The thing about a cult is that it doesn’t need you in particular. It needs people. Ideally, idiots. So it doesn’t matter that a lot of people are leaving/will leave Twitter. The idiots will remain, and the platform will serve its purpose.
I think a good sci-fi campaign can always benefit from a Heist. Like a train heist or something.
The flip side, which is also fun, the convoy escort role. The crew is part of a convoy and must defend it from marauders.
And the Seven Samurai is a classic stationary version of the above that has been adapted time and again for sci-fi.
Traveller, or better yet 2300AD or Hostile for better fit on the setting with the same classic 2d6 rules. Cy_Borg or Stars Without Number for OSR.
Diaspora, Mindjammer, or Nova Praxis if you’re willing to try a more modern system (Fate), but the setting should be pretty close on them, depending on where in the story you want it to be. Diaspora should be a good fit if you want to explore different systems throughout a network of spheres.
Favorite sci-fi RPG settings?
What are your favorites to play on? Anything valid, be it a published RPG setting, an adaptation you did of other media (book, game, movie), a mashup you or someone else create, etc.
— Você tem dados em casa?
— Ô! Até d4!
All it needs is a name and you’ve got a ready adventure.
Don’t beat yourself over it. 👍
Right, that uses the Fantasy Flight Games' Narrative Dice System (same as WH Fantasy).
Wow. I hadn't heard of a single item in your list except for SLA Industries. Not that surprising considering most are long out of print.
By Jupiter Chronicles do you mean Jovian Chronicles?
Sounds like you’d like Hostile by Zozer Games. They have a solo version too where you control a crew.
Truncated d4 s deal less damage… as caltrops. Also look at that table 🤩
Ninguém citou ainda Mutants and Masterminds, que é um clássico, baseado em d20.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying não tá mais sendo vendido (a Marvel não renovou a licença), mas o pessoal fala muito bem. Sistema Cortex.
That's right. Arguably the most famous?
Come to think of it, I don't think there ever was a Fate official Star Wars setting. I didn't find it, anyway.
BattleTech! That's the one. Didn't know they made an RPG out of it.
Firefly is an out of print Cortex Plus game by Margaret Weis Productions. It's in the list as well as Serenity (the Cortex Classic game by WEP, isn't IP licensing fun?).
Rifts is a classic, but also a very strange animal. And for some reason I thought Robotech was a minis game (must be confusing with something else).
Star Wars is already listed. I know those are technically different games, but I'm trying to keep the list as concise as possible (grouping the multiple versions of the same setting under one entry). I don't know much about the history of star wars RPG though. How would you summarize it? (WEG d6, d20, Fate)
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Sci-Fi RPG systems/settings/core rules
This is meant to be a non-exhaustive list, in stream-of-consciousness order.
Dedicated systems
- Traveller (in its many incarnations throughout the past nearly 50 years and derivatives such as Cepheus, Hostile)
- 2300 AD (now a setting for Traveller)
- Cyberpunk (2013, 2020, V3.0, Red)
- Paranoia
- Eclipse Phase
- Lancer
- Star Wars roleplaying (different games by different publishers: WEG d6, d20, FFG NDS)
- Warhammer 40K
- 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars
- Shadowrun
- Apocalypse World
- Coyote & Crow
- SLA Industries
FATE based systems
- Bulldogs!
- Mindjammer
- Nova Praxis
- Diaspora
- Atomic Robo
OSR/d20 based systems
- Stars Without Number
- Starfinder
- Mothership
- CY_BORG
Year Zero
- Mutant: Year Zero
- Alien: The RPG
- Blade Runner: The RPG
- Coriolis – The Third Horizon
GURPS
A host of modules and supplements named after the subgenre, GURPS-style. GURPS Transhuman Space, Cyberpunk, etc.
Other systems
- Star Trek Adventures (Modiphius 2d20)
- Dune: Adventures in the Imperium (Modiphius 2d20)
- Rifts (Palladium)
- Robotech (Palladium)
- Scum and Villainy (FitD/PbtA)
Solo friendly
- Stoneburner
- Ironsworn: Starforged (PbtA)
- Hostile (Cepheus/Traveller)
Out of print/No longer developed
- Firefly RPG (Cortex Plus)
- Serenity RPG (Cortex Classic)
- Battlestar Galactica RPG (Cortex Classic)
- Gamma World (D&D)
- Space Opera
- Other Suns
- Albedo
- Space Master
- HARP SF
- Blue Planet
- Ringworld
- Living Steel
- High Colonies
- Jovian Chronicles
- Heavy Gear
- Justifiers
- Star Frontiers
- Universe
- CORPS
Have a suggestion to improve this? Your favorite game missing? Leave a comment.