Vote up a Space Opera

[ericthered]

I am stealing this idea from a different forum and seeing if it works here:

Vote up a Space opera:
The idea behind this is to create a Space Opera that works well with gurps: in other words, It doesn't need too much conversion. However, there are lots of things to a setting besides just what rules are being used. I don't trust myself to make something truely generic (I think weird), so I will be asking the questions here, and the setting will be yours, with the charactaristics you decide.

At any given point there will be a number of questions open for voting. feel free to place votes on them, encourage people to vote your way, and suggest options that I really should have thought of (or are just that awesome).

In cases of ties and heavy feeling towards a direction, I will interpret the will of the forum.

Voting Open on:

Voting closed on:
Which aliens are around? Humanoid Non-Humanoid Human
Weapon descisions
Which Aliens dominate? Humans, Yriol, Ashur, Brain Slugs, Melnat
TL: 9, with super science exceptions.
racial holdings: about 100 world, and a 30% overlap with other species.
Population in Space 10% in space, cities orbit planets
Psionic Demographics
Hyper Space Layers
Racial Unity: Most planets are independent, but they band together to form factions
ship size and cost: RAW in Spaceships.
Time Frame: 375 years from now
Edges of Civilization
Super Science
Bio-Tech: Medical++, Aliens get engineering
Nano-Tech: closed environment
AI and Computers:Retro-tech+unimaginative AI
Cybertech: Physical Only, extends Gear and replaces limbs
Armor:Light Armor is common, Battle suits are vehicles, not armor
Precursors:Disapeared and left Tech... we think
How many Aliens : 5 important, 7-10 starfish, and numerous others.
Habitable world Density: 450 ly between planets
How does nation and species relate?:Races form cultures and nations, though others join in.
What Type of FTL travel? : Hyperdrive
HyperSpace Questions! : answers here
How dominant is humanity?: A Considerable Power, but bigger fish are out there
How long does it take to travel between close Worlds: An average of 8 days

[ericthered]

FTL travel:
for this each person will receive 3 votes: one worth 3, one worth 2, and one worth 1. You cannot place two votes on one item. The highest one wins. Yes, these come from G:Space.

Also please vote how many of these options we want to use.

options:

Hyper Drive:
Tachyon Drive:
Hyper Sail:
Warp Drive:
Inertialess Drive:
Blink Warp Drive:
Space Highways:
Wormhole Drive:
Jump Drive:
Probability Drive:
WormGate Network:

my vote is HyperDrive (3), Space Highways (2), HyperSail (1) with 1 option chosen.

[vicky_molokh]

FTL: (See expanded vote in new post)
Hyperspace, sort of like Babylon 5, though slightly more forgiving. Beacons provide huge bonuses to Navigation, but you can sort of do it without (slowly). Small ships unlikely to have own hyperspace entry generator, and use gates (B5).

Humanity: A civilisation with a moderate domination. There are several other, related (how closely related?) humanoid species in the galaxy, but there are many levels of alien weirdness, from funny foreheads to starfish aliens. Think Star Control II.

Travel to new worlds:
Moderately hard. A new world discovery is not something that makes or breaks fortunes, but it is a news, sometimes profitable ones. The current starmaps contain many discovered-but-unused worlds, but those are not an easy source of instant income of any sort.

[Techpriest Vesper]

Just a side note to this... I am SUPER digging James Corey's Leviatahn Wakes and the second one Calibans Expanse (third one in the works)...

Anyway it takes place just in our solar system and is still pretty darn cinematicly space opera.

But then I am also a big fan of old space opera so...

What Type of FTL travel? I like Hyperspace Drives or Jump Drives as I don't want to mix warping with space combat.

How dominant is humanity? I think they should be fairly common but not the dominate race (no one race is). I hate to admit I am a fan of the old Space Opera setting from FGU... I loved the idea of Transhumans, Uroid, and Feline species. I don't know why I just do. They are super un-realistic but IMO super fun

How hard is it to travel to new worlds? Should be fairly easy, at least to get to ones that are nearby. Maybe the known worlds takes 2 years to get across but getting to a nearby world should not take more then a week or so.

[Techpriest Vesper]

Originally Posted by ericthered

FTL travel:
for this each person will receive 3 votes: one worth 3, one worth 2, and one worth 1.

options:

Hyper Drive:
Tachyon Drive:
Hyper Sail:
Warp Drive:
Inertialess Drive:
Blink Warp Drive:
Space Highways:
Wormhole Drive:
Jump Drive:
Probability Drive:
WormGate Network:

My votes Hyper Drive (3), Blink Warp Drive (2) and Space Highways (1)

[Purple Haze]

I think what you need to do is decide on a time scale for moving from scene to scene and act to act.

You want it so that the characters must solve a problem before moving on, without flitting about or backtracking. Yet be able to reach the farthest points imaginable.

Perhaps several weeks/a few months for a minor change in location, a year for a major one, ten years to circumnavigate known space.

[ericthered]

Dominance of Humanity

This is how Powerful humanity is, not how prevalent. I will give examples of settings that I think are at the level given. These aren't neccessarily space opera, but they are sci-fi.

2 votes each, one at 2 points, and one at 1.

Options:

Humanity is alone:
Humanity owns the stars( road not taken):
Humanity is dominant in space (star wars):
Humanity is the first among several competitive powers:
Humanity is equal to many others (star trek, old man's war)
Humanity is a minor or junior power (Mass effect):
Humanity is a set of upstarts (early SG, Uplift universe):
Humanity is irrelevant: (UFO sightings, Hitchhiker universe):

I vote minor power (2) and equal to others (1)

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by ericthered

FTL travel:
for this each person will receive 3 votes: one worth 3, one worth 2, and one worth 1. You cannot place two votes on one item. The highest one wins. Yes, these come from G:Space.

Also please vote how many of these options we want to use.

options:

Hyper Drive:
Tachyon Drive:
Hyper Sail:
Warp Drive:
Inertialess Drive:
Blink Warp Drive:
Space Highways:
Wormhole Drive:
Jump Drive:
Probability Drive:
WormGate Network:

my vote is HyperDrive (3), Space Highways (2), HyperSail (1) with 1 option chosen.

My vote is
HyperDrive (3), preferably with moderate restrictions on where HS can be entered or exited (e.g. enter no closer than a certain calculable distance from a stellar body, and exit no closer than this distance to it).

Space Highways/'currents' (1) if and only if they are changing over time and are directional (making hyperspace more fun).

I would like to place my (2) vote on NOT Choke-Point Gates. As in, no EVE-style gate blockades - the gates should not be the only possible way to go FTL for dedicated ships; for small ships, sure; but please no 'only one gate leads here'.

[ericthered]

Time to habitable Planets

2 votes of equal strength.

This is not the time between planets, but the time between habitable planets, and this choice will have a major effect:

options:

Months to closest :
Weeks to closest :
Days to closest :
24 hours to several Planets:
6 hours to several Planets:
1 hour to several Planets:

I vote for Days to closest and 6 hours to several planets

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Dominance of Humanity

This is how Powerful humanity is, not how prevalent. I will give examples of settings that I think are at the level given. These aren't neccessarily space opera, but they are sci-fi.

2 votes each, one at 2 points, and one at 1.

Options:

Humanity owns the stars(lens man, road not taken):
Humanity is dominant in space (star wars):
Humanity is the first among several competitive powers:
Humanity is equal to many others (star trek, old man's war)
Humanity is a minor or junior power (Mass effect):
Humanity is a set of upstarts (early SG, Uplift universe):
Humanity is irrelevant: (UFO sightings, Hitchhiker universe):

I vote minor power (2) and equal to others (1)

Equal Among Many (2) or Minor/Junior (1). Doesn't really matter much which of the two. I'm prioritising mostly to follow the rules.