Is hard sci-fi really appropriate as a rpg genre?

[doghead]

It is a science-fiction setting. In fact I do prefer hard science fiction, because taking into account physics IMO permits a more interesting game. When you cross the galaxy in minutes, then land on an unknown planet (with same climate and conditions as southern California) inhabited by English-speaking humans with funny ears, I really don't see the point. For me, different gravity, different atmosphere, totally alien races, hazards of deep space, etc. is what makes the sci-fi genre interesting.

Its been said before but I think Traveller does what your looking for if you want a low key 'hard' sf setting. The T20 character generation system is a bit clunky, but T20 has the distinct advantage of being relatively easy to pick up (by anyone familier with d20 systems) and currently supported.

 

[JPL]

If you want a really hard sci-fi setting, pick up Transhuman Space. It has no FTL, no aliens, is located all over the solar system, has AIs and parahumans, and things can be removed to make it harder (like the parahumans). And the GURPS rules are light, at least in most of the books. It is more about the setting than the rules..

You got to it before me.

Nothing ages faster than our visions of what the future will be like.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Y'know, I'm not sure how well it falls into the category of "hard" sci-fi, but here's a prospective idea:

Watch the Firefly TV series (on DVD, w/ a movie coming out soon). Has spaceships, colonies, & a controlling mega-government, but it's pretty-much alien-free. Energy weapons are ridiculously rare (& equally expensive), so good-ol' slugthrowers are still the way to go for most. The setting really echoes the post-Civil War U.S. western frontier "feel"--you can pick & pull the parallels as you watch the series--but it honestly works.

 

[shady]

By the way, following up my reference on 2300AD, the link to the forthcoming (and it seems it's been forthcoming for some time, but QLI do eventually come out with good stuff, witness their traveller releases) 2320AD is here:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/2320/

The original 2300AD used the GDW "house system", also seen in Twilight:2000 and later in Traveller:New Era. 2300AD did it best but it was still (IMHO) plain awful. So a D20 version is, as far as I'm concerned, a step up.

 

[buzz]

Watch the Firefly TV series (on DVD, w/ a movie coming out soon).

You know, given the various D&D references that have appeard in Buffy and Angel over the years, I would not be surprised at all if Joss Whedon had played (and loved) Traveller at some point. Firefly screams Traveler, IMO.

 

[DMH]

Actually, I think this is more likely than most people give credit. Think about it. The bipedal form with lateral symmetry is a very simple and efficient form. It's practical. Evolution is going to select for the simplest and most efficient way to get the job done in whatever ecological niche it's filling, just like rivers flow down hill or electrons in atoms prefer to be in their lowest energy states, and alien worlds are subject to the exact same natural laws our own is.

The shape of the aliens in ST isn't as much of a problem as communication. Aliens have different thought processes and communication organs (the former is more important). Unless it is based on math, there will never be direct communication between humans and other intelligent species.

That is why I consider Traveller and all other rpgs with human like aliens to be soft.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

The shape of the aliens in ST isn't as much of a problem as communication. Aliens have different thought processes and communication organs (the former is more important). Unless it is based on math, there will never be direct communication between humans and other intelligent species.

That is why I consider Traveller and all other rpgs with human like aliens to be soft.

But you can't know that. THAT is my problem with trying to act like one kind of Sci-Fi is more real than another. There could be anything out there. Heck, there could be a race of superintelligent bunny rabbits with teeth like this that speak English better than we do.

Now, there's a difference between more Space Operay Star Wars, Science Fantasy type Star Trek, and a more Gritty Sci-Fi that Traveller represents. None of them are any more right than each other. I'm just waiting for proof that we're all wrong an those evil bunny rabbits are out there...

 

[Sebastian Francis]

Aliens have different thought processes and communication organs

Err...how do you know this?

Unless it is based on math, there will never be direct communication between humans and other intelligent species.

Ah...how do you know this?

(Sheesh, what arrogance. :\ )

 

[DMH]

How do I know this? Because biologists have spent many years studing the aliens that live on Earth. Things like worms and starfish and insects. They evolved on this planet along with us and yet are so different that even if they did have the same brain power as us, they would not have the same thought processes as us. If we couldn't communicate with creatures we are related to, however distantly, how the hell are we going to talk to creatures that have been under different evolutionary stresses than us?

Intelligent aliens might be bipeds, but they are not humans and they do not think like humans. To even consider the notion shows a lack of understanding of evolution, ecology and physiology. And arrogence of a different type.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

How do I know this? Because biologists have spent many years studing the aliens that live on Earth. Things like worms and starfish and insects. They evolved on this planet along with us and yet are so different that even if they did have the same brain power as us, they would not have the same thought processes as us. If we couldn't communicate with creatures we are related to, however distantly, how the hell are we going to talk to creatures that have been under different evolutionary stresses than us?

Intelligent aliens might be bipeds, but they are not humans and they do not think like humans. To even consider the notion shows a lack of understanding of evolution, ecology and physiology. And arrogence of a different type.

Um...our planet isn't exactly a good comparison with the universe.

ANYTHING is possible. Just because it hasn't happened here, doesn't mean it can't. We simply don't know enough to say otherwise. That doesn't mean its TRUE, but that doesn't mean its not true.

And please, I'm not insulting your understanding of anything, so don't insult mine. I completely understand what you're saying, and it makes sense. But again, with the vastness of the universe and the insane amount of possibilities out there, we can't say what IS and ISN'T in any kind of definitive way.

...besides, what would all this 'hard science' do if we really do encounter aliens that look like evil bunnies with teeth like this that speak English, hm?