Which sci-fi game should I choose?

Batjon · December 09, 2021, 07:05:20 PM

I'm jonesing to do a sci-fi campaign soon with influences from a bit of Star Wars and a bit of Firefly. In concept, I'd like to have the players have their own ship and have them doing jobs in a scum & villainy-filled setting. Maybe they are merchants or bounty hunters or mercenaries.

I'm trying to decide between Coriolis by Free League and Frontier Space by DWD Studios.

Which would cover the bases best and not be a crunch fest?

Greentongue · December 09, 2021, 08:15:49 PM

Well, depending on if you can actually get players, wouldn't hurt to take a look at "Five Parsecs from Home".
It's got what you describe. Then you could add some Mini-6 to it to beef up the RPG aspect.

HappyDaze · December 09, 2021, 09:58:34 PM

If you like the mechanics--or plan to change to mechanics you prefer--then Coriolis has a very nice setting with just the right mix of generic (so it's easy to get players to understand) and stylized (so it stands out on its own). I'm not a huge fan of its mechanics, so I'd probably run it with D6 Space or (more likely) Mini-Six, but there are plenty of mechanical sets that would do it just as well.

Shawn Driscoll · December 09, 2021, 10:58:10 PM

Quote from: Batjon on December 09, 2021, 07:05:20 PM
I'm jonesing to do a sci-fi campaign soon with influences from a bit of Star Wars and a bit of Firefly. In concept, I'd like to have the players have their own ship and have them doing jobs in a scum & villainy-filled setting. Maybe they are merchants or bounty hunters or mercenaries.

I'm trying to decide between Coriolis by Free League and Frontier Space by DWD Studios.

Which would cover the bases best and not be a crunch fest?

What's your favorite die roll mechanic right now? That's weird how Greentongue recommends a wargame for your problem.

Mishihari · December 10, 2021, 12:33:41 AM

I'm not familiar with either, sorry, so I'd go with Traveller for such a game.

Greentongue · December 10, 2021, 08:28:35 AM

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on December 09, 2021, 10:58:10 PM
What's your favorite die roll mechanic right now? That's weird how Greentongue recommends a wargame for your problem.

Just trying to break out of the box.
It's a pretty good solo game that gets the creative juices flowing and you can easily add players to. Yeah, not a straight up RPG but it's on that grey line. In my mind, the worst that can happen is, it sets up the initial adventure. Pretty easy to do and handy.

jeff37923 · December 10, 2021, 09:21:49 AM

Quote from: Batjon on December 09, 2021, 07:05:20 PM
I'm jonesing to do a sci-fi campaign soon with influences from a bit of Star Wars and a bit of Firefly. In concept, I'd like to have the players have their own ship and have them doing jobs in a scum & villainy-filled setting. Maybe they are merchants or bounty hunters or mercenaries.

I'm trying to decide between Coriolis by Free League and Frontier Space by DWD Studios.

Which would cover the bases best and not be a crunch fest?

I'm unfamiliar with either of those games. Alternatively, d6 Star Wars and the Tramp Freighters supplement would be a good fit. Traveller would work, depending on which version you use, although it is geared to be fairly realistic and can easily become a crunch fest if you are not familiar with the system.

Godsmonkey · December 10, 2021, 09:51:46 AM

Quote from: Batjon on December 09, 2021, 07:05:20 PM
I'm jonesing to do a sci-fi campaign soon with influences from a bit of Star Wars and a bit of Firefly. In concept, I'd like to have the players have their own ship and have them doing jobs in a scum & villainy-filled setting. Maybe they are merchants or bounty hunters or mercenaries.

I'm trying to decide between Coriolis by Free League and Frontier Space by DWD Studios.

Which would cover the bases best and not be a crunch fest?

There are RPG versions of both Firefly and Star Wars.

If you want space magic/force then I'd personally go with Savage Worlds, or Stars Without Number.

No science, then Traveller. Of course SW and SWN could also work well.

Rhymer88 · December 10, 2021, 10:53:08 AM

"No science, then Traveller."
Brilliant!

Godsmonkey · December 10, 2021, 03:26:31 PM

Quote from: Rhymer88 on December 10, 2021, 10:53:08 AM
"No science, then Traveller."
Brilliant!

I meant to type no MAGIC, but I'm OK with this.

palaeomerus · December 10, 2021, 03:49:24 PM

DWD has frontier Space which is a Star Frontiers like D20 game.

They have a referee book if you like that and it adds more stuff. It's a bit Mc80s McSpace but that can be attractive if you are of a certain age. Dralasites and Vrusk and Yazirrians give way to other similar placeholder stuff.

Available as B&W in hardback or as PDFs.

A similar McSpace Mc80s game is Star Quest by New Dimension games, also in hardback and has only a few books so far. Inspirations are obvious

Shatterzone by Precis Intermedia is a little bit more cyberpunk/hard sci-fi but it would work well for Firefly.

Batjon · December 11, 2021, 05:59:18 PM

Quick correction: FrontierSpace is NOT d20. It is d100 % based and a 00 result = 0, not 100.

jeff37923 · December 12, 2021, 06:08:13 AM

You might want to look at this: Explorer's Edition Traveller

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/380244/Traveller-Explorers-Edition

I spent the $1 to buy the PDF and check it out. It pains me to say it, but for the money, it is a solid product from Mongoose (and I hate Mongoose after the MgT 2e playtest). It is not the full Traveller current version, but an introductory version and does a pretty good job of introducing the game in its current incarnation.

Batjon · December 12, 2021, 12:11:22 PM

I actually prefer FrontierSpace and Stars Without Number to Traveller by a good margin.

lordmalachdrim · December 12, 2021, 04:28:08 PM

I always recommend Alternity, but I understand that since it is out of print and PDFs are not available it is unlikely to be chosen by many.