Thursday, April 7, 2011

Science Fiction Adventure/Module Reccomendations?

I don't care much about the system, and I believe that I'm looking for stuff reminsicent of Jack Vance (so I guess I'm looking for adventures about privileged jerks attempting some sort of complicated act of grasping, venal subterfuge?).

If there's one thing I've learned about using modules/adventures is that "simpler is smarter"; convoluted multi-page introductions tend to be a drag to process at the table, but if the adventue is good and the PDF is cheap enough I can make the time.

Fantasy/modern/historical/whatever adventure reccomendations that could make for reskinning into a decent sci-fi romp are welcome as well.

12 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 7, 2011 at 10:04 PM

    "Dying Earth Role-playing Game"

    Seriously - anything from it. It gets Vance very right.

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  2. The DruneApril 7, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    I'm going to suggest The Secret of Zir'An Cargo of Doom. I think this could easily be converted into a good weird space adventure and it's free at:

    http://files.rpglife.com/file.php?id=3473

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  3. The DruneApril 7, 2011 at 10:48 PM

    Oh...too make it more Vancian I'd have the characters attempting to scam the Secret Service Agent in order to obtain the fragment for sale or their own use. As written, the plot is a bit heroic but these changes would be easy.

    I also agree with EKB about the Dying Earth adventures...not sure how cheap or free they would be though.

    Word verification> supsci

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  4. faoladhApril 7, 2011 at 11:50 PM

    The adventures by the Keith brothers for The Gamelords, The Drenslaar Quest, Ascent to Anekthor, and Duneraiders. Each of those is connected to a supplement regarding a particular environment (undersea, mountain, and desert, respectively), but those supplements are not necessary to the use of those adventures. I'd recommend them, however. Most of the other adventures written by the Keith brothers for various companies will also prove valuable, I imagine.

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  5. MelanApril 8, 2011 at 12:44 AM

    I am not personally familiar with them, but supplements for Space Opera ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Opera_%28role-playing_game%29 ) supposedly have a good Vance-meets-60s-and-70s vibe. In particular, a friend of mine has praised Casino Galactica, and I'm sure a space station working as a casino would be the perfect place for "privileged jerks attempting some sort of complicated act of grasping, venal subterfuge".

    If you get it, tell us how it is.

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  6. anarchistApril 8, 2011 at 1:28 AM

    I wonder if there are any good adventures for the Serenity RPG? That's about criminals in space at least.

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  7. huthApril 8, 2011 at 2:34 AM

    I wonder if there are any good adventures for the Serenity RPG?

    Not that I've heard of.

    There's plenty of old FASA Trek adventures floating around. Here's some more free stuff.

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  8. Matthew SchmeerApril 8, 2011 at 6:27 AM

    Oh, come now--the classics at Star Frontiersman are just what you are looking for. There's good stuff in that zine (as well as some of the original TSR SF stuff posted there).

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  9. AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    Maybe not exactly what you're looking for... but there are some great old GDW/FASA Traveller modules with a pulp vibe that are available as PDF's. Twilight's Peak is a ruin/dungeon, Leviathan is "tramp freighter-in-spaaaaace"; Action Aboard: Adventures on the King Richard (a particular favorite) is a luxury liner with all sorts of plot hooks; and Uraq'yad'n of the Seven Pillars is a Lawrence of Arabia situation. Cugel-types (as my old traveller players were) would have a field day with any of those. None (IIRC) is a particularly railroad/plot heavy module, they all work well with dropping the PCs in and letting the mayhem begin.

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  10. AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 6:00 PM

    A few years back, I wrote a pulpy science fantasy AD&D-compatible (OSRIC) module entitled The Awakening. Flavorwise, it is a cross between the movie Alien and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels. The module is available in PDF and print-on-demand format at usherwoodadventures.com. The module takes place in a combination spaceship/temple that crashed to the Prime Material Plane several centuries back, and the main villians are creepy, indeed!

    Thanks for reading,
    Alphonso Warden

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  11. NeedlesApril 8, 2011 at 9:03 PM

    Anything by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._van_Vogt
    Such as Black Destroyer http://freesfonline.de/authors/A.%20E._van%20Vogt.html
    It was good enough for the Displacer Beast its good enough for your table top

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  12. BlairApril 13, 2011 at 5:08 PM

    Thanks for all of these great suggestions everyone!

    @ Alfonso Warden: Hey! I love People of the Pit and The Unknown City, I'll definitely check out The Awakening, thanks for the tip! :)

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