Space Adventure RPGs

[Grendel_Khan]

I could be wrong, but I don't think the OP was soliciting SF RPG recommendations. Seems like the point of the thread was to discuss the fact that SF RPGs are nowhere near as popular as fantasy games.

Maybe the reasons for that are so cut-and-dry that it doesn't merit a full discussion, but I didn't get they sense that they'd never heard of or can't find any.

 

[payn]

There is just a ton more of published stuff out there for fantasy/D&D games. Stuff I didnt have interest in like Star Wars ate up all the module space (seemingly). I love Traveller and it was very difficult 10+ years ago to find gamers. The internets has made that a lot easier. I have also had the chance to introduce a lot of players to Traveller in the last 10 years and enjoy it. Now if somebody would just run a game I could play in for once...

 

[Blue]

ENworld also seems to have a strong D&D focus, perhaps with PF and ENworld Publishing as secondary. I honestly am unaware if Space adventure RPGs are more spoken of elsewhere and this is just a bias of these boards, or if it's more universal.

 

[gamerprinter]

ENworld also seems to have a strong D&D focus, perhaps with PF and ENworld Publishing as secondary. I honestly am unaware if Space adventure RPGs are more spoken of elsewhere and this is just a bias of these boards, or if it's more universal.

It's probably universal. I know on the FB communities, the Stars Without Numbers, Alien RPG, and other non D&D/Paizo game community memberships are more limited in number, compared to D&D or Starfinder communities.

 

[practicalm]

I really don't like level based RPGs for modern or science fiction. I prefer Traveller, GURPS, HERO, or just about anything else that doesn't have levels.

 

[MGibster]

In all that time since then, the vast majority of my gaming has been in some kind of fantasy campaign.

I've been gaming since the 80s, and the vast majority of it has been some kind of fantasy. And let's not kid anyone, the vast majority of my fantasy gaming has been D&D. In the 80s and early 90s, my group played a variety of games including TSR's Marvel Superheros, various Palladium games including Robotech, TMNT, & Heroes Unlimited, WEG's Star Wars, FASA's Star Trek, Cyberpunk, Gamma World, and probably a few others I can't remember right now. We did give Cyborg Commando a try, but unfortunately I can't forget that. AD&D, and therefore fantasy, was the bread and butter of our gaming experience. Given the popularity of Star Trek, I would have thought an RPG would have been wildly successful but no version has ever come close to D&D. Maybe there wasn't as much crossover between Trekkies and RPG players as I would have thought.

 

[aramis erak]

I'm feeling once again the drive to start working on a space adventure campaign. And I noticed that space RPGs are not just less popular than hign fantasy ones (which everyone knows), but that they are actually barely even talked about at all.

Which quite surprises me, since there's really quite a lot of them, which are not obscure by any means. Three Star Wars games, Traveller, who knows how many Warhammer 40k games, Stars Without Number, and Scum and Villainy are names you frequently see mentioned and mostly very positively. But usually it remains at the occasional mention.

I am hesitating to use the term sci-fi games, as Star Wars and 40k are straight up fantasy in space, and for example cyberpunk games would be sci-fi but not set in space. What I am talking about are the spaceships and aliens kind of games.

With so many highly regarded games out there, how much space campaigns are actually being played? Is it really a lot less than fantasy games in general, or just a case of none of them being D&D? When it comes to running adventures, I don't see either as any better or worse suited to ease of play and creating stories than the other.

I'm running 3 at the moment.
STA set immediately post TNG.
Star Wars set in year 2 of the Empire - with a twist - a very pregnant Padme is in stasis...
Alien - the adventure is, however, planetbound.

Basing upon the various published sources of information (mostly online play) it looks like about 2/3 of all plays are fantasy, 1/6 are non-space non-fantasy (moderns, supers, CoC, etc), and about 1/6 are various space fantasy, space opera, and space sci-fi.

The ones I'd Recommend?
If you like the struggling to keep flying subgenre of Space Opera, best exemplified by Firefly...

• Firefly by MWP. Out of print.
• Any edition of Traveller
• FL's Alien or Coriolis
• FFG SW: Edge of the Empire
• WEG d6 Star Wars with Galaxy Guide 6.
• Nocturnal's d6 Space (Essentially WEG d6 Space 3e.)

If you want active duty crews of military ships, I'd suggest

• Star Trek Adventures
• Alien or Coriolis, minor tweaks may be needed for tone.
• WEG d6
• FFG SW Age of Rebellion, especially with the Ace and Commander sourcebooks.
• Any traveller edition but modifying to contract rank.

Warhammer Rogue Trader RPG was good fun, and isn't quite either of those, but also blends elements in, and can support diversions into all the other of the FFG warhammer line. I don't have any real experience past skimming it for the new ones.

 

[Yora]

• WEG d6 Star Wars with Galaxy Guide 6.

Which one is that?

d6 Star Wars is the only game I've ever seen that has a good GM Handbook. Very much recommend that one for any campaign, but especially space adventure ones.

 

[aramis erak]

Which one is that?

d6 Star Wars is the only game I've ever seen that has a good GM Handbook. Very much recommend that one for any campaign, but especially space adventure ones.

GG6: Tramp Freighters.

includes the "expanded" trade rules.

Also note: anything for WEG Star Wars 2R&E is almost a perfect fit to WEG/Nocturnal d6 Space.

 

[beta-ray]

I love me some Star Wars and Star Trek. I actually really liked WEG's D6 system for Star Wars but for some reason I could not get into it as much as D&D. I wonder if (for me) there is just too many possibilities? D&D has the advantage of being around a long time and being popular. Although you can do "anything" with D&D as well, I wonder if (for me) it is just easier to grasp doing kind of easy adventures?