I just came back from The Rise of Skywalker. Leaving aside my personal quibbles and critique, I was nonetheless entertained and appreciated the wrapping up of the story line, especially the final scene and homage to Tatooine where things all started...I felt like I was seven again, and feeling again a "new hope".
Nostalgia aside, this has made me think of Space RPGs and my sadly limited experience with them. I played in a brief Traveler campaign and thoroughly enjoyed it as short as it lasted. So, I'd love to hear what systems others have used and recommend (or don't), and what specific attributes they provide (or are lacking). Specifically, what suggestions there are for a space exploration (sandbox) campaign, but also a solid system for ship building and combat. My inner Han Solo is feeling has an itch that needs to be scratched.
Gratefully,
Mark
A lot is going to depend on the style of play you are looking for.
If you want Star Wars that emulates what you see in the Star Wars universe media, you cannot go wrong with the WEG d6 SWRPG. No other version of Star Wars compares favorably. FFG is a narrativist mess that requires you to buy a few separate games and a bunch of gimmick dice instead of a single book if you want to play. The d20 version of SWRPG put out by WotC plays like D&D in Space (which is a problem best avoided IMHO, more on that later). For sandbox space exploration, it rocks (especially when supplemented by
Wookiepedia and the
Star Wars Galaxy Map). However, creating new starships is difficult, although there are a lot already made and modification of them is in the main rulebooks.
Now if you want a Space RPG that better emulates the written science fiction of the past 60 years, then your best bet would be Traveller or Cepheus Engine. Lots of support and advantages for those intertwined systems but the gameplay does not resemble the science fantasy of Star Wars unless you really break the system.
For cyberpunk, use Cyberpunk 2020. The Near Orbit and Deep Space books are good, but again it will not be Star Wars.
For anime or mecha, use Mekton II or Mekton Zeta. If you like giant robots and want your space opera to be more like Gundam or Macross, then this is the game system for you.
Now, there are a number of games out there that use the base D&D character generation and combat system in their body of rules. Avoid them. No D&D based combat system has come to terms with the lethality of modern weapons (except Traveller d20) and all of them have gameplay like D&D in Space (even to a degree, Traveller d20). If D&D in Space is your thing, more power to you, but eventually the campaign will fizzle because the people gaming will start wondering why they are playing this game and not just D&D.
Just my own two cents worth.....