Goes Smooth as Fluxx

For almost two decades, Fluxx has been a mainstay of the gaming hobby. Published by Looney Labs, ‘The Card Game with Ever-Changing Rules’ has proven to be a pocket-sized and pocket-friendly game that is easy to bring to the table and play between longer and deeper games. The ‘1999 Mensa Select Winner’ is a card game in which the cards themselves determine the current rules of the game and by playing cards, the players alter various aspects of the game—how many cards to draw, how many cards to play, how many cards to hold, and even how to win. Essentially, only at the beginning of play is the state of the game set; at all other times, the state of the game is in ‘Fluxx’.

In order to win, a player needs to match the Goal card in play by having the two matching Keeper cards in front of him. For example, the ‘Time is Money’ Goal card requires a player to have the ‘Time’ and ‘Money’ Keeper cards in front of him. This can be on his turn or on another player’s turn, but match the Goal and he wins. Of course the Goal card and the Keepers each player has can change from one turn to the next.

At the start of the game, there is one simple, Basic Rule card—‘Draw 1, Play 1’. After that, everything can change from one turn to the next or even be reset to the basic rule. For example, a turn or two later, the Rule cards might be ‘Draw 2’, ‘Play All But 1’, and ‘Double Agenda’. What this means is that on his turn a player must draw two cards, play all of the cards in his hand until he only has one left, and that there can be two Goal cards in play rather than just the one. On another turn, the Rule cards might be ‘Draw 4’ and ‘Hand Limit 2’, meaning that a player must draw four cards, can still only play one card (because no Rule card has supplanted the ‘Play 1’ of the Basic Rule card), and then reduce the number of cards he can hold in his hand to just two.

Besides Rule, Goal, and Keeper cards, Fluxx includes several other card types. Action cards lets a player do something special. For example, ‘Trash Something’ lets a player take a Creeper or Keeper card in front of any player and put it in the discard pile, whilst ‘Draw 2 and Use ‘Em’ lets a player put his current hand aside, draw two new cards and play them before picking his hand back up. Creeper cards are like Keeper cards, but must be played once drawn and worse, prevent the player from winning—except under certain circumstances.

From Family Fluxx and Monty Python Fluxx to Zombie Fluxx and Batman Fluxx, Looney Labs have adapted to base game to numerous themes and licences, of which the latest is Firefly Fluxx. Based on the 2002 television series, in Firefly Fluxx the players try to match themed Keepers—characters or objects from the series—with matching Goals. So the ‘Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal!’ Goal needs to be matched with the ‘Wash’ and ‘Toy Dinosaurs’ Keepers, whereas the ‘Big Damn Heroes’ Goal can be matched with any two of the ‘Mal Reynolds’, ‘Jayne Cobb’, and ‘Zoe Washburne’ Keeper cards. Several of the Keepers enable extra, specific actions. So ‘Zoe Washburne’ Keeper allows a player to steal the ‘Wash’ Keeper from another player and the ‘Wash’ Keeper allows a player to steal the ‘Serenity’ Keeper from another player. Stopping these Keepers from being used to win the game are the Creepers ‘Reavers’ and ‘Hands of Blue’. Thematic Action cards include ‘You Are Bound By The Law!’ and ‘I’ll Be In My Bunk’, the first being played to prevent a player from taking actions on his next turn, the latter to let a player leave the game and the room for a turn!

Firefly Fluxx also uses ‘Surprise’ cards. These have two effects, one when played during a player’s turn, one out of a player’s turn as an interrupting or blocking move. For example, out of turn, ‘You Can’t Take This Guy From me’ can be used to stop another player taking one of your character Keepers (and steal his hand of cards into the bargain), but during his turn, it can be used to replicate the ability of any Keeper in play.

Physically Firefly Fluxx has been given a suitably period styling. The cards are all clear, but the rules do include an FAQ. The artwork is reasonable, but perhaps a bit cartoon-like to present really good likenesses of the series’ characters.

Design and play-wise, Firefly Fluxx is a good match of theme and mechanics. In particular it fits the Firefly adage that ‘things don’t go smooth’ and since this is Fluxx, that is the last thing that they do. Of course, Firefly Fluxx is not a deep recreation of the television series, but for a quick and dirty treatment, it certainly is shiny.

Big Book o' Badduns

Things Don’t Go Smooth is a supplement for the Firefly Roleplaying Game, the RPG based on Joss Whedon’s 2002 ‘space western’ television series that aped the aftermath of the American Civil War. Published by Margaret Weis Productions, in this ‘space opera’, the crew of the Serenity try to make living, not always legally, on the fringes of both society and a massive star system far from the aegis of the controlling central government, the Alliance. This is not a ‘clean’ space opera—making a living in space can be hard and is often dangerous work; high technology rarely makes it as far as the outer planets and their moons; and the preferred technology is stuff that works, so for example, firearms rather than lasers and on many planets, horses rather than vehicles.

Things Don’t Go Smooth is all about helping the GM make the lives of his Crew—that is, the player characters—just that bit more awkward. It presents a host of antagonists with which to confound, confront, and confuse the Crew, including spies and crime bosses, rival crews and gangs, and the unexplained and the miscellaneous; presents their spaceships and space stations, gives narrator advice for running them, and introduces an array of new triggers; and lastly, provides two scenarios with which the GM can showcase the antagonists of his choice. The supplement comes as a full colour book, illustrated with a mix of photographs and grayscale art, which comes with solid cartography. 

The bulk of the supplement is devoted to its antagonists. The first five are spies and crime bosses; the second four are rival crews and gangs; whilst the last four are oddities and the unexplained. Each of the first heads an organisation with men at their command and plots of their own backed up with knowledge, favours, ambition, and a more than healthy dose of paranoia. They include a freelance spy with a taste for the highlife who trades in information and more; a mercenary queen with an axe to grind against both men and the Alliance; a Moon Boss who will do anything to protect the independent sanctuary he has established; a mercenary commander who trades on her corporate links; and an ex-Browncoat who continues the fight behind the façade of a successful waste management company. Where they possess plots of their own that can see them hiring a Crew or working at odds with a Crew’s aims, the rival gangs and crews are designed to be going after the same jobs as a Crew, and as the competition may be as good as a Crew, perhaps aping their skills and attitudes, perhaps reflecting them. The four rival gangs and crews include smugglers forced to shift unpalatable cargoes, a crazy pirate crew high on adrenaline and alcohol, an information broker backed up by assassins and thieves, and a family of junkers on the make. The oddities and the unexplained are designed to add a degree of mystery to the ‘Verse with legends and rumours that include software that checks for, and shuts down, Browncoat technology; a completely innocent Alliance agent, a wealthy CEO obsessed with ‘saving’ Earth-That-Was, and a ‘ghost’ with gifts to give.

In each case, a full character write-up is given for the primary NPC, who is then backed up with a supporting cast and a description of any bases or equipment. Encounters suggest how the antagonists might be used whilst new Signature Assets are listed and explained for use with both the NPCs here and those of the GM’s own design. Or of course, use by a player character. The thirteen represent a good mix and none of them are quite out and out villains, there being some nuance to their aims and motivations. For example, Zaine Alleyne is a medic who takes too much pride in his skill with a scalpel to quite see the immorality of the work that his Triad bosses have him do, but still has morals enough to undertake acts of philanthropy elsewhere…

Further support for these NPCs comes in the form of write-ups of their boats, thus expanding upon the list of spaceships given in the Firefly Roleplaying Game core rules. They range from an Aegis Class Alliance Battlesphere and Keying Class Medium Transport to a Nanjing Class Yacht and a Sunslinger Science Vessel, altogether adding thirteen new ship classes, along with an array of new Distinctions—Background and Customisation—as well new Signature Assets. These enable the GM to design and build boats for his own NPCs as well as use those for the NPCs presented in Things Don’t Go Smooth.

The last of the NPCs offered are not so much NPCs as elemental forces out of the Black—‘Reavers’! Oddly absent from the Firefly Roleplaying Game core rules, in Things Don’t Go Smooth the Reavers are described as an unstoppable moving force that cannot be reasoned with, fought against, or even defeated. At least not with dice rolls, but rather they can be escaped or avoided. Thus there is no write-up for Reavers in the traditional sense of NPC stats, but several scenario hooks are given along with an example of how to use them.

The GM also receives advice on running antagonists, backed up with three thorough—and entertaining—examples of play that showcase the threats they represent. The advice also covers the creation of lairs and hideouts, and quick NPCs and plots, but most notably Things Don’t Go Smooth gives the GM a set of new triggers, not to add to Distinctions and Signature Assets, but rather to scenes and locations. This is in addition to any Traits they may already have. Location triggers are specific to a place, typically one that a Crew visits regularly, whilst scene triggers are tied to particular scene in an adventure. 

Rounding out Things Don’t Go Smooth are two adventures, ‘Merciless’ and ‘Thieves in Heaven’. The former is a heist movie set in a museum in which the Crew needs to case the joint before making a run on its security, whilst the latter dumps the Crew into the middle of a medical mystery and one company’s desire for a monopoly when they suddenly need a spare part for its boat—one that the ship’s mechanic cannot simply fix. In both cases, suggestions are given as to which of the villains listed earlier in the supplement are best suited to use in order to make either scenario more awkward and thus more entertaining for the players.

Overall, Things Don’t Go Smooth is neatly presented supplement. It is well written and decently illustrated. What stands out though in comparison with the earlier Echoes of War, are its maps. They are a huge improvement, being reasonably detailed and helpful. One interesting aspect to the supplement is that it is not as tightly tied into the crew of the Serenity as Echoes of War was. This does not mean that the contents of Things Don’t Go Smooth cannot be used with the Serenity crew, but it does feel as their importance is downplayed.

Things Don’t Go Smooth very much feels like a companion volume to the Firefly Roleplaying Game core rules. It provides the means for a Crew to have memorable and meaning adventures by giving the GM not just interesting and memorable villains to put them up against, but villains who are antagonists with interesting and memorable motivations. This is backed up with solid advice and support and two good adventures. Things Don’t Go Smooth lets a GM get enjoyably villainous for the Firefly Roleplaying Game.

A Fancible Foursome

Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is a supplement for the Origins Award nominated Firefly Roleplaying Game published by Margaret Weis Productions. It collects the first four scenarios for the game originally released individually as PDFs as well as crewmember write-ups and a stripped down version of the Cortex Plus System. This means that its contents are not only compatible with both the preview, Gaming in the 'Verse and the Origins Award nominated version, but it also means that Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is a standalone book that can be run using just the rules it contains, or it can be with access to either version of the rulebook.

The rules are succinctly covered, for these are the basic rules, and so do not include the advanced options given in the core rules, but they do include everything needed to play the quartet of scenarios in Echoes of War. Character creation, or rather customisation of the twelve crewmember archetypes is treated in a similarly succinct fashion. These rules are followed by four scenarios, each of which should take several sessions to complete. Thematically, the four scenarios all in some way hark back to the ‘Unification War’, either through an old friend from the war or a contact who fought in the war.

The scenarios open with caper/heist hybrid, ‘The Wedding Planners’ by Margaret Weis. In strange turn of events, Badger hires the crew with nary a fuss for a big job—get the daughter of a cattle baron to her wedding aboard another starship. Which means getting a spoiled, rich, media darling to the space wedding of the year on time and without any complications. This being a Firefly Roleplaying Game scenario, there are of course going to be complications and this time around they involve pirates and the course of true love—not necessarily to the same ends. It all gets terribly complicated at the end, almost to the point of a farce, which has the potential to turn into a chaotic mess.

The simplest of the scenarios in Echoes of War, Andrew Peregrine’s ‘Shooting Fish’ is the most straightforward and  has the most obvious potential for fun. The crewmembers come to the aid of an old friend who runs an orphanage that is in danger of being closed down due its accumulated debts. Which means that it local landlord can take it over and turn it into a money-spinning brothel! Fortunately there is a way to raise the cash—quite literally fast! If the crew can enter and win the local boat race, then they can pay the orphanage’s debts. Unfortunately, the only boat the orphanage has needs more than just maintenance to get it into the water and there is nothing clean and legal about the race itself—guns, grenades, sabotage, drunken good ol’ boys, and more are all acceptable in the race. The rules for handling the boat’s repair and various minor encounters are nicely done, but the race feels again a little chaotic and lacking in advice. Nevertheless, this is a fun adventure.

‘Friends in Low Places’ by Monica Valentinelli takes the crewmembers back to Serenity Valley to help out an old Browncoat friend whose new wife has gone missing. Given that his previous wife was an unscrupulous redhead by the name of Bridget, the crewmembers may just decide that getting involved with wife number two might not be such a good idea, but ‘Good Ole Monty’ is desperate for their help. This is an investigative scenario and a fairly difficult one at that, the likelihood being that the crew will end up having to garner aid from high places into order to find the wife’s whereabouts. The one thing that lets this scenario down is the lack of maps and the poor quality of the maps. Those that are given are functional at best and given that this is a location-based scenario, a map of Serenity Valley itself would have been helpful.

Last is ‘Freedom Flyer’ by Nicole Wakelin. Once again, the crewmembers are asked to come to the aid of a friend—a regular motif in this anthology, but the title is Echoes of War—who wants to get out and make a new life before her old one catches up with her. Again, this scenario has something of the heist to it, but involving more stealth and the need to avoid Alliance entanglements than in previous scenarios. Of course, there is the matter of the friend’s past and the fact that it will catch up with both her and the crew in the form of a pragmatic bounty hunter who should be fun for the GM to play.

Physically, Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is cleanly and neatly presented. It makes decent use of photographic stills from the television series, though the few pieces of additional line art are perhaps too cartoon-like in places. Where the book does disappoint is in its maps, which are in the main serviceably bland, and in some of the repetition from one scenario to the next. 

There are two obvious problems with Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics. The first is that it collates a number of releases that were first released as PDFs, so if you own any of them already, this collection may not be as useful. The second is that it repeats a lot material that is already available in one form or another—the rules, the crew of the Serenity, and the new pre-generated crew. What this means is that again, there is the possibility that the purchaser is paying for material he already has and does not need again. Either reason should be enough for the potential purchaser to carefully consider whether he needs this supplement.

The less obvious problem with Echoes of War is that its four scenarios are written with the crew of the Serenity in mind. Which is fine with a large playing group who are prepared double up on a character or two—after all, few playing groups are likely to consist of nine players! What this means is that in many cases, the GM will be mapping the personalities of the Serenity crew onto the player character created crewmembers and back again in order to fit the roles that the scenarios require. Which of course will not be a problem for an experienced GM who will know the personalities of his players’ characters, but may present an issue for the less experienced GM.

Yet where Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics truly shines is as an introduction to playing and running the Firefly Roleplaying Game. Like Firefly the series and want to get a taste of what it is like to roleplay in the ‘Verse without getting the core rules, then it is an obvious place to start. That said, it is not an introductory product as far as roleplaying goes as its starting point is not quite basic enough and anyway, the scenarios are too complex for an inexperienced GM to either adapt to a group that is not playing the crew of the Serenity or to run. It is much more suited to a group and a GM who have some roleplaying experience under their collective britches. 

A nice touch is that each of the four scenarios comes with several suggestions as to possible sequels and consequences. Of course there is no advice on creating such sequels present in Echoes of War, but then that falls outside its remit and so they are useful for when the GM has a copy of the Firefly Roleplaying Game. There are of course issues with Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics—the dull maps, the repetition of material, the underwritten advice, and so on, but the scenarios themselves are excellent, a solid quartet that do a nice job of modelling the Firefly television series and give the chance for the crewmembers to be big shiny heroes.

As shiny as it gets

In 2013, Margaret Weis Productions published a taster for the Firefly RPG that we had been waiting for. Gaming in the ‘Verse presented both a preview and a ‘quick start’ for the Firefly Roleplaying Game, based on Joss Whedon’s 2002 ‘space western’ television series that aped the aftermath of the American Civil War. In this ‘space opera’, the crew of the Serenity try to make living, not always legally, on the fringes of both society and a massive star system far from the aegis of the controlling central government, the Alliance. This is not a ‘clean’ space opera—making a living in space can be hard and is often dangerous work; high technology rarely makes it as far as the outer planets and their moons; and the preferred technology is stuff that works, so for example, firearms rather than lasers and on many planets, horses rather than vehicles.

In the Firefly Roleplaying Game, the players have the opportunity to explore the ‘Verse themselves. They can do this as the crew of the Serenity—Mal Reynolds, Zoe Washburne, ‘Wash’ Washburne, Inara Serra, Jayne Cobb, ‘Kaylee’ Frye, Simon Tam, River Tam, and Shepherd Book—and thus tell of their adventures between end of the television series and the events of the movie, Serenity, or they can create their own crew and then create a ship of their own to love, hate, but most of all, call home. In creating a crew member, a player also has a choice. He can either select from one of the twenty-four available archetypes—from Academy Dropout and Alliance Agent to Newly Ordained Shepherd and Retired Outlaw or he can create a character from the ground up. Obviously, such a character, whether created using an archetype or from the ground up, will not be as capable as member of the crew of the Serenity, but he will have room to grow and change as his adventures are played out.

Each character is defined by three attributes—Mental, Physical, and Social; several broad Skills, each of which can have a speciality; one or more Signature Assets, items intrinsically bound to the character, like Jayne Cobb’s Callahan full-bore auto-lock rifle Vera or Shepherd Book’s Identicard; and three Distinctions. The latter define a character and come in three categories – Roles, Personalities, and Backgrounds. All four aspects of a character—Attributes, Skills, Signature Assets, and Distinctions are rated by die type, from four-sided die up through six, eight, ten, to twelve-side die. Each Distinction provides a bonus die to a character’s actions, but can also act against a character to complicate his life and so provide him with Plot Points that can be spent later on.

Dorothea Liu
Quote: “Is that a genuine first edition Great Expectations, all the way from Earth that was?”
Character Type: On the run bride
Character Description: Dorothea Liu thought that she had a solid career in medicine before her, to be followed by a husband and children. It was what her family had planned for her after all—and she even thought that she loved her husband to be. Then she found out what her husband was—the son of a Triad boss—and the truth of her father’s business empire. She was heartbroken. She saw her parents in a new light and knew that the last person she wanted to be was her mother. With her mother’s blessing she fled, jilting her husband to be…
According to the hospital she is on extended sabbatical. According to her father, she is a traitorous shă guā. According to her mother, Dorothea is all that she could never be. According to her husband, she is a chī chóng huā dàn who should be on his arm and bearing his children.
Likes/Dislikes: Dorothea is fascinated by the history and peoples of the Border and the Rim—perhaps too fascinated. Given her own history, it should be no surprise that she is a sucker for a sob-story.
Flashbacks and Echoes: Dorothea had a more than comfortable upbringing, but then she saw the violence meted out by her husband to be. She never wants to see that again.

ATTRIBUTES
Mental 10 Physical 6 Social 8
SKILLS
Craft d4, Drive d6, Fight d4, Fix d6, Fly d8, Focus d6, Influence d8 (winning smile), Know d8 (History), Labour d4, Move d6, Notice d6, Operate d6, Perform d4, Shoot d4, Sneak d6, Survive d4, Throw d4, Treat d10 (surgery), Trick d4
DISTINCTIONS
KNOW IT ALL d8
Look smarty pants, if we wanted schoolin’, we’d have gone to school.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Pedantic: Gain 1PP when you correct someone at an inappropriate juncture or tell the crew a fact that is interesting, but not useful.
Highlighted Skills: Fix, Know, Treat
ON THE RUN d8
Someone’s after you—Alliance, the Triads, the Guilds, maybe all three. You’re a fugitive and you’re in trouble.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Highlighted Skills: Move, Notice, Sneak
FASHIONABLE d8
You attend the most exclusive parties, dress in the latest fashions, and hire the best Companions.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Clout: Step back Influence until the end of the end of the next scene to remove a social complication.
Highlighted Skills: Drive, Fly, Influence

SIGNATURE ASSETS
Doctor’s Bag d8
Sometimes things don’t go smooth and sometimes they don’t go smooth and someone ends up with a bullet in ‘em. Times like that you need a good doctor and his bag.
Nice dresses d6
They may not be the latest styles in the Core, but out here in the Border worlds? They cut quite a figure. Out on the Rim, they’re just sassy.

In addition to creating a crew, the players also get to create or ‘find’ their ship. This involves picking a Class and then choosing Distinctions and Signature Assets to ensure that the ship stands out. Some twenty-two Classes are listed, including the Arbitrator Class Alliance Patrol Boat, the Marco Polo Class Space Bazaar, and the Cobb Class Science Ship as well as the Firefly Class Transport. There are as many Distinctions, which either relate the ship’s History, such as Former Salvage or Stolen or to the customisations carried out by the crew, such as Livestock Hauler or Smuggler’s Delight. Signature Assets might include a Chapel, Mining Equipment, or Shuttles.

Sapphire Star
Polaris Class Cargo Liner d8
Engines d6 Hull d10 Systems d8
An older mid-sized cargo liner, sturdy if slow.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
DISTINCTIONS
Won her in a card game d8
You gamble more than you should, but one time you should really stuck your neck out and you won big.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Well-loved: Crewmembers on board may share Plot Points with another Crewmember who’s operatin’ the ship.
Cruisin’ the ‘Verse d8
Your berths are first class, with plush velvet seats, stunning chandeliers, and lovely music. Whilst the food is excellent and the service impeccable, these fineries come at a price—snooty passengers.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
The Customer is always right, unfortunately. Start every episode with an Unreasonable Customer Demands d6 Complication.
SIGNATURE ASSETS
Mighty Fine Quarters d8
Shuttles d8

The Firefly Roleplaying Game uses the CORTEX Plus System. Derived from the CORTEX System—now known as CORTEX Classic—that powered the Serenity Role Playing Game, the original RPG based on the Firefly television series also published Margaret Weis Productions, the CORTEX Plus System is narrative orientated set of mechanics designed to tell the type of gritty stories seen in Firefly. The difference is this: in a traditional RPG a fist fight or a shootout would involve rolls each time a punch is thrown or a trigger is pulled. In the CORTEX Plus System, each round of dice rolls—typically one roll per player character and one roll for the NPCs or the challenge—covers the whole exchange. So a fist fight is covered in one roll, the results are narrated, and the story moves on. The aim here is not to get bogged down in unnecessary detail, but to make it dramatic and exciting.

To undertake an action, a character rolls one die each for a skill and appropriate attribute and compares the totaled value against the stakes rolled by the GM. For example, several members of her husband’s Triad gang, led by one of his lieutenants, Mitchell Gao, have caught up with Dorothea and in the resulting scuffle, her fellow crewmember, the Inquiry Agent, Jian Zhang, has been stabbed and Taken Out—in general characters are incapacitated for a scene or more when Taken Out, although in dire circumstances, being Taken Out means being killed. Dorothea implores the Triads to give her time to treat Jian. The GM rolls for Mitchell Gao, who as a minor character has the Traits Triad lieutenant (d8), Ambitious, but not stupid (d6), and Sucker for a pretty smile (d4). The GM rolls all three dice and sets the stakes at 10 (5+5), but he also rolls a 1—a Jinx. This earns Dorothea a Plot Point. Dorothea’s player puts together her dice pool from her Social (d8) attribute, her Influence (d8) skill, her Know it all Distinction (d8) to convince the Triads that Jian really is hurt, and to reflect the fact that the Triads are after her, adds a d4 for her On the Run Distinction instead of a d8 to earn her a Plot Point. The result of the roll is 8, 7, 4, and 1. The best combination is course 15 (8+7), which is great because it is five higher than the Stakes. This earns her a Big Hero Die that she can add to any roll. It is equal to the highest die type rolled by the GM—a d8. Yet she has also rolled a Jinx! The GM uses this to step up Jian’s Vicious Stabbing from a d8 to a d10! Nevertheless, Mitchell Gao is persuaded to wait and Dorothea has time to treat Jian. This time, her dice pool is formed using her Mental attribute (d10), her Treat skill (d10) and surgery speciality (d6), plus her Doctor’s Bag (d8) Signature Asset. She also has at two Plot Points and if all else fails, she also has the Big Damned Hero die, so it looks like Jian is in good hands!

Yet under different circumstances, Dorothea might not have her Doctor’s Bag to hand or she might roll badly. This is where the Plot Points come in. If multiple dice are rolled for an action, but the action is failed, a character could expend a Plot Point to add one of the other dice to the result. Or she could create a temporary asset that she can use just for the scene. For example, trapped in the engineering bay by the Triads and Jian still needing help, she might expend a Plot Point to bodge together some basic medical supplies. Or even to actually act if she has been Taken out and cannot do otherwise do anything.

Plot Points earned by temporarily reducing a Distinction from a d8 to a d4, from receiving a Complication from the GM when he rolls a Jinx, whenever the GM spends a Plot Point of his own to oppose your character, and from great play. Plot Points power the wilds swings of good and bad luck in the Firefly Roleplaying Game. They are primarily earned when things do not go smooth, when there is a chance of, or actual failure occurs, but they are spent to succeed on difficult rolls, at dramatic moments, and so on. Pretty much like the television series.

As to the television series, its treatment in the Firefly Roleplaying Game is shiny! Each of the series’ fourteen episodes not only receives a full breakdown and description, including the stats and details of the NPCs involved, equipment and assets used, places visited, and ships encountered, they are also used to showcase the rules. It starts off simple in the pilot, ‘Serenity’, just by giving the stats for Patience, Badger, and Lawrence Dobson as well as a Reaver Ship, before explaining the basics of the rules with the fist fight on Unification Day in ‘The Train Job’. By the time we get to ‘Shindig’, we are shown how complex the rules can get with Mal’s duel with Atherton Wing. Each of these examples eases the learning of the CORTEX Plus System. In addition, each of the episodes is developed with more ideas and suggestions, going beyond what appeared on screen so that the GM could run more than just the episode.

Thus we are almost half way through the Firefly Roleplaying Game before it starts discussing the rules of the game in a more traditional manner. It also means that the background for the setting is rather spread out and given the lack of an index means that locating particular pieces of information can be a challenge. To be blunt, the lack of an index is both inexcusably irritating and disappointing. This is not the only problem with the Firefly Roleplaying Game—its focus is perhaps a little too tight. It really does not expand beyond the possibility of the players taking the roles of the crew of a ship and flying the ‘Verse, so the GM is on his own should he and his players want to go in another direction. Nevertheless, the Firefly Roleplaying Game is well written, an engaging read, and easier to learn than many other RPGs.

Unlike Gaming In The ‘Verse, the Firefly Roleplaying Game comes with just the single scenario, a lengthy affair called ‘What’s yours is mine’. In addition, the GM is given decent advice on creating and running a Firefly game, which nicely couples with the suggestions and ideas given for each of the episodes. The scenario itself is a solid affair that should last two or three sessions.

Putting aside the irritating lack of an index, the Firefly Roleplaying Game is well written, the presentation is excellent, and it is very accessible. Above all, in capturing the grit and drama of the television series, the Firefly Roleplaying Game is both a fine adaptation and the means recreate it at the gaming table.

Your Firefly Starter

Every year at Gen Con there is a slew of new releases and every year there are some that are really ‘hot’. One such title was the Firefly Role-Playing Game from Margaret Weis Productions – or rather it was not. For what was released at Gen Con in 2013 was Gaming In The ‘Verse, a preview of what the forthcoming Firefly Role-Playing Game will be like. And even then, it was not really a preview, but more of a ‘quick start’ giving everything that a Gamemaster and his crew needs to play – an explanation of the setting, the rules, the means to create both a ship and her crew, and two whole scenarios! Plus there are the stats and write-ups for the crew of the Serenity that we know and love from Joss Whedon’s television series, Firefly, so that the scenarios can be played with said crew or with a ship and crew of the players’ creation. All of which comes in a thick, full colour, and fully illustrated paperback book.

Then again, I can hear you thinking to yourselves, “Wasn’t there a Firefly Role-Playing Game before?” To which the answer is ‘yes’ – and ‘no’. Back in 2005, Margaret Weis Productions – the same Margaret Weis Productions that is publishing the Firefly Role-Playing Game – published the Serenity Role Playing Game, not based on the Firefly television series, but on Serenity, the motion picture sequel to the television series. Another difference is the use of mechanics and rulesets. The Serenity Role Playing Game employed the slightly cinematic, if gritty CORTEX System, whereas the Firefly Role-Playing Game uses the CORTEX Plus System, first seen in the Leverage: The Roleplaying Game and most recently seen in the Origins Award winning though cancelled Marvel Heroic Roleplaying RPG. Whereas the CORTEX System, now known as CORTEX Classic, focused on gritty action, the CORTEX Plus System is more storytelling orientated, though the storytelling itself is bound to be gritty given the setting. Now both the Serenity Role Playing Game and the Firefly Role-Playing Game are set in the same milieu, a Science Fiction space western that aped the aftermath of the American Civil War. In this ‘space opera’, the crew of the Serenity try to make living, not always legally, on the fringes of both society and a massive star system far from the aegis of the controlling central government, the Alliance. This is not a ‘clean’ space opera – making a living in space can be hard and is often dangerous work; high technology rarely makes it as far as the outer planets and their moons; and the preferred technology is stuff that works, so for example, firearms rather than lasers and on many planets, horses rather than vehicles. 

Gaming In The ‘Verse begins with an explanation of the setting, supporting it with a dissection of the episodes ‘Serenity’ and ‘The Train Job’. Working from the synopsis of each episode it examples of the rules, stats and write-ups for characters or NPCs such as Badger and Patience, describes the technology and places, and gives ideas for further adventures involving the elements of the episode. These are essentially a number of ‘what if’s’ that could complicate the scenario presented in each episode were the GM to run for his players. There is material here enough to inspire an episode or two for a playing group, but it is promised that the full Firefly Role-Playing Game will contain a similar treatment of all thirteen episodes of the series. 

When playing the setting of Firefly through Gaming In The ‘Verse, a group has three options. The first is to play a member of the crew of the Serenity, whilst the second would be to select from one of the twelve pre-generated archetypes included in the book, from Academy Dropout and Alliance Agent to Small-Time Trader and Triad Enforcer. Alternatively, a player can create his character, one that will not be quite as capable as member of the crew of the Serenity, but one that certainly has room to grow and change as his adventures are played out. Each character is defined by three attributes – Mental, Physical, and Social; several broad Skills, each of which can have a speciality; one or more Signature Assets, items intrinsically bound to the character, like Jayne Cobb’s Callahan full-bore auto-lock rifle Vera or Shepherd Book’s Identicard; and three Distinctions. The latter define a character and come in three categories – Roles, Personalities, and Backgrounds. All four – Attributes, Skills, Signature Assets, and Distinctions are rated by die type, from four-sided die up through six, eight, ten, and twelve-side die. Each Distinction provides a bonus die to a character’s actions, but can also act against a character to complicate his life and so provide him with Plot Points that can be spent later on. The list of Distinctions in Gaming In The ‘Verse is not complete though and a full list will appear in the Firefly Role-Playing Game when it is released.

THEODORE KINGSLEY III
Quote: “Some orders are meant to be disobeyed, more or less, as my old fù qìng never said.”
Character Type: Principled Pilot
Character Description: Theodore Kingsley III had a glittering career ahead of him as an officer in the Union of Allied Planets Navy. After all, his father was an admiral and his grandfather was an admiral, and it was expected that he would follow in their footsteps. That would change for the recently promoted first lieutenant during the Battle of Du-Khang towards the end of the Unification War. Piloting a gunship, Kingsley was ordered to evacuate casualties from a position under heavy attack by Independent forces. He did this several times, often under heavy fire, each time ordering his crew to evacuate the Independent casualties at the same time. Each time he was ordered to ferry away Alliance casualties rather than Independent ones until the point where there were only Independent casualties left. Ordered away to another mission, the pilot not only ignored the order not to go back in, he punched the officer who gave it. This would have got him a court martial, but the combination of the missions he had already flown and his family connection meant that he was instead given an award. Kingsley was decorated and promoted, told to behave, and assigned to what he considered to be parade duties. Disillusioned, when the war ended and his term of service was up, he resigned his commission – the first Kingsley to have done so for generations, and quit the Core Worlds.
For the last decade Kingsley has worked the Border Worlds as a pilot for hire, rarely staying with one crew for long. Too often he finds an order he disagrees with, disobeys it, does what he feels is the right thing, and then quits.
Likes/Dislikes: Theodore loves to fly and hates anyone who gets in the way, especially with what he regards as daft orders. He does not have much time for the Alliance Navy either. He is fond of painting though and never travels without an easel, canvas, and paints.
Flashbacks and Echoes: Theodore does not like to talk about his record or what he did in the Unification War. This has got him into trouble in the past.

ATTRIBUTES
Mental 8 Physical 8 Social 8 
SKILLS
Craft d4, Drive d4, Fight d6, Fix d4, Fly d10 (Alliance Gunboats), Focus d6, Influence d8, Know d8 (Navigation), Labour d4, Move d4, Notice d8, Operate d8, Perform  d6 (Painting), Shoot d6, Sneak d4, Survive d8, Throw d4, Treat d4, Trick d4
DISTINCTIONS
SHIP’S PILOT d8
The list of folk wanting to hire you is longer than your arm. You’re just that good.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Born Behind the Wheel: Spend 1 PP to step up or double your ship’s Engines Attribute for your next roll.
Highlighted Skills: Fly, Notice, Operate
DECORATED d8
You came back from the War with a medal and a story. You’re not sure if it was worth the cost.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
You’re a Gorramn Hero: Spend 1 PP to double your Social when dealing with anyone who served on your side.
Highlighted Skills: Fight, Influence, Shoot
A LITTLE NERVOUS d8
“Oh God, oh God, we’re all gonna die.”
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.

SIGNATURE ASSETS 
Dress Uniform & Medals d8
It would have to be a dire situation wherein Kingsley had to wear his medals and dress uniform again. Still he keeps them in a kit bag in his quarters – just as his mother would want.
Easel, Paints, & Brushes d6
Kingsley’s preferred method of relaxation. One day he might get to paint a sunset on every planet in the system.

The second character is more like the twelve archetypes that come ready to customise in Gaming In The ‘Verse. These are not quite ready to play, but require some simple customisation by adding skills and an extra skill specialisation. The following example needs the player to raise his skills, add a specialisation to one skill, and select his triggers for his three Distinctions. (In the form of Jian Zhang, the Inquiry Agent will support an example of the rules in play).

Character Type: Inquiry Agent
The Unification War meant that things did not go smooth for folks on both the Border Planets and the Core Worlds. It caused all kinds of problems and both things and people have a tendency to go missing. Which is where you come in – you find things that are missing. For a commission that is. You are not a detective and you do not carry badge. Most folks would never talk to you if did. Badges are not popular out on the Border, especially Alliance badges. So now you rely on your powers of persuasion and maybe some sleight of hand when the need calls for it. If it comes to it, you have a Sanctioned Investigator’s License, but most times that works better with the Law rather than most people.
You don’t like trouble and you would prefer to put your hands up or make a run for it rather lay your hands on someone. After all, you are no bounty hunter. Usually you get people to do most things and answer most questions when you ask them. They open up to you most times.
When work is scarce though you make your money from playing cards and dice – Mahjong is a favourite. Just like your grandma taught you.

ATTRIBUTES
Mental 8 Physical 6 Social 10 
SKILLS
Craft d4, Drive d4, Fight d6, Fix d4, Fly d4, Focus d4, Influence d8 (Interrogation), Know d8, Labour d4, Move d6, Notice d6, Operate d4 (Cortex), Perform d4, Shoot d6, Sneak d6, Survive d4, Throw d4, Treat d4, Trick d8 

DISTINCTIONS
RELENTLESS INVESTIGATOR 8
Just the facts, dǒng ma?
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Bloodhound: Step up a Complication involving higher authorities in your jurisdiction to step up your
Notice skill for a scene.
I’ve Got Backup: When you create an Asset based on calling in official resources and support, step it up to a d8.
Highlighted Skills: Influence, Know, Shoot
SMOOTH TALKER 8
You can talk your way out of a life sentence or into a locked room. Just don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Gift of Gab: Spend 1 PP to double your Influence die for your next roll.
Start Fresh: Spend 1 PP at the beginning of a scene to step back all of your social or mental-based Complications.
Highlighted Skills: Influence, Know, Trick
HARMLESS LOOKING 8
You blend into a crowd like a rock blends into a quarry.
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Couldn’t Hurt A Fly: Step back your Physical die to step up your Social die when convincing someone you’re not a threat.
Quick Change: Spend 1 PP to create a d8 Asset to help you disappear into a crowd
Highlighted Skills: Move, Sneak, Trick

SIGNATURE ASSETS 
Sanctioned Investigator’s License d8
Most people out on the Border Planets don’t want others poking about their business. They like it even less when it is the gorramn law doing the poking about. So you are glad that you do not carry a badge, especially an Alliance badge. You carry something that gives you some credibility with the law if they ask and verifies that you are not the law when folks really, really want to know.
Jei Jei Pocket Stunner d8
Not everyone out in the Black wants to carry a gun, but even so, it pays to have a means to protect yourself. Which is why you carry a Jei Jei ‘Electric Induction’ Pocket Stunner, guaranteed to knock out an assailant at twenty paces or on contact, a non-lethal protection that is rare outside of the Core Worlds. You hated guns when you carried an Alliance badge and this is a compromise.

In addition to creating their characters, the players also get to create their ship. The options are limited in Gaming In The ‘Verse to just the choice of three hull types – Alliance Patrol Boat, Firefly Class Transport, or Polaris Class Cargo Liner. Whichever one the players chose, this is their ship’s first Distinction, the other two providing its History and its Customisation. To this the players get to add a Signature Asset or two. A nice suggestion is that this should be done during play with the players spending Plot Points to describe a flashback to when they came aboard for the first time and so discovered another aspect of the ship.

The basic rules to Gaming In The ‘Verse and thus Firefly Role-Playing Game are quite simple. Whenever a character wants to undertake an action, he rolls a skill and an appropriate attribute and adds the total together and compares them against the stakes rolled by the GM. For example, the Inquiry Agent, Jian Zhang is on Persephone looking for a client’s daughter and believes that Harly Polk might have been the last person to see her. Unfortunately, he does not know where Polk is, but he does know that Polk likes to gamble. Therefore, he wants to know where Polk might have gone to gamble, so his player makes a Mental (d8) + Know (d8) against the stakes set by the GM, who rolls Persephone Underworld (d6) + Challenging (d8). Zhang rolls 2+7 for a total of 9 which beats the GM’s roll of 2+5 for a total of 7 and so learns that Polk is probably playing Mahjong at Mama Fang’s. 

Whatever the situation and the task, a player will always roll and keep two dice, but will often roll more and keep the best two. These can come from skill specialities, from Distinctions, and from Assets, either Signature Assets or Assets temporarily created during play. For example, Zhang has arrived at Mama Fang’s to discover that it is a closed game, so he needs to persuade the guard to let him. To do so, Zhang must make a roll of Social (d10) + Influence (d8) and can add his Distinction, Smooth Talker (d8) to the roll as well. The guard just has to roll his Mental (d6) + Focus (d8). Zhang rolls 8, 4, and 1, and selecting the best two gets a result of 12. The guard rolls 2+3, which sets the stakes at 5. This not only a success, but because it is five more than the stakes set by the GM, it means that Zhang has achieved an extraordinary successes and thus gets a Big Damn Hero Die to use later. Given the success of the roll, the GM also rules that the guard not only lets Zhang into the game, but puts in a good word with the game boss who is running the game. Unfortunately, Zhang also rolled a 1 which is a Jinx, and although it did not count towards his total, it is enough to add a Complication to the situation, which in this case the GM describes as Mama Fang is Mad at You (d6). This might come back to trouble Zhang shortly. In return the GM gives Zhang a Plot Point.

Now involved in the game, Zhang wants to play well, but so not so well that Harly Polk will lose. In fact, he wants to Polk to win and thus make him receptive to questions, making sure that Polk thinks that Zhang is nobody special. Harly gets to roll his Mental (d6) + Trickery (d8) for his gambling, but Zhang has a Gambling specialisation and wants to use his Distinction of Harmless Looking to make himself appear ordinary. So he gets to roll Mental (d8) + Trickery (d10) + Gambling (d6) + Harmless Looking (d8). Harly rolls 5+5 for a total of ten, whereas Zhang rolls 2, 2, 4, and 5, which gives him the result of 9. Of course, this is not enough to lull Harly into a receptive mood, but Zhang has a Plot Point or two to spend – every character begins play with a single Plot Point, and Zhang has already earned another in play. He can earn more during play by temporarily reducing a Distinction from a d8 to a d4, from receiving a Complication from the GM when he rolls a Jinx, whenever the GM spends a Plot Point of his own to oppose your character, and from great play. Back in Madame Fang’s gambling den, Zhang could have spent a Plot Point before the roll to activate a Distinction trigger if appropriate, or create an Asset (d6) for the scene that would add another die to the roll. None of these are appropriate, but he has two options after he has made the roll. He could spend a Plot Point and roll and add a Big Damn Hero Die to the roll already made or he could add an extra die from the roll already made. The latter seems the easiest option and so Zhang adds a 2 from what he rolled to bring the total to 11 and so beat Harly’s roll.

In each case, what a player is rolling for is an effect that will advance the action or the story in a ‘beat’ which is defined as a period of time in which a player character could take a single action. How long a beat is depends on the action. It can be as short as the time it takes for a character to throw a punch or dive for cover, or as long as it takes to fly from Persephone to Avalon. This particularly shows most effectively in combat. In most RPGs, if a player character wants to punch an opponent, he makes a roll to hit and if successful, he rolls damage. Not so in Gaming In The ‘Verse where a successful roll may mean that the opponent or even the player character is taken out for the scene. Where in another RPG, a character might employ a bigger or better gun and receive a better damage roll or a bonus to hit, in Gaming In The ‘Verse a character can have a signature Asset like Jayne’s Vera or the Inquiry Agent’s Jei Jei Pocket Stunner. Using the Asset adds another die to the dice pool. 

The other aspect to the CORTEX Plus system as used in Gaming In The ‘Verse is that “things don’t go smooth” – and that is entirely intentional. Having things go wrong from one beat to another provides the players with the opportunity to earn Plot Points. With Plot Points to hand, a player can trigger his Distinctions, add Assets, and so on, essentially allowing a player to add elements to the on-going story, bring his back-story into play, and when it comes to the dénouement of the current story be appropriately heroic. The aim is to model the ebb and flow of the television series and its episodes – after all, the clue is in the use of the term, ‘beat’ – and this it does in fairly light fashion.

Gaming In The ‘Verse comes with two, lengthy ready-to-play scenarios. ‘Wedding Planners’ and ‘Shooting Fish’ comprise the first two parts of the Echoes of War campaign that explore how the Unification War continues to have ramifications ten years on… ‘Wedding Planners’ sees the crew ferrying a princess to her wedding who discovers that she just does not want to go, whilst in ‘Shooting Fish’ the crew come to the aid of an orphanage that a greedy man is about to shut down. A further scenario in the series, ‘Friends in Low Places’, is already available, but a really thoughtful touch is that the publisher has released the first of these scenarios, ‘Wedding Planners’, for use with the CORTEX Classic system, as typified by the original Serenity Role Playing Game. Both scenarios showcase the rules and how the game works as well as adding new rules, like expanded chase rules in ‘Wedding Planners’. Also included with Gaming In The ‘Verse are a set of designer’s notes that discuss both the game in general and the Echoes of War campaign. These provide a nice look behind the scenes of these scenarios and the game itself. There is even a Chinese Translation Guide for when you want to get your degree of Gorramn verisimilitude in your game right.

Physically, Gaming In The ‘Verse is a well presented softback book. It is liberally illustrated with stills from the television series and the buff layout has a certain period charm to it that does not feel out of place with the television series. In terms of content, what is missing from Gaming In The ‘Verse? The most obvious missing element are any rules for experience or character advancement. Deck plans are also missing. The absence of both of these elements is not an impediment to play of a Gaming In The ‘Verse in the short term, and that is intentional. The book after all, is meant to be an introduction to the setting and the forthcoming RPG. For all that, there is an awful lot of play potential in Gaming In The ‘Verse. Both scenarios will provide several sessions of play and that is before you take into account the supplementary material contained in Gaming In The ‘Verse that the Gamemaster could develop into scenarios of his own.

Gaming In The ‘Verse is an excellent introduction to the CORTEX Plus System – in fact it is a better explanation than that given in the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying RPG. It keeps its rules simple and straightforward whilst still allowing the players plenty of input as to what their character does and how they affect the action. As written, the Firefly fan that comes to this never having played an RPG should be able to grasp the CORTEX Plus rules with relative ease, though as with most RPGs, the Gamemaster should have some roleplaying experience under his belt before running Gaming In The ‘Verse. As an introduction to the Firefly Role-Playing Game and quite literally, gaming in the ‘Verse of Firefly, Gaming In The ‘Verse is a pleasingly complete, even shiny – well, it had to be said – quick start with more play than you think.