Recommended a hard-science space RPG

[Grendel_Khan]

I like their attention to detail, but not their system.

I hear you. But you might be painting yourself into a corner with this notion of realism.

If I were you I'd use Mongoose Traveller and set it in your setting of choice. Could absolutely do Terradyne, for example, or The Expanse, with minimal tweaks.

 

[Mezuka]

There was the Firefly rpg. It used the Cortex Plus system. You could find a used copy or the pdf if you know where to look.

Firefly Role-Playing Game - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kobold Stew]

Diaspora is a FATE game that leans hard sf, aiming to recreate the feel of old-school Traveller in a small, tight universe (like Firefly). (disclaimer: I'm one of the authors). It does expect a session-zero in which the whole table (players and ref) "build the galaxy" (4-8 systems), but the work is shared equally and it helps generate player buy-in.

 

[Jd Smith1]

There was the Firefly rpg. It used the Cortex Plus system. You could find a used copy or the pdf if you know where to look.

Firefly Role-Playing Game - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have a hard copy signed by the cast.

I might use it if I can find a pdf.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Diaspora is a FATE game that leans hard sf, aiming to recreate the feel of old-school Traveller in a small, tight universe (like Firefly). (disclaimer: I'm one of the authors). It does expect a session-zero in which the whole table (players and ref) "build the galaxy" (4-8 systems), but the work is shared equally and it helps generate player buy-in.

Thanks, but as I noted in the OP, I specifically don't want a 'build a galaxy' system.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I hear you. But you might be painting yourself into a corner with this notion of realism.

If I were you I'd use Mongoose Traveller and set it in your setting of choice. Could absolutely do Terradyne, for example, or The Expanse, with minimal tweaks.

I might, you are right.

But I'm not the sort to settle. If I can't find the right setting, I'll do something else.

I've played Traveller, but I found it colorless, and too 'big picture', lacking in PC-level focus.

 

[Mezuka]

Infinity the RPG 2d20 by Modiphius has a fully developed setting based on the wargame.

INFINITY

Massive selection of roleplaying games, wargames, board games, card games, co-op games, miniatures, novels, dice and accessories for Fallout, Star Trek Adventures, Elder Scrolls, Alien, Conan, Achtung! Cthulhu, Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop, Symbaroum, Agatha Christie and many more. Shop Now!

www.modiphius.net

 

[payn]

Mongoose Traveller.

 

[Mezuka]

Have fun!

Category:Science fiction role-playing games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[aramis erak]

I feel the need for the sci-fi campaign next, but I don't want a 'build your own galaxy' ruleset.

I would like a defined setting, and rules that lead a lot closer to reality than fantasy. Definitely no magic.

Looking for a Firefly (TV series) feel.

Coriolis, Alien RPG, GURPS, and Mothership RPG are out, already looked at them.

Knowing you restrict yourself to PDF only...

Traveller is the closest feel (as in, what you're looking for is probably better described as a Traveller feel), and the hardest-science version of Traveller is Traveller: The New Era... it's still got fusion rockets and gravitics, and there are psionics rules, but said psionics rules are easily ignored, and only a minor part of the official setting. On the other hand, the ability of the deo-chips to transmit a virus that rewrites the chips of the receiving computer/comm-gear... pretty much requires a (non-present) psionics component to be sensible.

Which said, setting wise, there's a HUGE raft of it for Traveller... but most of it isn't regressed to TNE levels... it's the post-holocaust version of Traveller.

Albedo (the Chessex/Thoughts & Images editions) are fairly hard SF; the Albedo Ship Sourcebook is the hardest SF ships supplement I've seen. And yet, it does so with minimal crunch. There's over 500 pages of the comic book online at the author's website: Albedo . There is excellent setting in the Chessex/T&I version (Chessex is the 2nd ed, T&I the first). But it's an anthro setting (with a science based reason - humans existed in the setting). The system mechanics are not as smooth as I'd like, but it's quite playable, and is set between wars between the EDF and the Independent Lapine Republic.

Note also: GURPS is about the hardest mainstream SF you're going to find that isn't attaining hard-sf by being rules light... and thus leaving setting restriction to the GM saying "No." No version of Traveller is as hard SF as GURPS Terradyne or Transhuman Space.