Looking for a good, classic scifi system, aliens, strange worlds, etc. Somewhere between GURPS and Starftontiers for level of crunch. Any advice?
Looking for a good, classic scifi system, aliens, strange worlds, etc. Somewhere between GURPS and Starftontiers for level of crunch. Any advice?
Have you looked at Starfinder?
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I have seen it, looking for something more pure scifi, not interested in the fantasy cross over feel for this.
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I'd suggest either the Mongoose Publishing edition of Traveller or Stars Without Number from Sin Nomine. Traveller is the classic sci fi rpg originally created by Game Designers Workshop that has gone through multiple editions / publishers. Stars Without Number is an OSR sci fi rpg with plenty of support. Both can be found on Drivethrough RPG (and on Paizo's store) as well as in dead tree form. More crunch in Trvaeller less in SWN but both fall, imho, into the range you mentioned. SWN has great support for sandbox style play.
I'll third for Traveller. Also, the Third Imperium is an excellent setting and sandbox friendly.
Eclipse Phase is a good sci-fi game, although you can not play as aliens although you can play as a human is a weird body. If you like solving mysteries, there is a good one for the Gumshoe system, but I can not remember the name right now. Savage Worlds and Cypher system can be used for such games easily, although they may be lighter then you want.
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Alternity was an excellent setting with working mechanics. There is a company doing a new version.
Alternity was an excellent setting with working mechanics. There is a company doing a new version.
Really? How'd they get the license to the IP?
*goes off to find out*
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I won't pretend to fully understand it. Wizards kept most the IP, but the name and something similar in mechanics were allowed. They have their beta rules out, it's functional and suppose to allow for more narrative based story telling and action sequences... so I would imagine a bit more like AD&D in that regard. Of course that's always GM dependent too.
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I won't pretend to fully understand it. Wizards kept most the IP, but the name and something similar in mechanics were allowed. They have their beta rules out, it's functional and suppose to allow for more narrative based story telling and action sequences... so I would imagine a bit more like AD&D in that regard. Of course that's always GM dependent too.
In between playing Destiny 2, and securing my house against the demon smoke that is consuming the Pacific Northwest, I checked them out tonight.
I'm... cautiously optimistic?
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Yeah, it is really going to come down to setting material and such support...
I did jump in on the jumpstarter for this one. I am really looking forward to seeing what I get from it.
For scifi, I'm partial to GURPS.
Starfinder looks promising for an OGL-based take; WotC's d20 Modern and d20 Future games were another interesting take.
Savage Worlds works great for scifi, as does Fate.
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... Gumshoe system, but I can not remember the name right now. ...
Ashen Stars.
Mekton Zeta?
Zeta would allow for as much or as little crunch as the GM wanted, that's for certain.
But if you really want to go old-school, there's always Metamorphosis Alpha.