Would anyone be interested in a sci-fi game where the PCs are exploring the galactic frontier? Think lots of mystery and discovery, where most situations won’t be resolvable by force.

I'd say this has been a popular motif for many years and will continue to be popular. The trick is finding that unique hook to grab people with!

Always interested in sci-fi!

The intro which I had in mind comes from a short story by Alastair Reynolds. Sadly, he never expanded on it, but it works perfectly for what I have in mind.

To all who are interested in playing: who are your favourite sci-fi authors? Prepping a game for Asimov fans would be different than prepping one for Clarke fans.

I think the more pressing question would be what is your favorite Sci Fi game system?  There are a whole lot of options to pick from, not all of which are good ones.

I’m learning Monte Cook’s Cypher System at the moment, and I think it will be perfect. The mechanics are remarkably simple: you can learn how to play from a YouTube video, and character creation is limited only by your imagination.

EDIT: If players would prefer to focus on episodic stories, Ben Robbins’ Kingdom would be an even better system. But then I wouldn’t get to learn Cypher...
This message was last edited by the user at 00:01, Thu 10 Oct 2019.

That is one of the good ones, what Tier of game are you aiming for?

In reply to Hendell (msg # 7):

I can’t think of a good reason to start beyond Tier 1, but if you can persuade me otherwise, I’m open.

The different tiers are appropriate for different kinds of characters, to tell different stories.  If you are looking for explorers selected for a long duration mission because they are young, competent, but otherwise untrained Tir 1 works.

If you are looking for something more like the crew of Firefly with significant histories and capabilities they can expect to be superior to the average person you might want Tier 2 or 3.

Something like the Enterprise bridge crew who regularly sort out problems the hard way around because it amuses them and still come out ahead of even other professionals you might be looking at Tier 4+.

+1 Cypher System. :)

For that matter, the Numenera setting is fantastic.  It would be an extremely interesting twist to have a game where the PCs are space explorers coming to 9th World Earth.  :)

For sci-fi authors, Brin (Startide Rising), Vinge (A Fire Upon the Deep), and Asimov (Original Foundation Trilogy) would probably be my top three.  Additional entries and/or other sci-fi settings available on request.  ;)

I know nothing of the Cypher or Kingdom systems. If the goal is to have a pioneering crew of explorers for an unprecedented deep space exploration I think tier 1 of any system can't do justice to the people selected for it. Tier 2 seems more appropriate. The best of the best but young so they don't have all the experience yet.

I might be interested in this. My favorite sci-fi authors are Asimov, Bear, Benford, Brin, Clarke, and Nivens & Pournell (deserving of a spot on this list together but not on their own). It always seemed strange to me that most of the best sci-fi authors all have last names starting near the beginning of the alphabet.


@OakMaster: Shout out to a fellow fan of the Uplift series of books. Not a lot of people seem to know about it and Startide Rising is one of my favorite sci-fi books ever!