Science Fiction in Your Fantasy Game?

[The Crimson Binome]

I like to keep it subtle. I might introduce a crossbow that fires magical energy bolts, that deal fire and electric damage, but I won't call it a phaser. Maybe it's just a specialized wand, made user-friendly for the sake of non-wizards. What's the difference between a robot and a golem, to someone who's never seen either?

 

[TarionzCousin]

I like it so much that I'be spent the last year writing two games designed to do exactly that thing!

Should I send you a bill for advertising?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I enjoy it if done right, and hate it if it isn't.

So for me, "it depends."

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

I am not a big fan of, "This is a fantasy game, but I'm now suddenly and inexplicably going to make a left turn into something else" like Barrier Peaks. This strikes me as... bait and switch, I guess.

That's a good distinction to make, and a great way to put it!

I think there's a difference between having it in as an ongoing part of the game, and corralling it to special locations (like the Barrier Peaks) which are visited for a change of pace. Not everyone's going to welcome having laser cannons on the weapons list, but many players won't mind the occasional battle with bleeping droids.

For my part, I'm the opposite way: Lasers on the weapons list [presumably] means that the sci-fi is built into the setting, which might be really awesome. Whereas the occasional left-hand turn into, as Umbran would say, a single random sci-fi adventure or locale is immersion-breaking.

 

[Umbran]

What's the difference between a robot and a golem, to someone who's never seen either?

The difference is in what you do with them. That is one of the primary differences between science fiction and fantasy (and why you have "science-fantasy", where the physical forms are all sciencey, but the story is really fantasy). In typical science fiction the *science* is plot relevant, how things work matters. The fact that it is a robot, with wires and programming an such, matters, and helps drive the plot, and resolve the conflicts.

So, R2D2, for example, might as well be a golem. How he works doesn't matter. He's really part of a science fantasy, not science fiction proper.

R. Daneel Olivaw, on the other hand, cannot be replaced with a golem. His robotness matters to the plot.

 

[payn]

I chose generally not. I never want to say never I guess. I do pick and choose systems for what I want to play. I choose Aces and Eights for old west, Traveller for sci-fi, Call of Cthulhu for horror/mystery (generally 1920's pulp), 3E/PF for fantasy, etc. I do not like to cross the streams because of this.

 

[Hussar]

Umbrian captures it for me. I don't mind sf trope in fantasy. After all, psionics is a pretty standard dnd ism. And Ray guns or giant robot spiders aren't a big deal.

But actually bringing in sf themes into fantasy is a lot more difficult and typically doesn't work well in DnD IMO.

 

[Li Shenron]

Never.

 

[Obryn]

I started in the days when fantasy and sci-fi weren't really distinct genres, and I still love mixing them together.

In my Dark Sun game, the PCs found a crashed spaceship loosely based on a spelljammer, populated with githyanki who hadn't degenerated into gith, cyborg grell, energy weapons, and a "helm" which was more a sentient computer.

Fun adventure.

 

[TarionzCousin]

In my Dark Sun game, the PCs found a crashed spaceship loosely based on a spelljammer....

Did they harvest the metal from the spaceship? That would have been worth a fortune in Dark Sun.