You've got your SST in my B5! You've got B5 in my SST!

[Azgulor]

(Duplicate post in the SST forum)
I don't know if it's a self-inflicted condition or just the result of my player's gaming preferences, but I've become a tinkerer, especially with regards to sci-fi gaming. My players are fans of the B5 series, but prefer sci-fi that utilizes slug-throwers (at least for the humans) and are definitely drawn to the gritty side of things. Although I've tried military campaigns with them in the past, I've had better success if the players opt for the ex-military types rather than active duty soldiers.

So although I'd like to run an OGL sci-fi game for them, I don't think either B5 (I would pick up 2e) or SST, as written fits the bill. I was wondering how feasible would it be to merge the mechanics of the two into a single sci-fi game? Even if I only took classes from say, B5, but gear, feats, skills, and bugs/aliens from SST?

Just curious if anyone has tried this.

I'd like to be able to take the game in any direction the players wanted to go - exploration, ground combat, spaceship adventures, etc. I really like the way B5 handled spaceships (at least in the series) but also like the MI weaponry, power armor, and the truly alien enemies.

Opinions? If this is totally unfeasable, which game would you go with and why?

Thanks,

Azgulor

 

[stevinator]

Havent tried it myself but I think it could easily work.

They are already using the same d20 system with mods (ex plus 1-3 hp/per lvl as opposed to the d6-d12 roll method). Thematically they work well with B5 being the Battlefleet gothic ized version to SST's WH40k game... sorry for the gw analogy there

They are already the same game sort of, just different elements... just have to explain all the new races etc from b5 etc.

I have thought of this a lot lately that I have dived into the SST game recently (rpg and mini) and since I have the B5 books and several fleets of mini's. Would be interested in what others think and/or come up with on this.

 

[mthomason]

This is precisely what d20 was designed for (well, okay, second to making WotC lots of money off sales of the core D&D rulebook) - to have a set of core rules and everything else "bolted on" so you should be able to (within reason and with a little thought) borrow monsters, aliens, NPCs, and rules from one game for another. You should probably run a quick "playtest" of each proposed change first to make sure there isn't any unforseen problems (rule X from game X clashes with rule Y from game Y because it expects elements of rule Y from game X...).

However, as long as you're using complete elements (all classes from game X, all starship rules from game Y) you shouldn't run into too many problems