"Space Patrol...what system would you use to game it?" Topic

Space Patrol, as in the type seen in the masterwork movie, Forbidden Planet

…and many other classic movies, serials, etc. when it all had a patriotic and somewhat innocent view…stalwart men blasting out into space to meet it head on.

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I was considering how to best setup a Forbidden Planet sort of game…not the exact story, but the idea of a frontier planet perhaps with a small colony that has discovered something and is communications silent.

I thought to use one of the many versions of Traveller…the baseline career of scout in particular.

Tone down the Traveller fluff, just focus on the system/structure.

I guess any system would be fine.

It is curious though that I have not seen a Space Patrol RPG by now…there may be one and I missed it?

I know Hydra Miniatures is working around this with pulp War Rocket

and Retro Raygun miniatures

And while the miniatures could fit in a Space Patrol game, there is no RPG system to play it out.

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Now by Space Patrol I am thinking more Forbidden Planet rather than Flash Gordon…but how you see it is up to you of course :)

Me? I just like rayguns…so either end of serious or campy would work for me

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So if Space Patrol RPGing sounds interesting what system would you use?

Lou Zocchi's Space Patrol?

in the Retro Raygun photo who made the buildings? Anymore photos of that setup?

Space Patrol is more like Star Trek IIRC

It is curious though that I have not seen a Space Patrol RPG by now…there may be one and I missed it?

Yeah, to put it mildly. There was Star Patrol from Gamescience back in the early 80's, Starships & Spacemen (which was a bit more Trek themed) and Space Opera (generic, with some Lensmen overtones) from FGU, the actual GURPS Lensmen book in the late 90's, several different incarnations of Buck Rogers from TSR if you want something more pulpy, Spaceship Zero if you want a tongue-in-cheek version, Slipstream for Savage Worlds (again, a bit more pulp than Forbidden Planet), and if you wait about a week Catalyst Labs (aka the Battletech/Shadowrun guys) are releasing a new one called Cosmic Patrol. And that's not even counting freebie fan efforts and pdf-only stuff at RPGNow. Plenty to choose from.

Personally, I wouldn't call Forbidden Planet "Space Patrol" anyway – that implies something more low budget/campy to me, and as you said, the movie is a masterwork that holds up well today. Assuming none of the above work for you, using a generic low-complexity system like Savage Worlds would seem like the best approach – you want something easily modified to fit the genre and that won't leave the players spending lots of time shopping for techno-toys. An obsession with exactly how tech works is very much not Forbidden Planet – no one should ever pause to explain how their Q-Wave blaster sidearms actually function, it's enough to know that they're guns.

I use Fantastic Worlds link for my games. oldspaceways.com/forum

I was watching Forbidden Planet on TCM yesterday and thinking the same thing…
GURPS also has 'Tales Of The Solar Patrol' link

I was thinking I'd do it with BRP… maybe use Chaosium's Worlds Of Wonder 'Future World' as a foundation… fast rules that won't bog down with details (and some easily imports from CoC for alien weirdness).
Maybe go with a Communist-Heinlein motif for the setting… Astro-Soviets continuing their ongoing fight against the tyrannical Tzarworms.

BTW… Is there a way to still get the Buster Gordy figure with a copy of Fantastic Worlds?

"Lou Zocchi's Space Patrol"

Ah yes…now it is all coming back to me…that was a fine pile of s…I mean to say it is a bit dated :)

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"Starships & Spacemen"

I never got to use this one…

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Space Opera
This one in the various versions was fun

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Since we are talking old games…I was digging through my games and found my favorite and much honored supplement

Spacefarers Guide to Alien Races

The whole of the book includes popular aliens from classic science fiction…names slightly altered to protect the innocent…though full credit to the authors, the books, etc. are given in a full page spread.

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And no, pulp science fantasy is not what I was looking for.

I picture the crew from Forbidden Planet as 100% Space Patrol…they rolled up like a city cop unit checking out a rural settlement…

The two words of Space and Patrol certainly paints a basic picture but the particulars will always differ.

I am not arguing the point, but the crew fit my vision of a Space Patrol…

Space Patrol
A ship tooling through space with a crew of strong and loyal men…rayguns…robots…rescue the beautiful ladies from the (giant space squid or rampaging robot or other).

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I will have to look into Fantastic Worlds

It says pulp right on the front, but maybe it will serve my intended direction?

The Retro Raygun link with the weird structures…

…that was the only pic I found, it was made with salad bowls, cereal/soup bowls, cups, plates, etc. from a $1 store if I remember the article when it first came out.

I was thinking I'd do it with BRP… maybe use Chaosium's Worlds Of Wonder 'Future World' as a foundation… fast rules that won't bog down with details (and some easily imports from CoC for alien weirdness).

Another good choice – hard not to love skill-based percentile systems, so very simple to tinker with.

Maybe go with a Communist-Heinlein motif for the setting… Astro-Soviets continuing their ongoing fight against the tyrannical Tzarworms.

Along the same lines, one of my old pulp scifi settings had the Insectoviks as a Bad Guy race. Insectoid species that had been influenced by years of radio broadcasts from the old Soviet Union, adopted communism, overthrew their hive queens, and gone crusading to paint the stars Red and find the home of Marx and Lenin. They weren't real pleased when they bumped into the first Star Ranger exploration ships and discovered that their idols had collapsed centuries ago (stupid speed of light radio signals!) and Terran space was a happy capitalist utopia. Between them and Emperor Zonn's saucer fleet the PCs had all sorts of trouble.

The Chaosium direction sounds like a good one :)

There are some episodes of Space Patrol on The Internet Archive link
I think they'd have been pulpier (more action-packed) if they'd had bigger budgets… but as is they're still charming and fun.
I like the idea of playing the unfaltering good guys for once… despite my usual preference for shades of dark grey.

28mmMan wrote:
The Retro Raygun link with the weird structures…

…that was the only pic I found, it was made with salad bowls, cereal/soup bowls, cups, plates, etc. from a $1 store if I remember the article when it first came out.

Thanks! Love that, it's the Jetson's to life… or at least to game amongst.

How about Space Quest?

There are some episodes of Space Patrol on The Internet Archive

Not to be confused with the UK Space Patrol marionette show:

YouTube link

Or the German Space Patrol Orion, which makes me want to learn the language:

YouTube link

And really seriously not to be confused with Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta, which I'll be damned if I provide a link to. No one deserves to suffer that.

StarGuard would fit

Space Vixens perhaps?

Those Valkeeri always make me think of them, and I'm sure they are just what those 1950's and 1960's era astronauts were hoping to encounter in space, rather than those ugly, dangerous monsters.

Space Patrol was also an old time radio show. You can find it on Ebay if you look. That's where I got my cd at. Give you alot of story ideas for games.

Well for rules I probably would use Savage Worlds, Just because it is a very pulp orientated ruleset. That and there are several takes on this sort of play in publication.

Traveller has the been very simulationist in the fan base from the beginning so it is harder to Zap! Pow!… With support.

But to be honest how different is Space Patrol from Star Wars? In the places to steal from for running a game.

Starblazer

I think 'Space Patrol' has more in common thematically with Star Trek than Star Wars… more about exploration and upholding a status quo, less emphasis on military hardware… more on negotiation and diplomacy. Fewer big battles and space fighter dogfights. The bad guys in 'Space Patrol' (and Star Trek) seem to have more possibility of redemption and rehabilitation… it's generally a more positive/optimistic view of humanity and the future.
I might even be tempted to bring in more of the Andersonverse stuff like Thunderbirds and Fireball XL5.

I think Traveller would work fine if you ran with the first few original books that had no setting to speak of… tone down the overt military terminology a bit.

Can I suggest this free set of rules, "Adventures In Space": PDF link

Its a v-e-r-y lite set of pulp sf rules which allows players to exert some control over the adventure. In addition, every player has some "Words of Science" – astronomical words, elements, chemicals, scientific adjectives, anything that a raygun-toting hero may say. If a player is able to incorporate these into his action declarations he gets bonus dice.

It scores 110% for pure pulp style – whether it has enough rules and crunch for the game you want to run is another matter, but I loved the whole concept behind the game.

In your mind, substitute the words "Coast Guard" for Space Patrol. The Space Patrol is a hybrid police/exploration/rescue force. For more Space Patrol, smokin' rockets, just look here. link
and swapsale.com/index.html . Also check out Tom Corbet Space Cadet and Rocky Jones Space Ranger.

BTW… Is there a way to still get the Buster Gordy figure with a copy of Fantastic Worlds?

I got mine from Richard at Recreational Conflict.

recreationalconflict.lusagi.com

I don't know if he still has any copies left with the miniature, as most of his Rattrap stuff is gone, but you could always ask him. He sold me the Planet X supplement with the limited Emperor Xurr miniature, too.

Or ask Hydra. Maybe they still have the mold and production rights. It's not on their site, but no harm in asking.