Gameable Sci-fi?

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I’m planning to run a sci-fi campaign in the near future, with Savage Worlds Adventurer Edition. I’m looking for something which I can convert or adapt. Sci-fi isn’t a genre we play often, so I’m interested in good stuff people have run in the past, either campaigns or adaptable franchises.

I know the obvious things at a high level, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dune, Warhammer 40k, Traveller, Firefly. There are a few more low-key properties I’m aware of like Lensman, KillJoys, Aliens, the Expanse, Star Gate.

I’m ideally looking for something a bit more space opera than hard sci-fi. Interplanetary flight, but doesn’t need to be intergalactic. Artificial gravity desirable. Alien races are negotiable. The PCs might be scouts, traders, scoundrels; people who will get involved in stuff and have some dirt under their fingernails.

I’m looking for either straight campaign materials or setting bibles. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Your thoughts on what makes them good would also be a plus.

(I know there is Slipstream and Flash Gordon for Savage Worlds, they aren’t my first choice so hence my asking...)
 
Well, there Buck Rogers XXVc. No artificial G in that, but it's pure solar system adventure. No aliens, but "Gennies" which are genetically engineered humans which fill the alien role.

Renegade Legion? Very space opera, but also with a hard sci-fi splash of paint. Definitely artificial G. Definitely aliens. Definitely interstellar travel. But as it was primarily a wargame franchise, it might not be good for the character concepts you have in mind.
 
I’m planning to run a sci-fi campaign in the near future, with Savage Worlds Adventurer Edition. I’m looking for something which I can convert or adapt. Sci-fi isn’t a genre we play often, so I’m interested in good stuff people have run in the past, either campaigns or adaptable franchises.

I know the obvious things at a high level, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dune, Warhammer 40k, Traveller, Firefly. There are a few more low-key properties I’m aware of like Lensman, KillJoys, Aliens, the Expanse, Star Gate.

I’m ideally looking for something a bit more space opera than hard sci-fi. Interplanetary flight, but doesn’t need to be intergalactic. Artificial gravity desirable. Alien races are negotiable. The PCs might be scouts, traders, scoundrels; people who will get involved in stuff and have some dirt under their fingernails.

I’m looking for either straight campaign materials or setting bibles. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Your thoughts on what makes them good would also be a plus.

(I know there is Slipstream and Flash Gordon for Savage Worlds, they aren’t my first choice so hence my asking...)
There's the scum and villainy campaign I've been running here. Originally I was going to do it with FATE, and it ported to Scum and Villainy pretty easily. Trying it with Savage Worlds is on the to-do list, and I have quite a bit of other material, albeit in a fairly disorganised format. However, if you want to crib from it and put something together yourself, you're quite welcome to it.

There's quite a bit of other material in various states of completion in a onenote collection, although it's very much a work in progress.
 
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I’m planning to run a sci-fi campaign in the near future, with Savage Worlds Adventurer Edition. I’m looking for something which I can convert or adapt. Sci-fi isn’t a genre we play often, so I’m interested in good stuff people have run in the past, either campaigns or adaptable franchises.

I know the obvious things at a high level, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dune, Warhammer 40k, Traveller, Firefly. There are a few more low-key properties I’m aware of like Lensman, KillJoys, Aliens, the Expanse, Star Gate.

I’m ideally looking for something a bit more space opera than hard sci-fi. Interplanetary flight, but doesn’t need to be intergalactic. Artificial gravity desirable. Alien races are negotiable. The PCs might be scouts, traders, scoundrels; people who will get involved in stuff and have some dirt under their fingernails.

I’m looking for either straight campaign materials or setting bibles. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Your thoughts on what makes them good would also be a plus.

(I know there is Slipstream and Flash Gordon for Savage Worlds, they aren’t my first choice so hence my asking...)
Did you look at Savage Worlds Sci-Fi setting: Last Parsec? It sounds like exactly what you're looking for. It has several plot-point campaigns, but gives you a solid framework to do literally anything you want, or grow what they've presented. You can do a tremendous amount of offroading and their Plot Point campaigns have a lot of variety. I recommend checking them out, especially since they've done a lot of the heavy lifting for you in terms of the framework.
 
Good suggestion, I had forgotten Buck and co.

Well fleshed our war games can be a good option, thanks

Is that FFG‘s Tannhauser? Another war game root :grin:

Some good suggestions, more please!
No, a homebrew setting. Nothing to do with FFG.
 
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Well fleshed our war games can be a good option, thanks

Renegade Legion is pretty basic. It's the evil Roman Empire in space against the WW2 British. FASA was originally trying to get the Star Wars license back in the 80s, and that deal fell thru, so the tale goes that they took the work they had done towards Star Wars games and used it to make Renegade Legion.

Any of the Renegade Legion game books have a little section detailing the background. About half of the Renegade Legion Interceptor rulebook goes into the history of the Terran Overlord Government (TOG) and the politics of the setting. There's some details about the aliens. Plus, being a FASA game there's a lot of info about the tech of the setting.

I don't know if it's any good, but I recently ordered the Shannedam County sourcbook which is supposed to have background material about the worlds of the primary conflict area. So maybe that might be a good one to look for to mine for ideas?

There's also a standalone Renegade Legion RPG called Legionnaire. I've never managed to snag a copy. It seems largely forgotten, but the few who do remember it seem to regard it well. Once again, might be mineable for ideas if you can find it.

If you hunt around, you can probably at least find a PDF of Interceptor online and check out the background section. If you want to check out a hardcopy, most of the stuff is fairly inexpensive. You can find still sealed copies of the 2nd printing of Interceptor for about $25.
 
Did you look at Savage Worlds Sci-Fi setting: Last Parsec? It sounds like exactly what you're looking for. It has several plot-point campaigns, but gives you a solid framework to do literally anything you want, or grow what they've presented. You can do a tremendous amount of offroading and their Plot Point campaigns have a lot of variety. I recommend checking them out, especially since they've done a lot of the heavy lifting for you in terms of the framework.
Thanks for the recommendation, I have been looking at that on DriveThru. It does look to have potential, I may well go with it.
Renegade Legion RPG called Legionnaire
I shall do some internet searching!
I only know the GDW version and can't speak for the Savage Worlds version, but unless they changed the setting a lot, Space: 1889 is a good 'un
We played the original version back when I was in 6th Form college! It's a good game, not quite what I'm looking for this time but thanks for the suggestion. The more important question: how gameable is your namesake?
 
Thanks for the recommendation, I have been looking at that on DriveThru. It does look to have potential, I may well go with it.

I shall do some internet searching!

We played the original version back when I was in 6th Form college! It's a good game, not quite what I'm looking for this time but thanks for the suggestion. The more important question: how gameable is your namesake?
There is actually an article about the etymology of Traveller that goes into the ideas it takes from the Dumarest Saga, which is cited as one of Traveller's major influences). I have to catch a train presently so I'll leave it up to your google-fu to find it.

I've only read a couple of the Dumarest books, and was a bit underwhelmed with them, but I imagine our esteemed colleague Dumarest Dumarest could point you at some that might contain ideas that lend themselves to cribbing for a Traveller game.
 
You're right - supposedly that is why Traveller uses the British spelling of the name. I had forgotten that link!
 
Necropolis and Nemezis might be worth a look, but they both might be a bit over the top for you. I enjoy both and have taken pieces from each.

I will give another vote to Last Parsec.
 
Worlds United for Mythras might fit the bill. The blurb from the dtrpg page sums it up nicely:


What if...
The Martians really did invade Earth in 1897? And again, in 1938?
Venus really is a lush jungle planet, where dinosaurs still roam?
Psionics are a reality? Crystal Technology an everyday fact of life?
Rockets ply the spacelanes between Mars, Earth, Venus and the asteroids?
The year is 1959?
Worlds United is a setting of Planetary Romance and Pulp Science Fiction. Your characters are adventurers and explorers, people of extraordinary abilities, with drive and ambition to match. Here, the gleaming alloy air cars of Gernsback era SF are a reality; one really can sail the Martian canals, or wrangle dinosaurs on Venus; and there truly are wrecks of Martian War Tripods standing fearsomely tall in the Smithsonian – and the fear that the Octopoid Martians, unseen for a generation, are once again drawing their plans against us...
Fully compatible with Mythras, Worlds United takes you into a 1959 with rockets, rayguns, dinosaurs, and rip-roaring adventure.
 
Well, there Buck Rogers XXVc. No artificial G in that, but it's pure solar system adventure. No aliens, but "Gennies" which are genetically engineered humans which fill the alien role.

Renegade Legion? Very space opera, but also with a hard sci-fi splash of paint. Definitely artificial G. Definitely aliens. Definitely interstellar travel. But as it was primarily a wargame franchise, it might not be good for the character concepts you have in mind.

Someone else remembers the Renegade Legion role playing game? Awesome.
 
Fate has a couple settings that might be interesting, premise-wise. There's "The Three Rocketeers"

Journey through the Holy Roman Stellar Empire and the worlds of Britannica Solaria in this Fate World of Adventure by PK Sullivan! The Queen’s enemies may have disbanded the Rocketeers, but duty cannot be set aside so easily.

A deadly cabal of nobles and clergy threaten to usurp Her Majesty Queen Marie-Hélène’s throne and hand Gallia over to Pope Regulus IV, and the Rocketeers now work from the shadows to protect the queen from threats both foreign and domestic. Foreign spies and papal agents lurk in every shadow as the trap draws ever closer.

A laser-sharp blade and even sharper wits will serve you well as interstellar powers play the game of puppets and shadows. The fate of the crown is in your hands.


Then there's this:

GHOST PLANETS
A galaxy full of graves…

In the 23rd century, we found signs of intelligent life in the galaxy—deserted planets full of alien structures. The World Council established the Xenohistory Corps to investigate these ghost planets and determine what happened to their inhabitants.

In the far reaches of the galaxy, your group of Corps explorers and scientists searches the abandoned relics of inhuman beings, looking for answers. You must survive hostile environments, decipher ancient clues, and confront the miraculous and terrifying products of alien technologies. If you fail, Earth may become the next ghost planet.


I've read both, but never ran either. Of the two "Ghost Planets" seems interesting to me due to belonging to the "Xenohistory Corps" idea. Exploration with an impending doom, depending on which way you go.

I think you can DL these for free.
 
Thanks for more suggestions, my reading list is getting good :thumbsup:
 
I’m planning to run a sci-fi campaign in the near future, with Savage Worlds Adventurer Edition. I’m looking for something which I can convert or adapt. Sci-fi isn’t a genre we play often, so I’m interested in good stuff people have run in the past, either campaigns or adaptable franchises.

I know the obvious things at a high level, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dune, Warhammer 40k, Traveller, Firefly. There are a few more low-key properties I’m aware of like Lensman, KillJoys, Aliens, the Expanse, Star Gate.

I’m ideally looking for something a bit more space opera than hard sci-fi. Interplanetary flight, but doesn’t need to be intergalactic. Artificial gravity desirable. Alien races are negotiable. The PCs might be scouts, traders, scoundrels; people who will get involved in stuff and have some dirt under their fingernails.

I’m looking for either straight campaign materials or setting bibles. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Your thoughts on what makes them good would also be a plus.

(I know there is Slipstream and Flash Gordon for Savage Worlds, they aren’t my first choice so hence my asking...)
What about Red Dwarf? Not really space opera, but PC's have an in-built reason to get involved - boredom - and you can fit in a large variety of different sorts of adventure. No aliens, but you can always make a GELF to do whatever you need them to. Canon is more about feel than detail.
 
Good suggestion. I’m definitely interested in books / films / tv that could be gameable, too
 
You could probably convert Traveller’s Pirates of Drinax to Savage Worlds and it would fit in really well, tonally. It was written by Gareth Hanrahan and is a romp, drawing elements from things like Flash Gordon and other sci-fi. You play corsairs with a letter of marque from an unscrupulous royal family of a lapsed interplanetary kingdom, in-between the Cold War of two expanding empires - what more needs to be said?

If you don’t want the full slip box set, which admittedly is expensive in one go, you can just get the modules for individual adventures.
 
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Hostile is on DriveThru and Lulu, and is basically Aliens the RPG. Your characters are blue-collar joes and joans, working the arse-end of space in a universe that can kill you stone dead in seconds. If the xenomorphs don't get you, the company will...

It's written for Traveller, but easy to adapt for any other SFRPG, and Cepheus lets you understand the stats for free. The majority of the book is background material, it has a very strong 80s retro feel, and it's very, very good.

Paul Elliott has done a ton of great "hard sf" stuff for Traveller.
 
I’m ideally looking for something a bit more space opera than hard sci-fi. Interplanetary flight, but doesn’t need to be intergalactic. Artificial gravity desirable. Alien races are negotiable. The PCs might be scouts, traders, scoundrels; people who will get involved in stuff and have some dirt under their fingernails.

The Original Traveller Universe (which to me is 70% Niven/Pournelle Known Space) fits like a glove. I’ll second T Trippy ’s suggestion — Pirates of Drinax is great. Definitely want to run this one some day.
 
D6 Space has a setting called Fires of Amatsumara. It has a very strong "space western" vibe. I have it, but haven't more than skimmed it, I'm afraid.
 
The more important question: how gameable is your namesake?
Enough that Traveller took its name and a good % of its implied setting ideas from E.C. Tubb's novels! There are dozens of worlds detailed in the stories, FTL travel (courtesy of the Erhaft drive), noble houses, mutants, a diabolical organization seeking absolute control over the various governments of the galaxy for its own good (the Cyclan), a secretive cult (The Original People), a guild of honest brokers and traders (the Hausi), a humanitarian pacifist group (Church of Universal Brotherhood), and a tableau large enough that you can really insert whatever you think fits and pursue whatever aims your characters want. One thing that sets it apart from most sci fi settings is that there are no galactic or interplanetary empires or other polities and no massive space warships in any of the stories.
 
Isn't Dune already "in space"?
Not really. It's just in the future. But yaknow... you can whatever you want in your Dune games! I can't imagine if I ever ran an actual Dune game some player of mine wouldn't suggest "hey let's all be Spice smugglers" and then lo and behold we're doing ship-combat in spaaaaace! So it could happen...
 
Fading Suns manages to be a bit lighter and more philosophical than 40k and a bit less rigidly impossible to adventure in than Dune. 40k had some strong Dune elements like navigators from the very beginning. But I think Fading Suns manages to be stronger than either of those when it comes to a gamable setting.
 
Cheers folks, I do have some of the Fading Suns books in PDF, possibly due to a Bundle at some point.

I think I have made a choice for now, but please keep the cool sci-fi premises coming if there is more stuff you would recommend!
 
Enough that Traveller took its name and a good % of its implied setting ideas from E.C. Tubb's novels! There are dozens of worlds detailed in the stories, FTL travel (courtesy of the Erhaft drive), noble houses, mutants, a diabolical organization seeking absolute control over the various governments of the galaxy for its own good (the Cyclan), a secretive cult (The Original People), a guild of honest brokers and traders (the Hausi), a humanitarian pacifist group (Church of Universal Brotherhood), and a tableau large enough that you can really insert whatever you think fits and pursue whatever aims your characters want. One thing that sets it apart from most sci fi settings is that there are no galactic or interplanetary empires or other polities and no massive space warships in any of the stories.
Having read a couple of the Dumarest saga books, one can see the origin of many Traveller-isms (Air/Rafts, for example, first make an appearance here). The other big influences are Space Viking (which is a surprisingly influential work) and Dominic Flandry, in which you can also see many ideas that got picked up in Traveller. Apparently you can also see stuff pulled from Jack Vance's Demon Prince novels, but I've never had occasion to read one.

I found #2 and #3 of the Dumarest books in a secondhand bookshop in Arundel, a small coastal town in Sussex best known for its castle. It was a lovely bookshop, converted from an old house. The building was a rabbit warren and every single room in the building had shelving crammed into it. Unfortunately you have to get out of London's commuter belt for real estate to get cheap enough for this kind of shop, [1] but small English towns out in the cuds are a treasure trove of odd little shops like this.

Anyway, what I was going to ask Dumarest Dumarest is does he have any recommendations for what are the better books from the series.
____________________________
[1] - Location can make an order-of-magnitude or more difference to the price of an ordinary terraced house. A house that would be £50,000 in a small town in Wales can be £500,000 inside the commuter belt of London and north of £1 million in Zone 2.
 
I never watched Lexx. Farscape is another one that got a lot of fan-traction but I missed out on. I’ll have to see if they are in any streaming services...

ETA: looks like both are on Prime
 
I never watched Lexx. Farscape is another one that got a lot of fan-traction but I missed out on. I’ll have to see if they are in any streaming services...

ETA: looks like both are on Prime
Lexx is mostly interesting for its goth themed character design and art direction. Unfortunately it fell flat with me; for some reason I never warmed to it. Farscape also failed to resonate with me, and the aliens looked too much like muppets - which is no surprise given who made it but was a bit disappointing.
 
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