Everything Jules Verne could have written.
Everything H.G. Wells should have written.
Everything A. Conan Doyle thought of
but never published – because it was too fantastic.
Welcome to my game. The genre
is Space 1889, a Victorian space opera. The game mechanics are Hero System
(because I'm familiar with them). Characters are created according to the
Space 1889 system, and then converted to Hero. As a consequence, most Hero
skills, perks, talents and powers are not available. Most characters will
also have no Disadvantages other than those assigned by the GM (more on that
later), but players are encouraged to flesh out their characters' personalities
and backgrounds. Please read the character creation section fully before you
start.
The game runs on-and-off on
Friday nights at Burr Hall, Nassau Street, Princeton. We try to get started
by 8:30 PM, and play until... whenever.
This is the log of the games to date.
To create a character, please study these files and any files that they link to:
This is a PDF character sheet for Space 1889 . I take no responsibility for the spelling.
The Space 1889 to Hero System conversion document
is in progress, below.
Below are two scales for converting Space 1889 Attributes to Hero System Characteristics. The first is used in my game, since it roughly matches the description in the game book: a "1" is pretty poor, a "6" is as good as you are likely to see, and "3" is about average. In the second "heroic" conversion, the lowest value is "average" and the upper end is higher. This might be good for a very swashbuckling game.
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
Strength (Str)
|
STR ((Str x 3) + 2)
|
Space 1889 Attributes of 1 - 6
|
|
Agility (Agl)
|
DEX ((Agl x 3) + 2)
|
convert as 5 - 20, at intervals of 3.
|
|
Endurance (End)
|
CON ((End x 3) + 2)
|
|
|
BODY ((STR + CON) / 2)
|
Average of STR and CON
|
|
|
Intellect (Int)
|
INT ((Int x 3) + 2)
|
|
|
EGO ((INT + PRE) / 2)
|
Average of INT and PRE
|
|
|
Charisma (Chr)
|
PRE ((Chr x 3) + 2)
|
|
|
COM (whatever seems appropriate)
|
|
|
|
PD (STR / 5)
|
Figured Characteristics
|
|
|
ED (CON / 5)
|
|
|
|
SPD (Speed)
|
Agl 1: SPD 1, Agl 2-5: 2, Agl 6: 3
|
|
|
REC ((STR / 5) + (CON / 5))
|
|
|
|
END (CON x 2)
|
|
|
|
STUN (BODY + (STR / 2) + (CON / 2))
|
|
|
|
Social Level (Soc)
|
Perks and Disads, Social and Wealth
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
Strength (Str)
|
STR ((Str x 3) + 7)
|
Space 1889 Attributes of 1 - 6
|
|
Agility (Agl)
|
DEX ((Agl x 3) + 7)
|
convert as 10 - 25, at intervals of 3.
|
|
Endurance (End)
|
CON ((End x 3) + 7)
|
|
|
BODY ((STR + CON) / 2)
|
Average of STR and CON
|
|
|
Intellect (Int)
|
INT ((Int x 3) + 7)
|
|
|
EGO ((INT + PRE) / 2)
|
Average of INT and PRE
|
|
|
Charisma (Chr)
|
PRE ((Chr x 3) + 7)
|
|
|
COM (whatever seems appropriate)
|
|
|
|
PD (STR / 5)
|
Figured Characteristics
|
|
|
ED (CON / 5)
|
|
|
|
SPD (Speed)
|
Agl 1-4: SPD 2, Agl 5: 3, Agl 6: 4
|
|
|
REC ((STR / 5) + (CON / 5))
|
|
|
|
END (CON x 2)
|
|
|
|
STUN (BODY + (STR / 2) + (CON / 2))
|
|
|
|
Social Level (Soc)
|
Perks and Disads, Social and Wealth
|
|
On Perks and Disadvantages
Characters with Social Levels of 1 or 2 have
the Wealth Disadvantages of "Destitute" or "Poor". They also have Social Disadvantages
worth 10 or 5 points (these figures may change), representing the frequency
or intensity that they are disadvantaged by their class origins. On the plus
side, these characters have the skill of Streetwise. The GM may, at his discretion,
assign any character other Disads, such as Distinctive Features, Psychological
Limitations, Physical limitations, or Reputations.
Social Level 5 characters have the Perks "Well
Off" and "Member of the Lower Nobility". At level 6, these become "Wealthy"
and "Member of Aristocracy". Soc 6 characters also have a servant Follower.
Characters may have other Perks, depending on their choice of careers, such
as: Contact, Favor, Local Police Powers, Passport, or Press Pass. The "gentleman
companion" of an Adventuress might be either a Follower or a Dependent NPC.
On converting Space 1889 skills to Hero System
In most cases, a skill level of "1" in Space 1889 is
a Familiarity (8- roll) with that skill in Hero. A skill of "2" is the full
skill, and anything higher is a plus to the skill roll. The only Everyman
Skills in this game are the skills that Space 1889 gives you as defaults.
For the combat-related skills of Fisticuffs,
Close Combat and Marksmanship, a "1" is a Familiarity with unarmed combat
or a weapon type. Skills of "2" or "3" are 2-point Combat Skill levels – usable
only as plusses to OCV. Skills of "4" or more convert as 3-point Combat levels,
which can be used for OCV, DCV or extra Damage Classes. DCV (from Fisticuffs
or Close Combat) can defend an unarmed combatant against an attacker with
a melee weapon, but not against an attacker with a gun or bow. The Throwing
skill is Range levels with hurled objects or weapons.
Trimsman is a Professional Skill used with liftwood-supported
aircraft. The skill is usually at the level of the lower of the two
Trimsman skills. The character then applies skill levels with the type of
craft that he/she is more proficient with.
In addition to the individual criminal skills,
the Crime cascade has some extras: Streetwise and Criminology at the level
of the cascade (the highest skill in the group). The lower-class Streetwise
and the Crime Streetwise skills are not additive: use whichever is higher.
High Social Level is actually a drawback for criminal Streetwise: reduce the
Streetwise skill one level for each Social Level above Middle Class. A character
with a Lockpick skill of "4" gets the Security Systems skill; each subsequent
increase in Lockpick is also a plus to Security Systems.
With the Mechanics and Engineering cascades,
a character also has the Mechanics skill and the Engineer Skill at the level
of the lowest skill in the appropriate cascade. The individual skills in
the cascades are Dexterity (for Mechanics) or Intelligence (for Engineering)
Skills. Explosives is the Demolitions skill in Hero System.
Mountaineering is both the Climbing skill and
a Knowledge Skill about cliffs and mountains.
Swimming is a Constitution-based skill. Use
it to make a complementary roll: add 1" to the Swim move for every two points
the roll is made by. Subtract 1" from Swimming when in rough water, or swimming
while heavily encumbered. Note: typical women's clothing counts as significant
encumbrance for this purpose.
In the Space: 1889 system, Observation is the
perception skill and defaults to Int-1; disregard the default. Any amount
of Observation beyond the default becomes levels of enhanced perception in
Hero System.
All Science skill rolls are based on INT (except
Familiarities, of course). A character with the Science skill of Astronomy
also has Navigation: Space at the same level.
Gunnery is Combat levels with heavy weapons.
The first level is familiarity with a weapon type. Higher levels are 3-point
Penalty Skill Levels, which offset penalties due to range and the Autofire
penalties of firing a machinegun.
Eloquence is the Hero skill Persuasion (a.k.a.
fast-talk). Theatrics is Acting. Bargaining is Trading.
A character with the Linguistics cascade at
"4" or higher gets the Linguist Skill Enhancer. All languages are effectively
one level higher.
A Riding skill of "1" is a Transport Familiarity
with the relevant type of riding animal. The Hero System skill of Riding comes
at level "2". As with the Trimsman skill, Riding should be at the level of
the lowest riding skill. The character then has skill levels in Riding
a particular type of mount. Piloting works in a similar manner: Transport
Familarities, Combat Piloting skill, and skill levels with Combat Piloting.
A Combat Piloting Skill with flying craft, ether craft, and water craft
also gives a Familiarity with Navigation in that realm. At level "3" the
Navigation Familiarity becomes a full skill.
Leadership translates to the Hero System as
Presence, usable only for Presence attacks. Each level of Leadership adds
4 points of Presence.
Medicine, like Mountaineering, is two-in-one:
both the Paramedic skill and Knowledge Skill Medicine. A character with level
3 Medicine (and the career of Doctor) also receives the Licensed MD Perk.
SPACE:1889 - Science-Fiction Role Playing in a More Civilized Time
Space: 1889 - Adventures on the Red Planet
Space:1889 and
Sky Galleons of Mars