Amazing Space Adventures
“Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Nothing worth doin’ that I haven’t tried. Ain’t no livin’ on planet-side. C’mon with me, Baby, on a rocket ride!” – Tom Smith, “Rocket Ride”
Way back in the misty reaches of ancient history (About twenty five or so years ago) my uncle gave me a wonderful Christmas present: a complete set of E. E. “Doc” Smith’s “Lensman” series. I read them all the way from “Triplanetary” to “Children of the Lens”. Up until that point, I’d mostly been reading Fantasy. To me, sci-fi had been limited to watching Star Trek, and reading the occasional novelization of the same. “Lensman” was my introduction written sci-fi, and to the genre of Space Opera. (Well, there was Star Wars, but I didn’t know then that it was Space Opera) Now a days the technology assumptions are laughable and the gender relations are Neanderthal, but the “senseuhwunder” of Space Operas remains as strong as ever. The genre just needs to be slightly updated for the modern age. Very slightly.
Elements of Space Opera
Retro-Technology
-”Give us technology that we can trust, and give it fins like a Cadillac.” – Tom Smith, “Rocket Ride”
Most of the classic Space Operas were written in the period from the late ‘30s to the late ‘50s. As a result, you have huge banks of vacuum tubes and power busses of pure silver and such like. Bad-guy labs can be identified by the obligatory Jacob’s Ladder sparking away in the corner. More modern Space Operas, like Star Wars or the movie version of Dune, still manage to have a clunky feel to things. The usual breakdown of technology in a Space Opera is highly advanced power generation and rocketry but inferior electronics. Of course, it’s not so much the technology as it is the attitude. You should be aiming for a somewhat swashbuckling feel. Cast Errol Flynn as Captain Kirk or Lt. Rico, for example, and adjust what’s used in the setting accordingly. (In that second example, have John Wayne as Sgt. Zim…) Ships have some sort of FTL drive. Human ships use jets or thrusters of some sort, often leaving a trail of exhaust in space. Interference on the part of the FTL field is what make it look like smoke from a toy rocket rising upwards behind the ship. Really. Patrol spaceships tend to look like marital aids with fins & antennas, while the Villain’s fleet will usually be pie pla…, er saucers that leave no exhaust to track them by. The typical weapon of a Space Opera is the Projector or Blaster. Basically, you sound less like a rabid fan-boy using a Blaster instead of a Ray Gun, but it’s pretty much the same weapon. It fires a ravening beam, wave, fan, or cone of semi-coherent energy at the target. GM’s who simply must have a handwave to explain every little thing can claim that it’s really a particle accelerator of some sort. In effect they’re guns that go “zap” instead of “bang”. Hand weapons are also popular in the genre. Examples include Lightsabers, Space Marine Boarding Axes, and good old-fashioned Swords. As a general rule, the mooks have Blasters and the Bosses have the blades. And speaking of the main bad-guys…
Professional Villains
“Give me a villain with style and grace, and a little bit of fencing skill” – Tom Smith, “Rocket Ride”
The Bad Guys in Space Operas are villains in the grand tradition of Evil Overlords. Darth Vader, Ming the Merciless, Garhlane of Eddore and others have sneered their way across countless epics. (With Dune, the Good Guys were the ones acting like Space Opera villians… at least in the book) The Villain tends to be a megalomaniac with a strict code of honor. Even the Eddorians of Lensman ignored the practical route of wiping out the Human and Venerians and what-not, despite their lack of success in twisting us to their goals. Vader could have simply had the Stormtroopers reduce Obi Wan to a smoking grease-stain on the deck instead of personally dueling him. (Not that it made much difference to Kenobi, mind you…) The trick here is to have some plausible reason for the Bad Guy to act this way. Vader wanted the escaping heroes to lead him to the Rebel Base, and Arisia was manipulating the Eddorians into letting Civilization gain enough of a foothold that they could give it the Lens. As Jenny mentioned in a past “She Said…” article, work out the motivations for your main Villains. Know why they are the way they are, and you’ll have no problem explaining why they give the heroes a fighting chance.
Grishnak, Mutants, & BEMs
“How many rubber aliens will make the crust out in California crack?” – Tom Smith, “Rocket Ride”
Bug-Eyed Monsters are one of the main genre conventions. The brain-skulled Metalunan Mutant of “This Island, Earth” and the paper mache’ crabs and rubber turnip creatures of Roger Corman films are classic examples of BEM, but the tradition goes back even further than that. Pulp magazines like Astounding Stories in the 1930s had lurid cover art featuring the “Un-holy Trinity” of The Bum, The Babe, and the BEM”. (The hero, a busty woman in a space suit two sizes too small, and the Bug Eyed Monster) . The Rock Monster in “Galaxy Quest” is an excellent modern BEM. They tend to be the top of some alien food chain, but not quite intelligent. (The giant rubber turnip in Corman’s “It Conquered The World!” is a notable exception.) Attempts at communication with BEMs can convert the elderly scientist NPC into MonsterChow. Bad Guys often used them in deathtraps, or as mind-controlled terror troops. BEMs usually are either not affected by Blasters, or the heroes will be unable to use them for some reason, forcing them to be quick and clever to defeat the menace. Dramatically, they form a puzzle obstacle or a fight challenge to be overcome on the way to the Villain’s lair, or they can be the surprise solution to overthrowing the Villain once you can break the mind control he uses on them.
Valerians, Wookies, & Hawkmen
“Nope, no cool song quote for this one” – Me
Friendly aliens tend to be sidekicks in most of the fiction of the type. They tend to be physically powerful, but in most cases the brain power or Hand of Destiny falls on the human lead. Go fig, seeing as how the stories were written by humans. I add the effect of destiny, because Lensmen had equally powerful races like the Valerians & Rigelians to compete for top billing. A fun twist to throw at your players would be for the race fated to save the universe to turn out to be one of the friendly aliens. Other options for the friendly aliens is for them to be noble savages. Ether primitives who’ve learned about technology from the bad guys, or a dying race that trying to maintain their civilization while still upholding their honor in the face of adversity. Unlike Villains with that second motivation, they refuse to solve their problem with violence or conquest of weaker peoples. If you’ve read any of the Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon books, think of Micky Finn and his people. (And if you haven’t, do so!)
The Patrol
“I want to cruise the galaxy at FTL, pursuing Heaven and defying Hell!” – Tom Smith, “Rocket Ride”
The default setting for Space Opera is with the players serving in the Patrol: an organization that’s a mix of space-going Coast Guard, Green Berets, DEA, CIA and Red Cross all rolled up into one super-competent group of the best and brightest that their society can produce. Ships tend to be small, with lots of cross-training amongst the crew, and command structure being fast and informal. In other words, perfect for a group of PC’s. For bigger threats, the Patrol is backed up by the Super-Dreadnoughts of the Navy. Big ships with lots of Ray Guns and missiles. If it’s an emergency for the Navy, then the Patrol has screwed badly somewhere. The Space Marines are the ground trooper version of the Navy. Big scary men with heavy Blasters and Boarding Axes and what-not. Ex-Marines are often found in the Patrol to handle situations where subtlety isn’t as important as results. Generally, the Patrol can be considered a Special Operations Force that can recruit from any of the forces of Civilization, with law enforcement and reconnaissance as their primary missions.
Gender Relations
“That’s enough! In my land, women are for advancing the race, not for fighting man’s battles.” – Eros, “Plan 9 From Outer Space”
When the genre started, women had only had the vote for ten to fifteen years, and Space Opera really hit its stride in the 1950s when things were moving back towards the “Leave It To Beaver” paradigm. Needless to say, women were there mostly as set dressing and for romantic interest. This is one bit of the genre that can be safely chucked out the nearest airlock as far as I’m concerned. Most Space Operas have a nuclear war tucked away in their backhistory. With the need for every able bodied person to do their part to deal with the aftermath, you can hand wave this as needed.
“The will to survive, the need to explore, the love of adventure, who could ask for more?” –Tom Smith, “Rocket Ride”
In closing, Space Opera is a classic genre that’s much loved by sci-fi fans. The genre conventions are well understood and accepted almost as much as are Fantasy’s. This makes it an excellent choice for a game universe. Just remember to personalize the Villains, swash the buckles on the technology, and, above all else maintain the “Senseuhwunder”!
