Wing Commander RPG

Wolfman

Rear Admiral
Hi guys.

One thing to start with is I remember an rpg I saw online about ten years ago that was based around Privateer but I cannot find it now, probably deleted I guess, but I am hoping that someone may have the information from the rpg or know where it is online given my poor attempts to find it.

Now otherwise I am looking to convert WC1 ships to the Star Wars D6 environment. And thought I would share it here even though pen and paper rpg isn't a big deal here.

As a part of this I'll post some info on the craft details here as I work on it.

And does anyone know if someone has done this work already for D6 RPG saving me a bit of time and more brain power.
 
Only other attempt I know of a Privateer RPG attempt was the WCARPG/WCRPG was planning on a few spinoff RPGs from the main game. According to the archived sites, the Privateer RPG, called "Wings of Fortune", was going to run off both a IRC style of gameplay as well as a MUSH environment. However, like most of those planned spinoffs, they never got off the ground due to time/planning/lack of interest/lack of progress/real life interference.

(Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20030120210858/www.wcrpg.com/overview/sims.shtml )

Beyond that, I don't know if "THE" Wing Commander RPG ever did any Privateer related elements, or if Against All Odds did either. If there was, it might have flown under the radar.

As for the WCRPG itself, we use more of a d20 style system. And I wouldn't say PnP style RPGs aren't a big deal here. A solid system conversion, interesting campaign, and a good DM could herd a flock of WC fans who'd like to roll for dodge against missile lock.
 
Hello, all. I do apologize for posting on what seems to be a stale thread; just curious to see if the original poster (Wolfman) ever got anywhere with this idea. I've had a similar one myself.

In mid-April of last year, I self-published a role-playing game based upon another classic science-fiction computer game from the late-'80s, Starflight. This was a full-system from scratch, mind you (there should be a link to the main site on my profile page for those who are curious). In recent weeks, I've been considering whether or not it would be possible to adapt the system from SFRPG into a pen-and-paper role-playing game for the Wing Commander Universe. I had in mind something similar in scope to SFRPG: an adaptable system, which could be used for pretty much any era in the WC universe, and which would allow the creation and addition of GM and player-based content (and allow scenarios to exist that wouldn't exist anywhere else, like say a squadron of Ferrets versus a half-dozen Skates). I'd probably release the end product as both a free PDF download and as a hardcover (whose expense to the user would cover the production cost and S&H, without any profit to myself.)

Of course, before I did anything of the sort, I need to know a few things:

1) Is there any interest in such a project? Would anybody out there be willing to help me put this together?

2) Where can I go for basic information on the WC universe? I've got my guides and the cluebooks for every published WC game (except for Secret Ops, which I've never played, as well as Arena), but some of it is fairly incomplete (for example, there are no statistics provided on TCS Victory or any of the ships in her task group in the WC3 cluebooks.

That's all I think of for right this minute. I'm more curious to see what kind of response I get before proceeding.
 
I have many of the answers you seek.. firstly and foremost.. the best resource of all time for wing commander is the wiki.. keep in mind it's a work in progress.. so much of the RPG (especially setting material) will similarly be a work in progress.

secondly.. I am a tabletop nerd for life.. so I am interested.. Tac-ops (linked above) is brilliant for the board gamer in me. but a tabletop RPG should go in a different direction. namely fast and furious gameplay with a focus on the pilots.. I'd be willing to help with many of these aspects.

thirdly.. I'm surprised I missed this thread the first time around.. so wolfman, if you are out there I'm a long time WEG d6 nerd also.. give me a shoutout if you have gotten anywhere with your project.
 
The wiki at http://wingcommander.wikia.com ? Thanks, I'll have to check it out. I also found the Ship Catalog at https://www.wcnews.com/ships/ ; for the early work, that's what I've been using. Its already filled in some of the information I was missing (like the armament on an Exeter-class Destroyer; it's listed as "Classified" in most sources, which of course isn't very helpful).

Might have to take a look at Tac-Ops, too.

Focusing on the pilots would be nice, of course, but I'd also like a game where if someone wanted to do something off-beat they could. Like someone who wanted to play as the barkeeper on TCS Gettysburg, or a priestess in the Cult of Sivar, or something else.

WEG d6...is that the first or second edition? It's been a very long time since I've had anything to do with either.
 
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sorry should have been more specific.. this wiki: https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Main_Page it's by far the most complete.. it's also the one this site is responsible for.

I don't really have time to go through your starflight book this week.. but it looks pretty well put together and polished.

I promise I'll dedicate some time to it when I finish up a few other looming projects

also.. if you enjoy the universe end of the operation.. I'm sure twe'd be happy to have another wiki contributer.. might be worth checking in.
 
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Ah, thanks for clarifying.

It looks to me like I'm missing a fairly substantial chunk of knowledge by not being a WC Arena player...for example, I didn't know about the later model Rapier-IIs until reading about them at the wiki this morning. Is there anywhere I can go for an overview of that game? More importantly, is there a PC version of the game, or is it strictly on XBOX?

Been giving thought to how I'm going to reconcile the increase in weapons/defenses over the franchise's history. I mean, compare the Bengal-class carriers to...oh say, the F-103 Excalibur. Total defenses on the Bengal-class is listed as about 50 cm total. The stinkin' armor on the Excalibur is listed as 110 cm...

I suppose I'm thinking on sim terms. During the development of SFRPG, I built a smaller game to test out the prototype ship-to-ship combat system. Matchups of ships that wouldn't have been possible in the original games were possible in that game. I may be thinking along those lines; not sure if I should be. That game is online as well, incidentally, at http://wiki.starflight3.org/SFTB.ashx. The final combat engine in SFRPG is much more refined, but I still think the game is fun in its own right.

Anyways, I do have access to some information that's not up on the wiki as best I can tell. If I get some free time soon, I'll see what I can do about contributing. Am I right in thinking it utilizes Wikia markup format, or is it something else (like ScrewTurn)?
 
It looks to me like I'm missing a fairly substantial chunk of knowledge by not being a WC Arena player...for example, I didn't know about the later model Rapier-IIs until reading about them at the wiki this morning. Is there anywhere I can go for an overview of that game? More importantly, is there a PC version of the game, or is it strictly on XBOX?

X-Box only. The manual is amazing though, and has most of the continuity-related stuff.
 
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Had a chance to peruse the Star Soldier guide to WC Arena. Out of curiosity, is that the only documentation available for WC Arena? If it is, I've got a couple of questions to ask. I also had a chance to peruse the Edge of Chaos's regs; anybody around here participate in that? I've got some questions there as well.

Another question: what's the (canonical or otherwise) price of a pint of beer in the WC Universe? Odd question I know, but it's a viable standard against which to make currency conversions. I'm hoping for something a little less unwieldy than I had to work with for the SF universe; the conversion there worked out to something like $150 USD per MU.

Let's see...other questions: is there an encyclopedia entry for Platolum? Is it any different from Plasteel, or is it supposed to be the same stuff? Trying to work out an in-game reason why the hulls and weapons on everything got so much stronger in the years between WC2 and WC Armada/WC3; a stronger alloy would make a lot of sense.

I'm also trying to see what statistics from the games I want to keep and what I want to throw out. Considering extending weapons ranges (moving their units to kilometers instead of meters; that'd be consistent with craft that move at rates of kps. Alternative is to slow the craft down to meters per second, which I don't like). Gridded movement units in space combat could then become 1000 km easily. I'm also toying with rules for acceleration, though I'm afraid they may complicate the rules.

Going to be flopping around my core mechanic, I think; it'd make things more like GURPS, where a low throw is better than a high throw. Skill scores would set the DCs for most things. Been toying with this idea since we started playtesting Starflight; it'd be a good chance to try it out. Going to change the skill systems around a little bit as well, to include specializations (like someone specializing in flying Hornets, that sort of thing). Not sure what tweaks I'll need to make to Talents/Complications yet; may just go with the same set.

Races so far: Human, Kilrathi, Firekkan, Double Helix, Nephilim. I'd need data on most of them (intelligence/strength compared to Humans, physical characteristics such as height, weight, and so forth); we can generate it if necessary, but I'd prefer hard data if it's available. Same goes for any other established, extant race in the WC universe.

That should be enough to get started. Working on getting ships converted over and combat rules should keep me occupied for a while. I am thinking about going ahead with something along the lines of SFTB for Wing Commander; I'll have to let y'all know how that goes.
 
Hello!

The wiki is still very much a work in progress, but I'm happy to collect or source any information you're looking for. It seems like a pretty cool project! (Wouldn't it have been great to have a canonical Wing Commander RPG years ago? No idea what it would take to license that today...)


Been giving thought to how I'm going to reconcile the increase in weapons/defenses over the franchise's history. I mean, compare the Bengal-class carriers to...oh say, the F-103 Excalibur. Total defenses on the Bengal-class is listed as about 50 cm total. The stinkin' armor on the Excalibur is listed as 110 cm...

What's going on there is that they're different eras and the armor technology has advanced... we actually get some conversion data from Privateer, where 1 cm of tungsten armor is the same as 20 cm of durasteel (plasteel - 1:10, isometal 1:60). So a Bengal in 2669 may have armor that's 60 times (or more, that's all civilian hardware) as tough.

Had a chance to peruse the Star Soldier guide to WC Arena. Out of curiosity, is that the only documentation available for WC Arena? If it is, I've got a couple of questions to ask. I also had a chance to peruse the Edge of Chaos's regs; anybody around here participate in that? I've got some questions there as well.

S*S was the only documentation for Arena--happy to answer any other questions.

I think the Edge of Chaos stuff veered away from canonical Wing Commander a long time ago, but I haven't followed it in years.

Another question: what's the (canonical or otherwise) price of a pint of beer in the WC Universe? Odd question I know, but it's a viable standard against which to make currency conversions. I'm hoping for something a little less unwieldy than I had to work with for the SF universe; the conversion there worked out to something like $150 USD per MU.

You know I started putting together a list of credit and dollar references for you and it's sort of snowballing--I'll have it for you soon! Right now we're ranging from a one credit hamburger to 4.2 quadrillion credits of war material used by the Confederation in the course of the war...

The big problem you'll run into when you have the data, though, is that the numbers for weapons and ships in Privateer are tiny compared to anything else. In most cases a credit is a 1990s US dollar... except in Privateer, where a missile costs 30 credits and a fighter 200,000.

Let's see...other questions: is there an encyclopedia entry for Platolum? Is it any different from Plasteel, or is it supposed to be the same stuff? Trying to work out an in-game reason why the hulls and weapons on everything got so much stronger in the years between WC2 and WC Armada/WC3; a stronger alloy would make a lot of sense.

Platolum was a new alloy developed at the very end of the war--so it's likely much stronger than the ones seen in Privateer (plasteel/tungsten/isometal).

Races so far: Human, Kilrathi, Firekkan, Double Helix, Nephilim. I'd need data on most of them (intelligence/strength compared to Humans, physical characteristics such as height, weight, and so forth); we can generate it if necessary, but I'd prefer hard data if it's available. Same goes for any other established, extant race in the WC universe.

You're looking at a little over a dozen races in total... but very, very few of them are fleshed out at all. We can put together standard RPG data for humans, Kilrathi, Firekkans and Nephilim... everything else you'll have to mostly create yourself.
 
Hello!

The wiki is still very much a work in progress, but I'm happy to collect or source any information you're looking for. It seems like a pretty cool project! (Wouldn't it have been great to have a canonical Wing Commander RPG years ago? No idea what it would take to license that today...)

Greetings!

I'm pretty far into collecting data on ships/fighters at the moment...most of what's left are ships from the Prophecy and post-Prophecy eras, though I still haven't gone through the cluebooks for WC3 and WC4 as well (in fact, I found no additional sources for data on WC4 craft except for CIC, which I also still haven't gone through. Awful nice to have class names for capships in WC3/WC4 finally).

I could definitely use and would appreciate help with most of the other aspects of the universe (such as races and maps). Not my focus at the moment, of course.

A canonical WCRPG would've definitely been pretty cool, and I'm hoping in the end to have something that's at least professional quality, if not completely canonical. I can tell you for SFRPG (the RPG system I wrote involving the Starflight universe), publication was a matter of getting direct permission from Rod McConnell, the owner of Binary Systems, and was allowed as long as I made no profit (probably because that would've then also required permission from EA, who still holds the license on Starflight).

What's going on there is that they're different eras and the armor technology has advanced... we actually get some conversion data from Privateer, where 1 cm of tungsten armor is the same as 20 cm of durasteel (plasteel - 1:10, isometal 1:60). So a Bengal in 2669 may have armor that's 60 times (or more, that's all civilian hardware) as tough.

Isometal's 1:60? Okay...that helps a bit. Source I found had it at 1:40. Of course, that was someone's FAQ at a game hint website; I've learned that you can't always trust those over the years.

Which reminds me - does anyone have a list of the extra equipment available to the player in Righteous Fire (preferably along with the prices)?

S*S was the only documentation for Arena--happy to answer any other questions.

I think the Edge of Chaos stuff veered away from canonical Wing Commander a long time ago, but I haven't followed it in years.

Okay...well, for Arena, a walk through a typical game would be nice. I assume when you start the game for the first time, you create a profile for yourself with your callsign and all that. Do you select a fighter for yourself then (and are stuck with that fighter), or do you select a fighter when you're preparing for a mission? Do you have to select whether you're Terran or Kilrathi when the profile is created? Little things like that. Storywise, if I gathered in correctly, the Nephilim War has ended and a Terran/Kilrathi alliance won, but both governments have been so severely weakened by the conflict that they can no longer effectively police the frontier worlds. Is that correct?

My questions with the Edge of Chaos have more to do with specifics that aren't in their regs. Like how do you determine where a fighter is in relation to target (range, firing arc, that sort of thing). I'm really interested in the specifics of the engine...and it's totally okay if it's just a deal where you say "I move onto the cat's six and lock-on my heat-seekers", and it just does it (makes the roll for HS missle hits).

You know I started putting together a list of credit and dollar references for you and it's sort of snowballing--I'll have it for you soon! Right now we're ranging from a one credit hamburger to 4.2 quadrillion credits of war material used by the Confederation in the course of the war...

The big problem you'll run into when you have the data, though, is that the numbers for weapons and ships in Privateer are tiny compared to anything else. In most cases a credit is a 1990s US dollar... except in Privateer, where a missile costs 30 credits and a fighter 200,000.

You've started putting a list together? Hey, thanks!

There may be some kind of "civilian discount" going on there...I don't know. It took me a while to reconcile how it was going to work with SFRPG too; probably will help when I see the data.

Platolum was a new alloy developed at the very end of the war--so it's likely much stronger than the ones seen in Privateer (plasteel/tungsten/isometal).

Which war, the Terran-Kilrathi War or the Nephilim War?

You're looking at a little over a dozen races in total... but very, very few of them are fleshed out at all. We can put together standard RPG data for humans, Kilrathi, Firekkans and Nephilim... everything else you'll have to mostly create yourself.

Shouldn't be a problem; with SFRPG we had to flesh out the bulk of the races from what very little we knew about them. I've got a tried and tested system for building species at this point. Granted, I did need a lot of help and input with that part of the game, but I'm sure there are people out there who would like to collaborate when it comes to races.

Mopoks, Wu (unless they're extinct), Hari (unless they're extinct), Mantu, Steltek...that's ten, and all the ones I can name off the top of my head. Who's left?
 
Isometal's 1:60? Okay...that helps a bit. Source I found had it at 1:40. Of course, that was someone's FAQ at a game hint website; I've learned that you can't always trust those over the years.

I believe the game treats it as 60 internally--but it's also not actually published anywhere (while the others were in the manual).

Which reminds me - does anyone have a list of the extra equipment available to the player in Righteous Fire (preferably along with the prices)?

Sure thing:

Fusion Cannon - 100,000
Isometal Armor - 6,000
Gun Cooler - 300,000
Shield Regenerator - 170,000
Thrust Enhancer - 60,000
Speed Enhancer - 240,000
Advanced Repair Droid - 90,000
Level 6 Engine - 250,000
Level 7 Engine - 350,000
Level 6 Shield Generator - 180,000
Level 7 Shield Generator - 200,000

Okay...well, for Arena, a walk through a typical game would be nice. I assume when you start the game for the first time, you create a profile for yourself with your callsign and all that. Do you select a fighter for yourself then (and are stuck with that fighter), or do you select a fighter when you're preparing for a mission? Do you have to select whether you're Terran or Kilrathi when the profile is created? Little things like that. Storywise, if I gathered in correctly, the Nephilim War has ended and a Terran/Kilrathi alliance won, but both governments have been so severely weakened by the conflict that they can no longer effectively police the frontier worlds. Is that correct?

Arena is actually a verrry simple multiplayer game--you pick your faction before each game and can switch fighter types if you're killed. There's not a great deal of story in the game itself--just the background setting you already know.

You've started putting a list together? Hey, thanks!

No problem, seemed like it would yield some interesting data after I saw the question. I'm digging through stuff as I have time during the work day, but I'll stick the work in progress here now.

centi-credit TPOF Novel Iron, per ton, extracted from the asteroid field for building Vesuvius
1 Star*Soldier Terran hamburger
1.2 TPOF Novel Glass of "Hell's Kitchen" whiskey
5 TPOF Novel Blair gives to Bean, will get him a meal and a shower, maybe a room
5 SO1 Stingray's bet that you aren't done flying for the day
10 Academy Tolwyn and Bergstrom's bet on who would make Admiral first
10 Star*Soldier An issue of Star*Soldier.
10 Freedom Flight Firekkan duty on a bottle of scotch
10 Victory Streak Nightly card game minimum bet
10 Fleet Action Shot of single malt scotch
24 Victory Streak VidZine subscriptions
27 Victory Streak DCD of "Syndicate Moon" (album)
50 Action Stations Bet on the Kilrathi to win a fight on Gar's
50 Action Stations Corpse of a Jarma killed by Tolwyn
50 Action Stations One piece of Gotherian glasswork
125 Victory Streak Sili-wafer of "Hover-Chopper Assault IX" (video game)
500 Action Stations Bribe to customs on Gars
500 Action Stations Two months pay for a new Service Academy graduate
850 Victory Streak Remote hovermobile w/ neuro-optical headset
1,000 Action Stations Coded recognition signal to visit Gars
1,000 Privateer Merchant's Guild membership fee
1,250 Victory Streak 2800-resolution DigVid holo-recorder
1,950+ Victory Streak Genuine Kilrathi rugs
5,000 Privateer Mercenary's Guild membership fee
5,000-30,000 Privateer Payment for "plot" missions
12,750 Victory Streak 2286/SA-1200 card-size laptop
20,000 Star*Soldier Bounty on former Lancers
250,000 Action Stations Seeker Missile
1,200,000 Star*Soldier Dr. Severin's research bonus
"millions" Privateer Value of Burrows' Steltek artifact, per Roman Lynch
100,000,000 Wing Commander Any Confederation fighter in WC1
hundreds of millions TPOF Novel Computers to perform an exhaustive survey of the Terran-Kilrathi War
multi-billion Victory Streak Underground reconnaissance base on Veratek
~4,300,000,000 Victory Streak Meta-Analysis of Synapse Replacement research on Caernoven
4,300,000,000 Victory Streak Vacuum fusion research on Caernavon
~10,000,000,000 Victory Streak Incidence of Myocardial Infraction among Pre-Geriatic War Veterans research on Caernavon
~10,000,000,000 Victory Streak "Enough to outfit an entire fleet and crew"
10,000,000,000 Fleet Action Full complement of fighters for one fleet carrier
73,000,000,000 Fleet Action One fleet carrier
80,000,000,000+ Fleet Action D-5 system
1,500,000,000,000+ Fleet Action Total cost in carriers and fighters lost between 2665 and the false peace
4,200,000,000,000,000 Star*Soldier Total cost of war materials during T-K war

Known physical denominations-
1 credit chit
5 credit note
25 credit coin
500 credit coin

Notes:
- Less than one credit is a "centi-credit"
- Fleet Action and Voices of War use dollars instead of credits.
- 1c = 1,600 Kilrathi (units), as of Star*Soldiers
- The Border Worlds have their own currency, referred to as "trash" by the bartender in WCIV.
- Also called "standard credits"

Privateer 2-
25 - Edible human flesh
27.5 - Religious lottery prize
35 - Memory recall capsule
35 - Virtual Victim gag upgrade
75 - Deathball board game
150 - Companion fungus
350 - Techno-shoe
500 - Kakotron 2000 gag
579 - Virtual Victim gag
1,250 - Nanodrone skin care system
"thousands" - Flooding damage on Janus IV.
2,000 - Bounty on Marvin McSlaughter
30,000 - Coal wedding ring
150,000 - Starting price for a designer home from Edific Enterprises
150,000 - Money for winner of Tri-D Pool championship
12,750,000 - Ser Cashalot lottery prize
15,000,000 - Game show prize
15,000,000 - Untitled lottery winning
15,000,000 - Rare model spacecraft ("several thousand times" original price)
17,500,000 - Coal necklace
23,000,000 - KriskArms takeover of ExTex
50,000,000 - Court ordered payout to families of 500 victims of Excelsior tragedy
55,000,000 - Illegal lottery winnings (four games)
100,000,000 - Winning lottery numbers.
789,000,000 - Isaac System annual lottery for 2790 (makes winner 5th richest man in the system)
300,000,000,000 - Annual revenue from Deathball (most popular sport in Tri-System)

There may be some kind of "civilian discount" going on there...I don't know. It took me a while to reconcile how it was going to work with SFRPG too; probably will help when I see the data.

Yeah--I'm thinking it's a case of the government subsidizing the equipment when they issue letters of marque to create privateers... or a case of some sort of shorthand where all the numbers in Privateer need a uniform set of zeroes added.

Which war, the Terran-Kilrathi War or the Nephilim War?

Terran-Kilrathi--it comes from an article in the Wing Commander III manual about its discovery.

Mopoks, Wu (unless they're extinct), Hari (unless they're extinct), Mantu, Steltek...that's ten, and all the ones I can name off the top of my head. Who's left?

Hari are extinct, Wu are not... lets see what else. We get a whole roster of Kilrathi slave races at one point--Gorth, Sorn, Ka, Eyoka, Varni (and Wu). Wing Commander Academy added the Dolosians to that list... and then it also gave us the Dioscuri (primitives like the Mopoks), the Oasians (a neutral race) and a few aliens without names (some of the pirates in "Last One Left"). Action Stations mentions the Hagarin (a likely Confederation member race), the Haggans and the Jarma at various points. And we know the Confederation fought a war long ago against something called the Yan. (And that there are half a dozen races in the Confederation before the Firekkans join, IIRC.)
 
Try this:

Code:
centi-credit		TPOF Novel	Iron, per ton, extracted from the asteroid field for building Vesuvius
1			Star*Soldier	Terran hamburger
1.2			TPOF Novel	Glass of "Hell's Kitchen" whiskey
5			TPOF Novel	Blair gives to Bean, will get him a meal and a shower, maybe a room
5			SO1		Stingray's bet that you aren't done flying for the day
10			Academy		Tolwyn and Bergstrom's bet on who would make Admiral first
10			Star*Soldier	An issue of Star*Soldier. 
10			Freedom Flight	Firekkan duty on a bottle of scotch
10			Victory Streak	Nightly card game minimum bet
10			Fleet Action	Shot of single malt scotch
24			Victory Streak	VidZine subscriptions
27			Victory Streak	DCD of "Syndicate Moon" (album)
50			Action Stations	Bet on the Kilrathi to win a fight on Gar's
50			Action Stations	Corpse of a Jarma killed by Tolwyn
50			Action Stations	One piece of Gotherian glasswork
125			Victory Streak	Sili-wafer of "Hover-Chopper Assault IX" (video game)
500			Action Stations	Bribe to customs on Gars
500			Action Stations	Two months pay for a new Service Academy graduate
850			Victory Streak	Remote hovermobile w/ neuro-optical headset
1,000			Action Stations	Coded recognition signal to visit Gars
1,000			Privateer	Merchant's Guild membership fee
1,250			Victory Streak	2800-resolution DigVid holo-recorder
1,950+			Victory Streak	Genuine Kilrathi rugs
5,000			Privateer	Mercenary's Guild membership fee
5,000-30,000		Privateer	Payment for "plot" missions
12,750			Victory Streak	2286/SA-1200 card-size laptop
20,000			Star*Soldier	Bounty on former Lancers
250,000			Action Stations	Seeker Missile
1,200,000		Star*Soldier	Dr. Severin's research bonus
"millions"		Privateer	Value of Burrows' Steltek artifact, per Roman Lynch
100,000,000		Wing Commander	Any Confederation fighter in WC1
hundreds of millions	TPOF Novel	Computers to perform an exhaustive survey of the Terran-Kilrathi War
multi-billion		Victory Streak	Underground reconnaissance base on Veratek
~4,300,000,000		Victory Streak	Meta-Analysis of Synapse Replacement research on Caernoven
4,300,000,000		Victory Streak	Vacuum fusion research on Caernavon 
~10,000,000,000		Victory Streak	Incidence of Myocardial Infraction among Pre-Geriatic War Veterans research on Caernavon
~10,000,000,000		Victory Streak	"Enough to outfit an entire fleet and crew"
10,000,000,000		Fleet Action	Full complement of fighters for one fleet carrier
73,000,000,000		Fleet Action	One fleet carrier
80,000,000,000+		Fleet Action	D-5 system
1,500,000,000,000+	Fleet Action	Total cost in carriers and fighters lost between 2665 and the false peace
4,200,000,000,000,000	Star*Soldier	Total cost of war materials during T-K war

If I recall correctly, there is a 50 credit docking charge every time you land in Privateer. The game is kind enough to not force you into over-draft, if you do not have the sufficient credits to pay the charge.
 
I believe the game treats it as 60 internally--but it's also not actually published anywhere (while the others were in the manual).

Okay, I'll run with 60 then.

Sure thing:

Fusion Cannon - 100,000
Isometal Armor - 6,000
Gun Cooler - 300,000
Shield Regenerator - 170,000
Thrust Enhancer - 60,000
Speed Enhancer - 240,000
Advanced Repair Droid - 90,000
Level 6 Engine - 250,000
Level 7 Engine - 350,000
Level 6 Shield Generator - 180,000
Level 7 Shield Generator - 200,000

Thanks!

I don't remember the high end engine and shield generators being in the game, to be honest (probably because I always prefered to fly the Centurion). Which ships could they be deployed on?

And the fusion cannon......any stats on that anywhere? (damage, regen, refire, etc.)

Arena is actually a verrry simple multiplayer game--you pick your faction before each game and can switch fighter types if you're killed. There's not a great deal of story in the game itself--just the background setting you already know.

I see. Do you ever come across the Nephilim in game, or are your major enemies members of the opposing faction? That's suggested as a possibility from Star*Soldier. Mainly just asking out of curiosity.

I think I've been able to work out most of my questions about the Edge of Chaos at this point. I'm considering whether or not to sign up; it sounds interesting enough but I couldn't say if I have enough time to play.

No problem, seemed like it would yield some interesting data after I saw the question. I'm digging through stuff as I have time during the work day, but I'll stick the work in progress here now:

Thanks, this is really helpful! (And thanks to you, Wedge009, for putting it in a format that went into Excel smoothly).

The shot of scotch is probably the most useful thing on the list. Whiskey was also in SFRPG, and the baseline price I used there was for a bottle of high-quality stuff (like scotch). The math works out to 516.129 credits per MU (in SFRPG), or about 3.44 credits per USD. That's a workable baseline for converting prices from one game to the other, though I'll have to see how it affects everything else on the list.

Notes:
- Less than one credit is a "centi-credit"
- Fleet Action and Voices of War use dollars instead of credits.
- 1c = 1,600 Kilrathi (units), as of Star*Soldiers
- The Border Worlds have their own currency, referred to as "trash" by the bartender in WCIV.
- Also called "standard credits"

Okay...so, it seems like the credit is a decimalized currency; I can work with that. Probably can just ignore the use of dollars in Fleet Action and VoW ... oh, wait a minute. Does that mean the 10 for the shot of scotch is 10 dollars or 10 credits? That could change a few things...I suppose we are talking about the Terran Confederation; member states could still have their own currency (though history would suggest that it wouldn't be a practical practice).

The rest of those may come in handy as something for role-playing notes, along with the denominations of coinage.

Privateer 2-

Man, I hadn't even considered Privateer 2 yet. I'll have to locate my documentation for it; it's one I have boxed up somewhere.

I seem to recall trying to include ships from Privateer 2 in an aborted attempt to build a sim many years ago. I've got a bit more experience now than I did then; I recall them not meshing well with the others for some reason.

Yeah--I'm thinking it's a case of the government subsidizing the equipment when they issue letters of marque to create privateers... or a case of some sort of shorthand where all the numbers in Privateer need a uniform set of zeroes added.

Yeah, subsidies for privateering makes the most sense. Does make it a little more difficult to decide what the prices of those items might actually be...might have to pick a conversion factor there and stick to it. And of course, "Privateer" may be a misappelation of the term; Burrows acts more as a mercenary than privateer, if you're using the historical definition of the term (i.e. if he was a privateer, he'd be out capturing Kilrathi supply and commerical ships).

Terran-Kilrathi--it comes from an article in the Wing Commander III manual about its discovery.

Okay...so the TCN wouldn't be using it in WC3, but would probably be using it in WC4?

Actually, strike that. The data would support it becoming ubiquitous after WC4, in the years before Prophecy. The armor on ships in WC4 isn't substantially different over WC3.

Perhaps the TCN is using isometal prior to 2669 (so its still the main fighter alloy in WC3 and WC4) ...it just becomes privately available that year or something.

Hari are extinct, Wu are not... lets see what else. We get a whole roster of Kilrathi slave races at one point--Gorth, Sorn, Ka, Eyoka, Varni (and Wu). Wing Commander Academy added the Dolosians to that list... and then it also gave us the Dioscuri (primitives like the Mopoks), the Oasians (a neutral race) and a few aliens without names (some of the pirates in "Last One Left"). Action Stations mentions the Hagarin (a likely Confederation member race), the Haggans and the Jarma at various points. And we know the Confederation fought a war long ago against something called the Yan. (And that there are half a dozen races in the Confederation before the Firekkans join, IIRC.)

Okay. Do we have anything at all descriptive about these races? I mean, the names are fine and dandy, but without some level of detail, that's all we've got. The ones from Academy I can probably come up with stats on just by looking (downloaded the episodes from CIC the other day; haven't had a chance to watch them all). Same goes for the Mopoks and any other race that made into the games or books. I suppose I could review the sources; that might be necessary to make in-roads along these lines. And of course, I intend to transfer the race creation rules over from SFRPG. If we can't make these races ourselves, we can at least include the methodology for building them for the sake of the GMs and players who might be interested in creating their own brands. Not the best solution, of course...
 
Priv 2 code-ified for your reading convenience:

Code:
Privateer 2-
25 - Edible human flesh
27.5 - Religious lottery prize
35 - Memory recall capsule
35 - Virtual Victim gag upgrade
75 - Deathball board game
150 - Companion fungus
350 - Techno-shoe
500 - Kakotron 2000 gag
579 - Virtual Victim gag
1,250 - Nanodrone skin care system
"thousands" - Flooding damage on Janus IV.
2,000 - Bounty on Marvin McSlaughter
30,000 - Coal wedding ring
150,000 - Starting price for a designer home from Edific Enterprises
150,000 - Money for winner of Tri-D Pool championship
12,750,000 - Ser Cashalot lottery prize
15,000,000 - Game show prize
15,000,000 - Untitled lottery winning
15,000,000 - Rare model spacecraft ("several thousand times" original price)
17,500,000 - Coal necklace
23,000,000 - KriskArms takeover of ExTex
50,000,000 - Court ordered payout to families of 500 victims of Excelsior tragedy
55,000,000 - Illegal lottery winnings (four games)
100,000,000 - Winning lottery numbers.
789,000,000 - Isaac System annual lottery for 2790 (makes winner 5th richest man in the system)
300,000,000,000 - Annual revenue from Deathball (most popular sport in Tri-System)

Also, you missed Zakariah Skintight's album, "No butts", 49 creds. And I mean, really? Forgetting Zak? HOW COULD YOU??? You MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




I don't remember the high end engine and shield generators being in the game, to be honest (probably because I always prefered to fly the Centurion). Which ships could they be deployed on?

The Orion, mainly, if memory serves.


And the fusion cannon......any stats on that anywhere? (damage, regen, refire, etc.)

https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Fusion_Cannon

(I just threw that page together literally seconds ago... the stats are from the old Gun Chart, which has specs for all guns from WC to Secret Ops).


The shot of scotch is probably the most useful thing on the list. Whiskey was also in SFRPG, and the baseline price I used there was for a bottle of high-quality stuff (like scotch). The math works out to 516.129 credits per MU (in SFRPG), or about 3.44 credits per USD. That's a workable baseline for converting prices from one game to the other, though I'll have to see how it affects everything else on the list.

Okay...so, it seems like the credit is a decimalized currency; I can work with that. Probably can just ignore the use of dollars in Fleet Action and VoW ... oh, wait a minute. Does that mean the 10 for the shot of scotch is 10 dollars or 10 credits? That could change a few things...I suppose we are talking about the Terran Confederation; member states could still have their own currency (though history would suggest that it wouldn't be a practical practice).

The rest of those may come in handy as something for role-playing notes, along with the denominations of coinage.

Don't forget inflation, as well as the various periods: Action Stations takes place in 2634, and it's heavily implied if not outright stated in the post-war novels (and Fleet Action that the economy is in a bad way. (Especially after Fleet Action. What with having your major industrials center shot up and nuked.)


Man, I hadn't even considered Privateer 2 yet. I'll have to locate my documentation for it; it's one I have boxed up somewhere.

WCPedia to the rescue! :)

https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Astr...ogy_Rehabilitation_Guide_for_Anterior_Amnesia
https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/As_it_is_in_Heaven:_A_Guide_to_Space_Travel


Okay. Do we have anything at all descriptive about these races? I mean, the names are fine and dandy, but without some level of detail, that's all we've got. The ones from Academy I can probably come up with stats on just by looking (downloaded the episodes from CIC the other day; haven't had a chance to watch them all). Same goes for the Mopoks and any other race that made into the games or books. I suppose I could review the sources; that might be necessary to make in-roads along these lines. And of course, I intend to transfer the race creation rules over from SFRPG. If we can't make these races ourselves, we can at least include the methodology for building them for the sake of the GMs and players who might be interested in creating their own brands. Not the best solution, of course...

Literally just the names for most of them. The Varni are the best-developed, they're a reptillian species whose ten-world Republic fought a war against a Kilrathi surprise invasion in the 2590s and were utterly defeated; most of them were taken as slaves while the remainder either fled to the Confederation or to the fringes of known space. Their starfleet seems to have been very competent, nearly downing a Kilrathi capital ship (this in the days before torpedoes) and winning the respect of various Kilrathi veterans, including the Emperor. They're given to be (or have been) very civilized, maybe too civilized. One of the minor characters in Action Stations opines that ten or twenty million years of evolution bred the "terror of despair" out of them.

The Wu are giant sumo-wrestler types, and we know even less about them. They seem roughly humanoid. They ran the Wu Hegemony in what's now Epsilon Sector before the Kilrathi conqured them. They weigh half a ton, play stringed instruments.

The Jarma are lizards. The only one we know about was in a pickpocket gang with a renegade Kilrathi on an edge world station.

The Haggan "slither". That's literally all we know about their physique. They consider the Jarma a delicacy.
 
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Priv 2 code-ified for your reading convenience:

Thanks, I appreciate it.

The Orion, mainly, if memory serves.

Okay...that would be consistent with adding two levels to each ship. I seem to recall that was the case. Been a while since I've played Righteous Fire; I could stand to fire it up, I think. I'd have to find my hand-drawn Gemini sector in-system nav maps, of course...


(I just threw that page together literally seconds ago... the stats are from the old Gun Chart, which has specs for all guns from WC to Secret Ops).

Ah, now that's helpful. Been putting together a weapons list myself.

Don't forget inflation, as well as the various periods: Action Stations takes place in 2634, and it's heavily implied if not outright stated in the post-war novels (and Fleet Action that the economy is in a bad way. (Especially after Fleet Action. What with having your major industrials center shot up and nuked.)

Actually, I hadn't forgotten about inflation (or other economic forces, for that matter). I was just hoping to avoid them if at all possible. They do complicate matters quite a bit.


WCPedia to the rescue! :)
Wasn't quite what I needed; was looking for more of the ship stats and things like that. That's all on the P2 main page, though, and those links helped me get there, so thanks.

Literally just the names for most of them. The Varni are the best-developed, they're a reptillian species whose ten-world Republic fought a war against a Kilrathi surprise invasion in the 2590s and were utterly defeated; most of them were taken as slaves while the remainder either fled to the Confederation or to the fringes of known space. Their starfleet seems to have been very competent, nearly downing a Kilrathi capital ship (this in the days before torpedoes) and winning the respect of various Kilrathi veterans, including the Emperor. They're given to be (or have been) very civilized, maybe too civilized. One of the minor characters in Action Stations opines that ten or twenty million years of evolution bred the "terror of despair" out of them.

The Wu are giant sumo-wrestler types, and we know even less about them. They seem roughly humanoid. They ran the Wu Hegemony in what's now Epsilon Sector before the Kilrathi conqured them. They weigh half a ton, play stringed instruments.

The Jarma are lizards. The only one we know about was in a pickpocket gang with a renegade Kilrathi on an edge world station.

The Haggan "slither". That's literally all we know about their physique. They consider the Jarma a delicacy.

Okay...well, at least that's something for each of those races. A little more to go off of than others, but should still be enough to get started. Might warrant a separate discussion thread.

Does anyone happen to have a list of sources for these races (novels, games, etc.)?


I suppose I oughta ask this question before I get too much further along, along with its impetus. SFRPG was visible to the public on a wiki while I was editing it; it let me ask questions and get feedback (it sometimes happened that someone did have a better idea than what I had come up with, which I then incorporated into the game - with credit, of course). I'd like to try to do the same thing here. So, my question here is this: is there a wiki out there where I can put my work as I go (one that already exists specifically for fan-based WC projects)?
 
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Wasn't quite what I needed; was looking for more of the ship stats and things like that. That's all on the P2 main page, though, and those links helped me get there, so thanks.

Nevertheless, if you're serious about running a game set in the Tri-System, my advice would be to prime yourself by reading the manuals. They're not just a great style guide into the Privateer 2 mentality, but they have all kinds of neat throwaway references and bits you can use (especially the Hospital one).

Okay...well, at least that's something for each of those races. A little more to go off of than others, but should still be enough to get started. Might warrant a separate discussion thread.

Does anyone happen to have a list of sources for these races (novels, games, etc.)?

The first line LOAF listed are from Fleet Action; they're a list of races the Kilrathi have subjugated. We only know the names (in fact, the book lists them in one long sentence, just like that, and never mentions them again.)

I suppose I oughta ask this question before I get too much further along, along with its impetus. SFRPG was visible to the public on a wiki while I was editing it; it let me ask questions and get feedback (it sometimes happened that someone did have a better idea than what I had come up with, which I then incorporated into the game - with credit, of course). I'd like to try to do the same thing here. So, my question here is this: is there a wiki out there where I can put my work as I go (one that already exists specifically for fan-based WC projects)?

There's been talk of expanding the WCPedia to include (more) fan projects, but I'm not really sure if that's exactly what you're looking for (or what the project is looking for, for that matter.) I don't know of any other wikis, so unless the admins work something out, probably not.
 
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