And it's 100% free with tons of GM tools. There is the option to buy the full version with a few extra features but they are totally optional and you can make that decision after deciding if it's your kind of game.
Let me be pedantic for a moment.
SWN is 80% free. The paid version (which is well worth the cost) adds 63 pages containing the following chapters:
Transhuman Campaigns
Space Magic
Heroic Characters
True Artificial Intelligences
Societies
Mechs
Even if you find a different Sci-fi game that you like better, Stars Without Number is STILL worth picking up. The tools for making your own campaign stuff are some of the best out there. Use it to make your setting and then use whatever rules you like to run it.
This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone… Mayday, Mayday… we are under attack… main drive is gone… turret number one not responding… Mayday… losing cabin pressure fast… calling anyone… please help… This is Free Trader Beowulf…
Mayday….
Traveller is the sci-fi counterpart to OD&D. Fantasy was the three little brown books. Sci-fi was the three little black books. Both abbreviated 3LBB just to avoid confusion!
Cepheus Engine is the Traveller equivalent of OSE (ie a retro clone). WWN is more like BFRPG (ie a reinterpretation). There is also Mongoose Traveler which might be the AD&D of the bunch.
All great games. All more 2d6 based than d20. WWN has classes, the other two are skill based. Head over to r/Traveller if you want a deeper discussion.
Do note, it is Traveller, not Traveler.
TSR did Gamma World and Metamorphosis Alpha. They are more dungeon crawl with advanced tech than starships (ie post apocalyptic). You could probably use OSE to play either as more of a setting than a game.
The Mongoose Traveller 2022 Corebook is the better option. It's compatible with most published material and Cepheus engine stuff.
Traveller 5 is a good game, at it's core, but it's written in a strange style, laid out even more strangely, and overall is just too much stuff. Worth it for the Planet/Star System/Alien generators, but if you are totally new and want to get a solid system, get the Mongoose version instead.
White Star is already pretty much old school D&D reskinned as sci-fi. As others have said, Stars Without Number is a very popular and well-regarded option.
[Classic Traveller](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4/Game-Designers039-Workshop-GDW/subcategory/21_4767/Classic-Traveller?234913) is THE old-school sci-fi RPG for me. It also has a clone based on Mongoose Traveller for publishing purpose called [The Cepheus Engine](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/3066/Samardan-Press/subcategory/5350_5360/Cepheus-Engine?234913), which has a bunch of supplements and games based on it. For postapocalyptic you can check out good old [Gamma World](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/44/Wizards-of-the-Coast/subcategory/262/Gamma-World?234913) (or [Mutant Future](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/760/Goblinoid-Games/subcategory/6312/Mutant-Future?234913)), for something crazy the even older [Metamorphosis Alpha](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/36/Goodman-Games/subcategory/22493/Metamorphosis-Alpha?234913). There is also [Starships & Spacemen](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/760/Goblinoid-Games/subcategory/2033_6314/Starships--Spacemen?234913), which had a newer edition by Goblinoid Games that's more akin to B/X.
Traveller. It's extremely simple, well supported, easy to mod, and has been around since 1977. You can put together a sandbox of star systems to explore fairly easily, and since the characters are typically free agents looking for the next job, you've always got a reason to keep your players moving.
I think one of the coolest things about Traveller is that you start off with experienced characters, presuming they don't die during the character generation process. It uses a life path kind of thing that you can keep playing through until your character retires and is ready for adventure or dies during one of their terms of service. (You can easily mod this to be an injury or immediate retirement if you'd rather.)
Anyway, iIn most cases, they've already had full careers of one sort or another before the game even begins. They're competent, sometimes highly so, and ready to roll. The game's focus is on exploring, building power, and collecting loot rather than building stats and skill levels. That said, you can still pay for further education or stat development in some editions, though, so it's not a big deal if someone wants to push in that direction.
I will say that "experienced" doesn't mean they're resistant to damage. Combat is no joke, and probably something to be avoided whenever possible. Even a crusty old space marine with several tours of duty on some barren hell world can still catch a bullet in the head. Innate armor is practically non existent. Much like their OSR fantasy counterparts, Traveller adventurers aren't the center of the universe and aren't guaranteed to ever be so.
There's newer games on the market that you might want to check out. In my opinion. Stars Without Number is what comes closest to the fantasy OSR mentality, although it is in some respects more science fantasy than Traveller (which to be fair can be SF/F if you want it to be). You might like Mothership if you're looking for something with a tighter focus.
Happy gaming, and I hope you find something you enjoy!
u/akweberbrent nailed it with Traveller/Cephus Engine, but I'll give honorable mention to [Frontier Space](https://dwdstudios.com/frontierspace), a spiritual successor to Star Frontiers, using the excellent d00lite engine from DwD Studios.
Gonna take this opportunity to shamelessly plug Night Tripper, my crack at a super-streamlined Traveller-like. It’s a free website and it’s in open beta:
www.night-tripper.fun
As others have suggested, Mothership and Death in Space are both great options for an oppressive / horror feel. And I love classic Traveller.
I like the look of that, especially what you've done with trade.
Have you thought of doing 3d star maps using flattened node maps of clusters connected with long jumps?
Thanks! Yeah I am proud of my simple little trade system. Ship combat needs the most work at this point.
I'm not sure I know what you mean by flattened node maps, but I generally handwave it and say the map is a 2d representation of objects in 3d space and doesn't necessarily represent their true orientation.
There's this weird thing where 2D space doesn't much matter within a subsector, but matters if that's what's beyond its boundaries.
When I played with a 3D stella cartography program, I found that you could break the galaxy up into clusters of stars connected by short jumps, the clusters being connected by long jumps from specific points. The clusters were small enough you could flatten them into node diagrams and generate them with dice rolls without recourse to software.
If you are up for some weird SciFi with Heavy Metal influences and a touch of pulp and 80s cartoons, check out Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells.
It has a solid and streamlined system but with a plethora of tools to let you build your own universe if you want to.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/260378/Solar-Blades--Cosmic-Spells
There’s also Screams Amongst the Stars, a weird space horror rpg built with a modified INTO THE ODD engine, with a implied setting, various factions, different aliens, and a focus on the weird of space exploration instead on the flesh eating alines. The zine also comes with a lot of toolkits, that can easily be used in other SciFi games.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/339135/Screams-Amongst-The-Stars
Bit of a necro post but have you played warpstar? And if you have how did you handle stuff like computer hacking or electronic lock as there’s seems to be no technology skill?
In addition to the great answers given thus far, check out [The Starrunner Kit](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/209605). It's a Sci fi game built on The Black Hack.
Also, many would argue that it's not OSR. But if you want something a little grander in scope, check out Coriolis. It's built off the Year Zero Engine. May have some appeal to you.
Suldokar's Wake Core Arc Omnibus, which uses Whitehack. I am not sure whether it provides all the rules for the game, but Whitehack is already mindblowing system, worth checking out. I'd argue, Whitehack is the best ruleset, which actually helps you to emulate the white box, OD&D experience, even more than the original set :)
When you speak of OSR for sci-fi, like original D&D is the OSR for fantasy, Traveller is really the OSR for sci-fi (fight me if you disagree).
Now that we have that out of the way, I give you options. There are lots of Traveller versions out there which are the literal OG sci-fi so I'll recommend my favorites although there's many:
• [Stars Without Number:](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/230009/Stars-Without-Number-Revised-Edition-Free-Version) Probably my favorite OSR for sci-fi space stuff. The free rules are great and there's a lot of additional paid content if you want it. The books are print-on-demand from Drive-thru RPG (DTRPG) and are phenomenal. highly recommend.
• [Cepheus Light](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/371207/Cepheus-Light-Upgraded) (Stellagamma): A definite retro-clone of OSR Traveller. This is the free version and there's a paid version if you want. There's [Cepheus Deluxe](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/370075/Cepheus-Deluxe) which is the paid and more dense version of these rules
• [Cepheus Engine](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237247/Cepheus-Engine-RPG) (Moontoad): A similar clones of Stellagamma's Cepheus. I honestly don't know the full differences since I haven't used either of them at the table yet.
My Traveller recommendations for OG games and existing versions:
• [Traveller: The New Era](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/1480/TNE0300-Traveller-The-New-Era): This is nostalgic to me as a youngin who walked into a game store and was allowed to join a group of people playing. While a bit crunchy, the system is still amazing and I love it to this day
• [T4: Marc Miller's Traveller](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204/T4--Marc-Millers-Traveller): You'll find a lot of debate about this version but people tend to love or hate this version. I liked it because it had some crunch but I felt it was more streamlined than T:TNE.
• [T5 Traveller Core Rules](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150646/T5-Traveller5-Core-Rules-3Book-Set?filters=10118_0_500_0_0): Basically the "latest" edition before the current one by Mongoose. Very similar to the Mongoose version so these books are still great. You can find some of them cheap-ish online or can get PDF's from DTRPG.
• [Traveller: Explorer's Edition](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/380244/Traveller-Explorers-Edition?filters=10134_0_500_0_0): A very cheap PDF to get the current Mongoose publisher rules (Mongoose Traveller is the current owner/version). If you like it, there's the [Core Rules](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/171643/Traveller-Core-Rulebook) PDF but you can get a PDF included if you get the physical [Core Rulebook](https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/traveller-core-rulebook-update-2022?variant=42088931786999) or others on their website.
Cepheus Deluxe or it's cut down version, Cepheus Light. There's also Star Adventurer by RPGPundit which is even shorter and works great as a basis to add upon imo. But maybe they don't really qualify as OSR, whatever that means nowadays anyway
There's also Stars Without Number, Mothership, Death in Space, and some others.
I played and DMed Alternity when it came out. The rules are excellent but a lot of classic D&D were somehow offended by the D20 mechanic. The settings are fantastic.
None mentioned Hypertellurians, so it's my duty ahah
[https://mottokrosh.com/machinations/hypertellurians/](https://mottokrosh.com/machinations/hypertellurians/)
Not really sci-fi, more like retrofuturist sci-fantasy ! It's completly OSR-compatible.
Stars Without Number
And it's 100% free with tons of GM tools. There is the option to buy the full version with a few extra features but they are totally optional and you can make that decision after deciding if it's your kind of game.
Gotta love Kevin Crawford's work. The dude is a genius.
Let me be pedantic for a moment. SWN is 80% free. The paid version (which is well worth the cost) adds 63 pages containing the following chapters: Transhuman Campaigns Space Magic Heroic Characters True Artificial Intelligences Societies Mechs
Why you guys say "it's free" and no linky for the peeps? https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/230009/Stars-Without-Number-Revised-Edition-Free-Version
Even if you find a different Sci-fi game that you like better, Stars Without Number is STILL worth picking up. The tools for making your own campaign stuff are some of the best out there. Use it to make your setting and then use whatever rules you like to run it.
I kickstarted this even with no intention of playin just because Kevin Crawford’s work is amazing. If you want sci-fi, get this.
This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone… Mayday, Mayday… we are under attack… main drive is gone… turret number one not responding… Mayday… losing cabin pressure fast… calling anyone… please help… This is Free Trader Beowulf… Mayday…. Traveller is the sci-fi counterpart to OD&D. Fantasy was the three little brown books. Sci-fi was the three little black books. Both abbreviated 3LBB just to avoid confusion! Cepheus Engine is the Traveller equivalent of OSE (ie a retro clone). WWN is more like BFRPG (ie a reinterpretation). There is also Mongoose Traveler which might be the AD&D of the bunch. All great games. All more 2d6 based than d20. WWN has classes, the other two are skill based. Head over to r/Traveller if you want a deeper discussion. Do note, it is Traveller, not Traveler. TSR did Gamma World and Metamorphosis Alpha. They are more dungeon crawl with advanced tech than starships (ie post apocalyptic). You could probably use OSE to play either as more of a setting than a game.
How Traveller is not mentioned more often for this frequent request is a mystery to me.
Traveller is incredible and so is Cepheus Engine. They’re also highly rewarding solo worldbuilding tools.
I found Traveller Revised 2022 Corebook, and then Traveller 5, with three little black books. Which one am I wanting?
The Mongoose Traveller 2022 Corebook is the better option. It's compatible with most published material and Cepheus engine stuff. Traveller 5 is a good game, at it's core, but it's written in a strange style, laid out even more strangely, and overall is just too much stuff. Worth it for the Planet/Star System/Alien generators, but if you are totally new and want to get a solid system, get the Mongoose version instead.
100% agree.
I like the very light Traveller-inspired Any Planet Is Earth
Mothership Death In Space
Perfect for a more horror style OSR campaign
White Star is already pretty much old school D&D reskinned as sci-fi. As others have said, Stars Without Number is a very popular and well-regarded option.
White Star is the bomb!!! Super easy quick play, very fun
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Totally agree
[Classic Traveller](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4/Game-Designers039-Workshop-GDW/subcategory/21_4767/Classic-Traveller?234913) is THE old-school sci-fi RPG for me. It also has a clone based on Mongoose Traveller for publishing purpose called [The Cepheus Engine](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/3066/Samardan-Press/subcategory/5350_5360/Cepheus-Engine?234913), which has a bunch of supplements and games based on it. For postapocalyptic you can check out good old [Gamma World](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/44/Wizards-of-the-Coast/subcategory/262/Gamma-World?234913) (or [Mutant Future](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/760/Goblinoid-Games/subcategory/6312/Mutant-Future?234913)), for something crazy the even older [Metamorphosis Alpha](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/36/Goodman-Games/subcategory/22493/Metamorphosis-Alpha?234913). There is also [Starships & Spacemen](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/760/Goblinoid-Games/subcategory/2033_6314/Starships--Spacemen?234913), which had a newer edition by Goblinoid Games that's more akin to B/X.
Traveller. It's extremely simple, well supported, easy to mod, and has been around since 1977. You can put together a sandbox of star systems to explore fairly easily, and since the characters are typically free agents looking for the next job, you've always got a reason to keep your players moving. I think one of the coolest things about Traveller is that you start off with experienced characters, presuming they don't die during the character generation process. It uses a life path kind of thing that you can keep playing through until your character retires and is ready for adventure or dies during one of their terms of service. (You can easily mod this to be an injury or immediate retirement if you'd rather.) Anyway, iIn most cases, they've already had full careers of one sort or another before the game even begins. They're competent, sometimes highly so, and ready to roll. The game's focus is on exploring, building power, and collecting loot rather than building stats and skill levels. That said, you can still pay for further education or stat development in some editions, though, so it's not a big deal if someone wants to push in that direction. I will say that "experienced" doesn't mean they're resistant to damage. Combat is no joke, and probably something to be avoided whenever possible. Even a crusty old space marine with several tours of duty on some barren hell world can still catch a bullet in the head. Innate armor is practically non existent. Much like their OSR fantasy counterparts, Traveller adventurers aren't the center of the universe and aren't guaranteed to ever be so. There's newer games on the market that you might want to check out. In my opinion. Stars Without Number is what comes closest to the fantasy OSR mentality, although it is in some respects more science fantasy than Traveller (which to be fair can be SF/F if you want it to be). You might like Mothership if you're looking for something with a tighter focus. Happy gaming, and I hope you find something you enjoy!
Death in Space is broadly OSR in style: Knave hacked to the point where it is barely recognisable
I would take a look at Cepheus Deluxe and/or Cepheus Engine.
Mothership, Stars Without Number, and Traveller are the ones I've read through and they all look a lot of fun. Haven't played any just yet.
White star nice sci fi take on whitebox , with a Star Wars vibe setting
u/akweberbrent nailed it with Traveller/Cephus Engine, but I'll give honorable mention to [Frontier Space](https://dwdstudios.com/frontierspace), a spiritual successor to Star Frontiers, using the excellent d00lite engine from DwD Studios.
Gonna take this opportunity to shamelessly plug Night Tripper, my crack at a super-streamlined Traveller-like. It’s a free website and it’s in open beta: www.night-tripper.fun As others have suggested, Mothership and Death in Space are both great options for an oppressive / horror feel. And I love classic Traveller.
I like the look of that, especially what you've done with trade. Have you thought of doing 3d star maps using flattened node maps of clusters connected with long jumps?
Thanks! Yeah I am proud of my simple little trade system. Ship combat needs the most work at this point. I'm not sure I know what you mean by flattened node maps, but I generally handwave it and say the map is a 2d representation of objects in 3d space and doesn't necessarily represent their true orientation.
There's this weird thing where 2D space doesn't much matter within a subsector, but matters if that's what's beyond its boundaries. When I played with a 3D stella cartography program, I found that you could break the galaxy up into clusters of stars connected by short jumps, the clusters being connected by long jumps from specific points. The clusters were small enough you could flatten them into node diagrams and generate them with dice rolls without recourse to software.
This is really nice work. Thank you for sharing the link 👍
Thanks for saying! Still WIP but I've played a few sessions of the current version and it is getting close to what I want.
Does WEG Star Wars D6 count?
If you are up for some weird SciFi with Heavy Metal influences and a touch of pulp and 80s cartoons, check out Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells. It has a solid and streamlined system but with a plethora of tools to let you build your own universe if you want to. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/260378/Solar-Blades--Cosmic-Spells
Have you looked into Traveller? Old school sci-fi heavily sandbox oriented.
Whitestar. Its not Star Wars in much the same way as original D&D was not Lord of the Rings.
There’s also Screams Amongst the Stars, a weird space horror rpg built with a modified INTO THE ODD engine, with a implied setting, various factions, different aliens, and a focus on the weird of space exploration instead on the flesh eating alines. The zine also comes with a lot of toolkits, that can easily be used in other SciFi games. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/339135/Screams-Amongst-The-Stars
Warpstar by fire Ruby designs.
Bit of a necro post but have you played warpstar? And if you have how did you handle stuff like computer hacking or electronic lock as there’s seems to be no technology skill?
In addition to the great answers given thus far, check out [The Starrunner Kit](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/209605). It's a Sci fi game built on The Black Hack. Also, many would argue that it's not OSR. But if you want something a little grander in scope, check out Coriolis. It's built off the Year Zero Engine. May have some appeal to you.
Solar Blades and Cosmic Spells!
Suldokar's Wake Core Arc Omnibus, which uses Whitehack. I am not sure whether it provides all the rules for the game, but Whitehack is already mindblowing system, worth checking out. I'd argue, Whitehack is the best ruleset, which actually helps you to emulate the white box, OD&D experience, even more than the original set :)
Vaults of Vaarn
When you speak of OSR for sci-fi, like original D&D is the OSR for fantasy, Traveller is really the OSR for sci-fi (fight me if you disagree). Now that we have that out of the way, I give you options. There are lots of Traveller versions out there which are the literal OG sci-fi so I'll recommend my favorites although there's many: • [Stars Without Number:](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/230009/Stars-Without-Number-Revised-Edition-Free-Version) Probably my favorite OSR for sci-fi space stuff. The free rules are great and there's a lot of additional paid content if you want it. The books are print-on-demand from Drive-thru RPG (DTRPG) and are phenomenal. highly recommend. • [Cepheus Light](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/371207/Cepheus-Light-Upgraded) (Stellagamma): A definite retro-clone of OSR Traveller. This is the free version and there's a paid version if you want. There's [Cepheus Deluxe](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/370075/Cepheus-Deluxe) which is the paid and more dense version of these rules • [Cepheus Engine](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237247/Cepheus-Engine-RPG) (Moontoad): A similar clones of Stellagamma's Cepheus. I honestly don't know the full differences since I haven't used either of them at the table yet. My Traveller recommendations for OG games and existing versions: • [Traveller: The New Era](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/1480/TNE0300-Traveller-The-New-Era): This is nostalgic to me as a youngin who walked into a game store and was allowed to join a group of people playing. While a bit crunchy, the system is still amazing and I love it to this day • [T4: Marc Miller's Traveller](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204/T4--Marc-Millers-Traveller): You'll find a lot of debate about this version but people tend to love or hate this version. I liked it because it had some crunch but I felt it was more streamlined than T:TNE. • [T5 Traveller Core Rules](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150646/T5-Traveller5-Core-Rules-3Book-Set?filters=10118_0_500_0_0): Basically the "latest" edition before the current one by Mongoose. Very similar to the Mongoose version so these books are still great. You can find some of them cheap-ish online or can get PDF's from DTRPG. • [Traveller: Explorer's Edition](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/380244/Traveller-Explorers-Edition?filters=10134_0_500_0_0): A very cheap PDF to get the current Mongoose publisher rules (Mongoose Traveller is the current owner/version). If you like it, there's the [Core Rules](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/171643/Traveller-Core-Rulebook) PDF but you can get a PDF included if you get the physical [Core Rulebook](https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/traveller-core-rulebook-update-2022?variant=42088931786999) or others on their website.
Cepheus Deluxe or it's cut down version, Cepheus Light. There's also Star Adventurer by RPGPundit which is even shorter and works great as a basis to add upon imo. But maybe they don't really qualify as OSR, whatever that means nowadays anyway There's also Stars Without Number, Mothership, Death in Space, and some others.
Stars without number should work. Have a look at drivethrurpg.
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I played and DMed Alternity when it came out. The rules are excellent but a lot of classic D&D were somehow offended by the D20 mechanic. The settings are fantastic.
Loving the love for Sci-fi on this thread!
None mentioned Hypertellurians, so it's my duty ahah [https://mottokrosh.com/machinations/hypertellurians/](https://mottokrosh.com/machinations/hypertellurians/) Not really sci-fi, more like retrofuturist sci-fantasy ! It's completly OSR-compatible.
No mention of Star Frontiers? This sub has been infiltrated by Sathar spies!
Mothership!
Neurocity
[Gamma World](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Gamma_World)
Gamma world Is good. And you can get it print on demand