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Superluminary™™A space opera toolkit for Other Worlds™
WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BYMark Humphreys
ILLUSTRATED BYStorn A. Cook
EDITED BYHarriet Evans
LAYOUT BYRuben Smith-Zempel
THANKS TOBlake Hutchins, Brian Isikoff, Fred Hicks, Justin D. Jacobson, Steve Jones, Paul Newland,
Richard Green, Ben Reynolds, Ian Meachin, and Mike Holmes
Techno-sorcery developed from an idea by Mike Holmes, used with permission.
Copyright© and Trademark™ 2017 Mark Humphreys. All rights reserved.
A Signal 13 production
FAC 13 5299
Go to www.OtherWorldsRPG.wordpress.com for more!
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Table of ContentsAnd So It Begins... 4
What Is Space Opera? 6Crafting a Story 7What’s in This Book 8
Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode IV:A Message to the Rebels 9
Big Bang Theory 10What Is the Astrographical Scope of Your Campaign? 10How Many Alien Races Are There? 12What Does the Future Look Like? 13How Does FTL Work? 14What Other Conflict-Driving Supersciences Are There? 15What Form Do Special Powers Take? 16What Is the Team’s Focus? 16
Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode V:Hunter, Prey 17
Heroes of the Future 18Homeworlds 19Professions 29Trademarks 39
Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode VI:Attack Run on Battle Station Copernicus 55
Aliens, Robots, and Other Strangeness 56Alien Species Templates 56Robot Chassis Templates 66Virtual Minds 74
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Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode I:Prisoners of the Slime People 75
The Weirding Way 76Psionics 77The Lifeforce 80Techno-Sorcery 83
Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode II:Last Days on Volcanis Ultra 87
Brave New World 88High Technology and Superscience 89Trading and Commerce 94Superscience and the Arms Race 96Hovercars and Spaceships 99Travelling the Spaceways 106Bizarre Landscapes 112Creature Feature 118Supporting Characters 127Factions 129
Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode III:Possible Kill Screen 135
Appendix: The Merovinthian Sector 136Core Worlds 137Other Factions 140
Index 142
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1Superluminary is a space opera toolkit for Other Worlds. It is designed to act as a comprehensive supplement to the main rulebook, giving you enough templates, worlds, and adventure ideas to fuel just about any kind of science fiction campaign you can think of – and then some! With this book at your disposal you will never be short of inspiration or excitement.
But that’s not all! The material in this book is still only a starting point. After all, no one knows what belongs in your space opera setting better than you do. So we’ve also thrown in lots of detailed advice on how to go about building your own science fiction universe from the ground up, from designing your own worlds, empires, and subdimensions to fleshing out the many races, ro-bots, monsters, and vehicles that go inside them. And as
if that weren’t enough we’ll also show you how to han-dle the different types of conflicts that are likely to come up in your game, from computer hacking and laserblade duels to speederbike chases and massive space battles, as well as giving you a whole stack of random encounter, item, and ability generation tables to use as quick inspi-ration in an emergency.
Science fiction storygaming has never been this excit-ing, nor this easy to prepare. So what are you waiting for? Your trusty old spaceship is fuelled up and ready on the launchpad, your twin-linked magnacoil railguns are locked and loaded, and your cyborg co-pilot is giving you a big metallic thumbs up. Those slimy alien maraud-ers aren’t going to know what hit ‘em.
Ready? Three... two... one... ignition!
And So It Begins...
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Deciphering Superluminary:
A Secret Report Within the GuildHow do you use this book?
If you're a GM planning to run a space opera campaign using the Other Worlds system, the answer to this is pretty straightforward. You read through it for advice on how to run your worldbuilding session and how to structure different types of conflict, you let your players loose on the template sections during character generation, and you flip to the random world, encounter, and trait tables whenever you need a quick shot of inspiration in the middle of an adventure. Ta-dah, instant space opera awesomeness! The only trap to avoid here is treating the material in this book as canon rather than just one way to do things; if your idea of what abilities a cargo freighter or a space zombie should have is different from mine, then please go right ahead and use yours! This extends to the players as well. Obviously cargo freighters and space zombies just work a bit differently at your end of the universe than they do at mine. Remember that this book is intended to support your creativity, not replace it (that's one reason why there isn't a fixed setting).
If you're using Other Worlds to run a campaign in some other genre – especially heroic ones like pulp, fantasy, or superheroes – then you should find that the material in this book is very easy to carry over. Often this is just a matter of deleting prefixes like space– or laser– from a few abilities and then giving the template a new name – Telekinetics become Force Mages, Rarefied Mystics become High Elves, and Utility Grav-Sleds become Atlantean Sky-Chariots, for example. Campaigns set in the near future or that just want a harder edge to their science fiction can simply ignore or tone down some of the more fantastical elements and dwell a little longer on the practical details of the technology and
its socio-cultural ramifications. This author has used the material presented here to run a mythic fantasy game, a Victorian horror game, and a hard SF wormhole exploration game as well as two interlinked space opera games, all with great success.
If you're using Superluminary with some other game system altogether (heresy!) then the main thing to translate across is what abilities are. The templates in this book give characters a huge number of different abilities, but it is important to note that these are not mini packets of rules and exceptions that anyone has to remember. Instead, they are simply adjectives – flexible descriptors that you can apply as circumstance modifiers to an existing roll whenever you see fit. For example, a character's Reckless Curiosity might help them to hack into that tomb world supercomputer, but their Naive Sense of Honour might make it harder for them to lie to the space cops about it afterwards. In this way an Other Worlds character sheet can actually sit entirely alongside another game system and work in parallel. Generally you will just use one or two adjectives at a time, enough to add a bit of colour to a particular roll without overwhelming it, but with the most dramatic and important conflicts of your story you might go all in and use absolutely everything that's relevant. That's fine. The purpose of this is so that we get to know as much about the character's personality, relationships, and upbringing as we do about their strength, toughness, and cool powers – and moreover that these things come out at the table by being constantly vocalised rather than just staying on the page. This repetition and reincorporation is at the heart of the game and is the key to making your characters and your stories truly come alive.
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What Is Space Opera?When we talk about science fiction in this book we are mostly talking about a particular sub-genre called space opera. Space opera tends to be the most popular sort of science fiction and encompasses such classics as Star Wars, Dune, Flash Gordon, and Babylon 5. So, what distin-guishes space opera from other kinds of science fiction?
Story and Adventure over Scientific RealismStory and adventure are really the bywords of space op-era; as long as it makes for an exciting story, just about anything goes. The only real limit is your own imagina-tion. Scientific realism, by contrast, is not usually much of a concern. The protagonists of a space opera routine-ly break the laws of physics by travelling faster than the speed of light, using strange mental powers, and jump-ing backwards and forwards in time – and the stories are all the more fun because of it. Don’t let worries over be-lievability and verisimilitude spoil the flow of the action or the thrill of the chase; special effects take precedence over practical considerations every time. Whenever you have to choose between doing something realistically and doing something spectacularly... do it spectacularly!
Epic Tales of Swashbuckling RomanceSpace opera games should have an epic, swashbuckling feel to them, the sense of an idealistic crusade to save the universe from evil against impossible odds. Above all else, what the characters think and do should matter. Build melodramatic plot twists around their personal-ity traits and relationships, and encourage them to try death-defying stunts and hare-brained schemes that ‘might just work’. Raise the stakes on the characters at every opportunity – put them up against planet-bust-ing doomsday devices, intergalactic civil wars, and dark conspiracies of ancient evil. Have family members and close personal friends turn out to be secret supervillains, inspirational resistance leaders, and helpless govern-ment hostages. Have experimental technologies, terrible secrets, and powerful weapons just fall into their laps. Give them a real chance to make a difference, and don’t be afraid to hit them with the consequences if they fail. They are not mere flotsam and jetsam on the galactic tide of events; they are Heroes, and whether by power, desti-ny, or sheer dumb luck, the fate of whole worlds, perhaps even the entire damn universe, rests on their shoulders. Make every decision, and every conflict, count!
Good Against EvilIn a space opera the bad guys wear black and the good guys wear white (metaphorically, if not literally). With-out a clear distinction between the heroes and at least some of their foes you rob the players of the moral high ground and therefore the opportunity to be truly hero-ic. That’s not to say there’s no room for more ‘morally complicated’ characters – indeed, genre archetypes like the grizzled mercenary or the cynical smuggler can pro-vide a useful contrast to the usual moralising – just that they should be the exception rather than the norm. Let the heroes be heroes and let the villains be villains!
Exploring the InfiniverseThe universe is a wondrous place indeed, full of mys-teries and strange powers, and the protagonists of a space opera rarely stay in one part of it for long. There is a whole galaxy full of single-environment worlds out there, each stranger than the last, but all of them just waiting to be explored, pacified, and then stripped of all natural resources by a party of brave space adventurers in their beaten-up old cargo freighter. And if you run out of planets, never fear; hyperspace, pocket dimensions, parallel universes, and even the mysteries of the time-stream itself all wait for similar investigation by our in-trepid heroes. The universe of the far future is certainly a very colourful – and very deadly – place to try to make a living.
PseudomysticismWhat truly distinguishes space opera from more tradi-tional hard SF is an underlying spiritual, almost mythic, quality. The heroes resemble those from ancient legend as much as from the far future – they have great destinies to fulfil, mysterious prophecies to interpret, and tragic flaws to overcome. They may also be accompanied by more overtly fantastical elements such as weird ancient artifacts, unique and powerful wonder weapons, wizard-ly alien advisers, and even magical abilities of their own such as ESP, faith healing, or telekinesis.
Underlying Camp Sense of HumourA certain degree of camp is an important part of any space opera, so feel free to introduce some more overtly comic elements every now and again to lighten the mood. Ec-centric robots, bizarre-looking aliens with funny names, and swashbuckling rivals in outrageous silver spandex jumpsuits can all provide a welcome relief from the latest desperate quest to save the galaxy from annihilation.
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Inspiration and ReferenceThese are some of the creative works that have helped to inspire this book.
2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke
Aliens by James Cameron
Babylon 5 by J Michael Straczynski
Battlestar Galactica (2003) by Ronald D Moore
Dune by Frank Herbert
Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Firefly and Serenity by Joss Whedon
Futurama by Matt Groening
Guardians of the Galaxy movie by James Gunn
Lensman series by EE ‘Doc’ Smith
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Red Dwarf by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
Star Wars by George Lucas
Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont
Warhammer 40,000 by Games Workshop
Crafting a StoryThe classic SF drama serial has the heroes wandering the far reaches of the galaxy in search of new adventure; such serials tend to focus very heavily on the heroes and carry an implicit assumption that most or all of them will survive to see the next mission regardless of the ap-parent dangers they may face. Each story typically brings with it a new planet or other exotic location to explore, a new set of problems to solve, and a new foe to overcome (or the return of an old nemesis). This book is packed full of these trappings of science fiction adventure, from robots and aliens to desert planets and star destroyers.
But remember that that’s all these things are – trap-pings. The emotional core of the story has to come from you. Other Worlds is a game that defines characters in terms of story fuel – how well do you fit in with your cul-ture, who do you have a relationship with, what are your goals, what are your flaws, etc. The worldbuilding notes, conflict rules, and GM advice sections are all about creating explicit opportunities to stress-test these ele-ments by putting them in opposition with one another during interesting fictional situations and seeing which one prevails. Your games aren’t going to be literature, but there is no reason to think they cannot result in deep, engaging, and ultimately satisfying stories.
That’s not to say that genre trappings are a bad thing! On the contrary, they can give us an excuse to explore moral or political themes that might feel forced if applied to a real-world setting rather than an exaggerated fictional one. Metaphors can be very powerful. The sheer scale and spectacle of the typical space opera can also help give your underlying story a real sense of grandeur and pathos as the wider ramifications of the characters’ deci-sions play out across a whole world, star system, or uni-verse. You might even like to further emulate the classic SF serials by experimenting with stylistic tricks such as a distinct episodic structure, introductory scrolling text, cliffhanger endings, sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and explosive season finales. Players too can use their narrative authority and spotlight points to flesh out the details of their home culture, invent weird alien side-kicks, and build in plot-twist familial relationships with key villains. Whatever happens try to make your stories mythic, try to make them personal, and above all try to make them memorable!
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What’s in This BookThe rest of this book contains the following material:
Chapter 2: Big Bang TheoryFull guidelines on building your own complete space opera universe, from designing the overall look and size of your setting to figuring out what weird technologies, cool special powers, and gribbly alien races should go in it.
Chapter 3: Heroes of the FutureEnough homeworld, profession, and trademark templates to fuel a lifetime’s worth of gaming, from assassins to xenoarchaeologists and everything else in between.
Chapter 4: Aliens, Robots, and Other StrangenessA detailed look at how to create your own species or form templates, including a whole host of sample alien races and robotic exoskeletons that you can start play-ing with straight away!
Chapter 5: The Weirding WayA study of three different types of special abilities and their practitioners, from the subtle manipulations of psionics and the mystical energies of the lifeforce to the terrifying raw destructive power of untrammelled tech-no-sorcery.
Chapter 6: Brave New WorldEverything you always wanted to know about running a space opera campaign but were too afraid to ask, in-cluding handling technology, money, weapons, vehicles, space travel, and planetary exploration. And, for those moments when your inspiration runs dry, we’ve also thrown in a whole bunch of random charts and tables to create interesting new encounters, NPCs, planets, mon-sters, and spaceships, all at the drop of a hat!
Appendix: The Merovinthian SectorA fully realised campaign setting for you to explore or raid for parts, containing three core worlds at odds with each other and a variety of smaller factions caught in the middle.
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Scenes from a Space Opera, Episode IV:
A Message to the RebelsSituation
Alien warrior mystic Mun You Co sends the characters off on a mission: to infiltrate the Imperial-occupied world of Kursk, find the leaders of the local resistance, and give them a strange coffin-sized metal box that seems impervious to scanners and las-torches. But what exactly is in the box? And what deeper trouble will everyone be in once it is opened?
Complications
The Imperials seem to have stepped up security recently. Checkpoints and patrols have been heavily reinforced, and safehouses are being raided with alarming frequency.
One of the resistance soldiers is in fact a traitor, broadcasting troop movements and other operational details to his handler in return for extra food stamps for his family.
The resistance have started losing the support of the people; months of severe rationing have taken their toll and many are now ready to give up the struggle.
Imperial Death CommandoGeneral Abilities: Death’s Head Power Armour
Rapid-Fire Heavy BlasterStorm the Breach
Personality Trait: Fanatical
Relationship: Hate Rebel Scum
Goal: Serve the Regime
Flaw: Blinded by Imperial Propaganda
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ITemplatesAbomination 84
Admiral Stern 17
Age of Expansion 93
Agent of Order 40
Agent of the Konformitat 79
Agricultural World 19
Alien Artifact 40
All Terrain Unit 66
Aloof Supergenius 57
Ancient Monolith 108
Android 66
Angels of Barathis Zia 141
APC 52
Arachnoid Husk Feeder 133
Arachnoid Swarmship 133
Artificial Intelligence 74
Assassin 29
Asteroid Field 108
Asteroid X 112
Authority Sun Destroyer 129
Battle Spider 66
Beloran Arch-Fiend 120
Bionic Arm 41
Bionic Legs 41
Bionics 41
Birdman 57
Black Hole 108
Black Light Fanatic 132
Black Light Infiltrator 132
Black Reavers 141
Blasted World 20
Blue-Skinned Siren 57
Bounty Hunter 29
Brass Claw 40
Brightspring Lizard 122
Brood Queen 128
Brown Homunculus 124
Capital World 20
Cargo Freighter 50
Carnassial Raptor 133
Cavern of Zhel’darax 44
Chameleonic Hunter 58
Chosen One 42
City World 20
Clicker 58
Clumsy Amphibian 58
Coalition Guerrilla 130
Coalition Leader 42
Colossus-Class Mecha 46
Combat Interceptor 99
Corporate World 20
Corvette 50
Cultured World 21
Curious Gremlin 58
Cyber-Gladiator 29
Cyberoptics 41
Cyclone City 44
Delta Maximus 112
Desert World (Frontier) 21
Desert World (Inhospitable) 21
Diminutive Scavenger 59
Dionysius 137
Diplomat 30
Dog Soldier 59
Drifter 21
Dropship 54
Dust Runner 122
Dying Race 22
Energy Moth 124
Enigma Monkey 60
Eos – the Light 82
Escaped Slave 30
Exiled Royalty 42
Felinoid 60
Ferrus Worm 124
Feudal World 22
Fishman 60
Floating Wreck 108
Gadgeteer 43
Gas Giant 22
Giant Beetle 122
Gladiator Bot 68
Grey Watcher 60
Index
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Grzanski Field Suit 43
Guard 30
Guild Cargo Liner 131
Guild Enforcer 131
Gun Fu 43
Gunbot 68
Gunship 50
Hacker 30
Havoc Engine 68
Heavy Crawler 99
Hell Planet 86
Hellcat Strike Fighter 129
Holo-Vid Celebrity 31
Hologram 74
Home Base 44
Hotshot Racer 31
Hover Drone 68
Hovertank 52
Hulking Brute 61
Hydraulic Exoskeleton 99
Hypercube 40
Hyperkinetic Enhancement 45
Hypnopsychologist 31
Icarus Prime 113
Ice World 22
Imperial Commander 45
Imperial Death Commando 9
Industrial Lifter 69
Industrial World 23
Ironclad 50
Jetpack 99
Jungle World 23
Junk World 24
Junker 31
K’Threx Platoris 138
Kaitain Mysticism 45
Kalgarian Death Leaper 120
Karg Marauder 134
Kid 32
Kill Drone 134
Kletoidian Bubble Ship 131
Last Days of Mankind 93
Last Light Station 113
Legendary Hero 45
Limpet Mines 108
Lizardman 61
Lockheed-Class Mecha 46
Logicbot 69
Lord Sulferus, the Dark Mantis 128
Macau Balecko 141
Machina 17 – the Automatic Earth 113
Maintenance Bot 69
Malefactor 61
Mecha Pilot 46
Mechanic 32
Med-Tech 32
Medical Unit 70
Medusa 139
Mercenary 32
Militarised World 24
Mining Colony 24
Mischievous Imp 61
Mk II Coalition Lancer 55
Mnemonic Conditioning 47
Mole Man 62
Monastic Order 24
Monowheel Racer 70
Mysterious Past 25
Mystic Apprentice 81
Mystic Knight 81
Mystic Sorcerer 81
Naval Officer 33
Necrophage 124
Necrotech Diabolist 84
Nemesis Swordmaster 47
Nightsider 25
Novikova Station 44
Occupied World 25
Ocean World 25
Octavius 8 113
Operator 33
Overfiend War Leader 134
Phantom Mentor 82
Piglike Thug 62
Pirate 34
Power Unit 70
Precog 79
Prison Planet 26
Proud Warrior Race 62
Psychic Blank 47
Psychic Savant 79
Psychomancer 85
Pterodactyl 122
Rarefied Mystic 62
Razorball Player 34
Recon Walker 100
Red Scimitar 82
Resistance Fighter 34
Revenant 48
Rift in Time and Space 109
Robodog 71
Robodriver 71
Robotechnician 35
Rocket Trooper 48
Rocketbike 100
Rogue Telepath 78
Rotmeat Spyder 124
Runsuit 100
Salvage Bot 71
Sandworm 122
Savage World 26
Scabrous the Unclean, King of the Gloops 75
Scientist 35
Scoundrel 35
Scourge Unit 71
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Secret Machine 48
Sentinel Guard 130
Servant of Darkness 48
Shadowcloud 120
Shapeshifter 49
Shurin Armada 140
Silent Ones 109
Skullbot Deathstalker 132
Skullbot Nuklodrone 132
Skyfighter 54
Slime Squid 125
Sluglike Mastermind 63
Sniper 35
Soldier 36
Sonic Executioner 131
Space Dwarf 63
Spacer 36
Spectral Assassin 135
Speedster 100
Sprite-Class Mecha 46
Spy 37
Star Child 109
Starfighter 51
Starfighter Pilot 37
Starship Captain 50
Stealth Attack Copter 54
Stonebreaker 122
Stranger in a Strange Land 26
Submersible 100
Supersoldier 49
Surger 85
Swamp World 26
Swashbuckler 37
Synaptomorph Technician 133
Tachyon Scangoggles 40
Tailgunner Unit 72
Tank Commander 52
Tank Walker 52
Technoid World 27
Technolock Witchfinder 86
Technomage Adept 84
Telekinetic 79
Telemetry Drone 130
Telepath 78
Telepathic Cop 78
Tentacled Manipulator 64
Tesla Phantom 53
Thanatos – the Darkness 82
Theocratic World 27
Titanicus Rex 120
Tox Zombie 125
Trackerbot 72
Trading World 27
Translator 38
Ugly Herbivore 64
Underboss 53
Underworld Thug 38
Utility Grav-Sled 100
Viper Attack Tank 130
Void Stalker 141
Volcanic World 28
Volcanis Ultra 87
War Leader 27 128
Wild West World 28
Wilderness Scout 38
Wing Commander 54
World That Time Forgot 113
Xen Tau, the Technologist Supreme 128
Xenoarchaeologist 38
Yacht 51
TablesNPC Random Personality Trait Generator 127
Pocket Dimensions Table 109
Predator Flaws Table 119
Predator Special Abilities Table 118
Random Cargo Generator 95
Random City Encounter Generator 114-115
Random Ship Trait Generator 104
Random Space Encounter Generator 110-111
Random War Machine Trait Generator 102
Random Weapon Generator 97
Random Wilderness Encounter Generator 116-117
Random World Generator – Planet Type 107
Random World Generator – Primary Inhabitants 107
Trippy Effects Table 126
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