistols). So then, if you were making a check to shoot someone with your pistol, and you had an Agility of d4, you'd roll 1d4+1d10. Also, no particular skill is tied to a certain ability score; the GM decides based on what you're trying to do. Quirky, but all in all, I think it's neat.

In a nutshell, it's new, fresh, and I heartily recommend it.

To Everyone:

Now, there is a reason it didn't get 5 stars. It doesn't have an outrageous number of advancement options, but then, that's to be expected, and it doesn't have a small amount either. Also, it is distinctly lacking in the character sheet department. Personally, I don't use character sheets all too much, but I know I'm odd like that. Don't worry, though, as you can find a number of sheets online; just google "Serenity RPG character sheets".

All things considered, this book, against the odds, does an outstanding job, and you'd be making a good choice if you bought it.

Having gotten my hands on a copy of this shiny rulebook, my standards for the RPGs I play jumped a few notches. The core rules are simple and efficient, and the primary mechanic---the use of Plot Points---allows for a lot of fun, drama, and good storytelling without removing the gritty, life-on-the-line feel of the series.
To put myself in perspective, I'm a long-time gamer and gamemaster, and actually contributed to the playtesting and design of the Serenity Roleplaying Game. Up until just now, I was refraining from posting a review, as I considered myself biased....however, the reaction to the game that I've recieved from my friends (who did not get to contribute or playtest) assures me that my views are far from unusual. After showing the book around briefly, I've got more than 20 people wanting to play, some gamers with no Firefly experience, some gamer Browncoats, and some Browncoats who never touched the funny dice before in their lives. And they all love it.
After doing character creation---unusually easily, compared to d20 or AD&D, or even White Wolf---and a few brief sessions, everyone is having fun with the game. The dice system (rating each attribute and skill as a die-type like 'd4' or 'd8', rather than an abstract number) made it easy to get the non-roleplayers into it, and my gamer-geek buddies love the atmosphere of the game and characters, the way they can control the story with Plot Points instead of just getting 'experience points'....the list goes on.
To draw this ramble to a close, everyone whom I've shown the book to has gotten something fun out of it---the setting, the rules, the chance to sail the black. The chance to spit in the eye of the Feds, or turn tail and run like a bitty little bug when the Reavers come callin'. That's what makes this game so worth it, whether you're just a fan of the show, a gamer who never heard of Serenity, or someone without experience in either.

The official web site (www.serenityrpg.com) says a fourth printing is in progress and will be out in August or September 2006 so another review may be helpful. That web site also offers a character sheet and index that are not included in the game book itself.

While I am a new Serenity/Firefly fan I am an old role playing game (RPG) fan. So I was very excited to pick up a copy of this game both to see how it handled traditional RPG elements as well as to gain a little additional back story on the Serenity milieu.

As far as additional back story goes, the game is more of a compilation of information from Firefly/Serenity than it is a fleshing out of it. There is no map of the planets, something that is a foundation of almost every science fiction RPG, and little information presented that didn't appear in the series or movie. While these references often brought a smile, they were not illuminating. I do give them credit for finessing what I thought was one of the more interesting issues - paper money being more valuable than platinum - which Simon referred to in the Ariel episode. While the economic details are still something of a mess (100 silver pieces = $10?), I thought they finessed the explanation of this dual monetary system aspect well.

As a game, Serenity has a lot to recommend it. Characters are generated by allocating points, so everyone starts with characters of similar power. The mechanic used is one of bigger die the higher the attribute, with average being a six sided die. I thought this was very clever and adds a lot of drama into the game. Even if you have a great character attribute you can still roll a one and "botch" things up. Plus you get to roll lots and lots of die, as each skill check uses one die for your base attribute and another for your skill level. More die = more fun!

I was also very impressed with character development. There is a good and wide array of complications (disadvantages) and assets (advantages) that not only help your character but provide valuable role play cues for players. For example, if you choose "stingy" as a complication it not only gives you points to allocate elsewhere but some guidance on how to play your character and fill in their back story. What impressed me even more was how they took this same system and extended it to ships - very clever. Many games, e.g. Traveler, have more extensive ship construction rules, but this game is the only one I've seen where the ships felt like a character. Also, unlike many science fiction RPGs, a ship is within financial reach of a starting party. (You can buy a Firefly class transport for about 2,400 credits and each character starts with 750 cr. Watch out for maintenance and upkeep though!)

Finally, the production values seem to be solid.

As can be expected from a one volume treatment, there are a few holes. The most glaring was that there were no comprehensive examples of pretty crucial elements of game play such as combat. The rules are very flexible and seemed open to a lot of interpretation. A look at the offical web site showed lots of posts about rules questions and there is already an alternate combat system posted. I've already mentioned the absence of a map, and given that the core premise of the game is space travel this seems like something that should be a priority to remedy. Also, the authors inserted a lot of "Serenity" language and speaking style into the rules and I found this off putting. However, this is a matter of taste and it seemed to diminish deeper into the book.

I should also point out that I sent in a rules question (regarding combat) to the contact link on the official site and got a personal response from Jamie Chambers (the author!) within 24 hours. Very impressive!

While I am overall pleased with my purchase I'm looking forward to the promised errata. (The errata should be already incorporated into the fourth or later printing you'll probably be purchasing new from Amazon.) Perhaps the game master's screen also offers some clarification. There is also the Out in the Black module expected August 2006, perhaps that will offer some additional background and fill out the `verse a bit more.

Here's the way it is: this is one VERY shiny game. I've been a professional both in novels and game design. I'll tell you straight up; Margaret and I go way back and that's a lot of words on the page. So maybe you'll think I've got a bit of a slant to my review. That's fine - but it doesn't make this game any less shiny. This is the game that after twenty years of rules-smithing brought me back to having fun in an RPG. This is the game that actually made me want to PLAY an RPG just for the fun of it for the first time in years.

I love `Firefly' and will be ahead of you in line for the `Serenity' movie. This game, however, has brought me a gateway to experiencing the `Verse first hand - to feel like I'm a part of it. This isn't your Daddy's RPG - from cover to cover this book is a feast for the eyes. There's substance here, both in the graphics from the film and the details of the `Verse, Serenity and her crew- all supported by a rules system that is easy to learn, fast in action and infinite in its application.

It's all here in the finest presentation I've ever seen for a game or any other book for that matter. For `Firefly' fans, `Serenity' fans or those of you RPG fans looking for the best game out there - this game is a must. I've got my four copies for my family and the dice are rollin'. Maybe I am biased - but that don't change the fact: this is the one you need.

There are really two ways to view the Serenity role-playing game. One is as a guidebook. Combining short fiction by Margaret Weis with a comprehensive description of the 'Verse as presented in the movie Serenity and the television series Firefly. Here you can find just about every bit of fact that has been presented about the 'Verse, from character sketches of Mal Reynolds' crew to details about Earth-That-Was and the current shape of the black. It even includes a short list of Chinese slang for those who have wondered what some of the Chinese curses uttered by the crew during the TV series mean.

The second way to look at the book is as a role-playing game, which is obviously what it is intended to be. The game is simple but unique, using the basic Ability + Skill formula that many RPGs use. The difference here is that the abilities and skills are not represented by numbers but rather by dice. So if you want to shoot someone and you have a d8 Agility and a d6 Shootin' skill, you'd roll a d8 and a d6 and add the numbers together, hopefully beating the target number and inflicting some pain. This system is very simple and allows for a wide variety of results. It also means that you'll roll a critical failure less often if you're really good at something; most RPGs feature systems that give everyone an equal chance of botching or rolling a critical success. It can be confusing early on, however, since modifiers are not applied numerically but in dice steps instead. For example, a +2 bonus doesn't just add to your roll; you roll at two steps higher. In the example above, someone with a +2 modifier would roll a d10 instead of a d6 for their Shootin' skill. (Two steps = d6 to d8 to d10.) This may seem simple, but it is somewhat less intuitive than just adding straight numbers to the situation which slows things down just a bit.

In general, this book provides everything you need to create and play characters in the 'Verse or even to take on the roles of the cre of Serenity. It is on occasion hampered by organizational errors and logic problems. The prices for equipment, for example, make no sense. A single bottle of whiskey can cost someone more than a week's worth of food, for example, and the conversion between platinum and credits are a major pain because they involves decimals; one credit equals 2.5 platinum, but the prices for goods differ everywhere in the 'Verse. The biggest problem that the book has is the lack of an index, making it almost impossible to look up a rule during gameplay without stopping the action and spending time flipping through the book.

Overall, the Serenity RPG is a very useful tool for anyone who wants to learn about or adventure in the 'Verse. If it had a bit more organization, it would be just about perfect.

An elegant, simple system geared FAR more towards the roleplaying end of the genre than the techno-crunchy-bable end, Serenity is more for recreating stories than for fully engaging the hard-core roleplayers. It's no Rifts, let's put it that way.

With a REALLY good GM, this system is FULL of possibilities. It will be a BLAST with a good group of roleplayers led with vision and creativity. If your group is a bunch of hack-n-slashers and you usually game on the planet Montyhall IV, this won't be for you. The derth of technnical details from physics to travel times is maddening to the more technically minded gamer.

As a sourcebook for the movie and verse, it's GREAT. If you can take this as canon, you can't live without it.

Still won't tell you whether there's one sun or three or five, or how far Triumph is from Ariel, but as for the fluff? It's all there, baby.

All the stuff you need to tell a GREAT story.

This is a wonderful resource for fans of the show "Firefly" and the movie "Serenity" (I'm writing the tuesday before the official movie opening). Lots of info you'd never glean nor guess just from watching the shows. Yes, they do technologically increase the gravity for a whole planet.

Just a quick read through of the RPG rules shows it to be simple, elegant, and in need of more thought. According to the rules, it's just as easy to sneak past a guard in a night time forest as that same guard in a well lit white hallway. Just compare the rolls for the sneaker and sneakee, no modifiers for difficulty.

For actions requiring multiples dice rolls (upgrading an engine over several days) there is almost no chance for outright failure: it just takes more time, even for a "heroic" level of difficulty (you only have a spanner in your toolbox). Just keep totalling your rolls, only failing if you roll snake eyes twice in a row. A merely competent engineer (2d6) vs. heroic difficulty (total 95) has close to a 98% chance of eventual success, and will take about 15 rolls to eventually succeed. (I'm not a great mathematician, but I think this is about right).

Smart folks will be able to correct the rules as they go. The RPG system gives the feeling of a product that wasn't tested enough before release.

Highly recommended as a fan resource, or as a "game supplement" for those who want to adapt the setting for another game. Not recommended as an RPG system.

This is a gorgeous book with lavish, full-color art, maps and stills from the "Serenity" film. In this regard, it's a fine product.

However, as a playable RPG, this product is quite lacking.

The writing adopts a 'Verse-esque tone in both the rule content and the opening chapter vignettes that is often cringe-worthy. The book is also fairly disorganized and rules often confusingly presented; expect a lot of page-flipping during initial play. On top of this, the game engine at its core is fairly pedestrian and uninspired, and the GM and player advice is about ten years out of date and actively antithetical to fun gaming. If it were 1997, this might be a passable effort. As it is, what you have is really a half-finished house engine tied to a lucrative license that it does a poor job of representing. That there's a big disclaimer on the writeup for River that states (paraphrased) "These stats do not represent River's ability as presented in the film; she has been modified to better balance with the rest of the crew" should be a red flag to anyone looking to capture the Firefly/Serenity experience with this system. (Why she's even presented as a PC, I have no idea.) I honestly find it somewhat sad that this game is selling in droves to many Browncoats whom I imagine are new to roleplaying. The hobby has progressed so far beyond what's in this game.

There's nothing that this system does that existing systems can't do as well or better. I'd suggest simply pairing your DVDs with an engine that suits your sensibilities (d20, GURPS, FATE*, Primetime Adventures, etc) rather than investing money in this product.

If you do decide to buy this, make sure to get the most current printing (4th, as of this writing), as there have been many significant corrections and rule changes incorporated, as well as an index being added. FYI, the Serenity GM's screen does not include these changes (a source of some confusion for our group).

[...]

ok so who am I, its good to know a little bit about the person your reading a review of. I am a firefly/serenity fan at least once I saw it. I missed it when it was on TV but watched it a couple a months back and fell in love with the show and its concept. I have been a gamer (both GM and player) for over 15 years and have played just about all the games out there (D&D in all its versions, Deadlands, 7th Sea, Spycraft, Silver Age Sentinals, the list goes on and on). So I write this review as an experienced gamer and a fan of the show.

If you're a fan of Firefly/Serenity or an RPG lover that's looking for some space action then this is the game for you. Having played the game at this years Dragon Con and read through the book a couple times since I can speak some degree of experience. The rules are simple and easy to understand, which is good for both first time players and those like me that are a little tired of some of the other more rules heavy games.

I also am a believer that the rules system captures the spirit and shininess of the verse very well. Jamie Chambers did a fine job here is that respect. He made the game different while still capturing the spirit of the show/movie. In the open gaming license age that we live in its nice to see some games out there that have not bowed down to the all mighty D20. Not that there is anything wrong with that I am a big D&D/d20 fan. It is however nice to play different systems some times and as good as the d20 system is its not the best for every game. For Serenty this system just works better then D20 would have in my opinion.

As for the book it's self; the layout, art work, graphics are awesome. Its great that they were able to use many pictures from the movie without spoiling it, so don't be afraid to pick it up now it will not spoil the movie for you. You can learn a good deal more about the verse from the pages of this book, but there isn't an answer to everything. I am sure/hope that if the first book is successful there will be future books to go into greater depth about the world of firefly/serenity. The fiction that was written by Margaret Weis is awesome and really captures the characters from the show and gives you a better idea of how the game plays.
The only negative is that I want more, which is a good thing, lol. The book is so good I am already looking for the info on the next book, supplements, web enhancement, adventures, etc.

Well its time to get a move on, I need to go convicne a local theater that a midnight showing on Thursday the 29th is a good idea, lol. Have fun with the book and make sure to see the movie.