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Space Adventure: The Five Essentials


Derek Hiemforth

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

Galaxy Quest; as pointed out before, to understand a genre, you have to see it spoofed.

 

Star Trek: The Next Generation---episode: "The Inner Light," because the greatest adventures are made with the heart.

{If you don't remember this episode, see Google's cache of it}

For the space opera genre, a bang-on spoof is STAR SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS by Harry Harrison. If you've read lots of Doc Smith, you'll hurt yourself laughing.

 

Roger "The Inner Light". It truly touches the heart, and in my opinion is one of the greatest episode of Star Trek in any of the versions.

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

For the space opera genre' date=' a bang-on spoof is STAR SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS by Harry Harrison. If you've read lots of Doc Smith, you'll hurt yourself laughing.[/quote']

 

Isn't that the one with the home-built spaceship that runs off of cheese?

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

Isn't that the one with the home-built spaceship that runs off of cheese?

Absolutely. The Cheddite projector.

The author actually must have done an in-depth analysis of space opera, since it accurately lampoons all the standard troupes.

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

For the space opera genre' date=' a bang-on spoof is STAR SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS by Harry Harrison. If you've read lots of Doc Smith, you'll hurt yourself laughing.[/quote']

OK, that's on the "get from the library" list. Though truth to tell, E. E. Smith makes me laugh all by himself; a spoof of EES is pretty redundant, don't you think? ;)

 

Roger "The Inner Light". It truly touches the heart' date=' and in my opinion is one of the greatest episode of Star Trek in any of the versions.[/quote']

Glad you agree. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

I've just finished reading Michael Resnik's SANTIAGO and THE RETURN OF SANTIAGO, and it's quite good. If you are trying to design an interstellar bounty hunter campaign, these books have lots of good detail.

 

One interesting feature was a character named "Black Orpheus". He was sort of a bard who traveled the interstellar frontier. People who impressed him were given colorful nicknames and immortalized by one or more verses in the epic poem he was writing. The various verses would travel by word of mouth from tavern to tavern.

 

So such labeled people would have instant street cred when they rolled into the starport.

 

In a Star Hero campaign, a player would find it a rich reward to be immortalized in verse by Black Orpheus, and wear the nickname with pride.

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

One interesting feature was a character named "Black Orpheus". He was sort of a bard who traveled the interstellar frontier. People who impressed him were given colorful nicknames and immortalized by one or more verses in the epic poem he was writing. The various verses would travel by word of mouth from tavern to tavern.

 

So such labeled people would have instant street cred when they rolled into the starport.

 

In a Star Hero campaign, a player would find it a rich reward to be immortalized in verse by Black Orpheus, and wear the nickname with pride.

Interesting idea. I never really considered doing that sort of word-of-mouth-rep in a sci-fi setting, but it gives a much different flavor from the usual "your exploits have been in the press a lot" reputation. I can almost see it evolving into a type of public/secret ID situation, where the exploits of Starslayer are legendary, but it's not widely known that Sidney Smith is Starslayer.

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

Interesting idea. I never really considered doing that sort of word-of-mouth-rep in a sci-fi setting' date=' but it gives a much different flavor from the usual "your exploits have been in the press a lot" reputation. I can almost see it evolving into a type of public/secret ID situation, where the exploits of [i']Starslayer [/i]are legendary, but it's not widely known that Sidney Smith is Starslayer.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to bigdamnhero again.

 

"Brilliant"

 

QM

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

The Ballad of Jayne

from "Jaynestown"

 

Jayne.....

The man they call Jayne...

 

He robbed from the rich

And he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man

And he gave him what for

Our love for him now

Ain't hard to explain

The Hero of Canton

The man they call Jayne...

 

Our Jayne saw the mudders' backs breakin'

He saw the mudders' laments

And he saw the magistrate takin'

Every dollar and leavin' five cents

So he said "You can't do that to my people"

He said "Can't crush them under your heel"

Jayne strapped on his hat

And in 5 seconds flat

Stole everything Boss Higgins had to steal...

 

He robbed from the rich

And he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man

And he gave him what for

Our love for him now

Ain't hard to explain

The Hero of Canton

The man they call Jayne...

 

Now here is what separates heroes

From common folk like you and I

The man they call Jayne

He turned 'round his plane

And let that money hit the skies

He dropped it onto our houses

He dropped it into our yards

The man they called Jayne

He stole away our pain

And headed out for the stars...

 

He robbed from the rich

And he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man

And he gave him what for

Our love for him now

Ain't hard to explain

The Hero of Canton

The man they call Jayne..

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

Interesting idea. I never really considered doing that sort of word-of-mouth-rep in a sci-fi setting' date=' but it gives a much different flavor from the usual "your exploits have been in the press a lot" reputation. I can almost see it evolving into a type of public/secret ID situation, where the exploits of [i']Starslayer [/i]are legendary, but it's not widely known that Sidney Smith is Starslayer.

 

Again you must spread some rep around before giving it to BigDamnHero again. Agreed, utterly brilliant.

 

I hadn't thought of it that way, but you are absolutely correct. Black Orpheus' poems never mentioned real names, just nicknames. The novel had a couple of scenes like that, an "I know you, you're the 'Songbird' from the poem, aren't you?" scene, and a "You know 'Waltzing Matilda' from the poem? That's me..." scene.

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

I am so glad you ascended before I read that.

 

Barbarella has a certain camp value, in this case I would save it for the victory or consolidation party after the RPG contest, not as part of the prep. Ice Pirates had nothing but a couple of halfway amusing robots.

 

Come on man, everybody loved the Space Herpe!!! :eg:

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Re: Space Adventure: The Five Essentials

 

The Ballad of Jayne

from "Jaynestown"

 

Jayne.....

The man they call Jayne...

 

He robbed from the rich

And he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man

And he gave him what for

Our love for him now

Ain't hard to explain

The Hero of Canton

The man they call Jayne...

 

Our Jayne saw the mudders' backs breakin'

He saw the mudders' laments

And he saw the magistrate takin'

Every dollar and leavin' five cents

So he said "You can't do that to my people"

He said "Can't crush them under your heel"

Jayne strapped on his hat

And in 5 seconds flat

Stole everything Boss Higgins had to steal...

 

He robbed from the rich

And he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man

And he gave him what for

Our love for him now

Ain't hard to explain

The Hero of Canton

The man they call Jayne...

 

Now here is what separates heroes

From common folk like you and I

The man they call Jayne

He turned 'round his plane

And let that money hit the skies

He dropped it onto our houses

He dropped it into our yards

The man they called Jayne

He stole away our pain

And headed out for the stars...

 

He robbed from the rich

And he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man

And he gave him what for

Our love for him now

Ain't hard to explain

The Hero of Canton

The man they call Jayne..

 

Snif snif

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