Sci Fi RPG: System help?

[Penthau]

What I don't get: I just shelled out for Shadowrun, and I thought it was a major system in terms of player numbers. Currently: no one's saying Shadowrun. Was I that wrong?

Shadowrun is tightly bound to its setting, including magic. Your post sounded to me like you were looking for a more generic rule set.

 

[Morrus]

Nothing is more likely to kill you than being killed with a sword, but lots of things are more likely to kill you than being hit with a sword. A sword in the hands of an average human does about 1d6 slashing. An assault rifle in the hands of an average human does about 5d6 to 7d6 piercing and can autofire and fire three round bursts. One of these is obviously more capable of killing someone than the other.

Isn't that rather begging the question, though? The rifle has higher stats because... it has higher stats. The question is why does it have higher stats?

A bullet and a sword are both likely to seriously injure or kill you. I mean, if someone were to say to me "would you rather I shot you in the head or hit you with a longsword in the head?" I'd have a hard time choosing. I can't imagine I'm walking away from either. Both do the same damage, in effect: they kill me. If I'm incredibly lucky, maybe I get away with mere serious injury with a one-in-a-million chance.

What an automatic weapon might do better than a sword is (a) allow you to do so at range; and (b) allow you to do so a lot to a lot of targets. So it would have usage advantages up the wazoo, but not actual higher damage dice.

Then again, I guess the same argument can be made for various sword types, so I'm kinda talking myself out of my own point here. I guess the answer to my question is that real humans only have about 5 hit points, so any weapon has a good chance of finishing them off in one go. The extra damage is just for cinematic effect.

 

[Penthau]

Isn't that rather begging the question, though? The rifle has higher stats because... it has higher stats. The question is why does it have higher stats?

A bullet and a sword are both likely to seriously injure or kill you. I mean, if someone were to say to me "would you rather I shot you in the head or hit you with a longsword in the head?" I'd have a hard time choosing. I can't imagine I'm walking away from either. Both do the same damage, in effect: they kill me. If I'm incredibly lucky, maybe I get away with mere serious injury with a one-in-a-million chance.

The real question for this thread is "Would you rather be hit with a sword or shot with an assault rifle in GURPS?" You can devise any number of scenarios where a sword is more deadly than a rifle, but we aren't talking about real life, we are talking about game systems. If someone asked my character that question in GURPS, the answer is clear. I have a much higher chance of survival if I choose the sword over the rifle, in the mechanics of that game system.

On the other hand, GURPS has been worked on by some of the most detail focused and serious designers on the planet since the early 80s. They have studied kinetic energy and survival rates of hundreds of different weapons. If they say that a sword does 1d6 and an AK47 does 6d6, I believe them.

 

[Morrus]

The real question for this thread is "Would you rather be hit with a sword or shot with an assault rifle in GURPS?" You can devise any number of scenarios where a sword is more deadly than a rifle, but we aren't talking about real life, we are talking about game systems. If someone asked my character that question in GURPS, the answer is clear. I have a much higher chance of survival if I choose the sword over the rifle, in the mechanics of that game system.

GURPS isn't the topic of the thread. The real question is "would you rather be hit with a sword or shot with an assault rifle in DREAD?" The answer to that is that that is doesn't matter, because it all depends on how steady your hand is when pulling out that Jenga block, and if you fail you die whatever weapon it is.

I mean, we can all pick systems which do it different ways. I don't see any value in picking one and citing it as an authority of any kind.

 

[dm4hire]

I will also cast a vote for Alternity. I rebuilt almost my entire collection for only $45 buying from eBay.

 

[Will Doyle]

Isn't that rather begging the question, though? The rifle has higher stats because... it has higher stats. The question is why does it have higher stats?

I guess it depends on how armour factors into your game. We all know that a rifle round hits with far greater force than a sword thrust. Against flesh that may well be much of a muchness, but if I'm wearing a Kevlar helmet, there should be a greater chance of that rifle round penetrating my armour than a blow from a sword.

If armour is expressed as damage soak, you'll need higher dice.

 

[Morrus]

I guess it depends on how armour factors into your game. We all know that a rifle round hits with far greater force than a sword thrust. Against flesh that may well be much of a muchness, but if I'm wearing a Kevlar helmet, there should be a greater chance of that rifle round penetrating my armour than a blow from a sword.

If armour is expressed as damage soak, you'll need higher dice.

Yeah, that's what I said at the end of the post you quoted.

 

[Bluenose]

d20 Modern: Have them all. No one seems to run them on this site, though, and I've gotten zero serious responses when trying to run them on other sites.

Shadowrun? I got 5e, it's okay on paper, though I can see multiple attacks per round for one player being a pain for all the others.

FATE and NEW (thanks Morrus): I've heard about them. I think I'm still underbudget on my PDFs for this quarter (sounds fancier than it is), maybe pick them up?

I'm really a cinematic GM, I have to be, as my group is almost always newbs. If not to gaming than to the system.

Heroquest. It'll handle the things you're looking for, though in a manner that might be more abstract than you'd like.

Eclipse Phase, which can be had for free.

Fate Core and Fate Accelerated. Both pay what you want, and easily adaptable to a setting.

I guess it depends on how armour factors into your game. We all know that a rifle round hits with far greater force than a sword thrust. Against flesh that may well be much of a muchness, but if I'm wearing a Kevlar helmet, there should be a greater chance of that rifle round penetrating my armour than a blow from a sword.

If armour is expressed as damage soak, you'll need higher dice.

Kevlar isn't that great against blades, according to some studies, though there are ways to improve it's protection.

 

[Will Doyle]

Yeah, that's what I said at the end of the post you quoted.

You did?

I see you bringing up extra damage for cinematic effect, and usage advantages like spread of fire and range. I'm talking about pure damage versus armour here - i.e. a high-calibre rifle round is going to deal a heck of a lot more damage than a poke from a sword.

 

[Morrus]

You did?

I see you bringing up extra damage for cinematic effect, and usage advantages like spread of fire and range. I'm talking about pure damage versus armour here - i.e. a high-calibre rifle round is going to deal a heck of a lot more damage than a poke from a sword.

Yes, I agree with you.