Space Opera (role-playing game)

This article is about the Role-playing game. For other uses, see Space Opera (disambiguation).
Space Opera

Cover of Space Opera Volume 1 manual
Designer(s) Edward E. Simbalist, A. Mark Ratner, Phil McGregor
Publisher(s) Fantasy Games Unlimited
Publication date 1980
Genre(s) Space opera
System(s) Custom

Space Opera is a science-fiction role-playing game created by Edward E. Simbalist, A. Mark Ratner, and Phil McGregor in 1980 for Fantasy Games Unlimited. While the system is applicable to the whole genre of science fiction, Space Opera had a default setting intended to be used as generic science fiction role-playing game rules, the focus being on creating space opera themed adventures.

Space Opera resolved to give gamers a system and universe which they could mold into any popular science fiction milieu, be it Star Wars, E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman, Larry Niven's Known Space, Frank Herbert's "Dune", Battlestar Galactica, Galactica 1980, etc.

Space Opera also resolved to be a "complete" system. With the basic rules one got most everything one would need: in-depth character construction, sci-fi toys/equipment, aliens and robots, monsters, combat, planet and society creation, starship construction and combat.

Part of the volume one introduction by Fantasy Games Unlimited owner Scott Bizar describes this undertaking:

The original concept was to create a game that would not need the usual innumerable supplements to its rules but that would be a complete science fiction role playing game. Thus, we wanted a game that would allow players to role play all of the most popular roles for a character in the entire genre of science fiction literature. This called for a game to handle the future warrior and mercenary, the free-trader, the asteroid miner, the planetary explorer and first contact man, and the member of the diplomatic corps/spy service. We needed science and the possibility of scientist characters with medicine playing a major role.

As if this weren't enough, the decision was made to base the game on the grand tradition of Space Opera, in the vein of E.E Doc Smith and most recently Star Wars from George Lucas. This meant that we would also have to allow for the psionic powers so prevalent in the Lensman series and in Star Wars with 'the force.'

“
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Scott B. Bizar, Space Opera: The complete science fiction role playing game (1980), page ii

Development

According to the Scott Bizar, the founder of FGU, "I wanted a SF rpg and I gave the job to Ed Simbalist. During the process I’ve never met Ed, nor Phil McGregor and Mark Ratner, who lived in the Canadian west, Australia and the east of the USA, respectively. The project was completed over more than two years entirely by correspondence."[1] Ed was responsible for all the editing and coordination.[2] Phil McGregor sent some technology and space ship related stuff, which Ed liked so much that he incorporated it in the finished product.[2] While the background universe was based on Mark Ratner's Space Marines, Mark had little input into Space Opera itself.[3]

Character Creation

Character creation is a long process in Space Opera, typically taking about an hour for a more experienced and indepth character.[4] While the number of random rolls is limited, the player has wide discretion in how points are applied and many choices especially when it comes to skills. This was a significant break from the tradition in earlier role-playing games such as D&D and Traveller, where there was more emphasis on "throw-away" characters.

Players choose from the following Character Classes: Armsman, Astronaut, Tech (with subclasses such as Armstech or Crimetech), and Scientist (Researcher, Medical, & Engineering subclasses). The classes are especially important where bonuses can be applied to Personal Characteristics and later ease the cost to acquire skills.[5]

Space Opera characters are supposed to be larger-than-life. As such their Personal Characteristics average out higher than the "common man". For each of the 14 Personal Characteristics a d100 is rolled. These are Physique, Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity, Empathy, Intelligence, Psionics, Intuition, Bravery, Leadership, General Technical Aptitude (GTA), Mechanical Aptitude, and Electronics Aptitude. Depending on the Character Class chosen, bonus points can be applied to these rolls. The final number is compared against a scaled table resulting in a number between 1 and 19 for the Personal Characteristic. Characteristic Rolls (CRs) are then made on a d20 during play.[5]

Planet of Birth is made up of three rolls for Gravity, Atmosphere, and Climate. This could have effects on the Personal Characteristics, and some on the choice of race.[5]

Races could be Human, Humanoid, Transhuman, Pithecine, Canine, Feline, Ursoid, Avian, and Warm-blooded Saurian for player characters. The races are general and don't necessarily bind to a particular star culture. They do though have prerequisites of Personal Characteristics, for example the Canine races can not have technical aptitudes beyond a score of 14, and Transhumans can not have any Personal Characteristics below 10.[5]

A variety of other capabilities, such as Carrying Capacity, Damage Factor, and Stamina (based on Personal Characteristics) help to further define the character.[5]

The Career path is very similar to Traveller's with the main exception being that there was no risk of death prior to the start of play. The character goes through the recruitment process, participates for a random number of tours-of-duty, has opportunities for promotion, and then finally musters out, in some cases with severance pay, pension benefits, savings, and personal gear.[5]

The last step is for the player to calculate the generous number of skill points available and to go through the process of picking skills and spending points on them to advance them. This is made the most time-consuming part of creating the character, not only because of the rich assortment of skills to pick from, but also because of the accounting of prerequisite basic skills needed for more advanced skills. For example, the first level of Computer Engineering requires Physics/6, Math/4, Chemistry/2, Metallurgy/2.[5]

Races

In Space Opera races are treated very generally. Instead of assigning a unique name to a particular specific race, the races were named as their general, anthropomorphic stock. This allowed any race seen in fiction before or since to be simulated.

PC (Player Character) Races:

NPC (Non-Player Character) Races:
Space Opera also included a much larger list of races for Non-player Characters and for encounters that consist of some meaningful contact:

Planet of Birth

Characters could be born on a planet with any Gravity Field ranging from zero G to 2.5 G.
Characters could be born on a planet with many atmosphere types, ranging from low or no atmosphere in dome cities, to very high pressure atmospheres, with or without some contaminants, or partially exotic constituents.

Characters could be born on a planet with many Climate types:

Planetary Type 1: The planet is at a favourable position in the Stellar Ecosphere. Axial tilt is between 10° and 30°, orbital eccentricity is less than 0.2, and the length of the day is 6-72 hours. All conditions of illumination and heating are Terran normal. In short, the planet exhibits those characteristics of climate and temperature which would make it a veritable “twin” of Terra. Type One planets are highly prized for colonisation.

“
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Space Opera: The complete science fiction role playing game, page 80

Where not noted normal (10° to 30°) axial tilts are assumed, extreme minimums with the suffix -A, extreme maximums with the suffix -B, with the exception of Type 2 and Type 3 which are axial tilt categories. Example: Type 12-B Terran "nightmare climate."

Psionics

Some characters are able to use Psionics, an advanced science with many fields of studies, three levels of functioning (Psionically dead, Psionically open, Psionically Awakened) and vast number of skills. Characters that were open and been Psionically attacked or had contact with a raw PK Crystal could awaken and learn skills by trail and error. Characters with very high Psionic scores might be "contacted" and trained. Psionic fields included:

Technology

The technology of Space Opera follows the grand tradition of its name, as well as the lowest levels of tech possible (Notably missing are the influences of cyberpunk, mechs, and nanotechnology, which all came later than the publication of the game).

Multi-Computers (500 kg - 50 tons) were based on a monolithic, mainframe-style that are meant to look after a least as many processes as the human brain takes care of for the human body, but for starships or cities. Space Opera also includes Mini-Computers at higher tech levels that is comparable to smartphones of today. A vast variety of software for computers is available covering "much of the significant knowledge of the race." The higher level Multi-comps (Mk.X to Mk.XIV) are considered sentient with "cybernetic rights."

Many other innovative sci-fi technologies are included, for example: Artificial Gills, Still Suits, medical and anti-aging drugs, Electro-Binoculars (1000 Lightyears range), ECM for communication and sensorscans, belt-size personal force-screen generators, power assisted personal armour, grav/jump belts, robots of every type, laser/blaster guns, laserswords & lightswords, anti-robot positronic brain disruptors (APROBDIF), etc.

Combat System

Combat is generally a four-step process. One first determines if a character scores a hit with his chosen weapon. Things like range, size of the target, movement, and amount of cover come into play. If one scores a hit, then one rolls to determine hit location. After hit location, one then determines if the attack penetrated the armor. Finally, damage is determined. The full range of possible weapons technologies is covered, from the lowest tech level "Atlatl," to the high tech "Anti-Robot Positronic Brain Disruptor (APROBDIF)" guns and screens.

Official Universe

While the Space Opera rules can be adapted to any imagined universe, the official universe was based on the nations described in Mark Ratner's Space Marines, and further defined through a series of Star Sector Atlases.

Star Culture: Notes / AKA
Azuriach Imperium "Azzis"
Blarad: Star Kingdom of the Blarad Ursoids
Bugs Insectoids
Confederate Systems Alliance
Galactic Peoples Republic "G.P.R."
Hissss'ist Warm-blooded Dinosauroids
IRSOL Nil-Low Gravity Space Dwellers
Klackons Icthyoids
Korellian Empire Six digit Humanoids
MekPurr Feline
Mercantile League
Ranan: United Ranan Worlds "Ranan Horde"
Rauwoof Worlds Canines
United Federation of Planets "UFP"
Whistlers Avian

Books

Title Type Year ISBN
Space Marines related wargame 1979
Space Opera: core rules (2 books)

Volume one (character creation, psionics, and starships).
Volume two (equipment, worlds and aliens).

1980 B000EOIYLY
Ground & Air Equipment supplement 1981 B000G7ST32
Seldon's Compendium of Star Craft 1 - Ship's Boats, Traders, Liners and Patrol Vessels supplement 1981 B000B8AFUQ
Seldon's Compendium of Star Craft 2 - Starships of War Azuriach, GPR, Mercantile League and Terran supplement 1984 B000B88PAI
Seldon's Compendium of Star Craft 3 - Starships of War Blarad, Mekpurr, Ranan and Hissss'ist supplement 1988 B000B8511Y
Seldon's Compendium of Star Craft 4 supplement not published
The Outworlds supplement 1981
Star Sector Atlas 1 - The Terran Sector supplement 1981 B000EOIYRI
Star Sector Atlas 2 - The Mercantile League supplement 1983 B000F6MFAM
Star Sector Atlas 3 - The Azuriach Imperium supplement 1984 B000FDKZSE
Star Sector Atlas 4 - The Galactic People's Republic (G.P.R.) supplement 2016
Star Sector Atlas 5 - The United Ranan Worlds supplement 1985 B0047MTQ2K
Star Sector Atlas 6 - The Hiss'isst supplement not published
Star Sector Atlas 11 - The Confederate Systems Alliance supplement 1982
Star Sector Atlas 12 - Korellian Empire supplement 1984
Alien Base module 1980
Martigan Belt - An Adventure in the Asteroids module 1981
Probe NGC 8436 module 1981
Fasolt in Peril - An Anti-Terrorist Adventure module 1982
Rowison II - A Merchant Service Adventure module 1982
Vault of the Ni'er Queyon module 1982
Incedus III module 1982
Agents of Rebellion module 1983
Casino Galactica - Adventure Setting and Scenarios module 1983
Operation Peregrine - The Quanchiovt Conspiracy module 1983
Clash of Empires supplement not published

The Space Opera core game consisted of two volumes and four double-sided 8x11" data sheets, in a box. There were three different box covers[6] probably corresponding to three printings, and the two core books were merged into one binding in the last printing, but the contents remained the same throughout.

Reprints

Some components of Space Opera are in print again after a long absence and are available via FGU's online store and the RPG download sites DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.

The rights to the game are jointly held by the authors and Fantasy Games Unlimited, whereas the rights to the title were probably held by FGU solely. The rights to the game were to revert to the authors if the company went out of business. Despite going into dormant periods operating as a company in name only, FGU is still in operation. Ed Simbalist sought to buy the rights from the publisher Scott Bizar, however Bizar's asking price was judged too high.

From a December 2000 interview with Ed Simbalist: "I won't write another version of Space Opera. Scott Bizar owns that property, hasn't done anything much to promote it, hasn't paid royalties that offer any hope that an author will be compensated for his considerable effort, and won't release it back to the authors. I know of the many persona[l] reverses he's experienced, and I doubt that FGU would ever become a viable publishing company in the future. Any revision work on my part would be a waste of time. Similarly, the expense of legally recovering the right to publish Space Opera isn't worth it. Apart from a highly inflated value placed by FGU on the game (actually on the NAME), why would I wish to purchase several thousand copies of a recent reprint that just won't sell in the current market? It makes no sense."[7] Reportedly the asking price was $100,000, though the authors felt it was only worth $10,000.[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.space-opera.net/GB/interviews/scott.htm Interview with Scott Bizar
  2. 1 2 http://www.space-opera.net/GB/interviews/phil.htm Interview with Phil McGregor
  3. ↑ http://www.space-opera.net/GB/interviews/mark.htm Interview with Mark Ratner
  4. ↑ Space Opera Starter Kit
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 http://www.fantasygamesunlimited.net/category/Space-Opera-4
  6. ↑ Laporte, Dominique. "Space Opera". Retrieved 2009-10-06. showing the three different box covers.
  7. ↑ http://www.space-opera.net/GB/interviews/ed.htm Interview with Ed Simbalist
  8. ↑ http://everything2.com/title/space%2520opera message board posting

External links

See also

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