Dungeon Fantasy, Action!, Monster Hunters... what other like that would you like?

[Celestial Goblin]

Me? RIFTS with serial numbers filed off or Alien VS Predator VS Terminator VS Robocop VS Jedi VS Power Armour VS Commando VS Protoss in spaaaace(obviously) kind of 'space mercenaries' setting with serial numbers filed off.

[kenclary]

GURPS Space Opera, fully compatible with Spaceships.

Or, if the license is still good, the same with GURPS Traveller.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

A slightly more focused GURPS Bughunt or GURPS Space Opera rather than a kitchen sink throwing everything with sci-fi tropes might be a better place to start. Basically, combine Star Trek, Stargate, and a stack of FPS video games: exploration + firepower, wrapped up in shiny tech. If it works, then start adding on, much like DF keeps getting add-ons. I keep toying with an outline, but other things keep taking priority.

I'd love to see pulp/cliffhangers get a similar treatment. The question there is whether it's sufficiently close to Action that it should be in the Action series or part of a series of its own.

[kenclary]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

A slightly more focused GURPS Bughunt or GURPS Space Opera rather than a kitchen sink throwing everything with sci-fi tropes might be a better place to start. Basically, combine Star Trek, Stargate, and a stack of FPS video games: exploration + firepower, wrapped up in shiny tech. If it works, then start adding on, much like DF keeps getting add-ons.

I wasn't suggesting a "kitchen sink" approach. I'd start off with assuming the campaign is a small ship with the PCs as crew, focusing on either expeditionary, diplomatic, or trading 'missions.'

Later supplements could add things like space marines and other military campaigns, large-sale star-trek-like explorations, long-term outposts, "ancient precursor artifacts," etc. But it would start small and Firefly-like.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by kenclary

I wasn't suggesting a "kitchen sink" approach. I'd start off with assuming the campaign is a small ship with the PCs as crew, focusing on either expeditionary, diplomatic, or trading 'missions.'

Later supplements could add things like space marines and other military campaigns, large-sale star-trek-like explorations, long-term outposts, "ancient precursor artifacts," etc. But it would start small and Firefly-like.

I'm not really sure that sort of game is all that popular anymore. I do think that whatever the meta-genre of Halo, Unreal, Killzone and so on is.

[Sam Baughn]

Something more low-powered and realist. I think Monster Hunters pushed too far into high-powered territory for me.

Something historical (or semi-historical). I miss the historical supplements. Or, alternatively, something more sci-fi. Or combine the two with Steampunk or something.

Maybe something with a bit more emphasis on politics, social engineering and investigaton rather than hack-and-slash and full-on action, for a change of pace.

So, combining that stuff, how about 1950's government agents battling mad scientists and alien invaders? Basically, 3rd Edition's Atomic Horror with a dash of X-Files and X-Com.

[Kromm]

I definitely would love to see a "badasses in space" series that draws heavily on Aliens and a whole bunch of far campier films (Doom, Pitch Black, Soldier, Starship Troopers, etc.) . . . with suitable nods to video games, particularly Alien Swarm. What these influences have in common is that the spaceships just get you there, and then go away or crash, staying off-screen. You then fight aliens or mutants or whatever with high-tech gear, typically as part of a team of specialists. They also share the underlying assumption of a big space empire across which you could travel to take on many such hunts. I think this subgenre meets all the requirements: focus on characters over gear, well-defined roles, a distinctive "feel," and a clear sense of what to do.

Generic space opera is easily a whole genre book of its own, like Fantasy or Horror, and too broad for reduction to a single set of roles and activities. It also suffers badly from spaceship-itis. Spaceships are complex things that require massive detail to do in even short form. They also tend to be elephants in the room, constantly robbing PCs of the spotlight. You can definitely have them in RPGs, but not in simplified subgenre treatments akin to Action, Dungeon Fantasy, and Monster Hunters.

[kenclary]

Would the title "GURPS Space Marines" be publishable? Because that really is the perfect title.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I definitely would love to see a "badasses in space" series that draws heavily on Aliens and a whole bunch of far campier films (Doom, Pitch Black, Soldier, Starship Troopers, etc.) . . . with suitable nods to video games, particularly Alien Swarm.

In short, the great majority of what I did with my gaming time in high school.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

In short, the great majority of what I did with my gaming time in high school.

I hear you! I must admit that's my default translation of the words "science fiction" whenever I hear them uttered. My friend Wayne bodged together a homebrew RPG that we called simply "Space Patrol," which was all about this. And then we played Aliens-inspired campaign after Aliens-inspired campaign using Space Opera, Traveller, and any other system that had spaceships. To this day, it's about the only space-based genre I'll willingly be involved with. I don't especially like boldy going and/or being a space merchant. I want to pick up a big death cannon and stomp out xenomorphs and space zombies with my mates.