"SFRPG rules" Topic

Any suggestions? I like simple but would enjoy a little nod to hard science fiction as well.

Some possibilities at Two Hour War Games (not full fledged Min-Max RPGs (Yes, I am looking at you, AD&D and later versions,) but a lot of flavor that "writes the story" as you go.)

2hourblog.blogspot.com

link

link

Savage Worlds
Traveller(Mongoose or Classic-should be able to find them on sale)
various GURPS
Mechwarrior/Battletech
Heavy Gear

Thee was a HERO System one (or two) as well--but I don't remember the title(s).

Space Opera was another--still have my copy. And then there was another one, from the mid-70s, called Space Quest.

TSR did one--Star Frontiers.

Rob

Another vote for THW. You have three levels of play:

5150: Fighter Command in which you are flying/controlling fighters

5150: Star Navy in which you are flying/controlling capital ships

And the newly released –

5150: Carrier Command in which you are flying/controlling a carrier and its fighter wings.

All games can be played solo or head-to-head.

Best deal going for buying games. Buy the PDF for $17.00 USD or buy the printed version for $20.00 USD and get the PDF for "free". (You can look at it as buying the PDF for $17.00 USD and get getting the print version for $3.00 USD!)

You can also buy a ship counters PDF for $5.00 USD!

Tim

Savage Worlds with the Sci Fi Companion
Diaspora (Fate System)
Traveller (Current Mongoose edition)

I've seen some great stories spun from 5150 AAR's, and I think there's some 'leveling up' in the rules, but I've seen no indication of actual role play structure.

Is there a special setting your prefer? Trek? Star Wars? Firefly? Any jack of all trades and master of none?

Doug

If you're looking for straight SFRPG with characters, skills, professions, etc. that'd be 5150: Urban Renewal.

link

If that's what you're looking for, here's some AARs. Just search for New Hope City PI.

link

I'd like to chime in for D6 Space link . It tends to shift more toward the cinematic end of the spectrum but it is a fairly simple system that's easy to pickup and use. Plus it has the advantage of being free, which means you can try it out and if you don't like it you haven't made a massive investment.

Traveller can cover just about anything

but for more of a hard sci fi flavor
try 2300AD

I give you the 1980s sleeper sensation, Star Frontiers. Ships use rotation to generate artificial grav and other than hand-wavium FTL it's got a hard science base.
starfrontiers.com/Rules

It includes RPG rules:
PDF link

And rules for either hex and counter or free movement/tabletop spaceship fighting:
PDF link

PDF link

I would go with Searchers of the Unknown rules are condensed to 2 pages.

link

It and all the variants are included in a monster file at:
link

There's a simple FUBAR set available for free, plus various other FUBAR elements for Sci-Fi, Vietnam, WWII, etc., so you can pick and choose from them.

Stars Without Numbers…

You've got me interested in 5150….

You could try FATE with a sci-fi setting. It is a story telling system. It is rules light but the whole rules system encourages story telling. It's a generic rules set so you can use it in a sci-fi setting or fantasy, what ever you desire.

You can get the FATE accelerated version of the rules which are an even lighter version of the rules and get them for free using their pay what you want method of payment. If you end up liking it you can go back and pay for it to show that you like it and want them to continue producing more.

link

Ah even the full FATE core is available as a pay what you want as well.

link

It does used different dice though, more commonly referred to as FUDGE dice. They are six siders with two blank faces, two faces with a plus sign, and two faces with a minus sign. You can easily substitute regular six siders though.

Eclipse Phase is a post-apocalyptic, post-Singularity cyberpunk game, where dying is about as significant as stubbing your toe. Free to download, runs off of d%.

I found the WOTC Star Wars game pretty nice (Saga Edition), just remove all force-users (who unbalance a mixed party, anyways).

Cyberpunk is a classic, though I prefer 2020 to CP3.

Shadowrun could work really well, calling the magic side of the game "Clarke-tech" or "Voodoo-Tech".

I can share the character sheet for an Infinity RPG my friends and I created. It used the (free to download) core Infinity rules for almost everything, we just bolted a skill system with ~30ish different skills onto a standard Infinity profile to create an RP character. Only 4 stats, really (BS, CC, PHysique, and WIP (willpower)), with 4 "assigned" stats (MOVe, ARMor, BioTechnical Shield, and Wounds). Stats and skills were a point-buy, with 40 points to spread between your stats and 45 skill points to spend. Because there are various firearm and close combat skills, you can dump a few points out of BS and CC to raise your PH or WIP.

What armor you were wearing would determine your movement speed, armor, and BTS. ARM 1 or 2 didn't slow you down from 4-4 (4" in each of two Short Move Skills), ARM3 would usually slow you to a 4-2 move (4" in your first short move skill, 2" if you declared a second short move skill), and ARM4 was a suit of powered armor. (Some power armor suits are ARM3 with a 4-4 move).

The skill curve was a bit complex, in that if you had zero points in a skill, you rolled your Stat -3. If you had one point in a skill, you rolled your straight stat. For every point above 1 in the skill, you added +1 to your stat. So you really needed to fill out the entire skill section, regardless of whether you had points in the skill or not.

Because the character sheet is a single-sided sheet of paper, all your skill numbers were right in front of you and the game flowed pretty well. Opposed rolls for the most part, so you need to roll under your Stat+skill and yet above your opponent.

We gave each PC 3 wounds because we used the basic Infinity combat mechanics, which are deadly. I'd created a pretty reasonable Uberfallkommando, which is a heavily borged up member of the Bakunin Vice squad's "Sport Crimes" section. Crockett and Tubbs, borged and bio-modded so much they're not human anymore. No, not subtle at all.

GURPS Space and Star HERO are also good if you're familiar with those systems. Even if you're not, those books are great resources for creating campaigns and worlds.

Thanks everyone for your help. There plenty there for me to look at. I could have been more helpful with what I was after. I played and enjoyed 2300AD very much back in the day. But am now looking for the same but with less decimal points. I think All Things Zombie is a great game so might look at the 2HW rules. Though I am looking to be able to conduct space trading and exploration.

Traveller is what you want.

" I played and enjoyed 2300AD very much back in the day."

Mongoose Traveller has expansions for the 2300AD setting
link

Yes, Traveller is what you want then. ;)