You got magic in my scifi game!

~~agentdenton~~ · 07-15-2022, 12:09 PM

You can call it the force, psionics, mutant abilities, 'grokking' or whatever you want, if it's in a scifi game it's magic by another name.

I saw a thread about it on another site. Some people wanted nary an iota of it in their SF games, others asked about systems that did it right.

In my opinion, if you're going to have magic by another name, MBAN, in a sf game it should not eclipse or overshadow the science fiction parts. It should be fairly limited, have some sort of rationale and not just overwhelm technology.

So yes, by my definition here star wars is horrible. At first the force was limited. Sure vader could force choke a skeptic at close range, but he still had to climb in a fighter and use laser cannons to kill fighter ships.

Later palpatine could overpower an ENTIRE ARMADA OF SHIPS with just his force power. (I don't wanna hear about the 'diadumb' thing)

That is a really bad way to put magic in a scifi game as it basically dominates the game utterly.

Traveller had psionics, but they were not game breaking and could be countered by technical means. Ok

My current game, BL23C 7E, has 'matrix powers ' that are built in to 3 of the 12 races, each race has a serious nerf to it and low level powers are quite weak. Yes a matrix user can level up up and away to more potent abilities in time, but the non users can buy better armor, Shields, weapons, equipment and increase their skills, so a matrix user can't dominate a player group.

In the game matrix use has a type of explanation, one of the oldest races in the universe evolved on a planet with extremely high radiation levels and developed the ability to feed on and manipulate radiation as a survival necessity. It's possible this race genetically engineered matrix powers in two other races for it's own purposes.

Maximum level matrix power can destroy planets or whole sectors of space, yes, and are beyond a PC to ever reach. They make great plot devices.

If you run a scifi game what do you think of MBAN? None at all, some limited stuff, equal to technology or full on unstoppable force?

07-15-2022, 12:09 PM	#1
~~agentdenton~~ Banned Join Date: Jul 2022	You got magic in my scifi game! You can call it the force, psionics, mutant abilities, 'grokking' or whatever you want, if it's in a scifi game it's magic by another name. I saw a thread about it on another site. Some people wanted nary an iota of it in their SF games, others asked about systems that did it right. In my opinion, if you're going to have magic by another name, MBAN, in a sf game it should not eclipse or overshadow the science fiction parts. It should be fairly limited, have some sort of rationale and not just overwhelm technology. So yes, by my definition here star wars is horrible. At first the force was limited. Sure vader could force choke a skeptic at close range, but he still had to climb in a fighter and use laser cannons to kill fighter ships. Later palpatine could overpower an ENTIRE ARMADA OF SHIPS with just his force power. (I don't wanna hear about the 'diadumb' thing) That is a really bad way to put magic in a scifi game as it basically dominates the game utterly. Traveller had psionics, but they were not game breaking and could be countered by technical means. Ok My current game, BL23C 7E, has 'matrix powers ' that are built in to 3 of the 12 races, each race has a serious nerf to it and low level powers are quite weak. Yes a matrix user can level up up and away to more potent abilities in time, but the non users can buy better armor, Shields, weapons, equipment and increase their skills, so a matrix user can't dominate a player group. In the game matrix use has a type of explanation, one of the oldest races in the universe evolved on a planet with extremely high radiation levels and developed the ability to feed on and manipulate radiation as a survival necessity. It's possible this race genetically engineered matrix powers in two other races for it's own purposes. Maximum level matrix power can destroy planets or whole sectors of space, yes, and are beyond a PC to ever reach. They make great plot devices. If you run a scifi game what do you think of MBAN? None at all, some limited stuff, equal to technology or full on unstoppable force? Last edited by agentdenton; 07-15-2022 at 12:13 PM.