Whoa, Question 13 falls on a Friday the 13th? Sooo spooky! Except I don't have any specifically spooky questions. Bummer. Oh wait, I do have something awesome though...
Activate...The Omega 13!
Question #13 comes from Carl Stark, who Never Gives Up and Never Surrenders!
What RPG system would work best for a Galaxy Quest one-shot or campaign?
The YouTube channel RedLetterMedia recently featured Jack Quaid (Huey on THE BOYS and the voice of Boimler on Star Trek: Lower Decks) as a guest for a video discussing Galaxy Quest, which is apparently one of Jack's favorite films. It's very funny and if you're a fan of the movie, of Jack's, or RedLetterMedia's material I highly recommend checking it out.
It immediately got me reminiscing about the times I've run Galaxy Quest RPG games, including looking through my old notes. This question popped up in my email the next day. Kismet!
It's a hell of a thing.
On to the subject at hand...like Jack Quaid, I LOVE this movie. It is definitely one of my all time favorites and as I mentioned, I've run both a short campaign and a few one-shots of Galaxy Quest over the years and honestly it's some of my best work and the most fun I've had as a GM. The trifecta of Science Fiction + Comedy + Star Trek Parody/Homage is simply made for me. It's also an IP and I do love me some IP gaming.
The system I've used in the past has been my modified version of Teenagers from Outer Space by R. Talsorian Games, which I refer to as 'Advanced TFOS'. The main difference is that I switched the D6 for a D10. Additionally, I added special abilities for each of the roles on the ship - Commander, Doctor, Engineer, Operations, Pilot, Science Officer, and Security/Extra - and character types such as Feature Alien (originally Token Alien), Background Alien, and Prodigy. I go into more detail on this homebrew in these three posts:
If I were going to run Galaxy Quest today, I might not use the same system (more on that in a moment) but I would definitely incorporate the special abilities I attributed to each 'Job' or ship's position. Those unique capabilities, such as the Commander's 'Overdramatis Persona' and Security's 'Glorified Extra', have been lauded by my players and blog readers alike as the key to making a Galaxy Quest game feel like the Galaxy Quest movie.
What set of rules would I use if not my variant of TFOS? Well, there are actually a lot of options. I've considered using Starships and Spacemen, Far Trek, or even Star Trek Adventures.
While it may seem strange to suggest Star Trek Adventures, it being 'too close to the source material' as it were, keep in mind that STA has a published 'Lower Decks' supplement. It is certainly possible to use this system to facilitate a comedic campaign. I've used it to run a Lower Decks game as well as The Orville, so theoretically it would be great for a Galaxy Quest game. The role abilities I mentioned could become Talents I and Momentum might be renamed 'Fanmail' or 'Star Power'. Threat can be 'Interference', as in interence from the studio execs.
When I've run Galaxy Quest, I've done so with the assumption that the PCs are characters living in the universe of the mock TV series. I don't directly incorporate the Meta nature of the characters being played by actors on a show but treat it the way most people treat playing a Star Trek or Star Wars RPG. However, outside of the events happening in-game the players have joked about the actors, episodes, writers, and the special effects budget for the series. I would describe it by saying that during 'Time Out' we are aware its a television program and during 'Time In' we are unaware of that and it's the 'real world' for the PCs.
Honestly, after all this recent discussion about the film I decided to watch it again and damn it holds up perfectly. I'd really love to run it again if given the opportunity.
AD
Barking Alien
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