The Expanse is getting a tabletop roleplaying game

It’s a widely-circulated bit of nerd trivia that The Expanse, the popular series of science fiction novels and rather good television show, actually started as a tabletop roleplaying and forum play-by-post setting. Well, now the authors are partnering with publisher Green Ronin to create a proper version of the setting in pen and paper: The Expanse Roleplaying Game.

The game will use Green Ronin’s AGE system, marking the first time that roleplaying system has been used for sci-fi. It’s currently on a Kickstarter campaign, with hardback books clocking in at $50, and has quite predictably passed its initial funding goal of $30,000. The campaign ends Wednesday, August 22nd.

The Expanse is a fairly gritty, “hard” science fiction world that emphasizes realistic space physics and realpolitik-style maneuverings over more fantastical events. The series later subverts those tropes in order to introduce strange, powerful alien technology that alters the course of human civilization forever.

The Expanse Roleplaying Game will differ from previous AGE games by replacing Health with Fortune, tracking a character’s luck rather than their physical hardiness. It will also use a conditions system to track injuries and a set of interludes mechanics for the long downtime involved in space travel in The Expanse’s world. It will, of course, also include extensive mechanics for spaceship combat and boarding actions.

For more, go check out The Expanse Roleplaying Game Kickstarter.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.