Starting a SH campeign

[JmOz]

Was wondering, what questions should be answered before I start?

[Curufea]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

How pulp/rubber or hard sf do the players want?

What universe is it set in?

Do the PCs want to start as part of an organisation/knowing each other or meet up in the first session?

What is the tech level?

Are there intersolar nations/empires/kingdoms?

[Manic Typist]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

Also...

 

"Does my spaceship have guns?"

[austenandrews]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

Was wondering' date=' what questions should be answered before I start?[/quote']

What sort of questions are you refering to?

 

For myself, I always start with a premise that has interested me enough to build a campaign setting. I'm not even sure I'd start a SF campaign without that.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

One problem I have seen is that terms like "Space Opera" and "Hard SF" mean different things to different people. For some people, space opera means sweeping intergalactic plots ala Babylon 5; for others, it means cheesy Pulp plots ala Buck Rogers. To some people the existance of even a single piece of technology not currently believed to be possible equals total Rubber Science, and therefore all realism goes out the window; to others, it's possible to have a "mostly hard" tech level despite the existance of a handful (or more) of "impossible" technologies. Some people seem to regard Space Opera plots as being totally incompatible with "hard" science, and vice-versa. So it's important to define your terms.

[Talon]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

I've been thinking about running a sci-fi game, and it does seem like there's a daunting number of questions to be addressed. Unlike a fantasy game where there is a tendency to downplay the larger effects of magic on society, in sci-fi I at least want to do the opposite; given a set of technologies, what would combat/communications/travel/everything-else be like?

 

It's a bit scary!

[austenandrews]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

I find the genre is a bit forgiving if you don't plot out every last possible consequence of future technologies. Make sure to think through the details on your "marquee" tech (time travel, star drives, genetic manipulation, etc.). After that, just mention that people are working on applying other technologies to various purposes, but the engineering/economic issues haven't been solved yet. If your players aren't too anal, they should forgive the handwaving.

[Ranxerox]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

I've been thinking about running a sci-fi game, and it does seem like there's a daunting number of questions to be addressed. Unlike a fantasy game where there is a tendency to downplay the larger effects of magic on society, in sci-fi I at least want to do the opposite; given a set of technologies, what would combat/communications/travel/everything-else be like?

 

It's a bit scary!

 

No, it's a lot scary.

 

You will notice that in the entire of run of the Star Trek series they spent hardly any time at all on Federation worlds. IMHO, as much writing talent as went in to those series they still felt overwhelmed by the idea of trying to portray what it would be like live a normal life in the 23rd century. The idea of trying to come up with a credible view of fashion, slang, work, lifestyle, religion, marriage, technology, etc. for 2 or 3 hundred years into the future is just a bit much.

 

Unless you are extremely creative and have a huge amount of time on your hands, I suggest cheating on creating the setting. Either borrow (steal) a setting(s), or put the characters someplace isolated like a starship or remote colony world where they are out of contact with greater society. If you go the borrow route, you can make it seem fresh by using multiple sources and changing details. For example you might overlay a Star Trek government on a Star War's group of worlds and have them under attack by a Battlestar Galaxia style menance, and just for good measure change all the names.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Starting a SH campaign

 

No' date=' it's a lot scary. [/quote']

It's a good point, and perhaps that's part of the reason why so many SF campaigns wind up being based on existing fictional universes. Most modern-based campaigns are generally based on the real world, but with a handful of well-defined exceptions. Fantasy requires you to make up a lot more, but there's generally fewer expectations that it will all make sense. SF universe creation is more complicated.

 

On the other hand, a lot of "lifestyle" issues can generally be handwaved. Unless you're playing 23rd Century Everyman Hero, who cares what "normal" daily life looks like? Make up some backdrop material that supports the theme/tone you want to set, and treat the rest as close enough to modern day practices that it doesn't distract from the story. I always think of A Knight's Tale: Yeah, I'm fairly certain they didn't chant "We Will Rock You" at medieval jousts, but they likely had something that meant the same thing to them that WWRY does to us.

 

The main thing is figuring out the impacts of technology, since How Technology Affects Mankind is one of the central themes (arguably the central theme) of sci-fi as a whole. But most of this is simply a matter of thinking the problem through. Say you've got FTL travel but no FTL communications. (A model I particularly like, as the PCs can't just call Starfleet for orders whenever things get dicey.) OK, so how would that affect government? Well, if it takes weeks or months for the homeworld to send messages to the colonies, you might see a more decentralized government where directives from the central government are phrased in terms of intent and general concepts, and colonial governors have a great deal of authority to intepret those orders. Or you could go the other way, where the central government is trying to maintain a tight hold on the colonies, so it takes the colonial government three months to react to anything because they're afraid of exceeding their authority. Or a mix of both, where they are expected to use their discretion in some areas, but other decisions are tightly centralized. No solution is demonstrably more right than another IMO - it just depends on what kind of stories you want to tell.

[EvilDrPuma]

Re: Starting a SH campaign

 

The main thing is figuring out the impacts of technology' date=' since How Technology Affects Mankind is one of the central themes (arguably [i']the[/i] central theme) of sci-fi as a whole. But most of this is simply a matter of thinking the problem through. Say you've got FTL travel but no FTL communications. (A model I particularly like, as the PCs can't just call Starfleet for orders whenever things get dicey.) OK, so how would that affect government? Well, if it takes weeks or months for the homeworld to send messages to the colonies, you might see a more decentralized government where directives from the central government are phrased in terms of intent and general concepts, and colonial governors have a great deal of authority to intepret those orders. Or you could go the other way, where the central government is trying to maintain a tight hold on the colonies, so it takes the colonial government three months to react to anything because they're afraid of exceeding their authority. Or a mix of both, where they are expected to use their discretion in some areas, but other decisions are tightly centralized. No solution is demonstrably more right than another IMO - it just depends on what kind of stories you want to tell.

 

Good points. If you're going for a homebrew setting, it may ease some of the pain if you ask yourself at the outset what the two or three most important, world-changing technological changes are. This way, you can restrict yourself to a small set of basic issues (how rubbery is the science of these changes, and how many and how pervasive are their applications). FTL technologies are obvious examples, but the development of nanotech, biotech, energy production, and gravity manipulation are other areas with broad implications--the last two maybe influencing or influenced by FTL technology. Other technologies can be glossed (if you want man-portable laser weapons, maybe you can worry later about exactly how a small, highly-concentrated power source came about) or disallowed (you might decide that none of the core technological developments are likely to produce the power source for a man-portable laser, so slugthrowers or gauss firearms predominate).

 

Other than that, your big concern is not letting the technological handwavium become the whole of the game--decide what the opportunities for player-character social roles, adventuring opportunities, rewards, and mysteries/plot twists might be as you develop the technology and setting. It's easy to let the tech take over, and the urge has to be managed carefully.

[JohnTaber]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

It is very tough starting a sci-fi campaign. I actually ran an entire Champs campaign while I was working on my Star Hero. I wrestled with many of these questions. I did some things which helped my control some of these factors but I wanted to talk with you about something I did which had the most impact.

 

I created a detailed outline with answers to many of the questions you asked based on the immediate location of the PCs. I gave this to the PC a couple of WEEKS before the first session.

 

Re: Location. For example, in my game the PC started on an asteroid mining colony. Thus I had to do a lot of prep work around that factility, nearby space, local laws, politics, borders, tech, recent history, slang, etc but not a lot of information on other areas initially.

 

Re: Giving Material Early. That was a HUGE plus as in almost every case a player wanted knowledge about a certain thing. For example, one player wanted a psi. He worked up the idea then had questions about it. The two of us worked out details on the setting which was neat! The player also loved being involved in the process and ended up writing a very spiffy corporate backround for me.

 

I don't want to scare you but my current campaing doc is in something like it's 20 iteration and it tops 70 pages. You can get it on my site (the link is below). It keeps getting updated as we go along and folks ask questions. For example, last week one of the PC asked if there was psi dampening drugs. Ok...another paragraph added to the doc.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

These are just the kinds of questions I avoid. I tend to be slightly OC about the niggling little details, when I start worrying about them. It takes all the fun out of a campaign. So I asked myself just two questions; What do I want my campaign to feel like (I used, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Babylon 5 as possible candidates. You can choose whatever.)? Are there any resources I can adapt to be my own?

 

Star Trek was right out for me. Perhaps I could have made a decent para-military, exploration type game, but I prefer not to go that route. Star Wars was out, if only because the prequels kind of soured me on the whole thing. Babylon 5 seemed the best fit, but was too "top heavy" in characters. So a blend of Babylon 5 (for overall genre) and Star Wars (for the focus on individual characters outside of a strict military organization) seemed the best bet.

 

I considered both Alien Wars and Terran Empire, but my primary complaint was the lack of a detailed enough star map. Realizing that real space is being used, I tried building a star map on my own using the Gleise catalog and I spent more time obsessing over stupid little details that designing a

fun game world.

 

Looking around, Star Frontiers kind of fit the bill. It has a few alien races for flavor (if you like that sort of thing), tends to at least nod towards realism without letting it dominate the setting and is set in a non-real place. It also has a pretty neat little star map. So I advanced the tech just enough to add artificial gravity, which is relatively new and will serve as a gateway technology for newer innovation. I am going to try to keep the known worlds the same, but I am not letting that get in the way if I need to do something to make the world my own. Anyway, the details aren't too important for this discussion. Point is, I think that I have a good solid base to use to make a fun game and a relatively clear idea of how I want the universe to "feel."

[austenandrews]

Re: Starting a SH campaign

 

Other than that' date=' your big concern is not letting the technological handwavium become the whole of the game--decide what the opportunities for player-character social roles, adventuring opportunities, rewards, and mysteries/plot twists might be [i']as you develop[/i] the technology and setting. It's easy to let the tech take over, and the urge has to be managed carefully.

Very true. Always remember playability. You want your setting to be accessible to players. Like a reader of a SF story, a player is willing to accumulate a certain amount of random weirdness with the promise that it will be explained later. If you exceed that amount, you start to lose people. Especially for players who like their characters to be hotshot experts in some field or technology. (Of course you can alleviate this somewhat by having the PCs enter an unfamiliar setting. But that's only a temporary fix.)

 

Myself, I like to use technology to smooth over some of the problems inherent in RPGs. For instance I typically extrapolate some kind of instant, secure communications system, since in my groups PCs talking to one another is usually more of a logistical hassle than a plot hurdle. Another easy one is some flavor of "healing technology."

[JmOz]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

Okay, a few questions I already know the answers for

 

Inspirations: Star Wars, star Trek, Bab 5, Firefly/Serenity, Pirates of the Caribian (you heard me), my champions game, Andromeda, & MAYBE Earth Final conflict, nothing will be ported over directly except elements ot my Champions Game

 

Players: Will be the crew of a "free trader" vessel, operates under a letter of marque for a rebel group on the fringe of the galactic core. They also opperate as hustlers, thieves, smugglers, and when really desperate for a job, honest buisness men. They will start with a ship, that always needs repairs, money will be tight, etc...

 

The World: The inner core systems will be prosperous, but the farther you get out the less prospourous they are. Various aliens will exist, both as there own factions and part of the USA (The United Systems Assembly). The USA is not necesarily Evil, but there outer rim policies need revising. The territory they are in is according to the maps part of the USA, but is highly contested. Various port planets/asteroids/space stations exist, many flying one goverment's flag or another, with some being "Pirate" bases that don't fly any

 

Tech: FTL: Punch hole into hyperspace, pilot through hole, activate FTL drive (Uses different physics), punch new hole, leave Hyperspace. There are gates that are of strategic value that allows small ships to enter and leave hyperspace. The portal can be disrupted by high gravity so must be done outside of a Solar System. Weapon use is strongly discouraged onboard ships, special weapons are often used (Reduced Pen, Stun Only, Melee Weapons, etc...). Hyperspace communication is rare, usualy only via Gated systems.

 

PSI's: Are descriminated against, agency of them for the goverment rate and clasify them, it is a perk to be registered, a hunted if not, low power only for PC

 

Morality: Light Gray/grey: Depending on the players this can go as dark as they want, but starting off with a realitivly we are the good guys, they are the bad guys

 

Seriousness: Moderatly Light Hearted, lots of humor, action, and swashbuckling goodness

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

Inspirations: Star Wars' date=' star Trek, Bab 5, Firefly/Serenity, Pirates of the Caribian (you heard me), my champions game, Andromeda, & MAYBE Earth Final conflict, nothing will be ported over directly except elements ot my Champions Game[/quote']

That's quite a mix!

 

Sounds like a great start! A few questions come to mind, which you may or may not already know the answers to:

 

What's the map look like outside the USA? What are the other major & minor powers out there, and what are their relations like with the USA and each other?

 

You mentioned some alien races that are memebers of the USA - Were they conquered, absorbed, or joined of their own free will? Are they treated as equals, or second-class citizens? Are any of the other stellar powers multi-species, or is the USA fairly unique in that regard?

 

How fast is hypersapce travel? 10x light speed? 1000x? What kind of fuel do FTL ships use, and what is their typical operating range? Once you know those, how big and how widespread is the USA?

 

Related question: how expensive is FTL travel? Are Free Traders common or fairly rare? What kind of trade goods are typically shipped in interstellar trade? What kind are usually cheaper to grow at home than to import?

 

What makes hyperspace communications so rare? Is it a new technology? Does it depend on rare or difficult to produce materials? Or is it just expensive as bejesus?

[JmOz]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

That's quite a mix!

 

Sounds like a great start! A few questions come to mind, which you may or may not already know the answers to:

 

What's the map look like outside the USA? What are the other major & minor powers out there, and what are their relations like with the USA and each other?

 

You mentioned some alien races that are memebers of the USA - Were they conquered, absorbed, or joined of their own free will? Are they treated as equals, or second-class citizens? Are any of the other stellar powers multi-species, or is the USA fairly unique in that regard?

 

How fast is hypersapce travel? 10x light speed? 1000x? What kind of fuel do FTL ships use, and what is their typical operating range? Once you know those, how big and how widespread is the USA?

 

Related question: how expensive is FTL travel? Are Free Traders common or fairly rare? What kind of trade goods are typically shipped in interstellar trade? What kind are usually cheaper to grow at home than to import?

 

What makes hyperspace communications so rare? Is it a new technology? Does it depend on rare or difficult to produce materials? Or is it just expensive as bejesus?

 

 

Have not drawn up the map yet, but I have 3 races already planned, one is a reptilian race that has delt with my champions characters, a cat people, and at least one insectile (thinking of incorporating cybernetics into them)

 

Aliens in the USA are going to depend on what part you are in, therre will definatly be a humancentric view, but certain regions will be hostile, while others will be more cosmopolitan. Leagaly they are full citizens, but descrimination does happen. How they joined is going to be different per culture, some absorbed, some conquered, etc...

 

Most other societies will be single species, however I do see a couple "federations" where each world, or group of worlds, self govern, but assosiate for culture/trade/defence

 

FTL: About 1 lightyear a day seems reasonable for an average ship, some slower, some faster. The EDM portal is going to take ALOT of energy and space to generate, so only mid sized ships or larger CAN have one, while large ships will normaly have one. Once in hyperspace travel is relativly simple (once you learn the physics involved). This means that most ships will have 2 engines at the least a Hyperdrive and a sublight, with some ships having a HDP Device, others using gates

 

It is about as common as flying is today.

 

Freetraders are common in the outer territories, large conglomerments in the inner.

 

The way I see Hyper-Comm is that you need two active portals to communicate, while a hyper capable ship could conceivably open a gate, another gate has to be open or the ship has to be in hyper to receive the message, makes it rare

 

So the nebulas Portal, a Ship wants to talk to another ship, both would have to be at open portal sites to talk

[sinanju]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

No, it's a lot scary.

 

You will notice that in the entire of run of the Star Trek series they spent hardly any time at all on Federation worlds. IMHO, as much writing talent as went in to those series they still felt overwhelmed by the idea of trying to portray what it would be like live a normal life in the 23rd century. The idea of trying to come up with a credible view of fashion, slang, work, lifestyle, religion, marriage, technology, etc. for 2 or 3 hundred years into the future is just a bit much.

 

That's not entirely true. In the writer's guidelines for Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry explicitly said that writers were not to go into the details of life on Earth (or in the Federation in general). He wanted that part of the background to be as vague as possible, so that viewers could fill it in for themselves. If you wanted to assume your personal political view of perfection was the case...so it was.

[Ranxerox]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

That's not entirely true. In the writer's guidelines for Star Trek' date=' Gene Roddenberry explicitly said that writers were not to go into the details of life on Earth (or in the Federation in general). He wanted that part of the background to be as vague as possible, so that viewers could fill it in for themselves. If you wanted to assume your personal political view of perfection was the case...so it was.[/quote']

 

Well, that's practical since it was a TV show and therefore didn't want to say anything politically controversial that might scare advertisers. Still considering that Star Trek has pretty much turned into a religion (in some circles) and Gene Roddenberry has been awarded prophet status by its followers, it seems like a wimpy stand coming from a prophet.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

Pretty standard for a prophet to be vague about critical details, such as "heaven" etc.

[Curufea]

Re: Starting a SH campeign

 

As soon as you define it, you loose half your audience who have already made up their minds.

 

It's also the reason why I like monsters in monster movies to be hidden as much as possible. And why books and radioplays often have better pictures than tv shows or movies.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Starting a SH campaign

 

Well' date=' that's practical since it was a TV show and therefore didn't want to say anything politically controversial that might scare advertisers. [/quote']

Well, remember that Original Trek was quite progressive for its day, and not at all afraid to shy away from controversial topics. I remember reading some Roddenberry interview where he said that was one of the great things about sci-fi, is you could talk about controversial issues obliquely. That's another reason to stay away from Earth: you can "get away with" a lot talking about race relations on the planet Ork, but if you're talking about actual humans it's gets a little too close to home for some people.