Alistair Reynolds/Revelation Space RPG?

[The Grue]

Could it be done?

Could an existing system be adapted easily, or would it require extensive houseruling? Which existing system would work best, if any?

What hurdles and difficulties would relativistic effects present to an RPG? How could they be dealt with?

Does such a game have a potential niche here on GitP?

Discuss.

[The Grue]

Alternatively, read the thread and say nothing.

[Eldan]

Well, I'd leap at any chance to Play a Conjoined. I just can't think of a good System for it.

Relativistic effects wouldn't even be much of a problem, I think, unless you try having a space battle at those speeds. Time is already pretty fluent in RPGs.

[The Grue]

I was thinking more of the larger-scale effects on the campaign itself, than smaller implications easily seen by the players. If the focus of the story was aboard a lighthugger, leaving a given star system might not be something a party would do lightly(pardon the pun). Subjective years of shiptime between destinations, especially with ready access to reefersleep, would of be a nonissue for the players themselves unless you had one Volyova wannabe who spends the majority of the trip awake, but a party would be well advised to wrap up any business they had dirtside before heading outsystem. There'd be no garuntee their NPC contacts would still be alive by the time they made the round trip.

In a sense, there's no coming back to a star system; once you've left, you've left for good. The geography and urban layouts are unlikely to change, but the politics and the people can change a lot in the subjective decades you'd be away.

Of course now that I think about it, the long-term futility of making connections and interacting with the natives is exactly why Ultras have their reputation for aloof detachment.

Still drawing a blank on what system to adapt, though. WH40K has a similar asthetic and many of the same set pieces so Rogue Trader is one possibility. And then there's Shadowrun for its comprehensive treatment of cybernetics. On the other hand something bare-bones like Cortex or GURPS might be a better choice, since whatever you picked you'd need to make up a lot of it along the way.

[Eldan]

You want something with the possiblity for really high level technology. Shadowrun and 40k, I think, don't go far enough. Now, most tech dirtsiders will see isn't that amazing. But between the Ultras and even early-year Conjoiners, almost anything in Shadowrun looks primitive.

Eclipse Phase? I haven't played it, but what I heard of it sounds promising.

[Grinner]

Eclipse Phase? I haven't played it, but what I heard of it sounds promising.

I try to keep this link handy.

[Eldan]

Huh. I had no idea that you could get it for free.

[The Grue]

I hadn't even heard of this before.

Taking a look. There goes my afternoon I guess.

[The Grue]

Out if curiosity I did a google search for "revelation space rpg". Here's what came up as the first result.

The second result was this very thread.

[Eldan]

I can believe that. Woefully few people I know have even read the books.