Torque2100
Legendary Pubber
- Joined
- May 7, 2020
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So I was browsing DriveThruRPG and I found a little something for free.
I am a huge fan of Science Fiction. In fact I've often been more of a science fiction than fantasy RPGS.
Septimus is built on a foundation of really cool ideas. The core concept of the setting sounds like incredible fun: the world of Septimus is contained within a Dyson Sphere built by an unknown and presumably long vanished alien race. This place was discovered by a vast, interstellar human Empire and once Hyperspace started to break down the Dyson Sphere became a kind of spaceborne bomb shelter for people fleeing the collapse of the Empire. So now you have Trillions of refugees flooding into this enclosed Solar system and a powerful faction of Posthumans called the Extent trying to take over all of Septimus while various other factions fight over who will rule Septimus. The inside of the Dyson Sphere as well being almost entirely unexplored and easily the size of millions of Earths giving near limitless opportunity for adventure.
In concept, Septimus sounds like more fun than a shotgun barrel full of monkeys. It's rare to see a high concept Sci-Fi setting which also has plenty of space for the sort of swashbuckling space adventure you might see in Star Wars or Firefly. Seeing as this is a D6 system, that's a combination that's like peanut butter and chocolate.
It's too bad this was WEG's swan song and you can tell. The execution leaves a lot to be desired. Vital pieces of information are missing. There's this event 25 years earlier called the "Steel Helix Attack" that supposedly caused widespread devastation but the game never tells you what it actually was. Likewise a lot of the concepts in the world just don't mesh well. They tried to go for a kind of Transhumanist setting with body backup drives but the "Steel Helix" is supposed to have made being resurrected a dangerous process that makes you vulnerable to "the Corruption" (Which is possibly related to Steel Helix, but again the game never tells you). It also succumbs to a trope that I noticed was very common in RPGs from the mid-late 2000's: eliminate currency, make buying items is a Difficulty check and then justify it by writing "POST SCARCITY" and "NANOTECHNOLOGY" over and over.
That in particular is something that has never sat well with me. If someone lives in a Post-Scarcity society, it's really hard to motivate characters to undertake adventures. It works in Star Trek but that's because Federation society places a tremendous value on self-improvement and learning. Septimus' Extent on the other hand is very much a "bread and circuses" society where most people (Proles) spend their days lounging around eating free food, doing free drugs and watching gladiators fight to the death.
So if I ever do run this, I'll make some changes to the setting rather than run it RAW:
-Change the name to something more thematically appropriate. This Dyson Sphere is, as far as anyone knows, the last bastion of human civilization. Maybe something like "Sanctum" would make more sense.
-Make the Hyperspace travel (that no longer works) dependent on Wormholes or Jumpgates. I've found I prefer this as in my experience, it's the only method of FTL that doesn't completely break space battles.
-Move the timeline ahead. Sanctum's last contact with the outside galaxy was over a century ago. The Jumpgate has sat abandoned in space. As far as the inhabitants of Sanctum know, they are all that's left.
-Radically change or get rid of the Steel Helix. Instead limits on really advanced technology can easily be explained as the Extant and other major factions having a monopoly on advanced tech especially Nanotechnology and Body Transference. Most of the people who would have arrived at Sanctum were desperate refugees fleeing from the collapse of civilization and the permanent isolation of their homeworlds. This can easily explain how technology has stagnated or regressed, and who doesn't like a little class envy? It also has the added benefit of allowing the bad guys to really motivate their legions of Not Stormtroopers. Immortality is one hell of a carrot to get dangled in front of you.
Overall I do like Septimus' ideas. It's a fun variation on the tropes of classic Space Opera with a self-contained setting. It's sad that this was the death rattle for West End games. I would like to have seen some more drafts of this game and some additions like a Mecha construction system. The book is missing a LOT. There's no rogue's gallery or bestiary of monsters to throw at your players. However, being a D6 game it would be plenty easy to just plug in monsters and baddies from the Star Wars D6 RPG.
I can really appreciate a Space Opera setting that maintains a sense of scale. Sci-Fi writers often forget just how FREAKIN BIG Space is. A single solar system, much less a single planet is PLENTY of space for an entire campaign.
I am a huge fan of Science Fiction. In fact I've often been more of a science fiction than fantasy RPGS.
Septimus is built on a foundation of really cool ideas. The core concept of the setting sounds like incredible fun: the world of Septimus is contained within a Dyson Sphere built by an unknown and presumably long vanished alien race. This place was discovered by a vast, interstellar human Empire and once Hyperspace started to break down the Dyson Sphere became a kind of spaceborne bomb shelter for people fleeing the collapse of the Empire. So now you have Trillions of refugees flooding into this enclosed Solar system and a powerful faction of Posthumans called the Extent trying to take over all of Septimus while various other factions fight over who will rule Septimus. The inside of the Dyson Sphere as well being almost entirely unexplored and easily the size of millions of Earths giving near limitless opportunity for adventure.
In concept, Septimus sounds like more fun than a shotgun barrel full of monkeys. It's rare to see a high concept Sci-Fi setting which also has plenty of space for the sort of swashbuckling space adventure you might see in Star Wars or Firefly. Seeing as this is a D6 system, that's a combination that's like peanut butter and chocolate.
It's too bad this was WEG's swan song and you can tell. The execution leaves a lot to be desired. Vital pieces of information are missing. There's this event 25 years earlier called the "Steel Helix Attack" that supposedly caused widespread devastation but the game never tells you what it actually was. Likewise a lot of the concepts in the world just don't mesh well. They tried to go for a kind of Transhumanist setting with body backup drives but the "Steel Helix" is supposed to have made being resurrected a dangerous process that makes you vulnerable to "the Corruption" (Which is possibly related to Steel Helix, but again the game never tells you). It also succumbs to a trope that I noticed was very common in RPGs from the mid-late 2000's: eliminate currency, make buying items is a Difficulty check and then justify it by writing "POST SCARCITY" and "NANOTECHNOLOGY" over and over.
That in particular is something that has never sat well with me. If someone lives in a Post-Scarcity society, it's really hard to motivate characters to undertake adventures. It works in Star Trek but that's because Federation society places a tremendous value on self-improvement and learning. Septimus' Extent on the other hand is very much a "bread and circuses" society where most people (Proles) spend their days lounging around eating free food, doing free drugs and watching gladiators fight to the death.
So if I ever do run this, I'll make some changes to the setting rather than run it RAW:
-Change the name to something more thematically appropriate. This Dyson Sphere is, as far as anyone knows, the last bastion of human civilization. Maybe something like "Sanctum" would make more sense.
-Make the Hyperspace travel (that no longer works) dependent on Wormholes or Jumpgates. I've found I prefer this as in my experience, it's the only method of FTL that doesn't completely break space battles.
-Move the timeline ahead. Sanctum's last contact with the outside galaxy was over a century ago. The Jumpgate has sat abandoned in space. As far as the inhabitants of Sanctum know, they are all that's left.
-Radically change or get rid of the Steel Helix. Instead limits on really advanced technology can easily be explained as the Extant and other major factions having a monopoly on advanced tech especially Nanotechnology and Body Transference. Most of the people who would have arrived at Sanctum were desperate refugees fleeing from the collapse of civilization and the permanent isolation of their homeworlds. This can easily explain how technology has stagnated or regressed, and who doesn't like a little class envy? It also has the added benefit of allowing the bad guys to really motivate their legions of Not Stormtroopers. Immortality is one hell of a carrot to get dangled in front of you.
Overall I do like Septimus' ideas. It's a fun variation on the tropes of classic Space Opera with a self-contained setting. It's sad that this was the death rattle for West End games. I would like to have seen some more drafts of this game and some additions like a Mecha construction system. The book is missing a LOT. There's no rogue's gallery or bestiary of monsters to throw at your players. However, being a D6 game it would be plenty easy to just plug in monsters and baddies from the Star Wars D6 RPG.
I can really appreciate a Space Opera setting that maintains a sense of scale. Sci-Fi writers often forget just how FREAKIN BIG Space is. A single solar system, much less a single planet is PLENTY of space for an entire campaign.
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