Good 'Space' D20 system?

[NeuroZombie]

Dragonstar rocks. However, it's really thin on rules for constructing your own starships.

Use the spaceship design rules at the link below for DS

http://www.angelfire.com/games/Alterniverse/dragonstar/Neo_s_Custom_Ship_Construction_Rules.pdf

This is a direct link to a pdf, so it may be a long download if you are not on dsl/cabal. It is 71 pages of DS starship goodness

 

[Kesh]

Use the spaceship design rules at the link below for DS

http://www.angelfire.com/games/Alterniverse/dragonstar/Neo_s_Custom_Ship_Construction_Rules.pdf

This is a direct link to a pdf, so it may be a long download if you are not on dsl/cabal. It is 71 pages of DS starship goodness

Oooh, thanks.

 

[NeuroZombie]

anytime! They're great rules that work well with Dragonstar's starship system

 

[mmu1]

Do you mean a system that features space travel permanently, or are you asking about a sci-fi setting?

If the latter, then Star Wars is quite good (the revised edition) - the vitality/wounds/DR/class based Defense bonus system is implemented well, and firearms are actually deadly (kind of a rarity in a d20 setting). The space combat system was horrible in the 1st edition, but is quite good in the revised one.

Other sci-fi settings like Fading Suns and Dragonstar just use the same exact rules for hit points, AC and weapons as 3E - which, in a high-tech setting, just doesn't work all that well, IMO. The core rules in both have next to no information on spaceships, if I remember correctly.

In general, aside from Star Wars (which is really just fantasy masquerading as sci-fi, and has that nice, cinematic distinction between expendable NPCs and Heroes with their Vitality points), I think d20 doesn't work well at all for sci-fi. (or for "hard" sci-fi) I can't stand a system in which you're just immune from getting your head blown off with a sniper laser rifle from a mile away because you just have enough hit point to survive...

If you're looking for a "serious" space-based game, try GURPS Transhuman Space. Even if the world isn't exactly your thing, the sourcebooks have enough detail to do most "realistic" space settings...

 

[Kesh]

The problems with firearms and Dragonstar can be easily rectified by using d20 Modern's massive damage rules, and scaling the DS guns to match the damage codes in d20M. Takes a little work, but it's not that bad.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Dragonstar is quite a fun system for D20 space adventures. The armor and damage systems make AC and damages (especially blaster weapons) a bit unpleasant at first level however, as long as you start characters at second or third level, it seems to work alright.

 

[rpgHQ]

that pdf link is for a ship building system by a guy whose online nick is Neo.

his website is over at http://www.neo-innovation.com

and has all sorts of d20 goodness there. Lots of race/monster conversions to d20 format that work very well for sci-fi and sci-fantasy settings. Lots of Dragonstar/Starwars extras and other material for sci-fi d20 use.

Blood & Space also does not require the d20 modern rules to use it will work fine with 3E rules. At this point I prefer Blood & Space over Neo's system but Neo's is free and gets the job done with flying colors galore. I dont have Traveller d20 so I dont know what type of ship building system it uses.

Also I agree that the AC/HP system of 3E just doesnt fit well for any form of sci-fi. A DR/Hardness/HP system like in d20 modern or starwars would be better.

How does B5 by mongoose handle armor and hp?

 

[Psion]

What do any of you think of any of the available or upcoming D20 game systems involving space travel?

I know there is Traveller d20, of which I know nothing of; and Star Wars which has a rich history, and some innovating rule add ons, but, from what I have heard, it has poor ship to ship combat rules and whatnot.

Traveller d20 is probably the most compelling entry in the space SF department. It is a very thick book that covers starship design, world design, space combat, futuristic ground combat, and aspects of adventure design in great detail. The classes are very much like d20 modern in that they are very flexible and class abilities depend on feat selections vice static class abilities. Space combat is realistic and includes some optional complex rules for handling space combat.

Star Wars is okay... if you want star wars. The class selection is sort of defined by the movies, which IMO makes it less than generic. As for the space combat... some didn't like the first printing's space combat but some preferred it. The first printing's space combat is more abstract but character centered, while the second is more tactical map sort of stuff.

Dragonstar is good for what it does, but it is really "D&D in space", quite literally. The classes are tweaked around for a futuristic fantasy setting, and a few new classes (pilot and mechanic). Another implication of this is that it uses the D&D combat system. Though it does have some modifications, you are still talking armod is on the to-hit roll not damage roll, and characters are uniformly more difficult to take down as they gain level.

Blood and Space I am not all that impressed with. The spaceship construction is good and makes a good effort to support hard SF and space opera, but I really am not impressed with the classes. The book claims that the classes will work with d20 modern, be really, the classes are too weak for the d20 modern baseline and aren't written with the d20 modern approach (advances classes, ability at every level, action points.) The classes are also not very flexible in comparison to Traveller or d20 modern. Finally, the classes are too narrow/redundant. The classes resemble skills more than classes, and why is there both a "starhip pilot" and a "hotshot" class?