Looking for a great sci-fi RPG

[bording]

Another option I didn't see mentioned yet would be the newly released Thousand Suns by James Maliszewski of Grognardia.

Thousand Suns: Rulebook - Grognardia Games | DriveThruRPG.com

I picked it up when it came out a few weeks back, and I've slowly been reading through it. So far it seems like a great system for space sci-fi.

 

[timtao]

Another option I didn't see mentioned yet would be the newly released Thousand Suns by James Maliszewski of Grognardia.

Hmm... this looks interesting. I might have to add it to my growing reading list.

 

[timtao]

Just to narrow things down a bit more, when you say "Space Opera", exactly what do you mean? Are we talking Star Wars, Babylon 5 and Golden Age SF, or do you mean newer space opera like Charles Stross and Alastair Reynolds? How do you feel about post-humanism and that sort of thing?

If it's the latter, then something like Sufficiently Advanced - 1KM1KT fits the bill very nicely. It does post-humanist space opera very, very well.

Additionally, Three Sixteen - BoxNinja | DriveThruRPG.com 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars is a very nice rules light approach to a more Starship Troopers kind of SF.

I guess it's hard to describe. "Space Opera" is sort of generic, and yeah, it means different things depending on who you're talking to. I want the high-flying adventure of Star Wars, but *not* the Star Wars setting. No Force, No Jedi, No Empire, No Ewoks. The original Traveller setting is pretty close, but the rules are a little light for my very 3.5 d20 focused group. So yeah, this would be the former: Star Wars, Babylon 5, golden age.

I've got my home-brew setting more or less defined (in notes only at this point), but I'm looking for a good rules set to support it. I want to create a D&D "feel" to the sci fi adventure, and by that I mean lots of encounters strung together to create an adventure. I even have a "dungeon crawl" of sorts planned in a derelict starship. It can't be an open the door, kill the beastie, take the treasure kind of adventure, because that just seems silly in a sci-fi setting (Munchkin Space notwithstanding). So, it occurred to me that skills and technology have to take a front seat over magic and attack-em-til-they-fall-over melee.

 

[timtao]

I'll second the recommendation to go look at starfrontiersman - especially since they also have a "Gamma Dawn" rules supplement so you can add mutants a la Gamma World to your standard Star Frontiers game.

Now *that* got my attention! First off, I was a big fan of the original Gamma World (the silliness of it aside). Secondly, I've got a story hook involving strange radiation mutating the local flora and fauna. I have a feeling this will come in handy!

 

[Hussar]

Timtao - from what you're saying, I'd go with Savage Worlds. There's bound to be a version, for free for exactly what you're looking for. But, yeah, pulpy action, lots of it? Savage Worlds all the way.

 

[Piratecat]

If you have any interest in investigation, I can't say enough good things about Ashen Stars from Pelgrane. Even if you ignore the actual rules, the setting from Robin Laws is full of ideas you can steal.

Pelgrane Press Ltd Blog Archive Ashen Stars The pdf is half the price of the book. Either is (IMO) worth the cost.

I like to describe the setting as "Firefly, if Jayne was a 7' tall 4-armed alien locust." The PCs are freelance law enforcement out on the fringe of space. The former galactic combine is in ruins after a brutal alien war, and the PCs are left to help fend for the planets out on the galaxy's fringe.

I've been running a convention game using this setting since GenCon, and I'm more than a little bit in love with it. There's 7 playable races; cybernetics and genetically engineered designer viruses that temporarily grant psychic effects; a system for spaceship combat that includes everyone in the crew, not just the pilot; and extensive character customization. Ashen Stars uses a tweaked version of GUMSHOE as its engine, designed to make the PCs exceptionally capable investigators. Recommended.

 

[JediSoth]

A lot of good games have already been mention, but one I would recommend is Bulldogs!. It's a FATE-based system that seems tailor made for a scum & villainy/Firefly-type Space Opera game. The feel of the game reminds me of the Brian Daley Han Solo novels. Plus, it has sexist, womanizing, ill-tempered teddy bears as a PC race.

 

[prosfilaes]

If you have any interest in investigation, I can't say enough good things about Ashen Stars from Pelgrane. Even if you ignore the actual rules, the setting from Robin Laws is full of ideas you can steal.

Pelgrane Press Ltd Blog Archive Ashen Stars The pdf is half the price of the book. Either is (IMO) worth the cost.

The PDF is for sale for $12 at DriveThruRPG for the next couple days. It's quite tempting.

 

[Piratecat]

Only $12? Holy cow. Get it.

 

[kadunkadunk]

Take a look at Terra/Sol Games. Terra/Sol Games