Best system for Science Fantasy Space Opera?

[Mr.Sandman]

Hi, if this is the wrong area for this I am sorry, please move it to the correct.

Greetings. I am looking to run a science fantasy solo game with my soon-to-be wife and am wondering which system would be best. I am looking for a system that makes it easy to create custom ships and races, so systems heavily based in existing settings, (ie. Star Wars or Trek) are out as I am not so good at changing things up and keeping them balanced. The world has both science and technology running side by side, (chief medical officer is also ships wizard) and most systems I have found focus on one or the other, except for highly complicated ones like GURPS. Do you have any suggestions?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Mutants and Masterminds might work well. It doesn't quite have rules for custom ships, but it's easy enough to figure out that they're built pretty much like characters (possibly also with some of the Headquarters rules).

I made a Dresden Files hack designed for space opera. It really only uses that system for the magic psionic rules, so it's quite playable with only open-source material. I've been running it for a while now, and it works OK. Don't try to do blueprints for enemy ships, though- that takes way too long.

d6 Space is a thing, though I've got no idea how it plays.

[Scots Dragon]

d6 Space is the best one that I personally know of. It's a system-neutral version of the original Star Wars roleplaying game, and has many of the same rules and concepts. And it would be remarkably easy to use that in conjunction with d6 Fantasy.

Beyond that there's also True20, which has rules for space opera and fantasy which would be remarkably easy to merge.

On the maybe-a-bit-too-far end, there's d20 Future which would be easy enough to co-adapt into working alongside Pathfinder.

[Duck Twacy]

Agree with d6 Space. Also Serenity, Savage Worlds and FATE.

[Mr.Sandman]

Greetings. Thank you for your assistance.

M&M is usually my go to system, but she isn't much of a fan. I am also involved in quite a few games in it both in person and in the atomic think tank and might start confusing things in different games, which I am prone to. D6 seems popular, so I will probably look into that too, but how balanced in stuff in D20 Modern compared to Pathfinder?

[Kilbourne]

D6 seems popular, so I will probably look into that too, but how balanced in stuff in D20 Modern compared to Pathfinder?

Can of worms, here.

D20 Modern is not Pathfinder, even though they share the same d20 chassis. I'd recommend not asking for balance issues between the two, but instead:

How well are the d20 Modern classes balanced against one another?

And as for that, I don't know.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Traveller, GURPS, and Eclipse Phase, if you can work it.

[Beleriphon]

Can of worms, here.

D20 Modern is not Pathfinder, even though they share the same d20 chassis. I'd recommend not asking for balance issues between the two, but instead:


And as for that, I don't know.

How balanced are d20 Modern classes against each other? Pretty well balanced, at least the basic classes at any rate. Advanced classes slightly less so, but that tends to crop up in d20 Future stuff since there are some advanced classes that don't actually do much.

Just so you're aware d20 Modern has six basic classes that are named after each of the stats. So you have a Strong Hero, a Quick Hero (dexterity), Tough Hero, etc. They get talents that focus on that classes particular niche. Advanced classes are more like traditional D&D class (soldier, martial artist, infiltrator, etc.). Most advanced classes can be taken by level five without much effort, especially if its one that is an extension of the basic class. Some of the d20 Modern books expand with prestige classes and do the kind of stuff you'd see with D&D prestige classes.

[Mr.Sandman]

Would it be best to Ghestalt then? Make, say, a dexterous hero/ranger for the ships pilot? Or should I stick with pure modern classes and make spellcasting a feat? Or take the classes from PF and the ship stats from Modern and try to just make them fit?

[Beleriphon]

Would it be best to Ghestalt then? Make, say, a dexterous hero/ranger for the ships pilot? Or should I stick with pure modern classes and make spellcasting a feat? Or take the classes from PF and the ship stats from Modern and try to just make them fit?

d20 Modern has two prestige classes in Urban Arcana. They mimic the wizard and cleric respectively, although the advanced classes for mage and acolyte in the core rules work fine. So yes, taking more than one basic class is perfectly acceptable and encouraged. There should be some other options to give lower level characters spells, but there aren't many for a first level character.

The other nice thing is that he background rules allow a character to have extra trained skills based on their background in addition to the skills from the classes they choose. So you can have a Fast and a Smart hero both be Police Officers with the associated trained skill from the background but otherwise be a beat cop and a forensics guy.

If you want to combine magic and space you should at least look at d20 Future and Urban Arcana. The first is kind of the space opera stuff while the later is urban fantasy in the style of Dresden Files. Its perfectly easy to smash the two together.

[ScubaGoomba]

It's also worth noting that, in d20 Modern, the Base Classes only have 10 levels because the game is built around multi-classing. The intent is that all characters will have a sampling of different classes and most NPCs in the back are cross-class (Smart/Charismatic for politicians, Tough/Strong for cops, etc.). That said, gestalt is not the way to handle d20 Modern due to this intentional design choice.

[Mr.Sandman]

Advanced classes sound like they would come later. Is there any way to start with magic?

[Beleriphon]

Advanced classes sound like they would come later. Is there any way to start with magic?

You can take advanced classes as your 6th level at the earliest (in most cases). Urban Arcana includes two feats that allow characters to have some minor magic spells at first level. The spells are functionally cantrips of either the arcane or divine type. It also adds some backgrounds that provide the feats for free in addition to the other background benefits.

The advanced classes include shadowjack (think super hacker) and techno-mage (think Fireball via email).

[Jeraa]

You can take advanced classes as your 6th level at the earliest (in most cases).

Every advanced class in the core book,d20 Future, and Urban Arcana can have its prerequisites met at 3rd level, so you can take the first level in them at 4th.

[Beleriphon]

Every advanced class in the core book can have its prerequisites met at 3rd level, so you can take the first level in them at 4th.

Whoops, I forgot that the max level on skills is level + 3.

[Rhynn]

Traveller is an old classic. It's not as Science Fantasy as some, but it's fairly so... psionic powers, space empires, etc.

Stars Without Number is a great one - it's an OD&D retroclone that plays like old-school Traveller, and has awesome tools for creating fast, easy, and robust sandboxes. The setting is pretty open - there's some vague detail, but not very much, and it's easily reworked. All the actual detail in play is up to you.

Fading Suns is awesome. It's kind of Dune mashed with Warhammer 40K, but more medieval than either. There's miracles, psionics, cybernetics, aliens of various stripes, and noble houses and guilds struggling for supremacy in a disintegrating empire built on the ruins of a magnificent republic. All high technology (space ships) is old and refitted at best, and much (AI, robots) is heretical and banned by Church law.

[Vknight]

Wild Talents.
Just limit the group to the sci-fi in your opera you want available.
Also if you don't want to be unfair towards them on points you can build a ship for them easy and say all the various abilities it has are keyed off of various skills.
Versatility to handle the techie with 4 cyber tentacles and the android with monofilament blades in her arms.
Since you don't have to do the supers setting in the back that is good.
A lot of the pre-made powers are easy to use and can be modified over for other uses. Telekinesis could be Biotics

Mutants & Masterminds works too but its harder I feel to make a really fun/unique character compared to Wild Talents