# MilSF Horror: What are the options? tags: #thoughts This is going to be another one of those *"I spent so much time writing a reply on other social media that I figured I might as well put it here"* kind of posts, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with repurposing. There's only a little bit wrong with regifting. Someone on Mastodon asked about military science fiction RPGs, which involve a little bit of horror. And I jumped up to say, "I'm your Huckleberry!" Because if there's one thing that I love, it is without a question, military science fiction coupled with horror. Let's go. ![[Horrors of War.jpg]] > [!help] https://social.vivaldi.net/@myxomycetes@dice.camp/112953649912891459 > After the one-shot, some local players are interested in a [\#Mothership](https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/Mothership) campaign. More military-SF with a touch of horror. What's around for mil-SF [\#ttrpg](https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/ttrpg) ? I was looking to convert 2300AD stuff. Maybe FIST? What else? MilSF RPG with a touch of horror (or maybe more than a touch)? Can do. Let's start pretty easy: **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]]** (https://www.ironswornrpg.com/product-ironsworn-starforged). Without a doubt one of my favorite game systems in years and you can pretty easily do a military-focused experience without breaking a sweat. I would suggest picking up **Sundered Isles** (https://www.ironswornrpg.com/product-sundered-isles) as well, not for the slightly more Age of Sail tinting but some guides on using your ship crew as mechanical extensions of yourself. Works just fine for your squad, platoon, or company. Plenty of horror to go around in there, from Lovecraftian nightmares to swarms of undead. I highly recommend it. --- If you don't mind your military more dispersed and small-group but want a solid reason to be together, check out **[[Scum and Villainy]]** (https://evilhat.com/product/scum-and-villainy/). I know, I know. Classically, it is portrayed as characters on the other side of the law from the military. Thus "scum and villainy". But as ever, it's your game and you can play it any way that you want to. Do you want to be a hard-bitten team of mercenaries going out and taking jobs to try and scrape along while staying out of trouble but hiring out to the forces that be? You can do that. A team full of spies. Working for the empire. Being the troubleshooters for dealing with the nightmares out among the stars. You can do that. In fact, it's an excellent choice for doing so. --- The new edition of **[[Twilight 2000]]** (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/shop/twilight-2000/core-set/) from Free League is absolutely stunning and crunchy enough to satisfy the military geeks in your group, no doubt. While it's not particularly big on supernatural horror, it certainly has all the tools to make the horror real. More grounded horror seems to just happen naturally, as your squad of remnants after the fallen world try and live a hardscrabble existence doing the best they can and maybe pull something together. If you really wanted *"military"* in your military science fiction, this is the way. It's very near future and might not be out there enough, but we have solutions for that too. --- There's the hardcore classic for MilSF and horror: **[[Alien - The Roleplaying Game|Alien: The Roleplaying Game]]** (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/games/alien/). With the **Colonial Marines** (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/shop/alien-rpg-2/colonial-marines-operations-manual/) expansion, of course, because how could you not? I suppose this one really goes without saying, because **Aliens** really is the archetypical military science fiction story. With significant overtones of horror. Bad motherfuckers get into a situation they aren't really prepared for. And hijinks ensue. That can be a little bit difficult to make into a long-term story, though the Colonial Marines expansion does talk about a number of ways in which you can have repeated engagements that expand the horizons of the experience. But I would point out that this effectively uses the same mechanics as **Twilight 2000**. It would be a terrible shame if you wanted to build a long-term story not to smash them together in a cyclotron. The **Building Better Worlds** (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/shop/alien-rpg-2/building-better-worlds/) expansion does this to some degree, but certainly could go all the way. --- Well, I certainly could go digging down deeper into the archive looking for appropriate game systems, and I would probably get to **[[5150 - New Beginnings|5150: New Beginnings]]** (https://twohourwargames.com/collections/5150-sci-fi-rpg) sooner or later, just because it pleases me so much, I enjoy it, and I have for so long. But I think we've gone quite far enough for the moment. Military science fiction is a great field, with lots of good crunchy bits. And when you put it together with horror, you can have a really solid experience because you can simultaneously play to the power fantasy and the disempowerment fantasy. And you should!