Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 TippingChair Jan 26, 2015 15:42:15	Before I begin. I am new to the concept of a table RPG, but I think I am very much in love with it. Dungeons and Dragons is the TRPG that has peaked my interest the most out of what I have seen, and I will be purchasing the books very soon.    Also, I wasn't sure where to post this, but Dungeon Master Help seemed fitting.   Now, I have a question that perhaps could be "game-breaking". Again, from what I know of D&D (which is honestly very little), I have fallen in love with it. I love how popular it is, and I love how complex it is. However, I think I will always prefer a science-fiction, space RPG to a medieval, fantasy RPG. I wondered if I could combine D&D's core gameplay mechanics and rules, and just put them into a science-fiction universe. This would require removing/replacing spells and races (anything fantasy), and maybe even adding things like ships and guns. Anything that doesn't fit the futuristic theme. It could almost be called "reskinning" D&D, for those of you who play lots of videogames like I do.   Is it possible?   - Sam
#2 Saelorn Jan 26, 2015 15:47:14	It's not very difficult to rename everything. Spells becomes psionics, fantasy races become alien races, a two-week trip across the great sea by boat becomes a two-week trip to a nearby stary system, etc.
#3 ankiyavon Jan 26, 2015 15:48:06	Certainly.  With the greatest of ease.   There have been a number of sci-fi space RPGs in the past, some with mechanics similar to D&D, some different.  The Star Wars RPGs are generally the most popular sci-fi tabletops.   Star Wars d20 is built on the same chassis as D&D 3rd Edition, which is fairly similar to the current edition (5th).  Star Wars Saga Edition is also fairly similar (although I myself don't like it too much, there are plenty of people who disagree with me).  Star Wars d6 is an older game with different mechanics.   Personally, I am not a big fan of these, but Stars Without Number and Eclipse Phase are also reasonably popular sci-fi indie games.  Traveler (both the old edition and the Mongoose edition; the Mongoose edition is much more D&D-like) also have their adherents.  The Void is another indie sci-fi RPG.     And, of course, in addition to all of these options, you can simply do what you described yourself and use the straight D&D rules and handwave or invent anything you need that it doesn't cover (such as space travel).
#4 redhollywood Jan 26, 2015 15:50:38	isnt that what spelljammers was?
(Reply to #2) TippingChair	Saelorn wrote:
(Reply to #3) TippingChair	ankiyavon wrote:
#7 Rhenny Jan 26, 2015 16:32:05	I ran 4 or 5 sessions of my 3.5e campaign in a post-apocalyptic Earth setting with ease.   Reskinned monsters for robots, a few vehicles, added tech items and computers...all slightly broken and malfunctioning.  It was a way for us to refresh and recharge after about 2 years of the campaign.   Eventually, the party made it back to the fantasy world they started in, and one PC even was able to bring back a slug-thrower/rifle from the other time/dimension.   I bet that 5e is even easier to reskin than 3.5e.   Your toughest challenge would be to create Starships, etc and do Starship battles, but if you have experience with Star Wars or any other Sci-fi game, it shouldn't be too hard.
(Reply to #7) TippingChair	Rhenny wrote:
#9 Illithidbix Jan 26, 2015 17:56:44	Yes, it's been done many times before, for for decades.   The 5E Dungeon Masters Guide has rules for Laser pistols, laser rifles and antimatter rifles along with "figuring out alien technology" on page 268   In the past quite a lot of sci-fi games were developed, esp. from 3rd Edition D&D (normally referred to as the D20 system) in the early 2000's, some people viewed it as WoTC's attempt to create a single RPG system to rule them all, opinions on it's success or if this was even the intended goal varies. The aforementioned Starwars was a huge one, as was Stargate system, both pretty well recieved.   There has actually been quite a long history of Sci-Fi mixing into D&D, a number of very old modules (Temple of the Frog?) have monsters like androids kicking around. 2nd Edition AD&D had a boxed set adventure called "Tales of the Comet" which was based around the idea of a rogue AI and it's robots attempting to exterminate the alien race that created it and the conflict literally falling from the sky onto the player's world.   Personally I find adding guns weirdly seems to mess with hitpoints in my head (for no real rational reason), so it's upto you if you want to clarrify what they are more (or not)
#10 AaronOfBarbaria Jan 26, 2015 17:47:39	Originally, science-fiction and fantasy were one and the same.   While they have been "officially" classified as different genres since that origin, that doesn't actually mean that they aren't still one and the same - the same genre with a different approach.   Running D&D in a "sci-fi universe" is no harder than simply saying you are doing so, as anything that supposedly doesn't fit the genre can be assigned a new explanation that works - zombies re-animated by parasite or virus rather than "magic", fantasy species as "alien" lifeforms, and so on.
(Reply to #9) TippingChair	Illithidbix wrote:
#12 THEMNGMNT Jan 26, 2015 19:33:08	Go to paizo.com and check out the Iron Gods adventure path. It might scratch your itch.
#13 Ranthalan Jan 27, 2015 8:46:57	I'm the only old enough to remember Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?  In the same time frame TSR had an sf rpg called Star Frontiers, but it was a different system.   EDIT: And I completely forgot about Gamma World!
#14 ChrisTheS Jan 27, 2015 10:33:31	Obligatory mention that Dias Ex Machina Games is about to start development (or may have already started it by now) on a 5e version of Amethyst and on Ultramodern5, which will provide some more options for modern/future games.   Personally I've found that it doesn't require any rules adjustment at all - I ran a game set during WWI (albeit with the fantasy elements still intact) and it required no real tweaking, other than in the way I planned encounters (since everyone had access to ranged attacks, there was comparatively little melee).