Ghosts in the Black is the fifth title published for Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Firefly Role-Playing Game . Robin Laws described his concept for the adventures contained in this supplement as "a pastiche of a property which itself has a heavy element of pastiche in it, because it's a space opera which is actually a tribute to the classic westerns." [1]
Ghosts In the Black is a full-length adventure campaign designed by award-winning [2] game designer Robin Laws for the Firefly RPG . The campaign is presented in five interconnected adventures which can either be run consecutively in a single story arc, or as individual adventures. When played as a campaign, player characters get caught up in the mystery of a missing Alliance vessel called the Westlake. Firefly Role-Playing Game brand manager Monica Valentinelli described the Westlake as "a ghost ship from the Unification War—so there's this legendary battleship that's out there, somewhere, in the black—it's got all these rumors about it." [3] In the course of the adventures, the player characters are able to collect enough of these rumors to set out in search of the Westlake themselves.
Ghosts In the Black describes its own campaign premise as follows:
Some folk think that the Westlake disappeared after the first battle of the war. Other travelers believe it happened later on, right before the Battle of Serenity Valley. Before it vanished, the Westlake, a luxury liner originally commandeered as an Alliance troopship, had been modified for prisoner transport. On its run from Hera to Londinium it up and vanished, along with its cargo of Independent POWs and a treasure trove of secrets. ...'Ghosts In the Black' gives you and your Crew the opportunity to conclude the Westlake saga, from a false glimmer that establishes its legend in your game, to the final revelation of its mysteries.' [4]
Robin Laws has said that he was approached about writing "a campaign of interlocking adventures" for the Firefly Role-Playing Game at Gen Con 2013, and that he accepted because his "wife would really love it" and "would gladly participate in that homework" if he had to watch all of the shows from the original series again. [5]
Although ICv2 initially reported that Ghosts In the Black would be released in April 2015, [6] the supplement wasn't officially announced on the Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd website until May 5, 2015. [7] Retailer Amazon.com, Inc. provides an actual release date of July 22, 2015. [8] "Ghosts in the Black" was one of the prizes offered in the Lone Wolf Challenge at Gen Con 2015. [9]
Thomas Robert for Casus Belli reviewed this book along with Smuggler's Guide to the Rim and Things Don't Go Smooth , and said that the scenarios available for the game provided a campaign ready for use, even if the scenarios are often stereotyped and sometimes offer less easy frameworks to adapt to any crew. [10]
World of Darkness is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming, along with off-shoots based on these. The series ended in 2004, and the reboot Chronicles of Darkness was launched the same year with a new line of games. In 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently.
Wraith: The Oblivion is a tabletop role-playing game designed by Mark Rein·Hagen. It is set in the afterlife of White Wolf Publishing's classic World of Darkness setting, in which the players take on characters who are recently dead and are now ghosts.
Robin D. Laws is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing games as well as an anthologist.
The Serenity Role Playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2005 and set in the universe of the movie Serenity. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and its mechanics were the first iteration of the Cortex System. It won an Origins Award for best RPG in 2005 and Margaret Weis' license came to an end on January 31, 2011.
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. is a games publisher located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States and founded in 2004 after Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the two founders of Sovereign Press, Inc divorced.
James M. Ward is an American game designer and fantasy author who worked for TSR, Inc. for more than 20 years.
Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is co-owned by Simon J Rogers and Cat Tobin. It currently produces GUMSHOE System RPGs, 13th Age, the Diana Jones award-winning Hillfolk RPG, The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, and other related products. It publishes fiction under the Stone Skin Press imprint.
The Supernatural Role Playing Game is a role-playing game by Margaret Weis Productions that was released in 2009. It is based on the television series Supernatural and was the final game to use the Cortex System.
The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game is a role-playing game published by Margaret Weis Productions in 2007, based on the Battlestar Galactica franchise.
Jamie Chambers is an American game designer who works primarily on role-playing games, contributing in a variety of genres. He served as Vice President of the non-profit Game Manufacturers Association, a trade association for the hobby games industry, from 2007 until 2016, when he chose not to seek re-election. He succeeded Marcus King for the post. Chambers worked with Margaret Weis at Sovereign Press in 1988, then transitioned with her to Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) where he served as Vice President and Lead Designer. While there, he created the Cortex System, a role-playing game ruleset that has been used by MWP since that time.
Casus Belli is a French magazine about role-playing games, published in different formats since 1980. It contains news, reviews, interviews, features, and role-playing game materials. The magazine was published by Excelsior Publications until 1999, by Arkana Press in 2000–2006, and by Casus Belli Presse in 2010–2011, and has been published by Black Book Éditions since 2011. Since 2020, it also has the online video companion Casus TV, which is produced in collaboration with Tric Trac.
This is a complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Margaret Weis.
The Firefly Role-Playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2014, written by Monica Valentinelli and set in the universe of the Joss Whedon television show Firefly. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and uses the "Cortex Action" variant of Margaret Weis Production's proprietary Cortex Plus game system.
Echoes of War: Thrillin' Heroics is the first title published for Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Firefly Role-Playing Game. This supplement was awarded an ENnie Judges' Spotlight Award at Gen Con 2015.
Things Don't Go Smooth is the third title published for Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Firefly Role-Playing Game. It utilizes the Cortex Plus system.
Smuggler's Guide to the Rim is a sourcebook published by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd in 2015 as a supplement for the Firefly Role-Playing Game, which itself is based on the Firefly TV series.
Monica Valentinelli is an Italian-American game designer, author, essayist, editor, and game developer. She studied at University of Wisconsin–Madison, and holds a B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis. She started working in the hobby games industry in 2005. She is the author of several roleplaying games and supplements, as well as short stories and essays, and is an anthologist as well. Since 2016 she has been an industry speaker and Guest of Honor at several game conventions.
Chicago by Night is a tabletop role-playing game supplement originally released by White Wolf Publishing in 1991 for use with the first edition of their game Vampire: The Masquerade, and released in updated versions for the game's second and fifth editions in 1993 and 2020. As a sandbox-style setting sourcebook for storytellers to use in campaigns, Chicago by Night describes the city of Chicago as it is portrayed within the game's setting, reinterpreted as having a large population of vampires.
Necropolis: Atlanta is a tabletop role-playing game supplement released in 1994 by White Wolf Publishing for use with their games Wraith: The Oblivion and Vampire: The Masquerade, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. It covers the city of Atlanta as it is portrayed in the series, with descriptions of its supernatural population and its history and geography.