Sci-fi resources?

[Angel]

Hi! I'm new to the board and OVA, just started running a game about a week ago. Coming from a DnD background, I opted for a fantasy setting, but many of my players are interested in something more futuristic and I find myself lacking material for this. I was hoping someone on this board might point out some helpful sites or books that I could look into for ideas on what kind of tech and such to use, especially on mechs. Everyone seems enamoured with the idea of riding around in a giant robot and blowing things up. I've noticed that many of the people on this board appear to be doing mech themed games anyway, so here seemed like the best place to ask. I am grateful for any suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

[Clay]

Hey, Angel! Glad to see your account working now.

In any case, probably the best way to become familiar with mecha is to actually watch mecha. Heck, you can even get your fantasy fix in with shows like Vision of Escaflowne that add a little giant robot to the mix.

But for a more sci-fi bent, try any Gundam (Gundam Wing used to be popular with the ladies), any Macross (Macross Plus is a favorite, but actually features very little of mecha action), and Neon Genesis Evangelion. A couple of episodes of any of these should break you in well.

But it really depends on what kind of science fiction you want to do. A post-apocalyptic scenario (Now and Then, Here and There) differs intrinsically from a universe-sweeping space opera (Star Wars)

If you want to see how these kinds of genres translate to a role-playing game, and you have access to an RPG nrick-and-mortar shop, these might be worth checking out.

Battletech - Universe sweeping dystopia
Heavy Gear - Mecha Wars on a distant planet
Jovian Chronicles - The most "anime" of the bunch, the trials and tribulations of exploration in our solar system.
BESM Space Fantasy - devoid of hard content, but goes a long way to explaining the major facets of space opera.

You could also wait for OVA Mecha...but you might become old and grey first, unfortunately. Aiming for a Winter 2008 release...but Wise Turtle isn't the most trustworthy with release dates.

[Wise Turtle]

Aiming for a Winter 2008 release...but Wise Turtle isn't the most trustworthy with release dates.

Wise Turtle is perfectly punctual at all times. I would appreciate if you would firmly delineate between this company and me. Hmmph. Such irreverence.

[Eisenmann]

Hi! I'm new to the board and OVA, just started running a game about a week ago. Coming from a DnD background, I opted for a fantasy setting, but many of my players are interested in something more futuristic and I find myself lacking material for this. I was hoping someone on this board might point out some helpful sites or books that I could look into for ideas on what kind of tech and such to use, especially on mechs. Everyone seems enamoured with the idea of riding around in a giant robot and blowing things up. I've noticed that many of the people on this board appear to be doing mech themed games anyway, so here seemed like the best place to ask. I am grateful for any suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

The mecha power armor writeups from my thread were inspired by watching Appleseed. It's available at Wal-Mart of all places so it's very accessible if you don't have a good video or anime store in your area.

[Angel]

Winter 2008? Well, I suppose it's worth the wait...

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to try to give everything a look. Although I have seen Escaflowne and dearly loved the series (not so much the movie), some of these other ones are a little new to me.

I think one of my main issues, however, is coming up with all the neat tech to give these people. Story isn't usually an issue for me, since I already write quite a bit (albeit fantasy) and I think I'm pretty decent at it. It's just I'm not very tech savvy and don't know a whole lot about gun types, bullets, engines, etc. and don't know what to call all this stuff. Perhaps I should just let the players name their gadgets, but the thing is, they just want me to do everything for them and don't really wanna make things up themselves. And there's one person in my group who just goes nuts making up characters and things and tries to squeeze as many abilities as he possibly can onto one character or whatever without considering the concept behind his character and just ends up driving me crazy. So, I want to give these people guidelines and have some things already made up for them, as per their request, but again, technology eludes me. It's easy to make up enchanted armor and legendary swords, but how do I make something sound tech?

[Clay]

Well, that's vexing. I wrote a reply to this last night, but it didn't show up for some reason. Let me see if I can remember what I said.

Winter 2008? Well, I suppose it's worth the wait...

To make my ambiguous statement more clear, I'm referring to January-February '08, not December '08. So it's not too far off.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to try to give everything a look. Although I have seen Escaflowne and dearly loved the series (not so much the movie), some of these other ones are a little new to me.

Yeah, I loved the designs for the movie, especially Meryl's makeover, but the plot was devoid of any of the magic that made the original series so compelling.

I think one of my main issues, however, is coming up with all the neat tech to give these people. Story isn't usually an issue for me, since I already write quite a bit (albeit fantasy) and I think I'm pretty decent at it. It's just I'm not very tech savvy and don't know a whole lot about gun types, bullets, engines, etc. and don't know what to call all this stuff. Perhaps I should just let the players name their gadgets, but the thing is, they just want me to do everything for them and don't really wanna make things up themselves. And there's one person in my group who just goes nuts making up characters and things and tries to squeeze as many abilities as he possibly can onto one character or whatever without considering the concept behind his character and just ends up driving me crazy. So, I want to give these people guidelines and have some things already made up for them, as per their request, but again, technology eludes me. It's easy to make up enchanted armor and legendary swords, but how do I make something sound tech?

OVA mecha's going to have a weapon and equipment list, but that won't help you much now, I suppose.

If doing the whole tech-whizbang is out of your comfort zone, the simplest answer is don't. If you go over-the-top enough, science-fiction becomes its own kind of fantasy. If characters can pick up flashy laser swords, bazookas that can take down space ships, and special scepters that can shoot energy, what you have is fantasy with a fresh coat of nuts and bolts. This kind of "sci-fantasy" was done to great effect in console RPGs like Phantasy Star. Just make sure your magic scepters are battery-powered, and that your characters don't "cast spells" ...they use psychic techniques! Or tune into the force. (Star Wars, all in all, owes itself more to fantasy and myth than it does its sci-fi brethren).

Failing that, you can always pick up/borrow/peruse in the store any sci-fi RPG on the market. They're bound to have a list of basic technology that you can pick up and convert for your game.

Hope that helps a little!

[JuddG]

I think one of my main issues, however, is coming up with all the neat tech to give these people. <snipped. It's easy to make up enchanted armor and legendary swords, but how do I make something sound tech?

Space Opera is basically High Fantasy with spaceships. You are onto something in asking "how do I make it SOUND tech?" With that in mind, please accept some cheap Judd-advice.

Space Opera Tech for GMs

The absolute key to tech in Space Opera is to realize that tech is magic. Clarke's Law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." In Space Opera, technology becomes more of a plot hook, something science/tech involved has become the crux or vehicle of conflict.

What makes something sound tech is the name you give it. Remember the Star Trek adage of Roddenberry, the idea that people don't stand around talking about how devices work in real life, they just know that they do. So what you need are tech names that give it a punch. This involves creating a list of keywords that define your game world's technologies. Using old retro terms can give it a retro 50's feel, a retro cyberpunk feel (God, I love calling cyberpunk retro finally!). Different terms can give it a sleek Utopian feel or a trans-humanist decay feel - whatever you need.

How to create these terms? Well, you need a term that applies to energy fields, matter, and communication. If you have spaceships, you will need a drive system name as well (or a name for how you get around faster-than-light). Using these terms in the names of devices gives them a grounding (in OVA terms, it can also give them an Affinity).

Example:

I come up some terms for my new game. The energy keyword is "Phase". The matter keyword is "Nanobot". The communication keyword is "Null-point". I am also going to add another keyword related to a disease that makes monsters called the "Largessian Effect" (giving things names related to the scientists who found them both gets you out of coming up with a special term for it and gives the sense of history to the world).

Now, I put these words to work as follows:

* I need some weapons, so I come up with Phase Swords, Nano-armor, and Phasic Compulsion Pistols.

* I need a Drive System, but I want a special keyword for it, so I stab my finger in a dictionary a few times until I find a word that pops - "Proxy - a thing that stands in for another". I now have the Proxy Drive. It works by searching the destination with a Null-point transfer beam and locking onto a matter source of mass to trade out with. The matter seized on and the ship trade places in the physical universe. (This reminds me of ninjas doing that log trick, so I fiddle with some ninja mecha that can do that trick with asteroid material...)

* Null-point comms allow people to talk over long stretches at FTL speed, but I decide that this requires a bunch of repeater stations, like telegraph poles in space. Guarding these is important to everyone, as well as hacking them, and they are needed to use the Proxy-drive. Now I have some plots related to communications and Proxy-drives have a new juicy limitation on them.

* I have this ninja theme going, so I want some cool smoke-bomb teleport stuff. I come up with the "Nano-cloud Nagateppo". These smoke-bombs disassemble anyone inside the cloud and perform a limited distance Proxy Jump where they reassemble the cargo they carried.

* Phase-beam ship's cannons, etc.

As you can see from my example, as well as my "Rocketship Ronin" write-up, metaphor is more important than the science of it all. Basically, Space Opera replaces tales from yesterday or today with larger than life uses of tech and star-spanning travel and vistas. It injects a colorful and cool image onto the same stories that work in any other setting.

Now, true Science Fiction is about how science and technology change the human condition, etc. That doesn't sound like what you are going for, so i won't stamp on that soapbox as of yet. I would suggest looking up "Space Opera" on Wikipedia and doing some browsing around that neighborhood for some more ideas.