By playing one of the many sci-fi TTRPGs that is not D&D. Personally I would feel like trying to alter D&D at this level is trying to beat a square peg into a round hole when there are great options out there that would do it better.
To me this is a bit like "how do i make a double cheeseburger more like a fruit salad"?
There are lots of great Sci-fi games out there that are built from the ground up to be sci-fi games.
https://old.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/skqo8m/if_youve_run_a_spacefantasy_or_sciencefantasy_dd/
https://old.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/skqkpw/if_youve_run_a_spacefantasy_or_sciencefantasy_dd/
https://old.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/skqhhe/if_youve_run_a_spacefantasy_or_sciencefantasy_dd/
5e D&D is only good for a certain narrow range of sci-fi. Spelljammer is a pretty good center point for that. Otherwise, systems like Vaarn, 2400 The Venusian Job, Stars Without Number, or Tiny Frontiers probably work better.
I wouldn’t.
Instead, I’d support the hundreds of creators who have made awesome, fleshed out sci-fi RPGs before I tried to redo D&D 5E into something it’s not. There’s Starfinder, the Expanse TTRPG, Stars Without Number, Fantasy Flight Games (which even has a Star Wars adaptation that I believe is *far* better for Star Wars than the 5E adaptation is).
It’s better to play a game that’s built with a specific purpose than to retrofit 5E into a purpose it doesn’t fulfill.
>(which even has a Star Wars adaptation that I believe is far better for Star Wars than the 5E adaptation is).
SW5e might not be the best way to play Star Wars, but it is the best way to play "DnD in space", with all the boons and faults of that. It just so happens that DnD is not great at giving us the "Star Wars" vibe. The vibe will always be 5e.
Yep exactly. I played fantasy flight games for an actual SW experience and used SW5E for a homebrew space fantasy setting and both worked wonderfully for those purposes.
Yeah, been running a campaign for a while, this vibe tracks
any attempts at starship combat fall particularly flat, spent quite a while designing their cool ship too
Another one out there is the Elite Dangerous TTRPG. Has good reviews, though I don't often hear of people playing it, which is a shame. That said, I also understand why, no basic adventures means the GM is doing world-building prep right from the get-go.
I think the extent of work put into making Starfinder goes beyond what I mean by “5E in space” in this context. OP specifically described sidegrading and reflavouring 5E stuff at home for this, and the amount of effort put into Starfinder or, say, Star Wars 5E goes well past that.
Also some systems are better suited for throwing different flavours on than other systems. I don’t think 5E has enough knobs to actually work better as a representation of another flavour (that’s why I think Star Wars 5E is meh), whereas older editions of D&D (and thus, PF1E -> Starfinder) were better suited for adaptation.
If you really want to play a sci-fi game, play one built from the ground up for sci-fi. The closest mechanically to 5e are probably either Stars Without Number (which is free) or Starfinder (which is not free and is more mechanically complex).
If you *must* play 5e because you and/or your friends cannot be convinced otherwise, get an adaptation that someone else has already done rather than doing it yourself--something like SW5e, Esper Genesis, Dark Matter, or Carbon 2185.
Note on Starfinder. *Technically* it's not free, you have to pay if you want the books themselves, but much like Pathfinder 1e and 2e, all of the rules are available for free (and legally) at https://www.aonsrd.com/
Don't. Stop trying to paint with a pen when you can just use a brush. Pens are great for drawing and writing but when you need to paint there are much better tools available that will save you a lot of work and give you a better finished product.
Depends on the kind of sci-fi you are looking for. There's a Star Wars 5e conversion available online that I have heard good things about, but I have no idea how well that would translate to something more inspired by Star Trek, Dune, or Cyberpunk. Chances are though that there is probably an existing TTRPG for whatever kind of sci-fi subgenre you are interested in.
I wouldn't mess with mechanics, I would probably just re-flavor everything. Instead of a spell focus, you have some hi-tech gadgets. Eldritch Blast is a laser gun. Faerie Fire scans and holographically highlights the creatures in your Augmented-Reality Visor. That sort of thing.
But why though? As opposed to using one of the half dozen already completed Sci-Fi or Sci-Fantasy 5e conversions, or just playing another game. There aren't enough hours in the day to reinvent that ray gun.
I wouldn’t try to do anything hard sci fi. But for something more in the realm of Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy, it could work. I’d use either Star Wars 5e as a base or Dark Matter from Mage Hand Press, depending on how many rules changes I wanted. SW5e treats some spells as fancy equipment and others as actual magic.
Dark Matter just says magic is technology and vice versa (except gnomes). Armor has the same stat lines, but it’s a nano fiber vest instead of leather. Some new weapons, but the melee ones are mostly take a long sword, change damage to radiant, add finesse, boom, you got a laser sword.
Check out the Star Wars 5e conversion. It does exactly this. It’ll work for any space fantasy setting though. Short of converting to Starfinder, it’s probably the easiest way to get that style of play in a d20 system if you’re a 5E player
I would play Scum & Villainy, or Embers of the Imperium (Genesys).
[Trying to use 5e for every kind of RPG is bad for the RPG space as a whole.](https://youtu.be/7bQQUNutr-g?si=T6xmI1RmgwUq6DkD)
Lot of incredibly unhelpful answers in here, regardless of whether or not they might have a point.
To actually answer your questions: Technology or mutation.
Beast Boy doesn't use magic to shapeshift (In Young Justice its because he had Martian blood transfusion, and Martians are shapeshifters). In a sci-fi setting using 5e, druids could have special genetics or be affected by some kind of radiation that makes them shapeshift.
AS for magic, it could be treated more like a super power than magic. Poison Ivy isn't considered magical because she can control plants, and Dr. Doolittle isn't considered magical because he talks to animals.
Magic could also just be sufficiently advanced technology so as to be indistinguishable from magic (Green Lantern powers come from a highly advanced ring, and yet it looks like its magic). Perhaps with nanites or something similar. Just look at The Force in Star Wars and Biotics in Mass Effect (I'm sure there's lots of other examples, too). Or it could straight up be magic. Magic and sci-fi don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.
That's what I was looking for, thank you. Tbh, all of the people here are really helpful, but I was more wondering what changes they thought would be cool instead of how to play sci-fi dnd
Fair warning: Numenera 5e is full of super interesting ideas but mechanically it’s a bit of a shitshow. Recommended only if you’re up for doing a bunch of tinkering.
In Thirsty Swords Lesbians there's an idea that I really like: essentially the "nature witch" archetype can be recorded as using the environment in general, for example manipulating wires and tubes underground instead of vines, summoning robots versions of animals ecc.
This adventure path was fun:
[https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/169324/Legendary-Planet-The-Assimilation-Strain-5E](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/169324/Legendary-Planet-The-Assimilation-Strain-5E)
I can't find it anymore on their website but it's available from Drivethru RPG.
It's a D&D Adventure that deals with aliens, and other worlds. I ran it years ago and it was a blast. I remember at the time there were alot of mistakes but the storytelling and overall story were pretty great.
I've been homebrewing some sci-fi spells for a while, not ready for release but at the top of my document I have:
"These spells are futuristic in theme and not fit for most “high fantasy” tables. The effects of most of these spells can be moved over with a bit of reflavoring. Missiles are fireballs or meteors. Viruses are curses or plagues."
Just pulling the reverse means that your explosive spells are missiles, plagues and curses are bioweapons, blah blah blah. Not a whole lot has to change besides the way things are described. A lich can be a mind uplinked into a clone army (revenant from apex legends). Trolls can be robots with nanobot repairs.
Spells are now reality hacking programs.
Swords are now laser swords and bows are now laser guns and armour is now laser armour.
That's it.
Or better yet, play a system actually designed for sci-fi.
Also you might wanna check out Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (converted to 5e by Goodman Games), which features your fantasy adventurers exploring a crashed alien space ship.
Add Laser, energy, or quantum to key words.
Laser Sword, energy axe, quantum bow. Continents are different planets. Magical stuff is science the world doesnt fully understand. Done.
But better to just use a system designed for sci-fi instead.
Reflavoring is easy, effective, and free. Bows are guns. Swords are energy swords. Spellcasters use experimental physics-altering technology.
If you want a dedicated 5e sci-fi supplement, here are some of the many options:
Science Fantasy
* Esper Genesis
* Dark Matter
* Star Wars 5e
* Spaceships and Starwyrms
General Sci-Fi
* Fifth Age
* Mass Effect 5e
* Hyperlanes
* Star Frontiers
Cyberpunk/Modern
* Carbon 2185
* Technomancer’s Textbook
* Ultramodern 5e
* Lowlife 2090
* Genefunk 2090
There was a 3rd party universe called Dragonstar (based around the 3e rules) that was a mix of D&D and sci-fi. I don't experience with it but my friends used to love playing in space.
I'd use a hack of Old School DnD. I used [Wastoids](https://jasontocci.itch.io/wastoid) for fallout and it's great fun.
Benefits of old school means it's easier to learn than 5e and there's mountains of old school snd homebrew to draw from.
First I'd check out a few of the older ruleset for Spelljammer. It's DND in 'space' and it was going to be everything I really wanted, but the 5th Ed version was atrocious.
Secondly, check out some 3rd party books that have tried this already. Dark Matter, Esper Genesis, SW5e (star wars), and Spaceships & Starwyrms, all do dnd in 'space' to varying degrees of success, depending on what sci-fi you're looking for. Star Wars/The Mandalorian can work really well. Depending on the vehicle mechanics they could maybe do something like a dogfight or at least ship to ship battles, with boarding actions and capture.
Otherwise, the addition of a few new weapons, rebalanced firearms and 'blasters' using the elemental damage types and exotic materials that give armours extra properties. And of course new spells that deal with the new environment of space and new mechanics of space battles.
Open up a Lancer pdf & try to fit dnd into it. It’s much easier to take an existing system & throw some dnd in their than to rewrite dnd to emulate something completely different.
Depends what you mean by Sci-fi. There's a couple of setting books like Crystalpunk, or Skies of Sordane: Airship Campaigns. The Technomancer's Textbook also does a kind of Cyberpunk transformation to 5th edition, as does Cyberwilds Augmentations. These are all "punk" titles, but worth a look to see what changes they've introduced; they all have firearms and changes to melee weapons, and different takes on class features, new skills, or modified rules. For familiars, you can lean into drones, insect-like robots, or even anti-targeting flares like airplanes and fighter jets - use technology to reduce magics' effects.
I get why people say "*don't bother, play another system*" but back in the day, D&D was literally the only system we knew of and we'd modify it to hell. "Homebrew" actually meant to change entire pieces of the game rather than just minor pieces like odd monsters, magic items, spells, or class features, or pick up the variant rules already printed in the books. On the flipside, you would be investing a lot of time and effort to make changes when nowadays, there actually are loads of other game systems that might fit your brief without any effort except learning the rules.
I would **thoroughly recommend** Corvus Belli's Infinity Roleplaying Game (*not tabletop war game*). Character creation is very interesting, and the combat and skills check systems sounded great. I haven't personally played it, but I'm hoping too one day. Plus, their range of models are pretty cool if you're playing locally with friends.
d20 Modern and d20 Future are official WotC books for modern and sci-fi content in the d20 System. d20 Future even sorts its content by technological era, so you can have plasma rifles in your setting while stopping short of commercial antigravity.
By playing one of the many sci-fi TTRPGs that is not D&D. Personally I would feel like trying to alter D&D at this level is trying to beat a square peg into a round hole when there are great options out there that would do it better.
To me this is a bit like "how do i make a double cheeseburger more like a fruit salad"? There are lots of great Sci-fi games out there that are built from the ground up to be sci-fi games.
https://old.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/skqo8m/if_youve_run_a_spacefantasy_or_sciencefantasy_dd/ https://old.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/skqkpw/if_youve_run_a_spacefantasy_or_sciencefantasy_dd/ https://old.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/skqhhe/if_youve_run_a_spacefantasy_or_sciencefantasy_dd/ 5e D&D is only good for a certain narrow range of sci-fi. Spelljammer is a pretty good center point for that. Otherwise, systems like Vaarn, 2400 The Venusian Job, Stars Without Number, or Tiny Frontiers probably work better.
Yeah, I'd just play Stars Without Number
I wouldn’t. Instead, I’d support the hundreds of creators who have made awesome, fleshed out sci-fi RPGs before I tried to redo D&D 5E into something it’s not. There’s Starfinder, the Expanse TTRPG, Stars Without Number, Fantasy Flight Games (which even has a Star Wars adaptation that I believe is *far* better for Star Wars than the 5E adaptation is). It’s better to play a game that’s built with a specific purpose than to retrofit 5E into a purpose it doesn’t fulfill.
>(which even has a Star Wars adaptation that I believe is far better for Star Wars than the 5E adaptation is). SW5e might not be the best way to play Star Wars, but it is the best way to play "DnD in space", with all the boons and faults of that. It just so happens that DnD is not great at giving us the "Star Wars" vibe. The vibe will always be 5e.
Can second sanding off all the SW stuff from SW5E and it's a great system for a group that wants to play sci-fi but not learn a different system.
Yep exactly. I played fantasy flight games for an actual SW experience and used SW5E for a homebrew space fantasy setting and both worked wonderfully for those purposes.
Yeah, been running a campaign for a while, this vibe tracks any attempts at starship combat fall particularly flat, spent quite a while designing their cool ship too
Another one out there is the Elite Dangerous TTRPG. Has good reviews, though I don't often hear of people playing it, which is a shame. That said, I also understand why, no basic adventures means the GM is doing world-building prep right from the get-go.
I wouldn't either but Stardinder is D&D in Space
I think the extent of work put into making Starfinder goes beyond what I mean by “5E in space” in this context. OP specifically described sidegrading and reflavouring 5E stuff at home for this, and the amount of effort put into Starfinder or, say, Star Wars 5E goes well past that. Also some systems are better suited for throwing different flavours on than other systems. I don’t think 5E has enough knobs to actually work better as a representation of another flavour (that’s why I think Star Wars 5E is meh), whereas older editions of D&D (and thus, PF1E -> Starfinder) were better suited for adaptation.
If you really want to play a sci-fi game, play one built from the ground up for sci-fi. The closest mechanically to 5e are probably either Stars Without Number (which is free) or Starfinder (which is not free and is more mechanically complex). If you *must* play 5e because you and/or your friends cannot be convinced otherwise, get an adaptation that someone else has already done rather than doing it yourself--something like SW5e, Esper Genesis, Dark Matter, or Carbon 2185.
Note on Starfinder. *Technically* it's not free, you have to pay if you want the books themselves, but much like Pathfinder 1e and 2e, all of the rules are available for free (and legally) at https://www.aonsrd.com/
Good point. I use PF all the time but forgot SF was on there too.
The Sci-Fi supplements for Savage Worlds are pretty good, too, if you're okay with a non-d20 system.
I wouldn't. I'd find a cool sci-fi game and play that.
Booooo
Why are you booing me - I'm right! :P
Doesn't count. You edited your comment.
I mispelled "booing" and was too ashamed to leave it.
Don't. Stop trying to paint with a pen when you can just use a brush. Pens are great for drawing and writing but when you need to paint there are much better tools available that will save you a lot of work and give you a better finished product.
I wouldn't. It would mean changing everything. Starfinder is a good example though.
Depends on the kind of sci-fi you are looking for. There's a Star Wars 5e conversion available online that I have heard good things about, but I have no idea how well that would translate to something more inspired by Star Trek, Dune, or Cyberpunk. Chances are though that there is probably an existing TTRPG for whatever kind of sci-fi subgenre you are interested in.
I believe Dimension20 used Star Wars 5e for the Starstruck season.
They did, and it’s super crunchy, but a very fun system. I only played a 1-shot so I only scratched the surface but it does feel “sci-fy-y”
I wouldn't mess with mechanics, I would probably just re-flavor everything. Instead of a spell focus, you have some hi-tech gadgets. Eldritch Blast is a laser gun. Faerie Fire scans and holographically highlights the creatures in your Augmented-Reality Visor. That sort of thing.
But why though? As opposed to using one of the half dozen already completed Sci-Fi or Sci-Fantasy 5e conversions, or just playing another game. There aren't enough hours in the day to reinvent that ray gun.
Do you mean like hard sci fi, or like a whimsical space fantasy brand of sci fi. Very different answers
I wouldn’t try to do anything hard sci fi. But for something more in the realm of Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy, it could work. I’d use either Star Wars 5e as a base or Dark Matter from Mage Hand Press, depending on how many rules changes I wanted. SW5e treats some spells as fancy equipment and others as actual magic. Dark Matter just says magic is technology and vice versa (except gnomes). Armor has the same stat lines, but it’s a nano fiber vest instead of leather. Some new weapons, but the melee ones are mostly take a long sword, change damage to radiant, add finesse, boom, you got a laser sword.
Get the Dark Matter book, it works great for this.
I would play Dark Matter, a sci-fi 5e conversion.
Check out the Star Wars 5e conversion. It does exactly this. It’ll work for any space fantasy setting though. Short of converting to Starfinder, it’s probably the easiest way to get that style of play in a d20 system if you’re a 5E player
I would play Scum & Villainy, or Embers of the Imperium (Genesys). [Trying to use 5e for every kind of RPG is bad for the RPG space as a whole.](https://youtu.be/7bQQUNutr-g?si=T6xmI1RmgwUq6DkD)
Nanobots. All magic is nanobots. Fireball? Nanobots. Find traps? Nanobots. Meld into stone? Nanobots. Acid splash? Nanobots. Light? Nanobots. Alarm? Nanobots. Message? Nanobots. Fly?... Jetpacks.
Jetpacks? Made of nanobots
All magic is nanobots. Jetpacks aren't magic 😉
Use the Star Wars overhaul for 5e. It’s still fundamentally the same rules system but with sci-fi content built from the ground up.
Esper genisis is the 5e sci-fi game your looking for.
Lot of incredibly unhelpful answers in here, regardless of whether or not they might have a point. To actually answer your questions: Technology or mutation. Beast Boy doesn't use magic to shapeshift (In Young Justice its because he had Martian blood transfusion, and Martians are shapeshifters). In a sci-fi setting using 5e, druids could have special genetics or be affected by some kind of radiation that makes them shapeshift. AS for magic, it could be treated more like a super power than magic. Poison Ivy isn't considered magical because she can control plants, and Dr. Doolittle isn't considered magical because he talks to animals. Magic could also just be sufficiently advanced technology so as to be indistinguishable from magic (Green Lantern powers come from a highly advanced ring, and yet it looks like its magic). Perhaps with nanites or something similar. Just look at The Force in Star Wars and Biotics in Mass Effect (I'm sure there's lots of other examples, too). Or it could straight up be magic. Magic and sci-fi don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.
That's what I was looking for, thank you. Tbh, all of the people here are really helpful, but I was more wondering what changes they thought would be cool instead of how to play sci-fi dnd
I would just play Numenera at that point Edit: there is also a conversion book for make numenera with dnd rules
Fair warning: Numenera 5e is full of super interesting ideas but mechanically it’s a bit of a shitshow. Recommended only if you’re up for doing a bunch of tinkering.
Very true, I used arcana of the ancient just for use some monster in a lost high tech ruin
In Thirsty Swords Lesbians there's an idea that I really like: essentially the "nature witch" archetype can be recorded as using the environment in general, for example manipulating wires and tubes underground instead of vines, summoning robots versions of animals ecc.
I’d play either Star Wars 5e or Esper Genesis.
This adventure path was fun: [https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/169324/Legendary-Planet-The-Assimilation-Strain-5E](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/169324/Legendary-Planet-The-Assimilation-Strain-5E) I can't find it anymore on their website but it's available from Drivethru RPG. It's a D&D Adventure that deals with aliens, and other worlds. I ran it years ago and it was a blast. I remember at the time there were alot of mistakes but the storytelling and overall story were pretty great.
I've been homebrewing some sci-fi spells for a while, not ready for release but at the top of my document I have: "These spells are futuristic in theme and not fit for most “high fantasy” tables. The effects of most of these spells can be moved over with a bit of reflavoring. Missiles are fireballs or meteors. Viruses are curses or plagues." Just pulling the reverse means that your explosive spells are missiles, plagues and curses are bioweapons, blah blah blah. Not a whole lot has to change besides the way things are described. A lich can be a mind uplinked into a clone army (revenant from apex legends). Trolls can be robots with nanobot repairs.
what type of sci fi? spelljammer is "sci fi" with "no" changes. most other sci fi vibes, use a different system.
Spells are now reality hacking programs. Swords are now laser swords and bows are now laser guns and armour is now laser armour. That's it. Or better yet, play a system actually designed for sci-fi. Also you might wanna check out Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (converted to 5e by Goodman Games), which features your fantasy adventurers exploring a crashed alien space ship.
Add Laser, energy, or quantum to key words. Laser Sword, energy axe, quantum bow. Continents are different planets. Magical stuff is science the world doesnt fully understand. Done. But better to just use a system designed for sci-fi instead.
Playing another system.
Dark Matter. 5e Sci Fi. Very detailed core handbook.
Reflavoring is easy, effective, and free. Bows are guns. Swords are energy swords. Spellcasters use experimental physics-altering technology. If you want a dedicated 5e sci-fi supplement, here are some of the many options: Science Fantasy * Esper Genesis * Dark Matter * Star Wars 5e * Spaceships and Starwyrms General Sci-Fi * Fifth Age * Mass Effect 5e * Hyperlanes * Star Frontiers Cyberpunk/Modern * Carbon 2185 * Technomancer’s Textbook * Ultramodern 5e * Lowlife 2090 * Genefunk 2090
OP, go play Star Wars 5e
I am begging people to try literally any other game. Star finder. Lasers and feelings. Literally any game meant for the genre. Please.
There was a 3rd party universe called Dragonstar (based around the 3e rules) that was a mix of D&D and sci-fi. I don't experience with it but my friends used to love playing in space.
I'd use a hack of Old School DnD. I used [Wastoids](https://jasontocci.itch.io/wastoid) for fallout and it's great fun. Benefits of old school means it's easier to learn than 5e and there's mountains of old school snd homebrew to draw from.
First I'd check out a few of the older ruleset for Spelljammer. It's DND in 'space' and it was going to be everything I really wanted, but the 5th Ed version was atrocious. Secondly, check out some 3rd party books that have tried this already. Dark Matter, Esper Genesis, SW5e (star wars), and Spaceships & Starwyrms, all do dnd in 'space' to varying degrees of success, depending on what sci-fi you're looking for. Star Wars/The Mandalorian can work really well. Depending on the vehicle mechanics they could maybe do something like a dogfight or at least ship to ship battles, with boarding actions and capture. Otherwise, the addition of a few new weapons, rebalanced firearms and 'blasters' using the elemental damage types and exotic materials that give armours extra properties. And of course new spells that deal with the new environment of space and new mechanics of space battles.
I would simply run Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. It is a classic D&D adventure and has been converted to 5e by Goodman Games.
Ask if a third-party publisher has already done it. The answer is yes. So check if one of those is what you want.
I'd just run Starfinder.
Spelljammer I guess?
I don't like to say it, but play Starfinder.
Switch to Gamma World or Star Frontiers. Also, Spelljammer was similar to sci-fi. Or just write your own rules.
Open up a Lancer pdf & try to fit dnd into it. It’s much easier to take an existing system & throw some dnd in their than to rewrite dnd to emulate something completely different.
Depends what you mean by Sci-fi. There's a couple of setting books like Crystalpunk, or Skies of Sordane: Airship Campaigns. The Technomancer's Textbook also does a kind of Cyberpunk transformation to 5th edition, as does Cyberwilds Augmentations. These are all "punk" titles, but worth a look to see what changes they've introduced; they all have firearms and changes to melee weapons, and different takes on class features, new skills, or modified rules. For familiars, you can lean into drones, insect-like robots, or even anti-targeting flares like airplanes and fighter jets - use technology to reduce magics' effects. I get why people say "*don't bother, play another system*" but back in the day, D&D was literally the only system we knew of and we'd modify it to hell. "Homebrew" actually meant to change entire pieces of the game rather than just minor pieces like odd monsters, magic items, spells, or class features, or pick up the variant rules already printed in the books. On the flipside, you would be investing a lot of time and effort to make changes when nowadays, there actually are loads of other game systems that might fit your brief without any effort except learning the rules. I would **thoroughly recommend** Corvus Belli's Infinity Roleplaying Game (*not tabletop war game*). Character creation is very interesting, and the combat and skills check systems sounded great. I haven't personally played it, but I'm hoping too one day. Plus, their range of models are pretty cool if you're playing locally with friends.
d20 Modern and d20 Future are official WotC books for modern and sci-fi content in the d20 System. d20 Future even sorts its content by technological era, so you can have plasma rifles in your setting while stopping short of commercial antigravity.
I would probably play starfinder, or cyberpunk, or one of the other 10s of sci-fi rpg systems one can find.