The only gaming group I’m really in right now meets once a month to play Battlestations.  It’s a ship-to-ship combat game with RPG elements that I think is quite excellent.  There’s a lot of hand-waving in the rules when it comes to things like 3d space and blast radius and other bits, but the handwaving just works.  It’s balanced, plays well, and more importantly, keeps the astrophysics out of the way so you can play.

There are several different species in Battlestations, ranging from balls of hair to tentacles to giant bugs to piles of rocks.  There’s even humans.  In the current game, I’m playing a Canosian Scientist.  He’s a big ball of hair that can move really fast.  I originally made him to be the medic, but he’s become something of an all around science guy.  He carries a Nerve Disruptor, which causes the target to drop everything they are carrying.  For Canosian and Tentacs, who can carry an infinite number of things (ball of hair, ball of tentacles respectively) the visual effect can be comic.  He’s also addicted to the drug that makes you good at Science.

This was my first time playing a longer Battlestations campaign, and I can’t speak highly enough of the game (I should write a review).  But as tends to happen, I’m finding myself looking toward the next character and realizing I’d have made different initial choices if I’d understood the system a little better.  I’ve got several characters on deck:

A Tentac Chirpa named Tanzig.  He follows other people around carrying all the gear.  And I do mean ALL the gear.

A Canosian Marine named Porthos.  He’s a nimble little Florentine Fighter.

A Xeloxian Rigger.  He mates on the ground.  Long story.

A Silicoid Pilot named Heap.  Pilots don’t tend to move around much anyway.

A Zoallan Ship Combat Specialist.  There’s a lot of room for getting good with laser cannons and missiles.

A Human Bot Specialist.  He never had many friends.  So he made some.  He gets pretty irate when they get blown up.

A Canosian Grenadier.  All he needs to do is chuck grenades and run.

A Xeloxian Energy Swordsman.  Because how beautiful is  the image of a 6-armed alien rolling down the hallway of a ship with an energy sword in each hand.

It just goes on and on.