This is part of a series of posts on Revisiting Firefly.

I want stories that are dramatic, thrilling, edgy and epic. I want high-flying exploits and dashing rescues (or thefts). I want to meet different crews of spacers in the Verse. I want stories that are new…

…and not just “shiny”.

When you’re making a property based on someone else’s story, there’s always a question: will you be re-telling the old stories, or start making your own? I think that’s the real potential about the RPG: hearing new stories about other crews making their way in a changing Verse.

Here’s some possible guidelines for your upcoming Firefly RPG game:

1. Don’t quote the source material. (If you must, do it sparingly – once per episode – when there’s a really fitting parallel. House rule: the GM can reward this, but only once per episode for the whole group.)

2. Use the old slang sparingly. (And start adding your own. House rule: once per episode, when you reuse someone else’s new slang, you both get a Plot Token.)

3. Your crew is not the Serenity’s crew.

The latter part is worth expanding on. The Serenity crew has its own story archetypes: the rich stranger, the preacher without a past, the embittered captain, the perky engineer, all trying to string together jobs to stay afloat.

Do something new! Find some different character arcs, and different hooks for your crew as a whole. Here’s some suggestions.

What brought your character here?

• an Alliance soldier, newly on leave
• a local sheriff, having retired her badge in frustration
• a teen pilot, called to fly things thing by her ailing mother
• a mother with four children, letting them run on the ship because they’re not welcome on her homeworld
• a banker with a gambling problem, seeking the next big investment on the Rim worlds
• an ailing gentleman of noble birth, with dreams of becoming a gunfighter like in the holo vids

What is the crew’s mission?

• hauling salvage as per Alliance coordinates, and stumbling upon a conspiracy
• transporting political refugees to the outer worlds
• bounty hunting on the Rim, plain and simple
• healing the sick in struggling Rim communities, while responding to your rich Core patrons
• charting the dangerous spaces beyond the Rim

What relationship is at the heart of this crew?

• a loving family
• a dysfunctional family
• a crime family
• a struggling and indebted business
• a long list of vendettas
• a raucous campaign to be voted Captain
• a zealous dream of finding the lost colony world, Miranda

Example of Implementation: Crew Distinctions

(Again using a hacked version of Cortex as a basis, here with a bit of Marvel Heroic as the influence.)

Write down the crew’s mission and the core relationship as distinctions. These can be rolled into your die roll for social tasks within the crew itself, either as an additional d8, or by taking a d4 and earning a Plot Point.

After a successful social task against a crew member, a player can spend a Plot Point to create a new distinction for the crew’s relationship, presenting another option to the players. (This is only worth d6 until a second player spends a Plot Point to make it work like a normal Distinction.) These never go away.

If the Crew’s mission changes or expands between episodes, the GM can alter that mission or add distinctions.

P.S. A bit more music

They say the folk who love on the Rim really know how to party, without the shine and chrome of the great Cities to distract them. The fiddlers here have kicked up a storm, and folks are celebrating the new shipment you brought in. You’re not getting market rate for this one, but it’ll have to do.

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man?

Sara Watkins – Long Hot Summer Days

This is part of a series of posts on Revisiting Firefly.

Reavers! Murderous monsters at the edge of space! They provide a terrifying antagonist – and a third party that threatens to undue the veneer of control in the reaches of space. But it also trips into some really unworkable areas. I’ll the audience that there’s talk of sexual assault below, since that’s part of the problem at stake.

Aside: That Damn Quote

You know the one, where they mention rape as a threat of the Reavers? Sure, they were trying to amp up the scare-level here, but I don’t want to hear that quoted every time the Reavers are introduced in a game, and there’s no ways I’m ever bringing that stuff to the table at a game I’m running for the purposes of shock and horror. It simply doesn’t add anything, but will alienate potential players by suggesting that such things are on the table for play. It’s enough to have Reavers as Scary Murder Beasts.

Problem: Terrible Racism Parallel

If you do Reavers the wrong way, you hit into every terrible stereotype about American Indians from the Mythological West: savage, mad, senseless. War paint and war parties. Preying upon frontier colonies. Threats of rape and murder. Mutilation of their foes.

If you use Reavers in this way, you’re hitting too many parallels to the kind of racist Western imagery that lead to genocide in the past, and leads to discrimination now.

I think the intent here was to capture a trope – the Threat at the Edge of Frontier – without involving a real people, but this doesn’t work. You’re working with a problematic thesis – what if the people at the edge of the frontier were mindless murderers upon decent folk? – one that is really uncomfortable. To go forward, we have to break that link.

Let’s do better.

Solution: Modern Zombie Parallel

What if we thoroughly distanced ourselves from the “savage” genre trope, and built up a “zombie plague” trope? The lore backs up this interpretation. The Serenity movie establishes that the origin of reavers was attempt at using a chemical/biological agent to pacify the populace, creating the opposite result in a few. The origin of these monsters is, in fact, modernity: the urge for control resulting in the breakdown of order. This tension with authority and modernity is central to Firefly, and the zombie genre as well.

To do this right, you really need to downplay some of the “frontier raider” feeling of the Reavers. Rather, put them into the ruins of any settled place – even on the Core – and let them emerge, putting pressure on the lives of Core and Rim worlds alike; neither would be well equipped to deal with it.

The fundamental tenet of a zombie menace is: inexorable. Once they’ve set their sights on you, they will eventually get to you, and most likely your own strained resources will be your downfall. They are also clearly predators, drawing from the “fast zombie” archetype, but with a terrifying capability to use modern weaponry and ships (perhaps hindered only by their single-minded focus).

Their vector is: chemical. It would be easy to retcon that extended exposure to reavers (assuming you survive somehow) would be the same as being exposed to the “pax” chemical. No doubt, nefarious organizations may be trafficking in “pax” for their own ends, and a reaver outbreak is always possible, and quickly put down by Alliance operatives.

For implementation, you could outline a series of differing zombie types, and assign them different powers that would challenge the players.

Caveat: This Might Not Work

A big part of this is trying to break that “genre law” entirely, and putting something different in place. Even so, that expectation – that there are a “savage” people at the edge of a frontier – is lurking there, and it may be hard to get rid of this. (If my depiction has replaced fake-Indian Reavers with Zombie fake-Indian Reavers, I’ve made it much worse, frankly.) If you find that you can’t reroute the parallel, then you may be better suited to skip them in your fiction entirely. It would be easy to handwave that, after the events of Serenity, Reavers just aren’t a feature of the universe, and focus on everything else.

Alternative Solution: Go Deeper

I’ve gotten the suggestion that you could instead modify the lore around the Reavers, turning it into a vehicle for actually addressing the parallels in real history, truthfully. (Credit to Ben Lehman for the ideas/brainstorming.) Consider:

Many people never left the first Arks and Convoy Ships from Earth, and were never given a place to land. You have people who’ve spent 1 or 2 generations on those ships – speaking an old Earth tongue that has evolved away from what most citizens of the Verse know – and their existence is hardly acknowledged, let alone welcome. (Folks on the Rim who believe in their existence refer to them as arkfolk.)

Some are violent; some are willing to trade are communicate; some seek to acquire needed goods; many have suffered terribly at the hands citizens on the Rim. (Are these arkfolk a different set of Reavers? Are these another set of people entirely, who are confused with Reavers, and thus chased away?)

This is an interesting solution, but like with any historical metaphors, you need to play it carefully. Not every group of players will be ready to dig into this.

P.S. Some More Music

You’re floating in orbit – lights out, no signal. Except you’re hearing this song. You remember this song. Someone is sending you a message. Someone will find you; they will make you pay for what happened on Shadow and Whitefall. You’re not ready.

Apollo 440 – The Man With The Harmonica

(Also: a commenter suggested the Bastion soundtrack as a good source of Western-like music. Thanks!)

This is part of a series of posts on Revisiting Firefly.

The world of Firefly is a future culture that is a fusion of American and Chinese influences. We see bits of this promise in aesthetics, written language, and most of all the frequency with which the characters curse in Mandarin.

Truthfully though: what we get is a weird mishmash of faux-asian cultural elements (often swapping in faux-Japanese cultural tropes, like the entirety of the Companion’s Guild). There’s also the weird approach to language: it is a strange message to have one of the Verse’s two dialects dedicated, for the most part, to cursing!

Then there’s one of the most obvious critiques of the supposedly Chinese-influenced Verse: a real lack of characters of Chinese descent, in either the main crew or the supporting cast. (Obligatory mention of obvious XKCD comic.)

Let’s double-down on the premise: a future culture produced by the fusion of two 21st-century superpowers.

Solution 1: Introduce Chinese NPCs, And Put Them In The Right Places

We can do better with the casting of the characters in your world! It’s the GM’s job to better represent what the Verse is “really” like. It may be appropriate to mention a character’s apparent background along with their physical attributes, when you’re introducing them for the first time (taking into account the multiethnic nature of most societies).

This might seem out of the ordinary, but in fact: you’re probably working with a group of players mostly acculturated in Western sci-fi/spec-fic, and their notions of what a “default” (i.e. unmarked) character looks like will default to something else. Instead, take command with describing what the makeup of the world is like. (One workaround is to seek out your own “casting” from various celebrities online, if you’d prefer visual prep.)

A variety of folks should appear in every corner of your universe, but moreover: think about what it means to have stronger ties to the dominant megaculture. It means that being of notable Chinese or American descent was probably powerful for you at some point . When your crew encounters a rich baron, a key member of parliament or local bureaucrat, a good portion of them would naturally be of Chinese descent.

Example: You’re finally face to face with Barrow and Fairfield, after many hours of waiting. Barrow is a man of Chinese descent, with a scruffy but attractive face. He looks at you appraisingly from his desk, while Fairfield stands in a corner, his arms crossed and a pipe lazily dangling from his hand. Fairfield looks a bit more Pacific Islander, and makes every effort to not acknowledge your presence as he adjusts his shades. “So,” begins Barrow, “you’re seeking the so-callled ‘ghost ship’ as well?”

Solution 2: Apply Chinese Cultural Markers Sparingly, And Make Them Count

I say sparingly, because I don’t expect the GM to model a novel world in the course of the game. Instead, make meaningful connections, involving a little bit of prep. Consider the following questions:

• What is one institution or tradition that will be visible (in the forefront or background) of an upcoming episode?
• Would this tradition be closer to the traditions of Chinese culture (or another exodus culture)?
• What would that look like, if we are drawing from 21st-century norms, mixed with some allowances for cultural drift or futuristic accommodations?

Example: An upcoming scenario involves making an important business contact while a wedding is happening in the background, with appropriate drama resulting. Maybe this planet’s wedding norms borrow more heavily from modern Chinese traditions (with a bit of Western influence mixed in).

Adjust a few norms to accomodate: maybe for weddings between prominent space-trader families, the red envelope tradition isn’t an exchange of money, especially since it’s awkward to treat Alliance currency as a “gift”. Instead, the envelopes contain comm coordinates for powerful allies who owe favors to your family. (So now a wedding produces an arbitrary number of easily acquirable plot hooks. You’re welcome.)

Solution 3: Speak More Chinese, And Give It Meaning

Putting aside the practical issues of speaking Chinese at the table (when, in likelihood, you have very few speakers of Mandarin present), what do you want it to mean when people use one language over the other? Rather than being interchangeable, it’s more likely that each contains nuance. (In a parallel example, both Hindi and English are standardized languages in modern India, but which one you use will have implications based on your audience.)

The lore from Firefly gives us some hints here. Some Chinese phrases are used frequently in colloquial language among a closeknit crew or actual family members. It is also occasionally used in formal writing and some formal address. (It’s also used to curse, but we may want to loosen this up; without actual TV censors, there’s no reason you wouldn’t curse in every language you have available.)

So let’s go with that rule: Chinese dialect tends to be used for formal and official communication, or for familiar and commonplace affectation. (Or, if used outside of those contexts, to still give it that inflection.) We can make a parallel with the marked use of English: perhaps it is more commonly used by programmers and within technological institutions, or is used politely among people you don’t yet know.

Example: I’m trying to negotiate with Barrow. “You know quite well that a refugee ship is of no consequence too us. We’re just trying to track the cargo. A collaboration should be no skin off your bottom line.” I switch to some casual Mandarin. “So let’s do this, brother. Folks like us have to stick together, right?” But Barrow’s face stiffens a bit. “I am no ‘little brother’ to you, outlaw” he says, stretching out each syllable. “You know nothing of the bottom line in my family’s line of work.”

Aside: Drop Some Words, Make New Worlds

For the record, here’s two words that you don’t need: “exotic” and “oriental”. Both have off-putting connotations and implications. They aren’t needed to describe things, and definitely shouldn’t be used to describe people.

Moreover, neither make sense from within the world of Firefly! These words are used to indicate that something that came form some “other” place, and is unique in comparison to what’s “normal”. Instead, you’re describing stuff that is “normal” to the characters within this world, so bring that world to life.

Bonus Solution: Even More Cultures

You could apply to  add a bit of other Earth cultures of the Verse you depict. There’s no way that there isn’t a single churrascaria in the Verse, or that some theater in the Core won’t be putting on their 9-hour rendition of the Mahabharata. It’s all still there, because those cultures didn’t go away, even as they changed with time. Remind your players of that.

P. S. How about some music?

You walk into a techbar on the wrong side of Persephone. The holojuke plays an old classic, as if it were helping to muffle the sound of your footsteps as your slip to the back.

MC Solaar – Nouveau Western.

Kid Koala – 3 bit Blues

(EDIT: I’ve added an index of all the related posts to the bottom of this post.)

A new Firefly RPG is in the works from Margaret Weis Press, and as someone who appreciates the original show, I’m looking forward to it. I also have come to appreciate MWP from playing its version of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. The IP has a lot of potential (including its absurdly loyal fanbase). A lot of that love is for the specific characters and storylines, but there’s a lot more stories to be told in that universe.

However: it’s been several years since the series (and movie) were out, and there’s some parts of the show that have felt more troublesome to me over time. These things get in the way of my enjoyment of Firefly lore, or my ability to share it further.

The upside is the Firefly universe doesn’t have to be limited to what we saw on the screen. Fans have many outlets to create new stories – through RPGs, LARPs, fan-art and fanfic – and that gives us a great opportunity to take things further, and to make them better.

In the next few posts, I’m going to outline some of the potential problems – and some possible solutions. These are how I would use a revision and re-imagining the Verse to craft rich, new stories to stand alongside the old ones we love. A little bit of knowledge of the show would be helpful to follow along (and spoilers will be involved).

A note: I’m going to be talking critically about problems that I my personal (subjective!) experience with the material. If you don’t see those problems, that’s fine! – feel free to skip these posts. I’m only talking about an approach that works for me. Rest assured: the work I’m doing here is fundamentally out of love.

The Basics

The Firefly RPG should be about telling stories of action-adventure in a space-western universe. The characters struggle to make their way, and will wrestle with questions of freedom, responsibility, and authority (as well as the more pressing questions of how to keep the ship running and how not to get blown up).

Aside: Genre and Patterns

Here is some helpful words from Emily Care Boss on genre:

 ”Genre is a concept used in literary theory going beyond whether something has elves or spies in it. Looking at genre conventions helps one think about how a narrative or text communicates. Looking at it this way, analyzing a form for the expectations and parameters that comprise it helps you see how the various modes of communication function.”

A lot of what I’m going to do in my upcoming posts is to look at those expectations and parameters, and to alter them in order to get the outcome that I want. If you want to defy a genre rule, you have to find the pattern, break it up, and present a different message instead.

And Some Gifs Of What’s Awesome

This is why trenchcoats and sidearms look awesome. Key ingredient: panning cameras.

Real friends have your back. Even if you’re a witch.

Running a ship is serious business.

The lawful aligment is overrated.

This is how you win a Intimidate check.

I’m sure this whole outlaw thing will work out.

ADDED: Index of posts in this series

• Misuse (and Use) of Chinese Culture
• Savage Space, and the Problems with Reavers
• More Than Gray (The Independents and the Confederacy)
• New Stories, New Crews (Telling new stories in your Verse)