Worlds Beyond

I just got the last copy of Worlds Beyond in the mail yesterday. I really wish that Chaosium had made this into a pdf, as there seem to be some really good ideas in there. Plus it's a great basis for any space opera that I would ever do. I'm wondering if any of the cool rules are going make it into any supplements for BRP 1st edition (if they haven't already in the core rule book).

Two things that really stand out for me are: Star Mapping and the World Building sections. The star mapping uses an X,Y,Z coordinate grid and helps determine how far apart planets are in 3D space, which helps the gamers to calculate the time it takes to get somewhere in space. The example in the book wasn't very good, but I think anyone can figure out what the authors were getting at.

The world building isn't too dissimilar from other rpgs I've read, but it's pretty comprehensive (I think it reminds me of Traveler: New Era). But I'm hoping to see them in some new rule books.

Also, the starship creation rules look really good, too.

Unfortunately, I only became aware of Worlds Beyond after all of the writing was done on the BRP core book.

Even if it had been available during that writing, it wasn't a Chaosium book and the work inside wouldn't have been representative of the BRP system. And as I've noted elsewhere on this forum, a star map/worldbuilding system or a spaceship building system aren't really a part of what has been traditionally known as the BRP system.

I'd love it if the original authors either contributed to or authorized a new edition of that game.

*slaps own forehead*

I meant to order this book months ago. Damn.

Anyone have a second copy they want to part with?

Anyone have a second copy they want to part with?

Sorry... just mailed my second copy away earlier today.

Unfortunately, I only became aware of Worlds Beyond after all of the writing was done on the BRP core book.

Even if it had been available during that writing, it wasn't a Chaosium book and the work inside wouldn't have been representative of the BRP system. And as I've noted elsewhere on this forum, a star map/worldbuilding system or a spaceship building system aren't really a part of what has been traditionally known as the BRP system.

I'd love it if the original authors either contributed to or authorized a new edition of that game.

Any chance that Chaosium would contact the authors?

Seriously, I'm extremely pleased with this purchase and would love to see this go back into print (revised, of course). I was actually worried that I would have to create an entire universe if I chose to do a space opera using BRP. That X,Y,Z grid really blew my mind. It's so simple, but since I suck at math, I would never have thought of it. And it always pissed me off that all the systems I've encountered never came up with a good way to calculate interstellar travel times (or, if they did, they just wrote it so sloppily or dense that I couldn't understand or cared what they were saying).

I really hope that Chaosium does do some stuff with space opera that deals with characters planet hopping--with a good system of determining distance and travel time.

Any chance that Chaosium would contact the authors?

I believe the reason Chaosium had copies to sell in the first place was that they'd gotten in touch with someone involved, who had a case of them in storage.

I believe the reason Chaosium had copies to sell in the first place was that they'd gotten in touch with someone involved, who had a case of them in storage.

That goes a long way in making my day:party:

That goes a long way in making my day:party:

I have no idea if that'll mean anything.

I'm just saying that (if I recall correctly) someone put them in touch with Dustin, who learned that they had a pristine crate of copies of the game that could be sold through Chaosium's catalog.

I have no idea if any discussion turned to a new edition, or if anyone involved in the original is even interested in doing something like that.

I have no idea if that'll mean anything.

I'm just saying that (if I recall correctly) someone put them in touch with Dustin, who learned that they had a pristine crate of copies of the game that could be sold through Chaosium's catalog.

I have no idea if any discussion turned to a new edition, or if anyone involved in the original is even interested in doing something like that.

Oh. Oh well. Hopefully someone does a good space-faring BRP product in the near future.. Btw, do the people at Chaosium read this forum much? I hope I'm not being too forward?:innocent:

Btw, do the people at Chaosium read this forum much?

Manic Eightball says "Signs point to no".

Oh. Btw, do the people at Chaosium read this forum much? I hope I'm not being too forward?:innocent:

Dredj, you could always try e mailing Chaosium. I read a post on yogsothoth.com that said that it was none other than Frank Shewmake, the author of Worlds Beyond that told Chaosium about a box of unsold product he had. So the author might be contactable through Chaosium.

Wow, I thought I was the only person who still remembers this game! I got a copy in 1989 from a friend and it has been one of my favorites since that time. Too bad there isn't any support material for the game.

Dredj, you could always try e mailing Chaosium. I read a post on yogsothoth.com that said that it was none other than Frank Shewmake, the author of Worlds Beyond that told Chaosium about some boxes of unsold product he had. So the author might be contactable through Chaosium.

Thank you. I just might contact them very soon.

Wow, I thought I was the only person who still remembers this game! I got a copy in 1989 from a friend and it has been one of my favorites since that time. Too bad there isn't any support material for the game.

Maybe you can email Chaosium, too:)

Maybe you can email Chaosium, too:)

I did.

I've bought a copy of Worlds Beyond, and had to make a roll on the Resistance table for it's dated art.

Fortunately, I made it!

However, the *content* of the book is really cool. Maybe someone could commission some new art?

Very interested in hearing about contact with the authors!

I don't recall having much aversion to the art... it was nothing fancy but it didn't look like it came out of teenager's notebook either (yes, I'm aware some teenagers are very talented artists).

Mostly it reminded me of LBB Traveller... where the art, if there was any, was pretty utilitarian but seldom absolutely hideous.

I'd like to see Worlds Beyond get a new lease on life... but I kind of doubt there is much of an audience for it that isn't already satisfied with some version of Traveller.

The rest of the science fiction crowd is either on to transhuman backgrounds... or space-fantasy stuff like Dark Heresy and Fading Suns (I myself am impatiently awaiting more news about Interplanetary).

.

I'd like to see Worlds Beyond get a new lease on life... but I kind of doubt there is much of an audience for it that isn't already satisfied with some version of Traveller.

I like and use both systems, BRP and Traveller, and I will "translate" the

excellent character generation lifepath system of Mongoose Traveller into

BRP as soon as the German edition of MGT has been published.

From what I did read on other forums, there are at least some people with

similar ideas, and who also would very much welcome something like an

updated Worlds Beyond as additional material for their SF roleplaying with

both BRP and Traveller.

Dredj, did anything come of this?

Sorry, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Chaosium would've done something on their own with it. I don't think my input would have made much difference. We probably would need to petition them, or something, for the game to be released again :ohwell:

I like and use both systems, BRP and Traveller, and I will "translate" the excellent character generation lifepath system of Mongoose Traveller into BRP as soon as the German edition of MGT has been published.

Can you explain a bit about the char-gen lifepath system?

SGL.

I like and use both systems, BRP and Traveller, and I will "translate" the

excellent character generation lifepath system of Mongoose Traveller into

BRP as soon as the German edition of MGT has been published.

From what I did read on other forums, there are at least some people with

similar ideas, and who also would very much welcome something like an

updated Worlds Beyond as additional material for their SF roleplaying with

both BRP and Traveller.

An updated Worlds Beyond would need better editing, though it could be sold as is as a pdf.

Soon, after I dig through my stuff after a move, I will post the Worlds Beyond FTL rules.

Can you explain a bit about the char-gen lifepath system?

The character's creation is divided in career terms of 4 years each. The play-

er rolls for the major events in the character's life during each of the terms

(e.g. training and skills, advancement, mishaps, life events, etc.), with the

results depending on the career during this term.

For example, if his character served a term as a scout, an event could have

looked like this:

"Your scout ship is one of the first on the scene to rescue the survivors of a disaster. Roll either Medic 8+ or Engineer 8+.

If you succeed, gain a Contact and a +2 DM to your next Advancement check. If you fail, gain an Enemy."

Or he could have failed a survival roll, with a mishap result like this:

"You inadvertently cause a conflict between the Imperium and a minor world or race. Gain a Rival and Diplomat 1."

So, at the end of the character creation the player has both a character and

the framework for an entire background history for this character.

Besides, this system can also be used to create colourful NPCs, and to con-

nect them to the player characters - just think of the Enemy or the Rival

the scout would have made in the events mentioned above.

I believe that the Traveller SRD has been released on the Mongoose website - though I haven't looked at it yet. I assume it has chargen in it. Either way it is free to check out.

I'd like to see Worlds Beyond get a new lease on life... but I kind of doubt there is much of an audience for it that isn't already satisfied with some version of Traveller.

I'd love to see an official Traveller BRP book, though it is unlikely. I never liked any of the game systems for any of the Traveller games and, after seeing how Future World did things, thought that BRP would make a good system for that universe.

I might try to convert Worlds Beyond to BRP using Stefan Mathias's Traveller BRP notes, seeing as both Traveller and Worlds Beyond are very similar in outlook.

Soon, after I dig through my stuff after a move, I will post the Worlds Beyond FTL rules.

Dredj, before you do that you may want to contact Frank Shewmake to ask if it is okay.

Come to think of it Mr Shewmake might still have the missing chargen tables still knocking about in a file somewhere. It would also be interesting to ask him if he intended to publish any more products for Worlds Beyond.

Can anyone give me a name and e mail address at Chaosium so that I can inquire about contacting Mr Shewmake? Since this thread shows that there is a (small) amount of interest in contacting the author I may as well try to do so. At the least we may get an interesting interview with Mr Shewmake out of it.