Space fantasy

[Pantler]

I'm looking for a space fantasy RPG system, something along the lines of Spelljammer. Not science-fiction with fantasy elements, more like Treasure Planet than Star Wars. Any suggestions?

[Kurald Galain]

I'm looking for a space fantasy RPG system, something along the lines of Spelljammer. Not science-fiction with fantasy elements, more like Treasure Planet than Star Wars. Any suggestions?

Serenity...

[bosssmiley]

• Encounter Critical
• Dragonstar
• Hellas (Greek myth in spaaaaace!)
• Fading Suns
• Rolemaster Dark Space

Or kitbash d20 Modern/Future and D&D together...

[Tiki Snakes]

If you want it heavy on the Fantasy, just go with a fantasy RP system and re-fluff where needed. Really, minimal homebrewing required even, just switch up the setting and you're there, really.

Or is there anything in particular you need to model?

[Jayabalard]

Could be done fairly easily using GURPS

[hamlet]

D20Modern/Future with magic and psionics added in will work well.

Alternity can do it, but you'll be relying heavily on FX (magic and superpowers) and Psionics and rejiggering something that is, while ostensibly universal, typically geared towards modern and far future type campaigns. It'll do it though, and with some work, it'll do it very well.

Serenity won't work well since, for the most part if you ignore the Big Damn Movie, it is a relatively hard Science Fiction setting rather than science fantasy.

AD&D 2e SpellJammer is precisely what your looking for, but with a pirate slant to it.

Hero system can do it, but you'll need a degree in calculus.

Savage World was born for this kind of thing. I think there's even a setting book for that out there in print if you're looking for that kind of stuff.

AD&D also had the Night of the Comet boxed set which played with this stuff. It's a decent starting point for ideas and base mechanics.

Palladium's Rifts and FRPG books are perfect for this as well. Just strip out all the story and setting bits you don't want and keep the rules you do. A very nice framework the build on if you're creative.

EDIT: Forgot Arduin in any of its incarnations, but especially the later ones.

[Random832]

A start on a Spelljammer 3e conversion notes

[toddex]

Serenity...

So the man asks for a more fantasy based setting and you give him a heavy scifi setting lmfao ya fan boy!


Why not just read the spelljammer stuff and adapt it for your needs?

[TheThan]

I was thinking of starting a thread like this too probably because I stayed up late and watched Heavy metal 2000 last night. Low and behold I find a thread about the very subject already up on the forums.

I think a good solid freeform game would suffice. You just need to have good players and Gm to not screw it up. However I realize that most people like their systems so I’m going to throw out a mishmash of D20 modern/future with crap ton of FX stuff thrown in there, you know, magic, psionics etc.

Or you could easily convert star wars saga edition over to that. Its got ray guns, magic/psionics (the force) and sword fighting already done for you.

[Pantler]

Could be done fairly easily using GURPS

Any specific sourcebook you have in mind?

Why not just read the spelljammer stuff and adapt it for your needs?

Spelljammer seems almost perfect... But it's about as dead as a doornail, and the 2nd Ed rules make it unplayable for me. I was hoping there was something similar to it, but playable without all the work needed to update it.

[wormwood]

Savage World was born for this kind of thing. I think there's even a setting book for that out there in print if you're looking for that kind of stuff.

Seconded. Savage Worlds is easy to learn, quick to play, and already has some fluff for the type of thing you want.

Of course, if you're looking for something very crunch-heavy, this might not be your thing.

[bosssmiley]

Spelljammer seems almost perfect... But it's about as dead as a doornail, and the 2nd Ed rules make it unplayable for me. I was hoping there was something similar to it, but playable without all the work needed to update it.

What rules? Spelljammer was so simple and rules-light you can bolt it onto almost any version of D&D as is. Gravity? Air envelopes? Ships? Firearms? Helms? Andy Collins covered them all for 3E in about 30 pages in Polyhedron #150 (the flipside of Dungeon #92).

• Travel times used simple die rolls (travel time: 1d6+1 days) or - if you wanted more complexity - orbital tracks and counting on your fingers.
• The tactical ship-to-ship combat was just an upscaled version of D&D combat (Init, Move, Fire, Melee, Cast).
• The Phlogiston (D&D hyperspace) was easily refereed (expose a flame; you die in a massive explosion).

[Jayabalard]

Any specific sourcebook you have in mind?

With mashups like that (space fantasy) you can use all kinds of stuff: Space, Spaceships, Fantasy, Magic, Powers, Martial Arts, and Swashbuckers would all be appropriate. It'd be a fair bit of work on the GM to pull all of that into a usable game but you might be able to get precisely what you're looking for that way.

There are unofficial fan made books out there too; I can't say how good GURPS Spelljammer is in particular, but someone has gone through and put together a bit of a conversion to play Spelljammer with GURPS. After glancing through it, I'd say that it assumes that you're pretty familiar with both GURPS and SJ already.

[Lupy]

I'll second Star Wars Saga, it's a good system with any splatbook you could ever need/want, and the rules really lend themselves to it. D&D 4e magic would probably work well with Saga if you scale up the damage...

It can be done.

[mikeejimbo]

With mashups like that (space fantasy) you can use all kinds of stuff: Space, Spaceships, Fantasy, Magic, Powers, Martial Arts, and Swashbuckers would all be appropriate. It'd be a fair bit of work on the GM to pull all of that into a usable game but you might be able to get precisely what you're looking for that way.

This, and: Low-Tech (4e isn't out yet, though), maybe High-Tech/Ultra-Tech and reflavor items to use magic, maybe even Bio-Tech, similarly. Thaumatology if you're interested in changing the magic system, any sort of worldbook for inspiration.

Oh, and Steampunk. Can't go wrong with a bit of Steampunk into your campaign.

[Otogi]

Make a D&D dungeon in a spaceship. Case closed, Millertime.

[Waspinator]

What rules? Spelljammer was so simple and rules-light you can bolt it onto almost any version of D&D as is. Gravity? Air envelopes? Ships? Firearms? Helms? Andy Collins covered them all for 3E in about 30 pages in Polyhedron #150 (the flipside of Dungeon #92).

• Travel times used simple die rolls (travel time: 1d6+1 days) or - if you wanted more complexity - orbital tracks and counting on your fingers.
• The tactical ship-to-ship combat was just an upscaled version of D&D combat (Init, Move, Fire, Melee, Cast).
• The Phlogiston (D&D hyperspace) was easily refereed (expose a flame; you die in a massive explosion).

That issue works. There's also Aether and Flux:
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10117.phtml
Or you can use this Airships book and just say that they can fly into space:
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10118.phtml

There is also Dragonstar, which is a 3E space/fantasy setting, but it leans a bit more towards the sci-fi side of things than "sailing ships in space".