What style of science-fiction in your D&D ?

[S'mon]

For an integrated approach, sword & planet Flash Gordony style. Been thinking about the possibility of something like that in my 4e game. Krull is a good example of D&D meets sword & planet I think.

I really dislike Spelljammer; Steampunk seems ubiquitous and I am not a big fan. I have done D&D meets regular SF and Cyberpunk in the past, was ok for fish out of water but not for long term play.

 

[the Jester]

You left out the only approach endorsed in the (original) DMG and what my players are going through right now:

0) Mutants and Mayhem: Send the players to Gamma World or have Gamma World come to them. Wild mutations and mutated creatures plus a motley mix of salvaged everyday objects and high tech weaponry and robots.

One variation on this, which Gygax DMed, is to send the characters into Metamorphis Alpha, aka the Starship Warden. A huge spaceship...now basically like Gamma World in space.

And of course there is Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, aka find a crashed space ship. Which is another variant on this, and inspiration for Dragon Star.

This- postapocalyptic remnants of ancient peoples and technologies. Also, clockwork horrors.

 

[Turanil]

In what sense is David Lynch's Dune steampunk?

Well, it appears I did not ask my question very well. I am asking about the visual style players prefer when it comes to add sci-fi in a D&D game. Aspects of the technology, not what it does. As such, in the David Lynch movie, there is a lot of things that have a visual style similar to that of Steampunk, though the story is not of the steampunk genre.

Now I ask because I am writing a game supplement, and must draw characters to illustrate classes. At first I thought of making it in the 50s/60s comic book style of Flash Gordon, but then I thought readers could prefer the steampunk look. So I went for a poll in order to gauge gamers' preferences.

 

[gamerprinter]

I voted Flash Gordon style, but as mentioned above, post apocalyptic settings, where technology exists from before the catastrophe (whatever the cause), but the technology to produce more sci-fi stuff is lost. The world inhabitants are like that of a standard D&D/PF setting with found technology as treasure - this I would have voted for instead, had it been an option.

There seems to be a strong interest in steam punk, but 'ick', not for me.

 

[the Jester]

I like the look of my tech to match my 'vision' of its place in the game.

I have steampunkish looking tech, crystal-based tech (think Superman's Fortress of Solitude in the old 1979 or whenever movie), smooth, curvy tech, etc. It depends.

I'd use a varieties of style in the art if I were in your position.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In what sense is David Lynch's Dune steampunk?

The visual aesthetics of much of the tech is more "retro" than you would expect for such advanced societies. Microphones are huge, there is '50s style "corrugated streamlining" (and hairstyles!), and so forth.

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't generally like to refluff D&D as sci-fi. I think other games cover the future post apocalyptic, high-sci-fy settings much better than reflavoring a wizard into a technomancer.

I generally like my sci-fi to me high sci-fy, think: Star Wars or Mass Effect. "magic" is fairly limited to what basically amounts of psionics.

I hate steampunk 99.99% of the time.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Well I would quibble with the categorizations of the poll, but I don't limit myself to any given SF flavor when adding it to D&D. I never ran it, but I seriously considered sending the PC's to Modern Earth where they could photocopy spell scrolls while talking on cell phones - and getting killed easily with a couple of .44 slugs. Through modules such as Barrier Peaks I have introduced ray-guns a la Flash Gordon or Star Wars as well as the ever-popular lightsaber. Spelljammer has sufficed for providing "rocket ships" to travel between planets even if few/none of the ships looked particularly '50's retro-future inspired. I found it difficult however to interest the players in wandering aimlessly from planet to planet instead of just wandering into the unknown wilderness of just ONE planet no matter how many fascinating HIPPO men they met (not rhinos). And steampunk has crept further into my games in the form of trains and clockworks and early firearms. Some magic items and artifacts in particular I now treat as steampunk more than fantasy inspired including the Apparatus of Kwalish, the Machine of Lum the Mad and the Mighty Servant of Leuk-O.

I have always liked a little SF in my D&D as did many of the founders AFAICT. But the SF I tinge my D&D with comes from any and all SF sources. It is worth noting that SF was and sometimes still is considered part of the fantasy genre.

Now, were I to refluff D&D AS SF, as many here are talking about, then the easiest would be post-apocolyptic settings but the one I still have my heart on is having minis and terrain to do an RPG treatment of X-Com - modern Earth versus the aliens.

 

[Turanil]

I'd use a varieties of style in the art if I were in your position.

Mmmmh... That sounds like a good suggestion.

 

[Aaron L]

I voted for the "Flash Gordon" sword and planet style retro-futurism (or zeerust), but I also ADORE DragonStar and it's mix of modern computers and current science-fiction elements mixed in with D&D. I truly love the inclusion of space travel in D&D games, and space travel done in a fairly realistic, science fiction manner. Realistic physics and realspace, not the fantasy space of SpellJammer.

I love the idea of battle fleets composed of starships and starfighters, with escorts of wizards and sorcerers swarming around them for magical point-defense, using nothing but eldritch forces to propel them through and protect them from the Void. Of great space battles where capital starships fire wave motion cannons at each other, starfighters duking it out in fairly realistic microgravity combat (no Star Wars style dogfights in space.)

...and also of wizards flying through space, either riding creatures like Byakhee or using spells to move under their own power, protected by deflector shield spells and engaging starfighters in one-on-one battles, throwing magical plasma beams from wands and hurling magical anti-matter grenades, and using spells to transmute the 'fighters into glass; and entire massive capital starships being struck down by spells of epic magnitude and the awesome magical power of lone Archmages.

I want it ALL, baby.

So, even though I voted 2, I really like both 1 and 2. But if I had to choose between those two, I would go for a more pulpy Flash Gordon mixed with Jon Carter aesthetic.