Firefly Echoes of War: Bucking the Tiger
- Thread starter delericho
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delericho
Legend
4 out of 5 rating for Firefly Echoes of War: Bucking the Tiger
This is something of a hidden gem for the Firefly RPG line, as it's not a part of the "Thrillin' Heroics" compilation nor is it particularly well advertised on the MWP website. However, it's certainly worth seeking out, both for GMs who might be interested in a pre-generated adventure, but also for the Rules Digest that forms part of the PDF.
The PDF is split into two parts. The first of these is a duplicate of the same Rules Digest as is found in the "Thrillin' Heroics" compilation, providing a summary of almost all the key rules for the Firefly RPG. In my opinion, the presentation here is actually better than in the Core Rulebook, although the Rulebook does include some material that is not covered here. As such, this PDF probably represents the cheapest way to get your hands on the rules for the Firefly RPG.
It's perhaps worth noting that this PDF does not include any pregenerated characters. To actually use the adventure, you'll need to get characters from somewhere.
The second part of the PDF is the adventure itself, which runs to 56 pages. This is split into the same Four Act structure as other Firefly RPG adventures, which gives it a structure very similar to an episode of the series (where the acts would be split by ad breaks).
The story features a murder most foul, with the perpetrator being one of the participants in a high-stakes Faro game that the Crew have the opportunity to infiltrate. The story is a lot of fun, with all sorts of opportunities for skullduggery and intrigue as the PCs get involved.
One concern I've had with Firefly adventures is that the Four Act structure seems ripe for railroading - there's a definite story here, and GMs might be disinclined to deviate from it. However, my experience is that in play this isn't the case: the players have had little hesitation in "jumping the tracks", and there's no reason everything has to happen in the sequence given. Still, maybe I've just been lucky.
The other mild criticism I'd level here is that same one I raised for "Thrillin' Heroics": each Act provides details for various rolls the PCs may make. These are all presented with a template, giving results for failure, success, and extraordinary success; but most of the text is largely copied and pasted. This eats up quite a lot of space for relatively little gain. Then again, since the PDF has no fixed page count, is that such an issue?
I'm happy to recommend this PDF for the Rules Digest alone - as I said, it's the cheapest way to get your hands on the rules for this game. The adventure itself is also recommended, with the caveat that GMs who don't use published adventures probably won't find anything here to change their minds.
This is something of a hidden gem for the Firefly RPG line, as it's not a part of the "Thrillin' Heroics" compilation nor is it particularly well advertised on the MWP website. However, it's certainly worth seeking out, both for GMs who might be interested in a pre-generated adventure, but also for the Rules Digest that forms part of the PDF.
The PDF is split into two parts. The first of these is a duplicate of the same Rules Digest as is found in the "Thrillin' Heroics" compilation, providing a summary of almost all the key rules for the Firefly RPG. In my opinion, the presentation here is actually better than in the Core Rulebook, although the Rulebook does include some material that is not covered here. As such, this PDF probably represents the cheapest way to get your hands on the rules for the Firefly RPG.
It's perhaps worth noting that this PDF does not include any pregenerated characters. To actually use the adventure, you'll need to get characters from somewhere.
The second part of the PDF is the adventure itself, which runs to 56 pages. This is split into the same Four Act structure as other Firefly RPG adventures, which gives it a structure very similar to an episode of the series (where the acts would be split by ad breaks).
The story features a murder most foul, with the perpetrator being one of the participants in a high-stakes Faro game that the Crew have the opportunity to infiltrate. The story is a lot of fun, with all sorts of opportunities for skullduggery and intrigue as the PCs get involved.
One concern I've had with Firefly adventures is that the Four Act structure seems ripe for railroading - there's a definite story here, and GMs might be disinclined to deviate from it. However, my experience is that in play this isn't the case: the players have had little hesitation in "jumping the tracks", and there's no reason everything has to happen in the sequence given. Still, maybe I've just been lucky.
The other mild criticism I'd level here is that same one I raised for "Thrillin' Heroics": each Act provides details for various rolls the PCs may make. These are all presented with a template, giving results for failure, success, and extraordinary success; but most of the text is largely copied and pasted. This eats up quite a lot of space for relatively little gain. Then again, since the PDF has no fixed page count, is that such an issue?
I'm happy to recommend this PDF for the Rules Digest alone - as I said, it's the cheapest way to get your hands on the rules for this game. The adventure itself is also recommended, with the caveat that GMs who don't use published adventures probably won't find anything here to change their minds.
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