Best d20 for a sci-fi game?

[experimentalrobotk1]

I'm looking to start a science fiction campaign - all brand new stuff, not stuck in a licensed universe - and wondered which is the best d20 system to go for? (I want to use d20, as I like the rules lots, and they're what my players are used to.)

A friend has the Star Wars d20, but I'm not overly hot on that - particularly since it's designed around an established universe. Traveller seems interesting, and is heading in the right direction for me (that little bit more depth and realism), but that also seems to come with a lot of 'baggage' about the world it's set in.

I need a clean, but detailed and fun, system. Anyone have any ideas?

cheers,
David

 

[VorpalBunny]

Traveller seems interesting, and is heading in the right direction for me (that little bit more depth and realism), but that also seems to come with a lot of 'baggage' about the world it's set in.

Not necessarily. I've found the T20 rules to be very setting-lite. They explain how to read UWP's (universal world profiles) and give a few examples of worlds in the Imperium, but that's about it. I'd give it a try - it shouldn't be too hard to adapt the rules to your setting.

 

[Takei]

You want a d20 SF game without background baggage? I would recommend T20 without hesitation. Go over to www.travellerrpg.com and download the freebies to get a feel for it (T20 Lite and the Linkworlds Cluster).

 

[Vigilance]

Blood and Space is a toolkit, with classes rules, and starship design rules usable in any d20 game, with no setting specific material.

Chuck

 

[C. Baize]

Blood and Space... without a doubt.
No setting.
Actual viable space combat rules. Starship construction...
Crew rules...
Small unit combat rules...
All the classes needed to run a starship, large or small...
Well written...
If you want a set of rules for Sci-Fi, whether it's Hard Sci-Fi or Space Opera, without the baggage of a setting.... I would seriously check this out...

 

[Psion]

I'll third T20.

The book has a few setting assumptions, but is really setting light. And it has rules for just about everything you would want to do in an SF game. It's a bit more on the gritty end of things, with somewhat realistic rules for things like planetary systems and normal space travel times, and is has a bit grittier combat.

Traveller got used a lot in the old days as a semi-generic SF rules-set; T20 fills a similar niche.

The only setting "baggage" if you were to call it that, would be the sample races and some assumptions about the nature of space travel. You could alter these rules relatively easily.

The classes are the best defined/most generic of any SF d20 game. d20 SW really follows the mold of the SW movies. Blood and Space is all starship crew occupations and class abilities are relatively inflexible. ALL Traveller classes are designed by their feats and skillsets, so they are really much more flexible, much like d20 modern.

Blood and Space might make a nice supplement for T20 for some of the feats and if you want to alter the traveller drive assumptions, and has some interesting thoughts on making your setting harder or more space opera. But honestly, it isn't nearly as complete a toolkit. (How could it be? Look at the size of T20! And again, that's very little setting!)

 

[experimentalrobotk1]

Looks like it's going to be T20, then!

The Blood and Space thing... Well, I'd not even heard of it before today. But Psion's description of it being "all starship crew occupations" made me shudder a bit - sounds a little too much like Star Trek for my tastes. (BTW, Psion, I've not been around the site long, but I love your reviews!)

Also, the idea of it concentrating on the crew at all is a little bit anathema to what I want - I may only have a couple of players to go with (this is an offshoot, with the keener members of my d20 Modern gaming group), so I'm looking for a setting and rules set where a very small crew can bumble along and run their own ship.

But realistic and gritty is what I suppose I'm heading for, and that seems to be the message about T20. Thanks for that, people! And thanks to Takei for the link! (And I've just noticed you live in Sweden, Takei. You lucky, lucky thing. I was there for only a week in January - officially my Favourite Country Ever!)

cheers,
David

 

[Vigilance]

Well- I would never deign to disagree with Psion

However, I think Blood and Space is a good game, as is Traveller.

The *Goal* of the game is to assist people in making a homebrew, or supplement a game you already have, and the game is not all starship occupations.

My suggestion would be that you read GameWyrd's reviews of the game posted on this site, along with all other reviews of the game on this site.

Chuck

 

[Psion]

Well- I would never deign to disagree with Psion

Now, now. I am just as free to share my opinion as you are.

The *Goal* of the game is to assist people in making a homebrew, or supplement a game you already have,

The latter is the role I suggested it in, so I guess you have hit your mark!

and the game is not all starship occupations.

Judge for yourself. The classes are:
Doctor
Engineer
Hauler
Hotshot
Marine
Mercenary
Scientist
Starship Officer
Starship Pilot

My suggestion would be that you read GameWyrd's reviews of the game posted on this site, along with all other reviews of the game on this site.

Sure, please do.

 

[EarthsShadow]

If we are going to have a vote, go with Blood and Space, not T20. The T20 book is a pretty nice book, but character creation is very confusing and they add in some rather unusual health rules that can cause some confusion at first.

You could also use Star Wars for the classes but not the setting. One thing I want to do with Star Wars is just set the entire thing on a single, huge planet of my own design and just say forget it to the rest of the universe and create my own factions about it.