If you were to run a sci-fi space fantasy game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly, which game/system would you choose from the list below?
FrontierSpace by DWD Studios
White Star Galaxy Edition by Gallant Knight Games
Stars Without Number Revised by Sine Nomine Publishing
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells by Old Skull Publishing / Gallant Knight Games
Fading Suns 4th. Edition by Ulisses Spiele
Battlelords of the 23rd. Century 7th. Edition by 23rd. Century Productions
Fading Suns is the one I've been looking at myself but from the provided list I'd choose Stars Without Number.
Probably from that list White Star, as it has lots of decent stuff in their side products to do Star Wars with, including monastic space taoist psych-swordsmen but Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells (Red List sadly) or Machinations of the Space Princess would be my first choice for that sort of thing.
Solar Blades is flexible and has tables and tables and tables to help a GM fake it, while Space Princess keeps everything very casual. I don't stick to the "my dick is on %$#%in' space drugs lel" setting but I do like the 'bar fights and break ins for cash & favors' model of adventure and that's how I'd play most Star Wars stuff.
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 02:07:27 AM
If you were to run a sci-fi space fantasy game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly, which game/system would you choose from the list below?
FrontierSpace by DWD Studios
White Star Galaxy Edition by Gallant Knight Games
Stars Without Number Revised by Sine Nomine Publishing
Battlelords of the 23rd. Century 7th. Edition by 23rd. Century Productions
I'd use White Star I think, it's brilliant at mash-ups, and its zero-to-hero OD&D frame allows for transition between genres; you can start as hardscrabble Firefly types at 1st level and end up saving the Galaxy at 10th level, meanwhile going through Guardians of the Galaxy at 6th. :D
BTW, Stars Without Number is also a very good product, but it's more of an off the rails, hex-crawl sand boxy type of thing about exploring and getting by and less about caper/chase/raid adventuring in some exotic location with exotic gear. Not much Starwars or Firefly going on, and maybe better for doing Larry Niven or Voyage of the Space Beagle type stuff.
I use D6 system for everything.
Quote from: Slipshot762 on January 04, 2022, 08:44:53 AM
I use D6 system for everything.
Are you referring to the WEG D6 generic genre books like D6 Space?
Yes, the D6 Space-adventure-fantasy trio of books.
UPDATE: I should have had Fading Suns 4e and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells as options as well, as I own both games. I've now added them to the list of options at the top of the thread.
When it comes to Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells and White Star Galaxy Edition, I'm struggling to think of which one I'd prefer. They are both so similar in what they are going for.
For me, easily Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. It's a wonderful, lightweight OSR-like system. I love that it makes running NPC's a non-chore while not going so far as to make all the dice rolling "player facing" the way Black Hack does (from which the game is partially inspired). Plus its "sword and sorcery meets space opera" is exactly how I like my games. It's what you'd get if Star Wars and Heavy Metal magazine had a baby, and it's glorious.
If you were looking between White Star Galaxy Edition and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, which would you choose?
They cover pretty much the exact same ground slightly differently.
Quote from: Slipshot762 on January 04, 2022, 08:44:53 AM
I use D6 system for everything.
Mini Six does actually have both Star Wars & Firefly campaign settings in it - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144558/Mini-Six-Bare-Bones-Edition
Probably Fading Suns if I was wanting a setting and Frontier Space if I was going to home brew something.
Quote from: palaeomerus on January 04, 2022, 05:35:07 AM
BTW, Stars Without Number is also a very good product, but it's more of an off the rails, hex-crawl sand boxy type of thing about exploring and getting by and less about caper/chase/raid adventuring in some exotic location with exotic gear. Not much Starwars or Firefly going on,
The hell you're talking about? SWN is perfect for Firefly. The party has a spaceship, check. If they want to, they can get heavily involved with maintaining and upgrading their ship, check. The constant financial strain of keeping the ship running forces them to live as free traders
and supplement their income with capers, heists and whatnot, check. Optional trading rules if you want to feature that part more heavily, check. A skill system that has elements specifically set up to let your party run into contacts/friends/enemies on whichever planet they end up on, check. A fundamentally D&D-based ruleset which is suitable for the sort of action you're likely to see on capers, check. A setting where starships coexist with 19th century (or earlier) technology, check. Adventure creation aids specifically set up for "your friend asks you help -> caper ensues" types of escapades, check.
What
exactly do you think there's in Firefly that SWN doesn't do?
Quote from: Premier on January 04, 2022, 02:44:23 PM
What exactly do you think there's in Firefly that SWN doesn't do?
It wasn't canceled after 1 season.
Quote from: Pat on January 04, 2022, 03:24:07 PM
Quote from: Premier on January 04, 2022, 02:44:23 PM
What exactly do you think there's in Firefly that SWN doesn't do?
It wasn't canceled after 1 season.
Low blow! It had a feature movie too!
Quote from: Premier on January 04, 2022, 02:44:23 PM
Quote from: palaeomerus on January 04, 2022, 05:35:07 AM
BTW, Stars Without Number is also a very good product, but it's more of an off the rails, hex-crawl sand boxy type of thing about exploring and getting by and less about caper/chase/raid adventuring in some exotic location with exotic gear. Not much Starwars or Firefly going on,
The hell you're talking about? SWN is perfect for Firefly. The party has a spaceship, check. If they want to, they can get heavily involved with maintaining and upgrading their ship, check. The constant financial strain of keeping the ship running forces them to live as free traders and supplement their income with capers, heists and whatnot, check. Optional trading rules if you want to feature that part more heavily, check. A skill system that has elements specifically set up to let your party run into contacts/friends/enemies on whichever planet they end up on, check. A fundamentally D&D-based ruleset which is suitable for the sort of action you're likely to see on capers, check. A setting where starships coexist with 19th century (or earlier) technology, check. Adventure creation aids specifically set up for "your friend asks you help -> caper ensues" types of escapades, check.
What exactly do you think there's in Firefly that SWN doesn't do?
It's focused on hex crawl sand box type games. Thus it is not the best option for episodic action. If you don't agree fine, but I'm not going recommend a long-play table heavy sand box to someone who wants starwars or firefly just because I can make it work if I change the focus and jump up and down on it real hard. White Star is better suited for it IMO
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 02:07:27 AM
If you were to run a sci-fi space fantasy game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly, which game/system would you choose from the list below?
FrontierSpace by DWD Studios
White Star Galaxy Edition by Gallant Knight Games
Stars Without Number Revised by Sine Nomine Publishing
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells by Old Skull Publishing / Gallant Knight Games
Fading Suns 4th. Edition by Ulisses Spiele
Battlelords of the 23rd. Century 7th. Edition by 23rd. Century Productions
All those games are meh. But since I have to pick one... Stars Without Number.
Quote from: palaeomerus on January 04, 2022, 03:50:36 PM
It's focused on hex crawl sand box type games. Thus it is not the best option for episodic action. If you don't agree fine, but I'm not going recommend a long-play table heavy sand box to someone who wants starwars or firefly just because I can make it work if I change the focus and jump up and down on it real hard. White Star is better suited for it IMO
Well,
you're wrong. SWN does have procedures for setting up and running sandboxes, but it
also has procedures and tables for generating plots and "planets of the week" that are perfectly suitable for creating episodic adventures. In fact, if anything, SWN's basic campaign assumption is that you'll have a sandbox environment
within which you do episodic capers. I mean, that's the sort of storytelling Firefly the TV series
actually did, so claiming that it doesn't fit Firefly is rather dishonest. You seem to believe that a sandbox setup and episodic action are somehow mutually exclusive, but that's just not true. And even if it was, nothing prevents a GM from just discarding the free roaming aspect.
And White Star? I appreciate White Star for what it is, but its adventure creation tools (for episodic adventures or otherwise) are actually significantly
less developed than SWN's.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on January 04, 2022, 08:10:17 PM
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 02:07:27 AM
If you were to run a sci-fi space fantasy game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly, which game/system would you choose from the list below?
FrontierSpace by DWD Studios
White Star Galaxy Edition by Gallant Knight Games
Stars Without Number Revised by Sine Nomine Publishing
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells by Old Skull Publishing / Gallant Knight Games
Fading Suns 4th. Edition by Ulisses Spiele
Battlelords of the 23rd. Century 7th. Edition by 23rd. Century Productions
All those games are meh. But since I have to pick one... Stars Without Number.
If you were to pick a game of your choice beyond this list, what would you choose?
I'm not taking you or your inane shouty bullshit seriously Premier.
That's good, because I'm just offering fair advice to Batjon, who started this thread. You're clearly a zealot with an axe to grind; no point in wasting time on a lost cause.
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 08:24:21 PM
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on January 04, 2022, 08:10:17 PM
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 02:07:27 AM
If you were to run a sci-fi space fantasy game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly, which game/system would you choose from the list below?
FrontierSpace by DWD Studios
White Star Galaxy Edition by Gallant Knight Games
Stars Without Number Revised by Sine Nomine Publishing
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells by Old Skull Publishing / Gallant Knight Games
Fading Suns 4th. Edition by Ulisses Spiele
Battlelords of the 23rd. Century 7th. Edition by 23rd. Century Productions
All those games are meh. But since I have to pick one... Stars Without Number.
If you were to pick a game of your choice beyond this list, what would you choose?
Savage Worlds. Scales really well - you can have grim/gritty, all the way to capital ship combat without blinking. If you want to have abstracted mass-combat, done. Tons of settings to pull weapon stats, armor stats, to be repurposed. It's fairly self-contained. Unless you hate Savage Worlds.... in which case... I'd go WEGd6
I have done SB&CS, it's pretty awesome. Of the others on your list, Fading Suns has my interest right now and prepping for a game soon. Here's a couple of others to consider:
Star Adventurer by RPGPundit
Amazing Adventures StarSiege by Troll Lord Games
I'm currently reading through both, because I always need more irons on the fire when it comes to sci fi games.
I also will second tenbones' suggestion of Savage Worlds.
After further reading of Fading Suns 4e I'm no longer interested in it, mainly because I see how the 3 core books were written and published as one giant scam.
It's 3 core books but it's really 1 core book split into 3 separate hardbacks and you're paying about $125.00 for what is essentially the equivalent of a $60.00 core rulebook. Just compare the information and total page count to games like Lancer, Battlelords of the 23rd Century, and others of similar page count hardback books.
What about using Savage Worlds with "Daring Tales of the Space Lanes"?
http://www.tripleacegames.com/store/daring-tales-of-the-space-lanes-products/daring-tales-of-the-space-lanes-compendium-one/
Setting wise: Fading Suns
Mechanics wise: Anything but Fading Suns (and by anything I include PBTA, Fiasco, Jenga and D&D 4E)
Quote from: RebelSky on January 05, 2022, 02:00:19 PM
After further reading of Fading Suns 4e I'm no longer interested in it, mainly because I see how the 3 core books were written and published as one giant scam.
It's 3 core books but it's really 1 core book split into 3 separate hardbacks and you're paying about $125.00 for what is essentially the equivalent of a $60.00 core rulebook. Just compare the information and total page count to games like Lancer, Battlelords of the 23rd Century, and others of similar page count hardback books.
It's overpriced, but that doesn't make it a scam. I can't disagree that they've priced it beyond what I'm willing to pay, and I rarely balk at the prices of games.
use the StarSEIGE rules as a one off from Amazing Adventures by TrollLordGames.
I only know this by finally reading over Starship: Warden which is a megadungeon inside a spaceship.
Quote from: THE_Leopold on January 11, 2022, 09:59:01 AM
I only know this by finally reading over Starship: Warden which is a megadungeon inside a spaceship.
Is the Warden that "Space Fantasy", "Space Gonzo" or "Space Post-Apoc"?
Quote from: Greentongue on January 11, 2022, 01:34:30 PM
Quote from: THE_Leopold on January 11, 2022, 09:59:01 AM
I only know this by finally reading over Starship: Warden which is a megadungeon inside a spaceship.
Is the Warden that "Space Fantasy", "Space Gonzo" or "Space Post-Apoc"?
Yes?
It can be any/all of what you described and it's upto the DM to take it in the direction of Flash Gordon, Battlestar Galactica, or Star Trek. The ship is massive enough (10s of miles long) to house whatever you want in it.
I ran a similar-ish setting using Savage Worlds and taking parts from the Interface Zero setting to fill in the sci-fi elements.
I'd choose Pundit's "Star Adventurer", honestly. It's simple and fast and fun.
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 08:24:21 PM
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on January 04, 2022, 08:10:17 PM
Quote from: Batjon on January 04, 2022, 02:07:27 AM
If you were to run a sci-fi space fantasy game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly, which game/system would you choose from the list below?
FrontierSpace by DWD Studios
White Star Galaxy Edition by Gallant Knight Games
Stars Without Number Revised by Sine Nomine Publishing
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells by Old Skull Publishing / Gallant Knight Games
Fading Suns 4th. Edition by Ulisses Spiele
Battlelords of the 23rd. Century 7th. Edition by 23rd. Century Productions
All those games are meh. But since I have to pick one... Stars Without Number.
If you were to pick a game of your choice beyond this list, what would you choose?
Rocket Cadets in the 11th Dimension, from Total Party Skills.
Quote from: Hzilong on January 11, 2022, 03:46:00 PM
I ran a similar-ish setting using Savage Worlds and taking parts from the Interface Zero setting to fill in the sci-fi elements.
Yeah that's what I plan on doing when I do my own Space Opera campaign. I'll lean pretty heavy on IFZ to fill in stuff I don't create on my own.
Stars Without Number. Or classic Traveller. Or roll my own ruleset with the BRP Gold Book.