Longtime fans of Amazon Prime's The Expanse may know that an early inspiration for the original novel series was the authors' homebrewed roleplaying game. After struggling to pitch The Expanse as an MMO game, Ty Franck turned his work into an RPG and got his colleague Daniel Abraham to join his campaign. Under the pen name James S. A. Corey, Franck and Abraham developed their space opera adventures into nine novels and acclaimed Syfy-turned-Amazon TV series.
The layered politics and diverse characters of The Expanse are so obviously well-suited for roleplaying that fans have helped fund a Kickstarter for an official Expanse RPG. Here are some hilarious and telling moments from the books and show that reflect the tabletop, pen-and-paper legacy of The Expanse. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
10 Shed's Death Was Definitely Because Someone Left The Campaign
While Game of Thrones made sudden deaths of main characters more commonplace, Canterbury medic Shed Garvey's surprise death in season one is close to being the first confirmed moment from the original RPG campaign. According to Andrew Liptak's Barnes & Noble interview, "Franck killed off one of his gamers when the player had to leave the game early."
Since players in Franck's campaign were mostly members of the Rocinante crew, it's likely that Shed's death was the Game Master's way of sending off his player's character in a breath-taking (pun intended) fashion.
9 Miller Killed That NPC Like A Murder Hobo
Detective Joe Miller, played by co-author Abraham in the original campaign, committed a spectacular execution in season two after the party discovered a secret lab of sociopathic scientists experimenting with the mysterious alien protomolecule.
Rather than allow head scientist Antony Dresden to convince the party into supporting his (definitely evil) research, Miller shoots Dresden in the head. RPG players often refer to party members who jump to killing non-player characters as "murder hobos." Rocinante captain James Holden would certainly have labeled Miller that way, but many fans agree that Miller was right: Dresden's persuasive logic made him too dangerous to keep alive.
8 Holden Is Definitely A Space Paladin
If you've ever rolled your eyes at the Lawful Good player at your table who insists on doing the right thing even when it endangers themselves or destroys all tactful politics, then you might understand Captain Jim Holden's D&D alignment.
From broadcasting his story of the Canterbury explosion to answering every distress beacon in the galaxy, Holden embodies the spirit of a true interstellar paladin. (Also, his favorite book as a kid was Don Quixote, a tale about a misguided knight.) Over time, his character's depth and moral ambiguity have grown as Holden dealt with increasingly complicated situations where the "good" thing to do wasn't always clear or easy.
7 Prax Got A Critical Success On His Botany Check
Everyone loves the feeling of rolling a natural 20 on a polyhedral dice, especially for a long-shot skill check in a dire situation. Ganymede scientist Prax Meng must have felt the same in the season two finale when he critically succeeded at using his botanist expertise to understand the blue protomolecule monster terrorizing the Roci.
With a sudden burst of insight bestowed by a sighing GM, Prax realized the monster was following a "nutrient gradient." His super accurate science roll helped the crew lure the monster out with a tasty nuclear warhead and blast it into space. So, all those points in botany were good for something besides space hydroponics.
6 Amos Used Intimidate (It's Super Effective!)
While searching for Prax's missing daughter on Ganymede in Season 2, the Roci crew encountered a chicken-hoarding NPC who refused to help unless given way too much loot. Amos Burton, the team's resident brawler, decided the best negotiating tactic was his fists, and it totally worked.
The Expanse cast openly gave Amos the nickname "murder snuggles," but Amos differs from typical murder hobos with his surprising restraint (he rarely murders people without good reason) and his deferential loyalty to Naomi Nagata and other Good-aligned characters like Prax and Anna Volovodov in season three.
5 Avasarala: High Charisma, No Combat
While Chrisjen Avasarala was not likely a player character in the original campaigns and did not appear at all in the first book, Leviathan Wakes, her addition to season one of The Expanse was one of the best things about the original Syfy series. Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo is an absolute treasure, and her Avasarala, the ultimate Earth politician, would give House of Cards' Frank Underwood a run for his money.
Avasarala constantly flexes her Charisma stat (deception, persuasion, charm) in the United Nations situation room. However, her "dump stat" is definitely her (lack of) combat strength and the fact that she can barely handle space travel.
4 Bobby: All Combat, No Diplomacy
Martian soldier Roberta "Bobby" Draper, on the other hand, excels in all forms of fighting and stumbles when it comes to subtle diplomacy. When her fellow marines were sacrificed to a weaponized protomolecule experiment in season two, Bobby was thrown into a political intrigue plot way above her pay-grade.
Pairing her with the politically savvy Avasarala really centered Bobby's character and storyline, and the chemistry between the two actresses became one of fans' favorites. She's also proficient in Martian power armor, making her one of the deadliest damage dealers in combat.
3 Naomi Betrayed The Party
Every good campaign features characters with complicated backstories that create conflicting interests when it comes to story objectives. Naomi's Belter loyalties led her to secretly keep a sample of the protomolecule and give it to faction leader Fred Johnson of the militant Outer Planets Alliance.
As the "best liar" and definitely smartest person in the crew according to Martian interrogators, Naomi used her stealth and deception to keep her betrayal a secret... for a little while. Her reveal to Holden fractured the Roci team and strained their relationship in season three, and many tabletop parties have broken up from similar types of treachery.
2 Donkey Balls: Alex's Martian Military Backstory Saved The Day
An amazing moment in season one occurred when Holden's crew got flagged by a Martian Navy ship that wanted to investigate the Roci, a disguised Martian warship. Hacking and breaking their way through their own ship's security system, pilot Alex Kamal dug deep into his own Martian military backstory to gain knowledge that could help the crew evade the Martian patrol. His high roll paid off; the GM granted him an anecdote about his time in the Navy where they read special codes to signal Martian black ops ships, including the notable phrase, "Donkey Balls."
1 The GM Intervenes: Protomolecule Eros Dodges The Nauvoo
Every RPG campaign features some amount of the GM declaring "because I said so," and none more obvious than when players come up with an elaborate, complex scheme ("let's ram this Mormon spaceship into the asteroid!") and actually execute it... only for the magical hand of "God" to thwart them.
When the infected asteroid Eros magically dodged the commandeered Nauvoo ship in season two, characters were astounded that the rock had suspiciously bent the laws of physics. It forced them to make more desperate, dramatic sacrifices culminating in Miller's "death" and Eros crashing into Venus. Hand-waving alien magic is probably the softest part of this otherwise incredibly scientifically accurate series, but every GM needs something convenient to control the story and reign in wild players.