As this total solar eclipse darkens the sky over most of North America today and the next one isn’t for another 7 years, I thought it might be a good time to explore some ideas around eclipses in fantasy and science-fiction settings for RPGs. In our own world, there are many traditional myths and legends…
The universe is a big place. As Douglas Adams once wrote, mindbogglingly so. But the thing it doesn’t lack is space. The commute may kill you, but there’s an infinite number of places to hang your hat if you look hard enough. Here on Earth, we’re running out of room in a lot of the…
It was once said that there are no atheists in foxholes and I suspect the same might be said of being a spacefaring race. Though Aliens & Asteroids may be set a couple of centuries in the future, I suspect that our need to call on a higher power in a time of need may…
Though we initially intended Aliens & Asteroids to be based on the Old School rules of Mazes & Perils, we changed course after several long design sessions and decided to make a new system that was more flexible and less cumbersome. The new system for A&A relies on more speedy mechanics using one or two d20s and a…
The title of this post comes from a great song done by the group Garbage back in the 1990s, but definitely applies to dealing with certain conditions in a science fiction setting. Breathable atmosphere is one of those things most creatures require to survive. In the human case, we tend to like a good mix…
Dealing once again with a science fiction setting after so many years of being focused in the realms of fantasy, I’ve been forced to deal with several things I’ve not really pondered before as a game designer. One is the application of gravity. One of the many alien races we’ve come up with so far…
Last week I brought up the ideas I had about a Pulse Rifle for Aliens & Asteroids. Some of it I liked, some of it I didn’t, and I asked the studio audience for help. Well, I got some great ideas, so I want to thank some folks: Felbrigg Herriot Alan McLin Alan Bahr John Goodwin…
The other day I talked about a bit of the idea I had for combat armor in Aliens & Asteroids. This time I want to talk about a ranged weapon – the Pulse Rifle. We’ll probably have to change the name a bit, but let’s go with that for now. Pulse Rifle Essentially a Pulse Rifle…
Not sure if it was the lack of sleep last night or a wild hair, but I had a crazy idea. Vince has been working off and on on the Space Lords of Venus idea, which has a particular spin on M&P for a “space pulp” kind of setting. And I dig that kind of…
If you’ve read any posts here at the Moebius blog, you know I like random tables. I like making them. I like rolling on them. And I used them all the time to help me come up with ideas, flesh them out, and add what Vince calls “the Fitz touch.” Another friend in the RPG…
