What Science Fiction Games are being played these days?

[Matrix Sorcica]

Eclipse Phase is teh awesome!

I got the pdf free (and legally!) and I'm getting the hardcover very soon. Even though I most likely will never get to play it, I must own the hardcover. It's just that cool!

 

[slwoyach]

When it comes to Sci-Fi, it's all about Alternity.

 

[Aryoche]

Alternity is a great system, that unfortunately got killed off with the licensing of Star Wars, well before it had a chance to take off. It's proudly displayed on my shelf.

Eclipse Phase seems like an interesting concept, I managed to grab a hardcopy a couple weeks back, but haven't had a chance to really dig into it.

As a side note, my dead-tree copies of Alpha Omega showed up yesterday, much earlier than I expected knowing how our postal system works here. I've got to say, these books are downright impressing. The whole production value is amazing, and the customer service is top-notch. Mindstorm Labs leaked a little bit of info on Facebook stating there are a bunch of new adventures and products coming after the first of the year, and currently have a discount code for ordering online! /end pimping.

When it comes to Sci-Fi, it's all about Alternity.

 

[jdrakeh]

For Cyber Monday, I bought a PDF of Space Opera on RPGNow and it looks like I may be playing some Morrow Project soon (using the original rules).

 

[Kafen]

Eclipse Phase is teh awesome!

I got the pdf free (and legally!) and I'm getting the hardcover very soon. Even though I most likely will never get to play it, I must own the hardcover. It's just that cool!

I am doing a Bolo themed game around the Eclipse Phase engine. It is mostly email based with military players. But, the system plays very well. The license model and free PDF is part of the thing that makes it work for my group - some of my players are literally in the middle of a warzone and can not exactly lug around a book. The PDF option is great on that point.

I will be picking up the hardcover for this one.

 

[Plane Sailing]

One generic Sci-Fi system that hasn't been mentioned yet is Basic Role Playing recently released by Chaosium. Definitely worth a look.

Now, if anyone fancies playtesting my essentially complete OGL science fiction RPG called "Starguild", drop me a line. It is a 160-odd page illustrated PDF with systems for handling social conflict and various forms of 'dramatic conflict' as well as combat on personal, vehicle and starship scales.

It would be very helpful for me to get feedback from people trying to use it with no input from me at all!

Cheers

 

[Engilbrand]

There's a book for 4e called Metamorphosis Alpha that I'm keeping my eye on. It could conceivably do what you want.

 

[Paka]

The scope is just too big. The culture is just too complex. Sci-fi games die because they are overwhelming. We expect to much of them and when we get it, we don't know what to do with it.

Scaling it down into bite-sized chunks is definitely important.

I'm currently playing Diaspora, and the Story Hour link is over here.

The first step of the game is making a star cluster of half a dozen or so systems linked by slipstream gates. Neat stuff.

My other science fiction game of choice is Shock: Social Science Fiction and have had some real fun with it but it is not too traditional in its mechanics. In Shock:, we begin the game by coming up with the shock, or how the science fiction world we are about to play in is different from the present, then we cross-list those with issues, ripped from the headlines and from the players' brains and at the crux of those two things are the player characters.

It is fun but it is a different kinda game, with everyone playing a protagonist and an antagonist, taking on both player and GM roles, making the game more like a series of linked short stories.

 

[Khairn]

It's a shame Dawningstar and Helios are OOP now, I managed to get the core rules, but the prices for Helios Rising now are crazy! (at least in hardcopy).

Very true, but thankfully there are the pdf's. Dawningstar is hands down the best D20 Future book published. Period. It's mix of hard sci-fi logic in a setting that had elements of Firefly (Serenity), Earth Above and Beyond, and space opera is outstanding.

 

[Aryoche]

Unfortunately, I'm more of a "dead-tree" type of person. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy PDF's for reference, but I spend too many hours in my professional life (and personal life too!) staring at a monitor, and I guess I prefer actually holding the book in my hands. I did manage to get a copy of the rules in hardcopy a while back, I'm still on the lookout for Helios Rising.

Eclipse Phase is next up on the reading list, as soon as I finish Alpha Omega, which is the running contender for my next Sci-Fi game. It's been a long time since a "monster" book has inspired so many ideas, so it was refreshing to say the least!

Very true, but thankfully there are the pdf's. Dawningstar is hands down the best D20 Future book published. Period. It's mix of hard sci-fi logic in a setting that had elements of Firefly (Serenity), Earth Above and Beyond, and space opera is outstanding.