Introduction
This is an overview of the free Dragonstar preview module published by Fantasy Flight Games and made available on its website. The product is distributed as a free pdf download. It is a very short teaser module for FFG's upcoming Dragonstar line of d20 products. The module was written by Greg Benage.
The Dragonstar universe is "DnD set is space." Parallels can be drawn to Warhammer 40k and Spelljammer, although neither is a good fit, at all really. The basic premise is that technology works as we know it on present-day Earth, and any reasonable extensions of that technology, but the Gods have imbued the universe with magic and magic can break the laws of physics.
Here are my biases as they affect the playtest review of this product: first, I begrudgingly like the d20 system after years of nay-saying AD&D. However, I am growing more fond of the system as time passes. Secondly, I prefer science-fiction over Tolkenesque fantasy. But what I really dig is crossover worlds with both high technology and magic. Furthermore, I am a big fan of FFG's other product lines, especially their sci-fi Twilight Imperium setting.
Presentation
The Dragonstar preview module is distributed, as previously noted, as 1.5 megabyte pdf file. The first page of the module is a full-page cover art by Scott Schomburg. It depicts a large green dragon, possibly augmented with spellware, facing off against three humans with tech weapons (presumably the three characters from the module.)
The remaining pages are layed out in standard 2-column pages with stylized 3/4 borders. I printed the module out on my color inkjet and the result was very nice looking. Brian Schomburg did a professional job with the layout.
The second page of the preview module pdf contains the Open Gaming License in the right-hand column and a brief introduction to the Dragonstar universe on the left. This brief introduction to the Dragonstar universe is, by itself, inadequate to define the feel of the setting. Of course, I don't expect them to sum up three books worth of material in half a page, so I won't hold this against the module. Still, I wonder what kind of feeling I would have had for the setting if I had not already read the article about Dragonstar in Dragon Annual 6 and also read all the FFG site, which contains some juicy tidbits for those brave enough to search through it for a while. (Hint: check out the rants page.)
Fortunately, the skimpy setting introduction hardly matters. The adventure that is described on the next two pages of the pdf is extremely self-contained. The module itself defines the feel of the Dragonstar universe: DnD with blaster rifles and starships.
Each of pages five, six, and seven of the pdf contain the write-up for one of the pregenerated characters used for the module. There is a human fighter, a human mage, and a female elf rogue, each third level. They possess blaster rifles and other high-tech gadgets. Each piece of new equipment is given a brief paragraph write-up. Furthermore, each character is augmented with 'spellware' (think magically-powered cybernetic implants), and their spellware enhancements are also described with brief paragraphs. Half of each page is devoted to some very nice ink character drawings by Eric Lofgren, which help evoke the feel of the genre.
The final page of the pdf is a color map of the Nebula deck of the starship Elysium, on which all the action takes place, and an advertisement for the first two Dragonstar books, the Starfarer's Handbook and the Galaxy Guide. It states that these will be avialable in October. I hear tell that the release date for these books is now in December.
Play-Test
Still staggering from the awesomeness of the Buffy Musical on Tuesday, I got together with my regular gaming group on Sunday to play this module. I was down two regulars, so the group rounded out to three players and myself. Which was good, considering the preview module provides 3 pregenerated characters. I presume I could have made up a fourth and fifth appropriate character if I had needed to, simply by duplicating the items and spellware in the module onto standard DnD characters. But I'm glad I didn't have to do this.
The play-through went very quickly. After a bit of miscommunication about what Dragonstar is (one of my players thought it might have been a non-d20 RPG), I read the introduction to my players and began playing. The action in the module starts immediately, with initiative rolls being the first thing the players can do after the boxed text is read.
(I did find that I needed to expand on the provided boxed-text for my players to get a feel for the Dragonstar universe and their characters' motivations. This was aggravated somewhat because the three provided PCs do not come with paragraphs for personality or background.)
The module revolves around the PCs, as members of a secret rebel alliance against the newly enthroned Red Dragon King, Mezzenbone, transporting an unknown device of great importance to the rebellion from one star system to another. Along the way, their ship is ambushed by orc pirates and they must fight their way to the escape pods. When the characters escape in a pod, the module is over, and the text describes that they will be recovered by a free trader heading their way and they will be delivered safely where they were going.
I ended up adding a few additional twists to the module to stretch it out a bit over the sparse events described in the two pages of the pdf.
Even given the very brief nature of the module, it did not seem as if my players were railroaded into the plot. The longest time spent during the playtest was when my PCs discussed their plans. They debated trying to save the ship, but then determined that it was their characters' primary duty to see their package to safety. In the end as well, my players used their cunning to make it to an escape pod rather than wading into the big firefight that the module described as waiting for them.
Altogether, it did not take more than 1 hour to play through the preview module. When it was over, my players were disappointed that it had ended so quickly. We all had a lot of fun playing this module, and I only came away from it with a few very minor concerns.
My first concern was the overpowering nature of the technological weapons the players and invading orcs were armed with. While typical 3rd level characters might be happy doing 3d6 damage in a single attack, the blaster rifles provided to the one hit-die orcs do 4d10 damage per hit. This obviously ramps up the damage meter for the setting, and makes non-tech attacks, and even lower-level magics, seem paltry by comparison. Of course, this may be the point: technology is the great equalizer. However, it disrupts the balance of the d20 system. To compensate for this, each PC has been given a spellware hit point implant called a Trauma Symbiot, which gives them 20 extra hit points each. However, the poor 6 hp orcs were so overwhelmed by the scale of the weapons that it obviated the need to roll damage against them. (I had my players roll for damage anyway, mainly because it's fun rolling 4d10 damage dice.)
Now, I'm not saying the increased damage scale is a bad thing. I'm just wondering how it would work during a normal game. I'd definitely start all the PCs for a Dragonstar game at level 3 because of this consideration. Of course, I'm inclined to do this anyway.
(We did have one question on how the Trauma Symbiots worked. It says they protect the wearer for 20 hp worth of damage, and then they die at -10 hps. What happens if you take 30 hp in one shot? Does the Trauma Symbiot soak all of it and die, or does it take 20 points of damage and leak the other 10 through to the wearer? A small point that didn't come up during game but one which could have. One that I am sure will be clarified in the Starfarer's Handbook.)
My other issues with the scenario deal with the conclusion of the plot. First, why didn't the orc cruiser in nearby space pick up the pod launch and capture them? Secondly, if there was a freetrader in system going their way, why didn't the characters use that ship to ferry them where they were going in the first place?
Very minor issues, which do not affect our enjoyment of the game play.
The Dragonstar Universe
I am very exited about the Dragonstar universe. I like to think of it as a setting that on one hand seems very obvious, and on the other hand seems completely original. Not specifically in the preview module, but elsewhere in the references I provide below, FFG discusses some Dragonstar setting conventions such as spellware, religion, sociology and technology.
FFG appears to have accomplished the melding of science fiction and Tolkenesque fantasy without any of the jagged inconsistencies found in other such attempts. The Dragonstar universe posits that the same races are found on almost all of the million inhabited worlds of the galaxy. The Universal Church says that this is because the Gods made the universe in their image. Indeed, the Universal Church says that there are only twelve Gods, and any worshipped deity is but a reflection of one of these Gods. For individuals like myself who thrive on it, this is a good built-in mechanic for religious conflict.
FFG has also made sense of classes in a technological future. Clerics exist, serving the previously mentioned twelve Gods. The mystical attributes of Bards mean that the bardic tradition survives the transition from planet-based to galaxy-spanning culture. They have even come up with the smoothest way I have yet to see with dealing with one of the stickiest points of science-fiction games: how do characters from non-tech planets come to gain technological skill while adventuring? (The provided solution is that after one full level of adventuring in the galaxy, everyone gains the Technical Proficiency feat for free.)
Only time will tell if the final product approaches my optimistic hopes for the Dragonstar universe. Based on the quality of the free preview module and the information to be found elsewhere on the Dragonstar universe, I hold high hopes for that.
References
The Substance and Style ratings for this product are based solely on the preview module. The 3 for Substance was assigned because of the shortness of the adventure, and lack of character bios. Otherwise, it would have earned a 4. The Style rating of 4 is granted because the preview module itself is very well designed graphically.
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