Hi all,

One thing about the current UK lockdown is that you can't go to the pub any more! So, some old gaming pals and I have started playing again (via Zoom and stuff) after about a decade away from it. While many of the old forums that we used to use seem to have gone (like the old UK Roleplayers site, if anyone recalls that), it's nice to see that many of the bigger chat sites - RPGNet, here, etc) are still going strong. Over the past few weeks we've played one shots of a bunch of older games - Starblazer (which we'd just got into when we stopped gaming), red box D&D (which was great fun, TBH), and some small press British games like Dead of Night. And we've thoroughly enjoyed it!

However, I realise that things have moved on a lot and that new games have come out. We're a fairly diverse group with broad tastes, but we're looking for solid recommendations of games that we can play for 2-5 sessions at a time that have come out since 2010-11. There seem to be loads, so it's hard to make a choice without some informed opinions! The current consensus of what we'd like to try over the next couple of months seems to be for games that have easy to medium mechanical difficulty, and are science-fantasy/science-fictional in flavour (although, we're very much open to any and all recommendations.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Franko

Quote from: Franko77;1127530science-fantasy/science-fictional in flavour (although, we're very much open to any and all recommendations.

Have you looked into Starfinder? I'm currently playing it and enjoying it. It's built on the framework of Pathfinder 1.0, with a few tweaks.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1127531Have you looked into Starfinder? I'm currently playing it and enjoying it. It's built on the framework of Pathfinder 1.0, with a few tweaks.

I've not, no! That sounds right up our street. Being inspired by WH40K and Guardians of the Galaxy is no bad thing.

Thanks a lot!

Franko

Stars Without Number, which has a free version available here is a sandbox science fiction game. It's mostly compatible with old-school D&D, so adding fantasy monsters is fairly simple.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1127531Have you looked into Starfinder? I'm currently playing it and enjoying it. It's built on the framework of Pathfinder 1.0, with a few tweaks.

For a few sessions I'd recommend the Starfinder Beginner Box. The core game is very complex being derived from Pathfinder which derives from 3e D&D.

On a similar theme, I like White Star which is an OD&D-based kitchen sink space opera 'SF film & TV' game - you can fight Daleks, Borg, & Cylons all in the same game!

5e D&D is the game everyone plays these days. It's a very good take on D&D.

I like http://https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/ashen-stars/ for sci-fi. Investagitave one shots in a trekkie mode are fun.

Not exactly sci fantasy, but Dungeon Crawl Classic is quick, easy, has a fairly inexpensive book, lots of adventures and is the zone of that you seem to be looking for.  Mutant Crawl Classic is more or less exactly what you ask for as well.  I would say mutant epoch might be what you want; but seems more crunchy ended with tables and charts.

Take a look at M-Space, great system.

Thanks for all the recommendations - we'll certainly give some of those a shot. Ashen Stars certainly sounds like a good bet for the kind of stuff we want to do.

Cheers,
Franko

I strongly recommend Stars Without Number, which was already mentioned. It's sci-fi, and the rules are fundamentally based on classic, pre-WotC D&D. It has a number of things going for it:
- Being based on the D&D ruleset, it's easy to pick and and learn for D&D players.
- It's DEFINITELY in the light-medium complexity range, more in light, really.
- Its basic assumed gameplay style is a bit like the TV series Firefly, or, I guess, the Traveller RPG, with the assumption that there are many worlds out there, quite a few with a backwards technology level. It can be, however, very easily customised, and some of the existing attendant material is already set out to do just that. You want more cybernetics for a Cyberpunk feeling? There's stuff for that out there. Transhuman sci-fi? It's there. Space Opera with laser-sword-wielding psionic monks? You can do it. Military sci-fi? Sci-fi espionage? There are books for that.
-  Very importantly, it comes with a whole lot of support for GMs. Advice, procedures and tables for generating your worlds, NPCs and adventures. An entire faction management system that you can use to "simulate" large-scale events transpiring in the background, or which can allow the players to get involved in a bit of empire building of their own, where that empire can be anything from a polity through a megacorporation to a criminal syndicate.
- It has two editions, both of which have a free (but very, very content-rich) rulebook, so you can check them out for yourself, and which are perfectly sufficient on their own to run a campaign.

Personally, I would not recommend Starfinder. It's a sci-fi version of Pathfinder, which in turn is a serial-numbers-filed-off version of the 3.5th edition of D&D - which, from an old-school D&D fan perspective, was a pile of shit. It was rules-heavy, cumbersome, bogged down in a "character building" system with literally hundreds of Prestige Classes, feats and other shit you don't need, and both the rules and the surrounding game culture were solidly against any sort of creativity and all for doing everything by the numbers. Based on your post above I really don't think you'd enjoy something like that.

White Star is something I've had a look at, and while it's a great choice for someone who essentially wants "OD&D in space", I think it doesn't do quite as good a job at being a "Sci-fi game based on D&D." Which Stars Without Number does perfectly.

Quote from: Premier;1127684Personally, I would not recommend Starfinder. It's a sci-fi version of Pathfinder, which in turn is a serial-numbers-filed-off version of the 3.5th edition of D&D - which, from an old-school D&D fan perspective, was a pile of shit. It was rules-heavy, cumbersome, bogged down in a "character building" system with literally hundreds of Prestige Classes, feats and other shit you don't need, and both the rules and the surrounding game culture were solidly against any sort of creativity and all for doing everything by the numbers. Based on your post above I really don't think you'd enjoy something like that.

Dont play Starfinder because DnD is shit?  Come one man, stay on target.

Quote from: Shasarak;1127694Dont play Starfinder because DnD is shit?  Come one man, stay on target.

Oh, are you suggesting that the gameplay feel and general attitude towards rules are NOT fundamentally similar in Starfinder and 3.5E? I suppose you also have a bridge to sell me, so do go on.

Quote from: Franko77;1127530Hi all,

One thing about the current UK lockdown is that you can't go to the pub any more! So, some old gaming pals and I have started playing again (via Zoom and stuff) after about a decade away from it. While many of the old forums that we used to use seem to have gone (like the old UK Roleplayers site, if anyone recalls that), it's nice to see that many of the bigger chat sites - RPGNet, here, etc) are still going strong. Over the past few weeks we've played one shots of a bunch of older games - Starblazer (which we'd just got into when we stopped gaming), red box D&D (which was great fun, TBH), and some small press British games like Dead of Night. And we've thoroughly enjoyed it!

However, I realise that things have moved on a lot and that new games have come out. We're a fairly diverse group with broad tastes, but we're looking for solid recommendations of games that we can play for 2-5 sessions at a time that have come out since 2010-11. There seem to be loads, so it's hard to make a choice without some informed opinions! The current consensus of what we'd like to try over the next couple of months seems to be for games that have easy to medium mechanical difficulty, and are science-fantasy/science-fictional in flavour (although, we're very much open to any and all recommendations.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Franko

Well, you could try Lion & Dragon!

Quote from: Premier;1127742Oh, are you suggesting that the gameplay feel and general attitude towards rules are NOT fundamentally similar in Starfinder and 3.5E? I suppose you also have a bridge to sell me, so do go on.

Don't want to sell you anything, you just need to dial down your TDS a notch.

Quote from: oggsmash;1127566Not exactly sci fantasy, but Dungeon Crawl Classic is quick, easy, has a fairly inexpensive book, lots of adventures and is the zone of that you seem to be looking for.  Mutant Crawl Classic is more or less exactly what you ask for as well.  I would say mutant epoch might be what you want; but seems more crunchy ended with tables and charts.

Dungeon Crawl Classics is one huge book full of good stuff.  You don't need to purchase anything else, except for an exotic set of dice.  There is also a phone app that negates the need for the special dice, but buy the dice.  They are a very cool item.  It's a throwback to how unique AD&D and polyhedral dice were long ago.