Man, it's been a while since I've checked this thread. It's nice to see people talking about this!

In terms of an Endless Space RPG, I have to say that I've come back around to the thought of basing the system on Dark Heresy 2e, or even Rogue Trader, since the latter gives you specs for designing ships that sort of match the ES2 style of shipbuilding. The insanity and corruption mechanics in Warhammer tabletop could be modified to compensate for the existence of Dust, meaning the more 'Dust saturation' a character undergoes, the more psychic powers he has.

Just a thought. I still need time to mull it over more, but I figured I'd let you guys know too.

@Necuno

I'll be happy to hear any ideas you might have.

Only thing I'd keep in mind is that ES2 has a lot more stuff to do in space, so interspecies encounters could easily be in space, with each side in their ships, which is much easier to balance because every faction is roughly equal in that arena. It helps keep combat encounters from being "if it's as big as you, shoot it, if not, don't bother running you'll just die tired".

@StormAngel

Well, if you want to get a working system without much fuss, then yes, DH2E is a good option (you could easily drop the insanity and corruption mechanic and not lose anything that'd be missed), but the more I work on this the more I see that having a system geared to convey a specific setting is the best way to go if said setting is truly unique, like ES2. Sure, you could shove it into the framework of SAGA but so many things are different that it would feel like underwear several times smaller than it should be.

Khorothis wrote:

...underwear several times smaller than it should be.

I did, in fact, laugh out loud :)

I, uh, started doing the thing I said I was gonna do.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DdMYzoXNTlnWlenkjrObPnOUVJB-AxiX

The text in the section about factions is ripped straigth from the wiki. The rest is kind of a mix between my crummy writing and official info. Started to think about how to do locations. But for now I'll try to finish the races.

Are you basing this off an actual system, or are the stat-blocks and rules custom-made?

It's based on Genesys. A cool little rules light system that was suggested to me.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/genesys/

That's a very nice looking .pdf you have there! I wish I could edit this well, best I can do is to avoid giant walls of text.

Speaking of, if it's any help, I'll share what little I have of the fluff front, so you can use it in one way or another: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XihNF_OMDaB5Gq9Sh_orvRgER3CNHTl6?usp=sharing

As you can see there's not much ready yet, largely because I want to get the harder part, the crunch done first, so I can write the fluff in peace (of mind). The format is like that because I set up each chapter as its own .docx file, and each section within it in another, so that the final document is easier to edit, looks less daunting, and as the "Languages" file shows, sometimes I write a topic that's related to many others (in this case, the Major Factions), so I need only copy-paste that particular segment when it comes up.

I hope it'll prove useful in some fashion.

Oh, I never knew that site existed. Maybe once I'm done I'll run my stuff through there so it won't be eligible for the "Most Tedious .PDF of the Year" title.

Dust seems to manifests as superpowers in the game and the lore, so a Mutants & Masterminds approach seems the most versatile. Personally, I'd create them together with the player, with the goal of making this a big deal in their character's personal development, as well as a game-changer in how their character plays out mechanically. For example, a Sheredyn commando could either receive flat buffs to their combat stats, or allow them to do things the system would normally prehibit, like being able to move freely on vertical surfaces, hack security consoles with a touch, hide in plain sight, and so on. But that's just my way of GMing.

This should help with naming things, in case you've never come across it: http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

I'm glad they seem detailed in their skeletal forms. My goal is for each Major Faction to have their own mini-chapter in the book, with enough crunch to give you several unique archetypes to work with (for example, the Craver combat engineer is more about recycling, cost-efficiency, and nightmare cybernetics, while the Sophon combat engineer is half saboteur, half tinkerer who can turn everything you have up to 11; and so on) in a classless, unrestrained shopping-with-XP system, while offering enough fluff options that each player can find that niche they want to play (a Lumeri who became a monk after cutting so many corners in a research facility that an accident caused the death of 2/3rds of the staff; an Unfallen xenoanthropologist who travels the world playing various game tournaments, observing and learning about the many species through the games they play; a Horatio surgeon who opens his own clinic specifically for non-Horatios to achieve their own, personal ascension to their aesthetic ideals, as a form of quietly condescending charity: after all, if you can't be Horatio, you might as well be the best you can be).

I updated that thing I uploaded with a bunch of equipment, vehicles and a planetary creation system. I'm thinking about tackling heroes next.

Wow, that's... that's pretty well done. I really wish I was familiar with the system so I could give you some feedback on the specifics but in terms of layout the direction is great. Which reminds me that I'll have to start hoarding ES2 artwork.

I know you're preparing an ES2 setting, but I could share the document I made for an EL campaign. For mine I'm more or less using DnD 5e, with only a few homebrewed races and mechanics. In case anyone wants to use any or all of it, here it is:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X-_2iW_mw_WZyIFZe0ilMt7Pj6TpOyfwvrciXQaXhR8/edit?usp=sharing

Note: If you do end up using any of it, please give credit to me. I've worked hard on what I've created, as I'm sure you all understand.

Could you add the mechanics you used specifically for that EL campaign? Assuming they were added to improve 5E's fit to the setting. There are also a few editing hiccups that probably happened as you copypasted it from your own file. Otherwise it looks like a comfy quick-fix for 5E, which works surprisingly well since the Endless setting can be home to all sorts of magic. If I were you I'd polish it (add some of your experiences with running 5E in EL, some advice you believe is worth hearing, maybe add the Minor Factions, that sort of thing), put it in a .pdf, and share it on the EL Forums, I'm sure there'll be folks there who'd be happy to see it.

I don't see how any of it is actually applicable to ES2 though, since what you have there is almost exclusively EL material. Even the bit about Dust is different in ES2, simply because it's approached from a more sci-fi perspective. Still, it's good stuff for the EL community.

Man, I haven't worked on my own Endless Legend sourcebooks for my 5E game for at least two months now. Thanks, Jorgas; seeing your work put the wind back in my sails.

To those who subbed for this thread: I've not only been too swamped with IRL to work on this, but I also completely forgot about this thread, and for that I sincerely apologise. On the bright side, there's another guy working on an ES2 RPG and he even has official support from Amplitude! Here's the thread: https://www.games2gether.com/games2gether/forums/1-off-topic/threads/31071-building-a-pen-paper-endless-rpg%E2%80%A6-2gether?page=1

I'm also pitching in with what I can if that makes any difference. I'm not letting down the cause more than IRL makes me.