YoraMar 25, 2023
#scifi rpgs seem to be the most popular types of #ttrpg after dungeon fantasy but somehow nobody seems to talk about them. Occasionally people ask about clarification on a mechanic from a specific rules system, but I've never been able to find any deeper discussions about concepts for campaigns and adventures or approaches and methods for running such games.
"You're cool dudes with a ship and can deliver cargo and stuff." is what most of the rulebooks for these games have in the way of advice.
Show threadF. Douglas WallMar 25, 2023
@Yora Part of the issue is that D&D and Tolkien codified fantasy into a fairly standard shape. You say "fantasy" and people will immediately think of elves and orcs, even though fantasy was an incredibly broad genre before that. Sci-fi has not been so codified, so the idea of a "standard" sci-fi RPG hasn't been established. There are a number of good sci-fi RPGs, but each one operates under a different set of assumptions.
Show thread💉😷🌿🇺🇦🇺🇳🇪🇺Oiselarius (he/him)
@fdouglaswall @Yora F. Douglas Wall that was part of Tim Brown’s and Troy Denning’s project with #DarkSun; to shatter that stereotype of the genre. With Tim’s #DragonKingsProject he was solely responsible for the concept and he is still the authority over content, so no TSR/Hasbro/WotC execs saying you have to include elves, and dwarfs, and halflings oh my. He wants to narrow the rift splitting sci-fi and fantasy into separate genres. #Traveller2300, #Space1889 & #Space1889After, #DS, & #DK.
Mar 25, 2023 at 11:14pmWeb
Show thread💉😷🌿🇺🇦🇺🇳🇪🇺Oiselarius (he/him)Mar 25, 2023

@fdouglaswall @Yora a sci-fi #TTRPGs I can think of off the top of my head…

Star Wars
Star Trek
Babylon 5
Traveller
Traveller2300/2300AD
Without Number- Stars, Worlds, Cities
Space 1889/Space 1889: After
Torg
Fading Suns
Fantasy AGE-Titansgrave
Modern AGE- World of Lazarus, Threefold, The Expanse
Cypher System- Numenera, Planebreaker
Cyberpunk
Shadowrun
Dune
Star Frontiers
Starfinder
White Star
Cepheus Engine
FATE

There’s a wide range of sub-genres in there

Show thread💉😷🌿🇺🇦🇺🇳🇪🇺Oiselarius (he/him)Mar 26, 2023

@fdouglaswall @Yora fantasy TTRPGs I can think of off the top of my head:

D&D Oe-5e all settings
TDE/DSA The Dark Eye/Das Schwarze Auge
The One Ring
Fantasy AGE- Blue Rose
Arduin
Castles & Crusades (3e done right)
Dungeon Crawl Classics (basic 3e done right)
Adventures Dark & Deep (what if G.G. had stayed with TSR for 2e)
Adventurer, Conquerer, King (2e House rules)
Swords & Wizardry (Oe house rules)
OSRIC (1e retro-clone)
Pathfinder
Jackals

not a lot of variation there

Show threadF. Douglas WallMar 26, 2023
@Oiselarius @Yora Thanks for taking the time to illustrate my point very effectively. I want to say that there's a bit more variety than that in the fantasy space, with games like Exalted or Conan, but there are a lot of games that are either trying to horn in on D&D's action, like the retroclones, or are a clear reaction to D&D, like Talislanta and it's "No elves!" tagline.
Show thread💉😷🌿🇺🇦🇺🇳🇪🇺Oiselarius (he/him)Mar 27, 2023

@fdouglaswall @Yora and just cuz

Espionage/crime:
Gangbusters
Top Secret (Merle Rasmussen’s original)
Top Secret S/I
Top Secret: New World Order (Merle Rasmussen’s latest)

Supers:
Marvel
DC
Champions
Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition
Mutants & Masterminds
ICONS

Horror:
Call of Cthulhu
Vampire the Masquarade
Werewolf
World of Darkness (see above)
Masque of the Red Death (technically 2e Ravenloft but rather unique with a lot of specialized mechanics not suitable for the rest of D&D)

Show threadF. Douglas WallMar 28, 2023
@Oiselarius @Yora Though the Supers genre is one that, like fantasy, has a pretty standard set of tropes. Each one of the games/settings you listed features a specialized role called the "superhero." In Horror, there is the set of tropes and conventions surrounding the "paranormal investigator" in CoC and Masque of the Red Death, with Vampire and the other WoD flipping the script by having characters that *are* the things that go bump in the night.
Show thread💉😷🌿🇺🇦🇺🇳🇪🇺Oiselarius (he/him)Mar 28, 2023
@fdouglaswall @Yora yes. Sci-fi almost seems like a catch-all for everything that doesn’t fit anywhere else with perhaps the only common characteristic is a future time frame either in actual calendar time or in technological advancement by comparison to real world history.
Show threadF. Douglas WallApr 2, 2023
@Oiselarius @Yora That's kinda what sci-fi is as a literary genre. There's no reason it should be different as a gaming genre.