Quote:
Originally Posted by awarnock
I think we went a little off topic there.
Okay, so the problem isn't so much a lack of setting as a lack of standard assumptions from what several have said. Perhaps we can come up with one or two things that many protagonists in space opera works do. I'm familiar with Star Wars and Star Trek, and there are some similarities in what protagonists in both do. What about other entries in the genre?
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Well, let's see:
Investigate the Precursors. (Any number of examples.)
Win vast conflicts through clever politicking. (Cherryh's Merchanter Universe, esp. the Chanur books.)
Take over the Universe, or, at least, become the biggest bad-ass around. (Bio of a Space Tyrant, Well of Souls)
Save humanity (Interstellar, the Childe Cycle)
Space Operas feature large-scale conflicts in which the protagonists grow to play a key -- or at least, significant -- role. The problem is, there are all sorts of potential vast conflicts, and all sorts of ways to resolve them, and space opera stories have covered hundreds of different combinations. We can't do
any of them justice if you try to cover
all possibilities in a single boxed set.
So, we've gotta pick something -- a great hook to reel people in.
So, what does that look like?
Well, the characters have to be readily identifiable with traits and skills easy to understand, intuitively:
* Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh basically start out as an "odd couple" of decent chaps in a what is, essentially, a "buddy" story.
* Riddick's the bad-ass you always wanted to be.
* Pyanfar Chanur is a good woman who's just trying to take care of her people.
* Starbuck is either the charming, irrepressible younger brother you can't help but like, or she's the raucous, crazy party girl who's Braver than You, up for anything and
always calls your bluff.
* Joe Cooper is a loving father who just wants to do what's best for his family, and Amelia Brand is the smart, pretty, over-achieving nerd-girl who wants somebody to love.
* The crew of the Rocinante are the honest, hard-working people you've known at any number of jobs.
Then, you have to get them pulled (usually, kicking and screaming) into vast, complex, Terribly Significant events.
So, the Space Opera needs a set of templates for soldiers, pilots, independent merchants, roustabouts, nosy scientists, hookers with hearts of gold, talented mechanics, brilliant engineers, precocious youngsters, bored rich girls looking for a purpose, freelance journalists, space cowboy generalists, stubborn princesses, and farmboys with tremendous potential. It would help if at least some of them were sensuous cat-girls and snarky talking raccoons.
Then, you need a "framework" that gives busy GMs,
who don't want to have to build an entire setting from scratch, the ability to create a campaign with any number of things to do in a vast, sprawling universe where, somehow, the PCs are supposed to make all the difference.
Personally, I think that's a tall order.
Personally, I think we'd be much better off creating as compelling a basic setting as possible with only one or two fun things to start off doing. Present those activities in a well-illustrated set of connected modules that feature
good maps and deck-plans, which SJ Games can expand upon, later, if it sells well.
Throw in a dozen, or so, templates that would work with the modules, print it up, and find a distributor to put it in book stores, toy shops, and last few game stores that still exist. Cross your fingers.