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Hi folks,
I'm a bit burned out on GMing fantasy campaigns (3.5 and Pathfinder) for the last 6 years.
Looking for suggestions for a good Space/Scifi RPG system.
Hopefully something that's been play-tested and has lots of campaign resource books/pdfs.
I hear Star Wars Legacy is good.
Any Star Wars and non-Star Wars recommendations.
Links to any RPG suggestions would be great as well.
Thanks,
Vic
1)If you dont mind the crunchiness of the system I would propose Alternity.
I recently started playing and was fascinated by its uniqueness,especially considering how old it is now.Even though its out of print,the various worldbooks/supplements etc are relatively easy to find.
Let me see if I can think of other options..
2)I am still waiting for my rulebook to arrive so I cant personally comment on Aeon/Trinity, but you mentioned you wanted something that has plenty of sourcebooks and the people at White Wolf always put an amazing effort into their games.Also its supposedly more cinematic than other games and the best iteration of the old d10 system.
3)Another option is D6 Space.Its a generic version of the Star Wars rpg by West End Games.I think you can download that for free or get the physical copy from amazon really cheap.
If you are into niche worlds
4) Cthulhutech.The way they mix anime/mecha scifi settings with Lovecraft is interesting and the metaplot well done.The system is good for the use it has been designed for, but not the best for general scifi
5) If you are in for a more gritty scifi horror, from the same company the upcoming 'Void' is really well done.I can describe it as Alien meets Lovecraft.
I own and have played with their QSR book and it has all the rules you ll need to start until they start producing the other books.
6) Finally if you dont mind a premade setting and aren't put off by Hardcore Science Fiction(that is science more than fiction)
my personal favorite is Blue Planet v2 by Fantasy Flight Games.Its mechanics system(called synergy) remains the best I ve seen.
I own v2 books(which you can still find through ebay and other sites) but recently FASA bought the licence and printed a Revised Edition based on V2. Don't know if its better but I guess its even easier to get a hold of.
I also own Kromosome from the amazing engine series.
Its biopunk/cyberpunk as a world. But the idea of the system is you can connect the various worlds and have an archetype(an eternal hero sort of) that manifests in each world.(off course you can easily scrap that if you aren't interested)
I haven't had the oportunity to run it yet but the idea sounds appealing and the main system itself is 30 pages only, the rest is setting and it has four or five worldbooks for scifi, so you could look into that too.
I can't believe I almost forgot GURPS.
The 4th edition version of GURPS Space is amazing. Everything you ll need to create your own setting.It even has Astrophysics info.
You ll need to buy different books off course for any extra elements(psionics for instance) but they are so well done I recommend them even if you are running another game system.
It does have a premade Setting: its kind of a gritty-realistic scifi called Transhuman Space.It shares many elements with Blue Planet but maybe its less optimistic/enviromental.
I would second the recommendations for:
* Alternity - Seems like a great system, though I haven't actually used it.
* GURPS - We use this quite a bit. You can pick up Space and run a homebrew campaign (the Spaceships line is nice too) or Traveller: Interstellar Wars if you like that universe. If you want to dig back into 3rd Edition and previous you've got a whole line of Traveller stuff, Humanx, and tons of other material available. It all upconverts fairly easily.
* Star Wars Saga Edition - I've run this fairly extensively and have enjoyed it. Jedi are a bit beardy when mixed in with other classes...but I ran a two-Jedi campaign set in the Legacy era and it was an absolute blast. We created many ILM-worthy scenes...
* D20 Modern/Future - It's a pretty good system and there's a fair bit of stuff available for it.
There's, of course, a lot of sci-fi stuff I see on shelves but can't comment on it because I haven't explored it in detail. My co-GM picked up Ashen Stars and that looks pretty cool. Honestly, my best suggestion is to go with a generic system like Alternity, GURPS, or D20 Modern/Future. You can do anything you want with them and there's tons of fan-made material to help supplement. Good luck.
M
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* Dark Heresy
* Rogue Trader
* Deathwatch
* Black Crusade
* Only War
Traveller
Stars Without Number
* There's a HUGE amount of support material for the Warhammer 40K RPGs, as well as a wealth of fiction set in that universe as well. Also, while there are small differences in the systems, the material for one is pretty easily used by all five.
Ah, yes...the 40k stuff is indeed good. I've run a bit of Dark Heresy and we had a good time. It's pretty setting-specific but could be generalized for custom settings as well.
M
On Traveller, I only know the original and GURPS. There is a D20 version, which may be to your liking if you're used to D20...but I don't know how good it is.
M
Has any gamed with the Traveller D20 edition? If so how was the game play and transition from a d20 D&D or Pathfinder game?
Also has anyone played Alternity? I love the look of the books, races, rules and campaign setting from skimming some of the review.
Any Alternity or Traveller feed back is welcome.
Or am I better off going to GURPS, RIFTS or Savage Worlds for a quick to start and play series of space/scifi adventures?
Thanks.
Alternity has a few familiar elements if you were into d20 before.(even though its not dnd exactly, its better)
The quality of production is amazing like you noted and there
are many novels for inspiration(set in the star*drive campaign setting)
You can make anything of it, from a star wars style campaign to Aliens and Firefly to cyberpunk.
I am pretty sure you could play out the spaceship battles using counters or miniatures too.
The different dice needed(basically all the platonic solids):control and situation dice,the degrees of success and other bits of the system might need some getting used to,but they are well thought of and balanced.
The supplemental books and settings are where this gem shines I believe
As a few people have said, Star Wars Saga Edition is pretty good. Personally, I think it might be my top vote for RPGs in general.
Beyond that, d20 Modern (and its Past and Future lines) is apparently pretty good. Warhammer Space (or whatever it's called) is one I haven't tried yet, but some people swear by it. I think the Star Wars Edge of the Empire is supposed to be decent, but it is lacking support right now.
If you wanted something very different, you could run a Mutants & Masterminds game and just set it in space. Just call everything technology based "magic" and you're basically set to go. I highly enjoy the system, though sometimes the powers can be a bit of a pain in the rump to coordinate. I would go so far as to say that the M&M Hero Handbook is one of the books every player (regardless of system preferences) should own.
EDIT: Does anyone play anything from the Palladium universe/megaverse? Isn't Rifts a sci-fi/space game?
I was looking at the Traveller RPG reviews. It seems like a good game system with lots of fans and support. But the question is what edition/version/company works best for first time players coming off two d20 Pathfinder campaigns?I'm going to check out Alternity. It seems to have a lot of fan support including Neil Spicer RPG Superstar and master of the message boards.
Warhammer was way too much combat and militaristic for my tastes.
Traveller is a good game. The current versions are from Mongoose, plenty of support there (including 3pp they use the OGL iirc) and Traveller 5 (T5) from the games originator (Marc Miller) which is due out soon. Mongoose Traveller and T5 are supposed to be compatible with T5 being more in depth. My T5 hasn't arrived yet (I supported the Kickstarter) but should be out soon.
Of all the versions I liked the original game (in it's final form with a skill resolution system) and Megatraveller. I disliked Traveller: The New Era (or new error as we called it). T4 (out of print but still fairly available) was OK but suffered from editing issues and other minor problems. The D20 version was OK too and was helped (or hindered) by the familiarity of the d20 system. It's pretty much a dead system now in terms of "official" support.
There is a vast amount of Traveller material out there, and a lot of it can be converted to any version with minimal work (except maybe New Era). There are also any number of fan sites with large quantities of material as well.
One thing, don't mistake Traveller: 2300 AD (later known as 2300 AD iirc) for Traveller material. It uses a differnt system and setting.
I've been a Traveller fan since it came out (1977 iirc) and despite the various edition changes I still am. Traveller is an excellent system for generic Science Fiction and has any number of interesting settings (and Mongoose in particular have used the Traveller rules for several setting specific games).
Beside Traveller, I would suggest Stars Without Number (and it's sibling Other Dust) and The Thousand Suns. Both have available support material, and are fairly simple systems. SWN is based non the OGL and bears some distinct similarities to original D&D (as opposed to later versions).
Out of print stuff... Alternity was OK, the various Star Wars games had their points as well, from West End Games to WotC's Saga. I am not familiar with the new one (Edge of the Empire I think). There is a lot of old support material for any version of a Star Wars game and players tend to be pretty familiar with the setting / ideas (for better or worse).
There are a lot of others depending on what you're looking for. Recomendations:
Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 (what else)
Anime: Big Eyes Small Mouth or (better yet imo) Mekton Zeta. Mekton Zeta especially if you like big robots.
Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 and Mekton Zeta use related systems btw. Support material (unless you count manga and anime) is limited (given they are out of print). There a number of fan site out there for each (last time I checked).
Has anyone used mini's and mini battle maps with a space/scifi RPG, or is it easier without them?
For space battles? I personally don't recommend it. There is another thread with some thoughts on it. Here are my thoughts on dealing with it for Saga Edition. The whole thread is a pretty good read, though.
Has anyone used mini's and mini battle maps with a space/scifi RPG, or is it easier without them?
It's fine with individual / character firefights, inside or out. In Traveller (and several other games) a half inch = 1.5 meters / 5'. It can be done with or without it.
Some things like distant ship to ship actions are better figured out on paper. I have done ship to ship actions with miniatures, but it didn't really add to it. A system from another game (FASA's original Star Trek RPG) gave each player a control panel that went with what their player was doing; helm, engineering, tactical etc. while the captain just gave orders to the ships officers / other players. That was the best role playing version of ship to ship combat I've ever seen / used. You could practically hear the voices of Kirk, Scotty, Sulu etc.. The players were really into it as well. I carried it over into Traveller and it was good. Unless your PC was just a passenger... kind of tense just sitting there and waiting. Good from my point of view (GM) though.
Great idea R_Chance.Player control panel printouts for ship to ship combat would get me hyped as a player and help visualize piloting a starship through a ship to ship fire fight.
I'm definitely borrowing that one for my adventures.
Is there a link to the control panel any where that I can download?
Not as far as I know. The game is out of print (there have been at least three Star Trek RPGs since that one). I did my own for the Free Trader my players had in Traveller. Traveller had the concept of energy points (? the term) that were allocated to screens, weapons, manuever, etc. In a later version energy was measured in megawatts. The engineed allocated power, helm did the manuevering, tactical handled weapons, medical monitered environmental / crew and the captain ordered every body else around. A large ship might be difficult to manage, but a smaller ship (player sized) works out well.
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I am going to go with Star Frontiers for involving PC's in space battles. As long as everyone hasn't gone 'pilot' their skills directly effect every aspect of the ship combat (which is played on a hex map). With the starship construction rules in the book (Knight Hawks) you can make almost any ship seen in movies. I made (in the good old days) a Battlestar and a Cylon Basestar for my Battlestar Galatica themed SF game. The robot creation rules make for some awesome cylons. Of course the younger readers will be wanting Starbuck and cylons to have boobs...
So SF tops my SciFi game list and with it being freely available now it will continue to be. Never out of print ever :)
S.
PS: Knight Hawks as a stand alone space battle miniatures game is the most fun game of this type I have played to date. Simple & abstract but full of flavour. Making repair rolls as your ship burns while deciding on what type of shield to raise is brilliant.
GURPS Spaceships has a combat system that could be genericized for use with any space setting...you don't necessarily need GURPS characters to play it.
There's a core book that provides the ship design system and generic combat system. Add-on books cover components and details of things like merchants, explorers, warships, fighters and mecha, weird and divergent ships, etc. The warships book includes a much more detailed combat system.
The books are available as PDFs via SJG's E23.com web store for a pretty reasonable price. You can get the core book in print, but the add-ons are PDF-only. Here's the info page on the core book: http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/spaceships/spaceships1/
I've used this system for a GURPS-based Star Trek game and it was worked out pretty well so far. I may use it for the Traveller game we're starting shortly if we end up doing much ship combat. You can design pretty much any ship from your favorite universe using the system and some imagination, though little ships take a bit more work (or the fighter/mecha book!).
M
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Also has anyone played Alternity? I love the look of the books, races, rules and campaign setting from skimming some of the review.
Any Alternity or Traveller feed back is welcome.
I've had a fair bit of play with Alternity, am still a regular at AlternityRPG.net and also had the experience of introducing it to a group who knew D&D best. The differences are greater than they first seem, with rolling low, situation dice and the initiative system taking some time to learn. It's very flexible, without the bands of assured success or inevitable failure that are such a feature of d20. Levels matter much less but still make a character feel more competent.
I'd use miniatures and/or a map for personal combat in most games because I like to visualise where characters are. Weapon range, cover and movement are still important. Use with vehicles depends on the combat system and complexity of the encounter - sometimes you only need distance and relative speed, other times you have personal combat on vehicles with characters firing hand weapons over the side or jumping from one to another.
I'd recommend GURPS as an excellent all-around excellent system for sci-fi. I've played in three or four GURPS sci-fi games, and the rules really work well for that genre.
I haven't used them in a sci-fi setting, but Savage Worlds would also work well.
[Note: I've only played Savage Worlds in two two-shot sessions: one was a modern-day investigation game where PCs were investigative journalists and private detectives, and the other was a 1930s Pulp Adventure.]
If you want less min/maxing and fewer issues with game mechanic exploitation.....
2 Suggestions
Savage Worlds
Fate System
You may need to do a bit of world building, or luck into a supplement that that you think has the right "feel" to it.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I recommed from the Grooveyard of favourites, Star Frontiers. Pretty simple to use.
The biggest thing I want to avoid while running a space campaign or series of adventures is the character level advancement formula. Leveling seems to take something away from the game as players don't necessarily focus on playing their character as a character. Instead a lot of players fall into the trap of playing the game mechanics of their character.
That's why I was really looking for a space RPG where success and failure of the adventure is based on players willing to really take risks and role-playing their characters.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
I agree entirely that skill-based RPG systems work better for scifi games than level-based system. My favorite all-around skill-based system is GURPS, and it's the one I have the most experience with.
Anyone mentioned Fading Suns?
Anyone mentioned Fading Suns?
The original version or the d20 / OGL one? I have the original and, back in the dark ages when I played more, it was fun. That heavy medieval overlay on a science fiction game was different. Is either version still available?
I totally recommend rifts. Our table is starting up a rifts: phase world campaign as we speak, and I find players just start crawling out of the woodwork when the palladium books come out.
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I'm gonna go stand over in the corner now
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Hopefully within the next few weeks I am going to try out the new Edge of the Empire set from FFG. My buddy got the beginner box and is looking to run the pre-made adventure.
I have been looking for a system that can do Mass Effect. So far the systems I have looked at (Traveler, SW-D6, SW) are not doing it for me. I need to start looking soon I am on book 5 of CC AP. If the FFG is a good system hopefully I can resking it easily. Otherwise im leaning towards savage worlds. Even though I have to admit Traveler looks awesome. I am just getting hung up on the combat mechanics.
Originally I had some great ideas for using D&D 4E for ME. The problem was it was a lot of work to try and re-work everything. I didnt switch over to 4E but do have the PHB1. I thought "bloodied" would translate well to "shields down". Healing surges could eb medi-gel applications. The powers system seems like a natural fit. Blast! Why must I be so lazy?
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If you've been interested in philosophy or literary theory, I highly suggest Eclipse Phase. Never had more fun reading and thinking about a RPG.
I would think that Alternity could do Mass Effect pretty well.
M
Edit: Possibly D20 Modern/Future as well, if you can't lay hands on a copy of Alternity.
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Hopefully within the next few weeks I am going to try out the new Edge of the Empire set from FFG. My buddy got the beginner box and is looking to run the pre-made adventure.
I have been looking for a system that can do Mass Effect. So far the systems I have looked at (Traveler, SW-D6, SW) are not doing it for me. I need to start looking soon I am on book 5 of CC AP. If the FFG is a good system hopefully I can resking it easily. Otherwise im leaning towards savage worlds. Even though I have to admit Traveler looks awesome. I am just getting hung up on the combat mechanics.
Originally I had some great ideas for using D&D 4E for ME. The problem was it was a lot of work to try and re-work everything. I didnt switch over to 4E but do have the PHB1. I thought "bloodied" would translate well to "shields down". Healing surges could eb medi-gel applications. The powers system seems like a natural fit. Blast! Why must I be so lazy?
Alternity would be it. There are sites out there that have the races for ME. I'd go with it
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Alternity would be it. There are sites out there that have the races for ME. I'd go with itHopefully within the next few weeks I am going to try out the new Edge of the Empire set from FFG. My buddy got the beginner box and is looking to run the pre-made adventure.
I have been looking for a system that can do Mass Effect. So far the systems I have looked at (Traveler, SW-D6, SW) are not doing it for me. I need to start looking soon I am on book 5 of CC AP. If the FFG is a good system hopefully I can resking it easily. Otherwise im leaning towards savage worlds. Even though I have to admit Traveler looks awesome. I am just getting hung up on the combat mechanics.
Originally I had some great ideas for using D&D 4E for ME. The problem was it was a lot of work to try and re-work everything. I didnt switch over to 4E but do have the PHB1. I thought "bloodied" would translate well to "shields down". Healing surges could eb medi-gel applications. The powers system seems like a natural fit. Blast! Why must I be so lazy?
Ok so lots of Alternity fans here I see. Let me ask you this then, besides races what makes it a good system? I can make up races easy thats not what I am worried about. I want a fast and furious combat system. I want some complexity but nothing that will drag. A lot of the systems I have seen so far are quick but kind of boring.
The original version or the d20 / OGL one? I have the original and, back in the dark ages when I played more, it was fun. That heavy medieval overlay on a science fiction game was different. Is either version still available?Anyone mentioned Fading Suns?
A new(ish) version is available. A revision done by RedBrick Limited in 2007 (which was basically 2nd edition with minor changes) and a new Fading Suns Revised designed by RedBrick and published last year by FASA.
Anyone mentioned Fading Suns?
The original version or the d20 / OGL one? I have the original and, back in the dark ages when I played more, it was fun. That heavy medieval overlay on a science fiction game was different. Is either version still available?
A new(ish) version is available. A revision done by RedBrick Limited in 2007 (which was basically 2nd edition with minor changes) and a new Fading Suns Revised designed by RedBrick and published last year by FASA.
Nice. *sigh* Back in the day I had time to collect and read everything in sight even if I didn't play it. Now, I'm time constrained to the point where I am lucky to find time for Pathfinder, and hopefully Traveller 5 (this summer). I like my job, but it takes more time every year. I'm beginning to look forward to retirement just to have some spare time, oh and maybe get more than 4-5 hours sleep a night... assuming I don't drop dead at work in the meantime. You have to have a sense of humor about it though. Or just get old and grumpy and take it out on your students. That doesn't sound too bad actually :D
Alternity would be it. There are sites out there that have the races for ME. I'd go with itHopefully within the next few weeks I am going to try out the new Edge of the Empire set from FFG. My buddy got the beginner box and is looking to run the pre-made adventure.
I have been looking for a system that can do Mass Effect. So far the systems I have looked at (Traveler, SW-D6, SW) are not doing it for me. I need to start looking soon I am on book 5 of CC AP. If the FFG is a good system hopefully I can resking it easily. Otherwise im leaning towards savage worlds. Even though I have to admit Traveler looks awesome. I am just getting hung up on the combat mechanics.
Originally I had some great ideas for using D&D 4E for ME. The problem was it was a lot of work to try and re-work everything. I didnt switch over to 4E but do have the PHB1. I thought "bloodied" would translate well to "shields down". Healing surges could eb medi-gel applications. The powers system seems like a natural fit. Blast! Why must I be so lazy?
Alternity or Aeon/Trinity
The BABYLON 5 RPG from Mongoose was pretty good, and could be adapted to other settings fairly easily. It's D20-based, but they changed a lot of stuff (most notably, removing hit die increases from levelling up, meaning a Level 20 character can still be taken out by a Level 1 armed with a standard hand pistol). It still has levelling, although they came close to taking it out. It could probably be adapted to removing it altogether. The JUDGE DREDD D20 system is much more setting-specific and can't as easily be adapted, but for the occasional 'crazy' campaign it can be good fun.
I have the ALTERNITY core books and have read through them a few times. Excellent system, although I never ran a game there. The D6 STAR WARS system is very good and was my general 'go-to' SF RPG system back in the day.
