Space Fantasy campaigns?

[fireinthedust]

I suppose this goes beyond True20, but what are some needs for a Space Fantasy campaign?

In True20 I'm thinking it would mean using all the Fantasy rules as well as the Space Adventures rules. So blasters as well as magic. Maybe putting it on a planet or in space ships?


Has anyone here tried actual Space Fantasy? Or read books that would count as such?

 

[TreChriron]

I think Star Wars and Dune fit the Space Fantasy genre, perhaps Farscape...

I really think a sci-fi genre gets more fantasy the more it waves away the constraints of current science and just "rolls with it." Gravity on ships and stations? Yep. Inertial dampening and FTL travel? Yep. How does it all work? Nope.

We don't care. It just does. The setting is a backdrop for amazing adventures are thrilling tales! So, you can approach your adventures from many angles. What do you want your adventures to be about? What stories will you and your players tell?

Really I love space fantasy because I don't have to explain all the science stuff. It could be recovered lost alien technology, or some strange extra-dimensional power source, or an altered state of mind. Doesn't matter. Just put stuff in that's COOL. Turn the dial up to 11 and toss in stuff that you think will make the game fun.

True 20 is an excellent choice for this. There is enough options in Revised and the Role source books to play without much (if any) need for tweaking. Have you checked out the Lux Aeternum setting? Great setting and ready to roll with True20. Has a nifty swashbuckling space fantasy thing going on with a mix of old world and new world tossed together. Worth checking out!

Also, I love Malhovoc Press stuff. Monte Cook is a genius. I think the Chaositech supplement is great inspiration for a dark themed space fantasy. This book creeps me out, and that is awesome. Something else to toss in there.

For another game line that touches on both these (and well I might add) subjects check out Starblazer Adventures and Legends of Anglerre for the FATE system. Even if you don't use the system, the ideas and advice are very universal.

Also, you can toss in the Cthulu mythos and Cyberpunk ideas with two really well done True 20 supplements.

 

[Cyronax]

Might I suggest comics?

Both the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe have a lot of fantasy elements merged with their cosmic and sci-fi settings.

I think the Green Lanterns in DC, the Guardians of the Galaxy in MU (they live in a dead god's head on the edge of nowhere), or my favorite -- the EXiles.

Plus, cosmic series often have fantastic cosmic items:

C.I.D.

 

[fireinthedust]

Links: Cool.

Comics: Yeah, thinking about it. Also Masters of the Universe works.
If I could do it, I'd like to have elements like a Jack Kirby universe: Darkseid-esque evil planets, Thanagarians, Atlanteans, genius apes with death rays...

I'm thinking more how to run it as a campaign, say a PBP game, or a home game.

Like, does having spaceships ruin the traditional Mages stuff?


I suppose Mage: The Awakening could fit intothis for experience: mixing mages with guns and technology. I've never done it.

I'd love some novels to hunt for.

 

[Dungeoneer]

To me, space fantasy evokes a very old-school version of space; you know, what people thought space was like before we actually went there. Edgar Rice Burroughs' 'Princess of Mars' or CS Lewis' 'Out of the Silent Planet'. Stuff like that.

 

[Stormonu]

I'd probably throw Flash Gordon and maybe Buck Rogers in there as well.

Also, Krull.

Savage Worlds also has a few space fantasy settings; Slipstream and Red Sands to name the two I know of.

 

[fireinthedust]

Dungeoneer: exactly! That's what I'm going for. Maybe with a bit of Flash Gordon (1983) thrown in for good measure.

I think it's a cool idea, but I've never gotten a warm response from any boards I frequent.

 

[TreChriron]

You're leaning towards a pulp flavor and that is cool. John Carter of Mars! Can't beat that book series.

Generally pulp focuses on character and situation paying little regard to physics, reality, or what not; except for furthering the story. If it's dramatic, you might ALMOST fall of the strangely placed hand-rail-less catwalk outside the space ship as it flies over a miles-high metropolis. If you have an anti-gravity belt or jet pack, you're sure to.

I don't think space ships mess up magic anymore than naval ships do. In space fantasy or pulp, vehicles are just that; vehicles. They are a means to get someplace or you have to battle minions on them. Again, there's no need to define the technology as long as you can demonstrate how it works generally and the role it plays in society. A hover car moves people around. Freighters transfer large cargoes. FTL allows trade and travel between far reaching star systems. The technology is detailed at the "human" level as to how it affects the lives of the characters and impacts the setting, but the physics of it all is hand waved. Focus on the characters and the adventure!

 

[Wik]

I ran a dragonstar game that was a lot of fun. D&D in space that is NOT Spelljammer is actually a pretty rewarding game type. The neat thing about it (and probably most tech space fantasy games) is that a lot of the technology begins to replicate magic. Wizards become less about being blasters (after all, that's what grenades are for) and more about portable problem-solvers who focus on charms and illusions.

The only problem I have is with divinity in a space fantasy setting. I really think you have to follow a "jedi like" philosophy, or create a buddhism analogue - once you start getting into deity territory, the game just falls apart.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Dungeoneer: exactly! That's what I'm going for. Maybe with a bit of Flash Gordon (1983) thrown in for good measure.

I think it's a cool idea, but I've never gotten a warm response from any boards I frequent.

I guess you need people who have been exposed to this stuff before, which is probably getting rare. For some reason I read a lot of golden-age sci-fi when I was a kid. There were always Nazis on the moon, in those pre-Apollo landing stories. I felt like it was kinda disappointing that there hadn't turned out to be Nazis on the moon.

Space as it actually exists is pretty cool, but it could use a few more caped, mustache-twirling villains and green women in slinky body suits.

Anyway, my advice for this kind of game is to throw everything you know about astrophysics out the window: people should be able to breathe in space, different planets should be almost within walking distance of each other and everyone should have a personal jetpack.

More important than the tech is the characters and the feel. 'Pulp' is the word. You want your PCs to be swashbuckling do-gooders and kid geniuses, and they should always be able to save the day at the very last moment. You want a system that supports that kind of thing.

Speaking of systems, what do Dune and Star Wars have in common? That's right, an in-story justification for people having sword fights instead of just frying each other with laser rifles from a thousand kilometers away. You definitely want sword fights in your game. The more dramatic and dashing, the better.