Is Science Fantasy the Next Big Thing™?

Serendipity

Explorer
I have no idea if it's the "next big thing" or not but I've always liked (and honestly, preferred) science fantasy - so it's a nice welcome change of pace from bog standard fantasy.
I like my food to touch on the plate. :)
 

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TarionzCousin

Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
I have no idea if it's the "next big thing" or not but I've always liked (and honestly, preferred) science fantasy - so it's a nice welcome change of pace from bog standard fantasy.
To each her own. There's room in this big gaming world for all preferences.

I like my food to touch on the plate. :)
SINNER!!!
gaah.gif
 

Serendipity

Explorer
To each her own. There's room in this big gaming world for all preferences.

It really is a fantabulous time to be a gamer; I don't think I recall a period where this much diversity of product, catering to so many different interests, were all widely available. Everybody wins, and that's awesome.
 

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
It really is a fantabulous time to be a gamer; I don't think I recall a period where this much diversity of product, catering to so many different interests, were all widely available. Everybody wins, and that's awesome.

That'll be the 80s. But it's cool to see it all back again!
 

Serendipity

Explorer
That'll be the 80s. But it's cool to see it all back again!

I disagree. I started gaming in 1981 - the offerings nowadays cater to enormously more play styles and even the most niche concepts (be they stylistic, or in terms of rules complexity, or from the more narrativist to the more traditional) are getting wider acceptance than ever before.
 


Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
With what, exactly?

I think she's disagrring with the idea that the 80s had as much diversity of product as we do today. And, to that, I think she may have a bit of a point. Yes, there were lots of different products in the 80s, but while they'd differentiated a lot in genre, the mechanical designs used and playstyles supported were still fairly narrow. These days, in terms of well-considered mechanical support for various playstyles, games are much more diverse. The decades of experience have been good to us.
 
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Serendipity

Explorer
I think he's disagrring with the idea that the 80s had as much diversity of product as we do today. And, to that, I think he may have a bit of a point. Yes, there were lots of different products in the 80s, but while they'd differentiated a lot in genre, the mechanical designs used and playstyles supported were still fairly narrow. These days, in terms of well-considered mechanical support for various playstyles, games are much more diverse. The decades of experience have been good to us.

Pretty much exactly this. Though it's 'she' not 'he.' :)
 

aramis erak

Legend
When Numenera came out, I thought it was an outlier. But is it a harbinger instead? The Strange came next, and although it is directly related to Numenera, it is also a new game.

Now Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave is coming, and it is a self-proclaimed "science fantasy" game.

Are there more games in this genre out there right now? Are there more coming soon?

And, are you personally interested and/or excited to play in a science fantasy game?

D&D started there... It's always been a part of the gaming industry.

FYI: D&D is hugely influenced by Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. Dying Earth is post-holocaust pre-apocalypse science-fantasy. With magic and tech both. (Tho' it's not always obvious that it's sci-fan; only two of the short stories are really all that magic heavy of the 4 books I've forced myself through.)

A not very complete list of sci-fan RPGS:
D&D (all editions), EPT, Gamma World, Tunnels & Trolls, Skyrealms of Jorune, Castles & Crusades, Numenera, Star Wars (all editions), Spacemaster/Rolemaster, Castle Falkenstein*, (Theatrix) Ironwood, Rifts†, Torg†, Ringworld.

* CF is both Sci-Fan (diemensional travel) and steampunk.
† and just about every other invading realities game out there. Rifts and Torg get listed because they came out about the same time.
 
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Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
I think she's disagrring with the idea that the 80s had as much diversity of product as we do today. And, to that, I think she may have a bit of a point. Yes, there were lots of different products in the 80s, but while they'd differentiated a lot in genre, the mechanical designs used and playstyles supported were still fairly narrow. These days, in terms of well-considered mechanical support for various playstyles, games are much more diverse. The decades of experience have been good to us.

I dunno. There was lots of new mechanical stuff back then. I remember the first dice pool system in the Ghostbusters RPG. The very idea blew me away! When Call of Cthulhu first came out - my first experience of gritty horror gaming. Toon. FASA Trek. The introduction of life path systems with Traveller or WFRP (whichever did it first?) And all that stuff TSR did. And then White Wolf comes along, and does all that stuff.

I feel the 80s were a hive of industry and innovation. So many things we take for granted now as being standard or cliched were forged back then.

Production values - I'll give you that! 80s production values were generally awful (although bigger companies like TSR put out some nice stuff). To be fair, they didn't exactly have the equipment we have now. Though there were more boxed sets, which is a good thing.
 



Evenglare

Adventurer
When Numenera came out, I thought it was an outlier. But is it a harbinger instead? The Strange came next, and although it is directly related to Numenera, it is also a new game.

Now Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave is coming, and it is a self-proclaimed "science fantasy" game.

Are there more games in this genre out there right now? Are there more coming soon?

And, are you personally interested and/or excited to play in a science fantasy game?

I've actually been working on one for about 3 years now. Long before I found out about numenera. My basic premise is to full port over the fantasy "feeling" to a scifi setting. Completely original classes are inspired by various video games and takes on tried and true traditional classes. So far I have been using the "Archmage" engine (the one that 13th age runs on), but I'm beginning to heavily modify it taking different mechanics from different games and meshing them all together. I think it's coming along quite nicely.
 

I enjoy science fantasy on occasion (though I'm eagerly awaiting the Numenara reliquary from the Kickstarter). In general, however, I tend to prefer fantasy on one dish and science fiction on another. I'm a big fan of steampunk (of the more "gentleman adventurer" variety than the "smoke-belching Victorian dystopia", though), for instance, but not a big fan of fantasy worlds filled with steampunk (unless they are like Castle Falkenstein or Arcanum, ie, a fantasy version of the XIX century).

I do have a soft spot for Da Vinci-style clockwork wonders in fantasy, however, so long as done in prudent amounts.
 

Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
There was lots of new mechanical stuff back then. I remember the first dice pool system in the Ghostbusters RPG. The very idea blew me away!

Some of that may be contextual. I'd seen the D&D variant of replacing the d20 with 3d6 (a small dice pool) well before I saw a game use it inherently. And I'd seen multiple dice (added together) used in Tunnels and Trolls in the 1970s before I ever played D&D. So, it didn't seem such a big deal to me.

When Call of Cthulhu first came out - my first experience of gritty horror gaming. Toon. FASA Trek.

These are all differentiation by genre. I already granted that happened.

The introduction of life path systems with Traveller

Was in the 1970s, and so can't be attributed to the 80s. And, while a few people like them, I note that few games today use such - probably for good reason.

And all that stuff TSR did.

Much of which were actually rehashes of D&D's core mechanics. I'll grant them the Marvel Superheroes game as innovative.

And then White Wolf comes along, and does all that stuff.

In the 1990s, and so not attributable to the 80s. And Shadowrun only came in late 1989, so wasn't around for the vast majority of the decade - it effectively was a 90s game, too.

I feel the 80s were a hive of industry and innovation.

In many ways, yes. New things were created. There were lots of game materials. But there was a whole lot of similarity in overall structure and design.

Consider - now we have games with all those 80s design elements *PLUS* all the design elements and playstyle support that has been developed in the thirty years since! It is hardly credible that today could be *less* diverse than the early decades of gaming, for that reason.

Though there were more boxed sets, which is a good thing.

Not a fan of boxed sets, myself. The boxes always got crushed, and the bits inside got lost or damaged as a result. I can't say I'm surprised or unhappy that they've waned in popularity.
 


aramis erak

Legend
TSR had about 5 different engines going before 1990... across 10 games.
D&D/AD&D
Star Frontiers
Gangbusters
MSH/AMSH
GW(3e)
Conan
Boot Hill
Gamma World (1E & 2E)
Buck Rogers XXIV C

But there are really 3 main branches:
D&D style 1d20 games: D&D, AD&D, Buck, some editions of GW, Boot Hill 3E
Action Table games: MSH/AMSH, GW 3e, SF w/Zeb's, Conan
Percentile Skill games: Boot Hill 1E, Gangbusters, Star Frontiers

In the 90's they added the Saga engine...
Card Driven: DL5A, MSHAG
and more percentiles: Amazing Engine

It depends a lot on how one counts the various games.
 

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