FIRST, A NOTE ON SETTING ASSUMPTIONS

I like my Sci Fi ridiculous. “Realistic” Sci Fi does nothing for me—stuff like Star Trek, and Mass Effect? Boring. Hell, Star Wars is a bit too “normal” for my tastes. Also, I like it when Sci Fi isn’t afraid to take a few (or more) steps into the Fantasy genre. I don’t care if the science behind the setting is sound, I don’t care if the culture of the futuristic world is realistically predicted or depicted; I care about style. It wasn’t until I played games like Borderlands and Destiny that any form of media has come even close to a “complete package” when it comes to my personal tastes. I want to make something, in the form of a tabletop RPG that is everything I want from the Sci Fi genre.

Here are some influences, and what I want to steal from them.

VIDEO GAMES
Borderlands: The tone of the game. They fully embrace the ridiculous and over-the-top without going into the realm of stupid. Cool gun system.

Destiny: Blends, Sci Fi and Fantasy quite well. It doesn’t just shoehorn obvious fantasy tropes into Sci Fi (fuck you Shadowrun). Also I like the way character abilities and powers work.

COMIC BOOKS
Just about anything Brandon Graham has done, especially Multiple Warheads; the worldbuilding in it is amazing. I dig the kitchen sink-ness of it; post-apoc druids in track suits. Hell. Yes.

Nausicaä of the Valley of The Wind: The high tech stuff like planes and tanks and guns, mixed with feudal culture. Also the crazy stuff like wormhandlers and TOXIC. FUCKING. JUNGLES.

LITERATURE: Not much of this that I have read really applies, but stuff like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars stuff, and Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique are a’ight.

MOVIES & TV (weird how they’re all anime)
Space Dandy: Ridiculous over the top action and Technicolor mayhem. Not afraid to go crazy but, again, doesn’t get stupid with it.

Cowboy Bebop: Style.

Samurai Seven: It’s Sci Fi, but it isn’t sterile. It has a cool aesthetic that it plays with in interesting ways. Also characters can do cool totally unrealistic combat moves.

THE BASE MECHANIC

Characters have three stats: Tough, Quick, and Cool. Tough is rolled for tests of physical strength, stability, and constitution and for attacks made with hand to hand weapons (in most cases). Quick is rolled for tests of acrobatics, dexterity, and for attacks made with guns. Cool is rolled for tests related to “keeping your cool” such as to resist sanity altering magic, or for tests related to “being cool” like seduction or persuasion, or determining if that vintage jumpship with the sweet paintjob is original or a moonhopper hack-job.

Each stat is assigned a number, and when it comes to making tests, roll a number of dice (usually a d4) equal to that number. Any roll of a 4+ succeeds.

COMBAT

No initiative. Who ever acts first, acts first; then sides alternate.

To shoot someone, roll a number of dice equal your Quick score. The type of die is equal to the gun's accuracy die (d4, d6, or d8). Each die roll that is equal to or greater than the enemy's Quick score, it scores a hit and gets to deal damage (based on the weapon's damage potential, usually 1 or 2 points per hit).

If you are trying to battle-ax someone to death, do the same thing but it is Tough vs. Tough.

Armor reduces the damage taken in each round.

>>35986060

>Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique
>Clark Ashton Smith
>Xothique

/tg actually being well read?

Holy shit.

CHARACTERS

Characters work like Borderlands, or Talislanta. There are pre-made characters that the player may advance as they with through a system of skill trees (closer to Destiny).

Each character has a Tough, Quick, and Cool rating of between 1 and 4. They also have a list of skills which are rated at d6, and d8, in stead of the average unskilled d4. They have a rank, and a list of actions needed to rank up based on their character. Finally, they have some skills that they choose based on their rank (the skill trees). These skills are powered by Fuel, a renewable resource gained through character specific actions.

>>35986024

Have you heard of geoffrey's "Sup V: Carcosa", anon?

I think that might be the type of dark, gonzo, sci-fi you're looking for.

I'm sure you can find a free pdf somewhere

>>35986630
Yes I have and played a few sessions too, and the setting is cool and the rules are OSR awesomeness. I should have put an RPG category for influences, I would have included Carcosa and Numenera.

CHARACTERS

The archetypes I'm working on making into characters:
Space Viking
Star Witch
Techie
Beastmaster
Space Ranger
Archeologist/Rogue Scholar
Frontier Farmer

any other suggestions?

>>35986617
Should have also mentioned that they work kind of like AW playbooks.

>>35986913
Bio-Morphs
They alter their bodies to the genetic level to make themselves more powerful in myriads of different ways playing on mutations and forced evolution. Once a mutation is picked,it's permanent

Character ranks are Novice, Professional, Expert, Master, and BoogieTsar (working title). To get from N to P is relatively easy to accomplish by doing something simple like completing a session. To get to the higher ranks, more complex and character specific actions must be completed; for example, for a Space Viking to get from rank E to M, they must perform more daring deeds than the hero of an ancient saga.

At the Novice rank, characters get a special ability.
At the Professional rank, they get their choice of 2 special abilities.
At the Expert rank, they get their choice of 3 special abilities.
At the Master rank, they get their choice of 3 special abilities, and the second Professional ability.
At the BoogieTsar rank, they get their choice of two abilities, and one of the unpicked Expert abilities.

These abilities are either minor exceptions to the rules, or powers which consume Fuel to use. Each character has a different type of Fuel, each with a different name (called Fury for Space Vikings, Savvy for Techies, etc.) and gained in a different character specific way, but they all work the same way by fueling powers.

>>35987179
Cool. Added.

>>35987242
>>35987179
Maybe I shouldn't standardize the way the rank trees are. Stuff like the Bio-Morph seems like it would benefit from a few very strict, linear advancement paths based on their mutation. The Rogue Scholar could do something similar with their chosen Field of Study.

SPACE VIKING
Rank: Novice
Fury: 3/3
T: 4
Q: 2
C: 1

d6 Skills: Navigation, Athletics.
d8 Skills: Saga-Lore, Intimidation.

ARMS
Bigazz Bolt-Gun: d8, Armor Piercing (1)
Ax: d6
ARMOR
Scale Mail: Armor (2)

Novice Abilities: Spend 1 Fury to double the dive of a single melee attack roll.
Professional Abilities:
Expert Abilities:
Master Abilities:
BoogieTsar Abilities:

>>35987759
TO GAIN FUEL
*Defeat a "legendary" enemy.
*Deliver on your Extreme Braggadocio.
*Uncover a lost treasure hoard.
*etc.

TO RANK UP
From N to P: Complete one session.
From P to E: Establish a freehold.
From E to M: Outperform the hero of an ancient saga.
M to B: Slay a Scion of Nidhogg. (Dragon+Tyranid hybrid thing).

>>35987883
>>35987759
WIP examples. Not finalized in any way.