# We're Going to Space Today tags: #articles ![](https://x.com/LawDogStrikes/status/1946205490612187362) Frankly, this was going to start off as just a long response to the original, but then I realized what I really want is a better, more complete response I can refer to in the future, and which has proper links and footnotes. I know this sounds like the work of an obsessive—welcome to my world, that's how this works. So let's talk about *"the best TTRPG for outer space."* ## Why Not [[Traveller]] / Starfinder / GURPS ? Immediately, we know part of what the problem with the question is here: what do you mean by "best"? Because outer space, particularly in the field of roleplaying games, is not really one thing. We will not be engaging in the *"one thing is all things, all things are one things"* fallacy here. Outer space has a lot of bits and pieces which are important to understanding the story, and the story itself is what drives the experience rather than just the setting. The setting can help define what tools you have to explore it, but relationships and conflicts are what make the experience happen. Frank mentions [John Ringo's *Troy Rising* series](https://www.amazon.com/Troy-Rising-3-Book-Series/dp/B00XK8PF86) in specific. That's a setting which takes us from the Earth-centric pre-contact situation all the way up to waging galactic warfare, which can be a little bit challenging to do within the context of one RPG. Not impossible, just challenging. Why not **Traveller**? Because **Traveller** is a product of its era, and as much as there is a devoted fanbase out there who are rabid for it, mechanically it's kind of a mess. Too crunchy in the places where playing the game is best served by moving on. Too soft in places where the game could use a little extra focus. That said, you have plenty of editions of the game that might satisfy you, depending on where on the spectrum you are. But is it the best TTRPG for outer space? No. It's just a very good one. **Starfinder**? No thank you. If I want a **D&D** knockoff in space, there are plenty of other choices which are just as painful to experience and painfully inflexible. You might think that I would have a few nice words for this game, but other than some really interesting art, I can't come up with much. The fanbase devoted to it isn't even as interesting as **Traveller**. At least with the **Traveller** bunch, they're willing to work out orbital mechanics on the back of a napkin. **Starfinder** players are hard-pressed to work out target numbers between 1 and 6. That's just talking about the mechanical deficiencies. If we start talking about how much of a mess the setting is, we'll be here all day. Nobody wants to do that. As for **GURPS**, it's **GURPS**. It hasn't changed in a longer time than most of the current hobby has been alive, and it's had exactly the same flaws in design and structure as it has from the second edition. The best thing about **GURPS** is the supplements, which are almost universally well-researched, well-written, and well-loved—so much so that even I have some of them on my shelf and wouldn't let the core book near me. Is it the best RPG for outer space? Absolutely not. ## Contenders In the spirit of adventure, I'm going to put out some options and talk about why each of them *might* be what you're looking for when you're looking for *"an outer space game."* ### [[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]] ![[Starforged (cover).jpg|200]] I guess we'll just start at the top with the number one game that I am excited about and have been really enjoying playing for however long it's been publicly released. It's fantastic. Mechanically, it's the inheritor of a lineage which started with **Apocalypse World** and came down through *Powered by the Apocalypse* games to **Blades in the Dark**, which gave rise to *Forged in the Dark* games, which then gave rise to **[[Ironsworn]]**, a fantasy TTRPG, which was an incredible example of how to set up and run an excellent RPG, both in terms of design and mechanics. **Starforged** is **Ironsworn**'s somewhat more evolved little brother, sci-fi rather than fantasy. Like many of the games I've been excited about over the last couple of years, it is playable solo, co-op, and guided (traditionally architected GM/player dichotomy). I'd say it shines in solo, and it's very, very good as co-op, and since those are the ways I'd prefer to play, that makes me thrilled beyond words. Why is it good for this? Well, it's an outstanding game about outer space, and as part of that, exploration is not something it stints on. In fact, it's so central to the experience that it's one of the legacy tracks. It lets you gain XP to expand the capacity of your character. Go out, blaze trails, find new ways through eidolon space, rediscover lost colonies, and explore unexpected parts of planetary settlements that already exist. All of those give you a mechanical reward, as well as have very clear and effective mechanics for how to do them. It doesn't hurt that there are a ton of third-party expansions or add-ons which go in a dozen different ways for the game due to its open and generous licensing. If there's something more specific you want to do and you feel like there is more that someone could write about it, there's a good chance it already exists out on *DriveThruRPG* or *itch.io*. If it doesn't, you can go write it yourself and put it up—maybe even make a buck or two. I love this game because it does everything I want it to and it doesn't insult me, which is nice given modern publication. It's all around good, and if you were looking for a game to start with, or just one to pick up to add to your collection, here we are. Do this. It's your friend. - https://tomkinpress.com/pages/ironsworn-starforged ### [[Those Dark Places]] / [[Those Dark Places|Pressure]] ![[Those Dark Places (cover).jpg|200]] ![[Pressure (cover).jpg|200]] A little bit of a twofer here, but absolutely worth slotting in right in this position. It's **Those Dark Places**. We're going to get to its near-immediate competitor very soon, but for the moment, let's start with **TDP**. Unlike a lot of games that I recommend, it is traditionally GM'd. There is a break between the experience of playing the game and running the game—a little bit of a road bump for me, but more than likely right up your alley. What is the game like? Well, if you remember the gritty cassette futurism of **Alien**, and specifically **Alien**, then you have a pretty good idea of what this game looks like and plays like on the inside. It's grim, gritty, a little bit dystopian, a little bit corporate cyberpunk. Definitionally, the player characters are the crew of a ship that is out in space getting involved in all sorts of unpleasant shenanigans. Each player character has a ship position, which informs what things they're good at. They have a small handful of stats. Play is quick, easy, and extremely tight. We will get to its equivalent in another game line, which will cost you more money in a little bit. But until then, stick with me. I love **TDP** because it is so very focused on what it does and what it wants to do. It has no pretensions of going beyond the "a crew faces an unknown and probably dangerous situation," and it's better for it. Is it an overall, generic, general solution for playing games in outer space? No. Does it do exactly what it says it will extremely well? Yes. Which brings us over to **Pressure**, **TDP**'s younger but broader brother. While **TDP** is alien, **Pressure** is **Aliens**. No longer are you playing a single crew, but instead are likely playing either a squad of Colonial Marines or another group of troubleshooters with a somewhat more varied set of possible skills. In fact, **Pressure** brings specific skill selection to the system, which isn't entirely something I love, but the list is relatively short and the mechanics aren't a headache. **Pressure** really is a bit more expansive in what it would cover in terms of gameplay and situation. It's still about going out there and getting stuck into dangerous situations, but there's a lot more leeway in what those situations might be. Key to both of these games is the panic mechanism, in which things can escalate due to character failures or situational effects, and you can be left in a position where your character is temporarily a little bit out of your control. Having a panic reaction, hesitating at an inappropriate time, curled up in a corner sobbing, running for your life without care or concern, or pounding on a door while someone on the other side stares in helplessness—you know, panic. This captures a particular cinematic feel in an excellent way, if that's the sort of thing you're looking for. **TDP** and **Pressure** are the most cost-effective ways to get it. Neither is necessarily a massive spectacle of layout and art. They are both reasonably priced products from a small publisher. If you're looking for something with a little more production value, but mechanics which share a common theme, look no further. - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/337292/those-dark-places-industrial-science-fiction-roleplaying - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/459432/pressure-industrial-science-fiction-roleplaying ### [[Alien - The Roleplaying Game|Alien: The Roleplaying Game]] ![[Alien - The Roleplaying Game (cover).jpg|200]] After the last two, this one absolutely had to be next up on the list. Free League has knocked it out of the park in terms of production values, research, and spending money for a pretty good license. By all reports, they have done pretty well. Of course, this one is in my library beside the others. Perhaps surprisingly, **[[Alien - The Roleplaying Game|Alien]]** includes a panic mechanic, which is oddly close to that of **TDP/Pressure**. Not identical, because that would be a copyright infringement, but they definitely have the same gist and the same sort of scopes, which is not a problem. It's just fun to note. If it turns out that picking up **Alien** is too rich for your blood, you can pick up the other Hickman products and save a few dollars in your pocket while having a similar experience. What you won't have is the attention to detail and production value of **Alien** or its published adventures, which, even for someone who doesn't care for published adventures, are impressive pieces of work, simply taken as sourcebooks. Looking for useful stats on a power loader? Want to know how strong one of those Weyland-Yutani androids is? Always wanted to play on the deck of the Nostromo? Here's your chance? All licensed and pretty? What it doesn't do particularly well is intergalactic warfare, though I would suggest that as long as the protagonists you're focusing on aren't movers and shakers in decision-making, this might be an even better choice than some others simply because of those glorious panic checks. (It's probably worth noting that **Alien: The Roleplaying Game** has a new edition coming out relatively soon.[^1] So, if you're thinking about picking it up, maybe you can get it on sale. Or maybe you want to wait until the new edition hits the table. It's supposed to be largely compatible, so we'll see.) - https://freeleaguepublishing.com/games/alien/ ### [[5150]] ![[5150 - Star Army - Total War (cover).jpg|200]] ![[5150 - New Beginnings (cover).jpg|200]] If you're looking for something a little bit wider at the hip, then maybe I can interest you in *[[5150 - New Beginnings|5150]]*, which isn't just a single book, but an entire game line from Two Hour Wargames. Now we are getting into the reasonably generic, though not entirely so. The setting is far future and non-Earth-centric, but that is trivial to change. What's important to note is that there are entries in the line for everything from the man-to-man RPG/skirmish scale (**5150: New Beginnings**) up to commanding squads, platoons, and companies (**5150: Star Army**), managing space fleets (**5150: Star Navy**), fighter operations (**5150: Fighter Command**), carrier operations (**5150: Carrier Command**), boarding operations (**5150: Star Marine**), and off-the-books special operations. As you can tell, there is a lot of stuff, and you don't need it all at once, obviously. But you can expand and build it out. Again, this is one of those games which can be played solo, co-op, or guided, but just as happily runs head-to-head if you want a straight-up competitive situation. Sometimes you just want someone to be able to run the opposing force and bang out an actual wargame-level campaign while integrating it into your RPG experience. *5150* is very much in the adventure wargame side of the space. But depending on how you like to play and what you like to do, that might be exactly what you want. **[Space: Above and Beyond](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112173/)** your jam? Maybe you should look at *5150*. ## Further Questions I could probably go digging deeper for more options, but really what we want to know is *"what kind of a game do you want to play?"* Because "space game" is way too broad. I can bust out everything from extremely tactical and focused space combat games (like **[Starmada](https://mj12games.com/starmada/)**), or I can go and poke at things which are very focused in the other direction and do other things (like **[Instant Starship](https://dngnclub.itch.io/instant-starship)**). And this is the sort of thing that is often absent when people throw out very general questions. Frankly, one of the reasons that the accusation of "engagement farming" is so readily applicable to so much is that it's not a real question. It's not a question about solving a problem; it's about just throwing out the barest fragment of something and not really getting an answer that's usable. It's just getting a flood of responses. Yes, I know, technically, I'm participating in that simply by writing this response, but no one ever makes it this far down into any of my articles anyway. Let's be honest. I stand by my selections above as some of the best space games which are out right now, accessible and playable. They cover a gamut of game styles, from the hard and very crunchy tactical wargame to the very flexible fiction-first narrativist RPG. Obviously, not all of those games solve the same problems at the table, and that's what we really need to know about. Tell us about your problems at the table and what you want to see happen in your experience. Do you want to be playing alone and building a grand story? Do you want to sit down with a table of friends and tell a tense, gripping, very focused experience? These things matter. We need to talk about them. I may have a few words. [^1]: See: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/alien-rpg-second-edition-and-rapture-protocol