Space Opera

[Ringlerun]

Lately my group and I have been playing a lot of fantasy games. This is not a bad thing but i am looking for something different to GM.

I am looking for a more light hearted space adventure game similar in tone to star wars but not being star wars if you get my meaning. A more buck rogers pulp system but with all the campinas removed.

If anyone could suggest a good system i would be most appreciative. Thank you

 

[Summer-Knight925]

look into Children of the Ancients.

It is currently being beta tested, all free download on line, decent, gives the GM a lot of power.

Also, Traveller, as always.

If not all your players want to switch, why not a magic heavy planar opera where your 'guns' are magic and your space is the astral plane? worked great for my group

 

[Ringlerun]

look into Children of the Ancients.

Do you have a web link for Children of the Ancients. I can't seem to find it online

 

[Herobizkit]

You could also try the (possibily defunct) Serenity RPG, based on the TV series of the same name. I'm playing a character in it now, and it runs quite smoothly.

 

[GreyLord]

Personally love star frontiers.

 

[Desdichado]

The classics are Star Frontiers and Traveller. Star*Drive, the setting from the Alternity system, was a nice one.

d20 Modern + d20 Future gave you literally about a dozen campaign models for space opera, but they weren't well filled out; they were just frameworks that you'd have to have added a lot to yourself. You can also get most (actually, I think all) of the rules for free as part of the Modern SRD, although you'll have to add the fluff yourself.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Did you mean Buck Rogers XXVc or High Adventure Cliffhangers? XXVc runs really well as long as you ignore the Buck Rogers elements and is a good Transhuman space game before Transhuman Space came out from Steve Jackson games. My usual response is to use XXVc for the Solar System and then pull out some old Amazing Engine: Kromosome and Bug Hunters and then update it with Star Wars d20 but with the XXVc classes or use a system like nWoD.

For a something that isn't Space Opera I like Gurps: Cyberworld and Terradyne.

And I have used Traveler: Interstellar Wars mixed with Transhuman Space using the Earth TS instead of the Terra of Traveler. We've ran it in GURPS but there is a BESM version on line and I have a d20 version.

And there is Trinity both the original cWoD version and the d20 version. Both are pretty nifty games.

 

[karlindel]

Starblazer Adventures would probably work well for you. It uses the FATE system, and you can find a number of good reviews of it out there.

Fading Suns is one of my favorite space opera games.

Savage Worlds can also be used for space opera, see Slipstream for an option if you want a pulp inspired game.

Big Eyes Small Mouth works well for a number of genres, including space opera.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

Do you have a web link for Children of the Ancients. I can't seem to find it online

http://www.victusgames.com/COTA-beta.pdf

Me and my english teacher have talked about running this for my school's gaming club, seems possible assuming everyone had time to look over the rules.

 

[Starman]

I've heard good things about Reign of Discordia, but haven't actually had a chance to play it myself.