Septimus- Lets talk about it

[The Game Guy]

Hello,

I would like to hear your comments/thoughts on Septimus. I heard that if D6 went open that Septimus may still be D6 (I could be wrong).

Let's talk Septimus

[Lee Torres]

Is there going to be a Septimus D6 release? I thought Bill Coffin was re-configuring it for FATE... Did I miss something?

[The Game Guy]

Is there going to be a Septimus D6 release? I thought Bill Coffin was re-configuring it for FATE... Did I miss something?

I think he said if D6 goes open he could still release it for D6

[skeloric]

Which still seems as likely as Eric winning millions in the lottery and thus saving the company.

[imported_Magman]

I am still anxiously waiting for the Septimus release whatever system it uses. I really like the overall story and will happily adjust to whatever system they deem best for it.

I put my little website for Septimus on hold when WEG and Bill parted ways. I am very excited about the game finally being released so I can finish it.

I tried to send Bill a PM once or twice about its progress, but as expected I didn't really get any answers or definately time frame of it's completion. But I expected as much, he is busy.

[Havard]

I would love to see Septimus become a reality, but I have no interest in FATE.

Havard

[The Game Guy]

I have started a separate thread to discuss Septimus instead of discussing it in the stick thread. I will recreate the sticky

[The Game Guy]

I would love to see Septimus become a reality, but I have no interest in FATE.

Havard

I have to admit I am not a FATE fan either. I was planning to at least look at Septimus when it came to my local FLGS but sadly that did not happen due to the events we all know about now.

[imported_Magman]

I have started a separate thread to discuss Septimus instead of discussing it in the stick thread. I will recreate the sticky

Good move, was going to suggest it, but you beat me to the punch. As you probably already know, you can lock the sticky's so no one replies in them. Good rule of thumb on the forums.

[Roger Calver]

Try looking at Starblazer Adventures that uses FATE and expands on it, bit of a plug I know but does show that sci-fi and FATE go hand in hand.

[Lee Torres]

While a D6 version of Septimus would be great, you guys might want to look at FATE as presented in Starblazer Adventures - first, it's a great presentation of the rules, clearer than Spirit of the Century was, which helps new players to get into it, and it's got a lot of really good features.

That said, it also doesn't look like a monumental effort to convert it to D6 anyway... use the Score only variant from the old D6 "Toolkit" book and off we go!

While it's able to be tweaked, start with a conversion scale like:

6D: Legendary
5D: Epic
4D: Fantastic
3D+2: Superb
3D+1: Great
3D: Good
2D+1: Fair
2D: Average
1D+1: Mediocre
1D: Poor
2 Pips: Terrible
1 Pip: Abysmal

Keeping in mind that the score represents both Attribute and Skill...

Or extend it out further with less breaks in the typical human (1-4 or 1-5, depending on preference) attribute range:

9D: Legendary
8D: Epic
7D: Fantastic
6D: Superb
5D: Great
4D: Good
3D+1: Fair
3D: Average (Attribute base 2D6 + 1D of Skill)
2D: Mediocre
1D: Poor
2 Pips: Terrible
1 Pip: Abysmal

But in any case, Starblazer Adventures is possibly the best treatment of FATE I've yet seen, and I highly recommend it! I'll probably play it just as it is - beyond the ease of conversion, it's got a lot in that (really huge) book to make use of. It practically grabs you by the throat and DEMANDS to be played!

[The Game Guy]

Good move, was going to suggest it, but you beat me to the punch. As you probably already know, you can lock the sticky's so no one replies in them. Good rule of thumb on the forums.

Yeah, the stickies were posted so that the forums would have something and I could get the site open. I am going to go back and lock them so that doesnt happen again.

[The Game Guy]

While a D6 version of Septimus would be great, you guys might want to look at FATE as presented in Starblazer Adventures - first, it's a great presentation of the rules, clearer than Spirit of the Century was, which helps new players to get into it, and it's got a lot of really good features.

I have looked at the FATE rules and they just don't interest me so I wouldn't use a game that used the FATE system, so Septimus using FATE would go from a game I would pick up to a game I would pass on.

[Grimace]

I feel the same way. I don't want a new system. So basically I'll probably never end up picking up Septimus. The change of system is also why I won't pick up Hellas when it gets released.

[imported_Magman]

Was there a reason why both those games talked some highly of the D6 system at their earlier stages, but as they matured D6 was put out with the trash?

[Grimace]

Well, Septimus was probably made "gun shy" by the fact that WEG wasn't able to fund the sale of the game. All of the work was done, but the company couldn't print it and sell it, even with the preorder sales. So I can understand the reluctance of the owner to not use that system as it would mean having to deal with the same company. Now, with that company up for sale, it makes the feeling of a stable platform to build on even less inviting.

As for Hellas, it was probably a matter of the changing landscape of WEG that scared Jerry away from the system. He's done D6 works before and seems to have a darn good handle on the system, so it's not like he doesn't like D6. But when the company that owns the system is selling and there's no guarantee of cohesive licensing of that system, it can scare away even the most avid fans of the system. As with Septimus, do you really want to invest your money into making a product that will use a system that may or may not continue its operation?

I know other people who were working on other works for D6 that have dropped the system as well. I know that there were even writers out there that had humored the idea of doing some work and publishing with the D6 system. Now, however, they're all going "oooooh....well...uh....nevermind then" when it comes to wanting to invest any time or effort into D6.

So, while I can't speak for Jerry or Bill, I have a feeling that's why neither Septimus nor Hellas are going the direction of D6.

[imported_Magman]

I guess that makes sense. Funny when you think about it how all things got affected by WEG shakey future.

[Lee Torres]

Out of simple curiosity, Mike - did Bill Coffin say that he might do a D6 version in a PM to you or something? I've been scouring the net to find anywhere that he said it after he announced the FATE version, and all I see is this thread: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=396540, but I'm missing where he says anything about a D6 version in it.

To clarify, my post, which you excerpted the beginning of, was put up to provide some preliminary thoughts on a conversion. For instance, I'm not a gigantic fan of D20, but if a year or two ago I'd wanted to put together a D6 Stargate SG-1 or Babylon 5 campaign, I might have got the D20 books just to convert them. If the Septimus setting is good, FATE's not terribly hard to convert.

That was my point. If the .pdf is relatively cheap, it might be worth your while - if you don't like FATE, don't use it, but if you think Septimus is a setting worth exploring, it's not too difficult even if Bill does it in FATE.

Sorry if my post was muddled - I personally think FATE has a lot going for it, but the point of my post was that it's not a lot of work to convert, whatever happens to D6 in the future...

[skeloric]

I have looked at the FATE rules and they just don't interest me so I wouldn't use a game that used the FATE system, so Septimus using FATE would go from a game I would pick up to a game I would pass on.
Full agreement from me.
I'm to the point where NWoD Storytelling system, GURPS, Classic Unisystem, D6, and TORG are the only systems I want to deal with.

[The Game Guy]

Out of simple curiosity, Mike - did Bill Coffin say that he might do a D6 version in a PM to you or something? I've been scouring the net to find anywhere that he said it after he announced the FATE version, and all I see is this thread: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=396540, but I'm missing where he says anything about a D6 version in it.

I could have misunderstood from postings or mistook idle talk for a possiablity for Septimus D6.

To be clear: I thought he said he might still release Septimus as D6 if D6 went open. But I could be wrong.


That was my point. If the .pdf is relatively cheap, it might be worth your while - if you don't like FATE, don't use it, but if you think Septimus is a setting worth exploring, it's not too difficult even if Bill does it in FATE.

Sorry I don't have the time or money to spend on games where I have to do conversion work to make it work for me.

Maybe when I was just starting out in gaming I had the time to do but now. For me to spend my money on a game it has to be ready to go. If it's not, if the rules are broken and I have to house rule the game to death or I have to do conversion work the game goes on ebay and is removed from my collection. I don't have time for it. I have limited game time as is and I want to spend it gaming, not converting.


Sorry if my post was muddled - I personally think FATE has a lot going for it, but the point of my post was that it's not a lot of work to convert, whatever happens to D6 in the future...

This is where we disagree. I do not like it because I feel it is way too rules light and I perfer systems that are more solid.

To each his own

[Roger Calver]

Well if you take a look at Starblazer you will see that the FATE system works well for sci-fi when altered to that roll.

[The Game Guy]

Well if you take a look at Starblazer you will see that the FATE system works well for sci-fi when altered to that roll.

I didn't say FATE couldn't do the genre. I think it's a very poor system and I won't look at a game that uses it.

I am a big Sci Fi buff and someone pointed out Starblazer and I was excited about it until I saw what system it uses.

System matters to me. That will never change

[asmkm22]

My problem with FATE is that it does nothing that others systems can't handle equally well.

[The Game Guy]

My problem with FATE is that it does nothing that others systems can't handle equally well.

Well that is very true and that is one thing I am thinking as well as I just dont like FATE. It's not the kind of system I like.