I'm feeling an urge to run a #ttrpg next semester, while I'm still on sabbatical and have the time to make this plausible.
Genre? Probably space opera or fantasy.
System? That's the question. I recently ran FATE and I think I want something a little crunchier, more on the "players face the challenge placed by the GM" end than "collaborative storytelling". I'm interested in a good pre-written adventure.
Candidates:
Savage Worlds. I like the level of detail, as well as the use of polyhedral dice, but the settings and adventures I've looked at (Seven Worlds, The Last Parsec) seem dry and vague.
GURPS. Maybe too heavy? The focused Dungeon Fantasy box is intriguing and has good reviews.
Traveller (Mongoose). Again, the adventures out there look very dry. It sounds like you might get through the first two Marches adventures without any combat. I'm not saying I want a mercenary campaign, but action/adventure works better than extended wandering.
D&D 5E. The obvious, easy answer, but overdone and a bit too Hasbro-y. All other things being equal, I prefer skills over classes.
Dungeon Crawl Classics. Fun to be had from the 0-level funnel and spell misfires, but the 1970s-era worldview is borderline problematic.
Nudge me, Mastodon!
@peterdrake FFG Star Wars and its derivative Genesys are fun systems that should do the space opera side well.
GURPS is very front-loaded - pick what bits you want, make characters and then it becomes very smooth. DF does some of that work for you in advance, but beware, it's very old-school in sensitivities. If that's your jam, it's good tho.
@peterdrake @nyrath My understanding is the Firefly RPG is pretty good, and even if you didn’t want to play in that specific universe the Cortex engine it uses might be suitable.
If you want crunchy space opera or fantasy, then you want either Starfinder or Pathfinder from Paizo! There's a rule or chart for everything and the systems are great. Highly recommend.
@chizeck Paizo's stuff is pretty and well-supported. I have the Starfinder book, but I might like my sci-fi slightly harder. The "D&D in space" vibe, right down to casting magic spells, doesn't feel right.
If I went straight-up fantasy, Pathfinder might be a better option than D&D.
That is fair enough! I was more thinking of the rule systems than the lore.
I'm playing 5e now, but played Pathfinder for years. 5e makes me crazy because there are so few rules and stats to be able to look up. I need data!
@chizeck @peterdrake
Something I've noticed over the years is that I very much prefer having a detailed rule even if I'm actual;y going to wing it at the table. Understanding the rule is what gives me a good feel for how things work and where the notable shifts are.
Exactly! You need a baseline to start from. I'm not even sure how much a gold piece is worth relative to dollars in d&d, let alone something more esoteric.
MCC? It's from Goodman Games as well but with more of an 80s world view. (Not much better, I know 😅).
The heaviness of GURPS can be greatly ameliorated by the GM, plus a couple of reminder checklists to the players about combat and skill checks.
And of course, it's insanely flexible, especially if your fantasy game turns out to actually be a space opera, or vice-versa.
@peterdrake Traveller is as combat heavy as you want it to be. The Reft adventures have some combat. Islands in the Rift is a good starter, and has both personal and starship combat, with the opportunity to add more if you want.
You might want to look into Diaspora by Evil Hat Games. It is based on FATE, but with added crunch. Has pretty realistic abstract rules for spaceship combat, military actions, and making game versions of scifi equipment. Also has rules for "social combat", which can be used for political campaigns, espionage, seduction, hostile corporate takeovers, interrogations, and whatnot.
Inspired by Traveller
If you use this TTRPG game, it is very important to do game session number zero. This is where the players create their characters (and relationships with other characters), the game universe, and the scenario. The players love it, and become emotionally invested in the campaign.
@nyrath I've played that once -- an intriguing system.
I've read reviews where the reviewer did session zero with their group. The group became so enamored of the worldbuilding they co-created that the wanted to use it in future game sessions.
*Even if they would play using a totally different TTRPG system*
Traveller can be a good option, but if you don't like it there's also M-Space (derived from Mythras Imperative, a D100 ruleset):
@peterdrake Star Wars D6 was an excellent system for running Star Wars. Relatively light, but with enough meat to make the rules mean something. More than capable of running combat heavy action stuff if you want it, but also capable of more subtle games.
D6 Space was a spin-off when West End Games lost the Star Wars license, and is a generic version of the system, so may fit if you're looking to do space opera. There are also fantasy and pulp versions of the system.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/20447/D6-Space?
@peterdrake I'm running pf2 at the moment and liking it a lot but it does mean a lot of investment in attention. Also not flexible with genre.
If I was going to run a sci-fi game nowadays I would probably use SWN. Not particularly space opera but does have room for heroic characters. There is Cypher as well which has a sci-fi sourcebook and is more heroic? But if you want a built in setting it may not be what you want.
@peterdrake for space opera, Scum & Villainy is great: a sci-fi take on Blades in the Dark, with its own setting that feels like a mash up of Firefly and Star Wars.
Fading Suns is a mix of fantasy and space opera in a new Dark Ages after humanity spreads among the stars. (I liked the old 2nd edition.)
Aeon: Trinity is pretty great, though I only played the old one. The current edition reads well!
And I’m keen to try Farflung, a light-heartedweird sci-fi using Powered by the Apocalypse rules.
@benmckenzie I have Scum & Villainy, but haven't played it. The notion is intriguing, but after FATE I'm looking for something crunchier. S&V probably isn't it, given that the index has no entry for "combat" and the "conflicts" section just has two sub-entries for "example of avoiding" and "PC vs PC".
I hadn't really explored the others -- thanks!
@peterdrake it’s crunchy in other ways, but not, it’s true, in terms of combat, which uses the same system as everything else. If that’s what you’re after then Aeon: Trinity might be more your style, or even Starfinder, though I’d probably wait for the second edition of that one.
@peterdrake hey, not sure if you’re familiar with basic role playing system by Chaosium. It runs Call of Cthulhu but the rules are very adaptable. I’m pretty sure you can get the system separately.