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Serenity Roleplaying Game
Here's How It Is
The Earth got used up. We found a new solar system and used terraforming technology to create hundreds of new Earths. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided that all worlds should unite under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point...
After the War for Unifcation, many Independents - thos who fought and lost - drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out on the Rim, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. Out here, a ship will bring you work. A gun will help you keep it.
A captain's goal is Find a crew. Find a job. Keep flyin'.
The Serenity Role Playing Game lets you re-create the action of the 'Verse, the unique and exciting science-fiction setting created by writer/director Joss Whedon. Everthing you need to get started is in this book. Add dice, friends, and your imagination. Fly a ship into the Black, take jobs as they come, and make sure you get paid!
• A self-contained role playing game. All the rules are provided for both players and Game Masters!
• Full character creation rules, plus fifteen sample characters, including the crew of Serenity.
• Complete details on spaceships, guns, and technology
• Emphasis on story, action, and character development with easy-to-learn rules.
• Game details, descriptions of the characters, and settings from the film!
The Earth got used up. We found a new solar system and used terraforming technology to create hundreds of new Earths. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided that all worlds should unite under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point...
After the War for Unifcation, many Independents - thos who fought and lost - drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out on the Rim, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. Out here, a ship will bring you work. A gun will help you keep it.
A captain's goal is Find a crew. Find a job. Keep flyin'.
The Serenity Role Playing Game lets you re-create the action of the 'Verse, the unique and exciting science-fiction setting created by writer/director Joss Whedon. Everthing you need to get started is in this book. Add dice, friends, and your imagination. Fly a ship into the Black, take jobs as they come, and make sure you get paid!
• A self-contained role playing game. All the rules are provided for both players and Game Masters!
• Full character creation rules, plus fifteen sample characters, including the crew of Serenity.
• Complete details on spaceships, guns, and technology
• Emphasis on story, action, and character development with easy-to-learn rules.
• Game details, descriptions of the characters, and settings from the film!
232 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2005
3 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Jamie Chambers
31 books57 followersJamie Chambers was born in Atlanta and grew up running around barefoot in the pine forests and kudzu fields of north Georgia. The son of a Trekkie and an early D&D player, Jamie was doomed early to a life of geeky pursuits. He began playing role playing games at the age of seven and writing his own fiction at eight.
He spent his youth reading fantasy and science fiction, reading comic books, watching cartoons, and playing any game he could get his hands on -- video games, board games, card games, and especially role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Eventually he became an online volunteer for TSR, Inc. while the Internet was in its infancy and became involved with the RPGA (Role Playing Game Association) as a club president and convention coordinator.
After a lifetime of creating (and playing) games and writing (and reading) stories, Jamie has launched Signal Fire Studios LLC, creating game and entertainment products. He's had stories, game products, and articles published by many companies and is pursuing creative writing projects for publication. Jamie served as Vice President on the board of directors for GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), the trade organization for the hobby games industry for more than eight years.
After nearly a decade in Wisconsin, Jamie has returned to north Georgia.
He spent his youth reading fantasy and science fiction, reading comic books, watching cartoons, and playing any game he could get his hands on -- video games, board games, card games, and especially role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Eventually he became an online volunteer for TSR, Inc. while the Internet was in its infancy and became involved with the RPGA (Role Playing Game Association) as a club president and convention coordinator.
After a lifetime of creating (and playing) games and writing (and reading) stories, Jamie has launched Signal Fire Studios LLC, creating game and entertainment products. He's had stories, game products, and articles published by many companies and is pursuing creative writing projects for publication. Jamie served as Vice President on the board of directors for GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), the trade organization for the hobby games industry for more than eight years.
After nearly a decade in Wisconsin, Jamie has returned to north Georgia.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 1, 2008
This is an excellent roleplaying game book set in Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity universe. The mechanics are deadly simple and character creation is fast and easy. This is version one of the Cortex system, but it's still more serviceable than many other RPG mechanics.
December 16, 2017
I'm one of the wierdos who likes this more than the largely-more-beloved Firefly RPG. I believe that this book has everything you need to run a good Firefly game, and its proto-Savage Worlds system works really well for the setting--hell, I like it more than Savage Worlds itself.
May 12, 2024
Game to misbehave…
Serenity Role Playing Game by Jamie Chambers was an old multimedia tie in meant to introduce games to a chance to role play in the world of Firefly and Serenity. It had to go by the Serenity name due to licensing, and they could only use limited references to the tv show, but it still works.
Out in the Verse…whether planet side or in the Black, there’s opportunities for those who look for them…and those who take them.
Serenity is a space western which uses rules roughly similar to savage worlds but different. This book was the blueprint for the later Cortex System which has been used extensively by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
The book offers up ships (with some blueprints), equipment, trade options, planets, several NPCs (and a rival ship crew), and lots of other material you might need for developing a game.
It’s a solid blueprint for a setting that only had limited info outside of the original one season show and series Bible, and it would be followed by other supplements and iterations of the game (some that went back to the Firefly name).
A worthy relic of a time when finding anything firefly/serenity was tough (before the explosion of merchandise that nearly every major media property has received in the past two decades).
Serenity Role Playing Game by Jamie Chambers was an old multimedia tie in meant to introduce games to a chance to role play in the world of Firefly and Serenity. It had to go by the Serenity name due to licensing, and they could only use limited references to the tv show, but it still works.
Out in the Verse…whether planet side or in the Black, there’s opportunities for those who look for them…and those who take them.
Serenity is a space western which uses rules roughly similar to savage worlds but different. This book was the blueprint for the later Cortex System which has been used extensively by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
The book offers up ships (with some blueprints), equipment, trade options, planets, several NPCs (and a rival ship crew), and lots of other material you might need for developing a game.
It’s a solid blueprint for a setting that only had limited info outside of the original one season show and series Bible, and it would be followed by other supplements and iterations of the game (some that went back to the Firefly name).
A worthy relic of a time when finding anything firefly/serenity was tough (before the explosion of merchandise that nearly every major media property has received in the past two decades).
April 6, 2008
BEST -- RPG -- EVER.
The system is great, the feel is VERY faithful to the series, and the production value is VERY high.
This is the RPG system for people who want to emphasize the RP, and not the G. Intuitive and character driven, there are VERY few charts and tables. The interaction of abilities, skills, and achievement is fast and furious. The wound/stun system is nothing short of elegant brilliance, and the entire concept of plot points is glorious.
I ran a pbem of this system for a whole slew of months before real life interupted, and I would LOVE to go back to it again some day.
This system has been recreated by Margaret Weis Productions into separate games (all using the same system) including Battlestar Galactica and (how odd is this?) the Dragonlance Saga. The basic rules set is soon to be released as a stand-alone book to be adapted to any genre you wish, called "The Cortex System Roleplaying Game".
The system is great, the feel is VERY faithful to the series, and the production value is VERY high.
This is the RPG system for people who want to emphasize the RP, and not the G. Intuitive and character driven, there are VERY few charts and tables. The interaction of abilities, skills, and achievement is fast and furious. The wound/stun system is nothing short of elegant brilliance, and the entire concept of plot points is glorious.
I ran a pbem of this system for a whole slew of months before real life interupted, and I would LOVE to go back to it again some day.
This system has been recreated by Margaret Weis Productions into separate games (all using the same system) including Battlestar Galactica and (how odd is this?) the Dragonlance Saga. The basic rules set is soon to be released as a stand-alone book to be adapted to any genre you wish, called "The Cortex System Roleplaying Game".
August 20, 2016
It's hard to rate an RPG rule book without having played the game (yet--I'm starting tomorrow!), so I'm basing my rating just on how well things are explained and how true to the original universe it is. My rating may go up or down depending on how I like actual game play.
In terms of being true to the Firefly universe, this book nails it. The rules are actually written in Firefly slang, and I could totally hear Mal's voice in my head as I read. Even though it's talking about rolling dice and character creation, reading the rules gets you right inside the 'Verse.
The game system itself is a bit different than other RPGs I've played, but it seems easy enough to understand. There's a GM, everyone makes a character according to certain rules, you roll a lot of dice. This is (sort of) a d12 system, in that d12 is the biggest die you use. You can add other dice to your rolls depending on skills and the like.
So, TL;DR, it sounds like a lot of fun, and I am excited to play!
In terms of being true to the Firefly universe, this book nails it. The rules are actually written in Firefly slang, and I could totally hear Mal's voice in my head as I read. Even though it's talking about rolling dice and character creation, reading the rules gets you right inside the 'Verse.
The game system itself is a bit different than other RPGs I've played, but it seems easy enough to understand. There's a GM, everyone makes a character according to certain rules, you roll a lot of dice. This is (sort of) a d12 system, in that d12 is the biggest die you use. You can add other dice to your rolls depending on skills and the like.
So, TL;DR, it sounds like a lot of fun, and I am excited to play!
June 29, 2016
I love the verse, I like the idea behind the cortex system, in practice though it was too confusing for myself and my players. While the flavor language that fills every page helped get you into the right headspace it became increasingly frustrating to rifle through the book and try and make sense of the rule system amidst the cloud of colorful verbiage. I understand the new Firefly RPG uses a Cortex 2.0 that may well have streamlined the system but my players are just done with cortex all together so I'll be running my next firefly campaign with a modified version of d20 modern, possibly with some lifts from this iteration (like the money system, planetary distances, etc. just converting all attributes and skills otherwise)
July 31, 2012
Some assembly required, your mileage may vary.
This early incarnation of the Cortex system is pretty damned useless as and RPG. While Cortex+Action, Cortex+Drama, and Marvel Heroic Roleplay, may all be good game systems, the roots are not.
I would never encourage anyone to play the game in this book. If you love Firefly, then by all means buy it. But don't play it. Hack it, fold it, drift it. Tear out the source material and run it in another system.
This early incarnation of the Cortex system is pretty damned useless as and RPG. While Cortex+Action, Cortex+Drama, and Marvel Heroic Roleplay, may all be good game systems, the roots are not.
I would never encourage anyone to play the game in this book. If you love Firefly, then by all means buy it. But don't play it. Hack it, fold it, drift it. Tear out the source material and run it in another system.
August 21, 2010
An awesome license and an interesting game. The Coretex system that it uses combines some indy rpg ideas with more mainstream character generation and combat mechanics. I have yet to actually play a game, but it looks interesting.
Also, the ship deckplans are done by Ryan Wolfe of Ki Ryn Studios, my favorite designer of starship deckplans.
Also, the ship deckplans are done by Ryan Wolfe of Ki Ryn Studios, my favorite designer of starship deckplans.
Want to read
April 7, 2007I keep picking this up at Barns & Noble, looking at the $45 price tag, and putting it right back down. All the reviews say its great, and what I've looked at in store look great. Someday it will be sitting on a discount table . . .
July 25, 2012
Great source material for doing crime in the 'verse. I'm not a huge fan of the system, but that might be because I had already been playing in the 'verse using a fan-made source book for the Savage Worlds system. Altogether a good read though.
April 10, 2015
Interesting game, looking for people to play with. In the game. You know what I mean. No, I am not perverted.
You know perverted people make the next generation?
You know perverted people make the next generation?
September 17, 2012
Fairly faithful to Firefly, I suppose. The tone throughout was very irritating to me though, as it's written in a style similar to the dialogue used throughout the series and the movie.
February 24, 2013
Clever mechanics. Very story heavy. Too much so for me I'm afraid. Reading this book was an enjoyable reminder of the entirety of the Firefly experience.
December 25, 2012
Nice expanding of world. Very clunky rules. Felt as though there was no guide to what difficulties ought to be, so I'd just try to decide "do I want the part to succeed"
June 3, 2013
This is going to be a lot of fun. Wish the book was a bit better organized/written in places, but A+ for the concept and gaming structure. Shiny!
March 13, 2015
I adore the source material and so loved the game-- the setting is pretty well developed, though the system itself is a little rough. My d12s have rarely seen so much use.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews