Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Simon Washbourne
Introduction
You always know where you are with a show like Star Trek. If anyones in trouble
you can bet that Kirk, Spock and the gang will rally around trying to help out and you
can bet by the end that all will be okay. Well that'
s not the case with Blakes 7, if
anyones in trouble; to hell with them. Although Blake only had his seven for about
five or six episodes, nobody seemed to care.
Created by the man who brought us the Daleks (Terry Nation), it ran for a total of
four, 13 episode seasons. Blake himself left at the end of the second season and it was
left to Avon to the lead the rebels in their fight against the relentless Federation. Also
on board was the cowardly Vila, the telepath Cally, the ex smuggler Jenna, the gentle
giant Gan the ships computers Zen and later Slave and the brilliant though arrogant
Orac. Later came the warrior Dayna, the idealistic Tarrant and the hot-headed Soolin.
Hot on the heels of the rebels was the beautiful but deadly Servalan and the evil
Travis.
This role-playing game attempts to emulate the lack of a big budget for the special
effects or the scripts. It also attempts to emulate the lack of concern for the other
characters that the team showed for one another. Great for role-playing!
The role of the Scriptwriter
Before play commences decide by whatever means you prefer who will write the
script for the session. Once it has been decided, leave the scriptwriter alone for about
15 minutes, whilst she writes down a few notes about the opening scene, what is
happening and other rough notes about the session major non-players involved and
stuff like that. Once the script is done (finished or otherwise), the script is handed to
the Director. The Scriptwriter then becomes a player suggested character Avon.
The role of the Director
The Director (called referee or gamesmaster in other rpgs) should be someone other
than the Scriptwriter, but otherwise gets elected, chosen, volunteers or is selected
randomly. The Director has the job of describing the action, reacting to what the
players do and essentially take nominal control of the game session. This might mean
picking up the pace for dramatic effect when the action is slowing, slow it down when
a breather is needed, throw in plot curves, introduce the npcs and speak and act their
roles, and describe events as they happen.
To start, the Director must introduce the opening scene as set out by the Scriptwriter.
This will often be on board the Liberator, but neednt be. Once that is done, it is up to
the players to decide what they will do, in the guise of the characters they are playing.
They dont get to read the script, although the Scriptwriter will have a slightly unfair
advantage, at least initially!
The Players
The players take the roles of the characters in Blakes 7. It is suggested that the
character sheets are handed out randomly, although it might be best that the
Scriptwriter takes the character of Avon (or perhaps Blake if he is around in your
Episode).
Character sheets
There is a character sheet for each of the characters in the series. On the sheet are
listed a number of skills. For some skills, such as Acting and Accuracy, they are
universal i.e. all the characters have them. For others, only one character will have the
skill, because it is that characters speciality.
The skills are numbered, with numbers ranging from 5 through to 19. This represents
the chance on a d20 that the character will succeed when he tries to perform an action
employing that particular skill. If the roll on the d20 is lower than the number written
alongside the skill, the character succeeds. If it lower, he fails.
E.g. Avon wishes to operate a computer in a research station the group have found on
a deserted planet. The player needs to roll a d20. In this case only a 20 represents a
failure, because Avons Computer skill is 19.
Skills
Accuracy - used in gun combat to decide whether or not your character hits the
enemy.
Acting - this is a fairly well used skill in the game. It is also a bit different. Acting
rolls are called for by the Director at certain key points in the episode. When the
player succeeds the roll, all is well. When the player fails the roll, the player must
read out one of the random lines written on his character sheet, as if his character is
actually saying it (regardless of how silly it might seem to the situation). The random
line is decided randomly (of course), by rolling a further d20 and reading what it says
alongside the number rolled.
When two players have failed their lines at the same time, the player whose character
has the best Acting skill can decide whether he says his line first or after the other
player.
In addition, the Director may choose to make the line a part of the scene or a part of
the plot, if she feels it works in the context of the game. So for example, Soolin says
Have I ever met Servalan? after failing her Acting roll and then rolling a 12 to
determine the random line.
The Director likes this and runs with it saying You have now my dear, as Servalan
walks into the room pointing a blaster at Soolin.
Key moments to make an Acting Skill roll
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Wobble Ratings
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
However, it must be acknowledged that Tarrant is also brave and loyal, if misguided.
On two occasions he uses the threat of murder to try and entice Vila to do his bidding,
while the posturing, machismo-led relationship between him and Avon ultimately
leads to Avon threatening to shoot him. After the Liberator is destroyed, it perhaps
causes despondency in Tarrant, leading him to become more placid and less
temperamental. This also highlights Tarrants naivety, with him displaying almost
blind faith in Cancer and Servalan, amongst others. Its perhaps this lack of
experience which ultimately causes Tarrants downfall, and that of the rest of the
crew. After misjudging Blake, it'
s Tarrants ill-considered words that lead to Avon
killing Blake, and the subsequent deaths of Tarrant and all his teammates.
Subject : Soolin
Episodes : 40 - 52
Talent : Mercenary, fast-draw, weapons specialist
Soolin grew up on the planet of Gauda Prime with her farming family. A lawless
world, she was orphaned at eight, and killed the men responsible for her familys
deaths. When Avon and his crew meet Soolin, she offers them her services as she has
grown into a formidable mercenary. Soolin first meets Avon and his allies when her
insane partner, Dorian, brings them back to their shared base on Xenon. After Dorian
is killed, she joins them in Dorian'
s ship, the Scorpio, in a quest against the
Federation.
While initially quite reticent to engage with the others, Soolin soons builds a rapport
with Avon, and shows herself to be one of the more intelligent members of the crew.
It is Soolin who devises Scorpios weapons, as well as noticing key details that the
others had overlooked in Assassin and Stardrive. Sadly, however, Soolin'
s reputation
as a quick draw fails her as she is seemingly killed, along with the rest of the Scorpio
crew, by a squadron of Federation guards in Blake.
Subject : Servalan
Episodes : 6 - 51
Talent : Ambitious, ruthless, murderous
Servalan first appears as a very administrative figure, the Supreme Commander of the
Federation'
s space operations. However, her ambition soon causes her to seize the
Presidency for herself.
Yet when the role is ousted from her, she operates from afar under the guise of
Commissioner Sleer, plotting to reclaim her former power and prestige. Servalan
claims that a lover left her broken-hearted when she was eighteen, causing her to
become addicted to power. We do learn of her ambition from other characters, such as
a former Officer whom Servalan had reported for treason when just a cadet. As her
growing psychosis seems to run parallel with Avon'
s, we soon see that she is prepared
to kill without compunction. She also frequently uses her sexuality to manipulate,
though is seen to also like being dominated, most notably with Jarvik in The Harvest
of Kairos. Left a virtual exile from her own people, Servalan is last seen attempting to
break up a coalition of planets in Warlord. Absent from the final episode, it remains
undisclosed whether "Commissioner Sleer" ever did regain her former power...
Subject : Travis Alpha 1505
Episodes : 6 - 26
Talent : Military tactician and strategist; Former Space Commander of the
Federation
Character Sheet
Avon
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
Computers
15
19
15
12
18
16
16
19
Character Sheet
Vila
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
Electronics
8
18
5
5
10
18
15
19
Character Sheet
Dayna
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
19
15
17
19 (with martial arts, halves opponents effective resistance)
16
15
19
Character Sheet
Soolin
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
Fast Draw
19
10
16
10
15
13
15
19
Character Sheet
Tarrant
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
Pilot
15
16
19
15
12
15
17
19
Character sheet
Gan
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
Strength
10
14
19
19*
12
5
19
19
Character sheet
Cally
Accuracy
Acting
Bravery
Brawl
Charisma
Perception
Resistance
Telepathy
12
15
18
17
14
15
17
19
15
16
19
14
17
17
16
19