While some people prefer to play game systems specifically tailored to their favorite SciFi universes (Star Wars, Firefly/Serenity/Star Trek/etc all have branded games, for example), many others, like me, tend to mix things up a bit. The result is what TotS contributor Christine Mayfeld calls the "Reese's Campaign".
So, say you run an ongoing Star Wars game, using whichever rule system suits you. Things are going fine, when when of the players show up after a binge-watching of the Firefly TV series. She loves the idea of playing a bunch of smugglers transporting a fugitive like River Tam. The rest of the players want to keep the Star Wars game going, so do you ignore her request or upset the others by taking time off to run a game of the Serenity rpg? What if there was a third option?
Captain Mal Reynolds is a smuggler, right? Star Wars has those. Lawrence Dobson, Jubal Early and the nameless operative from the Serenity movie are bounty hunters? Star Wars has those. Serenity is a well loved but kind of beat up light cargo ship. So is the Millenium Falcon. Alliance, meet Empire. Browncoats? How about Rebels? Serenity has psychics with uncanny combat prowess. Jedi and Sith, anyone?
So what if the Star Wars PCs, 'freelance traders' with a Reynolds or Solo willingness to ignore the law and do whatever they have to to make a buck, pick up a strange new passenger who recently escaped her Sith master, who recruited her through lies and false promises after discovering her potential skill with the Force. This "River" is still a young padawan, not fully in control of her abilities, like proto-operative River in Firefly. The Empire wants her back, but has to keep it on the downlow to keep up the illusion that the Jedi and Sith are just folktales from an old religion. Almost every scenario involving River could be played out in the Star Wars universe with these tweaks.
"Captain, get a load of this frikkin' guy"
Obviously, some SciFi sungenres and brands would be harder to mix than the example above. William Gibson's dark, gritty cyberpunk tales are a little out of place in a Star Trek universe future earth setting, and the almost Groundhog Day futility of time travel of 12 Monkeys (the movie at least, I'm not really familiar with the TV spinoff series.) doesn't really jive with the Terminator 'verse, where time travel has predictably happier endings, at least until the next sequel.
On the other hand, Aliens style xenomorph bughunts would work great in a Starship Troopers game. Zombies, Resident Evil or I am Legend style (meaning, they're a chemical, biological or other "sciency" accident, not magical undead) could be added to the mix to create a really bizarre but fun twist on War of the Worlds, where the humans the aliens round up aren't outright killed, but comeback later as mindless cannibals.
I'll go into more detail on mixing ideas from various SciFi in the near future, specifically relating to how I use the somewhat generic setting of the Traveller RPG to host any manner of near to far future SciFi. That was, after all, the original intent of that game; to be a catch all for playing any SciFi game you could dream up. The allure of selling sourcebooks inevitably leads most games, Traveller included, to produce a default setting for game play, but Traveller, intentionally or not, left things open and adaptable enough to easily plug all kinds of stuff in without destroying the setting.
For now though, what's your take on mixing settings? Are you a "Reese's" GM, or do you prefer your chocolate bars separate from your peanut butter sandwiches? Let me know in the comments, and tell us about your experiences with mixing stuff together.
Along with being the current licensee for a Star Wars RPG, Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is the producer of the excellent Xwing starship miniatures collectible game. If you're into one ship per player or small squadron skirmish gaming, or have the resources to build giant fleets, the game scales quite well, and even if you're not into wargaming at all and just want some awesome knick knacks for your desk or bookshelf, you owe it to yourself to check out XWing Minis. Along with their other Star Wars licensed games, you can quickly build a relatively affordable collection of nicely detailed models, pre-painted and ready to use.
Want to learn more or get started? Here's a few links.
FFG's X-Wing Miniatures Game hompage https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/x-wing/ This is the main page for the game at FFG's website. You can learn about the game, access the fan community and order the products. For about $40 USD you can pick up a starter set, including a brand new one themed for the Force Awakens movie, as well as a number of expansion sets and accessories.
FFG's other Star Wars licensed games https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/#/universe/star-wars As I mentioned, FFG produces a variety of other Star Wars products; RPGs, card games, and board games, some of which include more miniature ships. You'll also find the Star Wars: Imperial Assault game, a miniatures game dealing with single characters; heroes, villains, aliens, stormtroopers. etc.
FFG's Star Wars Dice app https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-dice-app/ You call yourself a gamer but don't have a gaming dice app for your IOS or Android device? You can download the official FFG Star Wars themed app from your app store of choice. With generic support for any game and custom features supporting their Star Wars themed products, complete with nice graphics and sound effects, it's a pretty sweet app for any SciFi gamer.
You know the deal, clicky to make biggie.
Once you have your squadron assembled (Red 5, standing by!) or if you want to learn more before diving in with your wallet open, you may want to check out these recommended fan supported sites.
XWing Miniatures Game Community http://www.xwingminiaturesgame.com/ A great place for getting the latest news and rumors about the game as well as interacting with other fans. It's a blog style site, with frequent updates. Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game page on Facebook http://www.starwars.com/news/category/fans-and-community Nice collection of regularly update news and rumors about the game, right in your Facebook feed.
X-Wing Miniatures Mods and Repaints https://www.facebook.com/groups/1536099843345877/ Speaking of Facebook, I highly recommend joining this group. It's all about kitbashing and custom repainting of XWing Minis and other Star Wars miniature ships. There are some insanely creative folks here!
Keep in mind that there are older, out of production Star Wars themed miniatures games out there too.
Star Wars Miniatures was an RPG-style skirmish game by Wizards of the Coast featuring miniature 34mm scale models of characters and vehicles from across the Star Wars saga. It was published between 2004 and 2010. Star Wars Miniatures Battles was a tabletop miniature wargame system produced by West End Games from 1991 to 1996. WEG is now defunct and some of this stuff is pretty hard to find anymore, having wound up in the hands of collectors.
"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor." - Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers (1959)
I often turn to the craft of writing for inspiration for my RPG gaming, and recently stumbled on a nice YouTube video blog by one Jenna Moreci. Though Miss (Mrs?) Moreci doesn't assign her videos a clever series title, they're focused on all manner of tips for the aspiring writer. This one caught my attention:
I'm approaching the issue from a Game Master's point of view. It's a good idea to discuss the matter with your player group though, to avoid unfulfilled expectations.
Now, right from the start, some of her points don't apply to RPG gaming. Pointless characters, for one. While she's correct in saying that most of the time in a novel or short story, we the readers do not need to read about every Tom, Dick and Harry in the setting, in an RPG, we have non-player characters (NPCs), the bystanders, incidental contacts and out of the spotlight players in the game setting.
Most of these hapless souls will get a name and one or two sentence description in your game prep, at best. To create a believable world stage for the adventurers to interact with though, these folk are just as important as the heroes and developed villains. The Mos Eisley Cantina needs a bartender, band, random other patrons and maybe an alien waitress or two to be a functional bar, not just Han, Greedo and the poor brute Obi Wan 'disarms' (heh).
Greedo and the now one armed random alien are what I'm getting to. In an RPG, we do need random, pointless bystanders, and sometimes they will die! Rather than treat the event as meaningless though, a clever GM can weave the events into the ongoing plot. If Obi Wan had lived to return to Mos Eisley, he might face arrest for murder (if not for suspicion of being a Jedi, given Order 66). Han Solo could look forward to another arrest warrant for the killing of Greedo. Remember that player character actions will have consequences. Even in a setting with little or no law presence, a slain person's family or friends might seek revenge for the killing. PCs that regularly kill innocent bystanders will get a nasty reputation and either be avoided, or sought out by some local tough guy wanting to prove something.
Anyway, the point is that although the death of a "meaningless" NPC may have little or no impact on the main campaign story, it can, and should, have an impact on the immediate scene, or on future side trek scenes.
So now that we covered NPC death, what about actually killing a PC? The attitude of gamers on the matter has changed drastically over the years. In the early days of the hobby, character death was expected, often! The adventure scenarios were lethal and unforgiving, and having a couple backup PCs on standby was commonplace. Over time, especially with the advent of video games and the concept of save points and respawning, many players have come to resent PC death, feeling discouraged at having to start all over again with a new PC. Some players also grow attached to their PCs, and take it personally when that alter-ego dies (to be fair, some GMs get over attached to their major NPCs as well, and will cheat the system to keep them alive and recurring. FOUR words, folks, "DO NOT DO IT!" The entire point of the game is for the PC heroes to defeat the villain, eventually. Even NPC friendlies might get caught in a crossfire or something and perish, replace them with a new NPC and move on. You destroy the integrity of your setting when certain folks are bulletproof.). I'm going to briefly discuss the three major approaches to PC death among GMs, and I suggest reading them over, then discussing the ideas with your players, to see which works best for both your campaign story and their goals in playing the game. So here we go, the three major approaches to PC death, in no particular order:
We're bulletproof!
In the heroic fantasy, super hero and space opera genres, good guys rarely die. Consider the Star Trek films, the only major protagonist character to truly die in one of the movies was Kirk, and even that was a heroic sacrifice to save the others. Sure, Spock died in Wrath of Khan, but he was brought back in the next movie, and Kirk's death in Into Darkness lasts less than a half hour of screen time. Neither of those count as character deaths. Likewise, in the first six Star Wars movies, only three good guys die, and only one of those is a true, permanent death. Padme Amidala dies, yes, but Yoda and Ben Kenobi return as force ghosts after their deaths, so in terms of the character still having an influence on the story, they are not really dead. Vader/Annakin doesn't count, Vader's death was a requisite part of Annakin's salvation, and he too returns as a force ghost almost immediately.
In gaming circles, a lot of GMs tend to embrace this trope, with two very different reasons. If you are presenting a story founded in mythic archetypes and heroic cinematic action, and killing one of the protagonists would harm your story, that's a fine approach to take. More often though, GMs are coddling player's they think will protest or ragequit the game due to the previously mentioned feelings of character attachment or frustration at starting over. In this case, I highly recommend having a talk with the players about balancing everyone's enjoyment of the story telling part of the game. Sure, noone likes to "lose" the game, but the very premise of role playing games is that there is a group story being crafted. Point out examples from film or literature where a hero's death actually advances the plot and betters the story. Ben Kenobi sacrifices himself because he knows that Luke's rage and sorrow will push him toward the showdown with Vader. Wash's untimely death in Serenity provokes a rage in his comrades that forces them to accept that they can't keep running and must stand and fight. Also point out that even in video games with save points, there is an immense satisfaction in finally winning, and that feeling is even stronger if you failed a dozen or three times along the way. To quote Aerosmith, "You've got to lose to know how to win".
Best make peace with your dear and fluffy lord.
Some gritty SciFi and fantasy just plain kill everyone! The original Alien film shows the xenomorph gobble up everyone but Ripley. Predator slaughters most of the heroes. Do I even need to mention Game of Thrones?
In most Space Opera or heroic SciFi games, this approach is, to be blunt, bullshit. What's the point of playing if you know you're going to die every time? On the other hand, if you're playing a Cthulhu type campaign, or a gritty cyberpunk story, or even an Aliens inspired bug hunt, this approach can work, as long as you allow some slight, real chance for a clever and cautious player to keep their character alive. Sure, everyone's probably screwed, but there would be a big feeling of accomplishment to be among the few survivors of a suicide mission. Just don't let them call your bluff. Make it perfectly clear right up front that it's a doomed mission, and chances of getting through it are slim, but, the rewards for those lucky, clever and tough enough to defy the odds will be great. Then, show no mercy. If they make bad decisions or the dice aren't cooperating, kill them. Make them earn it. If they still happen to persevere, congratulate them, and don't make them pay taxes again, ever...
Not every man really lives.
In general, the best approach to PC death is to use it sparingly. The PCs scrape by, battered and bruised, most of the time. Luke Skywalker had to take a time out on Hoth to recuperate, the heroes in the Lord of the Rings were constantly staring death in the face, and in both cases, the death of a friend and/or mentor served to both motivate them and remind them how fleeting life is. If a player is overly foolish or careless, or they roll poorly, consider whether the campaign story is better served by a little subtle deus ex machina or by the death of that hero. The player can easily rejoin the action fairly quickly in most cases with a backup PC. On the other hand, if you do end that character's part of the story, do the story and the player a favor by considering a possible legacy impact. If they were a space marine, name a ship or fort somewhere after them. Have an NPC news reporter show up before long to interview the other PCs briefly for a tribute documentary she's putting together. Hell, let the character make a cameo return later on as a force ghost or prophetic dream sequence to assist the rest of the heroes. You get the idea. Don't let heroes die in vain. If you do decide to go the deus ex machina ruote, don't make it totally painless. Make them sit out a scene or two healing, give them a permanent lingering wound side effect if your particular game system provides a mechanic for it, dock their experience for the session, whatever. Flirting with death is not without consequence.
So, that wraps up my take on PC death, and for the record, I usually employ the third option, killing a PC just often enough to remind the players that it is a game, and you can "lose" if you're not careful, but not often enough to discourage them.
I'm interested to hear how others handle PC death, or even character death in their own writing or fanfic. Any examples of a PC death having a memorable impact, for better or worse, on your game? Any character deaths in established SciFi film or books that really impacted your enjoyment of the work as a whole? Leave a comment!
I cut my role playing teeth on the iconic Dungeons & Dragons around 1979 or 1980, and played it off and on for years, but soon after being introduced to the hobby of rpgs, I discovered a few cool games that let us emulate the movies and tv shows we loved; Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, etc. Eventually, these SF staples got their own branded games, but to give you an idea of the games that might get discussed here, here's a few of my favorite titles.
My first foray into SF gaming was the Star Frontiers game, by TSR, publisher of D&D. Easy to learn and fast playing, it's a nice system that stands the test of time, despite being discontinued and unsupported by the publisher, now Wizards of the Coast, Inc. for nearly 30 years now.
Star Frontiers is a 'soft science', lighthearted game, evocative of classic SciFi like Buck Rogers, Space: 1999 or any number of SciFi b-movies from the 50s or 60s. The rules are fairly simple and adaptable though, so you can't go wrong.
Best of all, SF has seen a recent revival of interest via the internet community. You can download 'remastered' versions of all the manuals and adventures in pdf format, as well as the excellent Star Frontiersman eZine, via the Join The Revival website! It's all free, so check it out.
Traveller is generally considered the granddaddy of SciFi games, boasting nearly 40 years of continued support over 5 distinct editions as well as licensed support from many other publishers.
Unlike Star Frontiers, Traveller default tone much more serious and gritty, with a heavy focus on characters being retired military personnel or similarly seasoned adventurers, rather than the usual starry eyed kids fresh off the farm in most RPGs. The system includes tons of detail to make the game seem more realistic, including lots of math for space travel, world creation, combat and other aspects of the game. Thing is, you can safely ignore all that and boil the game down its basics without ruining things, so the complexity is pretty open to scaling.
The earliest incarnations of Traveller assumed the players would adventure in a universe of their own creation, or one borrowed rfom literature, film or TV, but the built in setting that crept into the game is worthy of consideration as well. A detailed history and expansive set of worlds and political and social groups provide a ton of options, not to mention a nice selection of alien races complete with their own tech and cultures.
Traveller is currently supported by a few publishers, each with their own modified game engine, but the Far Future Enterprises website I've linked to is the home of the game's creator, Marc Miller, and features the classic editions of the game that I favor, all available for purchase in various electronic and/or print form.
Star Wars needs no introduction, and the original RPG version, published at the time by the now defunct West End Games, excellently captured the tone and feel of the original trilogy. The rule set is detailed enough to create unique and fleshed out characters of any of the many alien races from the movies and expanded universe material, while remaining easy to learn and fast playing.
While other publishers, namely Wizards of the Coast and Fantasy Flight games have produced subsequent versions of Star Wars games, my preference for the original is simply a matter of "it's not broken, don't fix it". While WEG is no more and licensing for their incarnation of the game has long since lapsed, there's a decent sized fan community online, and the game system carries on with the Lucasfilm/Disney IP removed as D6 Space, part of the D6 System family of open source game family. The D6 Space and other D6 System games are available for free download via the DriveThruRPG online store, which also features many licensed D6 products for various settings and genres.
A couple honorable mentions:
Cyberpunk - A great take on the genre, capturing the gritty near-future failed utopia feel perfectly. Titles like Cyberpunk 2020, Cybergeneration (focusing on the angsty-cool teenagers of the genre) and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2070 expand the game line.
Paranoia - Paranoia, and it's later revisions, is a blast to play. The premise is that after the WWIII apocalypse, humanity is sequestered in vast underground city complexes, which are run by diabolically fun insane computers. It's hard to explain much better than that, just check it out if it sounds intriguing.
I've played a ton of other games over the last 30 plus years, but those are the ones that've held my interest. Please drop a note in the comments below if there's something you think deserves a mention!
Along with being the current licensee for a 
My first foray into SF gaming was the Star Frontiers game, by TSR, publisher of 
