Need Recommendations for Deep, Campaign-Friendly Sci-Fi / Modern TTRPGs

[caerus]

Hi fellow nerds.

In general I have a lot of experience with DnD and similar dungeon-crawl board games, but for whatever reason I have never really gone into anything outside of the fantasy genre. Now my group is interested in doing something with guns and vehicles and I haven't had much luck finding the right game for us.


It seems like most of the new options are d6 fudging systems that don't exactly have expansive player options and progression. That's what I'm looking for and that's the main reason we have been on DnD/PF for so long. Can you recommend anything that is comparable to a level 1-15+ dnd/pf campaign, but has a modern or sci-fi setting?

Thanks

 

[Fenris-77]

Stars Without Number by Kevin Crawford is great, I'd recommend it without hesitation. It's not exactly D&D, but it's not far from it.

 

[caerus]

I thought those were system agnostic sources and lore books

 

[overgeeked]

I thought those were system agnostic sources and lore books

Most people use them as source books because they are amazing for sandboxes, but they do have a system. They use a modified B/X core system.

 

[overgeeked]

It seems like most of the new options are d6 fudging systems that don't exactly have expansive player options and progression. That's what I'm looking for and that's the main reason we have been on DnD/PF for so long. Can you recommend anything that is comparable to a level 1-15+ dnd/pf campaign, but has a modern or sci-fi setting?

I'm not sure what you mean by this bolded bit.

Mongoose Traveller has gear, player options, and vehicles out the wazoo. Starfinder is a PF science-fantasy game. It might be right up your alley, it might not. If you're looking for licensed stuff, there's Star Trek Adventures (not a fan of the system personally, but a lot of people seem to love it). There's also Star Wars. The FFG game with funky dice seems popular enough with lots of options (not a fan of proprietary symbol dice). If you're good picking up an older game, there's the perennial favorite WEG d6 Star Wars. There's also Blade Runner, Alien, and Dune. Most cyberpunk games have gear for days. CY_BORG, Cyberpunk Red, Hard Wired Island, The Sprawl, The Veil.

I haven't played all of these, so some might not be what you're looking for.

 

[babi_gog]

There is SpaceMaster 1st & 2nd ed, SpaceMaster Privateers and also Cyberspace which might meet the needs you are look for.

 

[dbm]

Traveller is the ‘big dog’ in sci-fi, and Pirates of Drinax is reckoned to be one of the best campaigns ever released, though I haven’t played them personally.

What I can recommend from personal experience is Savage Worlds for sci-fi. There is a couple of options open to you, here.

For ‘straight’ sci-fi there is the Last Parsec which is pretty ‘kitchen sink’ in that it has ships, AI, robots, aliens, psychic abilities all in there. You can place the emphasis where you like as the GM to tweak the mix to your liking. The books are for the previous edition, but the editions are highly backwards compatible. I ran Eris Beta-V with my group and did most of the conversion on-the-fly even though this was one of my first times running the latest edition.

If you want sci-fi with a twist there is Deadlands: Lost Colony. This is a sci-fi offshoot of Savage Worlds Deadlands - in this campaign backdrop in the future a worm hole has been opened to a planet across the galaxy and an outpost set up there. The campaign premise starts with the wormhole having collapsed due to an apocalyptic event back on earth, so now the colonists are stuck and have to deal with their new circumstances. This campaign backdrop mixes in both human and alien powers and includes a horror twist as with all the Deadlands games. It was written for the latest edition of the game so no conversion needed. The campaign book contains a ‘plot point campaign’ (which is how Pinnacle tend to do campaigns - ten-twelve key but lighter weight adventures loosely strung together to form a campaign) and there is a second campaign out, too.

In terms of character development there are certainly a lot of edges (a cross between feats and class abilities) that characters can take to give them cool options and differentiate them. We have also run home-brew WH40K using Savage Worlds in the past and it was a great fit for that, too.

 

[Fenris-77]

Most people use them as source books because they are amazing for sandboxes, but they do have a system. They use a modified B/X core system.

The system is excellent IMO. Just to dispel any misconceptions it might be BX based, but it does have a fully fleshed out skill system and the other expected mod-cons.

 

[dbm]

One of the best descriptions as I have heard for Stars Without Number is “BX D&D and Traveller had a baby”. It brings together the overall structure of D&D BX with Traveller’s skill system.

Sine Nomine specialise in creating books with a working system and a boat-load of system agnostic GM tools, and then add-in an example default campaign for good measure. The books are great in my experience.

 

[Committed Hero]

I'm not sure what you mean by [d6 fudging systems].

Agreed, given that there is a system called Fudge with uses custom d6s.

Gumshoe is a system that uses d6s and arguably fudges with things. It works for modern adventure but does not have levels.

 

[payn]

Traveller is the ‘big dog’ in sci-fi, and Pirates of Drinax is reckoned to be one of the best campaigns ever released, though I haven’t played them personally.

I second this, however I think Traveller will leave them disappointed in the "level 1-15" aspect. With that requirement in mind, Id point to Starfinder by Paizo.

 

[dbm]

I second this, however I think Traveller will leave them disappointed in the "level 1-15" aspect. With that requirement in mind, Id point to Starfinder by Paizo.

I suspect you are right - Traveller has notoriously ‘flat’ character development. I picked up Pirates a while back but when I run it I will be using Savage Worlds.

 

[payn]

I suspect you are right - Traveller has notoriously ‘flat’ character development. I picked up Pirates a while back but when I run it I will be using Savage Worlds.

PoD is a pretty rad sandbox. I have attempted to run it twice getting fairly into it. One group fell apart for IRL reasons, the other didn't dig the Traveller system and/or player driven sandbox campaigns.

 

[dragoner]

For 5eb adjacent there is Esper Genesis, though also I think Starfinder is hugely popular.

 

[caerus]

To clear one thing up, I meant to include a slash between d6 and fudge in my original post. Meaning, "It seems like most of the new options are d6/fudging systems that don't exactly have expansive player options and progression." So, less detailed and often not d20 systems.


Thank you for the suggestions so far. I'll look more into SWN and SWAD. They seem like they might be on the right track. I'll have to learn more about the combat since the group prefers the detail and options of something at least as complex as dnd. We have ruled out some general systems for hand waving away a lot of combat detail.

 

[dbm]

To clear one thing up, I meant to include a slash between d6 and fudge in my original post. Meaning, "It seems like most of the new options are d6/fudging systems that don't exactly have expansive player options and progression." So, less detailed and often not d20 systems.


Thank you for the suggestions so far. I'll look more into SWN and SWAD. They seem like they might be on the right track. I'll have to learn more about the combat since the group prefers the detail and options of something at least as complex as dnd. We have ruled out some general systems for hand waving away a lot of combat detail.

Savage Worlds has detailed combat options. It grew out of a war game (Great Rail Wars) set in the Deadlands world. Miniatures use is assumed, but not mandatory. Movement is expressed in table inches, and things like ganging up, surprise, called shots, wild attacks, all have mechanical weight in the system.

For me, it has enough detail without bogging down like some other systems can.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Hi fellow nerds.

In general I have a lot of experience with DnD and similar dungeon-crawl board games, but for whatever reason I have never really gone into anything outside of the fantasy genre. Now my group is interested in doing something with guns and vehicles and I haven't had much luck finding the right game for us.


It seems like most of the new options are d6 fudging systems that don't exactly have expansive player options and progression. That's what I'm looking for and that's the main reason we have been on DnD/PF for so long. Can you recommend anything that is comparable to a level 1-15+ dnd/pf campaign, but has a modern or sci-fi setting?

Thanks

Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed. Obviously geared to CoC in tone, but the system is a solid d100 system with support for everything from Victorian to near-future. Wonderful weapons support.

 

[John Dallman]

GURPS has huge amounts of source material for modern and SF games, and a character development system that lets you build almost anything as a character. However, it is not a "game in a can" but a toolkit for constructing your own game. If you want a pre-built setting, it's not the answer, but if you want to define your own, it's great.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I'm a heavy Savage Worlds fanboy and will of course recommend it for everything.

But as to modern settings, I must shout out to Everyday Heroes, a 5e based system aiming to be an updated version of the old 3.5e d20 Modern game. It's a very nice system with lots of nifty tweaks to classes etc for modern play.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I'm a heavy Savage Worlds fanboy and will of course recommend it for everything.

But as to modern settings, I must shout out to Everyday Heroes, a 5e based system aiming to be an updated version of the old 3.5e d20 Modern game. It's a very nice system with lots of nifty tweaks to classes etc for modern play.

Do not listen to this shout. EH is awful.

Never forget that Hobbits cannot ever be trusted. Do not let the bitter lessons of the LotR be lost.