Top 10 Science Fiction RPGS

[TrippyHippy]

As it says on the lid.

What are your Top Ten Science Fiction RPGs and why?

For me:

1) Traveller - The grand-daddy. Some people highlight the conservative nature of it’s tech and original setting, but it has been one of the most brilliantly innovative systems ever in its time (why else would it’ve lasted as long?). Like D&D, it creates endless possibilities within it’s gaming conventions (careers and life-path chargen, Tech levels, starship and world design, etc). Which edition? The classic is, well, Classic Traveller (the original), but all editions have different strengths (and weaknesses!). The current Mongoose Traveller edition doesn’t have the most eye-catching art, but it is very accessible and very playable - and branches the game system into any sci-fi sub-genre you like (from Space Opera to Hard Science to Cyberpunk) as was implied in the design of the original game.

2) Paranoia - Mainly celebrated as a seminal comedy game, but its role as a science-fiction game shouldn’t be ignored either - at very least it introduces players to the subtleties of cloning and the visible electromagnetic spectrum! Currently enjoying a very successful Kickstarter campaign at the moment, it presents a classic dystopian world in the tradition of Brave New World or 1984. Yet it twists it into a uniquely comical satire that sets all PCs against each other in increasingly farcical situations. The mechanics have always been a secondary issue in the game, but the new edition seems to be seeking to put together some fresh innovation using cards and a D6 pool based system (taken from Ghostbusters RPG), although the full details are not yet revealed.

3) Doctor Who - Adventures in Time and Space. A relatively recent, but practically flawless rendition of the world’s longest running Sci-Fi TV series as a RPG. With supplements, it manages to cover all generations of the Doctor which, considering the premise of travelling through all ’space and time’, covers a vast variety of narrative potential and ideas. The use of ‘Story points’ as an expendable resource alongside a simple 2d6 system allows for characters of differing power levels to play together in a balanced party. Easy on the eye and easy to read too - a perfect introductory RPG. I’ve not included Primeval on this list (which uses the same system, but for a different time-travelling TV show) but it’s near 100% compatibility means you can add a slightly harder edge to the science fiction, along with a greater range of campaign types and…dinosaurs!

4) Eclipse Phase. Qualified on the grounds that it wasn’t the first Transhuman themed RPG, nor the most recent. It is the one that maintains the biggest following however, and pushes the concepts involved in this literary sub-genre to their greatest extent in gameable terms with a near evangelical zeal. The setting manages to be eerily familiar (set in our local solar system some time in the relatively near future) and unbelievably alien at the same time - no mean feat, considering you can play such a wide diversity of weird character types while maintaining good verisimilitude throughout. Any game that plausibly suggests playing whale-like beings swimming through the electro-magnetic radiation of the Sun has got to be good! The game system and mechanics are curiously conventional, although there has been some adaptations to other systems, while the full colour production standards are astonishing for a small press company.

5) Call of Cthulhu - Nominally a horror rpg but, like Paranoia, people forget it’s potential as a pure science fiction game too. The various monsters and gods are uniquely beguiling because the are soooo malevolently alien, in as much that they make humanity seem so insignificant. This is what makes it great sci-fi. H.P. Lovecraft’s visions are sourced as direct inspiration for movies like Alien, Prometheus and The Thing, as well as providing a massive body of dark science fiction literature. Worth a shout out for the Cthulhu: Strange Aeons setting Kickstarter that is currently running - if indeed you want to play an Aliens scenario as is.

6) Star Wars. A tricky one as, to be sure, this has everything to do with the near universal recognition of the brand and setting much more than anything to do with game system itself. Like D&D, every gamer gets Star Wars. This works both ways though - I never liked any of the prequel series! It’s been through a variety of different systems (both official and unofficial) with the original licensed game, based on D6 dice pools, remaining popular with fans. Star Wars was also one of the flag bearers of the d20 system after this, including a pretty polished Saga edition. For my money though, the recent FFG versions with their colourful dice and three core rule books (based on different aspects of the original movies) are all as good as it gets in gaming.

7) Shadowrun - Is it science fiction? Or is it just an urban fantasy with cyberpunk tropes? Not sure - but you cannot doubt its popularity or the ease in which you can get into the game world and play. It does base its premise on sci-fi ideas which get updated through each new edition, and remains one of the few classic cyberpunk RPGs still chugging along since the 80s. You simply cannot ignore Shadowrun on this list.

8) Dark Heresy - Another big, big IP licensed by FFG (though not as big as Star Wars, nor indeed it’s mother miniatures wargame). The ‘grimdark’ experience, like Shadowrun, is something that has huge appeal to gamers (and progrock fans, arguably), and the mechanics are a pretty tight (but conventional) percentile system. Like Star Wars, Dark Heresy is the first of several games all set in the same galaxy but from different aspects.

9) Rocket Age - another game based on the same mechanics that drive Doctor Who (coined ’the Vortex System) and an even more recent release. As a non-licensed original setting, its even more impressive in some ways. Set in the 1930s Solar System, in an age imagined by Jules Verne and (especially) Edgar Rice Burroughs, this is the pulp science romance genre of Flash Gordon, John Carter and Buck Rogers. This has been done before, but not to this level of setting detail in gaming form. There are a multitude of different alien races (including human) to play, some slightly comical and the game play is fast and easy. It’s retro-science and square-chinned heroics is a change of pace from the cold materialism of Traveller, or the cynicism of cyberpunk - and it’s all the better for it.

10) HoL: Human Occupied Landfill….only joking! (Or am I!?)

 

[edemaitre]

Favorite SFRPGs

Here are my favorite science fiction RPGs, in no particular order:

1. Star Frontiers: This TSR release was one of the first role-playing games I tried back in high school, and the art and setting heavily influenced my later campaigns. Long out of print, Star Frontiers Remastered is available. I also have fond memories of Gamma World and the FASA Star Trek and Doctor Who games, but later rules systems were probably better.

2. Shadowrun: I've enjoyed several editions of this cyberpunk/fantasy mashup (from long before steampunk was cool). It combined high fantasy, gritty megacorporate intrigue, and shoot 'em up adventures.

3. Star Wars: Saga Edition: While I've played everything from the classic West End Games D6 version to the early D20 edition and Fantasy Flight Games' latest incarnation, not to mention numerous fan conversions, I think Saga Edition did the best job of providing lots of character options, refining the D20 system, and covering the (now-obsolete) "Expanded Universe." As with the aforementioned Star Trek and Doctor Who, the familiarity of the setting helps bring people into tabletop role-playing across decades and rules sets.

4. Paranoia: I've mainly played one-shots of this sci-fi satire, and ratting out traitors to the Computer has always been fun. The Red Dwarf RPG has also had its moments.

5. GURPS Space: I've mostly used numerous sourcebooks for the Third Edition of Steve Jackson Games' Generic Universal Role-Playing System, including Aliens, Mars, Ultra-Tech, Uplift, Transhuman Space, and Vehicles. GURPS is an excellent toolkit for those who like to build their own galaxies.

6. Traveller: While it's one of the oldest SFRPGs, I've mostly mined Traveller for setting ideas and ships than run it as-is. Both the classic and recent Mongoose editions are must-haves for any serious fan of "imperial" science fiction, and the D20 version, or "T20," was also pretty good. The 2300 supplements also provide more of a near-future setting, although I always found the extension of early-20th century politics a little strange.

7. Stars Without Number: This retro-clone combines the best of the old-school Renaissance for fans of Star Frontiers, classic Traveller, or FASA Star Trek with streamlined rules. It's arguably also one of the best for sandbox-style play. I'd also recommend Interstellar Patrol (based on FATE Accelerated Edition) and Prime Directive (with D20 and GURPS editions) for Star Trek fans.

8. Jovian Chronicles/Blue Planet/Eclipse Phase: I know I'm cheating here, but these games are always associated in my mind. Jovian Chronicles combined anime-style mecha with interesting colonization of the Sol system. Blue Planet was one of the first games to look closely at Uplift (see David Brin's books) and the science of colonization. Eclipse Phase artfully combines these with post-cyberpunk transhumanist fiction.

9. SpaceMaster/Space Opera: Speaking of old-school games, these had detailed tables of technology, good descriptions of actual nearby stars, and lots of great ideas for SF Game Masters. The rules were somewhat more idiosyncratic and "crunchy" than GURPS, D20, or FATE, but they're easy to borrow from and adapt to, say, Savage Worlds.

10. FATE 3e Starblazer Adventures/Mindjammer 2e Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment was my go-to system for narrative storytelling (unlike White Wolf's evocative but clunky Aeon/Trinity or D20 Future). Sadly out of print, Starblazer Adventures made it easy to scale up action from individuals to starships. It was based on British SF comics and wasn't well organized, but it was easy to convert practically any space opera into it. Mindjammer, now in its second edition, uses FATE Core for a transhumanist setting.

If you look at my long-running "Vortex" homebrew, you'll see the influence of all of these. Happy gaming!

 

[Jhaelen]

I have a hard time coming up with 10 sci-fi RPGs, to be honest... So, here's just some general observations:

I know Traveller of course, but I've never played it.

I've played Star Frontiers but didn't like it.

Shadowrun has an awesome setting, but I don't like the game's mechanics.

I've played the FASA version of Star Wars and think it's okay. I've never looked at the Saga version. The FFG version seems to be really cool, though. I'd like to give that a try.

Paranoia - that's an RPG I cannot take seriously - it's hilariously funny, though

Is Spelljammer a sci-fi RPG? Doesn't matter really, since I find it rather silly.

Eclipse Phase: awesome setting, presentation and pretty good ruleset (with a few weaknesses); probably my favorite.

Fading Suns: another candidate for my favorite sci-fi RPG. Very much reminds me of Dune. Doesn't focus on the 'sci' in 'sci-fi', which I like.

Hmm, seems like I actually managed to come up with ten (if I count the different incarnations of Star Wars separately) - who's have thunk?

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Hurm. I don't think I've played in ten sci-fi RPGs but I'll give it a go.

1. My favorite is Star Wars. I haven't played in the FFG version but I'm very eager to. I loved the d6 version, we played the heck out of it. The d20 version was not my cup of tea. SAGA was better but again, not my favorite. These days I think Fate would be an excellent system for Star Wars.

2. 4E's Gamma World. I only got to play this once but I love the randomness of character creation and the simplicity of the game. I think it would make a great system for a Fallout 3/New Vegas campaign.

3. Ashen Skies. I bought the book and read through it but never played it. I like the setting and the system. They seem like they could be fun.

4. FASA Star Trek. I bought the old boxed set because I think a Star Trek game would be very fun to play in. But I never got past the wall of text that was the rulebook. Like Star Wars, I think I'd rather play in a Fate Star Trek game instead.

5. Alternity. We played this a few times back in college. I liked the d20 system at the time but I bet today it wouldn't be my cup of tea. I recollect finding the races interesting and especially liking the t'sa.

And I guess that's it for me!

 

[gamerprinter]

Traveler - I only played this back in the 1980's.

Space Opera - I only played this in the 1980's as well. I really liked the starship guide, the specific star nations like the League and the Confederacy.

Eclipse Phase - haven't played this one, but it was my most recent sci-fi game purchase - I wanted to see what new takes on Sci-Fi since the 1980's games I've played. I like the "Avatar" idea of placing your consciousness inside alien bodies concept.

Santiago - I really like the alternate view on existing Pathfinder rules applied to sci-fi, though the AP itself doesn't really intrigue me, though I did pick them all up last week on the DTRPG pre-Halloween sale. I'm surprised this one hasn't been mentioned, especially since this thread is on ENWorld (being an EN Publishing product). I'm seriously looking at making a homebrew setting using the Santiago Players Guide/Campaign Guide for reference though not the setting itself. I'm a bit disappointed that there were no rules for ship combat nor space travel.

Since I'm mostly a fantasy genre gamer, the above is about it for sci-fi games I've purchased or played, though I did also purchase Star Frontiers at some point, it really didn't "take" with me.

Because I enjoyed Serenity and Firefly, I've thought of picking up the RPG, but I really hate the Cortex system, so will probably not do that. Also while I am a fan of some of the Star Trek movies, and all the series (except maybe Voyager), something about Star Trek as an RPG doesn't attract me.

I've had passing interest with Shadowrun, but I prefer space travel and space combat in my sci-fi, and the Earthbound nature of Shadowrun has dissuaded me from purchasing/participating.

I did play Paranoia, back in the 1980's as well, but despite the futuristic nature of the setting, I don't really consider this "sci-fi". I also purchased H.O.L (Human Occupied Landfill) and though I have both books for it, have only played it once on a lark. Its more of a twisted super heroes adaptation and not really "sci-fi" in my book either. Both are hilarious games to play, but as stated neither fits my idea of sci-fi.

Edit: I also purchased Aftermath back in the 1980's as my one and only post-apocalypse styled game, but never actually played - if you thought other RPG games have over-complex rules, you'd have to look at Aftermath to compare as probably the most unwieldy RPG rules ever created. Imagine the 36 hit locations on a quadruped, like a dog...

Edit 2: actually, since completing a map commission for Brady Games having created all the 13 multi-player maps for the Activision Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare strategy guide, a couple months ago, I'm in the mood for a sci-fi RPG game again, and have even created some maps inspired by that commission job to give me some direction in my intentions. (I'm reposting a couple of those sci-fi-esque maps from my Gamerprinter's Map Emporeum thread on this board.)

 

[Tonguez]

Absolutely agree about Traveller, the careers system is still awesome. I wonder do Mutants and Masterminds or Spycraft count as Science Fiction? Conspiracy X ought to....