"Has anyone run a sci. fi. Dungeoncrawl?" Topic

If so what was the premise behind the 'dungeon'?, and what rules did you use.

That would be 'Space Hulk' Or Space Crusade, Advanced Space Crusade or Tyranid Attack. All from GW, and out of print. They all score highly on the "break into mosnters' homes and kill them", but not so much on "… and take their stuff".

There's also Doom: The Boardgame, from Fantasy Flight Games.

A good friend of mine has done it a number of times using the Forgeworld sci-fi scenery. The figs usually were 40K with a few other items thrown in. Rules were a hybrid of 2nd edition 40K with Space Hulk cocepts put in and some roll playing ideas included. The games were a LOT of fun and something that is a great, enjoyable afternoon.

As an aside, we also tried Doom but decided to modify the game a bit to give the heroes a better chance. We found the monsters stomped the marines too easily.

As part of a quasi-sci fi role play, the space dungeon crawl is a great game.

Erik

Yes. I built a "moonbase" (eight 13x13" square rooms, placed apart with 3" wide walkways between, that is surrounded on all sides with 4" high foam cave system)

These are a few of the rooms:

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It plays great! I converted Horrorclix "Evil Cosmonauts" and "irradiated zombies" into a bunch of space "zombies", then I have units of Humans, Greys, Drantakhs etc. enter from different areas, trying to rescue/kidnap the surviving scientists and hot women holding up in some of the rooms.

I use modified "Zombie Plague/Dead Will Walk" rules (action point system). Which makes GREAT space zombie play, and purty good unit vs unit combat play.

I'll add this to my list of "things I want try with WHQ"… thanks for the thought….

We also do a lot of "dungeon crawling" in our Star Wars RPG games. Usually a Tatooine cave filled with monsters, bad guys and evil droids.

I can recommend the Doom Board game, the good guys must work as a team to survive in that though. The expansion is abit of a waste of time IMHO unless you what it for more models.

We did a "Area51" game using SH corridoors, Grenadier Future warrior figs and rules. We threw in some bits from the awful green things boardgames as well.
Weapons could have a random effect on the aliens biostructure, killing them, causing them to explode,spawn into a different critter…etc.
Teams had secret agendas, The troops had to clear out the xenos, the film crew and henchmen had to "film" the base and the aliens, the Men in black had to destroy the film crew. We also had some madmax style punks in there, but I cant recall why the heck they where there!!

As far as a 'Sci-Fi dungeoncrawl' I remember playing AD&D Module S3 – Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

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Would that count?

My group did a Rezolution game in the corridors of a space station.

Our battle report is here: link

5150 Infestation has a great break into the lab gone quiet scenario. It's an expansion of 5150 though so not a complete game by itself.

Bob

The classic "Sci Fi Dungeon Crawl" was probably "Gamma World," a postapocalypse RPG from the D&D people in the late seventies.

Instead of dungeons, you rooted around in underground military complexes. Instead of gold, you found cash. Instead of +2 swords, you found laser rifles.

Mad Mac,

Hope this helps a little:

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CC

What's a dungeon crawl?

Is it anything different from going underground in D&D?
--
Tim

That's my favorite style of gameplay, and Space Hulk got me hooked on it back in the 1990s. After a while, I wanted something just a little bit more detailed.

I used the Warhammer Quest rules with 40k figures, and kept the 40k 2nd Edition stats. It worked pretty well, since you could just roll the weapon's penetration dice to determine the number of wounds inflicted, and you calculated the WHQ toughness of a figure by subtracting their armor save from 7, then adding the result to their base Toughness. I had quite a big collection of Space Hulk tiles from both editions, plus the Tyranid-themed tiles from other GW games of a similar vein.

We also played with a modified version of Necromunda for a while, and ended up with this patchwork system that incorporated a lot of rules from different GW games. Looking back, I don't even know how we managed to keep everything straight.

After a long gaming dry spell that ended a couple years ago, I started looking for a new copy of Space Hulk, but it was long OOP. I settled for the Doom boardgame, but that got old pretty fast, so I just whipped up a new set of rules myself, using the Doom tiles and whatever figures I wanted, and played a few games with my wife. After working on it some more, I kind of overdid it. I burned out on it and shelved it after a while.

I rewrote these Guncrawl rules a little while back and tested them out with 15mm GZG figures, and it went from being a little 8 page PDF that I was just planning to include with a tile set to a full-blown SF dungeon crawl game. It's currently undergoing beta testing and tweaking, and the consensus among those who have played it is that it does a nice job of things as far as the genre goes. That's what I'm planning to use for SF crawl games whenever I get the itch to play.

I also have to second Raminad's mention of the Infestation supplement for 5150-Ed sent me a copy a while back, and if you like 5150, it's a pretty neat expansion that gives 5150 the feel of something that's halfway between a skirmish game and a "lite" roleplaying game, and it comes with an abandoned lab scenario that fits the SF crawl genre to a T.

-Mel

The old Star Frontiers game we had some bunker raids which I guess would be like a dungeon crawl. Having to deal with guards and security robots all along the way. None of the maps exist any more as we made them on graph paper but never saved them.

Space Hulk -- used the tiles for all sorts of variant games using standard infantry vs. the bugs. Infantry vs. infantry bunker battles, etc.

My first sci-fi crawl was a transition between a "regular" D&D game into Gamma World. It was the premiere of the game, run as a surprise introduction. What a great game! I bought the rules and put together a little mini-campaign with a built in ending of successful separation of a portion of the ship still in good shape. We all enjoyed the fresh setting and new monsters and challenges. It also helped break the mold of the un-ending campaign of other RPGs we were playing.

Original Traveller had some adventures where space stations that were bio labs had their creations go mad and the PCs had to go in and figure out what happened. That sentence makes it sound stupid, but I was in a hurry. They were different adventures.

The giant abandoned ship is a standard, but if its a little too haunted-house for you try taking a typical passenger liner and say its been hijacked. The players need to board, get past the booby traps, fight off crazy creatures that have been turned loose to deny them access to areas the hijackers can't defend with their small numbers, fight the hijackers, save the passengers, and get control of the bridge. Add some sort of urgency in the form of failing life support or a trajectory that ends in a star, and you've got yourself a no-fail drama.

Andrew

Seems like there are as many or more plausible reasons for a 'dungeoncrawl' in a SF setting as there are in a fantasy one.
Loads of reasons to be inside of large structures full of hostile forces…

At least three.

A long long time ago I made my own rules for a SF roleplaying game set on a generation ship that had descended to superstition.

There used to be a tabletop pocket game called Castle Falkenberg which was about fighting your way into a monster infested castle. That had an option to use modern weapons instead of medieval.

And Space Hulk as mentioned above. I've played the basic game and variants with bigger maps, standard SMs as well as Terminators and so on.

Finally, there used to be a game of Aliens the movie which was set in the fight inside the reactor. That was basically an escape from a dungeon.

Dark City Games also has three programmed SciFi adventures using their version of The Fantasy Trip. Have only played one so far and got my clock cleaned trying to find fuel cells on a deserted space station.

Bob

Seems like there are as many or more plausible reasons for a
'dungeoncrawl' in a SF setting as there are in a fantasy one.

Darn, I wish I'd said that.

That's exactly right.

Andrew

Aliens board gameg or miniature game is Dungeons in space.

I saw a WW11 german infantry section on a dungeon bash once many moons ago (late seventies?), but I can't remember the exact circumstances.

The Doom Expansion rocked. More monsters, fixed some broken cards and chainsaw weilding marines! IMHO a worthy addition to a fun game.

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you can say that its been done :)
this was made with world works star light stuff.

OK Vietnam era US Marines on a patrol come across some abandon tunnels carved into the hills. At first they think VC but it seems the VC stumbled across an ancient tunnel system filled with D&D creatures. After totally trashing the VC the Orcs and others were all ready to reenter the world as the US Marine patrol showed up.

Oh yeah Orcs can figure out AK-47s

Try the classic "Metamorphosis Alpha" It's pure 1970's Gygax style goodness.

You're stuck on a gigantic spaceship with more levels than you can hope to explore. You can download it from Rpgnow or RPGdrivethru.

To all that responded – A hearty thanks. As usual it's all good stuff.

A couple of special mentions:-

Mel –
It's all your fault! Your 15mm game posts sparked the whole thing off for me.

Cacique Caribe –
Cheers it was as you said very inspirational.

Andrew Walters – D'oh! how could I forget those, checked my collection and came up with a few Traveller Adventures (both GDW and Judges Guild).
Also thought about your hijacked ship, and came up with the idea of the players on board, keeping the hoards of teleporting nasties out, before following said nasties back to their ship etc….

@quester:

Firstlight?
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Retrofit?
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Celestus Pravatis looks useful, I'm working on it right now:
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AAAAARGH! Bugs!
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Add the Platform Command and Mars Station sets and you'd be building for months- handy when you've noone to play with…

Celestus Pravatis looks great for replacement Doom boards.

There was an old TV game show called Scavengers, set on what was purported to be a space hulk, where the two teams ran through the ship taking on silly physical challenges to get their hands on the salvageable items. No combat happened, even when the contestants were fired upon by aliens and an automated defence system.
Then there was an old game for minis, representing boarding actions, as an aside form a ship combat game; and then Battlestations.
Another I saw in Napoleons in Brisbane, purported to be an Australian production, supposedly for minis set on space hulks.

Then the Robotech RPG adventure Ghost Ship, where a set of disappearances occurs in an area of the junk belt where a mostly intact small Zentraedi ship has drifted aside from the majority of the trash, so you have to go and investigate the ship…
A sci fi dungeon crawl WITH giant robots?

How about a game of gang warfare in a strange place on a space labyrinth where your characters have been dumped after being abducted by aliens and left in the maze for their amusement? Make a gang hideout, find weapons and supplies, and hold on to it until you can work out a way home…

And of course you could just engage in piracy, but after you run out of original ship designs and battleplans, that might start to get old…

Until you attack and board a ship that won't let you go…

Last Frontier Vesuvius Incident

I used some old dungeon tiles for a Babylons Burning game. They represented a basement and disused sewer network.

The local enclave launched a attack to clear the tunnels of Ghouls (for those that dont the BB fluff – a human who survived the apocalpse by eating the dead and has gone totally bonkers). Four teams of five troups, with body armour and automatic weapons entered the tunnels.

They where swarmed by the ghouls defending their turf. As the nature of the tunnels allowed the poorly equipped ghouls to close with out casulties it turned to a hand to hand scrap very quickly with many troops taking on 2 – 3 ghouls at once.

Only 3 enclave troops made it out of the tunnels alive. The ghouls lost 3 to a grenade, 4 more to automatic fire and 3 more in hand to hand.

For my Morlocks . . .

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And don't forget the Universe rules, including Starship Marine and Starship Soldier.

theuniverse.org.uk

Well, I can't say much, as my players are here…

Um, Use Traveller?

Better yet Snapshot. well suited for the atypical dungeon crawl…..

@Caster's mega ship-- How did you print all those out? My world works stff EATS ink!

Mechanoid Invasion? Running about on a still inhabitted alien ship on its way back home from wrecking your planet. 'twas good fun.

Paul

Infojunky

Had thought about using Snapshot, and it is still one of the serious contenders.

This brings back memories.

I ran it about twenty years ago for Traveller. It was a Judge's Guild module called Doom of the Singing Star, about a class of luxury liners that doubled as warships.

There was one scenario where the ship's anti-hijack program was accidentally erased, so one of the crew wrote a program telling the ship's robots to attack any hijackers. Of course, the predictable thing happens and, when a hijack attempt DOES take place, the robots attack everybody. Add in some alien animals that escape hibernation and start running amok as well, and you have a good old fashioned dungeoncrawl in spacesuits.

You are sent by the government to regain control of the ship with the least amount of publicity possible.

For more updated stuff, our group plays Dragonstar D20, which is a lot of fun.

If you want boards, get a hold of a boxed set of Legions of Steel. Awesome, heavy card squares. Also comes with skeletal bots, a big demon bot, and a bunch of marines. You might find the miniatures useful too! There were a number of expansions and template packs that came with yet more tiles.

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In Legions of Steel, invading Berserker-like machines would infest worlds, set up defences and tunnel deep into the crust. There they'd set up an Overlord AI and endless factories. Short of blowing the planet up there was no way to uproot them but to go in guns blazing.

I have a convention game I have Rats vs. Lizards vs. Repair techs under a secret research base, using a set of FMA modified for the setting.

The figures are Pendraken's ratmen and lizards with guns and a collection of GZGs, Rebel Minis and PeterPig for the Humans.

The board is various tiles from SkeletonKey's Sewers and caverns sets, which are available on RPGNow.

Hmmm… Dragon Gunner picked my second thought, but anyone remember Global Games 'Legions of Steel'? A bit of a Space Hulk rip-off, except you had better thought-out baseline idea of why you were doing the 'crawl' and a much better set of floorplans to work with.

LoS has been OOP for about 10 years now, though.

We have played a lot in the SG-1 Stargate type setting with the 'dungeon' being under a pyramid or the corridors of a ship they have 'ringed' into etc (much the same).

We use Two Hour Wargames 5150 rules with bits robbed from All Things Zombie for Jaffa appearance and have just played a game using the 'dungeon generation' system out of the new WHaa set – worked real well.

Once played a game using Twilight's 3d space ship which was real fun as well and was like a 'dungeon'

Oh, for those that don't know, Legions of Steel was a square-grid movement system, featuring troopers in powered armor versus machines that are a cross between Berserkers and terminators. The trooper's job was to get to the CPU room, or where-ever, and then nuke the place, literally.

There's a campaign set that incorporates all the major factions of aliens, and several expansion sets of heavy card floortiles. Any scenario would include an entire floorplan of the battlefield.

For a solo game, I don't think I've ever encountered a game as intense as Fat Messiah's Vesuvius Incident, which is basically a different spin on the Alien/Aliens model. You are playing a squad of Marines that are responding to a distress signal from a research ship in a decaying orbit. When you arrive, there are no obvious survivors. There's two kinds of actions: Long actions, where the ship's orbit decays, and short actions, where you can get mugged by the aliens.

Space Hulk aside, I think the whole Tomb Raider thing is pretty "sci-fi dungeon" like.

If anyone is interested, I'm trying to sell an "Unleaded" copy of Legions of Steel. Instead of miniatures there are stand-up tiles, one of which is missing. The rules and a bunch of tiles are there, though.

More here:

TMP link

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