In case you missed the previous article the Game Testers have been playing the Firefly RPG for our bi-weekly game and it’s been shiny! Last night’s conclusion may not have been something you’d of seen in the show but it sure was entertaining.
So of course the crew prevailed in saving Sheriff Bourne’s daughter but things never go smoothly. The crew started out by jumping right into the age old trope of going to the tavern for information. Simon questioned some local drunks who were obliged to give their somewhat skewed telling of the kidnapping events. Mal wrangled an invite to the upper-room poker game later that night hoping that it could lead to some information but before the crew could test their luck at the tables they encounter an even more promising lead.
Gun fights gave the gun slingin players some opportunities to put their skills to use and inevitably kept Simon busy patching em up. The players consistently found ways of resolving problems in the ways their characters were strongest in while even occasionally stepping out on a limb by attempting things they weren’t so great at (e.g. Simon using a pistol).
Thoughts on the Game System
The Firefly RPG runs on a game system called Cortex Plus that uses dice pools to determine the outcomes of actions. The system does well at describing a character’s ability to do everything from flying a spaceship, shooting a gun, tricking others, to even how much general knowledgeable they tend to have.
Characters don’t have health per se but when they get hurt they gain a “wound” complication; each additional would steps up the complication until eventually they are “taken out” which usually means unconscious. There are a number of other complications that can be applied and most of them are made up on the fly for the specific situation.
The dice pools really start getting cumbersome as players and NPCs take several complications. Tracking what all should be used in an opposing role-off slows down greatly as encounters progress.
A complication on the GM immediately is that the rulebook is roughly 360 pages and a bit hard to read. Compared to the refined organization of the Dungeons and Dragons rules the Firefly RPG seems disjointed. No quick reference sheets are provided but some nice fellows out there have created some and shared them with the verse.
Overall I’d say that the game is worth checking out for those who love the Firefly TV show but otherwise it might just be something to avoid. Parties looking to have a shindig in the Firefly setting may also consider using the Fate Core system.
