Rogue Space (Beta) (2011)

game rules introduction:
ROGUE SPACE-The Game Philosophy
Listen; there's a hell of a good universe next door: let's go. — e.e. cummings

What do I need to play?
These rules, friends, paper, pencils, 6 sided dice (known as d6), time and imagination.

user comments:
This sci-fi role playing game focuses on humanocentric small scale adventure and exploration. It's rules-light for fast play and yet still offers 3 options to enhance play: luck, level advancement and psionics.

excerpts from game designer's comments:
I know and like a number of sci-fi RPG's...but none of them held the same dungeon delving mystery and exploration that D&D did. I am not sure if it was us, or all the extraneous stuff I'll term chrome in most sci-fi rpg's. I didn't want to worry about low or high gravity, batteries, computer programs, cybernetics, bionics, star ship construction, and a whole host of other details that seem to be mandatory parts of sci-fi games. Okay, so Star Frontiers should be right up my alley...but the flying monkeys, shmoos, insectoids, snake leach aliens felt...well lame. They took the juice right out of the game like some aliens did in Star Trek

It seemed overwhelming in the sense that the details that go into making a dungeon are not possibly for a whole damn planet. So you short change that and you are left with kind of lame half-assed game. Plus the expectation (given our own instant on demand computer usage and knowledge) grows more exponential in the future. If I can download blue prints of the Kremlin and know what the weather will be like from satellite images in Hong Kong...how much more should players know? If satellites in space can read license plates now...why can't character 500 years from now do more? How do you plan for all of that in your adventure over a planet...or solar system?

...with Rogue Space I am going to keep everything small, focus on exploration and discovering what is out there in the inky vast darkness. Much like any fantasy RPG, Rogue Space assumes players are on the frontiers, their ship is their refuge, and danger is should be expected anytime they leave it. I am not sure how...or if...I'll really answer any of my own concerns, but it will be a game I'd like to play and will fit my own ideas of what makes neat sci-fi from Space hulk, to Aliens, and hopefully beyond.

The rules for Rogue Space are available as a free download from the game blog (see link in the top level rpg entry)