Looking for a great sci-fi RPG

[jedavis]

Not sure if the 'T20' mentioned upthread was True20 or Traveller d20, but either might meet your needs. I prefer Mongoose Trav for this type of thing, but True20 and Trav20 seem more likely to work for your prep style (Mong was perfect for mine; "Eh, I need six stats, a handful of skills, and some equipment for each enemy. I can wing that during the session, if I have to.").

Also re: dungeon crawling, I actually did run several dungeon crawls in my Mongoose game last spring. They were very different from D&D dungeon crawls, in that the level of detail was much reduced; "OK, you head down the main arterial hallway of the derelict, checking rooms as you go. *rolls on random encounter table* As you proceed, the hallways start to get... odd, in an indescribable way. You're pretty sure you've been at this intersection before, even though you've been going in a straight line. Anybody have relevant skills? (the party physicist pulls out higher-dimensional mathematics and they navigate out of the warped space) OK, great. It takes you half an hour, but you managed to work your way out of the warped areas. On the other side of the twisted manifolds, you find an empty room containing some ancient computing equipment. It looks like it would work, if you could get the power back on..." It was a ton of fun, and I honestly wish dungeon crawls in D&D were run the same way. My players tended to agree; things remained plot-focused, rather than getting bogged down in minutia of door placement. Gotta keep track of the air supply, though; the hour basically became the unit of Dungeon Exploration Time, with 6 hours to a tank.

 

[DM Howard]

Traveller of the Mongoose variety is easily my choice.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Traveller.
Traveller.
Traveller.
Star Wa....na...Traveller.

 

[qstor]

What I'm hoping for is... the character creation (and advancement) of 3.0/3.5E, the economics and gritty realism of Traveller, the diversity of Star Wars (without the Force, Jedi or cutesy characters) and something where skills really really matter - to the extent that you can create compelling encounters without combat.

I like the Star Wars d20 system and really love Traveller too as other's have mentioned. I have copies of most of the rules and supplements for all editions of Traveller. I think one of the hard things about the d20 system is that the combat realism of Traveller won't be found unless you use optional systems that allow for "one shot" kills and more detailed hit location systems. On the plus side for d20 there's tons of books out there that allow you to easily convert the material for you own use. I was thinking of monster books.

GURPS maybe? But the system is a bit complex.

Mike

 

[dm4hire]

Since most of my choices have been mentioned I'll toss out e20 Evolved which is due out soon, but if you join the kickstart you'll get the 120+ page beta. It's an update of Saga with out SW by one of the writers for it.

 

[masshysteria]

I am very curious about WotC's Star Wars, especially the edition that came out shortly after 3.0 D20.

What you'd want to find it Star Wars D20 Revised Core Rules a.k.a. RCR. It came out around the same time as 3.5 and, while I wouldn't suggest it for playing Star Wars, stripping out the Jedi and the Force (which were poorly implemented) you could have a pretty good approximation of Sci-Fi D&D. You get classes, feats, and all the trappings of the d20 system. The problem is that space combat doesn't work all that great (this was an area that Saga greatly improved.)

What I'm hoping for is... the character creation (and advancement) of 3.0/3.5E, the economics and gritty realism of Traveller, the diversity of Star Wars (without the Force, Jedi or cutesy characters) and something where skills really really matter - to the extent that you can create compelling encounters without combat.

Outside of the previously mentioned RCR, there's d20 Modern and d20 Future. This will give you all the d20 goodness of 3.X, but I'd hardly call the game gritty. (SW RCR used a system of wounds and vitality that probably made it more gritty than d20 Modern). The good news is that d20 Modern and Future are available via the SRD so you can check them out for free. d20 ModernSystem Reference Document

Knowing you want skills to be important and a gritty system, I'd recommend checking out Alternity. It is a roll-under skill based system with built in margins of success. Characters have three wound levels on their durability track, so it is always possible to take a mortal hit and really suffer. Experienced characters can always stack things in their favor to avoid getting ganked by some mook, but the possibility is always there. Alternity was created as the sci-fi answer to D&D so it is fairly generic with a handful of species to play as and psionics as a special power. It also had two superb settings in Star Drive and Dark Matter.

Edit: You can get a feel for Alternity by downloading the fast play rules at alternityrpg.net.

 

[crazy_cat]

Since most of my choices have been mentioned I'll toss out e20 Evolved which is due out soon, but if you join the kickstart you'll get the 120+ page beta. It's an update of Saga with out SW by one of the writers for it.

I'd be very wary of e20 - it has slipped and slipped and slipped on any sort of release schedule.

They might be nice rules if/when they see the light of day as a polished and/or finished product but I wouldn't hold your breath for this day.

Vapourware is the best/most charitable description of e20 at present.

 

[Shades of Green]

Another vote for Stars Without Number. It takes the best from old-school D&D and Classic Traveller and combines it into a very pleasing and innovative package.