Starfinder vs Alternity vs Traveller: Which Space Game to Buy?
I wanted to laugh with this, too, on account of it being in the spirit of the old Disney Mouseketeers singing the Mickey Mouse Club song, and Donald Duck shouting his own name out every time Mickey's was sung.
I always liked Donald Duck more!
Buy 'em all!
Last edited:
I just ordered Whitestar and have started reading the pdf. It looks perfect for the kind of not-Star Wars Sci-Fi I was looking for. So I vote that. 
It's currently PWYW at rpgnow:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/14816...-Science-Fiction-Roleplaying-Swords--Wizardry
It's currently PWYW at rpgnow:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/14816...-Science-Fiction-Roleplaying-Swords--Wizardry
Calithorne
Explorer
Traveler is very specific to what it intends to accomplish, a game about trade/commerce, with a bit of mercenary action mixed in. You're pretty much forced to be the rag tag crew of a vagabond free trader, the game doesn't really allow for alternatives to that story set up.
What I know about Starfinder is that it will be more fantasy than science fiction, even incorporating classes and monsters from the Pathfinder universe. It will be more like Pathfinder in Space than a real science fiction setting.
Star Wars is good, if you like the Star Wars universe and don't mind being trapped within the limitations of that setting.
What I know about Starfinder is that it will be more fantasy than science fiction, even incorporating classes and monsters from the Pathfinder universe. It will be more like Pathfinder in Space than a real science fiction setting.
Star Wars is good, if you like the Star Wars universe and don't mind being trapped within the limitations of that setting.
Or you might be the crew of a science ship trying to resolve a medical mystery, explorers and surveyors looking for work in a less-travelled region, hired by the local law to investigate why the primitive but friendly alien race living on the planet have suddenly started disappearing from their normal haunts and chasing off anyone they encounter, survivors of a space-wreck, solving a locked-room mystery on a spaceship, trying to resolve the issue of terrorist dolphins, getting a secret out from under the nose of a local noble. All actual Traveller adventures, none requiring a vagabond free trader crew or mercenary experience.
...though it doesn't hurt to have that on a resume...
The recent ones that were of any interest to me were
- Eclipse Phase: Awesome trans-human setting with a slightly too fiddly percentile dice system.
- Ashen Stars: Gumshoe in space!
- FFG's Star Wars: I don't consider it a sci-fi system, but it has great rules, despite (or because of?) the custom dice it uses.
A golden oldie:
- Fading Suns: very much has a Dune-like vibe to it; also not really a sci-fi system.
- Eclipse Phase: Awesome trans-human setting with a slightly too fiddly percentile dice system.
- Ashen Stars: Gumshoe in space!
- FFG's Star Wars: I don't consider it a sci-fi system, but it has great rules, despite (or because of?) the custom dice it uses.
A golden oldie:
- Fading Suns: very much has a Dune-like vibe to it; also not really a sci-fi system.
aramis erak
Legend
Which depends upon what you want. They're not the same genres/subgenres.
Traveller is hardish space opera to moderate space sci-fi. Yes, it's got Artificial Gravity, FTL travel (but not comms nor sensors), and a system design esthetic that was (but isn't now) one of the most realistic before the Kepler 'Scope. Most PC's are ex-military or ex-merchant, and the mechanics (in any edition) are reasonably traditional. My recommend should you choose it is either CT, MT, or TNE, depending upon your preferences; I don't endorse MGT, but it's workable (feels wrong in play, like a bad retroclone attempt).
Alternity is pretty much middle-of-the-road space opera, at least in the old Star Drive setting. Suffers from the usual issues of dice-by-difficulty (hard to not reveal the difficulty, 1E is roll low), and what I've seen doesn't look like they're trying to muscle in on Traveller, but to go in a different direction. I never got into the Dark Matter setting, but it looks pretty much Spacefaring Cyberpunk. Some of the materials under Retail Play were in the border overlap of Space Opera and Space Fantasy.
Starfinder is going to have the issues of Pathfinder in Space as well as being firmly space fantasy. I don't care for pathfinder mechanics, and I get all the Space Fantasy I need from either Star Wars, Space 1889 or Spelljammer. So, I've been keeping only a vague eye upon it.
There are many more choices.
My personal recommends would be CT if you like OSR (buy the CD), TNE if you want a feel closer to Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, or FFG Star Wars for, well, star wars or the border of Space Fantasy and Space Opera.
Edit to add: I'll also recommend the Fading Suns game, at least for the setting (rules-wise, it's easily able to be swapped out). Kind of 40K gets a fresh infusion of Dune.
Last edited:
