The great d20 sci-fi bakeoff

[0-hr]

WotC will apparently be putting out a StarWars starship minis game next year so there may at last be a fast and easy to use starship combat system out there. How well it actually works with the game (either current or the "Saga" thing) remains to be seen.

There will also likely be a Battlestar Galactica game from the folks who did the Serenity RPG. Probably a similar system but one would assume more of an emphasis on the spaceship combat.

Anyway, those are both a ways off. The suggestions made here are all solid, and maybe a year from now we'll even better options.

 

[Morgenstern]

Well, rather than try to sell you anything (I'm the lead writer on Farthest Star, so you're already aware of what I'm working towards), how about we discuss what you're after and I'll see if I can hook you up (do some of that heavy lifting you mentioned). I can just fold anything really neat from the dialogue into the work I'm already doing .

I've posted an example of a bio-engineered superior warrior and we've got some lively discussion of FTL and reactionless drives going at the moment. The humans in my setting favor slugthrowers so we're on the same wavelength there.

Do you still need to set up a cultural frame of reference for your tech/adventures?

 

[Azgulor]

The campaign will be a conversion from my GURPS campaign which was Earth-centric. I pulled setting bits from Transhuman Space, Trinity, and some other odds and ends. There was talk about the frontier and humanity's colonization efforts but all of the action was on Earth, the moon, or in Earth orbit.

This go round, I'm looking to get the players "out the door" so to speak and have them mixing it up with the occasional alien species in addition to their usual escapades.

Azgulor

 

[Morgenstern]

So the setting is mostly in the Sol system. You mentioned FTL is pretty new tech?

 

[kingpaul]

Farthest Star

Link?

 

[Morgenstern]

All the teasers and discussion are here.

http://www.crafty-games.com/dnn/Community/Forum/tabid/61/view/topics/forumid/9/Default.aspx

 

[Angel Tarragon]

My first reccomendation is Traveller D20 (also known as T20) followed by Babylon 5 2^nd Edition then Star Wars D20.

 

[DwelleroftheDeep]

I'd actually reccomend a bit of BESM D20 as well for the superhuman powers. You can find most of the useful stuff in their SRD though it does require strict control or things go crazy. For your tech level I'd also reccomend some parts of CYD20, if you can find it (Or I could e-mail it to you if you want). If you didn't know CYD20 is free but the sight that hosted it went under, it's cyber d20 with a lot of good ideas for PL 6.

 

[Johnny Angel]

My own kitbash uses the Star*Drive Campaign Setting with d20 Modern/Future rules, Blood & Space 2, Dawning Star for both rules and for prepared adventure scenarios, a d20-ized version of the old Alternity Warships rules, the Modern and Future Player's Companions. So far, it's been just swell.

But you probably don't want to have to make a major investment in money and time before you can even get your game started, so I would recommend Dawning Star Operation Quick Launch as the place to begin. There you've got your setting, your supplemental Feats and Talents list, and your gearlist, and at least three adventures ready to play -- the one in the back of the book, a free one on the web and another one available for purchase. If I weren't so hung up on Star*Drive, I would probably have gone this route. Dawning Star has the major attraction of being "ready to play" in addition to being a useful addition to your kitbash. The flavor of the game, at least as of Operation Quick Launch, is highly western-like though there are run-ins with PL WTF pre-cursor alien tech. It also has rules for running a Bush Pilot game like in Tales of the Gold Monkey, a short-lived series that was ultimately less successful than the Disney cartoon that ripped it off. I suspect Dawning Star would be a good fit for some of the Thrilling Tales pulp-style modules, though that would take some adaptation.

There is now at least one adventure out for Prometheus Rising, the setting that goes with the Blood & Space rules -- Powder Keg. That setting has something of the old Buck Rogers XXVc feel to it -- it involves a number of genetically modified races and is centered in our solar system. You take that setting, and with a little work I'll bet you can fit those old Buck Rogers modules to it.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

So here's the criteria for the sci-fi campaign qualities I'd like to be able to run:
"Rubber" sci-fi. Doesn't have to be realisitic, but ideally it would be internally consistent.
FTL is possible, but more of a new frontier rather than Star Wars style empire.
Ability to emulate aliens, cyborgs, and genetically enhanced individuals.
Slugthrowers (at least for humans) rather than ray guns.
Ability to create vehicles and spaceships.
Be able to blend PC vs. vehicle combat as well as vehicle vs. spaceship.
Decent spaceship combat - both fighter vs. fighter and capital ship scale battles (I don't consider the spaceship combat in d20 Future to meet this requirement)

"Firm Science" is the more accepted term, but I like "Rubber Science" better. I may have to yoink that for future reference.

And, uh, I'd recommend Dawning Star. Duh.