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View Full Version : Favourite game for hard sci-fi in space?



Comet
2015-05-07, 02:53 PM
Not too particular about the exact definition of hard SF, just watched Interstellar again and want to take the players into the infinite darkness of space to bounce around in low gravity and think about how far away they are from everything they know.

Games I've looked at so far:

Traveller. Seems okay, though the default setting is perhaps a bit out there. Apparently it's very easily modified, though? I love the idea of generating characters through a lifepath.

2300AD. The setting seems pretty cool and there's a version of it that runs on the Traveller system.

Eclipse Phase. Amazing setting, never going to be able to teach it to players that haven't already read the book.

Stars Without Number. I like the setting and the GM minigame for generating events. Might not be the best choice for grounded sci-fi, since it's much more interested in D&D-like adventuring and hijinks with a thin coating of spacestuff on top.

What do you guys like? Traveller seems to be the closest to a 'default' sci-fi game that everyone has played, though I'm not knowledgeable enough about these things to know for sure.

JAL_1138
2015-05-07, 03:50 PM
Play Traveller and have your character die during character creation just so you can say you've done it. :smalltongue:

Eisenheim
2015-05-07, 05:16 PM
I don't know anything about the burning wheel system, but the setting for burning empires is a fantastic piece of Sci-fi.

McStabbington
2015-05-07, 05:26 PM
Battletech is about as ridiculous as you can go on the Mohs scale of sci-fi hardness. If you accept the three major game conceits of giant, way-too-tall mecha, really small, mech-installable fusion reactors and jumping through hyperspace, everything else about this game is as faithful to RL physics as you can get.

Just to give you an idea of how seriously Battletech fans take their commitment to hard sci-fi, I once asked the game designers whether a Dropship could mask its approach to a planet by vectoring its drive emissions in directions other than towards the planet, only for them to calculate how deeply into the X-Ray band the drive trails emissions of the dropship extend and show me the math. Basically, a dropship slowing on a 1-G deceleration is a bit like a pulsar going off in-system; no amount of vectoring will hide that kind of energy emission.

So, yeah, physics is serious business in that game.

Jeraa
2015-05-07, 05:47 PM
Play Traveller and have your character die during character creation just so you can say you've done it. :smalltongue:

Only if he plays the original printing of the original version of the game. Dying during character generation hasn't been part of the game for a very long time. (Well, to be fair, it still exists. But it is now an optional variant rule.)

Jorren
2015-05-07, 07:54 PM
Traveller will work for what you are looking for. I would dispense with the Third Imperium setting and either make your own or go with one of the lower TL ones like Clement Sector or Spica. I would recommend Mongoose Traveller, although Classic should work just fine.

Eclipse Phase doesn't particularly strike me as hard sci-fi, but is good particularly if you want to add a horror feel to your game.

Stars Without Number has some nice toolkits that will help you create your own setting if you are so inclined. I have no interest the class/level system that comes with it, but it is very well done and a good source for ideas.

Other games to consider: Diaspora is a hard sci-fi game unless you are averse to the FATE system. It also allows the players to get in on creating the setting.

Blue Planet is another game I have been told does hard sf well, although I have no direct experience with it.

My personal recommendation would be Mongoose Traveller with a setting of your own creation or a published one.

Jay R
2015-05-07, 08:23 PM
My favorite SF game was Star Hero.

Hero Systems is not everyone's cup or tea. If basic math in character creation annoys you, don't try it. But I had a great time with it.

Maglubiyet
2015-05-08, 06:50 PM
Only if he plays the original printing of the original version of the game. Dying during character generation hasn't been part of the game for a very long time. (Well, to be fair, it still exists. But it is now an optional variant rule.)

Aww, why'd they make it optional? That was the best part!

EDIT: Yeah, I'd go with Traveller for an easy-to-use/easy-to-learn system, unless you need to model really complex spaceship builds or something.

Jeraa
2015-05-08, 07:18 PM
Aww, why'd they make it optional? That was the best part!

You would have to ask the original author, Marc. It was removed as the default rule back in the late 70's/early 80's.

Lorsa
2015-05-12, 06:47 AM
I think you should go for Eclipse Phase. It's one of my favourite settings, and their business model is awesome. Also, their forum is a great place to discuss setting details.

Sith_Happens
2015-05-12, 07:26 AM
From what I've heard GURPS is pretty much the default for hard anything.