My own Spin on WC

It took me a while, but I managed to finish my Wing Commander Roleplaying Game: Core Rule Book. It came to a total of 141 pages of rules and resource material. It is based off of Star Wars D20.

Next up is to finish my own Joans fightings ships part. With stats for nearly every ship known in the WC universe. I am trying to decide if I should write them as period books with different ships for differnt eras (WC1, WC2, Prochecy etc. etc.) or try to fit them in one big sourcebook.

I already have plans of a Privateer set, I just don't have all the info from the game yet. Need to come up with the statistics for the free trader, and pirate and such. Also put in all the ships and make it a sourcebook.

I have ommited somethings, such as the Pilgrim storyline. It is not that I did not enjoy the movie, but it just didn't fit with what I want. Other than that I have stayed as faithful to the WC universe, or as well as my knowledge serves me.

Currently I have three main classes to play, the Fighter Pilot, Marine, Fleet Officer. I can add things, such as classes, equipment and fighters in expansions, I just don't want to reprint the whole damn thing (wish I hadn't labeled the pages lol.)

Any suggestions on equipment, classes, ideas for prestige classes, adventure plots and the such be free to say so.

Once I know how maybe I would post it to be used. After I add artwork and such of course.

All I need know is a full group to play with (moved away from my old group :( )
 
making the ships seperatly for the different eras might get tricky, as the general feeling seems to be that many of the WC ships (confed ships at least) actually did exist during the same eras and we just didn't get to see them.
IMHO, what changes more between the eras then would be the missiles,guns,shield generators, etc.. that those ships get equipped with.
 
I already have some ships made up for different eras (stronger shields, armor etc.) Mainly some Confed WC2 ships that are in WC3. I haven't made the weaker versions of WC3 ships for earlier eras yet. Been pondering on if I should reduce the amount of missile hardpoints on the arrow, and the longbow (if the longbow was even a bomber, been hearing it might have been a utility craft that was converted). The capital ships have been the hardest part, giving Bengals, Exeters (especially these two) comparable stats with WC2 and three era ships. The WC1 version of the Concordia class has giving me trouble too.

I have a question for someone in the know, what did the Kilrathi use as a bomber prior to WC2, is there a ship we just never saw or what. I need to have a kilrathi bomber to give them parity with confed, and not just have light bombers (unless that is what they did).
I have the game set up with shield differences but I had to increase protection on the WC1 era ships, a 800 meter long carrier that only has twenty some odd centemeters of protection doesn't sit well with me. Capital ships are a lot more dangerous, they pose a serious threat to several fighters, and not just two or three at a time.
 
I have a question for someone in the know, what did the Kilrathi use as a bomber prior to WC2, is there a ship we just never saw or what. I need to have a kilrathi bomber to give them parity with confed, and not just have light bombers (unless that is what they did).

Grikaths were in service circa WC1. They also used a dive-bomber variant of the Krant. Action Stations mentions Asjaka and Gamora-class bombers (in 2634).

a 800 meter long carrier that only has twenty some odd centemeters of protection doesn't sit well with me.

I believe the WC1 figures are roughly equal to their World War II wet-navy equivalents.
 
Thanks LOAF, I have it set up right now that the ships have an amount of hullpoints, described in either centemeters of Durosteel, Plasteel, and iso steel. From this I can calculate shield points, hull points and such. I had to slow down shield regeneration since some of those fighters would regenerate completely in one turn.

I need to find a group to play test everything so I can iron the bugs out, I just moved to where I live and have yet to find one. Probably why I managed to finish the core rule book, to much time on my hands.
 
I have a sugestion:
The actual mechanics of playing WC on pen& paper are probably more important than the exact stats of each and every ship... The carreer advancement rules, dogfight rules, skill system etc, are the hard part. The stats are the easy thing, and can be made up by the GM... Why not release the rules as they are?
 
I want to play test them with a test group first to iron out any bugs with the game system. Also to iron it out to make combat faster. The Core Rulebook is done, I looked at a bunch of work and got some artwork and such, I am going to have to ask for permission to post it all online still.

I have only run it once, and that was before I redid the rules, and only a few of my old group were WC fans so it didn't go over really well. Once I get situated here in Eugene, and I find a RP group I will run it for them and maybe then I will be confident enough to post it.
 
You can try running it here, on the boards themselves. I've run Play-by-Post campaigns before, and it works well as long as everyone understands the groundrules.

I'm actually in the process of building a set of space combat rules for the Fudge system. They're based in teh FreeSpace universe, but the way the rules are written, it really just takes some editing to use them for Wing Commander, not any system changes.

Heck, writing the rules might be arguably easier for Wing Commander, since we know a little bit more about the Confederation and Kilrathi than we do the GTVA or the Shivans put together.
 
Hm. Ive got a local gaming group who is game-starved and bored of DnD, and also a lot into scifi. Id be willing to do a bit of playtesting and suggestion if your interested.

Suggestions:
Classes-
Tech/mechanic: definitely need one. It'd be integral for any serious merc group with their own ship - pilots can do basic repairs, sure, but it would probably be wise to leave the laser cannon fixing to a professional.
Mercenary: jack-of-all-trades class.
Merchant: handy to have around. Not so great in a fight, but if you need to get the parts CHEAP or find the best price for the durasteel in your holds, he's the man.
Electronics: communications, navigation, Weapons Officer jobs... roll em all into one, with the options similar to the Rogue class: "pick one from the following list at each level" to reflect distinct career paths.
Security: wussy version of the Marines when it comes to fighting, but good in many places where a default setting of "kill" isnt the greatest idea. Due to lack of focus on normal combat badassery, he has enough time to focus on other pursuits, reflected in a handful of extra skill points each level. Also include knowledge: comic books, for the security guard who is less interested in self-improvement.
Fighter: for the non-combat character who wants to be able to kick more ass, or the Marine or pilot who wants to hone their skills. To-hit bonuses, HP boosts, above-average skills, combat intimidation and taunting, and extra proficiencies. Limit within combat fields of expertise to make up for the amount of customizable boosting. Can also be used to create thugs.


Prestige Classes
Free Trader: a merchant able to defend himself, and with the cred to buy the equipment able to do so. Much more rogue and adventurous than the average merchant. Deals with Kitty freelancers and pirates more capably.
Covert Ops: can be applied to any class, the first level simply reflects that you were tapped by the Government for something sneaky, and have thus gained a bit of a lesson in being sneaky. Higher levels can become very powerful. I'd think you'd want to save this, pirating, smuggling, spy ops, assasination, covert military work, and political backdooring for an expansion. "spies, lies, and dirty tricks: the seamier side of Confed".
Ace: pure, lethal fighter pilot. 10-kill requirement. This should be fairly straightforward.
Supertech: think Sparks, Pliers, or any of the other great tech heads. Brilliant repair work, the 5% boost to your gun capacitors you so badly need, or the improvised potmetal armor for the really nasty situations. Eventually able to mix-n-match munitions parts to create interesting weapons, or otherwise combine/alter pretty much any existing tech. Potentially, at higher levels and with enough proper (read: expensive) equipment, able to develop entirely new technology.
Hacker: expansion of Electronics or Tech

Weapon Proficiencies:
Martial:
laser weaponry
slugthrowers (antique)
slugthrowers (modern)
particle weaponry
explosives
Exotic:
guided weapons
target designators
antimatter explosives
atomic explosives
improvised missile launchers
Emplacement:
turret weaponry
missile batteries
Shipboard: (unless otherwise noted, automatically bestowed on Pilots, and acquirable by certain other classes including Fighter. Can therefore have flunkies manning turrets if needed)
fixed guns
manned turrets
automatic turrets
missiles/torpedos
Nonstandard Weaponry: guns (automatically given to Ace presitge class at certain level)
Nonstandard Weaponry: ordinance (atomatically given to Ace prestige class at certain level)
Capital Artillery: special training needed?
Capital missiles: special training needed?

Skills: no comment until I see existing rules - many potential variations, although certain things like communication gear would be useful for all classes, and a given for many. I think that limiting the "available" skill points, and instead using an above-average number of directed skill points, would benefit character generation yet allow for characters to (reasonably) learn something they'd have to go out of their way to acquire..
 
Include the core classes from either the Star Wars RPG (other than Jedi) or from Dragonstar, if you have it. For Dragonstar, go here: www.fantasyflightgames.com/ and look under Dragonstar at the top, then under Links from there to see if there's anything you can use. Some of the classes might be of use, as could a little bit of the equipment.

Note to anyone using this with HP instead of Vitality/Wound points: the blaster damage was figured at 3 dice to account for th greater toughness of teh average character. Drop it back down to 2 dice for hit points, unles you like seeing a lot of dead characters.

Unlike D&D, getting hit in Star Wars or especially Dragonstar is a very bad idea, and WC weapons tend towards the DS range of the lethality spectrum on the ground. Take cover, wear at least some sort of protection, and do not put your head up without a good reason.

On Chernikov's suggestions, I see no need to add much beyond stating some of the weapons proficiencies seem a little screwy. Most starfighter/starship weapons are probably martial, with the added caveat of requiring a single feat to access the whole class, more akin to Arcana Unearthed's exotic weapons feats then core D&D's. That feat would be granted to pilots at first level, and fighters as a bonus feat. Others can pick it up as a regular feat.
 
The D20 system is overly technical and incredibly stupid. Fuck Wizards Of The Coast with a spoon filled with AIDS.
 
I wouldnt call it overly technical. Its not as intuitive as White Wolf, and a lot of the implementation is just BROKEN (read: most DnD expansion books, when taken as a whole instead of individually), but otherwise its decent.
 
My question comes as Why use the Star Wars games system I'm sure you could have used Palladiums Game system to base an RPG off of It's alot easyer to figure in a bunch of stuff including varying Missle and gun dammage including impoving the Char's abilitys to use weapons if they are not in a fighter. Granted it's alot of dice you need but I find the palladium system works nicely especaly if your rool to stike was barley hitting. Thus the varried dammage. I used the Robotech RPG from palladium books to start making a bit of a base to add some spice into the Palladium Megaverse, the nice thing is thier system fully compatable between all games. IT's just my opinon but I think the palladium system works nicely probably cause I understand very well LOL.

I'm not FULLY familiar with the Star Wars game system but if i think back wasn't that made by Wizards of the Coast the same ppl who made the D&D third edition using the full D20 system? I'm not sure it's been awile since i saw the books at the hobbie shop. I'd be looking foward seeing your work though It would be alot easyer than me having to convert and basicly write my own stuff up to play in a WC universe heh (yes I'm lazy lol).
 
I'm a sucker for the WEG D6 system because it can be taught in about 3 minutes and is a crapload more effective doing a battle system or skill check.
 
Hey, Id be willing to playtest this with you. Im over in Gresham... but my only issue would be that of transportation. Its about a 2 hour drive and I dont have a vehicle. (Lost the access codes to my Hellcat :rolleyes: )
 
D20 is surely a lot more intuitive than 2nd Ed. AD&D... And I was raised on a 2nd Ed. AD&D diet. And everything is easier than Rulemaster, ops, Rolemaster/MERP. The hit/critical/fumble table descriptions sure were funny, but that beast was incredibly unwieldly. White Wolf... was fun. But I don't know how it would work in a more technical setting like WC. I mean, all they do is fight, use some special powers, talk a lot and fight. In every game world. Then there is GURPS. I hate gurps because every gurps player I ever met was an annoying 11-year-old munchkin.

So I guess that D20 is flexible and simple enough. I don't know much about Palladium and West End, even though I have an original Star Wars RPG book at home.

But heck, everyone knows d20 nowadays. Even people how just played the light version of it in NWN and KotOR. It is like english, it may not be the best option, but it is simple enough and it is the biggest name in the market.
 
Well Palladium is a bit like the D20 system but I'd say a little more complicated due to the fact that it has little to NO holes in the game system unlike the D20 system by wizards that has alot of holes and some BIG ones at that. now WEG I'm not familiar with that system either. But White wolf was mentioned earlyer and thats a good sytem too BUT you need ALOT of D10's. With palladium or the D20 sytem you only need 1 of each Die type sometimes 2 of each. Now the best system on dice conservation is FASA the old Battletech system uses only 2 D6 ALWAYS but that has a few holes in that system as well.

Each system has it's flaws and it's strengths. It is up to the players and Game Master what system they prefer
 
With d6, you need a lot of, well, d6's. Especially, if, like me, you keep widing up in situations where you need 11, 12, 13 dice to roll for damage when wild die goes on a rampage.

Yes, Mr. Wild Die, you can play too. Hey, wait, don't... AHHHH!! The burning! My plot! My characters!

D6 GMs, I'm sure you know what you know what I mean.
 
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