The Eight Worlds RPG

[Mighty Darci]

The Eight Worlds Overview

The Eight Worlds is a science fiction role-playing game, loosely based on the original three book Traveller rules set, that began at MIT in the early 1980s and has run continuously ever since. The original Traveller rules were innovative, imaginative, and a landmark in gaming -- arguably the first real playable science fiction role-playing game -- but they had several inadequacies. They contained a comprehensive set of rules for designing starships, but didn't really explain how those ships were to be flown or fought. The ground combat system was quite rudimentary, and had some odd features -- one example was laser rifles, which were incredibly powerful, but could be rendered almost entirely impotent by a simple layer of 'reflec' armor, which made one wonder why anyone would ever bother to buy them. And the society itself was a bit too high-tech for our tastes, with technology that was undeniably neat, but so advanced that it could be difficult to relate to guess how it would behave. Things like 'anti-gravity sleds' may be all well and good, but what happens if one anti-gravity sled flies above another, or lands on top of another. Do their 'anti-gravity fields' add together? Cancel each other out? What is the power consumption in hover? Do anti-gravity devices obey conservation of energy or could one use them to build perpetual motion machines?

The list below has links on the website

Eight Worlds News
The core of the ship design and non- combat operations rules are finally up, along with notes on currency and those all important Dice and Variation Schemes. Whew! Next step will be to transcribe the basic space combat system, write it up, and generate some examples.

At this stage, I could benefit from input, so I encourage you all to join the Forum with your questions, comments, and requests! Thanks!

Contents
Overview
Currency
Dice and Variation Schemes
Skill System

Ship Construction
Overview
Tech Background
Airframe
Avionics
Examples

Ship Operations
[Overview
Startup and Shutdown
Atmospheric Flight
Normal Space
Hyperspace
Repairs and Maintenance

Space Combat
Overview
Movement
Combat Tables
Damage Control
Examples

Tales From the Eight Worlds
Exploring New Worlds
The Rediscovery of Earth
How Ejection Pods Work
Merchant to the Stars
Damage Control
Wrong Turn

[Mighty Darci]

The main website home page is Paul Gazis's Aviation Page - Humor, Adventure, Flying, and Life...

[Mighty Darci]

He also has an interesting forum, but not for the rpg (one tiny section at the bottom of the forum)   The Flying Cloud Forum for friends of His Majesty's Airship R505 This forum was created on January 1st of 2010.

[Jakob Grimm]

The forum linked to this Eight Worlds Fiction One Survivor by Robert Plamondon

Norton Creek Press, April 2009, 258 pages, ISBN 0981928447. Suggested retail price, $16.99.

Buy the Kindle edition for just $2.99, or get it free if you buy the paperback.

When was the last time you enjoyed a science fiction book where teenagers put an alien ship back together? Robert Plamondon’s novel is the kind of old-school SF adventure you love, with competent, strong-willed characters, believable technology, fast-paced action, humor, mystery, murder, betrayal, and a touch of the supernatural, all set against the backdrop of the ruined Terran Empire.

One Survivor will remind you of Heinlein’s early work, but with a depth of background more like Jack Vance. It pits fifteen-year-old Beverly di Mendoza against her parents’ murderers, on a backward planet whose inhabitants owe her nothing. With the help of two other teen-agers and their battered space ship, Beverly survives the initial onslaughts and soon moves to the offensive.

After you read this book, you’re likely to join the other fans in clamoring for the sequel.

From the Back Cover

Lost, Friendless, and Outgunned: Young Beverly di Mendoza knew something was up when her father cut short their Terran layover and changed their route to pass through Barigost, a planet she had never heard of. But she did not expect these events to lead to murder and betrayal.

One Survivor is set amid the flotsam of the Terran Empire, now four centuries gone.

Robert Plamondon is a writer, farmer, and engineer. He lives in Oregon.

Follow the link there are a whole lot of author notes about the book and it sounds like a great read.