So, I'm looking into options for a next campaign to run, and I think I want to do something in the vein of the Dying Earth genre. I.e., a setting wherein science fiction civilization has risen and fallen (perhaps several times), with the result that the world has collapsed back into something more like a fantasy setting, but with a sort of underlying substratum of sci-fi. As of this moment, my top contenders are:

Hawkmoon (either the Chaosium or Mongoose versions)
GURPS Book of the New Sun (which I'm considering converting to SWADE)
Dying Earth official RPG (Which again, I would probably convert for another system)

Other options I'm aware of, but for various reasons not really considering, include:
Numenera
Hyperborea
Worlds Without Number
Empire of the Petal Throne
The Vampire Hunter D supplement for Pathfinder 1
The Zothique supplement for D20

I'm also aware that a lot of OSR games like Fantastic Heroes and Witchery include science fantasy options, but if possible I would prefer something with a setting built in.

So what do y'all think? Are there games in the genre out there that I'm missing? Am I sleeping on something good that I already know about? I would think with what a popular literary genre it is, and with how influential Vance was on D&D, there'd be more games explicitly set in Dying-Earth-type settings.   

EDIT: Made a correction regarding the Zothique supplement.

Goodman Games has a Dying Earth game for DCC coming out soon. Not sure if that does what you want, as it's basically OSR. The pre-release materials look good and they are planning a dozen or so modules.

Hyperborea is a lot of fun and is essentially a mildly house-ruled version of 1e AD&D.  The new third edition books have added a gazetteer so there's a ready made world.  You could easily do a Dying Earth style campaign, though it leans a bit more into fantasy than sci-fi.  A bit more Clark Ashton Smith than Jack Vance.  Could depend on your like or dislike of 1e mechanics.

And I agree with Finarvyn that  the forthcoming DCC version of Dying Earth looks good from the previews we KS backers have seen.  It will likely be released to the public in a couple months.

Quote from: Persimmon on September 05, 2022, 09:17:54 PM
Hyperborea is a lot of fun and is essentially a mildly house-ruled version of 1e AD&D.  The new third edition books have added a gazetteer so there's a ready made world.  You could easily do a Dying Earth style campaign, though it leans a bit more into fantasy than sci-fi.  A bit more Clark Ashton Smith than Jack Vance.  Could depend on your like or dislike of 1e mechanics.

And I agree with Finarvyn that  the forthcoming DCC version of Dying Earth looks good from the previews we KS backers have seen.  It will likely be released to the public in a couple months.

Hyperborea is a great game, for sure. You're right though that its tone is too much in the "classic D&D fantasy" vein for what I'm looking for. Plus, the group I mostly play with has two Hyperborea campaigns going already.

Talislanta? I've never played it, but did read much of it a while back and it seems to be in the same vein.

Quote from: finarvyn on September 05, 2022, 06:42:19 PM
Goodman Games has a Dying Earth game for DCC coming out soon. Not sure if that does what you want, as it's basically OSR. The pre-release materials look good and they are planning a dozen or so modules.

Thanks! I'm not sure if I want to just run D&D on the dying earth, but I'll check it out when it appears.

Quote from: rytrasmi on September 05, 2022, 10:00:23 PM
Talislanta? I've never played it, but did read much of it a while back and it seems to be in the same vein.

Never even heard of it. Neat looking game, and the author has made all the pdfs available for free on his website. Thanks. Even if I don't end up using it, I always like finding a new RPG I didn't know about.

Cascade Failure is a completely free game built off the d20 OGL, but very striped down to the point it's almost unrecognizable. It's still very rooted in SciFi, and only "medieval-esque" in the sense that the characters need to relearn how to use the technology they find.

The only complaint I have is that the lore/fluff is mind-numbingly contrived. You'll probably want to homebrew some better explanations about how things went to shit, since the official version is not very coherent. But, hey! What do you expect for free?

Quote from: ForgottenF on September 05, 2022, 10:20:35 PM

Quote from: rytrasmi on September 05, 2022, 10:00:23 PM
Talislanta? I've never played it, but did read much of it a while back and it seems to be in the same vein.

Never even heard of it. Neat looking game, and the author has made all the pdfs available for free on his website. Thanks. Even if I don't end up using it, I always like finding a new RPG I didn't know about.

Morrigan Press released a generic system book based on the Talislanta rules set. It's called The Omni System.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/2862/The-Omni-System?term=The+Omni+Sy

Quote from: Effete on September 05, 2022, 10:37:39 PM
Cascade Failure is a completely free game built off the d20 OGL, but very striped down to the point it's almost unrecognizable. It's still very rooted in SciFi, and only "medieval-esque" in the sense that the characters need to relearn how to use the technology they find.

The only complaint I have is that the lore/fluff is mind-numbingly contrived. You'll probably want to homebrew some better explanations about how things went to shit, since the official version is not very coherent. But, hey! What do you expect for free?

Free is always worth checking out. 

Quote from: ForgottenF on September 06, 2022, 08:04:32 AM

Quote from: Effete on September 05, 2022, 10:37:39 PM
Cascade Failure is a completely free game built off the d20 OGL, but very striped down to the point it's almost unrecognizable. It's still very rooted in SciFi, and only "medieval-esque" in the sense that the characters need to relearn how to use the technology they find.

The only complaint I have is that the lore/fluff is mind-numbingly contrived. You'll probably want to homebrew some better explanations about how things went to shit, since the official version is not very coherent. But, hey! What do you expect for free?

Free is always worth checking out. 

I wish that was true.  More often than not, you get what you pay for. 

Quote from: deadDMwalking on September 06, 2022, 09:45:22 AM

Quote from: ForgottenF on September 06, 2022, 08:04:32 AM
Free is always worth checking out. 

I wish that was true.  More often than not, you get what you pay for.

Hey, look! Free advice.

Quote from: Effete on September 06, 2022, 09:51:55 AM
Hey, look! Free advice.

I didn't suggest any course of action, so hard to say that's advice.  Maybe 'be prepared to be disappointed' in you squint hard enough.  But let's make it advice so you can choose to ignore it:

Time is a precious commodity, and lots of free things are free because they're worthless.  Having criteria that allow you to quickly evaluate whether a free offering is worth looking into yourself is worthwhile.  Maybe that means trusting a reviewer that you've agreed with more often than not, or giving a quick scan over what it claims to be offering.  But hey, that's good advice for things that people want money for, too. 

Quote from: deadDMwalking on September 06, 2022, 10:02:04 AM

Quote from: Effete on September 06, 2022, 09:51:55 AM
Hey, look! Free advice.

I didn't suggest any course of action, so hard to say that's advice.  Maybe 'be prepared to be disappointed' in you squint hard enough.  But let's make it advice so you can choose to ignore it:

Time is a precious commodity, and lots of free things are free because they're worthless.  Having criteria that allow you to quickly evaluate whether a free offering is worth looking into yourself is worthwhile.  Maybe that means trusting a reviewer that you've agreed with more often than not, or giving a quick scan over what it claims to be offering.  But hey, that's good advice for things that people want money for, too.

You don't have to post, you know. It's not like there's a quota. Your initial Debbie Downer comment was pointless. This thread is not about how you are disappointed with free things. Find something to cheer yourself up or take your gray and gloomy outlook elsewhere.

You could look at Mutant Future for inspirations. The wiki mentions Dying Earth explicitly: https://mutant-future.fandom.com/wiki/Gaming_Philosophy#Dying_Earth