(Wishful thinking) Seventies British SF RPG? Wouldn't one be great!

[spittingimage]

I'm surprised they haven't remade it. It's even more relevant now than it was in the grim days of 70s Britain.

There was an attempt two or three years back. Paul Darrow (the actor who played Avon) owned the rights and all the parties were unable to come to an agreement. Now Darrow's dead and I don't know who inherited the IP.

 

[Chaotic Wooster]

I am honestly pleased none of the Blake's 7 reboots happened. The original show is a cherished favourite of mine. It would be a good role playing game though, admittedly one with limited interest unless there was a reboot to create a new audience. I know Beyond Belief Games were working on this and had the abandoned project available for download at one point, I don't know if that is still the case.

Cubicle 7's Doctor Who role playing game can cover a lot of what is being discussed in this thread. The Defending the Earth: The U.N.I.T. Sourcebook is an easy choice for more action-oriented campaigns against aliens or more mundane threats. The 3rd and 4th Doctor Sourcebooks are excellent in general, and cover the 70's style of the show well.

Spectrum Games publish Retrostar, which broadly covers 70's and 80' sci-fi. It has rules to adjust between bright, heroic and dark, cynical settings. Most British sci-fi is distinctly the latter.

Red Dwarf is... Awful, honestly. A strangely serious system for a comedy show. I did like some of the other animal hybrid species it suggests as your potential Cat-alternate, but otherwise I found it a bloody boring experience. A Red Dwarf game probably needs statistics for how much the characters care about each other (If you weren't my friend, I'd steal your shoes), can put up with one another (smug-mode), be motivated to do anything at all a Willpower/Resolve statistic to resist doing things the cowardly, greedy, self-serving way. Competence at anything should be a rare and finite resource shared between the characters.

 

[TristramEvans]

Red Dwarf is... Awful, honestly. A strangely serious system for a comedy show. I did like some of the other animal hybrid species it suggests as your potential Cat-alternate, but otherwise I found it a bloody boring experience. A Red Dwarf game probably needs statistics for how much the characters care about each other (If you weren't my friend, I'd steal your shoes), can put up with one another (smug-mode), be motivated to do anything at all a Willpower/Resolve statistic to resist doing things the cowardly, greedy, self-serving way. Competence at anything should be a rare and finite resource shared between the characters.

Yeah, I wasn't impressed. Better off just grabbing a show guide and using a system of choice (my vote would an adaption of Ghostbusters)

 

[Mankcam]

Is it Fate? didn't know Grim had done anything with that system

Yeah, but by the date it preceeds Fate Core, so it would be pretty clunky compared to Fate Core.
I don't reckon it would be the best system, you had to create multitudes of character Aspects (descriptors), you are tripping over yourself in them by the time you finish char gen. The Fudge/Fate core mechanic is fine, but yeah there would be better systems to fit this genre.

The main trick is that Fate works really, really well with GMs and players who are very familar with the source material, and understand how to emulate it. If people are not able to do this then Fate can often feel flat.

So many Millennials may have issues trying to use Fate to it's full advantage when trying to emulate the vibe of a Swinging 1960s/1970s spy show, unless they are all heavily invested into the genre as part of cult fandom. They may come close if they know The Kingsmen, although it's not exactly the same.

 

[Mankcam]

There was an attempt two or three years back. Paul Darrow (the actor who played Avon) owned the rights and all the parties were unable to come to an agreement. Now Darrow's dead and I don't know who inherited the IP.

Well a reboot could be good, if done right. Look at BSG, it was a decent reboot that worked well, despite being a very different series to the original.
But yeah the potential for stuffing it up is probably higher than it would be grabbing a new audience.
In many ways I love keeping Blakes 7 where it is, it is perfect for what it was.

 

[Mankcam]

Luther Arkwright is a Mythras system supplement which dates from the 70s and still feels it. You could put Chaosium's Hawkmoon close to the same category which is SF/Fantasy, based on Moorcock's series.

That joke about dentistry is hilarious, not heard that one before, definitely have to find a way to put that in a game, I think my players would probably start falling off their chairs.

Luther Arkwright could be a HBO series goldmine if it is done right

 

[Chaotic Wooster]

Yeah, I wasn't impressed. Better off just grabbing a show guide and using a system of choice (my vote would an adaption of Ghostbusters)

Ghostbusters wouldn't be a bad choice. Of course, MiniD6 Barebones would be a good option for most of the TV shows under discussion here.

Red Dwarf probably suits Fiasco better than a traditional role playing game.

 

[AsenRG]

There has to be a market for an Avengers type game, surely? Absolutely nuts in parts. Course now, everyone would expect superheroes rather than bowlers, umbrellas and Emma Peel.

The Laundry?

 

[apOweyn]

There's a boxed set of the original TV Quatermass serials kicking around, and it shows that even when an alien planet is a pile of boxes covered in bedsheets, the actors and ideas really push to make it work. Quatermass and the Pit stands up effortlessly six decades later.

Another great series was the MR James ghost story adaptations the BBC made. Every Christmas, they produced a movie-lengtj screenplay of one of the best known tales. Again, there's a box set of all of them. We could have had horror roleplaying game as the first!

They're slow as treacle to watch now, but creepy and atmospheric. It's not a bad change of pace.

Nigel Neale loathed Dr Who!

So the stories of MR James have actually gotten a recent (still in Kickstarter?) treatment, using the Gumshoe engine). It’s called “Casting the Runes.”

Maybe that could also tackle something like Sapphire and Steel.

 

[Arcane_Avatar]

The Casting the Runes KS is finished and backers have the pre-production rules with public domain art. The finished rules will have custom art and it's out in August.

It's slightly custom GUMSHOE much like most of the other GUMSHOE games have slight changes to accommodate the appropriate setting.

 

[Ghost Whistler]

Luther Arkwright could be a HBO series goldmine if it is done right

I seem to recall, perhaps feverishly, talk of a Jerry Cornelius tv show

 

[Mankcam]

I seem to recall, perhaps feverishly, talk of a Jerry Cornelius tv show

Jerry Cornelius was a pretty cool character. That could work really well as a arty tv show, or it could be one big psychedelic mess that hardly anyone can understand
(much like the books were!)

 

[dbm]

Have you seen Legion? That was very trippy...

 

[Stevethulhu]

Have you seen Legion? That was very trippy...

Allegedly on Legion. I really enjoyed that one.

 

[Dammit Victor]

Bear in mind that Americans don't get sarcasm.

The real joke is that, nowadays, most Americans don't get dentistry.