Battlelords of the 23rd Century turns 20!
As you may or may not know The Pehntari Press is named after the Squid like race from an old pen and paper RPG i used to like. called Battlelords of the 23rd Century. I was surfing this after noon and what did I see but a review for the game noting that its turning 20 this year. I remember when i was a teenager at GenCon many many years ago me and a friend got to play a Demo of this game with its Creator Larry Sims. I of course was a Phentari in that first game and to this day it has been one of the most fun PnP experiences I’ve ever had, even though we never finished that game.
We were on a mission to drop down to the surface of of a jungle plant to find out why communications had been lost. The camp below was under mortar fire and the camps leader Mr. McDoogle was mysteriously ill. Seeing as how he was dying anyway I demanded that I be allowed to eat him which broke out into a fire fight between my and the rest of my party. There was a Ram Python lizard trying to learn to drive and half track and all sorts of other hilariousness .
The link to the Review is at: http://io9.com/5567182/going-mercenary-in-the-23rd-century-with-battlelords
If anyone is looking for a Sci-Fi PnP RPG that is fun to play has an in depth rule set but doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’d download a PDF of the rules and give it a shot.
The Phentari
“The Phentari race is the most mistrusted, disliked, and feared of all the known races. They are bipedal squid-like beings with generally nasty dispositions toward life and are sometimes called names like Grim Reaper, Cold Death, Demon Spawn, and Soul Sucker. Phentari are indigenous to the methane planet Phena in the Tau Ceti star system. They are typically evil, but a few have been known to be good. Phentari have four sinuous arms, each of which is capable of independent action. This allows the squid to target and fire multiple weapons, or perform multiple independent actions simultaneously. When using edged weapons, the squid attacks like a mobile cuisinart. Multiple tentacles also allow the squid to climb quite well. Phentari possess stump like legs which offer little balance. They have long since adopted prosthetic gear to facilitate running. Phena has a 20% methane atmosphere and like the Eridani, the Phentari must wear an atmospheric processor when operating outside of a methane environment. They are not liked by most other races who view them as evil and treacherous. This suits the Phentari just fine for he holds all weaker beings in utter contempt anyway. Many Phentari follow the philosophy that, “All fear me. Those who don’t, I have already disposed of!” The squids understand their own version of persuasion which is coercion. Why would there be any other method of getting someone to do something for you? The only races that the Phentari actually like are Orions and Tza Zen Rigeln. Phentari do respect those who are powerful, but they deplore cowardice.”
Sounds fun. I take it you played more than just the one game?
June 22, 2010 at 9:11 pm
I had the books and only played a few games. I could never find many people interested in playing. Everyone i knew played AD&D 2nd edition or Vampire and didn’t want to bother learning new rule sets.
What I did play was fun!
June 22, 2010 at 9:20 pm
I ran a game, and played in a game for many years, and have kept up-to-date on the books. I have always enjoyed the hell out of this game. My biggest problem was that I struggled to come up with adventure ideas for it. Something about it intimidated me. I could come up with hundreds of adventures for any Super hero or fantasy setting, but something about Sci-Fi stumped me. The other big problem I had with it was the block I would get concerning the rules. If I took a few months off to play something else, when I went back to Battlelords it was like all the rules got dissolved with an acidizer to the ear canal (my mazian did that to a guy once…). It was like I completely forgot how to play and had to relearn the system over again. This was also unique to Battlelords for me.
Still, I am excited with the new ruleset that they are working on. I am on the playtest list and like the way the system is going. I haven’t had a chance to test out the Engage rules (the starship combat rules), but they look like they are coming along well too.
June 23, 2010 at 5:26 am
For the record: I LOVE BL23C! It’s about the only RPG I know that both uses “sophisticated” (detailed, “realistic”) rules and still manages to make fun of itself. The setting is bizarre (to say the least) but still “believeable” – a lot of its hilariousness comes from the mixing and interaction of alien cultures that are MORE alien than your average “paint me blue and put some bumps on my head” Star Trek alien. And it’s not only “funny”, but has that grim undertone, that black humor of military-centered stories. Likewise typically militaristic, you literally have gazillions of tech stuff, and picking the right mix of armor, weapon and other tech DOES make a VITAL difference. With BL23C you switch between “professional” merc action (“There are two guards. Take them out silently. Mouthshots.”) and … uh … “I lob a plasma grenade at the guard, because I am an artist and want to see what kind of pattern he makes over the walls…”
June 23, 2010 at 8:36 am
Great to see people spreading the word about Battlelords. Please keep up the great work!
The more we can disseminate information about the franchise around the web, the more likely our efforts to move Battelords into the realm of digital gaming, comics, toys, and animation will meet with success.
Sincerely, Andrew Bator
COO, Athena Virtual Productions, Inc.
http://www.bl23c.com
June 25, 2010 at 3:02 am