Babylon 5 roleplaying game books

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I've seen several of these online, but am not sure what they entail. Are they just guides to an old computer game that probably wouldn't even play on a modern computer? Or is it more like a story guide for online roleplaying writers to use?

I went ahead and ordered the "A call to Arms" and Thirdspace novelizations from Alibris. I could have sworn I had "Thirdspace", but couldn't find it anywhere.

[Jan]

Are they from Mongoose or Agents of Gaming? Those are the ones I recall that did the most gaming stuff for B5. They weren't computer games but I don't know enough about them to describe.

Jan

[Jonas]

I would presume they are books for regular pen & paper role-playing.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

oooh Interesting and fun too!!!!!!! I've done a lil bit of online roleplaying where you just type your responses in a forum, but table top roleplaying parties sound like a lot of fun!!!!!! *sighs* another opportunity missed, since by now nobody even online roleplays B5 anymore. It's been too long.

The books might be kind of fun though. Maybe when my money tree comes in and I can finally afford B5 action figures, and script books, I will consider those as well.

[Wyrmling]

Yeah the Mongoose Publishing core B5 game was a more pen and paper style game. I think A Call to Arms was Mongoose's table top war game but I never played it. Agents of Gaming's Babylon 5 Wars was strictly a table top war game.

[Sindred]

The role playing game was like D&D 3.5 . I have some of those books if you have specific questions.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

The role playing game was like D&D 3.5 . I have some of those books if you have specific questions.

Thanks

I don't really have any specific questions. I've only done one kind of roleplay - online on a forum, and so I wasn't quite sure how books would fit into it exactly, but if I understand it correctly, they just give you extra information for the roleplayers to choose from to help make their world and characters richer?

I've seen a few websites that provide info for other kinds of roleplays, anyway.

If the info they provide is canon stuff then they might be worth it to own just to learn and get clarification on universe details.

[Jonas]

Thanks
If the info they provide is canon stuff then they might be worth it to own just to learn and get clarification on universe details.

It is not, as far as I know, and what I've heard about the books is... mixed, at best.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

It is not, as far as I know, and what I've heard about the books is... mixed, at best.

If they're not canon, then no thank you! The non canon stuff is painful!!!!

[Wyrmling]

If they're not canon, then no thank you! The non canon stuff is painful!!!!

I cannot speak for the Mongoose Publishing books but I know JMS gave his blessing to the guys at Agents of Gaming (Granted it is not an RPG). Here is the foreword from the Rules Compendium:




Babylon 5 Wars

"Making a television series like BABYLON 5 requires that you think like an Irish border collie: you have to be detail-oriented, maniacally obsessive, tightly focused and utterly relentless. The massive and intertwined plots and stories aside, there are a million tiny details that you have to get right. How does the centrifugal force work inside B5 to create gravity? How can a Starfury fly backwards while firing forward? What is the gravity on Mars?

You know why you have to get them right? Because if you don't, you get letters. ("No, no, it should be centripedal, not centrifugal, you idiot. And by the way, can I have an autographed picture so I can hang it in the basement of my Mom's house where I'm living while finishing up my third PhD in quantum mechanics?")

Sometimes it's difficult to make licensees understand the importance of getting the details right. For a show like B5, this is massively important. As Michelangelo said, "Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle."

So you will understand how wonderful the experience of working with Agents of Gaming has been throughout the history of B5. They were not only among the first to come aboard and license B5, they instantly understood our desire to Get Things Right in the smallest detail, and even took it a step further, becoming even more rigorous than we were.

How rigorous, you ask?

When other licensees needed information on ship configurations or weapons capabilities, we referred them to the Agents of Gaming books (such as the one you are now holding in your hands). When we were in production and engaged in the writing of episodes or the mapping out of sets, if I was not available to answer a specific question on a technical area covered by AoG... the people involved were directed to go to the AoG books. Whenever AoG's miniatures showed up on set, there was always a feeding frenzy of the sort usually associated with an unlucky cow falling into a river filled with piranha.

What I'm saying, in this roundabout way, is that if you want the Real Deal, if you want accuracy, canonical authority, and the best of the best when it comes to BABYLON 5 licensing and gaming... you've come to the right place.

Enjoy."

J. Michael Straczynski
--Creator/Writer/Executive Producer BABYLON 5
...from the foreward to B5Wars Rules Compendium

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I cannot speak for the Mongoose Publishing books but I know JMS gave his blessing to the guys at Agents of Gaming (Granted it is not an RPG). Here is the foreword from the Rules Compendium:




Babylon 5 Wars

"Making a television series like BABYLON 5 requires that you think like an Irish border collie: you have to be detail-oriented, maniacally obsessive, tightly focused and utterly relentless. The massive and intertwined plots and stories aside, there are a million tiny details that you have to get right. How does the centrifugal force work inside B5 to create gravity? How can a Starfury fly backwards while firing forward? What is the gravity on Mars?

You know why you have to get them right? Because if you don't, you get letters. ("No, no, it should be centripedal, not centrifugal, you idiot. And by the way, can I have an autographed picture so I can hang it in the basement of my Mom's house where I'm living while finishing up my third PhD in quantum mechanics?")

Sometimes it's difficult to make licensees understand the importance of getting the details right. For a show like B5, this is massively important. As Michelangelo said, "Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle."

So you will understand how wonderful the experience of working with Agents of Gaming has been throughout the history of B5. They were not only among the first to come aboard and license B5, they instantly understood our desire to Get Things Right in the smallest detail, and even took it a step further, becoming even more rigorous than we were.

How rigorous, you ask?

When other licensees needed information on ship configurations or weapons capabilities, we referred them to the Agents of Gaming books (such as the one you are now holding in your hands). When we were in production and engaged in the writing of episodes or the mapping out of sets, if I was not available to answer a specific question on a technical area covered by AoG... the people involved were directed to go to the AoG books. Whenever AoG's miniatures showed up on set, there was always a feeding frenzy of the sort usually associated with an unlucky cow falling into a river filled with piranha.

What I'm saying, in this roundabout way, is that if you want the Real Deal, if you want accuracy, canonical authority, and the best of the best when it comes to BABYLON 5 licensing and gaming... you've come to the right place.

Enjoy."

J. Michael Straczynski
--Creator/Writer/Executive Producer BABYLON 5
...from the foreward to B5Wars Rules Compendium

Awesome! I will have to look for agents of gaming stuff

[Satai with Punsch]

I have been buying the RPG books from time to time, when I have found them on line or in stores, but unfortunately never played any B5 RPG with them. Time is hard to find these days ...

But one of my pet ideas is to play a short Call of Cthulhu-scenario set in the B5 universe, with the players as the crew of the Icarus. After all, the Shadows are very Lovecraft inspired, and it is a very self contained story. Any one here who have tried something similar?