Sci-fi Settings You Like

[Angel Barracks]

What sci-fi settings do you like, do you play them?

I quite like how 40k felt when it first came out.
It had a kind of frontier feel with the Empire spreading out and fighting bizarre alien races.
Nothing seemed too over the top and as bonkers as it has become now.
I used to play 40k and every now and then am tempted to knock up a 6mm 40k warbands type game.

I also like the Gears of War setting, alternate Earth type setting with advanced but near tech vs. aliens from inside the planets crust…
I would game that.

The world of Kometenmelodie is a firm favourite, though of course it would be..

[Fredd Bloggs]

I liked a lot of the epic figures and stuff, but when they decided spikey chaos and fantasy ruled rather than sci-fi (and yes I mean 40k is fantasy, not sci-fi).

[Darryl Smith]

I am a fan of 2300, as it uses hard sci-fi, isn’t that far removed from modern times, and uses a (mostly) realistic star chart. I wish that Tomorrow’s War would have followed something similar.

I also like the Aliens background, for many of the same reasons, and of course the movie that serves as a great visual inspiration.

Buckeye Six Actual
https://ambushedinthealley.blogspot.com/
http://foragecaps.blogspot.com/
http://germancolonialgaming.blogspot.com/

[Fredd Bloggs]

David Brins ‘Uplift Universe’ has a lot of roleplay potential and even space battle, but less sure about other types of fighting. Dune has potential for both, but has no aliens.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

I would love to see a space combat system that mimicked the battles in C.J. Cherryh’s <i>Downbelow Station.</i>

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Ruarigh]

I like Traveller and Traveller 2300 as settings for my games. The hard sci-fi approach appeals to me, as does the nostalgia. This means that I like games that reflect this. I really don’t like 40K, and yet I do enjoy Laserburn and Imperial Commander for a different take on sci-fi. I don’t really have any books or TV programmes that draw me into their worlds enough to make me want to game them.

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

[Spurious]

Off the top of my head.. Battletech. That’s got a lot of time in my brain over the years. There’s a lot of guff in it, and oh boy was the Dark Age stuff a mess. But it’s got a lot going for it as it’s a big pool of fluff but not a deep one. Total Annihilation’s setting is also pretty cool though completely unusable outside of an RTS PC game, as it’s got a real sense of scale and Von Neumann Machines are innately terrifying, even without blasting each other with plasma guns. Alpha Centauri though, that one even got a GURPS supplement. Rather good as a setting for future civilisations that works on trying to not just recreate current or past Earth cultures/nations but IN SPACE!. It is pretty dull seeing yet another space-murrica or space-germany so Alpha Centauri was/is a really welcome break from that. There’s a definite character to each faction and a lot of implied detail to think about and build off of, even without the RPG.

The STALKER series has a wonderfully grim yet fascinating setting, plenty of opportunities for violence, horror and really weird stuff. Very characterful, distinct yet not over-the-top factions and monsters really help mix things up along with the frequently all too petty, selfish humans. Deus Ex, now that it’s gotten beyond the original game to expand upon (though that was also pretty solid if you get hold of some of the setting notes) has a pretty fun cyberpunk-but-not setting with approximately ALL the conspiracies. And if you’ve been paying attention to trends in tech and the like, far too believable in places too, which adds to it as a ‘proper’ sci-fi and not just being sci-fi because cyborgs are cool. There’s a lot to think about with it as game settings go.

Star Trek is also pretty neat.

[Paul]

Star Wars, of course. Star Trek to a lesser degree.

I am also enjoying the evolution of the Ion Age.

Those are brave men knocking at our door. Let's go kill them!

[Yukon5G]

Yes. 40k in the Rogue Trader era and blending into the background given in the 2nd edition books. I enjoy it and am looking to maybe kinda doing some gaming of some type on Helsreach.

I like the Halo background, but haven’t been into it since Halo 3. The Fleet game from Spartan should/could have jump started my interest. Alas, the assembled models sit on my painting table.

I also like GZG’s “Tuffleyverse” background for Stargrunt and Full Thrust. And Hammer’s Slammers. And Vata’s War. And the Honorverse.

Sink meh!

[Angel Barracks]

Ha Ha, I just saw that Star Trek episode yesterday!

[Thuseld]

I used to play Star Wars Miniatures, so gamed that universe a lot. But when it comes to wargaming I have my own universe that is inspired by the Alien/Firefly universe, with elements from other lesser well known universes. Whether I include Star Wars-esque things is undecided.

Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/

Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com

[Nathaniel Weber]

I like the gritty Cold War In Space of the Expanse series of novels, and the highly disturbing body-horror/ecological disaster of the Invasion of the Chtorr series. For my sci-fi games with bugs, I took the Chtorr series and blended it with elements of modern conflicts to generate a setting.

The universe of Aliens (of the first two films, at least) will always be very near my gaming heart, as well.

 

[paintpig]

Bas Lag, New Crobuzon, Tesh, Armada. China Mievilles world particularly in the form as described in Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, if someone was to create that world I would be in like Flinn. Scar’s Armada for some watery goodness

Dont let me ol’ China write the rules…… take a year to read them and two volumes of glossary to understand.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
Slowly Over A Low Flame

[Mr. Average]

I’m partial to the dusty cityscapes of “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep,” and the gritty earthiness of the colony worlds of the Slammers series. Star Trek is classic but based on too much magical nonsense to really sustain my interest as a world unto itself – “We want for nothing because the magic box materializes things for us.” Sigh. I was always partial to the Ferengi, anyway.  Fantasies about feudalism, prophecies and magical teenagers likewise leave me cold. 2001 and 2010 (very different movies, both of them) are more my speed. People coping with powers beyond their control, that may in fact be totally indifferent to them in the end. The Foundation series appealed to me for that reason, too – cosmic events and gradual change, and relatively ordinary people coping with major crises as best they can.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

paintpig wrote:

Bas Lag, New Crobuzon, Tesh, Armada. China Mievilles world particularly in the form as described in Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, if someone was to create that world I would be in like Flinn. Scar’s Armada for some watery goodness Dont let me ol’ China write the rules…… take a year to read them and two volumes of glossary to understand.

Mikey Lizard’s new rules set might be just your cup of tea, then.

 

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Fredd Bloggs]

My main Sci-Fi setting however is retro Sci-Fi. Based upon childhood influences and cherry picking any good ideas or Aliens etc that I have encountered since, I play:

SPACE:1959

In which the Mekon rules Venus, tripod driving Aliens arrive from Mars, monocular armoured travelling machines fight cyborgs and Dan Dare, Moonbase Alpha, Brigadiers easy and Lethbridge-Stewart , UNIT and the BAOV fight back.

[Eric Henderson]

I really enjoyed Dan Abnett’s novel Embedded. It has a hard SF background a million miles away from the novels he has done for the 40k universe. It has a similar feel to the KR16 background with small numbers of ‘peacekeepers’ up against shadowy insurgents. Both sides have a lot of high tech equipment. The ‘peacekeepers’ (the Settlement Office Military Directorate) are state of the art while the insurgents are backed by ‘The Bloc’. There are obvious references to current conflicts and I am hoping there will be more novels set in this universe.

[Angel Barracks]

Eric Henderson wrote:

It has a similar feel to the KR16 background with small numbers of ‘peacekeepers’ up against shadowy insurgents.

 

I like it already!

Where can I read up on the Traveller fluff, is it in the rules, various supplements, stories, blogs?

 

[Fredd Bloggs]

Rules and Supplements for Traveller.

[Ruarigh]

Angel Barracks wrote:

Where can I read up on the Traveller fluff, is it in the rules, various supplements, stories, blogs?

The material is spread through nearly 40 years’ worth of supplements, rules and other stuff. You could start with the Traveller wiki which has a useful article on the different versions of Traveller linked from the front page as well as loads of detail that you could probably waste hours surfing through. To be honest, it’s a rabbit hole and you could get lost down there!

http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page

After that, it is a case of deciding what area of Traveller might interest you most. Classic Traveller is available for download from RPGNow. That’ll give you the background to understand the technical details of the source material, as well as an understanding of the premises behind the original Traveller game. After that there is no one specific way to pick up the background. The Journal of the Travellers Aid Society has lots of material and may be more readable than the individual adventures. The Spinward Marches supplement is the classic Third Imperium background and home to the Fifth Frontier War that formed the background to much of our early Traveller gaming way back when I was still young and enthusiastic. There’s also a board game of the Fifth Frontier War. Various of the websites linked from the Traveller wiki will fill you in with more detail too. There’s probably more free material out there too, but I can’t think of it immediately right now.

Once you step away from Classic Traveller, there’s a whole different bunch of source material for the other versions of the game. Like I wrote, it’s a rabbit hole. 🙂

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

[Noel]

I love Farscape.  I think this would be a good rpg setting (there is a game around for it, but I am not a rpg player).

Babylon 5 has a lot of potential for wargaming.  B5 Wars was good, but sort of SFB-lite.  B5 ACTA was pretty typical of Mongoose — good ideas but never well tested.

I’m a Judge Dredd fan and it’s one of my current projects.  I haven’t gotten a game in, yet.  The Mongoose rules look like fun and they are flexible (and they are free), but I’ve read that the game has balance issues and I’ve been considering checking out Pulp Alley to use instead.  Pulp Alley is a story-focused set of rules that looks like it would be great for character skirmishes.

Robotech is an old favorite of mine.  I’ve put the project on a hiatus until some undetermined future date when Palladium decides to fulfill its obligations.

Aliens is a great setting.  I’ve been playing the Legendary Encounters Aliens card game and that is good.

Star Trek has all sorts of potential.  Star Fleet Battles was great fun when I was younger, but I wouldn’t be able to get anyone to play it with me today.

I played a lot of 40K using 2nd and 3rd editions.  By the time 4th came out I got tired of all the rules changes and price rises.

(I like sci-fi.  )

[Mike]

BSG may make for some good games. Skirmish though I think.

[Angel Barracks]

Ruarigh wrote:

To be honest, it’s a rabbit hole and you could get lost down there!
http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page
After that, it is a case of deciding what area of Traveller might interest you most

I clicked on that and I felt inadequate.
I am going to Google some Traveller images for a bit instead!

[Ruarigh]

Angel Barracks wrote:

I clicked on that and I felt inadequate. I am going to Google some Traveller images for a bit instead!

Oops, sorry. I hoped the introductory material might be helpful, but I guess the whole thing can be a bit overwhelming. I found this pdf that has a bit about the rules, and some very basic RPG notes. Might be worth perusing to get a sense of the game and what material is available for it:

http://www.farfuture.net/Understanding%20Traveller.pdf

Also, this paragraph from the book explains the background for Classic Traveller a bit, although it should be noted that the original game was background free:

‘THE IMPERIUM

The lmperium (more properly, the Third Imperium) is a far-flung interstellar community encompassing over 1 1,000 worlds within a region some 2,500 light-years across. It has now ruled its territory for eleven centuries and looks to continue for many more. The lmperium is straining at its limits and depends on two basic concepts to hold it together – a strong feudal system headed by an emperor, and an exp.ress boat network that speeds messages between star systems at an average speed of about 10 light-years per week. A message from the border areas to the centrally-located Capital can take upwards of a year.’

The only explicit sense of the campaign background in the original rules was the way they modelled space flight, space combat and the technology. The effects this would have were explained in Book 1:

‘Traveller deals with a common theme of science-fiction: the concept that an expanding technology will enable us to reach the stars and to populate the worlds which orbit them. The major problem, however, will be that communication, be it political, diplomatic, commercial, or private, will be reduced to the level of the 18th century, reduced to the speed of transportation. The result is a large (bordering on the infinite) universe ripe for the adventurer’s bold travels.’

There’s an interesting discussion about the original books, the assumptions in them and the change to a campaign set in the Third Imperium here:

https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/traveller-out-of-the-box-i/

I hope some of that is of interest. Feel free to ignore my ramblings otherwise! 🙂

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

[irishserb]

Most sci-fi game settings don’t work for me for one reason or another, and I tend to read sci-fi books that don’t really involve war for the most part, more into exploration and adventure.   Most of what I would or do game in sci-fi is more from TV and movies.  I like Star Trek (TOS style) for ship combat, would love to skirmish in a Firefly setting, and probably would enjoy gaming in an adaptation of 5th Element universe as well.

My sci-fi gaming tends to take the form of near-future and post-apoc.  Again, movies and TV provide much of the near-future stuff with a mix ranging from Bladerunner to Mars Attacks.  Post-Apoc comes much more from books than TV/movie inspiration, but again is a compilation of bits ranging from A  Canticle for Leibowitz to The Texas Israeli War (in the same game).

 

 

[paintpig]

We have movies such as Terminator moving into post apoc territory plus Book of Eli and the firmly rooted The Road book and film.Then there are game series/franchises Borderlands and Fallout with the latest, Fallout 4 making a splash (Interestingly the production crew of Fallout were asked to read The Road). Post apoc would make for an interesting setting although there is some (not much) debate on weapons i.e. would we be back to sticks and stones just how scifi is it?

The world of Perdido Street Station does not involve a war setting either,  gang related and security forces scrapes mostly, varied races living in a City State trading with similar City States and not based on our earth. It is my idea of Steam Punk rather than the Victorian Science Fiction version that seems to have hijacked the genre. The world has developed science and tech but in the form of thaumaturgy, magnetics, pyschetic and the ever reliable steam. Computing exists but electric power does not, a great balance between sci and fant though more heavily weighted to the sci side of the balance and interstingly (for me) the first sci-fi book I had bought and finished reading in over 45 years….. sci-fi’s not my thing usually

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
Slowly Over A Low Flame

[Angel Barracks]

SF3D is my new thing, loving some of the hardware…
But then I started wondering, as terrain is my main thing, does SF3D have any style for it’s terrain?
The vehicles have a very definite feel about them, but buildings?

[kyoteblue]

I loved Larry Nivin’s Tales of Known Space…

[Mr. Average]

Angel Barracks wrote:

SF3D is my new thing, loving some of the hardware… But then I started wondering, as terrain is my main thing, does SF3D have any style for it’s terrain? The vehicles have a very definite feel about them, but buildings?

I’m glad you’ve seen the light, Mike.  S.F.3.D. is something of an obsession of mine, as you can tell from my copious comments and the style of my comic.

I think KR-16 terrain is what I always imagine when I think of S.F.3.D. – undeveloped colonial frontier, slightly blasted.  Its backstory takes place on an Earth that is being re-colonized after being utterly devastated in World War IV.  The fluff for it always described it as “lush” and fully recovered ecologically, but it’s always depicted in images as desertified semi-arid wasteland from which the colonists are eking a meager existence.  To wit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYFcrgmou8

Put it this way, when I stage my S.F.3.D. games with the Notrockers you’re making (and, God willing, armored suits and light walkers) I plan to do so on a mix of Junker and Brigade Sci Fi colonial terrain.

[Author]

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