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That said, I want to stress that Far Avalon is being marketed as a generic setting product----not tied to any specific game system. The game's own intro summarizes the concept:
“Far Avalon is complete science-fiction game setting from Avenger Enterprises. It was developed in conjunction with the Translight Science-Fiction role-playing game published by Comstar Games, but has deliberately been made as system-agnostic as possible. The setting material can therefore be easily used with other science-fiction rules sets.
This book develops and details a region of several star systems, and presents information on worlds and events beyond this immediate area. Worlds presented here can be used as the setting for a one-off adventure, or to provide player-characters with a detailed home world. The places and events described as near to the Far Avalon region may be used as the backdrop to further adventures. The setting material can of course be transplanted into any other corner of the universe.”
Weighing in at over 300 pages, this PDF gives a gaming group an interstellar setting reminiscent of something you might find playing old school Traveller but still with its own approach. Far Avalon is systemless, meaning it doesn’t tell you what dice to roll, what modifiers that hovercraft has to bank through that ice canyon, etc. Its intent is to provide a useful outer space setting while the game group provides the game mechanics using their favorite commercial or homebrew game.
Faster than Light (FTL) exists in Far Avalon the setting. That's handy since Far Avalon, the place, is in a part of space where the direct transit method back to the home worlds hasn’t worked in a while. Of course, there's no lack of humanity around to keep the players company. Aliens on the other hand...
There are no aliens. At least there aren’t any et. Avenger Enterprises mentions their possible existence/non-existence/introduction in future works but makes no promises. If you wanna have wookies, you’re gonna have to gen them up yourself. Still, no aliens worked very well for the Firefly/Serenity universe and the like. I wanted to put that out there in case you’re planning on plugging and playing aliens from this book.
The author gives us roughly twelve pages of a free trader visit to a backwater setting and other locales. It’s presented in fluff fiction so you get the general mood of the setting and one of the possible campaign types. Rather than set in a sidebar, this is placed in the body of the section in a color block so you can skip over it when you’re trying to find a rule or come back to it easy like if you’re in a mood to read Firefly-like fiction.
From that general outline and game fiction, you’re next presented with thirty seven pages of example spacecraft from shuttles to battle cruisers. If it flies, chances are it's in here. Falcons and Aegis are two different types of interceptor craft. Useful for intercepting of course. Teller Utility boats are basically a bit of cargo containment strapped to some engines. Useful but not very flashy. If you’re in need of a rescue, the Sterling class rescue boat will obviously come in handy.
Something need a little more juice than a fighter can give? Anvil class assault boats might be the ticket. For shuttle work, the Port Said Lighter is typical of what’s commercially available. But then there’s also the Bronwen and Wildcat class (useful for assaults) assault shuttle. There’s even a swell CG pic of someone aboard a Bronwen shuttle getting yelled at by their ‘boss’ as a whole mess of other ships come into the viewport. Not sure if that’s missing cargo that they’re returning to the Bronwen via missile but it sure looks like it’ll be there fast.
The Ouragan and Spartan are gun ships. Mix them with Arquebusier missile boats or Javelin Strike boats if you want a little more punch in your arsenal. Of course, if torpedoes from smaller craft is what you’re after, you’ll want to read up on the Valiant Torpedo Strike Craft or a Vengeance Torpedo Strike Boat. There’s a CG-looking illo of a squadron of these flying straight at the reader on page 62. Try not to bump your head ducking for cover while you’re reading J
Jumping ahead to larger and more commercial craft, we run into Conestoga and Limelight Freightliners. The Searcher class is good for science and research. The Wanderer is a merchantman by design. And the Mercury is a Corporate Communications vessel.
Even more impressive from a military standpoint are the frigates, corvettes, sloops, destroyers, missile destroyers, light cruisers, heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, battled cruisers, battleships and carriers presented here. If you want to do some shipboard Hosho Class Patrol Carrier.
And we’re introduced to the military (ground and space). Colony militias, planetary armies, space navies----whatever level of military organization you are thinking you need in your setting, it‘s in here. There‘s an exploration of the population and economic bases needed to support a spaceship based navy. If you‘ve never considered just what kind of logistics and economic issues are tied with maintaining a spaceship navy, this has some reading you might want to look into.
But more than just the theory, there’s practical military stuff you might want to know. Can’t tell the difference between a corporal and a captain. Does a sergeant major outrank a sergeant colonel (just seeing if any military folk are awake here)? Far Avalon has some nice summaries of rank structures for both the Navy and the Army that can be adapted to any militia or paramilitary force in your game. It’s all condensed right here for quick finding when you’re building a campaign and need to know if a general outranks a navy commander.
Far Avalon’s history(the planet after which the setting is named) is covered next. The author presents a brief summation of the several hundred years and several successive waves of humans inbound to Far Avalon. We also learn about The Event, basically the break down of the transit route to Far Avalon. Obviously if somebody shut down the interstate that ran by your house, that would significantly impact how much traffic you have in your neighborhood. Same principle at work here. Sure you can get to places using slower, less direct routes but that’s obviously not the most efficient means. If only we knew what was causing the breakdown and even better if we knew how to fix it.
Sectors A through I are presented via hex map and concise encyclopedic entries taking up roughly 40 percent of the book. You get a little tourist book style discussion of major items of concern including astrophysical info, population, government, planetary resources, etc. Sometimes there’s a little local history or in some cases the reader is told----this place has nothing of interest. Those hole in the wall ’useless’ places sound like good pirate hideouts or possible secret alien (I know, I know) enclaves to me.
Sector A is not as ‘lifey’ as other sectors. That’s not to say it doesn’t have life or lush worlds. Heck, Green World (not like Greenland’s real estate-promoting-based naming practice) is proof enough of that. Taking Green World as an example, I can tell if it’s urban or not; if the government is corporate or based on another model; whether or not society is open to foreigners or isolationist; what level of technology I’m likely to find; and whether or not I’m going to bust my freighter’s tires on a trashed out runway by seeing about the star port. I can also find out what kind of sun the specific planet orbits, any moons and a general blerbage about that planet to set the tone for any visits I may be planning for my group.
Sector B has fewer barren worlds than A. Sector C has Trade World influence in many of its locations. Sector D is physically separated from other areas, so traffic here can be sparse (a golden trading opportunity?). Sector E is where the conduit, remember the interstate analogy, is located. Sure, the conduit’s busted for now but one of you should know the GM. Maybe there’s a way to get the HOV lanes back up and operating? I won’t spoil Sectors F through I, but I think you get the picture.
There’s a lot of little Polaroid style snapshots for you to inject into a campaign. You might even get some campaign ideas by just reading random system entries until you catch on a possible adventure hook. Of course, the intent is to plug and play with the entire setting as is and that obviously is workable since it's designed that way. Just saying you can eat the whole cake, try just a slice, eat a rose off the top or throw the whole thing in a blender with some other sweet to come up with your own dessert type setting. Er, you get the idea.
The final fifth of the book centers on the world of Far Avalon and a central starting point for adventures called Landing City, sort of the Plymouth Rock of the planet. This is where you get the most microscopic view of any part of the setting. We move from standing back at the galaxy’s edge to zooming in on a single planet, a single city and even a single individual in the case of some NPCs presented here.
We’re given info on the city itself (including maps) with a focus on power players and NPC character concepts for consideration in setting the flavor for Landing City/Far Avalon. My read of Landing City is it’s somewhere between Beaumonde from Serenity and Mos Eisley minus the aliens.
Again, you don’t have to use all the stuff presented and it’s easily adaptable and pluckable for your campaign’s needs. Want a street urchin kind of character to guide your group through the dangerous underhives? They’ve got an example. Want a gang of street toughs to give your gang a combat challenge. There’s an example. All of this provided so that you can ala carte while still having the option of using a pre-developed social ecology for the city.
Far Avalon strikes me primarily as a tool kit. Want a destroyer? Here’s an example destroyer. Need to know if a captain outranks a sergeant in the planetary militia? Here’s an organization chart. It’s very much like an Encyclopedia Galactica or Hitchhikers’ Guide providing a lot of information on a lot of stuff you would find in a far flung interstellar setting. At the same time, it has its own story to tell.
You can use the thing in its entirety or pick and choose the bits that fit what you need for your campaign. If your game system delivers on mechanics but needs a new setting or maybe just some ideas to spiff up the setting you're using, you might want to give Far Avalon a look.
