Space Opera Box set Ideas

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

Similarly with spaceships, I would highly recommend using GURPS Spaceships rules to design the spaceships and provide maybe a dozen various ships for use (Free Traders, Pirate Corsair, Patrol Frigate, Patrol Scout, etc), but the Space Opera box set should *NOT* include the spaceship design system.

I think there's possibility for a middle ground here. There are still players who enjoy building starships and find that kind of thing nostalgic, it just doesn't have to be at Spaceships' level of genericness.

As a genre treatment, most of the design switches would be stuck on a particular value- especially TL, but also drive type, superscience level and general scientific "hardness", which would simplify things a great deal. Then focus more on "fluff" options- instead of just Standard or Hot Reactionless Drives, add cost, performance and reliability modifiers for different flavours of drive, such as military surplus, junkyard scrap, cutting edge or shiny bling. This could probably be done much the same way DF does with Cost Factors.

[JMason]

Well, the little bits of information I've heard about David Pulver's space setting interest me. I think the focus is on a sand-box game with trading, exploration, etc. In fact I get a Traveller when it was more frame work than setting, vibe from it. And that's exactly what I think a GURPS Space boxed set should be!

[The Cardinal]

If we go by the established pdf lines, then "Space Opera" is more like "Action" and "After the End", i.e. a wide variety of characters experiencing a broad spectrum of adventures in a certain kind of setting. "Dungeon Fantasy" OTOH is more like "Monster Hunters", i.e. certain character types experiencing a very goal-oriented type of adventures in a setting which is also largely defined by the tasks it presents (dungeons filled with monsters, traps, and treasures in a world with spell-magic and tolkienesque races / supernatural monsters from myth and movies hiding & hunting in *our* modern world).

So I guess a Space Opera box should cover all kinds of professions - from rogue-ish smugglers & rebels to space marines, psionic martial artists, scientists, explorers, colonists, and space cops - all in a *vast* galactic setting with lots of unexplored, law-less or forgotten sectors. Throw in half-a-dozen sentient alien races, some progenitor relics, a few competing federations, empires, and "wild frontiers" - and you're done.

[Phantasm]

Allow me to toss in my vote for a GURPS Psi-Wars boxed set from Mailanka.

Pros: It's well-developed enough to be playable for those that like the Star Wars paradigm, it's not just "Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off" in many respects (Psi-Wars' psionics don't come with "dark side taint", f'rex). It's detailed enough to be playable while leaving a lot open for development by GMs and player groups.

Cons: Mailanka would be giving up the rights to the setting to SJGames, unless there's wording in the contract allowing him to retain the ability to port the setting to other systems on his own.


I once made up a bunch of ships for a space opera setting using Spaceships, taking inspiration from Star Wars, later Wing Commander games, and in one case Star Trek, and offer them as possible inclusions to our hypothetical Psi-Wars boxed set.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by whswhs

When I'm talking with my players, I say "mission statement."

I think this is workable.
Have a Missions chapter with different sections for each mission type. Some examples would be To Boldly Go (Star mapping, Exploration); Explore New Worlds (First In); Defend the Republic (Military); To Protect and Serve (Star cops), etc.

I think enough templates could exist to cover a good variety of options.
However I have a question. What about templates with Lens?
Say a Crewman profession template with job lens such as Gunner, Officer, Marine, Captain, Pilot, Engineer, etc.
Too complicated? I would like level 25 templates that could be stacked so each takes 2 that way you could have a Captain Lens. Too much?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by JMason

Well, the little bits of information I've heard about David Pulver's space setting interest me. I think the focus is on a sand-box game with trading, exploration, etc. In fact I get a Traveller when it was more frame work than setting, vibe from it. And that's exactly what I think a GURPS Space boxed set should be!

If that's what you've come to understand about David's game . . . then I've done my job right. :-)

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I think this is workable.
Have a Missions chapter with different sections for each mission type. Some examples would be To Boldly Go (Star mapping, Exploration); Explore New Worlds (First In); Defend the Republic (Military); To Protect and Serve (Star cops), etc.

I think enough templates could exist to cover a good variety of options.
However I have a question. What about templates with Lens?
Say a Crewman profession template with job lens such as Gunner, Officer, Marine, Captain, Pilot, Engineer, etc.
Too complicated? I would like level 25 templates that could be stacked so each takes 2 that way you could have a Captain Lens. Too much?

Personally I think lenses would defiantly be the way to go, especially if you want to offer more than one Campaign Activity in the set. For starters, the primary difference between a Scout, Star Cop, and Navy Crew is largely going to be through a Service & vocational lens covering Patron, Legal Powers, and a few skill subsets. With a proper set of motivational lenses you can even fit Space Pirate into the mix as an option. So a set of lenses allowing the basic "Starship Crew" templates to fit a variety of roles makes sense to me.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by robkelk

Is there some reason we shouldn't use the existing space opera setting, GURPS Tales of the Solar Patrol? Why re-invent the wheel?

There's already been a couple good responses to this, but I did want to add that I really liked Tales of the Solar Patrol. The artwork and vibe hit on all cylinders and I think it was a terrific book that did a good job of connecting with the golden age sci-fi material like John Carter or Flash Gordon. I would want a Space Opera box set to have that same kind of vibe with its artwork and tone, much like the DFRPG has.

However, the setting is just too limited an appeal. Most people think star hopping or galaxy spanning when they think Space Opera, not Venutians stealing our women and Martians waging war on us. A hypothetical Space Opera box set needs to have both a broader scope and a less restricted setting.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Then focus more on "fluff" options- instead of just Standard or Hot Reactionless Drives, add cost, performance and reliability modifiers for different flavours of drive, such as military surplus, junkyard scrap, cutting edge or shiny bling. This could probably be done much the same way DF does with Cost Factors.

I didn't say that rules for ship customization couldn't be included, just that the entire design system is already available in it's own - relatively cheap - book. I think most of what you're talking about could be done by offering variant spaceships (A "Fast" Corsair or an "Armed" Free Trader) or some simple customization rules:

Upgrade to Hot Reactionless for $1M
Upgrade to Super-FTL for $10M, uses 2 Power Points instead of 1 power point.
Upgrade to Heavy Force Screen for $8M; provides double dDR if 2 power points are applied instead of 1 power point.
Add a Stealth Hull for $2M and/or Dynamic Chameleon for $1M
Swap a Cargo Hold for one of the following:
-Weapon Turret, $2M, uses 1 Power Point if Beam Weapon
-Cloaking Device, $10M, uses 1 Power Point
-Passenger Cabins, $0.2M

etc, etc, etc. Then throw in a few other switches, such as the Ship Quality modifiers from Spaceships 2, p. 27. But none of that really requires porting over the entire design system from GURPS Spaceships.

[sir_pudding]

Noting that the Halo license is available again.