The Black Campbell

Here is another battlestar for your roleplaying game’s fleet (and the one we’re using in our campaign) — Pleiades, a Minerva-class battlestar.  She is an intermediate design, newer than Galactica and her sisters, and the iteration previous to the Mercury -class of Pegasus.  Many were still in service at the time of the attacks, including the class prototype, Athena.

She is the flagship for Battlestar Group 55 (BSG-55) and was usually deployed with a pair of Cygnus-class gunstars, two Vanguard-class assaultstars, and a Demeter-class tender.  Like Galactica, Pleiades must retract her landing pods for FTL jumps — her FTL sinks are spaced far and the displacement bubble generated is not large enough to handle the pods otherwise.

BATTLESTAR PLEIADES

SHIP DATA:
Class: Minerva     Length: 4777.7′     Beam: 1742′     Draught: 841.5′     Decks: 30     Scale: Spacecraft     Crew: 1500 standard, 10,000 max

ATTRIBUTES:
Agility: d4     Strength: d12+d4     Vitality: d6     Alertness: d8     Intelligence: d8     Willpower: d10

Life Points: 26     Armor: 6W, 4S     Initiative: d4+d8     Speed: 5 [SL/JC]

TRAITS: Formidable Presence (d4), Viper Construction Facilities (d4)

SKILLS:  Heavy Weapons d6, Mechanical Engineering d4, Perception d6, Pilot d4

ARMAMENT:  Heavy Skirmish Range Point Defense System  (d12W Planetary-scale ), 32 Capital-range Heavy Railguns (d12+d2W Spacecraft-scale), 22 Short Dradis-range Heavy Missile Systems (d12+d4W Spacecraft-Scale), 12 Long Dradis-Range Nuclear Missile Systems  (d12+d8W Spacecraft-scale)

AUXILIARY VEHICLES:  110 (4 squadrons and 10 spare) Mk VII Vipers, 25 Raptors, 10 Marine Landing Shuttles, 3 standard shuttles, assorted work vehicles

Orthographics by tanj from scifi-meshes.com.  See more of his spectacular work there.

One of the things I noticed in the core book for the Battlestar Galactica RPG is that the Cylon ships seemed to have several of their statistics skewed.  I went through and corrected a few of the secondary numbers and fleshed out a few things, including giving the ships skills.  (At the time of the attack, I would assume the combat experience of the Cylon raiders, heavy raiders, and basestars to be sub-par, and this is borne out onscreen.  In our campaign, however, they are steadily gaining experience and getting better.)

BASESTAR, MK II

This is the the basestar from the miniseries, through to when the ZOIC models were discontinued for the newer in-house effects team’s basestar (the Mk III, here.  We’re assuming the old double saucer from the Razor movie is a Mk I.)

There are, according to Battlestarwiki.org, 864 launching racks for either missiles or raiders (they are interchangeable in the early seasons.)  Later MkIII Basestars have missile launching turrets, and less of the the racks are used for fighters (434 total, if I counted correctly [and the above source agrees].)

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 4500′     Beam: 2250′     Draught: 625′     Decks: 31     Scale: Spacecraft

ATTRIBUTES:
Agility: d6     Strength: d12+d2     Vitality:  d10     Alertness: d12     Intelligence: d10     Willpower: d8

Life Points: 22     Armor: 4W, 5S     Initiative: d6+d12     Speed: 6 [JC/SL]

ASSETS:  Biomechanical [d8]: Can self-repair, Formidable Presence [d4]

COMPLICATIONS:   Memorable [d4]

SKILLS:     Heavy Weapons [d4], Mechanical Engineering [d6], Perception [d6], Pilot [d6]

ARMAMENTS:  Medium Skirmish Range Missile Systems  [d12, Vehicle-scale], Heavy Capital Range Missile systems  [d12+d4, Vehicle-scale],  Heavy Capital Range missile Systems  [d12+d4, Spacecraft-scale],  Nuclear Short-DRADIS range Missile Systems  [d12+d8, Spacecraft-scale]

AUXILIARY CRAFT:  up to 864 raiders, heavy raiders, and support craft.  I assume, for the Mk II, 300 raiders, 124 heavy raiders, and a few dozen support craft.  For the Mk III, I assume 434 raiders and heavy raiders combined.

CYLON RAIDER

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 29.3′     Beam: 18′     Draught: 5′     Scale: Vehicle

ATTRIBUTES:

Agility: d12     Strength: d8   Vitality: d8     Alertness: d8     Intelligence: d6     Willpower: d6

Life Points: 14     Armor: 2W, 2S     Initiative: d12+d8     Speed: 9 [7 in Atmo] [JC/SL]

ASSETS:  Biomechanical [d8], Formidable Presence [d4], Stealthy [d4; adds to difficult to spot with the naked eye.]

SKILLS:  Perception [d4], Pilot [d4]

ARMAMENT:  2 30mm [Medium, Skirmish Range] Cannons  [d8, Vehicle-scale], 6 Medium Capital-Range missiles  [d12, Vehicle-scale] OR 2 Capital-Range Nuclear Missiles  [d12+d4, Spacecraft-scale.]

CYLON HEAVY RAIDER

Schematics courtesy of Starship Schematics Database, Jim Stevenson’s encyclopedic site.

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 66′     Beam: 25.6′     Draught: 16′     Scale: Vehicle    Passengers: up to 12 Centurions

ATTRIBUTES:
Agility: d6     Strength: d10     Vitality: d10     Alertness: d6     Intelligence: d6     Willpower: d6

Life Points: 16     Armor: 4W, 4S     Initiative: d6+d6     Speed: 7 [5 in Atmo] [JC/SL]

TRAITS:  Biomechanical [d8]

SKILLS:  Perception [d4], Pilot [d4]

ARMAMENT:  2 Dual Medium 30mm autocannons  [d8, Vehicle-Scale, Capital Range], 12 Capital-Range, Medium Missiles  [d12, Vehicle scale]

CYLON RESURRECTION SHIP

Model by Meleardil on scifi-meshes.com.

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 2010′     Beam: 465′     Draught: 784′     Scale: Spacecraft     Crew:  Unknown, assumed 1000s     Passengers:  Unknown, assumed 1000s

ATTRIBUTES:
Agility: d4     Strength: d10     Vitality: d8     Alertness: d8     Intelligence: d10     Willpower: d8

Life Points: 18     Armor: 1W, 4S     Initiative: d4+d8     Speed: 6 [JC/SL]

ASSETS:  Allure [d4], Biomechanical [d8]

COMPLICATIONS:  Memorable [d4]

SKILLS:  Mechanical Engineering [d4], Perception [d4], Pilot [d4]

It’s been a busy week for the Black Campbell, but I finally have a few moments to sit down and slap out a few posts.  The next few days will be Battlestar Galactica oriented with a series of new ships.  Since the Colonial Military sourcebook appears DOA, here’s my take, with visuals borrowed from various sources.  (Please pop over to scifi-meches.com for more of these artists’ fantastic work!)

Here’s a sister ship to Battlestar Valkyrie…

BATTLESTAR ARGO

SHIP DATA:
Type:     Battlestar, Light
Class:     Erynis [Furies]
Registry:    BSL-3
Group:    BSG-30 [Exploration]

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 3980′     Beam: 1514′     Draught: 634′     Decks: 17     Crew: 1500 [Air Group: 150]     Passengers:  up to 5000

ATTRIBUTES:

Agility: d6     Strength: d12     Vitality: d6     Alertness: d8     Intelligence: d8     Willpower:  d10

Life Points: 22     Initiative: d6+d8     Armor: 5W, 4S     Scale: Spacecraft     Speed: 5 [JC/SL]

ASSETS:     Loved [d4], Lucky Ship [d4],

COMPLICATIONS:     Past It’s Prime [d2], Slow Response (Argo can only launch 12 fighters/turn.) [d6]

SKILLS:     Heavy Weaponry [d6], Mechanical Engineering [d4], Perception [d6], Pilot [d4]

ARMAMENT:     Medium skirmish range point-defense system [d12W, Vehicle-Scale], 14 Capital range primary assault railguns [d12W, Spacecraft-scale] — Can fire Short DRADIS range missile systems [d12W, Spacecraft-scale], 6 Short DRADIS range nuclear missile systems [d12+d4, Spacecraft-scale]

AUXILIARY CRAFT:     68 Vipers  in 3 Squadrons w/ 8 reserve, 20 Raptors, 12 shuttles & assorted

HISTORY:     Argo is the thirds Erynis-class light battlestar off the line.  Constructed in 30AC (after Articles of Colonization) at the Scorpia Shipyards, these battlestars represented a new direction in Colonial military ship design.  For a time, the Colonial Defense Ministry was looking to curb costs of the Fleet, and these intermediate-sized battlestars were to take over much of the heavy lifting for the fleet, supported by the new assaultstars.  However, pressure from the Fleet brass led to the creation of the Mercury project – 12 super-battlestars to replace the aging Minerva, with the Erynis class as a dedicated support vessel.

Argo was scheduled for mothballing in 50AC, but was instead shifted to Battlestar Group-30 [BSG-30], the Exploration Fleet and assigned to protect scientific assets investigating the surrounding star systems for habitable planets, resources, and Cylon presence.  She was out of the system when the Cylons attacked, and neither she nor her Vipers have not be upgraded to the Command Navigation Program.

This orthographic of Valkyrie is the work of Infinity238.  Find more of his work on scifi-meshes.com

Well, then just hit the button to subscribe for some automated email subscription doo-hicky.

Or don’t…it’s Freedom City, baby!

This one is the next “novel” of our Artemis Campbell series (think Modesty Blaise and you’re close!)

A Fine Reputation sees the smuggling/spy network of Artemis Campbell being hired by Italian wine merchant Julio Ruffino to find and rescue his daughter from banditi in Southern Italy.  Also, the introduction of a new character, Dag Sverresgaard.  Set in 1946 Venice, Brindisi, and southern Italy.

The Vampire of Victoria Terrasse is the next “novel”, in which the Network is hired by the Norwegian government to find and bring back (dead or alive), Harald Jenner — the prison officer that ran the Victoria Terrasse prison during the War and who was directly responsible for the death of Dag’s wife.  The crew tracks the man from London to Marseilles, to Brazil.

Working on the next “issue” of our Gorilla Ace! campaign:

Following the transformation of Rowland Cabot into a gorilla man by the evil Dr. Wassermann, the group journeys home aboard HMS Durban, only to intercept a distress call from a nearby freighter.  When they arrive, they find the freighter being ransacked by a massive airship of unknown design and origin.

In a desperate race to stop more attacks by these sky pirates, Cabot and co. are hired by His Majesty’s Government to find and destroy the craft.

Next, in Gorilla Ace! #2 “The Sky Pirates!”

Style points are vastly underpowered in my opinion in Hollow Earth Expedition.  To  this end, our house rules are such — style points earn you a success…period.  No opportunity to roll, nonsense.  They can be played before or after a test.

Here are a few of the house rules we’ve developed over the years to make Castle Falkenstein flow faster and better.

1.  Each player and the GM get a deck of cards for play.  Discards get shuffled back into your own deck.  This seems to speed play by not depleting the a solitary player deck.

2.  New combat rules…

Initiative options for gunfighting — an opposed Perception and/or Gunslinger test.  (Skill is in the Six-Guns & Sorcery book.)  For fisticuffs or fencing, draw a card from your fortune hand and add to the applicable skill.

One we use for speed and a bit of random chance: for brawling and fisticuffs, as well as for gunfights in the same is all characters and the GM cut their fortune deck and add the result to their fisticuffs, fencing, gunslinger, or firearms skills — whichever is appropriate.  It’s a fast way of knowing who goes first and is more random than drawing a card for the action.

Once initiative is determined, firearms tests are conducted as per the usual rules — marksmanship or gunslinger test+card drawn from the fortune deck v. athletics draw of their target.

Fencing/fisticuffs is where we changed things up a bit.  This is the only time the fortune deck changes from the standard 4-card hand.  Characters with skills of good or great gain another card (5), excellent or extraordinary two more cards (6.)  this represents the greater number of opportunities a more skilled fighter can see/exploit.   This is the number of cards they will have for the whole of the action round.  It is replenished at the end of the round.

Those with initiative go first, making their attack.  Attacks do not have to be skill suit specific (i.e. clubs for fisticuffs.)  Instead, the attacker chooses a “line of attack”  based on the cards in his deck.  He can choose upper (torso and head represented by diamonds), middle (arms and abdomen/groin represented by hearts), or lower (legs/groin represented by clubs.)  Spades are an all purpose card used to defend on any line of the attack and represent the ability to dodge and weave out of the way of an attack.

The face value of the card (if in the correct line of attack) is added to the appropriate combat skill.  If the player chose upper, but had not diamonds, they can play multiple cards of other suits — each adding one.  [Yes, players have had to do this…]  The defender must play a card of the proper suit (an upper attack requires an upper defense), but if they don’t have the right suit, they can play the spade for full face value, or any number of the other suits in their hand at a face value of one.

Example:  Sir George is fighting the nefarious Han Ping with swords.  George has the initiative and goes for an upper attack.  He pullss a 10 of diamonds, giving him an 18 with his great fencing, and holds it, waiting to show.  He calls the line of attack, and Ping’s player draws a card from his deck.  He has no diamonds, but does have a jack of spades.  With his good fencing, it’s a 17 — doing Ping an injury. (You can use the original rules for weapon damage and injury or the Comme il Faut with this…I prefer the CiF, myself.)

Had Ping gotten an 18 (a queen of spades or hearts), he would have stopped the blow.  If he stopped the blow, or was still able to act, he would pick a line of attack, Sir George would defend.

Changing initiative:  Once a player/NPC has initiative, they keep it unless on of three things happen: 1) their attack on someone fails by three or more points (UNLESS they pull a spade of equal or higher value to the attack card!), 2) they are struck by their opponent after having made an attack, 3) the opponent disengages from the fight.  Once the opponent has initiative, they keep it until one of these factors is met.

Example:  George clipped Ping, but the injury was not serious.  Ping strikes back with a quick slash lower (clubs) with a 4 of clubs: 10 total.  George has nothing in clubs or spades!  He plays two hearts for a total of 10.  He stops the blow and retains initiative.  The fortune hands are replenished.  (5 for George, 4 for Ping since Ping has one hit to him [ordinarily, with a GOOD fencing he’d have 5.])  George has crap  cards, however:  he plays a 4 of hearts for a total of 12.  Ping draws a 6 of spades:  he equals George to stop damage and beats the face value of the attack with a spade…he takes initiative for the round unless George can beat his next attack by 3 (or has equal or higher spade to the attack card.)

EFFECTS OF INJURY:  each injury taken lowers the fortune hand of the character 1 card.  This is the only time the fortune deck can drop below 4 cards and reflects the effect of injury on the person and the limitations they have to exploit openings in combat.

When you no longer have cards, you can no longer fight and drop unconscious for the rest of the scene.

STOP HITS:  Sometimes, you can make a desperate attempt to stop an incoming attack.  You don’t have the right suit or a spade to defend.  If the player has a 2 or 3 in their hand, they may “stop hit” — attacking to stop an incoming attack.  The unresolved attack card is placed face down on the table and the attack defends against the stop hit as normal.  If successful, their original attack follows through.  If their defense fails, the original attack does not happen and the card is discarded.

If a stop hit succeeds by three or more, the defender gains initiative.

Example:  Ping goes for a head strike and lays face-down his queen of diamonds.  George’s player, seeing the delight in the other player’s eyes, knows his 3 of diamonds isn’t going to cut it.  He calls “stop hit!  Upper!”  Ping’s player has no other diamonds and his queen is committed.  He has no spades and plays all three of his remaining cards for a total of 9.  George hits with an 11.  He injures Ping again, and stops the attack, but does not gain initiative…

JOKERS:  Jokers play like a 15 on an attack or defense, but also give a special bonus as an attack or defense.  In an attack, the player may chose to disarm their opponent, grapple, or knock them down or back.  A joker played in defense allows the defender to disengage from the fight, and either run for it or find a better position and retest for initiative, if they want to reengage.  I have allowed them to disarm their attacker if they succeeded by a wide margin (3+.)

If both players draw jokers, the defender gets to disengage without harm, but the attack may disarm them.  Initiative is redrawn.

GRAPPLING:  conducted as Physique challenges using the ability suit (clubs.)

I’VE ONLY GOT SPADES….AND INITIATIVE:  You lose your attack.  You just couldn’t see an opening.  You do not lose initiative next round unless the other player succeeds in striking you.

MULITPLE OPPONENTS:  There are only so many openings that can be exploited by multiple opponents.  For each extra attacker, the GM may add a card to the attack fortune hand (which is a base of 4 cards.)  Example:  4 guys jump Sir George on the Wapping Docks.  He pulls his swordcane and gets his attack fortune hand of 5 for his great fencing.  The attackers have 7 cards in their hand (4+3 extra attackers.)  The opponents only get one attack/round, but they’re more likely to hit.

While a bit fast and loose, these combat rules make combat fast! and aid in giving a sense of what your character is doing.  Calling lines of attack gives ideas for what they are trying to do and gets away from the “18!  I hit!” mediocrity of a fight sequence.

Have fun!

This is the ride for Dr. Stanford in the upcoming Gorilla Ace! campaign:  the 1930 Cord L-29 Cabriolet.  (Stanford’s is equipped with the rumble seat, not the weird dorsal fin that this model actually possesses…)

1930 CORD L-29 CABRIOLET

Powered by a 125hp inline-8 motor, the Cord is the first car to use front-wheel drive, allowing it to be lower to the ground than many of its competitors, and improving handling.  The styling is from one of Cord’s American coachworks.

Size:  2   Def: 6   Str: 8   Spd:  90   Rng: 200 mi   Han: +2   Crew: 1   Pass: 3   Cost: $3300

As part of the upcoming Gorilla Ace! campaign, a race plane was required for one of the characters…created by one of the other characters.  Ladies and Gentlemen, Boy and Girls!  Premiering at the 1935 Bendix Cup, the #4 plane piloted by Mrs. Jackie Cabot:  the Vincetti Sportster 1!

VINCETTI SPORTSTER 1

Designed by Dex Vincetti and built by Vincetti and the Cabots with funding from Union Oil and Champion (the spark plug manufacturer), the S1 is a braced low-wing monoplane powered by a 1000hp Pratt & Whitney R1690 radial engine (bought used as salvage and tinkered with by Vincetti.)  The airframe is unusual for a racing airplane:  to save weight, the wings use spruce spars, the ailerons plywood, and the fuselage a combination of steel tubing and aluminum, covered with doped canvas.  She is 21′ in length, with a wing span of 26′, and a dead weight of 1500 lbs.

Size: 2   Def: 6   Struc: 6   Spd: 300 mph   Rng: 900 mi   Han: +2   Crew: 1   Pass: 1*  Cost: $6,000   Flaw:  Requires Maintenance before each flight (Mechanic vs. 2)

(The Vincetti Sportster 1 is portrayed by the Wedell-Williams #44…SCR)