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Star Wars Saga Edition has a fan made Mass Effect conversion, if that interests you. I can't speak to its quality, having not read or played it, but if you like Saga Edition, you might find something worth using here. Alternatively, GURPS is pretty crunchy and can support just about any style of game you're after - so long as you don't mind doing lots of legwork...
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Mar 16, 2012 00:15
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If you want to play Mass Effect in TTRPG form, try Stars Without Number!  http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86467&src=SNP_SWN_ImageLink&affiliate_id=323031 Its three classes/archetypes/skill trees even fit into the Biotic/Tech/Combat categories of Mass Effect, and there's rules for multiclassing if you've gotta have your awesome Sentinel or Infiltrator. Naturally it will take some tweaking but it's free and flexible, so I imagine tweaking it to your liking should be a doable task. It even has the gravity-operated guns from Mass Effect (albeit as artifact gear incapable of burstfire). InfiniteJesters fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 10:19
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My brother has written a Gamma World hack for Mass effect that he's running at a local convention. I could probably get a copy for you if D&D 4E/Gamma World is a framework you're happy to work with.
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Mar 16, 2012 10:41
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UrbanLabyrinth posted:My brother has written a Gamma World hack for Mass effect that he's running at a local convention. I could probably get a copy for you if D&D 4E/Gamma World is a framework you're happy to work with.
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Mar 17, 2012 02:37
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Strange Matter posted:I'd be interested to see that. Even if we don't end up using 4e, it would be cool to see how they approach it. There's also the Diaspora hack that I'm planning on using at some point. I feel you on the game, too. I want to tell some stories in the universe as a result since I doubt we'll be seeing any more good ones from Bioware. I'm also considering scoring the art book to give me some ideas, too. I'm also interested in that Gamma World hack, my group really enjoyed it.
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Mar 17, 2012 02:43
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I'm pondering getting Diaspora and want to know what the difference in focus is between it and Stars Without Number. Any advice?
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Mar 17, 2012 02:49
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From what I've read Stars is definitely more old-school inspired and crunchy. It also seems like it's more focused on exploration with the way it generates places to go. Diaspora is FATE and has a tighter focus on a much smaller system you generate a bit like a character (Fate Fractal, woo!), everyone gets input on what the cluster looks like. It's actually supposed to be the first session, chargen and system gen, not necessarily in that order. I haven't really read into either too much, but that's my quick-glance assessment.
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Mar 17, 2012 04:20
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None of my friends have played a FATE game before and while I'm keen on the idea I think Stars might be more what we're looking for. That said I'm also formulating some ideas on how to homebrew a relatively simple system as well, which I'll probably post in the Homebrew thread for consideration.
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Mar 17, 2012 04:38
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Strange Matter posted:None of my friends have played a FATE game before and while I'm keen on the idea I think Stars might be more what we're looking for. That said I'm also formulating some ideas on how to homebrew a relatively simple system as well, which I'll probably post in the Homebrew thread for consideration.
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Mar 17, 2012 05:47
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Diaspora generates a socio-political backdrop for each game, which actually ties into the game with system-level aspects. It's very Babylon 5.
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Mar 17, 2012 05:57
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Ahhhh, okay then. Are there any demos/examples of play for Diaspora around? I still have trouble imagining exactly what it's like in motion. InfiniteJesters fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Mar 17, 2012 |
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Mar 17, 2012 09:22
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I played it, and I have the same problem! 
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Mar 17, 2012 10:06
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I think I'll just stick with Stars Without Number, then.  My only complaint about it is that the gearlist is rather modest compared to some. (On the other hand, this may be deliberate---quit dicking around in the space shopping mall and go reshape the universe already!)
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Mar 17, 2012 10:09
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code:I'd probably just do a boardgame normally but i think the guys want some more continuity. Everyone will be pretty wasted when we play so thats something to keep in mind. I'm basically just wondering if there is a d&d light that doesn't feel too dumbed down. Or if i should just try to teach everyone (myself included) burning wheel with one, i think, outdated book. Maybe that exalted quickstart thing? I mean it'd be not really be d&d but good enough i think.
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Apr 7, 2012 12:25
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InfiniteJesters posted:Are there any demos/examples of play for Diaspora around? I still have trouble imagining exactly what it's like in motion. Dork Tower did an audio AP of one of their sessions: http://podgecast.com/archives/podge-actual-play-001-diaspora-the-dark-tower-session-1
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Apr 7, 2012 13:30
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canada jezus posted:
Either Dungeon World or Old School Hack would probably fit the 'feels like D&D, don't have to read a book to play, char-gen is quick' bill. DW is $5 (with an adventure) and has previews, OSH is free, so both are easy for you to check out and see if they're right for you.
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Apr 7, 2012 14:15
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Cheers i don't know those i'll check them out. I should have been clearer though, i think they want d&d as in talking to dwarves and hearing weird names for swords. There being dungeons would be less important. fake edit: Ah dungeon world is the apocalypse world spinoff? Interesting
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Apr 7, 2012 14:21
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I'm still fairly new to tabletop RPGs but I'm eager to try my hand at some DMing. My current pet project, if I can rope enough poor fools into it, would be to run a game themed after tokusatsu, Japan's weird take on the superhero genre. Think Power Rangers, Ultraman, Godzilla and so forth. RULESET: Freeform to Normal, I personally don't have much of a head for numbers but most players I know like having some dice to roll around. SUPPORT: DIY to Established, I have a lot of ideas but I'd rather not fly completely blind. CHARGEN: Quick or Involved, I'd like to keep it fairly simple but make every character unique. SETTING: Universal or Neutral I'd also like to be able to use the following genre trappings, ideally without having to bend the rules too hard to do so: -Characters' civilian and superhero identities have separate statsets. -A certain emphasis on teamwork: several characters can do together great things they couldn't separately. -Two main combat styles: on-foot with a lot of goons and few-on-one giant robot/monster fights, with stupid toyetic vehicles possibly getting involved in either. -Flashiness, dramatics and novelty tend to trump the notion of consistent power levels. I've checked Mutants and Masterminds and it seems like it could work with a few major tweaks, but I'm hoping there's something simpler I could try out there. I've also toyed with the idea of just making my own homebrew system, but since I'm relatively new to this I imagine that's not such a great idea.
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Apr 19, 2012 19:23
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Wild Talents sounds like what you're looking for - just set up all their powers so they are tied to some 'transformation' power and then you have two skillsets for use, one while powered and one while not.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:10
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Snot Man posted:I'm still fairly new to tabletop RPGs but I'm eager to try my hand at some DMing. My current pet project, if I can rope enough poor fools into it, would be to run a game themed after tokusatsu, Japan's weird take on the superhero genre. Think Power Rangers, Ultraman, Godzilla and so forth.
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Apr 20, 2012 17:58
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Ruleset: normal to crunchy Support: any Chargen: quick to involved Setting: preferably neutral I'm looking for a system that does a lot of political intrigue, preferably also some power/nation building. In theory, Houses of the Blooded sounds perfect, but my first reading is making me nervous that it is, in fact, kind of crap. Any other suggestions?
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Apr 23, 2012 08:46
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Burning Empires for very detailed, complex rules with plenty of payoff. Reign for simple fast and exciting rules that encompass being part of an organization that grows with the characters.
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Apr 23, 2012 12:36
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Specifically, if you're looking for setting-neutral, Reign Enchiridion is cheap. It's Reign with the (really cool, but hey) setting-specific stuff stripped out, but you can still mine all the free supplements for more stuff. http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=79955
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Apr 23, 2012 14:07
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Snot Man posted:I'm still fairly new to tabletop RPGs but I'm eager to try my hand at some DMing. My current pet project, if I can rope enough poor fools into it, would be to run a game themed after tokusatsu, Japan's weird take on the superhero genre. Think Power Rangers, Ultraman, Godzilla and so forth. Gonna plug myself for a bit here, Giant Guardian Generation might be more number crunchy than you want, and is not designed around tokusatsu or sentai specifically but anime robots in general. It was made with all the genre trappings you described in mind, though, and I'd like to think it can still handle all sorts of japanese-themed heroes fairly well. GimmickMan fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 15:27
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Does Reign (and/or Burning Empires) want you to have all the players be part of the same empire/organization, or is there support for having them be from separate, conflicting groups? The latter is what I'm really looking for.
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Apr 23, 2012 23:13
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Not sure about BE, but for Reign, there's no assumption that players are from the same company (Reign's terminology for groups/organizations/empires). The companies are pretty much separate characters, and moving against a player company isn't really any different than against an NPC company, as far as I recall.
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Apr 23, 2012 23:27
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What systems exist for a "gritty" sci-fi setting? I would like to run games in a completely from-scratch setting involving aliens that don't deviate far from a baseline humanoid, high-technology (energy weapons, faster-than-light travel) but no space magic (psionics, etc.) Think Babylon 5 without psionics or Deep Space 9 without Q or telepathy. I'm already considering using a modified version of A Time of War but with modifications that remove the small amount of BattleTech-specific skills and traits and reworks the phenotype system into a race system. I like AToW because the character creation is similar to GURPS with very flexible points-based character creation and a large list of skills and character traits but is much more focused towards a realistic sci-fi setting. The rules system itself is fairly light with little more than a skill resolution system that's only used in situations where the possibility of failure exists or where you can't resolve something in a freeform manner. It also has an on-foot combat system where guns are as deadly as you would expect. I realize it sounds like I've already made up my mind, but I don't want to miss any possible options. Is there anything else that is similar to the above?
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May 13, 2012 18:00
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Much as I hate to toot my own horn (not true), Diaspora is in the ballpark for you. Also clash bowley's Starcluster 3 and, if you are more traditionally bent, Mongoose Traveller.
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May 13, 2012 18:05
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Brad J. Murray posted:Much as I hate to toot my own horn (not true), Diaspora is in the ballpark for you. Also clash bowley's Starcluster 3 and, if you are more traditionally bent, Mongoose Traveller. Cool, thanks! The sheer number of products available for Traveller makes me nervous in the same way GURPS does so I might give it a pass but Diaspora and Starcluster 3 look like they might fit the bill as the one-book solution I'm looking for.
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May 13, 2012 18:17
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InShaneee posted:Ruleset: normal to crunchy If you don't mind derivatives of Ye Grand Old Game, there's a Labyrinth Lord supplement combo called Red Tide/An Echo, Resounding that kicks all kinds of empire-building rear end. It's written by Kevin Crawford, of Stars Without Number fame. http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-red-tide.html http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2012/03/review-echo-resounding.html
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May 13, 2012 21:27
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Honestly, Traveller can be played perfectly fine with only the main book. The supplements are all useful, but the main book is all you really need.
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May 13, 2012 23:09
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BattleMaster posted:Cool, thanks! The sheer number of products available for Traveller makes me nervous in the same way GURPS does so I might give it a pass but Diaspora and Starcluster 3 look like they might fit the bill as the one-book solution I'm looking for. Traveller has a ton of books, but that's because they put out a lot of background material for a number of distinct settings in the same basic universe. They also did a lot books full of pre-made stuff. The basic books will give you a hard SF game that can switch easily between low tech frontier worlds and high tech core worlds. You'd have to ignore the Zhodani to completely avoid psionics, but it's a big galaxy. They're far more simulationist and grognardy than Diaspora. Ideally, you'd run one of the Traveller settings using Disaspora, since Diaspora is basically Traveller: FATE of the Imperium. Diaspora just needs its High Guard for handling the big ships in combat, Scouts for planetary system detailing and Merchant Princes for fleshing out trade and profit... Actually, stealing stuff from Rogue Trader, especially Endeavors, might be a good idea.
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May 14, 2012 10:44
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mllaneza posted:Traveller has a ton of books, but that's because they put out a lot of background material for a number of distinct settings in the same basic universe. They also did a lot books full of pre-made stuff. The basic books will give you a hard SF game that can switch easily between low tech frontier worlds and high tech core worlds. You'd have to ignore the Zhodani to completely avoid psionics, but it's a big galaxy. Okay, I'll give Traveller a peak as well. I remember seeing a shelf full of Traveller stuff at my local game shop so next time I'm there I'll give it a look. I went over the free FATE PDF, and to be honest I really don't like its character generation or its resolution system. For what I'd like to do, the character sheet should only be a guide for what the character is able to do in a tough situation, so anything that isn't just a list of stats/traits/skills ala GURPS or A Time of War isn't quite what I'm looking for. Plus I don't find FATE's resolution system to be intuitive at all compared to AToW's basic "roll, modify the roll with skill/difficulty/etc., and see if it's above a target number" system.
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May 14, 2012 23:35
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Just take a look at the main book. You only need d6's, since the skill rolls are all 2d6+attribute+skill and the damage rolls are all xd6. If the main book interests you, it might be worth picking up the career supplements that match the kind of game you want to play. While high Guard has some awesome stuff for space combat, if you don't see yourself getting involved in space combat that often, there's not much point getting it. Same thing with Mercenary for planet side combat. Speaking of combat, combat is fairly harsh, since damage is dealt directly to attributes. Personally, I think the system is awesome. Others may beg to differ. That being said, I don't much like FATE, and I can guarantee that many will beg to differ there...
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May 15, 2012 01:36
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hectorgrey posted:Just take a look at the main book. You only need d6's, since the skill rolls are all 2d6+attribute+skill and the damage rolls are all xd6. If the main book interests you, it might be worth picking up the career supplements that match the kind of game you want to play. While high Guard has some awesome stuff for space combat, if you don't see yourself getting involved in space combat that often, there's not much point getting it. Same thing with Mercenary for planet side combat. Speaking of combat, combat is fairly harsh, since damage is dealt directly to attributes. Personally, I think the system is awesome. Others may beg to differ. That being said, I don't much like FATE, and I can guarantee that many will beg to differ there... Sounds awesome to me so far. I'm going to stop by the shop tomorrow and hopefully they'll have the core book for me to flip through 
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May 15, 2012 01:51
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BattleMaster posted:What systems exist for a "gritty" sci-fi setting? I would like to run games in a completely from-scratch setting involving aliens that don't deviate far from a baseline humanoid, high-technology (energy weapons, faster-than-light travel) but no space magic (psionics, etc.) Think Babylon 5 without psionics or Deep Space 9 without Q or telepathy. Savage Worlds? The rules are pretty gritty and flexible, so you could make them work for what you'd like.
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May 15, 2012 04:47
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I have an idea burning in my head that I've got to get out. It needs a cyberpunk setting, but modern cyberpunk -- something very much like Snow Crash, where the governments fell and corporations just moved into the gap and took on the governing buisness too, controlling swaths of land and fielding their own militaries and all that. Advanced technology by modern standards, Deus Ex style; I want optic/haptic implants and wireless connections and cyberwarfare at fiber optic speed, not surfing through a black void with grid lines and large brightly colored geometric shapes. Nothing too postmodern, because transhumanism and post-scarcity nanite bullshit aren't what I need for the story and would be distractions, and also I hate them. The basic story hook is "here's a very powerful corporation you've just been hired to do a hack-and-steal on", but Shadowrun is right out because I don't want magic. What am I looking for? Please tell me it exists.
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May 18, 2012 04:34
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CapnAndy posted:I have an idea burning in my head that I've got to get out. It needs a cyberpunk setting, but modern cyberpunk -- something very much like Snow Crash, where the governments fell and corporations just moved into the gap and took on the governing buisness too, controlling swaths of land and fielding their own militaries and all that. Advanced technology by modern standards, Deus Ex style; I want optic/haptic implants and wireless connections and cyberwarfare at fiber optic speed, not surfing through a black void with grid lines and large brightly colored geometric shapes. Nothing too postmodern, because transhumanism and post-scarcity nanite bullshit aren't what I need for the story and would be distractions, and also I hate them. The basic story hook is "here's a very powerful corporation you've just been hired to do a hack-and-steal on", but Shadowrun is right out because I don't want magic. Sounds like Spycraft might be a pretty good fit. It's d20 based but really great, and has hackers and gadgets built in.
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May 18, 2012 04:50
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CapnAndy posted:Shadowrun is right out because I don't want magic.
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May 18, 2012 05:15
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Corporation RPG might also fit your bill. I have not played it yet, so I don't know how well the system works, but it seems pretty simple.
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May 18, 2012 05:33
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