The Expanse RPG by Green Ronan

[practicalm]

I ran a short lived game at work in the Expanse Universe using GURPS.
I like the universe and so did 2 others but we just couldn't keep finding the time.

Unique things about the Expanse.
Hard science setting except for reactionless thrusters. (The Drive may use small amounts of fuel but no where the amount that a true reaction drive would use.
Ancient tech that eventually (7th book) starts turning the tech into less Hard Science.
The enemy that killed the all the ancients is still out there.
Interesting social dynamic that happens after the current TV season for the 3 main groups.
The solar system history is interesting and allows for different culture groups to come together for profit and adventure.

Basically our game was a hunt for ancient tech with the chance of terrible things happening. With the social dynamic of the balance of power of the three groups in the background.
Tried for more of a Firefly approach which I think also would work well.

I just don't like levels for science fiction games so I might buy books dealing with the ancients I think GURPS works fine.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Oh dear, now the Ronin has mutated into a Roman
I need to know more about the setting to tell if it's a bad fit - that's why I asked. Some important factors are the default tech level, the importance of space travel and the number and nature of alien species.

But it's definitely interesting that its roots are an RPG campaign. In that case it would probably make sense to use an RPG system that is close to the one used in the original campaign. If it's true that it was a d20 Future campaign, then Green Ronin's True20 system should be a fairly good match.

Default tech level is no FTL, a ship can travel to the outer planets in a few months, gravity is all thrust or spin based, and the only alien in the first 3 books are all derivatives of an ancient alien device sent to the solar system a few billion years ago and recently released called the proto-molecule.

As to the importance of space travel, if you play the game like the books are written then you will spend at least 75% of the time on a ship or a space station. Ships are definitely not just a method of travel so you need rules that are much more flushed out than as an example 5E rules are for mounted combat.

 

[dragoner]

I'm interested, it will be interesting to see how they will do spacecraft, though mostly I am only interested in the setting material, as for characters, I will probably just use M-Space, another BRP derivative, or maybe Traveller.