Looking for a sci fi game system recommendation

[Thimblewolf]

Hi, I'm new to the forums so I hope I'm posting this in the right place...

I've been trying to get a family DnD game going, and we've decided that we'd rather run a sci fi game. I've billed it to them as a sort of "firefly meets doctor who" type thing. Swashbuckling, surreal and full of weird random adventures with little focus on physics and that sort of thing.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good game system. GURPS seems like an obvious choice, but I wouldn't mind finding something with a little more flair. Also, possibly D20 based. The system needs to be easy to add in homebrew content and not too, too complicated. We were playing DnD 5e before and that was a good fit learning curve wise.

[ngilop]

Alternity is a great system, but not a very popular one. I blame that it came at the end of TSRs life.

Traveller is good as is Stars without number.. I think there is a d20 version of Traveller as well.

there is also the firefly AND serenity RPGs that are d20 based.

[Thimblewolf]

thanks! I'll check those out!

[SunderedWorldDM]

I would recommend the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game Cubicle 7 has been making! Despite it being a licensed game, the mechanics are SUPER portable to other worlds. Character creation is done by picking traits and buying stat points with a pool, so there's no classes to get locked into- you can play whatever you want. The real gem of the system, though, besides its easy rules and customizability, is its central mechanic- "story points."

Story points allow you to get extra dice to roll, soak injuries, and even alter the plot, with GM permission. It's these points that make the game feel so fast, fun, and give the players a lot of say in where the plot goes- one of the ways you can use them is to spend them in order to ask the DM a question or to get a hint as to where the story heads next. If you're looking for a system that gives the players a lot of storytelling agency, this is the one.

Easy to learn? Absolutely! I've recently started a campaign, and the players had the rules pretty much down pat within the first session. Easy to homebrew? You got it! If you find the need to homebrew (which you might not, given how comprehensive the game is right off the bat), creating new Traits and Gadgets is super easy! Physics-lite, swashbuckling, and surreal? Absolutely! Not d20? Yes indeed! This is a 2d6 system- If I recall, they call it the Vortex system. I think this system may be a great fit for you and the game you want to run!

The one thing you might have to much with, though, are the combat and chase rules- the game is really elegant and compelling until you get here, where the streamlined rules sort of fall apart into more granular subsystems that, in my opinion, don't really mesh will with the rest of the system and are difficult to run. I would recommend using these alternate rules myself- I've been using something pretty close to these, and they've worked like a charm!

TL;DR, The Doctor Who Roleplaying Game by Cubicle 7 is a 2d6 system reminiscent of Powered by the Apocalypse, and checks off most every box you've outlined! I think this may just be the game you're looking for.

[farothel]

I can second Alternity. I think you can get all the books on DriveThruRPG these days and while character creation isn't all that easy, once you start playing it is.

[Kaptin Keen]

Since someone needs to, I'll just point out the obvious: Starfinder, Shadowrun, Dark Heresy.

For a family friendly experience, perhaps Starfinder is most obvious =)

[LordCdrMilitant]

The Warhammer 40k RPG's are very warhammer. If you're not looking for very warhammer, they're probably not your best bet, but they are very good.

I would recommend Traveller for a generic sci-fi RPG to play. It's one of my favorite games for the purpose, and fits the "small crew wandering the stars" thing very well.

[Segev]

Starfinder is definitely d20, though you'll want to look at its classes and make sure it can tell the kind of stories you want.

I'm a big fan of BESM 3e. It's billed as an anime role-playing game, but is pretty generic, and building characters is fairly easy. And since anime has a lot of sci-fi in it, sci-fi is pretty easy to achieve with it.

[2D8HP]

1977 rules Traveller was great, from looking at it the current version looks much the same.

[Batcathat]

A good, if somewhat obscure, option might be Coriolis (it's a Swedish game but there's an English version of it). It sort of reminded me of Firefly but with a Middle Eastern instead of Chinese influence on the culture.

[Malphegor]

I'll recommend Starfinder. It's d20 system, an offshoot of Pathfinder, and is pretty slick in its design, the art is very much of the Stellaris/Mass Effect style.

I would recommend you cannibalise what you can from the also good but 3.0 based space d20 system game Dragonstar, because there's some really cool races in that that cover a few niches that the Starfinder ones don't necessarily (Starfinder tends to give most races one cool thing they can do which naturally results in you picking a complementary class, but it also feels a lot less important than most d20 stuff I've seen. Which allows for odd races like a nose shaped slug that rolls around on a ball.)

[Ninja_Prawn]

If you're already familiar with 5e D&D, we have written a 300-page sci-fi conversion/supplement that draws heavily on things like Firefly, Star Wars, etc. You can get it in hardcover, pdf, or both. Obviously it's not a dedicated sci-fi system, but we think it's pretty solid.

[daryen]

Neither of these are d20, but I'll recommend Traveller, whether the official Mongoose version, or the clone Cepheus Engine, or Tiny Frontiers. Traveller is a more traditional skills based system, while Tiny Frontiers is a very rules-light system. Both are great fun.

[Pauly]

If you want to go steampunk, Space 1889 is really good. You can certainly fit your starting premise into it. Playing Victorian era heroes always allows the players to ham it up and makes for fun gaming.

[Mutazoia]

I'll just throw a few out:

• WEG's Star Wars (or the open D6 generic rules)
• GURPS Space (or Transhuman or both)
• Albedo (Furries in Space)
• Serenity (Firefly)
• Star Trek (Pick a version)
• Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century (TSR)
• Dune (There's even a new one in development)
• Eclipse Phase
• Gamma World
• Jovian Chronicles

I tried to list those that haven't already received mention. For what you have pitched as your basic concept, I would probably lean more towards a generic system, such as GURPS. With the Space splat and the Time Travel splat, you could put together something right up your prospective alley.

[LibraryOgre]

Obligatory Savage Worlds mention. Not d20 based, but I find it easy to get a handle on, and really easy to make up content for. I've used it for Star Wars, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, and even extemporized WW2 and Fantasy settings (the dwarves had summoned demons, destroying their civilization, leaving a dwarven wizard who was studying air magic with the bird-people as a survivor). It can be deadly, though.

[PintoTown]

If it’s for your family, I highly recommend Tiny Frontiers: Revised by Gallant Knight Games. It’s the sci fi version of their Tiny Ruleset (Tiny Dungeon, Tiny Supers), that leans towards the epic cinematic side of things. It’s a relatively minimalist system with real ease of play but surprising character depth and tactical options. I’m no longer a fan of too much crunch or just straight up storytelling, so for me these rules hit a sweet spot. They’ve got something for most any type of role player.

[Firest Kathon]

If you're looking for a rules-light system, Fudge may be up your street. I enjoyed playing with the Now Playing ruleset, which gives suggestions for playing a TV-series style game.

A system that fits your request for "Swashbuckling, surreal and full of weird random adventures with little focus on physics and that sort of thing" very well is 7th Sea. However, the default setting is Napoleon-era world + magic, so you would need to homebrew basically everything outside the basic rules.

[Deatch]

Our group is currently using Planet Mercenary RPG. Two years so far.

The action is fast paced and can be deadly. It has a mechanic for introducing extra random complications (mayhem cards) which has lead to some pretty funny moments.

[ForzaFiori]

I liked Eclipse Phase, the few times I've played it. I haven't played 2nd edition though - This was several years ago. I think Eclipse Phase was actually free at the time, which is why we used it.

I also have a copy of Planet Mercenary, but have not yet had the opportunity to play it. I'm hoping maybe with my current group I'll get to. It looks amazing though, and the Schlock Mercenary (the webcomic it's based off of) is spectacular, so I have high hopes for it.

[Aotrs Commander]

I feel like I have to mention Spacemaster, out of loyalty, despite the fact that it likely doesn't particularly fit the OP's criterions, is mostly available on PDF only (apart from the bits they haven't been able to re-print, and thu only from amazon or something if you're lucky or seem to be able to find with a google search e.g. SmaCo I, RmCo II, arguebly and ironically two most important companions in RM2/SM2...) and if fairly extensive to get the best out of.


It has really cool criticals, though.

[Onos]

Lancer is worth checking out, it's sort of Titanfall meets d&d. Spaceships, mech suits and lasers, what more could you want?
It's slightly crunchier than 5e for combat, but any out-of-mech stuff is handled with a very slick narrative style.

[EggKookoo]

I'm running an Eberron campaign with a group of players who prefer SF to traditional fantasy. We're getting quite a bit of mileage out of playing up magic-as-superscience, planes as parallel universes (or "pocket dimensions"), and celestial otherworldly types as aliens. It works for the most part. The only fantasy-esque element I needed to homebrew up was the existence of souls and the nature of the afterlife, since some magic hangs off that.

I think it depends on what your gang is looking for in their SF.

[Wraith]

Obligatory Savage Worlds mention.

I'll second this. Savage Worlds is a "generic" system in that you can run pretty much anything, fantasy or sci-fi. It's quite easy to learn, lets you build a variety of different characters from various sources, and tries to be more cinematic rather than get held up on the minutiae of the rules. Also notable because the main rule book contains stats for enemies which include robots and dinosaurs right next to each other, so you really can go whever you want and fight something appropriate.

[EggKookoo]

If you're already familiar with 5e D&D, we have written a 300-page sci-fi conversion/supplement that draws heavily on things like Firefly, Star Wars, etc. You can get it in hardcover, pdf, or both. Obviously it's not a dedicated sci-fi system, but we think it's pretty solid.

I gotta say, this looks gorgeous.

[pwykersotz]

Probably not quite what you're looking for based on the fact you mentioned GURPS, but Lasers and Feelings is pretty great. It's a 1-page rpg.
http://onesevendesign.com/lasers_and_feelings_rpg.pdf

[NulliusinVerba]

Hi, I'm new to the forums so I hope I'm posting this in the right place...

I've been trying to get a family DnD game going, and we've decided that we'd rather run a sci fi game. I've billed it to them as a sort of "firefly meets doctor who" type thing. Swashbuckling, surreal and full of weird random adventures with little focus on physics and that sort of thing.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good game system. GURPS seems like an obvious choice, but I wouldn't mind finding something with a little more flair. Also, possibly D20 based. The system needs to be easy to add in homebrew content and not too, too complicated. We were playing DnD 5e before and that was a good fit learning curve wise.

If you want to play sort of weird space opera sci-fi with a Firefly meets Doctor Who vibe with a fairly easy mechanical learning curve, then I will suggest that you look no further than Scum and Villainy, the Forged in the Dark supplement of Blades in the Dark (using the Powered by the Apocalypse ruleset).

The tagline is "Unwise deals. Blaster fights. High adventure among the stars." Seriously, this game fits your concept pretty much like a glove.

Basically, you play a ragtag group of space explorers in a ship out in the black, exploring the strange worlds and visiting outlandish aliens and mystics among the stars. The game's designers listed Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy as major inspirations for the game. It's remarkably easy to learn, with a 13+ age on it. It's not d20 based, you only need d6s in order to play, and once you get a handle on the rules it's really exciting. It isn't as dark as Blades either, allowing for the kind of Doctor Who space exploration that you want.