We are on track to have our first gathering Monday October 13th, 2014 at 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. We will meet on the 2nd and 4th Mondays thereafter. We still have a couple of seats available if you wish to join. Meeting near downtown Spokane near the intersection of Maxwell and Monroe.

Through participant agreement, we are beginning with the Babylon 5 setting.

Other settings we might also use down the road include by are not limited to: Serenity / Firefly RPG, Paranoia (classic), Star Trek (various eras available), Star Wars (classic d6, or newer versions), and others.

GM style is to emphasize ROLE-playing and story over ROLL-playing or Hack n' slash. Prefering rich character backgrounds and interactions, rich NPC interactions, complex plots, sub-plots, political intrigue, multiple overlapping arcs, dynamic universe, and meaningful character development.

Meeting at 1312 North Monroe, Spokane, WA, 99201, plenty of parking in the rear.

GAME SYSTEM

• Instead of AC, all characters have a Defense Value (DF). DF = 10 + class Defense Bonus + DEX mod + size mod. Attack rolls are made normally against the DF.
• Skills work as normal but many are changed or work differently than you may be used to experiencing in the D&D; setting.
• Feats are similar but there are appropriate tweaks for the setting.
• Characters have far fewer hit points, combat is much deadlier.
• The key distinction with the B5 RPG setting is that while there are firefights and space battles that occur in the galaxy, "the high drama of Babylon 5 comes not with guns, but through character interaction.

SETTING OVERVIEW

The Dilgar War happened in 2230. After the Earth Alliance's success in helping the League of Non-Aligned Worlds fend up the Dilgar invasion, Earthforce developed a new level of confidence in space travel and space combat capabilities. They began to explore deeper reaches of the galaxy.

As the years passed and the realities of war faded, earth became more aggressive in exploration. Ignoring the Centauri Ambassador's Warnings to leave the edges of Minbari space alone, the "Earthers" sent an expeditionary military force to the edges of this isolated race, with the attitude of "we handled the Dilgar, we can handle whatever else is out there", to which Londo Molori stated, "Arrogance and stupidity wrapped into one package, how efficient of you." Months later, due to cultural misunderstandings and the incompetence of the head officer of the expeditionary group's first contact skills, the Earth-Minbari War began in 2245.

In May 2248 it ended. At "The Line" between Earth's moon and homeworld of the humans, on the verge of annihilating Earth and the Human race, inexplicably the Minbari surrendered.

Of the approximately 20,000 human defender forces on The Line, only about 200 survived.

Never again!

In order avoid another such catastrophe, The Babylon Project was created, to build a space station in neutral territory for all races to meet and find diplomatic solutions, "A last best hope for peace".

Shortly after the end of the Earth-Minbari War, The Babylon Project began.

In 2250 the construction of the Babylon Station has begun.

Whatever your background, race, culture, or home world, you have recently received (and accepted) an order/invitation/request/contract requiring that you arrive at Tau Ceti IV by March 10th, 2250...

The rest of the information, discussion, and adventure logs will be posted here:

http://spokanerpg.com/forum/rpg-group-discussions/743489207

Also feel free to call/text my cell at (509) 481-5437, especially if you have a last minute delay/cancellation.

Influence plays a key part in the role-playing in this campaign, so you will definitely want to have a reasonable understanding of how this system works. Keep in mind I will of course focus mostly on the role-playing aspect over the mechanics, but to improve abilities using influence, we will definitely make use of these rules. This will NOT be used as a replacement for role-playing, rather it will be a means for helping determine success (or failure) of efforts, based first of all on role-playing efforts, then checked with usual DC check.

For example, you wish your character to use his/her influence with a down-below vendor on Babylon 5 to find out who keep stealing from a friend of your's in the Zocalo, you will actually first need to find that contact, have a conversation. Then, during the course of the conversation, depending on how it is going initially, you will roll to see if something goes awry or well. Your actual role-playing though may trump the need to rely on a roll, but if it isn't clear from the interaction, then the rolling of the rules will often come into effect (maybe your contact is just having an exceptionally good (or bad) day). You will definitely want to read pages 106-110, and then any specifics related to your character after 110.

We will take a few minutes at the beginning of Session #2 to let everyone read that section, and answer any questions.

INFLUENCE

"Politics and diplomacy, underworld connection, military authority, secret alliances, and cryptic "associates" - few characters in Babylon 5 universe are without allies, influence, or contacts. The INFLUENCE RULES allow characters to exert political and social power upon the universe."

All characters gain some Influence with each level. There are numerous types of Influence, reflecting the multiple factions and types of power."

Gaining Influence

All characters gain influence when they gain a level based on the "Influence per level chart". First determine your starting influence at 1st level based on your class/profession. Then when you achieve subsequent levels, apply the second column for your class/level.

Characters can also gain influence as a role-playing reward for aiding a group. Such influence rewards are at the discretion of the GM.

Losing Influence

Influence can be taken away by role-playing actions, or environmental effects.... ....also be lost by burning it to achieve a result otherwise out of a character's reach.

Using Influence

Character's relevant influence score + 2d6 + miscellaneous Modifers => DC (equal or greater than Difficulty Check number).

Influence checks can be modified by ... and how many requests the character has recently made...

...when multiple requests are made within a short time (typically one week) = -4 additional (cumulative) per attempt (After initial attempt).

Burning Influence

If an Influence check's result is lower than the DC, then the character can choose to burn his Influence - by permanently reducing his Influence, a character can boost his result by double the burned amount.

Influence Checks and Time

Making an Influence check usually takes about an hour ....

A character cannot Take 10 or 20 on an Influence check... must normally wait for one Influence attempt to resolve before making another check of the same type.

Contacts

Contacts are gained through the Contact feat (and of course ROLE-PLAYING), and are always associated with a specific field of influence...

... contact is considered to have 6 points of Influence in their field.

If the PC does have personal Influence in the contact's field of Influence, ... gains a +2 bound to Influence checks made within the contact field of Influence...

...character must be able to speak to the contact...

Drawing on Resources

Pressuring Another Group

...must use an Influence from the same race or of the same type as the target Influence...

...result of 10 or higher succeeds, each faction further away from PC is -5 to total (and must still exceed 10 to have chance for success....

Aiding Another's Influence

PC's can help each other's Influence rolls....

Boosting Diplomacy or Intimidate Skills

... This bonus is equal to the character's Influence with the faction he has called upon, divided by five.

Factions & Influence Types

Influences are divided into racial and general categories....