What's an ideal system for running a space campaign? preferably space opera.
Already know about Traveller and Stars without Number, but wanted to see what all options were available to me.
Also if I was to run Traveller, what edition/version should I use?
>>47269949
>Also if I was to run Traveller, what edition/version should I use?
Mongoose, although skills are retarded and Education is broken.
The most important thing when picking a game system is picking one that fits what your players want. Are they tacticool /k/ommandos who want big lists of guns with minute differences and infinite customization rules, or do they want "a sword and a big pistol"? Do they just want a talkie where 90% of the game is socialization and the other 10% is one-hit-one-kill assassination attempts?
Do they want to have to worry about having the cash to buy enough space fuel for their spaceship, or do they just want to have space travel as a way to go from biome to biome?
>>47269949
>>47272251
Traveller is really a terrible system, even the Mongoose edition. It uses the same garbage "stat score and stat bonus" pairing that is unnecessary, it uses stat + skill in a 2d6 system which games like Apocalypse World and Dungeon World have already basically proven as the wrong way to do things, the chargen is confusing and you don't get any traits / feats to optimize your character, the combat system is complex as fuck, as well as the range system (Near, Distant, Very Far, etc. type shit for ranges, a bunch of meaningless adjectives that is even more complicated than range increments or a range table would be), the skill system is kinda shitty and overall there are just much better systems out there. Also rolling for stats, which is pretty much objectively bad and is only used in games like D&D (which still use shit like Alignment so that should say something about how good they are).
Overall, I would say you are better off with GURPS Lite or FATE for your spacefaring campaign, OP.
>>47269949
Star Wars EotE. Not even kidding. I love those gimmick dice
>>47269949
Farscape d20
>>47272346
2nding this. The FFG Star Wars RPGs are a good balance between narrative and crunch.
Star Wars WEG is pretty good.
It's a different school from FFG's, but I find it more consistent. EotE/AoR are a bit too light to my liking, and the gear is all over the place.
>>47272394
Tell me this actually exists.
>>47272925
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farscape_%28role-playing_game%29
2003's "Best d20 Game", apparently.
>>47272925
yes, and the space battle rules in it arn't too bad
>>47269949
It is really a matter of what kind of space game you want to run.
Want the Age of Sail in space look no further than Rogue Trader and its broadside heavy shenanigans.
Star War obviously calls for a Star Wars game (I like SWD20 and Saga)
Want a more generic futuristic space game, then go GURPS or Traveller.
Oh and you you want Lovecaftian Horror in space? Look at The Void...
Seriously there is no ideal system for running a space campaign, they all have strengths and weaknesses.
Example: Rogue Trader
Pros:
40k Universe
Good Ship Customization
Fairly Balanced level progression
Fairly Balanced resource progression
Age of sail (Ye Olde Blue Navy) style Combat (If You don't mind the simplicity of slow two dimensional combat)
Comprehensive rules for piloting your ship... (see con labeled "*")
Cons:
Age of sail (Ye Olde Blue Navy) style Combat
(If you like things such as inertia, rolling ship, flying backwards etc)
40k - In the far future there is only angst, bondage, and eunuchs (I'm looking at you chem-geld)
*Space Combat rules scattered all over to the book and more scattered in the splat books requires you to either study/practice the rules constantly or Create a custom GM Screen (I did the later)
The monetary System is hot garbage where in a Single plasma gun is as easy to acquire as a bushel of honest to god nukes. (Good Atomics are OP btw)
Oh and you have bilges... on a SPACE SHIP!
>>47269949
If you have a setting in mind, and there's a game system for it, use that. Obviously.
If it's your own setting or majorly tweaked, then use GURPS or Fate. Traveller even had a GURPS edition (the game was dropped at the beginning of the year when the license expired). Those are the systems that best lend themselves to customization for a specific setting and genre.
