Serenity the RPG: Anyone ever take to adventuring in the 'Verse'?

Is it odd that I think it’s strange there is a more recent version of the Serenity RPG than the one produced by Margaret Weis Productions in 2005? I mean, it HAS been eight years since that game came out… REALLY!? Eight years!? How is that possible?

Whatever the case, I’ll be taking a look at the first edition of this game as it is the only one I own and the only one I’ve ever played. Well, perhaps ‘played’ is a strong word, since what I attempted was yet another horrific failure of a play by email campaign that ended after the first exchange and yet my copy of the RPG still holds that single character within the front cover like I’ll be meeting with the group tomorrow for another rousing session in the ‘verse’.

Therefore, I don’t have much to say about the RPG on the whole except that the creation mechanics seemed to work well enough, and the verbiage and feel of the game was dead on where Firefly/Serenity was concerned.

I mean, we all know that Weis puts out quality product, so this game is no different.

Artistically, there isn’t a great deal to talk about. 11th Hour does the cover design, and the interiors are little more than a collection of stills from the movie [as the show must not be under this license]. There are a few color images inside concerning a sample crew that were created by Lindsay Archer, Dan Bryce, and Ryan Wolfe, but they all seem a bit too digitally driven for my tastes and are just character images.

While doing this review I was reminded of my previous review of Savage World’s Tour of Darkness, and both have the same feel to them, which isn’t a bad thing.

That said, I have to wonder what kind of success this game actually had, and if the 2nd Edition was worth the wait or if there are truly players out there for it. Or, is the whole affair just another attempt to gather cash from a small devoted following of fans that won’t let this show’s memory die but can’t really sustain more than a gathering echo of passion with a call of ‘Long live the Browncoats’?

Artistic Rating: 2 [out of 5]