22 Stellar Science Fiction TTRPGs Deserving Your Attention (And They Have Nothing to Do with D&D)
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- čas přidán 26. 05. 2024
- Jeff shares 22 science fiction roleplaying games which you should check out if you're interested in bringing something different to your game table. And they have nothing to do with Dungeons & Dragons...
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0:00 Introduction
4:16 Coriolis from Free League Publishing
6:17 Cyberpunk Red from R Talsorian Games
8:04 Fading Suns 4E from Ulisses Spiele
9:47 Metamorphosis Alpha from Goodman Games
12:15 Numenera from Monte Cook Games
14:34 Savage Worlds Adventure Edition from Pinnacle Entertainment
16:18 Star Wars from Edge Studio
19:06 Stars Without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing (Kevin Crawford)
20:50 Tales from the Loop from Free League Publishing
24:00 Alien: The Role Playing Game from Free League Publishing
26:13 Battlelords of the 23 Century from 23 Century Productions
27:54 Blade Runner from Free League Publishing
30:02 Doctor Who Second Edition from Cubicle 7 Entertainment
33:13 Dune Adventures in the Imperium from Modiphius Entertainment
35:12 Fallout: The Roleplaying Game from Modiphius Entertainment
37:38 Mothership from Tuesday Knight Games
39:14 Mutant Crawl Classics from Goodman Games
41:08 Starfinder from Paizo Inc
43:30 Star Trek from Modiphius Entertainment
46:15 Torg Eternity from Ulisses Spiele
48:41 Traveller from Mongoose Publishing
52:18 Warhammer 40K Wrath & Glory from Cubicle 7 Entertainment
55:21 Wrapping up
#TTRPGs #ScienceFictionRPGs #NotDnD - Hry
Glad that you mentioned Seth Skorkowsky. You, he, and Professor Dungeon Master share the opinions that I value the most.
Thanks a bunch James! You've included me in some rarefied company, that's for sure! ~ Jeff
I got away from PDM because he shared some... let's just say "bad opinions" a couple years ago and I would have thought someone with his name wouldn't be so... "incorrect"
My favourite RPG is still STAR FRONTIERS (1982-1985) from TSR Inc. It joyfully blended melee, ranged, vehicle and aerial combat together in a fast-paced system. Its fans sustained it and distributed it free (or at cost in print) but now Wizards of the Coast has reprinted it and it may be well worth rediscovering. But it may be considered "crunchy" by today's standards and you may have to do things like add two-digit numbers together to decide what a +15% modifier does to your 1/2-Dexterity % plus 10% for each of your Skill Levels...
Mutant Crawl Classics is basically Thundaar the Barbarian the RPG
Rogue Trader will always be my favorite Warhammer 40K RPG. The PDFs should still be available for purchase.
Every once in a while I've seen bundle for the FFG WH40K RPGs too. I didn't include the line simply because it's no longer in print. ~ Jeff
Ulisses are a great publisher, they produce the dark eye, the german Editions of Harnmaster, Traveller, Fading Suns, Torg, Pathfinder etc.
Ah, and it is Hârnmaster, not Ham-Master like a friend of mind asked a few weeks ago. (And in German, the name of it is a bit odd too, because Harn means urine...)
About the Doctor Who game, I think you could easily have multiple doctors in the game. The tv show has had several instances of doctors meeting other doctors.
Haha, I had original-edition Battlelords of the 23rd C. in the 80s, when it was printed simply in black and white.
Really appreciate these recommendation videos! I played a lot of Doctor Who RPG (1e) during the first year of covid lockdowns with a group where it was everyone's first ttrpg. It's pretty easy to learn. I do agree that the 2e is a lot tidier. I definitely think it's a lot better mechanically, but I would recommend 1e for people who want a very quick/casual game or that are just starting out with ttrpgs, simply because I don't think the new mechanics are worth more than the premade characters in the sourcebooks if you're not super invested in a long running game. As mentioned in the video, updating from 1e to 2e should be pretty simple, I just think it's a bit tedious if you have to do it on mass. Overall, pretty good game. The strengths are definitely the sourcebooks (basically any canon main character you can think of is premade for you in them!) and character creation (you can make pretty much anything you can think of. Highlights from my game include a cyborg bear, a shapeshifting dog, and a robot that was actually thousands of nanobots clustered up).
Howdy there bud, just gonna pop myself into a seat and enjoy. Will type as I have bits to say.
After I've finished so people can see this part: To contribute, I have to mention Lancer by Massif Press. It's a borderline science fantasy far future mech based RPG that has some really satisfying crunch with how the mechs are built. Players level up through licenses they can take with manufacturers and individual mech frames, which lets them mix and match all kinds of parts for cool combos. And the mechs themselves can get super weird: one of them shoots cracked reality bolts as its main gun. Ridiculous in the best way and my personal favorite RPG at present. Big 3.5/PF feel to the system but not quite as aggressively crunchy with pure mechanics, more of a choice paralysis kind of situation with how much you can do. Quite a bit of good content both homebrewed approved by the creators and actual expansions. Highly recommend.
Coriolis looks amazing actually. I like the setting and the system sounds fairly simple to pick up as well. Will put that one on my list.
Ah, always a pleasure to see RED getting some love. Personal favorite 'gritty' scifi setting.
Fading suns just looks amazing, absolutely dripping with style. That's on the list.
Numenera is already on my list XD I've been after a setting agnostic system for a while and Cypher is arriving tomorrow in physical form I think. The setting looks amazing and I really want to sink my teeth into it. I'm a huge sucker for that long after apocalypse feel with ancient tech and ruins. Got a bit of a Kenshi vibe or vice versa.
Keep hearing about Savage Worlds but never looked too deep into it. I'll toss that on the list, why not? Been after a setting agnostic game I can settle down with. Cypher and Fate are already in my library but I like to experiment.
I feel like I should already know about Stars without Number. Might have actually heard the name here and there but brushed it off. Fair enough, on the list it goes.
Perfect honesty you held up Battlelords and I was already googling. That is so much my style my friends will probably groan when they see it. ON THE LIST!
I did not even know they had a current Dune tabletop. On the list it goes, love that setting.
Aw heck yeah, I'm starting my Starfinder campaign next week :D we just did our session zero. Got a Vesk soldier heavy weapons guy, a Sylph biohacker medic, an android Nanocyte skill monkey, and an astrozoan Witchwarper isekai protagonist. Can't freaking wait to start that, I have a huge soft spot for science fantasy.
Hmm...Torg sounds pretty awesome, but I gotta budget and that one sounds a little deep for the pockets. Will put that one on the backburner for now.
More science in my science fiction? Heck yeah, sign me up. Traveler on the list.
Wrath and Glory looks pretty good, but I'm kind of staying away from GW at the moment so not this time. Plenty else to look into, though, holy crap.
Thanks so much for the upload! Gave me a ton and a half to look into and a couple I'm already jonesing for. Battlelord and Coriolis specifically piqued my interest something fierce. Y'all have a good day now o7
Wow, Traveller was my first experience of RPGs when I was about 12, around 1980 - and I had the first Doctor Who RPG, from FASA, back in 1985. I would guess the range bands in Fallout is a attempt at realism - it's different shooting someone 3 metres away as it is at 100 metres, even for someone with military training over some plumber survivor. I like the look of Tales From the Loop, but I don't have the circle of friends I had 40 years ago.
Another stellar video, Jeff!!
I think you should go ahead and do a Horror version of this video, even if you only have 5 or so books to suggest. I'm sharing these online, and there are a lot of people looking for something new right now.
Free League's been going NUTS recently, or in the past and I'm only now hearing about them regularly!
Thank you Jeff, Your the best!
My pleasure!
If you like the GUMSHOE (from Pelgrane Press) engine then Ashen Stars is worth a look. They are best known for Trail of Cthulhu but if you like investigation focused games then check out their other GUMSHOE games.
I have been really enjoying you showing the lime light on other great TTRPGs! Bc of your videos I have a handful more that I will need to check out now, thanks Jeff!
Awesome! Thank you!
Long time GM for Edge Star Wars. Migrated there from 5e several years ago. LOVE this system. Very narrative. Very cinematic.
Thanks Jeff. It always makes my day to see GG videos come up in my feed.
My pleasure!
I'm gonna hope you make a few more of these videos but for horror and other genres.
Horror's my favourite genre too, I'd be curious to know what some lesser known TTRPG's are out there besides the titan of quality that is Call of Cthulu.
Most of these could ALSO be used for that! Though depending on what you fancy Ten Candles is pretty damn cool for horror and, of course, Call of Cthulhu! Aside from that I'm not sure what else you could call "horror"!
Oh, I guess MAYBE original Deadlands, though it's not really all that "horror" based!
@@JacksonOwexKult Divinity Lost, Fear Itself, The Esoterrorists, Shiver, The Walking Dead Universe, Monster of the Week
Some very cool games in this list.
I love Tales from the Loop & Alien. Such well done games.
Still so many I need to try. You've kinda hooked me on the idea of Star Trek Adventures.
That was a tremendous video. Many of my favourites included. I could not help noticing your copy of Regency Cthulhu on your shelf, a fantastic supplement. Horror games video please.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video Jeff! Two criminally underrated sci-fi rpgs are Eclipse Phase from Posthuman Studios and Lancer from Massif Press. Both are definitely worthy of a look. And one more vote for a horror list!
Mutant Year Zero series from Free League should’ve been on the list, in my humble opinion
Here's a tip: The ÆON Continuum, which is the latest version of the old ÆONverse games (ÆON, Aberrant, Adventure!). It's a cohesive setting, but the new edition is more setting-lite in that it gives more options for how to shape the setting - it gives alternate variants of the same settings, alternate variants of the same time periods in the game's world. The system is the Storypath System, a further development from the original ÆONverse's variant of the old White Wolf Storyteller system. Check it out if you can, it's pretty far from "classes and levels"-style games but still has _some_ rules crunch to bite into. It generally uses only d10 dice.
You had my curiosity, now you have my attention!
I've been looking into other game systems. I find myself moving more toward Sci-Fi. Cyberpunk Red is okay. Shadowrun (SR) is always a personal favorite. I don't like SR 6e mechanics. Bought SR 3e on Drivethru RPG. Happy with that. SR 3e is not friendly to mass combat, but I also think that SR is deadly enough without heaps or enemies. Traveller is next on my to try list. I bought Traveller 5e from Far future Enterprises (FFE). Books are not laid out well. Lots of spreadsheets. Mongoose 2e is easier to follow. I do like FFE's roll under, the other stuff makes it too hard to use.
Great list! I’m going out to pick up a few of these.
Enjoy!
Star Wars was originally from West End Games and used a D6 system. It had no classes and was awesome in its customizing. All the books plus 20+ years of sourcebooks are available online free
I've got to agree the West End Games Star Wars was a wonder to behold. I have to say, if memory serves, it did fall apart a bit with more experienced characters with all those tons of dice being chucked. ~ Jeff
@@Thegaminggang we played over the lockdown since it's easy to play over facebook video chat and it isnt so much normal players, but people who are really good at minmaxing force users. A blaster is a blaster and no matter how good you are, it's only going to do x damage. Force users in the hands of someone who knows the system are god like and have to be hit with godlike opponents to have a chance.
I SOOOOOOO want to find a group of people who play Star Trek Adventures! I've seen a few actual plays and it seems REALLY cool and REALLY easy to grasp, and the "specialty dice" are just d6s and there's only like three lines of text that tell you what you need to know to use "regular" d6s for the game!
Also, ALL HAIL THE ALGORYTHM(and my FOUR standalone comments)! lol
Could you do the same with the other types of RPGs, like the Moderns, horror or something completely left field. Maybe not a video each, but a top 5 for each category you come up with.
2:40 EH! Palladium is stuck in the 80s anyway! I don't know enough about Steve Jackson Games to comment either way!
Sorry, I was late but Thank You Jeff!!
My favorite Scifi games are
1. West End Games Star Wars (d6 Space...)
2. Perry Rhodan (same engine like the FRPG Midgard and (Gaslight era) Abenteuer 1880, it's a german thing, the longest runnig space opera novels, Ulisses games published those a few years ago btw)
3. Classic Traveller (Facsimile Edition, Traveller Book Edition, or the Edition by ... guess... Ulisses ;) )
4. Cyberpunk 2020 - Jahr der Ratte (the Edition of Cyberpunk 2.0 which was only released in German - Low Orbit and Deep Space make great Firefly or The Expanse games... )
5. Space Master (omg, yes I like this ;) )
6. FASA Star Trek (published by... Fantasy Productions, which did The Dark Eye before ... Ulisses)
7. Prime Directive (Star Trek without the rights for the characters... Classic, d20 and a system you did not want to mention)
8. Trinity (new and old era, White Wolf/Onyx Path)
9. Alternity (could have become the 3rd Edition of D&D too, if TSR had survived...)
10. Star Frontiers (translated to German by the guys of ... Fantasy Productions, who also translated BECMI and AD&D...)
Honory mentions:
Braundwarf/Braunzwerg (Homebrew, imagine Baronies of Braunstein, but in space... old school space opera...)
For the sake of completeness:
11. Gamma World
12. M-Space (Mythras Engine, which is Runequest 6)
13. Star Wars D20 (those times when I could still play WotC games without morally panicking ;) )
14. Mutant Future
15. FrontierSpace
16. Shadowrun (3.0.1d)
17. Mech Warrior
18. the old Fading Suns (which had far to many d20 for my taste ;) )
19. Modophius Star Trek (I DM this atm, but it's not my cup of tea, I prefer FASA Trek)
20. Fallout (but with the Wasteland setting...)
21. Torg (new and old, but games with card decks are not among my favorites...)
22. Traveller 2300/Twilight 2000 (depressing atm, but it's different from the original Traveller rules- and setting-wise)
23. Star Hero (Champions in Space)
Raumhafen Adamant - how could I forget this! GREAT little game!
other games that might make a good start for near future scifi games are
- Spycraft (d20, the 1e rules can be found at very low prices)
- Hunter The Reckoning
- Dark Conspiracy
- Chronicles of Darkness, The God Machine and Demon The Descent
- d20 Modern by WotC
One sci-fi RPG I'm interested in looking at is the Stargate rpg
Great video! I was so close to backing the recent Fading Suns Kickstarter, and now I really wish I had. Never heard of Battlelords of the 23rd century; I'd love to check that out.
Speaking of 2d20 games, do you have any experience with Mutant Chronicles that I understand Modiphius recently lost the license to? How does it compare to their other 2d20 games?
Mutant Chronicles 3e, the Modiphius 2d20 version, was one of their earliest 2d20 games. So it's on the crunchy end of the system. However, there is tons of material for MC3e. At least until the printed stuff is sold out. I have nearly the whole line. It's a very versatile setting regarding what you might want to run theme-wise. The 'Dieselpunk' future setting has all kinds of potential in that regard. Retro-tech space sci-fi, body & techno-horror from interdimensional invasion, military action, espionage, investigation, MegaCorp conflict, the post-apocalyptic planet of Earth, interplanetary issues in the solar system, magic, some cyberpunk in one of the Corps, etc. It's a sci-horror-punk setting that's a bit over-the-top in a 40k way, albeit a bit closer to now than far far future as in 40k. Especially regarding technology since computers and especially AI are no longer viable due to past events.
MC3 has one of the most interesting Lifepath character creation systems I've seen, rivaling Traveller. In some ways I'd say it's better due to a wider range of events that can really fill out PC backstories. Having further options in each Corp splatbook. The system is still largely the same 2d20 as in their Conan and Infinity RPG so it has a lot more detail. Probably the most of any of those due to covering a wide range of tech, equipment, spaceships, vehicles, their version of magic, and all the rest. It encompasses a lot, and can fit about any style of genre game you want to run. For the same reason there is a lot to take in. Some people also complain about it using a simplified monetary system for the characters that loses some granularity on the extreme ends. The setting has a lot of character and possibilities, though, if you feel like spending the time with it. Like a mix of Sci-fi, Shadowrun, WH40k chaos invasions, and a reversion to 1980's or 1990's tech level in space long after colonizing the solar system post-apocalypse/Corp War/Interdimensional Horror invasion.
Love the Fallout mention, which book has more of a miniatures combat system?
🔥🔥🔥
Thank you. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, will do!
Just out of curiosity what do you dislike about Palladium and Steve Jackson Games? Really dig your channel and opinions, so would love to know more.
I'd rather not get into too much of it since I just ignore both companies these days but Google Palladium and their Robotech Kickstarter fiasco to learn why I don't mention them and the SJG stuff goes back over a decade with things which went down with my team a couple Gen Cons in a row. ~ Jeff
WOW- Great... Thorough LIST: Are all these Warhammer40K books role playing books? I thought they were miniature and tactics books. Also, are all these different Warhammer books using the same game system? Has the Warhammer community settled on a system that I can learn and apply to all these different unit types?
Could you do a Top 20 RPGs that aren’t historical fantasy or future science fiction? You may need to qualify what fantasy or sci-fi means and how broad the category is, of course, but I’m thinking of modern day RPGs including action, horror and other more unusual genres.
Also, you should have included Paranoia.
The last edition of Paranoia wasn't so hot. Of course there's a new edition but I haven't had an opportunity to check it out. ~ Jeff
@@Thegaminggang You should. It is an improvement - no cards and a more polished approach generally.
Do horror and other genres too.
Year Zero engine not Year One. Simple mistake but it kept throwing me off XD
As soon as I uploaded the vid it hit me. I had a news piece for yesterday's live show with Year One in the title and that was sticking in my head. Doh! ~ Jeff
The Doctor who role-play games could I play as the master cuz that would be the one thing that I think would be cool is be able to play as a bad guy. Obviously bad guys have all the fan
The design isn't geared toward playing the baddie but I suppose you could. ~ Jeff
I hop swn is in there >:)
Watch to find out...
SWN and WWN are not OGL, Sine Nomine has a really solid protection in this regard.
We're not as worried about that as we were a few hours ago!!!
Are there any good adventures for Wrath & Glory? I'm a shit GM.
If you pop over to DriveThruRPG, you can check out the adventures for W&G. I'm pretty sure there's still a free adventure you can check out. ~ Jeff
Only way to get better is to keep trying new stuff! We all started in the same place!
@@JacksonOwex I still prefer running adventures, it gives me a framework to work with.
Year Zero Engine Jeff ahahahah
As soon as I uploaded the vid it hit me. I had a news piece for yesterday's live show with Year One in the title and that was sticking in my head. Doh! ~ Jeff
@@Thegaminggang not picking on you Big Jeff, just laughed a lot since you said year one in more videos ahahah, I was listening and thinking to my self... he is going to say 1 🤣
Best wishes for 2023!
I'll stick with d6 Star Wars, no funky dice or apps needed!
As a teenager during the later 1980's and early 1990's, I had to cross TMNT with D&D and run it like the TMNT cartoon just to keep my cousin peer group interested in D&D or they turn to video games and beating each other with plastic baseball bats. Then went through WEG d6 into WotC 3e D&D/Star Wars, the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars is the theme and style of play. In short we couldn't get a good Star Trek game and Fasa/Rifts ST wasn't our cup of tea/coffee. So we just used a bootleg AD&D system for ST or WEG till WotC3e or 3.5 came out.
We even did a Red Sun campaign using Star Wars rules and ran it as a cross of what if Sith lords were in a Star Trek universe.
Earth's yellow sun puts out 3.7 to 5x as much solar radiation than a stander " red sun," and I know what a sun burn where your skin pleas off is like. Also factor in since the Silver Age Krypton had x8 gravity, so why risk the bends as your blood depressurize. So by ship's senor reading alone without experiencing environment effects, why would a Kryptonian risk stepping on Earth without a radiation pressure suit ?
Also as a campaign feature any yellow sun that is Earth base that give red sun beings superpowers are baren waste lands cover in impact creators and server storms locked in an impact nuclear winter. Smugglers get into a fire fight, then after their evac suits get damage and they become solar charged. Their fist blows grew from kiloton impact shock waves into megaton. -- Great twist on players' PCs, motivate them into evac suits, build up the dangers and when they think they are going to die from being exposed to the environment, they gain Superman powers. Difficulty twist is now make them do math work to figure out to take out the other side as fast as a speeding bullet before the over group figures things out..
Just used the Jedi's Move Object for Superman's lift, then play with the numbers to have a good story.
Sonic attacks effect Superman, twist is all he has to do is speed up his Thought Process to rocket escape speed and then sound travels to Slow for his brain to even notice it. So you can get PCs to become lost in thought cause they are thinking like the Flash. Sound goes silent as they are Thinking faster than the speed of sound.
As for D&D rules Kryptonians are psionist that specialized in Ethereal/ Phantom Zone magic of proto mater materials and technology. Their heat vision is tapping into the elemental plane of fire and as such. Think " Spelljammer," with ships that travel the Ethereal plane with Ego item/weapon ship golem/warforge A.I.
One of my favorites not mentioned is Paranoia I remember it had a new edition released a few years back but I still love the old west end 2ed
Another good one is Mindjammer based on the fate engine but there is a mongoose traveler version as well
Human Occupied Landfill (HOL) is another bonkers and fun setting
A fun independent system is crawling the under the broken moon (CUBM) setting loosely based on Thundarr
ICE also had (and I hope will rerelease ) their own SF settings with Space Master, Tech Law, And Cyberworld
The original Gamma world was a ton of fun as a kid and having Metamorphosis Alpha along side it made it so much better
I understand your feelings about SJGs and I can respect that, I have the same issues with GW and Hasbro/WOTC (even though I loved Rogue Trader and Necromunda)
Why don’t you cover Palladium and Steve Jackson games?
Google Palladium Robotech scam to learn why I don't discuss them. As for SJG, it's a personal thing. ~ Jeff
"Mathfinder" - grade 6 drop out
Stop being one of those people and try it out or just STOP! D&D is JUST as bad when it comes to math!
@@JacksonOwex Do you understand context there buddy. I don't play either. Thanks
Hi! I would like to know more about your opinions toward Steve Jackson Games. Thanks in advance.
If you've followed TGG over the years you'll know the deal. Other than that I just leave it be. I only mentioned SJG to nip all the commenters with their "What about GURPS?" inquiries. ~ Jeff
@@Thegaminggang I am sorry. Even thought I am a big fan since I discovered you like 6 months ago, I never heard about that topic. Well, I am gonna dive into your earlier videos, then. Happy new year to you and your team. Cheers.
you should actually mention definately Shadowrun! Maybe in a follow up video of this one or something.
I wouldn't recommend the latest edition of Shadowrun; It's a mess. These are games I recommend. ~ Jeff
@@Thegaminggang which edition of Shadowrun do you recommend
What's the issue with Paladium and Steve Jackson>?
Why not Palladium? I love Palladium! It's quite NSFW I guess.
Start by going to Google to check out how the company ripped off people the Robotech Kickstarter fiasco. It goes downhill from there...
There's so much that could be said! It's not hard to find OTHER people talking about it online! To touch on the systems alone though(and MY opinions of the game(s)), their stuck in 80s mechanically and don't seem to care about updating to more modern conventions!
The only Rifts that is playable is through Savage Worlds (SWADE) by Pinnacle. The Palladium version was terrible mechanics -wise in the 80s and they haven't improved it since.
If you don't know Rifts, you're missing out.
Just saying, Ultramodern5....