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Old 03-09-2019, 06:00 PM   #1
Astromancer
 
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Default Magic in Space Opera

Basically, what does the forum think about straight up magic in Space Opera?

Early Space Opera like 1920s and 30s Sword and Sorcery rarely had anything like a hard and fast distinction between Psi powers and magic. C.L. Moore's Northwest Smith often faced off against creatures right out of Lovecraft. And Lovecraft's creatures often made little distinction between the alien and the supernatural, at least normally, there were exceptions. Even as late as Dune the women who became the Bene Gessert were described as sorceresses. This isn't to say Hard Sci Fi can't be Space Opera, I've certainly read Hard Sci Fi that was wonderful Space Opera. I'm just saying Magic has been in Space Opera at least since Flash Gordon.

So, what do you think of magic in a space opera game?

If I took the rules of Aeon and replaced the Psions and Novas with Mage: the Ascension Mages and Scions from that game? Would it work? I refer less to mechanics than to aesthetics.

If I took a GURPS campaign that was basically Traveller with the serial numbers filed off and added the Cabal as the ancient conspiracy that has always been there since before the pharaohs, would it strike the forums as gouache?

Please share your reactions and experiences.
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Last edited by Astromancer; 03-09-2019 at 06:51 PM.
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Old 03-09-2019, 06:06 PM   #2
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Basically, what does the forum think about straight up magic in Space Opera?
It's called Psionics or The Force in newer stuff. It's still magic.
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Old 03-09-2019, 06:40 PM   #3
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

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It's called Psionics or The Force in newer stuff. It's still magic.
The Force is more than 40 years old now. That's not "newer" stuff.

As a literary trend adding straight up magic to Space Opera is what all the cool kids seem to be doing. Starship's Mage by Glynn Stwart is the series I'm most involved with. It's quite well written and plotted though it could use a run through with Spaceships to get scaling better.

It could be redressed as psi (perhaps something like Anne McCaffrey's Tower series) but it's definitely done as magic with silver runes carved into things all over the place.

Of course Witches of Karres is more thna 50 years old and it's probably more like magic than psi.

As for gaming things regular Gurps Magic is a natural with spells like Draw Power.
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Old 03-09-2019, 11:57 PM   #4
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

I think magic with a supernatural/spiritual feel fits better with technology that is vague, hand wavy, and/or "lost", perhaps driven or aided by said magic in many cases (FTL etc), e.g. 40K.

Magic wrapped in technobabble fits better with technology with a harder surface, e.g. Mass Effect.
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Old 03-10-2019, 04:18 AM   #5
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

If you're into it and your players like the idea, I see no problem with it.

We had great fun with magic in our Infinite Worlds campaign. In our IW, mana was generated by stellar radiation- M-Rays. The wizard in the campaign spent some time on Homeline and found that there was a filter placed around the globe by some unknown agency. Over time, there were breaches that allowed M-Rays to pass through, thus creating a few low mana areas. The overall idea was sound enough for the players to roll with.

In a space opera campaign, magic can be explained as psionics or The Force or even an advanced science/technology that utilizes previously undiscovered energetic sources.

With the above in mind, there are a few things I've considered and still have not settled on:

Would different stars have different radiation signatures that would make it difficult or even impossible for a wizard from another world to utilize?

Would there be weird effects?

Could powerful archmages adapt or would they have to learn a new form of mana manipulation from scratch?

Would powerstones or advantages like Energy Reserve (Magic) or Mana Enhancer work differently or even work at all in an exotic/alien environment?

What about deep space? How would this form of magic work there?

Also, I'm having trouble figuring out how the Astral Planes would work in an interstellar setting.

These are issues that I feel compelled to settle in a space opera with magic campaign, which, funny enough, I am developing as we speak. I'm leaning toward the Rule of Cool, but I'd like to have at least a few viable/playable explanations.

So yeah, I'd say dig in. I'd love to see what you come up with.
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Old 03-10-2019, 07:01 AM   #6
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Basically, what does the forum think about straight up magic in Space Opera?
Which kind? Magic as powers works just fine - it's more usual to label it as "psionics" or "mutations", but same thing. Ritual Path Magic having been written with half an eye on looking like traditional magic systems tends to fit into even pretty realistic settings. The "standard" GURPS Fantasy derived magic system, I dunno, it tends to feel off to me in anything but D&D style fantasy settings.

Quote:
If I took a GURPS campaign that was basically Traveller with the serial numbers filed off and added the Cabal as the ancient conspiracy that has always been there since before the pharaohs, would it strike the forums as gouache?
No more than any other ancient hidden conspiracy. I'd personally hate it, but for that, not for anything to do with the *magic* part.
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Old 03-10-2019, 09:17 AM   #7
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

The combination is not unknown. It's not an RPG, but the board game Shadowlord! was all about cosmic magic and space battles.
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Old 03-10-2019, 10:43 AM   #8
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

The trick with this kind of setting is to have the supernatural abilities operating in a complimentary manner to the technology. D&D-like magic might compete with personal weapons, but it can't with battleship weapons. So use magic for things that technology doesn't do so well, like pulling information out of nowhere, or changing people's minds, and as a source of surprises.
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Old 03-10-2019, 10:43 AM   #9
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

In the MCU, you've got a crossover between Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange, so there's that.
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Old 03-10-2019, 11:02 AM   #10
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Magic in Space Opera

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s. So use magic for things that technology doesn't do so well,
In the Starship's Mage universe the science and technology are relatively hard and what magic does is provide the rubber "science".

So FTL is provided by mage-powered but mechanically augmented teleportation of a light-year at a time. Artifical gravity and all that antimatter they keep trying to blow each other up with too.
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