sup /tg/ who's up for creating a setting? A soft-scifi space opera, more specifically
some ground rules so this isn't absolute anarchy and ends up rather playable:
>Space Opera heavy in political play and 1-to-1 combats (not that space warfare and such should be ignored, of course)
>No aliens. Unless it's as deep space legends or something like that.
>FTL travel is commonplace
>the word of dubs is always truth (unless it contradicts an earlier dubs)
let's start with time: does it take place at the relative beginning of space colonization or long after that, when Earth is forgotten/not as important except as a symbolic cradle? After that we can start establishing the sovereign nations/empires/entities/cultural forces/etc. Let's do this shit
>>47208711
Space opera is not soft science fiction, it is fantasy wrapped in science fiction tropes and themes.
>>47208946
Yeah, that. Let's.
Okay, who do you want to govern? Kings, emperors, a democratic federation? These are usually really important for space operas. I'm more fond of a loose collection of kings and nobles answering to a higher emperor a la Dune myself.
>>47209032
Spess Feudalism is fun. We can do that.
>>47209032
I like this, feudal space baronies and maybe a trader republic?
>>47209032
How about a confederacy?
>>47209113
I always saw either Fuedalism or Corporatism as the most logical extension of far flung life in spess.
I keep churning around a Fuedal Corporatist setting in my head where Kings are CEOs ruling planets as their companies in the greater Corporate System. Executives are trained from birth, usually with advanced learning software and memetic technology, as well as being genetically augmented to be superior to common workers.
>>47209172
Interesting. To better fit the corporate environment, maybe the ruling Emperor/Empress would have an "Appointed Heir" between their children, choosing the most competent one. That would of course create great competition among siblings trying to impress their parents and show they deserve to be heirs... In the process, creating some pretty mentally fucked up people.
Oh, I forgot to ask: Psionics/Biotics, y/n?
>>47209256
what are the differences between them?
>>47209256
I'd rather have Psionics/Biotics in the realm of the alien or the genetically engineered.
>>47209256
Biotics are just shitty totally-not-magic-we-swear. Fuck that, if we're having silly space wizards let's just call them that.
Psionics I can live with but honestly I'd just rather keep the setting tech-only.
>>47209256
>the children will engineer crises for them to solve just to prove they're the most worthy
>sometimes it goes out of their control and they start fighting among each other because they don't want the others to seem more competent
>>47209113
>>47209146
I'm really into there being major dynasties and houses as players in the political scenario. Like the Harkonnen and Atreides stuff, or space-asoiaf.
But also, I think there's space (lel) enough for there to be a rather big democratic federation as some sort of outsider, a menace to the dynasties' power by sheer force of existing and people in the imperial planets knowing that they do. However, I don't think the empire would be very strict in civil rights anyway.
>>47209304
mind powers type people.
>>47209344
I'm partial to Tech-only, too. But if someone comes up with something interesting I think it's worth having them
>>47209316
do tell!
>>47209362
the amount of children King Thomas III lost in mysterious accidents, let me tell you...
>>47209397
Well, I think of Psionics as being like from System Shock. It was the monkeys made part of an organic hive mind that would blast mental energy at you, and I feel like even if it happens to humans, it should still come from as alien and scary a source as The Many.
As for the democratic federation, can I ask what the difference is between a federation and a confederacy?
>>47209397
>>47209256
>>47209172
So if we're having Corporate Barons, how about the outsider faction being Space Commies?
>>47209483
wouldn't they just be barrons
>>47209256
I would say instead of flashy telekinetic stuff go with the telepathy / sixth sense angle.
Like, something similar to how Pilgrims in Wing Commander and their space travel savant shit, practical and innate capabilities that could be inherited traits.
>>47209344
Dubs. Setting will be Tech-only. Problem is, what defines Tech?
Suggestion for an outsider faction/cult: a cloud of consciences meshed together, resulting in a sort of hyperbrain collective made of pure data that experiences all people whose bodies joined The Cloud. They are a political force simply because having a single conscience in a few thousand bodies makes for perfect spies. Or should we scrap it for being too overpower/cyberpunk-y?
>>47209483
Even Space Republicans would be an existential menace to those empires. "I'm saving money to move to the Free Territories, ma!" "There ain't such a thing, you brat! It's a myth!"
(or would news travel fast enough for everybody to know of the existence of everybody else?)
>>47209603
someone would have invented a galactic communications network to increase the speed and scale of trade
>>47209603
>would news travel fast enough for everybody to know of the existence of everybody else
Wouldn't this be an issue of how long have humans been colonising and / so how broad a distance are they spread out over?
Consider how small the earth is, and look at how much variation even those distances have caused.
>>47208711
Undercuts and sidecuts are fashionable in this universe, though seen as hoodlum/space pirate/poor folk haircut.
Tattoos, on the other hand, are super high noble shit in some circles. Dubs get!
>>47209603
Information could be controlled, even if there is fast-travelling news. Some info just might not get through.
But if one of the main outsider factions is a giant Data Cloud, then it might make sense for there to be no communication faster than you can carry a message on a spaceship. Otherwise, the Cloud might just take over by email.
>>47209517
They could be their own thing. The leaders of the communist revolt gained access to advanced genetic engineering tech and managed to free their devoted followers from emotions like envy and jealousy. Following the success, they proceeded to administer the same treatment to less willing subjects. Now they slightly resemble a collectivist beehive, just enough to be unsettling. They have some support among the impoverished masses who don't quite know how the whole thing works and buy into the equality slogans. And since the commies are actually doing what they're supposed to ideologically, they're efficient enough to pose a serious threat.
Getting late where I live, have to go sleep. Could someone else try to mediate the thread and establish some more basic setting info, please? How are we with:
>How long has it been since colonization of Space began?
>What are the main political players in the current galactic scenario? Any recent/ongoing wars?
If you're interested in the roots and bolts of space opera, interesting article here http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/05/redefining-space-operas/
>>47209761
200-400 years of colonization
>possible factions
corporate feudalists
commie hive mind
republic
>>47209816
Share it with the science-fiction discussion on >>>/lit/. We need more cross-board interaction.
>>47209761
I vote for
>so long ago that people have forgotten that they ever came from a single planet
and
>the feudal rulers fight each other constantly, in part to keep their militaries practiced for the next major war with the alien factions. Currently there's a 3 part war between a faction that focuses on sabotage and spycraft (centered on a permanently daytime desert planet), a faction that manages mercenary groups centered on a breadbasket world, and a faction that focuses on economics and wealth. The other factions are taking bets and making supply deals with these factions and watching the fallout.
The chinese empire is somehow back at being a thing. They are now a corporate monarchy (with the Assigned Heirs and all), and they rule the Artificial-Gravity-Generating-Unobtanium market. An ultra-slim layer of the stuff, grinded into a purple powder and added to the composition of the (otherwise steel) tiles on a ship's floor, is what generates the artificial gravity.
(their being the Chinese Empire is just something ludicrous I put in there in case of this being dubs tbqh, could be any empire/noble house)
>>47210026
how about the government is still somewhat the same as the imperial dynasties but merchant families fight for the right to monopolies
>>47209761
>How long has it been since colonization of Space began?
So long that Earth is now home to less than 5 billion people. However, most if not all factions would seize control of it given the opportunity, for its symbolic importance as the birthplace of humanity. It's Jerusalem all over again.
>>47210026
Only if Kung Fu will be the main method of combat
>>47210094
The entire army is Boxers. And their techniques actually do what they claim.
>>47210026
>>47210094
>>47210104
any of you guys heard of the kingdom of heaven
>>47210104
You know, I'm game for a wuxia space opera. Has it been done before?
>>47209761
There is a collection of highly wealthy merchant republics situated on the outer rim of the neo-Chinese empire; they don't have access to the same resources as the empire due to their small size in comparison, but they are a hub for trade and innovation.
There was recently a massive war between the empire and the commie hive mind, started when the communist hive mind tried to expand into imperial territory, it resulted in a stalemate between the to powers but tensions are still high and border skirmishes are common.
>>47208711
This setting needs more philosophy.
>>47208711
I've always wanted a space opera/sci-fi setting that is a bit more accurate to what we really know about space.
First off, no FTL travel. Going at the speed of light is impossible; making localized wormholes is more plausible.
No combat in space either. Or if there was combat it would be very slow and tactical.
Give your planets a wide variety of climates and terrain. Even Mars (a real life desert planet) has polar regions, caves, and mountains.
And don't make an entire alien species with the same personality. "this race is all warriors" "this race is all merchants" etc. Aliens should be just as varied in occupations and attitudes as humans.
>>47211255
We've already established there's little to no aliens, at least so far.
I like the wormhole idea - maybe we can make stargates or something like that? Otherwise, there'd just be no point to space travel in general if there aren't enough wormholes.
>>47211401
Major planets and outposts would have warp gates, but exploring new territory would have to be done the old-fashioned way.
Possibly some technology that can generate a wormhole, but you have to have the coordinates to know where you're going.
>>47211550
>>47211401
Technobabble: Quantum entanglement allows us technology which lets us transport matter, or the quanglement is what keeps the womholes open. However it requires that the wormhole pairs are made at a central point and shipped at sublight to the destination. This lets centralized powers develop as centers become trade routes as well, and means that good relations with the faction at the other end is important. If you have wormhole pairs only be able to send a certain amount of matter then you can prevent mad dreadnought space attacks and make most conflict small battles rather than all out wars. It also makes ideological warfare more important which is kinda good for a politics-heavy game. It also means you can have worlds being isolated or suddenly cut off from greater civilization.
I'm pretty sure this idea came from somewhere else but frankly I don't remember where.
Other ideas to steal from;
>Larry Niven
A gas torus settlement could be fun. Basically it's a ring of gas around a lump of neutronium, and give it a nitrogen/oxygen mix and you can have people survive in it. Hopefully your players don't notice that the neutron star would be fantastically radioactive from matter degeneration/annihilation.
Have psionics be probably present but nearly indistinguishable from luck, barely empirical, but for a few shocking (but limited) provable examples.
>alistair reynolds
strange things that may be aliens, maybe natural formations that are extremely dangerous to study. Gravitational whorls in space.
Conjoiners are a nice hive mind imo.
>Neal Asher
Corporate contracts can extend beyond death. There's a chance that your company will literally resurrect you into a pseudo-ai chassis that puppets your corpse around.
>Richard Morgan
His universe has no ftl travel but ftl communication and has methods of digitizing personality, 'perfect' synthetic bodies and powerful cloning technology. So travel between planets is easy, but exploration is not.
>>47212033
>no ftl travel but ftl communication
Imagine discovering aliums in those conditions. We could never physically meet each other, all our contact limited to extensive shitposting on an intergalactic cartoons imageboard.
>>47212033
But I think communication should be restricted, if we're going with the data cloud idea earlier.
>>47211255
Dubs is truth.
So we currently have a corporate/feudal empire with a monopoly on anti gravity tech based off of imperial China with feuding noble houses.
A data cloud entity limiting communications to physical form, a commie hive mind as a potential rival to the empire and several wealthy independent merchant republics as trade hubs and centres of innovation.
The setting relies on wormholes for interstellar travel and has predominately hard sci-fi elements. Possibly with the current time being after a large war between the empire and the communist hive mind.
>>47210628
... like what?
>>47213881
does FTL rely on static structures for travel or do ships have an individual drive to use the method
>>47213881
>Dubs is truth
OP was dubs too and s/he said
>FTL travel is commonplace
>the word of dubs is always truth (unless it contradicts an earlier dubs)
so uhhh... ?
>>47212374
Yeah, the data cloud thing would only work if messages were to take a while to get places. Then having the single conscience would be a great advantage intel-wise.
If not, it could still be some sort of cult, which also sounds pretty interesting. The cloud believing it's the next step in evolution and such.
>>47213881
How would not!China work ethnicity-wise? I'm down with the Imperial house being originally chinese, but the noble houses could be anything else, I guess.
Also: the commie hivemind needs detailing
>>47215112
quite large and well populated with tributary states of other ethnicities on the borders who all toe the line to the emperor
in some of these states their are merchant families that try and compete for the emperors favor against the power of the established noble dynasties in space china
>>47215134
>>47215112
Ethnicities are bound to get muddled in a Space Opera environment. The imperial family might still be recognizably chinese, but as far as the other noble houses and the average citizens go, all bets are off.
>>47214980
I favor Warp/Hyperspace Drives myself, but would understand if someone thought that too cliché and wanted to have something else
>>47215246
warp usually means manipulating time and space around the ship to end up in another place how we do it will make it more interesting
>>47208711
>heavy in... 1-to-1 combats
So can we assume bullet shields (a la Mass Effect) are a thing? Melee weapons would be a thing?
>>47215408
depends on the kinds of metallurgy, personal shielding, lasers, vibrio blade technology is available
>>47215494
I'm all for laser blades. It's the most Space Opera thing ever (not necessarily the weeb variant of pic related, but you get the idea).
OP here, took your ideas and ran with them. Tell me what you think, what changes should be done, what should be added etc. Also which flag to use
If y'all into it let's do those with the other factions and such. The "Greatest War" thing was left purposefully vague so we can decide what that was.
>>47216799
Neat0. Maybe a systems map would be helpful.
>>47217016
I wouldn't know how to organize it in a way that makes sense. Do you have any examples?
>>47217321
It depends on the scale we're talking about. A couple solar systems? Galactic? Intergalactic?
Im partial to how the game Stellaris has done it.
>>47216799
Hey mate, you know what you should have?
Giant
Highly
Ornamented
Spaceships
Think about it? What's more frightening than popping through a wyrmhole only to be greated be a nobles warship? It's painted gold and has gold statues of roman gods decorating it. Maybe the owner is a man who deems his ship the most beautiful. Maybe the owner is a spoiled brat from a high merchant family and casts his slaves and serfs in gold and displays them as a warning for disobeying him. Think of it as a display of wealth and power as well as foreshadowing of the owners personality.
>Along the side of tremendous carft you see a large dipiction of what appears to be less of a war and more of a one sided slaughter between golden hair angels and dirty peasents. The sword of a figure closely protraying Rabamus VII cleanly slicing through the bowels of an unluck person.
>>47217383
Galactic, probably. About Stellaris, you mean like pic related? What do the green lines represent?
>>47217395
Yeah, totally! Sounds like it would be a custom with both nobles and very rich pirates/slavers from the Free Territories (whatever they end up being).
>>47217722
The green lines are hyperspace paths, one of three FTL choices in Stellaris.
>>47217755
what are the others?
What about religion? What we got? Any surviving from old earth? How predominant would atheism be, if at all?
>>47214973
Like anything.
>>47218322
There's three type based on what you'd did in different settings
Star Trek warp
Mass effect rely
Star Wars hyperspace
And warhammer 40k warp
