I've been on a space kick recently and want to run a sci-fi space campaign as the GM. What are the best systems for a flexible gaming experience without the autistic complexity of something like Shadowrun? I'm looking for a system that can run "magic" (Psionics, occultists, dark gods, etc) and high-tech weaponry and ships and stuff as well as madness mechanics mutations, cybernetics, horror elements, etc. Visiting weird planets, dealing with intergalactic politics, smuggling goods, assassinations, dealing with alien cultures, learning dangerous magic and technology, etc. I also want the players help make the setting so I'd prefer a flexible system that can handle a multitude of scenarios with cool aliens and stuff. I've heard of Traveler, Starfinder, etc, I just wanna know what system(s) I should focus on learning about first. I'd rather not run it in a Star Wars DnD conversion or Feelings and Lasers. This crowd usually plays DnD or very simple games but are open to other games too. Again I've tried Shadowrun and I'd rather a system that isn't over-complicated and just has the hacking take up 90% of the screentime.
I'd say Traveller or its free descendant Cepheus Engine. Bit light on the magic side though there are some attempts, including fantasy game descendants like Barbaric and Sword of Cepheus.Worlds Without Number is at least worth checking out for the world building advice and tables. It's more D&D which doesn't sound like you want though.
I'd normally suggest traveller but if you want insanity mechanics I don't think traveller does that. I've never played the 40k RPGs but I've played WHFRP and those have insanity mechanics. I think the 40k RPGs are just based on the same system and coke with insanity mechanics. Sounds like you should start there and homebrew the 40k lore out, make it your own setting using the Dark Heresy mechanics or something
>>97198206I can't believe Misetani is dead.
>>97198206I've run Eclipse Phase (1e) both mostly straight and in a modified way with a nonstandard setting.>when I say mostly straight, I changed the timeline because the default timeline is way too soon after The Fall for it to feel right. I like 50AF as a starting point, not 5AF.EP is fairly standard issue Percentile Roll Under, your stats are largely your mind but your body can have statistical impact on them, a body built to be burly as fuck might add +10 to your somatics (read:strength) stat and thus to all somatics skills as well.I think you'll find more support for EP1e than 2e here on /tg/, the 2e added more meta-currency/Hero Points type stuff and fucked around with the setting to make the authors politics more explicit.Meanwhile 1e is more hands off on the politics, and the main 1e author Rob Boyle makes all of the EP1e books available (legally) free on his blog because he believes that's his duty having published it under creative commons.EP handles madness and psychic shit decently well - the stock "psychic" stuff in the game is tied into madness and suspicion because you can only get psychic powers in the default setting by being infected with the very bad evil alien virus that the game is built around fighting, and luck your way into having a non-evil strain of it.psychic powers in the base setting are all purely mind-on-mind powers and can only work at touch range for system balance reasons mostly, but you can dump that if you're running a less strictly horror game or want psychic players to have stronger tools.I have used EP with the highest tech levels and all the psychic stuff stripped out to run Ghost in the Shell since its main selling point there is that it runs body hopping/mind uploading/cyberbrains fairly well. I've also run a more gonzo game with psychic stuff being closer to Space Magic (with the downside it slowly sends you mad if you fuck up)
>>97198206Mini Six is a descendant of Star Wars D6, and very good. You can convert old SW material to it in minutes and there's TONS of that.FlexD6 is even simpler, possibly too simple, but the sci-fi version could be taught to a monkey and it'll get the fuck out of the way for all other purposes.Blighters by the Electric Bastionland guy is pretty good, as is Ask the Stars (maybe not as a system but a nice resource for the GM). Blighters has a rules-light but more gritty/brutal approach.Stars Without Number is widely recommended and full of good ideas, but the mechanics are shitty.
>>97198206Try looking at the various Fantasy Flight. Games editions of the WH40K RPGs.Depending on the power level and playing style you want you can either go with Dark Heresy (1e or 2e) which deal with life as an Inquisition asset, or Rogue Trader which presents a wider scope as the retinue of an interplanetary trader.Only War and Deathwatch are far more focused on the frontline combatants of the Imperium, and lack the flexibility to shift from one arena to another with ease.Black Crusade needs experienced players with a good understanding of the setting and the role of Chaos on order to work.As for the C7 games, I can't vouch for Imperium Maledictum, but it apparently is a reasonable system, just currently lacking in material.Avoid "Wrath & Glory" like the plague! It's a mess, has serious imbalances with character power levels, and is essentially a failed attempt at transferring the wargame directly to an RPG.
>>97198309I'm guessing you meant Stars Without Number.
>>97198455Traveller has sanity mechanics in the Companion, but they are bad, because sanity mechanics in general are bad.
>>97198206>medium complexity >scifi kitchen sink, bolt on options for various things like psionics, mechs, etc. >faction turns for players to engage with in making the setting >basically everything you need in one book Take a look at Stars Without Number. Even if you don't like the mechanics the world building and tables are useful for everything else.
Scum&Villainy and Stars Without Number.I use both. S&V for the actual rules and SwN for setting creation (because the "original" S&V setting is too tropey, even though I use some of its factions or rescheme them.
>>97198206The Dai Dark setting do looks fun to run.>>97198491Fucking Shimada Death.
