Esper Genesis
To celebrate the new year, we're starting a brand new "Spotlight Series", where we'll be highlighting some of the many exciting settings and rulesets available on Shard Tabletop
For our first Spotlight Series of the year, we're taking a look at Esper Genesis, a science-fiction RPG powered by the D&D 5E rules. If you're a fan of shows like Star Trek, The Expanse, or Firefly or video games like Mass Effect, Halo, or Destiny, then Esper Genesis might just be the perfect TTRPG system for you to try out!
In this blog post, you’ll learn more about the Esper Genesis system and setting, including the various products available on Shard, as well as the ways in which we've implemented them to ensure you can run a seamless sci-fi campaign with custom extensions and modified character sheets.
What is Esper Genesis?
As mentioned above, Esper Genesis is a science-fiction RPG powered by the D&D 5E rules and inspired by the legendary works of sci-fi greats. Take on the role of a galactic hero within a universe of advanced technologies and hidden mysteries. Galaxies at war, high-tech gadgets and weapons, robots, aliens, starfighters, and ancient machines with the power to shape reality – All of these and more make up the core of Esper Genesis.
The fate of the galaxy depends on the Espers—beings gifted with the ability to channel cosmic energies, producing spectacular feats of gravity control, psychic ability, and the power to shape the very fabric of space-time.These rare individuals are empowered with the will to stand vigilant against galactic threats that would strike fear into the hearts of all those within the great expanse. Destiny calls for those who would change the fate of worlds. Will you decide who they will be, and if so, what they will become?
A Wealth of Character Options: Create extraordinary personas from soldiers and spies with high-powered gadgets, to engineers wielding specialized rigs and robotics.
An Immersive Sci-fi Campaign Setting: Exotic personalities, alien cultures, and galactic lore are all woven together into the setting’s rich history which may be used to build your own cool sci-fi saga.
5th Edition Plug and Play: Run amazing adventures with fast and easy mechanics. The system is designed to integrate with any D&D 5E product and adapt into any expansion.
Explore the Great Expanse: A unique, adaptable rules system for starships. Strap in and blast through the stars in a ship of your own or as a crewmember of a party-owned ship.
Where to Start?
There are currently 16 products available on Shard associated with the Esper Genesis setting and ruleset. Those include three core products that offer the ultimate Esper Genesis Experience:
While the Core Manual and Threats Database include everything you need to create your own custom Esper Genesis campaign, the Master Technician’s Guide expands that toolkit and includes rules for tailoring game mechanics, new options and customizations for gear and starships, tools for creating galactic locations and heroic encounters, guidelines for adapting alternate sci-fi genres, and much more!
Beyond these, you can also pick up Shadow of the Zephyr is a 10-part campaign, which takes characters from 1st through 8th level. Each of the 10 "episodes" can be played as a stand-alone adventure, or sequentially as part of an epic space opera that pits players against a litany of futuristic threats, from a deadly nanovirus to a rogue faction of techno-zealots in search of a legendary item of immense power...
Bringing Esper Genesis to Shard Tabletop
It wasn't enough for us to just copy and paste the Esper Genesis system into Shard, we wanted to maximize our VTT toolset to deliver the most seamless sci-fi experience for both GMs and players alike. To that end, we have carefully adapted all of this Esper Genesis content to Shard with extensions and custom types to provide complete immersion in this 5E based Sci-Fi game, including:
New Custom Skills
Extensions to replace more traditional "fantasy" skills with sci-fi equivalents, such as computers, mechanics, xenobiology, as well as new sci-fi languages, tools, and instruments.
Sci-Fi Weapons & Equipment
New weapon properties such as adaptable, burst fire, energy burst, and high-velocity, a wide array of futuristic armor from the light Infiltration Suit to the heavy Fusion Armor, and custom currency "Cubil" to replace the standard D&D coin system.
Interplanetary Random Encounter Tables
28 random encounter tables ranging from 1st to 20th level, including planetary ruins, spatial anomalies, subterranean, urban, and more, allowing you to start a random encounter in mere moments.
There are countless other ways in which we've integrated the Esper Genesis system into Shard Tabletop, and when combined with the vast array of brand new classes, subclasses, backgrounds, Esper powers, and more, we believe Shard is the best way to explore this exciting sci-fi expansion on the 5th Edition ruleset…and we hope you'll consider starting your own adventure in the stars beyond!
