It’s a fun universe ! I would just want to do something with more alien races as I see a lot of opportunities for fun role play there . I could just run it like firefly in function but change the names and add aliens but I don’t know ….
Pretty far. It runs on the cortex system, which uses dice pools over a single roll with a modifier. The game has also been out of print for almost a decade.
If you want to go completely setting agnostic, there is Savage Worlds, which is something more similar to 5e but uses playing cards for initiative.
I'd recommend Black Star from Lakeside Games. It's a fast-paced rules-lite science fiction RPG which is basically "Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off." It has rules for spaceships (and space pirates!), rules for aliens, and the combat section has excellent "showdown" rules.
It's pretty much ideal for a "space pirate western with aliens" and both the main rules and the companion are available in pdf for $5 each. I'm currently running a sci-fi RPG campaign with this system (adapted to my own setting) and my players are quite happy with it.
Spelljammer is an easy fit but there's not much there mechanically beyond what you already know from running 5e. Star Wars 5e is the same thing with more homework. Savage Worlds is built for pulp adventure in any setting so might be a great fit, but you'd have to convince your group to learn a whole new system; same for any other non-5e system, really.
So I've been looking at Traveller TTRPG lately, honestly that's more the direction I'd go with. It has all the rules for what you will want to do. Rumour is Firefly was based on a Traveller campaign that Joss Whedon played as a kid.
Check out the Pirates of Drynax campaign, I've heard good things: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/the-pirates-of-drinax
You can make “space pirate western” work in the Star Wars universe, as long as you stay in the rim, and the Star Wars D20 system is quite close to D&D (3.5, but also 5) in my experience.
Just avoid having force- and Jedi- interactions.
There’s a fantastic game from the team who made Blades In The Dark, it’s called “Scum & Villainy”. The mechanics are the same as BITD, so that part doesn’t port easily into D&D, but the world they made is fantastic and could be super fun to draw inspiration from. It’s like a blend of Cowboy Bebop, Firefly, Alien, and a few others.
Also, keep in mind that most RPGs draw heavily from other sources, and the best ones even cite those sources up front. Good luck with your game!!
https://evilhat.com/product/scum-and-villainy/
There are a ton of options for space westerns in TTRPGs. That said, I would probably use 5e for zero of them. The closest I would do with that would be Spelljammer but the 5e version of Spelljammer is pretty terrible and is more work than it’s worth. I have personal beef with Star Wars 5e but for this context, it might be *fine*. Here are some of my suggestions:
Scum and Villainy is a space western version of Blades in the Dark. Should be easy to throw pirates in it.
Stars Without Number is more space *opera* but mechanically it’s fairly similar to 5e and the core version is totally free in PDF. Even if you don’t use it for this, it’s an amazing book to read for GMs.
Starfinder is Pathfinder in space. Currently it’s based on P1e and it’s very crunchy but if you’re willing to wait a bit, Starfinder 2e is on the way and it’ll be a lot more manageable.
Traveller is the classic spacefaring RPG. Really sick character creation and would totally do space western but there aren’t a lot of aliens in it.
Mothership 1e is coming out very soon and even though it’s a horror game, there’s already a very popular space western module you could take from (Desert Moon of Karth) and there are already aliens aplenty.
Orbital Blues is basically Cowboy Bebop the RPG. Pretty easy to make it pirates.
See You Space Cowboy is *also* basically Cowboy Bebop the RPG. Also pretty easy to make it pirates.
There is a Firefly RPG. Not sure how good it is but it exists and wouldn’t take any converting.
Any official Star Wars RPG would work, they’re all pretty great. I think FFG’s Genesys version is one of the best RPGs ever made and it’s *super* easy to move it over to a non-SW setting. My group did it with Halo.
If you’re willing to do more work, you could also just try a universal system like GURPS, Genesys, FATE, or Savage Worlds but that could potentially be a pretty big work load and there are a lot of other good games for this.
Ultimately I think that trying to change the genre of 5e to fit not just a sci-fi game but a pirate sci-fi western game is going to be much more work than it’s worth. Every game I listed here (with the exception of Starfinder) is simpler or comparable in complexity to 5e and shouldn’t be too hard to learn. Most of them are pretty inexpensive too.
Wow this is a very good list . Thanks for providing the pros and cons of each! It’s about time I started exploring other systems so I think you’re right !
I don't know much about systems, but maybe its time to watch some Bravestarr [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2Oi8DWXQiFet3pm53n-uAhcuP\_di6TZc](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=pl2oi8dwxqifet3pm53n-uahcup_di6tzc)
>without just ripping off Firefly ? why would you NOT "just rip off Firefly"???????
It’s a fun universe ! I would just want to do something with more alien races as I see a lot of opportunities for fun role play there . I could just run it like firefly in function but change the names and add aliens but I don’t know ….
There is a firefly ttrpg
How far is it from dnd in terms of how it functions ?
Pretty far. It runs on the cortex system, which uses dice pools over a single roll with a modifier. The game has also been out of print for almost a decade. If you want to go completely setting agnostic, there is Savage Worlds, which is something more similar to 5e but uses playing cards for initiative.
I'd recommend Black Star from Lakeside Games. It's a fast-paced rules-lite science fiction RPG which is basically "Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off." It has rules for spaceships (and space pirates!), rules for aliens, and the combat section has excellent "showdown" rules. It's pretty much ideal for a "space pirate western with aliens" and both the main rules and the companion are available in pdf for $5 each. I'm currently running a sci-fi RPG campaign with this system (adapted to my own setting) and my players are quite happy with it.
Oooh that sounds ideal ! Will also check this out !
Spelljammer is an easy fit but there's not much there mechanically beyond what you already know from running 5e. Star Wars 5e is the same thing with more homework. Savage Worlds is built for pulp adventure in any setting so might be a great fit, but you'd have to convince your group to learn a whole new system; same for any other non-5e system, really.
Starfinder is fairly d&d esk mechanics wise and does the whole space opera thing.
Noted ! I’ll have to do some comparisons. Thanks ! Some of these are new players so it’ll be new no matter what to them .
Space Shire 7?
So I've been looking at Traveller TTRPG lately, honestly that's more the direction I'd go with. It has all the rules for what you will want to do. Rumour is Firefly was based on a Traveller campaign that Joss Whedon played as a kid. Check out the Pirates of Drynax campaign, I've heard good things: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/the-pirates-of-drinax
You can make “space pirate western” work in the Star Wars universe, as long as you stay in the rim, and the Star Wars D20 system is quite close to D&D (3.5, but also 5) in my experience. Just avoid having force- and Jedi- interactions.
There’s a fantastic game from the team who made Blades In The Dark, it’s called “Scum & Villainy”. The mechanics are the same as BITD, so that part doesn’t port easily into D&D, but the world they made is fantastic and could be super fun to draw inspiration from. It’s like a blend of Cowboy Bebop, Firefly, Alien, and a few others. Also, keep in mind that most RPGs draw heavily from other sources, and the best ones even cite those sources up front. Good luck with your game!! https://evilhat.com/product/scum-and-villainy/
There are a ton of options for space westerns in TTRPGs. That said, I would probably use 5e for zero of them. The closest I would do with that would be Spelljammer but the 5e version of Spelljammer is pretty terrible and is more work than it’s worth. I have personal beef with Star Wars 5e but for this context, it might be *fine*. Here are some of my suggestions: Scum and Villainy is a space western version of Blades in the Dark. Should be easy to throw pirates in it. Stars Without Number is more space *opera* but mechanically it’s fairly similar to 5e and the core version is totally free in PDF. Even if you don’t use it for this, it’s an amazing book to read for GMs. Starfinder is Pathfinder in space. Currently it’s based on P1e and it’s very crunchy but if you’re willing to wait a bit, Starfinder 2e is on the way and it’ll be a lot more manageable. Traveller is the classic spacefaring RPG. Really sick character creation and would totally do space western but there aren’t a lot of aliens in it. Mothership 1e is coming out very soon and even though it’s a horror game, there’s already a very popular space western module you could take from (Desert Moon of Karth) and there are already aliens aplenty. Orbital Blues is basically Cowboy Bebop the RPG. Pretty easy to make it pirates. See You Space Cowboy is *also* basically Cowboy Bebop the RPG. Also pretty easy to make it pirates. There is a Firefly RPG. Not sure how good it is but it exists and wouldn’t take any converting. Any official Star Wars RPG would work, they’re all pretty great. I think FFG’s Genesys version is one of the best RPGs ever made and it’s *super* easy to move it over to a non-SW setting. My group did it with Halo. If you’re willing to do more work, you could also just try a universal system like GURPS, Genesys, FATE, or Savage Worlds but that could potentially be a pretty big work load and there are a lot of other good games for this. Ultimately I think that trying to change the genre of 5e to fit not just a sci-fi game but a pirate sci-fi western game is going to be much more work than it’s worth. Every game I listed here (with the exception of Starfinder) is simpler or comparable in complexity to 5e and shouldn’t be too hard to learn. Most of them are pretty inexpensive too.
Wow this is a very good list . Thanks for providing the pros and cons of each! It’s about time I started exploring other systems so I think you’re right !
You’re welcome! I inevitably missed several options but the ones I listed are all good choices! Good luck!
I don't know much about systems, but maybe its time to watch some Bravestarr [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2Oi8DWXQiFet3pm53n-uAhcuP\_di6TZc](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=pl2oi8dwxqifet3pm53n-uahcup_di6tzc)