Tell us about your favourite space RPG and why?

[Morrus]

My experience with space RPGs is sadly limited. In fact, I think it totals three in 25 years: years ago we played FASA's Star Trek RPG, we're currently playing Mongoose's Traveler, and my company is working on Pathfinder-in-space (under the name Myths of the Far Future, with Mike Resnick's universe as the default setting).


I regret that I've never played any incarnation of Star Wars - d6, d20, or anything else or, indeed, even physically seen any of those games other than a very brief 2-minute flick-thru of SAGA edition a few years back.


My memories of FASA's system are hazy. Lots and lots of skills. A Traveler-like creation/career process. Vulcans had +20 strength. Kirk had a crapload of skills in the high 90s. I really should try to find that on eBay. We had a cardboard tricorder and accompanying rules pamphlet!


Traveler is interesting. As best I can tell the rules are: you ask the GM if you can do something, he looks it up and says no. I kid. Though we're playing Secrets of the Ancients during which we were given free space armour which none of the bad guys yet can penetrate.


So, what's your preferred space RPG and why?

 

[Elf Witch]

I have played Star Trek, Star Wars D20, Dragonstar, Stargate, Serenity, Farscape, Dr Who and Traveler.

Of all of those the ones I enjoyed the best were Star Wars and Dragonstar. Because they were D20 it didn't require learning a whole new system. I never really enjoyed Traveler I have not played in over 20 years but I remember not liking the rules. Of the games based on TV and movie worlds I think Star Wars gives you enough room to get away from the main story and be a hero or villain in your own right.

I did enjoy Stargate though I know a lot of people don't like the feel of being the second string to SG1. Trek and Dr Who just could never capture the feel of the show and why I liked it so much.

 

[scourger]

If I could pick another one to play again, it would be Star Wars Revised d20. We had a great all-jedi game going, but it unfortunately fell by the wayside. I just love the idea of the heroism of playing jedi and being free of the material pursuits and selfish agendas that seem to go with most RPGs--especially D&D. Plus, SWRd20 cleaned up some rules from the original and actually made a better game. There is also a powerful nostalgia to the setting for me. It all combines to make a very compelling game experience.

 

[Umbran]

I played a whole lot of d6 Star Wars in college. And these days I'm playing in a Star Wars Saga Edition game. It's okay, I'm having fun - but if I were to run a game, or play one that was really what I wanted in a "space game", it wouldn't be Star Wars. Star Wars isn't very solid as science fiction. Too much fantasy, not enough science, if you will.

If I were to run a game, I'd look back to Alternity, perhaps - with that I could probably set a game in Niven's Known Universe. Or maybe Star Trek - a universe that my players would know right off, with a lot to build on, but also a lot of space to play around and not run into too many issues of canon, and a well-established genre convention of asking, "what if..."

 

[scourger]

Star Trek is fun, too. I ran a short-lived hybrid crossing Savage Worlds and Star Trek Heroclix Tactics. I set it in a post Deep Space 9 era, and I think the players approached it from The Original Series perspective. Each player was a captain with a ship, which I intended to free them from pursuing stuff; but I think a common definition of the game would have helped.

EDIT: Perhaps they would have had more fun commanding Klingon vessels tearing around pursuing various objectives for the Empire with a lot of combat and little accountability.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Traveller was a fav back in the day- loved the "PCgen minigame" partly because I had one PC die in the process... Really liked its hard Sci-Fi feel.

Universe (the long-OOP version by SSI)- a hard sci fi game designed to compete with Traveller. It had the very realistic physics Delta-V combat system and even a local star chart. On top of that, it had a first rate, but complex, planetary design system. Rally haven't seen one like it anywhere else.

StarHERO was cool because you could do anything with it. I have played Star Wars like games in it. Awesomesauce.

Alternity: Stardrive was well done with a nice feel. Almost felt like playing in somebody's reskinned Known Universe (Larry Niven's stories).

If I were to run a game, I'd look back to Alternity, perhaps - with that I could probably set a game in Niven's Known Universe.

Heyyyyy!

Space 1889, for bringing the worlds of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne to RPGs so well...though I primarily used it as a sourcebook for HERO campaigns.

RIFTS. Terrible system, thoroughly engaging world.

MechWarrior (and other Mecha-centric RPGs)- because I got to play a PC with a freakin' Mecha! (And I'm not really a huge fan of anime.)

Spaceship Zero- owned but not played...perfect for the Flash Gordon stories.

Shadowrun- cyberpunk + fantasy = fun

Spelljammer- D&D in spaaaaaace!

Dragonstar- D&D in spaaaaace...in the future!

 

[RangerWickett]

I first started gaming with FASA Star Trek back in, like, 1988. Barely remember it.

WotC Star Wars SAGA was okay for PC stuff, but the space combat didn't do much for me.

I'm in a Rogue Trader game now, and the ship to ship combat is actually pretty robust, if slow. But it feels like battleships engaging, rather than zipping fighter combat.

 

[trancejeremy]

Classic Traveller. So simple, yet it works surprisingly well. Every later attempt has tried to provide more detail, but suffers from it. Also heavily based on the SF I like.

And Star Wars d6, I own about every book for it. Not a perfect system, especially for the arithmetically challenged, yet again very simple and flexible, and in my experience, very cinematic, though starship combat wasn't great.

Mike Resnick is pretty much my favorite living SF author, particularly his Birthright universe. Pathfinder-in-space doesn't seem like the best fit for it, combat is extremely deadly and quick in the novels. Someone like the Widowmaker can kill a half dozen people before they even draw their weapons. Granted, he's the best, but most nickname level (so to speak) characters hit (and thus kill) anything they can see, it's just a matter of who goes first.

 

[Shades of Green]

While I am a Traveller man (I even wrote my own commercial setting for it), right now I'm leaning towards Stars Without Number, which is an awesome hybrid of Traveller and old-school D&D all while having modern sensibilities, tons of flavour and very cool sub-systems.

 

[Erekose]

The second RPG I ever played was Traveller and I still have fond memories of it. Have played FASA Star Trek and Decipher's Star Trek and much preferred the "feel" of the former over the latter. Similarly I prefer Star Wars d20 Revised Edition over SAGA. I own but haven't played Serenity and can't help but feel it is an ideal setting for a Traveller campaign rather than using the Cortex system.