Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
I grant that as an argument for disbelieving in utopias in the real world. But I don't see that it invalidates utopia as a fictional premise. There are very practical reasons that FTL, or immortal beings, or postscarcity societies can't exist in the real world, but people still write fiction about them, and play games set in worlds that have them.
The point of my comments wasn't at all about the unworkability of fictional utopias, but about the literary difficulties in running a campaign set in a utopia, which is quite a different issue and one that even an outright fantasist must face.
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You already know this, Bill, but to offer a suggestion to the OP, probably the most well-known version of this idea appeared in Star Trek: TNG. Gene Roddenberry quite frankly acknowledged that series as his take on
The Republic in space.
Picard represented intellect in command of the self; Riker the "will" to act ("thumos"); and Troi the compassion for others, as well as the exercise of healthy appetites so as to maintain physical and emotional well-being.
In many ways, a lot of the stories had as common themes the conflicts between sane and balanced people with those of unbalanced minds.
Klingons represented personalities in which thumos ruled over intellect, and created a race driven by violence. The Ferengi represented personalities enslaved to their own appetites.
Other races represented different mindsets and philosophies Roddenberry considered terribly flawed in ways that caused harm to others.
While Star Trek isn't great science fiction (and only barely adequate space opera), as an examination of modern issues in which conflict is driven by widely varied (and sometimes irrational) world-views, the show is tough to beat.
For a campaign such as this, the OP might want to think in terms of such metaphors, and look to Star Trek for ideas.