My Changing Thoughts on Science Fantasy Games

[Deset Gled]

That an FTL drive works at all with reasonable power budgets makes it magic.

Any replicable system of magic is essentially technology.

Your definitions may be entertaining, but they are also functionally useless. Sure, Harry Potter is now sci-fi, Frankenstein is magic, and hot dogs are tacos. But what's the point in having genres at all if you've distilled language down to the point that words are meaningless? If all science fiction is fantasy and all fantasy can be technology, is this anything other than thread crapping on the OPs original discussion?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Your definitions may be entertaining, but they are also functionally useless

The best kind of definitions!

“Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Shadowrun is my fave Magic + tech setting. Used to lament the crappy system. Luckily Anarchy exists!

 

[aramis erak]

Which brings the FTL (generally replicable in most settings) back to technology.

And still leaves it as Magic, no matter the explanation. Just because it's technology doesn't make it science, nor non-magical. In other words, FTL and Psionics are fantasy elements...

As for the utility of narrower genres: it makes it easier to find what one does and does not like genre-wise. I prefer space opera to hard sci-fi for space action... but I don't want a laundry list of fantasy elements with unique physics... Trek is getting to the point there's too much magic, and not enough reality, in the recent offerings.

I don't much like adding tech to classic Fantasy. Techno-fantasy, even with trappings of space, is, for me, offputting. I didn't like the Herculoids crossing over with Space Ghost... Not a fan of Herculoids in general, but aside from the relaunch crossovers, didn't mind it for killing saturday morning time.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Any replicable system of magic is essentially technology.

So once Luke learned to consistently deflect blaster bolts with his lightsaber, it stopped being magical.