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SciFi tabletop Roleplaying game recommendations?

NWKNWK Registered User regular
Hey all,

So several friend and I started playing Dark Heresy a couple weeks ago. It's the first time RPing for pretty much all of us but we've had a good time so far.

The problem is, one of our players doesn't really like the Warhammer 40k universe. Her main issue with it is that the universe is so hopeless, there's no chance for things to get better and the whole Imperium is mired in medieval-times ignorance. That grimdark hopelessness makes it difficult for her to connect with her character and really get into it. We're not that far into our DH campaign and the rest of us are flexible, so it's not a problem to try a different game.

Dungeons and Dragons is the obvious big alternative, but most of us (myself included) would prefer a scifi universe. The idea of Rogue Trader sounded really cool to us. My friend who can't really get into the 40k universe was getting a Firefly vibe from it which she loved, but that's not the case. Rogue Trader is more grimdark 40k.

Can anyone recommend/share some information about other good scifi tabletop RP games? DnD in spaaaaace?

If it's relevant, we're pretty spread out across Europe so we've been playing using skype and roll20.net for our sessions which has worked really well so far.

Thanks :)

Steam GW2: Silas.5762

Posts

  • WassermeloneWassermelone Registered User regular
    Star Wars? I haven't played the new Fantasy Flight version, but the Saga edition from Wizards was really good. It was more or less exactly DnD 3.75 in space.

  • WassermeloneWassermelone Registered User regular
    Also, there is literally a Serenity RPG based off of firefly. I've never played it but it seems well reviewed on amazon:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931567506/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

  • NWKNWK Registered User regular
    Good suggestions, thanks! I did actually see the Serenity RPG, does anyone here have any experience with it? I'm a bit wary of it due to it being a tie-in...the concern being that it'd be fairly shallow.

    Steam GW2: Silas.5762
  • Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    Serenity RPG based on Cortex mechanics (one of the first iterations of Cortex, in fact), and it was generally well-received when it came out a while back. Cortex is pretty rules-light, which may be ideal for your group (who is just starting out). They are making a new version of it called the "Firefly Role Playing Game" (simple, eh?), which should be coming out soon, but all the classic Serenity RPG stuff should be fine.

    Star Wars: Edge of the Empire has been pretty popular lately. It uses special dice (which should be supported by roll20), but it's pretty easy to pick up.

    For crunchier fare, there's Eclipse Phase, but be prepared to read a LOT of rules for that one. Not as easy to pick up.

    When you say Science Fiction, do you mean only "space exploration and space opera"? Or are you looking for near-future, transhuman, and/or cyberpunk things, too? What sort of settings in film and TV and other media appeal to you? Or do you simply want something that isn't sword and sorcery? (Super Hero RPGs are pretty fun, too, as are other settings like the Old West or Pirates)

    Also, do you like "crunchy" combat? Which is to say, do you like to run combat simulations (like a video game, with hard stats that govern actions) or do you prefer to have more improvised scenes instead of combat (like improv acting or LARPing, less stats and more description)? There are games that cut out the "crunch" entirely, but they tend to be less satisfying for folks who want to build up combat monsters and fight against NPCs. There are also games that are heavy on the simulationist stuff that do not appeal to folks who want to "just wing it" without worrying about rolling dice.

    8i1dt37buh2m.png
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    rogue Trader definitely has a slightly more hopeful tone since you're mostly working outside the Imperium

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    NWK wrote: »
    Good suggestions, thanks! I did actually see the Serenity RPG, does anyone here have any experience with it? I'm a bit wary of it due to it being a tie-in...the concern being that it'd be fairly shallow.

    The Serenity RPG is, as Hahnsoo said, based on the Cortex game system. The Cortex system was used wonderfully well in the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game which did a really nice job of capturing the comic book feel.

    While I like it and it's cool it is the exact opposite of something like the 40k games. The 40k games are kinda simulation-y. To do a certain thing will always involve the same rolls of the same skills. Cortex is more narrative-y, the same action could be resolved in a number of different ways depending on the hows and whys of it being done. There is a big difference there and people can definitely like one over the other.

    For a horrible metaphor the simulation-y games are more like having expanded options for a board game while the narrative-y games are more like putting someway to resolve conflicts on Cowboys and Indians.

    Star Wars is probably the best suggestion for a middle of the road suggestion. The version called SAGA is basically D&D rules but IN SPAAAAACE!!!! The new stuff (Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion) put out by Fantasy Flight is more narrative-y but I think is still a little simulation-y. That last bit is totally second hand though. Take it with a big grain of salt.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • CelestialBadgerCelestialBadger Registered User regular
    Try Fading Suns. (Not the D20 version - it sucks.) It's a game set in a dying galactic empire. It's not grimdark - it's more a "faded grandeur" sort of thing. Like "Dune". The rules are simple but idiosyncratic - well matched to the setting.

  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    Shadowrun

  • XixXix Miami/LosAngeles/MoscowRegistered User regular
    Paranoia

  • WassermeloneWassermelone Registered User regular
    Xix wrote: »
    Paranoia

    Im not sure this is a good suggestion for a group that wants a scifi setting with hope :|

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Fantasy Flight's new Star Wars system is great. Edge of the Empire is basically Star Wars Firefly edition, where all the players are smugglers or outlaws living on the fringe systems trying to put together enough jobs to keep their ship running and their bellies full.

  • Rear Admiral ChocoRear Admiral Choco I wanna be an owl, Jerry! Owl York CityRegistered User regular
    Rogue Trader's got a way more hopeful feel to it. Honestly when I run 40k RPGs (they're my favourite series, basically) I tend not to play up the hopeless aspect of it, if only because it's tiring and kind of a shit part of the setting. I usually just go for a tone not unlike Dan Abnett's books, where ultimately yes, the galaxy is trying to kill you, but your superiors will be fairly reasonable. Think like Ravenor, Eisenhorn, or even Ibram Gaunt, the commissar who rarely executes his guardsmen. If you're going full grimdark then yeah, I can see how a player's going to be frustrated, but it's not the only way to go.

    If you go Star Wars, I'd really heavily suggest trying Edge of the Empire, if only because its dice system sounds really interesting whereas Star Wars Saga Edition just kinda fell flat with my group. We gave it our best, but it kind of falls apart the way d20 Modern does in comparison to D&D, and force-users are predictably overpowered. I'm also biased that way because Edge of the Empire focuses on characters that are about on the level of a smuggler, and smugglers are just the best.

  • NWKNWK Registered User regular
    Hahnsoo1 wrote: »
    Serenity RPG based on Cortex mechanics (one of the first iterations of Cortex, in fact), and it was generally well-received when it came out a while back. Cortex is pretty rules-light, which may be ideal for your group (who is just starting out). They are making a new version of it called the "Firefly Role Playing Game" (simple, eh?), which should be coming out soon, but all the classic Serenity RPG stuff should be fine.

    Star Wars: Edge of the Empire has been pretty popular lately. It uses special dice (which should be supported by roll20), but it's pretty easy to pick up.

    For crunchier fare, there's Eclipse Phase, but be prepared to read a LOT of rules for that one. Not as easy to pick up.

    When you say Science Fiction, do you mean only "space exploration and space opera"? Or are you looking for near-future, transhuman, and/or cyberpunk things, too? What sort of settings in film and TV and other media appeal to you? Or do you simply want something that isn't sword and sorcery? (Super Hero RPGs are pretty fun, too, as are other settings like the Old West or Pirates)

    Also, do you like "crunchy" combat? Which is to say, do you like to run combat simulations (like a video game, with hard stats that govern actions) or do you prefer to have more improvised scenes instead of combat (like improv acting or LARPing, less stats and more description)? There are games that cut out the "crunch" entirely, but they tend to be less satisfying for folks who want to build up combat monsters and fight against NPCs. There are also games that are heavy on the simulationist stuff that do not appeal to folks who want to "just wing it" without worrying about rolling dice.

    When I say Scifi, I mean all of those things. Doesn't have to be space exploration, can be planet bound (like the DH campaign is). Near-future/cyberpunk stuff is also all good. I can ask the other players for settings they really like, but as I said before Firefly is definitely one of them. I personally don't think I'd really be into Old West/Pirates but the others might be, I'll ask.

    re: crunchy combat, I think so yeah. I mean like others have said Dark Heresy is all about the dicerolls and we're okay with that. It's cool and it provides a nice framework for us/the GM to tell the story about how we succeed/fail at stuff.
    Rogue Trader's got a way more hopeful feel to it. Honestly when I run 40k RPGs (they're my favourite series, basically) I tend not to play up the hopeless aspect of it, if only because it's tiring and kind of a shit part of the setting. I usually just go for a tone not unlike Dan Abnett's books, where ultimately yes, the galaxy is trying to kill you, but your superiors will be fairly reasonable. Think like Ravenor, Eisenhorn, or even Ibram Gaunt, the commissar who rarely executes his guardsmen. If you're going full grimdark then yeah, I can see how a player's going to be frustrated, but it's not the only way to go.

    If you go Star Wars, I'd really heavily suggest trying Edge of the Empire, if only because its dice system sounds really interesting whereas Star Wars Saga Edition just kinda fell flat with my group. We gave it our best, but it kind of falls apart the way d20 Modern does in comparison to D&D, and force-users are predictably overpowered. I'm also biased that way because Edge of the Empire focuses on characters that are about on the level of a smuggler, and smugglers are just the best.

    Yeah, that was the original idea behind us trying out RT because we'd be less (or not at all) beholden to the Imperium and could go have adventures in spaaaaace! I know what you mean about the different view on the tone of the universe, I've read all the Ravenor/Eisenhorn/Gaunt's Ghosts books and enjoyed them a lot. We didn't even go full grimdark and hopeless though. I think the issue was compounded by my friend choosing a Techpriest, which I think is a fairly challenging first character to play, especially for someone new to the lore. So she wasn't all too sure about what she could and couldn't do. When I explained how most tech works in the universe, how it's largely ritualistic and not well understood, that was a turn-off.

    The idea of characters who aren't very good at their jobs/have a certain level of ignorance baked in doesn't appeal to her. Which I get.

    I'll see what people think about the Star Wars games. I saw that Edge of the Empire uses custom dice, can that work with roll20?

    Steam GW2: Silas.5762
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    Star Wars Saga Edition is a pretty damn good version of D&D in Spaaaaace, Eclipse Phase is fantastic if you want to run into far-out sci-fi conceptual transhumanist territory, and then Shadowrun isn't really space adventures but it is future heist action with fantasy twists, so it's pretty fun.

    No personal experience with Edge of the Empire, though I've heard it's good.

  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    I'm a big fan of Shadowrun.

  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    I'll second any recommendations for Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. It's a neat rule systen that really encourages narrative play. Skill checks are success / fail, but with the advantage / setback system, you can have bad things happen on a successful check, or good things on a failed check, it's up to you and the GM to describe what happened (I shoot at the Stormtrooper and miss, but the blaster bolt hits a nearby vent that releases a burst of steam, forcing the Stormtrooper to move from his defensive position).

    Though I like the special dice, I do acknowledge that it is an extra cost to play. However, the rulebook contains a table so you can use regular dice (if you don't mind the extra mental effort) and there's a free app for Android phones for dice rolling.

    My group has been having a lot of fun with it. It's a fun system and it's Star Wars, so it's pretty great.

  • Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    I've been running Shadowrun for the majority of my lifetime. I think I have around 23 years of playing Pen and Paper Shadowrun (through all 5 editions). It is my go-to RPG and I love it to death. But I would NOT recommend Shadowrun for a new group of roleplayers who are just starting out, unless you have an experienced GM or player who can walk you through character creation and the flow of a run. Too often, it gets bogged down in the planning stage of the run or in the combat, and you really need a competent GM who can keep things going and get everyone involved.

    There are various roll20 scripts for Edge of the Empire, so it is supported to various degrees.

    But really, Serenity RPG should be fine, if you all like Firefly. It's not heavily crunch-based, but it is light on the rules and the dice do matter when it comes to conflict resolution.

    Another suggestion would be Diaspora, which is a FATE-based system.

    There's also the great granddaddy of all sci-fi spacefaring RPGs, Traveller. The new Traveller Core Rule book (2008) has condensed and simplified the rules. It is notable in that character creation is actually a narrative story (set by various tables in the book), where you accumulate skills as your character is squeezed through several careers/histories.

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  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    Holy shit they still make Traveller?

  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Can you still die in character creation?

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    Character creation was like... a whole game all by itself. We used to bastardize Traveller's creation rules for other games like Star Frontiers just because they were so fun.

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