Cepheus Engine SF-RPG

There are plenty of Cepheus games out there, including one I discounted as an earlier version of the game, a flawed market leader, and a new standard in generic sci-fi gaming.

Get the black-and-white version of Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition (CDEE) since the color version is a massive misstep. The borders are distracting and garish, and even the B&W version suffers from being overly large and wasting space. Also, the deck plans in the back of the book are nice, but far too small to use.

I would love to see a version of this game with less flash, a clean B&W layout, and better presentation.

The previous version, Cepheus Deluxe (CD), is also a good choice. It does not have the layout issues of the newest book, though it lacks some of the newer improvements. I still like the Stellagama Publishing versions of this game since they focus on providing a solid, generic Traveller-like experience. The art and layout are not the best, but the game delivers on the concept.

There is another version of this book based on the SRD, so this previous version is not really needed unless you really like this edition. I like it, so I keep it on my shelves.

Cepheus Universal (CU) is better presented and laid out, and makes several good system improvements. CU is the game's more "generic sci-fi" version and is less Traveller-esque overall. Even though CU is the better-put-together game, CD and CDEE do better with the generic Traveller subsector sandbox experience. I like CU because it can simulate any sci-fi setting easily and out of the book with very little work.

This is my current favorite generic sci-fi game outside of Stars Without Number.

Another option is the Cepheus Engine SF-RPG (CE SF-RPG), a no-art version of the game from Moon Toad Publishing. This is a surprisingly solid, no-frills, SRD-based, constantly updated version of the original core rules. They have vehicle and spacecraft design add-on books. This is an excellent choice as a bare-bones printed version of the SRD, and the newest file is reportedly updated with links. If you find CDEE or CD hurt your eyes, and the CU game isn't Traveller enough for you, the CE SF-RPG gives you the rules with no fluff.

The SRD-based game does not have an XP system, so you can leave it as-is or hack in one like we did. Ours was a simple 1-3 XP per successful encounter, 10 XP for a level zero skill, 10 XP times the desired level for raising skills or ability scores. You can also track XP per skill and ability, and spread rewards only to the skills and abilities used during that session. Modify the reward rate as desired.

I still like this game. Limiting ships to 5,000 tons in the base game and creating a universe of smaller vessels creates a fun "small ship" universe where space battleships don't determine who controls the universe. Adventure ships still matter, and navies will comprise battlegroups of smaller-sized ships that characters can reasonably fight and flee from. Limit task-group size to 6-9 starships with various roles, and you will have a space navy game that still works on character ship levels.

Also, since you don't have large ships in a base-book game, one planet can't easily invade another with massive troop ships. War will be between smaller battle fleets, and supporting like-minded factions on a world with off-world weapons and monetary support is a better way to "invade" a world, and dramatically increases the faction and political wrangling that characters and factions must do to win a war of population and resources. Star Wars has gotten too "instant teleportation" and "massive fleet and troop battles" that individual characters don't matter anymore. As a result, massive-scale IP is less heroic and fun to play.

The Spacecraft Design Guide adds capital ships larger than 5,000 tons, if you want them in your game. They are kept as an option, which is how it should be. Even with capital ships, if you limit those, they won't affect planetary invasions as much as they do in other games.

I am less and less interested in art in role-playing games these days. It is either AI slop, AI-assisted slop, purple-haired happy tree friends garbage, groan-inducing message art, or poor-quality filler. The times we get great art, it is done by one artist. Having seen all the terrible art in RPGs these days, I do not mind a book with no art at all. If I want something, I will make my own AI-generated slop, show it to players, and pray they don't laugh. Or I will return to drawing and do it myself, since even a crappy game master sketch has more heart than a soulless rip-off AI-art machine.

All of them are excellent choices, with a few being better for some things than the others.