Space Fantasy/Cyberpunk Sorta Thing . . .

[L. Marcus]

Okay, I've got this embryo of an idea for a campaign, and cruel as I am, I thought that I would let it out in the world for people to pass judgement upon . . .

Okay, this is far into the future. Really far. Really, really far. Even further. The moon was lost long ago. Earth has seen so many interstellar empires come and go that it has lost count. Now the planet is a wasteland, with virtually no natural resources except the ruins and scrapheaps of past civilizations. Humankind is reduced to bands of nomadic savages, trying to eek out a living in a hostile environment - and the deserts keep growing, and strange monstrosities from beyond the stars haunt the wild places.

But there is one city left - Diaspar. And the characters are it's champions, defending it against nightmares with more eyes than teeth, against invading barbarians on winged steeds, and against a dangerous iridium shortage. Without iridium - no more ice cream sundaes . . .

Right. I figured this as a kind of cross between Battle Angel Alita and The Book Of The New Sun (weird, huh?) There characters would be Supers built on 150+100 points, and there would be - almost - no limit to what kind of character would be allowed . . . The game would simply be about defending Diaspar against outer - and inner - threats, and, in the long run, reclaim the stars for humanity.

Any thoughts? Does anyone know of anything similar for the HERO System? Any online sources that I can . . . umm, use as inspiration . . . ?

Any help and any comments at all would be appreciated!

[Captain Obvious]

I'm not familiar with your sources. What sort of psionic level do you see for this world?

If there is any kind of psi at all, there could be psi-users who need focusing rituals to effectively use their powers...things like Gestures, Incantations, Foci, etc. You could in effect add magic to the world. Very Thundarr-esque.

[Nyrath]

Well, Diaspar is from the Arthur C. Clarke novels The City and the Stars and Against the Fall of Night. They are set in a remote era where from their standpoint, the invention of fire and the first nuclear explosion are equally remote.

Similar novels include Macrolife by George Zebrowski, The Dying Earth by Jack Vance, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Charles Sheffield, and of course both Last and First Men and Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. Any of those will have plenty of inspiration, expecially the last one.

(If you do read Last and First Men, skim the first few chapters as they are a bit dull).

[ross_winn]

Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time may have some influence here as well.

[L. Marcus]

Well, Nyrath spotted where I, uh, borrowed the name from . . . Not familiar with Macrolife, Tomorrow And Tomorrow, or the Stapleton books, though; this will be rectified!

As for the psi level, anything goes! And magic will be no problem, although I'll have to decide if they are one and the same special effect or not. Desicions, desicions . . .

[Nyrath]

The Stapedon books are available as a two-in-one volume from Dover Books.
The others are out of print, but copies can be found at http://www.bookfinder.com

[Susano]

Hmm....

This might help with the "nightmares with more eyes than teeth" part.

SILENT MOBIUS ZETA

Creatures from CALL OF CTHULTHU