Suggest some good Sci-Fi Settings and / or Systems


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Silver Crusade

So we're going to be finishing up Mummy's Mask in a few weeks and are considering options on what to do next after it's done. There's been quite a bit of back and forth talk about what to do and a couple of us are wanting to do something a little more science fiction like. The problem is we've done so much D&D and Pathfinder over the years good science fiction settings have escaped us.

Now science fiction is of course a very broad category, and is one of the things we're discussing is what type of sci-fi to play. We're pretty open to any suggestions on any type right now.

Sovereign Court

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Cyberpunk 2020 from Talsorian. Awesome setting awesome rules.

Liberty's Edge

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Eclipse Phase is closest to some of the 'cutting edge' stuff in the literary movement. It's catchphrase is: "Your mind is software... Program it. Your body is a shell... Change it. Death is a disease... Cure it. Extinction is approaching... Fight it."

Cyberunk 2.0.2.0 is always fun for a big hair and mirror shades flashback. CyberGeneration is the same world but a very different focus, kids with powers basically. Starblade Battalion Mekton is a setting book for Mekton Z which is a future of the Cyberpunk world.

Star Wars is always fun, and while it's out of print WEG's latest version of the rules is still around.

Blue Planet is still around if memory serves.

Liberty's Edge

Shadowrun. Seriously.


Joshua Goudreau wrote:
Shadowrun. Seriously.

Shadowrun's a great setting, but might not be what you want if you're trying to get away from fantasy into SF.

Same with Star Wars, in a lot of ways.

I really can't think of a lot of SF games. And they all tend to be pretty narrowly focused on a specific sub-genre. Or media property.

Several cyberpunk variations.

Traveller would be the classic grand space exploration version, but I've never really played it.

Sovereign Court

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The Star Frontiers setting is something I've always had a liking for.

Liberty's Edge

Is Prime Directive still a thing?

Silver Crusade

Star Wars is the one we keep defaulting to as an idea right now. It has a pretty developed setting, between all of us we have most of the Saga books, what we've done of starship combat was fun. Our main issues with it is past experience from having canon experts in the group. Right now it's not so much an issue so we are considering it again.

We've done Shadowrun and enjoyed it. It's another contender. I think what we have is the third edition books for it, what edition is it up to now and is it improved?

Traveller I started to look into but became a bit intimidated by it. It seems to have a lot of history and several different incarnations. Also from what I saw on Moongoose's? page is that it seems to have a very random character creation method, which doesn't work so well for my group. I'd look again if someone can make a better recommendation on which version to look at.

I used to own the Star Frontiers books, but we never got a game off the ground. Might have to see if I still have those or not.

I'm going to look at some of the other games when I can.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

I've been playing a Star Wars/Numenera hack that our GM found somewhere out on the internet. That's been pretty good so far. Or you could play Numenera out of the box. In that vein, there's also the d20/4e version of GammaWorld, which is goofy fun.

If you have about a day of free time, and access to a tax accountant, you could make up Mechwarrior characters from the "A Time of War" book. That's SciFi rather than Space Opera or Science Fantasy, but it's a semi-feudal society so there are still some trappings of fantasy left.

Or you could just play Fate and make up your own setting.

Other than that I'd just second Eclipse Phase and Star Frontiers.

Liberty's Edge

The trick for Star Wars is to find a time period when your cannon experts are weak on.

Either that or a cattle prod. Seriously, almost all inter-personal issues can be solved by the liberal application of psychoactive drugs, multi-media presentations, and electric shocks.

Liberty's Edge

Speaking of which...

Paranoia.

Scarab Sages

Ashen Stars, setting and rules (rules light, mystery and investigation are the focus of the game and the adventures)

Star*Drive and the Alternity game (should be around on the amazon Marketplace, still my SF game of choice)

Eclipse Phase

The Void - affordable and a great setting for cthulhuesque horror among the stars.


Recommendation also goes out to Eclipse Phase. One of the most interesting and original sci-fi settings out there. It can be pretty dense with some of its concepts though, like transhumanism, post-scarcity economy, mind uploading, reputation networks, and so on.


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I would reccomend the "warhammer 40k" systems, like rogue trader, dark heresy, etc. Each has a different theme.


Are you looking for a published scifi campaign setting, or is the GM planning to make the world?

My go-to system for homebrew scifi settings has always been GURPS, although I haven't run a GURPS game since the early aughts. If I were to start running a scifi game now, I'd probably use either FATE or Savage Worlds, depending on how focused on combat I wanted it to be.

Liberty's Edge

Interesting, yeah. Original? Eh. It's mining a rather well established genre of modern sci fi with roots going back decades. Heck, its version of Appendix N lists 15 other roleplaying games.

Still one of the best sci fi games available.

I suppose I should also put forward Spycraft 2.0, which has supplements for doing things like Ghostbusters and Transformers and has rules to support all sorts of settings. The SG-1 game was basically Spycraft 1.5.

Liberty's Edge

And speaking of published settings, doesnt Howard Taylor have a Schlock Mercenary RPG in the works?


Krensky wrote:

Interesting, yeah. Original? Eh. It's mining a rather well established genre of modern sci fi with roots going back decades. Heck, its version of Appendix N lists 15 other roleplaying games.

Still one of the best sci fi games available.

I suppose I should also put forward Spycraft 2.0, which has supplements for doing things like Ghostbusters and Transformers and has rules to support all sorts of settings. The SG-1 game was basically Spycraft 1.5.

Well, original for me I guess. I can't list a lot of settings where a party consists of a Tachikoma, an octopus anarchist hacker, an engineer with hands for feet, and a parrot socialite...all to be taken completely seriously.

Liberty's Edge

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You never played Teenagers from Outer Space!, did you? ;)


You could do Guardians of the Galaxy.
One way is the Champions book and the other is Mutants and Masterminds.

Grand Lodge

Cthulhul Tech anyone?


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Man. I'm about to feel SUPER old...

Mekton and Mekton Zeta. Though the Mekton creation rules were REALLY convoluted unless you had Mekton Zeta+, I loved the character creation aspect where you could play either a "Rookie" or a "Veteran" -- Veterans basically got more skills, but gained them more slowly, while Rookies had fewer skills and gained them more quickly. Also, random character generation! Very Gundam-esque in most cases, but could totally be used to emulate things like Macross or Zoids or whatever, really. Even something devoid of giant robots (though why would you do that? ;_;)

As mentioned previously, Cyberpunk 2020 is amazing. Like, wow. Anyone who's anyone is chromed, and being chromed is the way of the future! Rocker Boys, Solos, Nomads... in a lot of ways, I consider it the precursor to Shadowrun, sans magic and fantasy races. It's more... I don't know how to summarize it without linking to a million articles. Blade Runner-ish? Cyber-gangs roam the dilapidated streets, human chop-shops in the seediest corners, Megacorps rule the world, everyone's "plugged in", et cetera, et cetera. Also, this.


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Run Iron Gods next!


Check out the Savage Worlds system. They have such ones as High Space, Interface Zero, the currently-being-released The Last Parsec, and their core Companion for science fiction gives a pretty good base for building your own setting.

Liberty's Edge

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Cyberpunk 2020 is very good if you enjoy 80s mirrorshades and chrome, style over substance cyberpunk like I do. Just keep in mind, holy mother of God combat can be extremely lethal. If you take 8 or more damage in one attack to a limb, the limb is blown off or otherwise destroyed utterly. Body armor is a smart investment in this setting.

Oh, before I recommend Savage Worlds, any damage you take to your head that isn't reduced by body armor or your Body adjustment is doubled. Your head counts as a limb, so needless to say getting hit in the head can screw up any future plans your street samurai had for living. A Kevlar helmet costs about 300 euros. A helmet is an extremely smart investment in Cyberpunk 2020.

Savage Worlds is awesome, and should be used. =p (Just reflavor or restrict the Arcane Background advantages and you're golden. Nonhuman species? Just write something like, I dunno, "I'm a Sengzhac." on your character sheet.)


From the blast from the past I'd recommend Paranoia and Cyberpunk 2020. Paranoia is best if you're looking for comedic relief.

More current I really enjoyed Rogue Trader.

The Exchange

Xzaral wrote:

So we're going to be finishing up Mummy's Mask in a few weeks and are considering options on what to do next after it's done. There's been quite a bit of back and forth talk about what to do and a couple of us are wanting to do something a little more science fiction like. The problem is we've done so much D&D and Pathfinder over the years good science fiction settings have escaped us.

Now science fiction is of course a very broad category, and is one of the things we're discussing is what type of sci-fi to play. We're pretty open to any suggestions on any type right now.

I abandoned my ruul 6 scifi setting back in 2008:

RUUL 6:

A Bot infected with a sentient virus crashes a colonization vessel on an out of the way world and constructs a base (the black dome). It sets itself up at the heart of a colony where it uses cloning banks to knock out a small army of marines to secure planetary resources despite the indigenous population. The Style is designed to be miniatures oriented.

THE COLONIZATION AGE
Marine units (unknowingly getting their orders for colonization from a super intelligent virus) must cross hundreds of miles of wilderness on foot to activate the seven halo-dropped mining modules that failed to activate on landing.

THE DOMINION AGE
Once they get things running, the Marines get to secure the whole planet and battle an increasingly sophisticated resistance from the natives (as well as hostile wildlife).

THE AGE OF EXPANSION
The Clones get to expand the empire into space and battle Aliens and the Terran Empire.

Its pretty much an open setting...

black dome short story

Sovereign Court

Traveller is my go to for sci-fi. I like hard pulpy sci-fi tho. Wonderful setting and sweet chargen. Not too likeable for the modern gamer I'm afraid.


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Snorb wrote:
Cyberpunk 2020 is very good if you enjoy 80s mirrorshades and chrome, style over substance cyberpunk like I do. Just keep in mind, holy mother of God combat can be extremely lethal. If you take 8 or more damage in one attack to a limb, the limb is blown off or otherwise destroyed utterly. Body armor is a smart investment in this setting.

Bah. If you get a limb blown off, just buy a better one. No big deal.

Liberty's Edge

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thejeff wrote:
Snorb wrote:
Cyberpunk 2020 is very good if you enjoy 80s mirrorshades and chrome, style over substance cyberpunk like I do. Just keep in mind, holy mother of God combat can be extremely lethal. If you take 8 or more damage in one attack to a limb, the limb is blown off or otherwise destroyed utterly. Body armor is a smart investment in this setting.
Bah. If you get a limb blown off, just buy a better one. No big deal.

You can't buy a better head!!!

Also, seconding Pan's recommendation with Traveller. Just be sure to get Mongoose Publishing's version (called "Mongoose Traveller") and not Fifth Edition Traveller.


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If your taste in Scifi runs more to Dune and such galaxy spanning space operatics then Fading Suns would be a good choice


With heads such a liability, just have it removed preventatively.


I'll put a third in for Traveller, but would suggest GURPS Traveller, so you get a point-based system with the traveler universe. Also, since most of the GURPS Traveller supplements are out of print, you can get the PDFs relatively cheaply. (Note that you want GURPS 3rd Edition, not the current edition)

Regardless of what version of Traveller you might use, the web is awash with resources which can be adapted to your ruleset without too much difficulty (with the except of technical items such as ship designs).

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

Sissyl wrote:
With heads such a liability, just have it removed preventatively.

Or just resleeve into a body without one.

Liberty's Edge

Christopher Dudley wrote:
Sissyl wrote:
With heads such a liability, just have it removed preventatively.
Or just resleeve into a body without one.

Full-body cyborgization costs euros and Humanity, guys. D:

(The rest of the team would appreciate it if you didn't start the campaign one step away from cyberpsychosis. =p)


It says "superheroes" on the box, but Mutants & Masterminds is endlessly adaptable. You could also try Synnibarr.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

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pennywit wrote:
It says "superheroes" on the box, but Mutants & Masterminds is endlessly adaptable. You could also try Synnibarr.

That's just cruel.

Liberty's Edge

rpgramen wrote:

Man. I'm about to feel SUPER old...

Mekton and Mekton Zeta. Though the Mekton creation rules were REALLY convoluted unless you had Mekton Zeta+, I loved the character creation aspect where you could play either a "Rookie" or a "Veteran" -- Veterans basically got more skills, but gained them more slowly, while Rookies had fewer skills and gained them more quickly. Also, random character generation! Very Gundam-esque in most cases, but could totally be used to emulate things like Macross or Zoids or whatever, really. Even something devoid of giant robots (though why would you do that? ;_;)[/url]

There are also Prodigies who start with rookie level skill, and gain one skill even faster than rookies but everything else at veteran rates. I really wouldn't call Lifepaths (which are in CP and CG too) random characters, they're more a background suggestion system.

I've used it for a few late era Macross games (Macross 7 through Frontier periods, so circa 2045 - 2060), and a robotless hardish sci-fi space opera setting. Plus for building crap for CP2020, CyberGen, and Bubblegum Crisis.

Liberty's Edge

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Snorb wrote:
Christopher Dudley wrote:
Sissyl wrote:
With heads such a liability, just have it removed preventatively.
Or just resleeve into a body without one.

Full-body cyborgization costs euros and Humanity, guys. D:

(The rest of the team would appreciate it if you didn't start the campaign one step away from cyberpsychosis. =p)

Eurobucks, Time, Humanity. Pick one to save on.

I get all my work done in Sweden.


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Snorb wrote:
Christopher Dudley wrote:
Sissyl wrote:
With heads such a liability, just have it removed preventatively.
Or just resleeve into a body without one.

Full-body cyborgization costs euros and Humanity, guys. D:

(The rest of the team would appreciate it if you didn't start the campaign one step away from cyberpsychosis. =p)

Three steps past cyberpsychosis isn't one step away :P

Silver Crusade

Thanks for so many good suggestions! Been looking up the various systems to learn more about them and compiling a list for my group to go through.

A question on this Traveller game. I found some information on GURPS traveller but one thing I can't narrow down is how character creation works. Random systems like the one mongoose seems to have usually don't go over to well with my group. How does the GURPs one work?


I have a soft spot for giant robots.

It just so happens that some of the more well-established giant robot RPG setting are also just plain good sci-fi settings, with or without robots in them.

If you're down for some space feudalism in the Frank Herbert vein, you might consider Battletech/Mechwarrior. In fact, that setting is a mash-up love-letter to golden age science fiction, plus robots inspired by nothing so much as The Empire Strikes Back. It does go astray a bit at some points in the timeline, and not all of the stewards of the setting really understood what was best for it... plus a lot of the art is substandard. But the bones are there, and highly usable.

Conversely, if hard sci-fi is more to your liking, there's Heavy Gear. While there's a bit of spacefaring in the setting, it's mostly about harsh life on an alien planet shaping human culture. There's also an element of slick cyber-punk -- this would be my setting of choice to run a Masumune Shirow-style cyber-cops game. If you liked the game Titanfall, this game features something more like that kind of robot, big, not huge -- humanoid but pragmatic, nimble and packing a lot of firepower.

Both of these systems are lacking in the game mechanics, although I think Heavy Gear is a little more presentable. Also, I think they both peaked and started releasing substandard material at some point. But they are two very rich settings for two different flavors of sci-fi, that both just happen to have awesome robot vehicles. They're worth a look, even if you run them in another system.


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Man it does my cold, electronic heart good to see so many people plugging the R. Tal games, and not just because I worked on stuff for each of them. Mekton is great for Sandboxing if you want to build all your ships, mecha, robots, tanks, planes, automobiles, and use them as more than set dressing. Cyberpunk still has one of the most solid skill-based character creation sets around.

I built half the mecha for Starblade, so anyone using that who has questions on how the suits are supposed to play together, ask me.

As to combat in CP2020 (and Mekton - don't forget that a Mekton 2 9mm did enough damage to cut a man's torso in half on a high roll), the thing to remember is that if you've gotten into a gun fight, you've done something wrong. Cyberpunk combat was specifically designed to be as lethal as possible so as to discourage the "I have a hundred hit points, I can go toe to to with that monster" mentality that suffuses most fantasy RPG (and many other) combat systems. Combat is dangerous. It's lethal. You should be thinking really hard before you pull that gun or toss that grenade.

The most important thing in any CP combat scenario is cover. Cover cover cover. Grenades don't hurt either. ;)

To the point of the thread, though, the nice thing about the Interlock/Fuzion system is that it's a tool box. You can do pretty much anything you want with it. The skill system is simple, character creation is straight forward, and if you use lifepaths you can have a reasonably fleshed out background in no time flat. It's easily modified and you can run a High Fantasy Console RPG world in it one day and a Hard SF Space Pirate game the next. Heck, I have a standard "house rule" set of Interlock rules that I use for just about every game I run that isn't Star Wars, Pathfinder, or Champions, honestly. I really ought to codify it and make it available to folks, I think.

So let me second or third the suggestions for Cyberpunk or Mekton. If you don't like the default worlds, throw them out. Make your own. The systems are solid enough to support what you're looking for.


Mythic Evil Lincoln wrote:
I have a soft spot for giant robots.

Brother!

Mythic Evil Lincoln wrote:
Conversely, if hard sci-fi is more to your liking, there's Heavy Gear. While there's a bit of spacefaring in the setting, it's mostly about harsh life on an alien planet shaping human culture. There's also an element of slick cyber-punk -- this would be my setting of choice to run a Masumune Shirow-style cyber-cops game. If you liked the game Titanfall, this game features something more like that kind of robot, big, not huge -- humanoid but pragmatic, nimble and packing a lot of firepower.

I have my issues with HG, but I won't go into them here.

Just remember that it is entirely possible using their incredibly complex mathematically build system to create a suit that is infinitely heavy. Fun and games with logometric progression!


RIFTS and SHADOWRUN were always my favorite sci-fi settings. I guess I love the mishmash of sci-fi and fantasy.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Krensky wrote:
Is Prime Directive still a thing?

Yes. It is a G.U.R.P.S. setting now.

Liberty's Edge

jemstone wrote:
Mythic Evil Lincoln wrote:
I have a soft spot for giant robots.

Brother!

Mythic Evil Lincoln wrote:
Conversely, if hard sci-fi is more to your liking, there's Heavy Gear. While there's a bit of spacefaring in the setting, it's mostly about harsh life on an alien planet shaping human culture. There's also an element of slick cyber-punk -- this would be my setting of choice to run a Masumune Shirow-style cyber-cops game. If you liked the game Titanfall, this game features something more like that kind of robot, big, not huge -- humanoid but pragmatic, nimble and packing a lot of firepower.

I have my issues with HG, but I won't go into them here.

Just remember that it is entirely possible using their incredibly complex mathematically build system to create a suit that is infinitely heavy. Fun and games with logometric progression!

* Double checks that his original MII JC books are safe.

Liberty's Edge

jemstone wrote:
To the point of the thread, though, the nice thing about the Interlock/Fuzion system is that it's a tool box. You can do pretty much anything you want with it. The skill system is simple, character creation is straight forward, and if you use lifepaths you can have a reasonably fleshed out background in no time flat. It's easily modified and you can run a High Fantasy Console RPG world in it one day and a Hard SF Space Pirate game the next. Heck, I have a standard "house rule" set of Interlock rules that I use for just about every game I run that isn't Star Wars, Pathfinder, or Champions, honestly. I really ought to codify it and make it available to folks, I think.t...

Well, assuming you do something about Dex.


jemstone wrote:
I have my issues with HG, but I won't go into them here.

If not here then where?!

HG:

Heavy Gear.

Top notch art direction, even if anime-inspired is not your style you have to admit it is super consistent and there is a TON of it.

World-class world building. It's a very smart campaign setting with a lot of thought put in. Good for many different campaign concepts.

The rules... are good, if they're just Shadowrun Lite and you don't peek behind the curtain.

Once you start getting into the "let's pretend we're engineers!" vehicle build system, it all goes to hell. But that's a very, very small section of the game. It was rightly relegated to a splatbook after the first edition.

Unlike battletech and mekton, you were never really meant to have unique mecha in that setting anyway. I think a lot of people misinterpreted the intent. To be fair, unique mecha are a fun, obvious thing to include in a game, so it's an understandable mistake.

As a hard sci-fi setting with a ton of setting support, there is a lot to like about that game (up to the second edition at least). It's still my go-to for any campaign that's about technology not aliens.

Also, I try not to judge game systems by their wacky edge-cases. That way lies madness.


Krensky wrote:

* Double checks that his original MII JC books are safe.

Those use the original M2/MTS rules and thus don't fall into that trap.

Krensky wrote:


Well, assuming you do something about Dex.

Eh, I just go with the original stat block from Interlock and ignore a lot of the stat-subdivision that rolled out in Fuzion. Derived characteristics can do more for the game than adding primaries ever did.

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