Serenity (role-playing game)
Encyclopedia
Serenity Role Playing Game is a science fiction
role-playing game
released in 2005
and set in the universe
of the movie Serenity
and television series Firefly
. It is produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
, and its mechanics are the first iteration of the Cortex System.
, and statistics of the crew. Each chapter opens with a narrative to give the mood and feeling of the setting. These narratives alternate between a crew created by MWP
and the crew of 'Serenity'. There are many photographs used as illustration throughout the book, but all are sampled from the film Serenity as opposed to the show Firefly. This is due to MWP acquiring their rights from Universal Studios
rather than 20th Century Fox
. For this reason as well, the previously mentioned narrative text may come close to something that happened in an episode of Firefly but will diverge in some way to stay within the license purchased through Universal
.
The first chapter introduces the character and setting, giving a brief history of "The Verse" and the basic concepts of play. The next few chapters deal with character creation as well as details on Attributes, Skills, and Traits. Following the character creation chapters are chapters on more detailed play systems, additional setting information, equipment, and running the game, including profiles for many pre-generated non-player characters, a sample crew other than the crew of 'Serenity', several sample ships, and stats for some of the secondary cast of the film. At the end of the book there is an appendix which goes over Chinese as it is used in the setting and a short primer for those who want to insert it into their games.
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
has also released a Game Master's Screen as well as specialty d2
dice for sale on their website.
Two more books were released in 2008, with a third in 2009.
itself, Serenity has thrived on its community producing new content and variant rules while MWP
has had their hands tied by license negotiations. 'CortexSystemRPG.org' (which replaced the now defunct 'Waves In The Black' site, and includes discussion forums for all Cortex system games rather than just Serenity) is the primary focus of this community and is frequented by both the head developers as well as some of the freelancers working on the project. In particular, several high-quality and freely available adventures put together by members of the community are available in the site's Downloads section.
refined and expanded the system for their Battlestar Galactica
role-playing game.
The system uses dice
with 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 sides, described with the standard role-playing game notation
of d2, d4, d6, d8, and so on. Each of a character's attributes and skills is assigned one of these dice types, with larger dice representing greater ability. So, for example, a character might have Strength d6, Intelligence d8, Athletics d4, Guns d10, and so on. When a character attempts an action, such as piloting a spacecraft, shooting a gun, or punching someone, the player rolls the die for the character's applicable attribute and the die for his/her appropriate skill, adds the results together, and compares the total against a difficulty number. Tasks of greater or lesser difficulty are represented either by increasing or decreasing the difficulty number or increasing or decreasing the dice the player rolls by "steps," with each step raising or lowering the die type by one. So a d10 with a two step penalty becomes a d6, a d12 with a one step penalty becomes a d10, and so on.
The game uses a system of Assets and Complications to round out characters and give them various bonuses and penalties. This is similar to the special abilities and character flaws used in a variety of other role-playing games, such as Merits and Flaws in White Wolf's
original World of Darkness
, Advantages and Disadvantages in Steve Jackson Games'
GURPS
, Qualities and Drawbacks in Eden Unisystem, and Edges and Hindrances in Pinnacle Entertainment's Deadlands
and Savage Worlds
games (to which the Serenity system bears a strong resemblance).
The Cortex System also includes Plot Points
, which increase characters' survivability and give players greater control over events in the game. Players can spend Plot Points to gain extra dice when making a die roll, reduce the damage from an attack, or even make changes to the storyline. Some Assets also require the expenditure of Plot Points. At the end of a game session, excess Plot Points are converted to Advancement Points, which a player spends to improve his or her character's abilities.
This is similar to Warhammer Fantasy Role-play's Fate Point system.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
released in 2005
2005 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 2005. For video and console games, see 2005 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 2005:...
and set in the universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of the movie Serenity
Serenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
and television series Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
. It is produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd is a publisher.It published Serenity role playing game in late 2005 to coincide with the release of Joss Whedon's feature film Serenity based on the television series Firefly...
, and its mechanics are the first iteration of the Cortex System.
Themes
The themes of Serenity are similar to those presented in the original film as well as its precursor, the show Firefly. The science fiction setting is tempered by the feel of an old western movie, as aspects of high technology mix with frontier life on newly terraformed planets. The primary focus of the game is on constantly moving to the horizon and avoiding being tied down. Secondary themes are created through character interaction and there is plenty of leeway to allow for a Game Master to create their own themes within the setting.Contents of the book
The book is in full color and also includes biographies of the characters, in the words of MalMalcolm Reynolds
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a fictional character and main protagonist in the Firefly franchise. Reynolds is played by actor Nathan Fillion in the 2002 TV series Firefly and the 2005 film Serenity. In the series, Reynolds is the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity...
, and statistics of the crew. Each chapter opens with a narrative to give the mood and feeling of the setting. These narratives alternate between a crew created by MWP
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd is a publisher.It published Serenity role playing game in late 2005 to coincide with the release of Joss Whedon's feature film Serenity based on the television series Firefly...
and the crew of 'Serenity'. There are many photographs used as illustration throughout the book, but all are sampled from the film Serenity as opposed to the show Firefly. This is due to MWP acquiring their rights from Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
rather than 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. For this reason as well, the previously mentioned narrative text may come close to something that happened in an episode of Firefly but will diverge in some way to stay within the license purchased through Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
.
The first chapter introduces the character and setting, giving a brief history of "The Verse" and the basic concepts of play. The next few chapters deal with character creation as well as details on Attributes, Skills, and Traits. Following the character creation chapters are chapters on more detailed play systems, additional setting information, equipment, and running the game, including profiles for many pre-generated non-player characters, a sample crew other than the crew of 'Serenity', several sample ships, and stats for some of the secondary cast of the film. At the end of the book there is an appendix which goes over Chinese as it is used in the setting and a short primer for those who want to insert it into their games.
Other products
- Out in the Black by Laura and Tracy HickmanTracy HickmanTracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis, while he worked for TSR...
, the system's first adventure, was released on 2006-03-15.
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd is a publisher.It published Serenity role playing game in late 2005 to coincide with the release of Joss Whedon's feature film Serenity based on the television series Firefly...
has also released a Game Master's Screen as well as specialty d2
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
dice for sale on their website.
Two more books were released in 2008, with a third in 2009.
- Serenity Adventures, a collection of short adventures
- Six Shooters and Spaceships, a ship and technology sourcebook
- Big Damn Heroes Handbook, a rule expansion
Community involvement
Much like FireflyFirefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
itself, Serenity has thrived on its community producing new content and variant rules while MWP
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd is a publisher.It published Serenity role playing game in late 2005 to coincide with the release of Joss Whedon's feature film Serenity based on the television series Firefly...
has had their hands tied by license negotiations. 'CortexSystemRPG.org' (which replaced the now defunct 'Waves In The Black' site, and includes discussion forums for all Cortex system games rather than just Serenity) is the primary focus of this community and is frequented by both the head developers as well as some of the freelancers working on the project. In particular, several high-quality and freely available adventures put together by members of the community are available in the site's Downloads section.
The Cortex System
The Cortex System is based on the Sovereign Stone System. The system described here is the one detailed in the Serenity core rule book. Margaret Weis Productions, LtdMargaret Weis Productions, Ltd
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd is a publisher.It published Serenity role playing game in late 2005 to coincide with the release of Joss Whedon's feature film Serenity based on the television series Firefly...
refined and expanded the system for their Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
role-playing game.
The system uses dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
with 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 sides, described with the standard role-playing game notation
Dice notation
Dice notation is a system to represent different combinations of dice in role-playing games using simple algebra-like notation such as 2d6+12....
of d2, d4, d6, d8, and so on. Each of a character's attributes and skills is assigned one of these dice types, with larger dice representing greater ability. So, for example, a character might have Strength d6, Intelligence d8, Athletics d4, Guns d10, and so on. When a character attempts an action, such as piloting a spacecraft, shooting a gun, or punching someone, the player rolls the die for the character's applicable attribute and the die for his/her appropriate skill, adds the results together, and compares the total against a difficulty number. Tasks of greater or lesser difficulty are represented either by increasing or decreasing the difficulty number or increasing or decreasing the dice the player rolls by "steps," with each step raising or lowering the die type by one. So a d10 with a two step penalty becomes a d6, a d12 with a one step penalty becomes a d10, and so on.
The game uses a system of Assets and Complications to round out characters and give them various bonuses and penalties. This is similar to the special abilities and character flaws used in a variety of other role-playing games, such as Merits and Flaws in White Wolf's
White Wolf
White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...
original World of Darkness
World of Darkness
"World of Darkness" is the name given to three related but distinct fictional universes created as settings for supernatural horror themed role-playing games. It is also the name of roleplaying games in the second and third settings...
, Advantages and Disadvantages in Steve Jackson Games'
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
, Qualities and Drawbacks in Eden Unisystem, and Edges and Hindrances in Pinnacle Entertainment's Deadlands
Deadlands
Deadlands is a genre-mixing alternate history roleplaying game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some Steampunk elements. It was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group....
and Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds is an award-winning, universal generic, role-playing game and miniatures wargame, written by Shane Lacy Hensley, and published by Great White Games doing business as Pinnacle Entertainment Group...
games (to which the Serenity system bears a strong resemblance).
The Cortex System also includes Plot Points
Plot point (role-playing games)
Plot point is a term used in role-playing games . It refers to any point given to a player character which can be spent to alter the plot of the game...
, which increase characters' survivability and give players greater control over events in the game. Players can spend Plot Points to gain extra dice when making a die roll, reduce the damage from an attack, or even make changes to the storyline. Some Assets also require the expenditure of Plot Points. At the end of a game session, excess Plot Points are converted to Advancement Points, which a player spends to improve his or her character's abilities.
This is similar to Warhammer Fantasy Role-play's Fate Point system.