I figured since there was discussion in RPG Theory about narrative space opera, I should toss in my version. Of course it's also a game design in progress, to eventually be web-posted. It's a variation on my Techno-Babble system, the main idea being the only two things that matter to advances civilizations are philosophy and technology, the Star Trek TV series are excellent examples of this.

Lost Oppurtunities

Alone.

The night closes around and the next day slowly approaches.

Nine months until we see the daylight again, whatever colour it may be, it cannot be soon enough for me. The dusk is politics, the world we've abandoned. The dawn is politics, the world we shall save, if we only had the wherewithal, the purpose clear, but we never seem to get things quite right. It's only around midnight when I can settle down and get work done, make some small advancement that may save a hundred or a million, all doomed to die before we return any way. A blink of the eye. And we are the lucky souls who can blink and see a generation pass, and see all those chances lost to us. Still I prefer the daylight.

We failed this time, and I'm sure they will speak of it for years, years of argument and debate, all to solve a problem that ceased to have any meaning only an hour ago. It's too late, we can't save them. They have the time, but we do not.

Meteors are funny things, they tend to be hardly noticeable in the grand design. But sometimes they are more, a message a touch in space. On Tiradi 4 they were the harbingers of destruction. A collision on a sister world, alien and uninhabitable, millenia ago was all it took. A sliver of that hostilty began to take root, and the colony will die.

Ultimately it was just an analog of algea, but one whose chemistry for the most part ignored ours. But not quite enough, and now the women of Tiradi 4 cannot bear children who can out live the year.

And we failed them. We should have been able to save them, or at least move them somewhere safe, but we lacked the desire, the drive to save a generation who would be buried on our return.

Someday politics will be all we have left, and then we may finally regret our inaction, our stance of superiority. But by then it will be too late.

--From the Journal of Dr. Hedsi Baker


Upon a Dreary Star

Imagine how your world will look in a hundred years. How will the people and the culture change? And what would you be if you suddenly found yourself there, as you are now? A hero, a nostalgia, a alien?

Travelling between the stars brings this to the fore. A journey may take but a few years to the traveller, but two centuries may pass until returning. It is a hard road, but it is the only one that leads to the stars.

Almost a millenia after humanity left their home, giant ships navigate the void between systems. Huge and powerful, even the most peacful capable of anihilating life on a planet, these ships have become the gods of the colony worlds. Passing through their traditional routes bringing new technology and occasionally colonists, take with them new ideas and talented individuals, their arrival is a sudden and rare change to the colonists. And the ship's masters? They look out upon their protectorates knowing full well that the man they drink with tonight is the great grandson of their last drinking partner on this world. It is a difficult life, in ways different from the colonists. But it is necessary for humanity to keep what it has taken.

The worlds beyond earth have a dual threat. They are places of alien natures, biologies incompatible with humanity, some downright hostile. In the midst of this the colonists fight a never ending war, solving the problems of living on a new world one at a time, a endless stream of specialized innovation and cultural development. The ships pass through the empty and not so empty void between stars, bringing authority, news, and advancement to the worlds they serve. Ultimately it is time that is the greatest barrier, as each world and each ship performs is necessary function they drift apart, their cultures as alien as their lives, and they risk losing sight of the one thing that holds them together, their humanity.


The Myriad Truths

A culture can be defined in various ways. But the most telling is the truths of the society. Those things which are so basic as to be unquestioned except by outsiders and outcasts. In Drift, these are Truths, which define a character's perspective and methods of life. Each character has taken something from, his or her culture, and these elements comprise their truths.

Sample Truths

Aspiration: Chaos - The structure of the world requires shaking, in the very least to prevent stagnation. Pure energetic action and disorder provide the fertile ground for life at it's best.

Law and Order - Society exists because of the rules that must be obeyed. Following those rules provides the necessary structure for humans to grow beyond their humble beginnings.

Sin: Lust - Reckless carnality is wasteful, regardless of the target of the desires, giving in to them causes the people around you to suffer, and likely yourself when you return to your sense. Keep those desires firmly in check, or you will regret it in the long run.

Virtue: Hope - When the world turns darkest, it is time to shine through. Hope is a great power and it can guide you through the most horrible events.


Pictures of the World: Insights

The development of technology and the discoveries that allow it's use in every day life, stem from understanding some of the basic ideas that pervade the scientific world. Each idea is simple at it's core, but the full understanding of the insights involved can take a lifetime.

Sample Insights:

Equal and Opposite - The world works with a constant dynamism of forces, each creating equilibrium with their opposition. Technologies: Drive Systems, Trajectories, Interrogation

In a Long Enough Time Span - Patience allows meaningless data to take on a more structured form, as the irregularities pass away, only the true nature of the system remains. Technologies: Subtle Genengineering, Astrogation, Experimental Sociology

Turtles All the Way - The structures of the universe are in a never ending pattern, deciphering each new stage depends out reinterpreting the previous stages. Technologies: Particle Physics, Investigative Genetics, Psychotherapy

Characters consist of five truths and insights, with a minimum of one of each.

So what do you think?

-Mendel S.

Wow...thats all I really have to say.
I'd have to see what you can come up with for mechanics that emulate the images...but very evocative as a setting.

I even found myself reading the fiction interested in trying to find out what problem it was that they tried to fix and failed, and why they left rather than try again...

I will go with Valamir on this one: wow

I think that you've got something here. I would really like to see a "finished" character with some insights on the mechanics. Can you tell more about the "game" motivations for the characters: exploration? or do you have something else in mind?

Keep the good work!

Patrick

No kidding.

Imagine what it would be like to miss your ship out. You've seen worlds develop in fast-forward, and now you're stuck on one, for the rest of your life, at its pace.

-Vincent

Mendel S.

Hey, I really like what you have come up with here. The idea of Truth and insights really appeals to me. Essentially the characters gain the wisdom of science as physical law. Meaning they meditate upon the idea of physical laws summarizing the truth of our observations over time. Which ties into the Light Speed Time Dilation.

I can really see how each game would present a dillemma to the characters about the world as it is when they arrive. How do they help, can they help, do they want to help. I am reminded of Joe Haldeman's Forever War in the way the characters had to deal with a home world that became increasingly alien to them with each campaign they fought. So much so that they began to wonder if they truly wanted to fight to protect it anymore. (At least that is the theme I remember:) ).

I would have to say that this is the idea for a Narrativist game if the first to truly grab me and want to play it, but that's just because I have a heavy preference for sim.

I love the tone and feel you have established so far.

Looking forward to seeing more about it.

Valamir,

Well the problem in question was a protien generated by an alien lifeform, which vaguely fits the niche of algea on earth. The protein was causing widespread birth defects.

One of the basic ideas of the mechanics is that all characters only ever have five truths and insights, they can slowly change gaining or losing them. The insights are why the person was chosen to join the ship's crew, the initial truths are based on the culture of their homeworld / region. But by the time they return only some of those truths are likely to have remained. And over time they must face the choice to change or stagnate.

There is a second element to the mechanics which is called, at the moment, flavours. The idea being that each insight or truth has a tint, which makes it more applicable to one application than another. Several of these may be gained and they act as 'specialties' in a way.

I'm debating what the list of flavours should be like though.

Ultimately the mechanics are simple, roll a 1d4+ if no insight or truth applied, 1d8+ if one does, 1d10+ if one of it's flavours applies, and 1d12+ if two (or more) of it's flavours does. The + indicates and exploding die. The difficulties are all odd numbers (as a simple analysis of exploding dice indicates).


Patrick,

The main motivation for the game is as a research team, (or another kind of team, but I'll get to that) working in the Byzantine politics of a scientific 1 G ship. They are assigned problems, either on location or between, but different projects can take various amounts of time.

I'm really thinking of a Star Trek style episode plotline, but with more continuity, and less of the unbridled optimism and purity of the show.

Of course besides scientific ships, there are also political and military ships, but for most variants the same approach still applies.


Thanks for your questions,

-Mendel S.

As all said above, excellent, intriguing, evocative. I definitely want to see more. Thanks for sharing it.

The universe reminds me of Ursula K. LeGuin's Hamish worlds. Where many worlds have been colonized but few remember this but the colonizers themselves. The fiction and the sample truths give it a very gothic sound. The ennui of relative immortality is quite a contrast with the "Humanity, Ho!" optimism of series like Trek.

Personal relationships between colonists and ship-dwellers would also be a place of much angst and drama/trauma. How will the forms of technology interact with the narrative and mechanics?

Are you using your self-opposed trait mechanics for this game, or another?

--Emily Care

Emily,

The way I see it, every action comes down to two avenues: technology or history. A character draws on her insights to make a technological solution to a problem, and her truths to find a solution in her experience and background. Technology is sufficiently present that most things aren't really an issue. The general sense is that of the programmer's dilemma. We have the machine that will do this correctly, but we need to give it the correct instructions. Except apply this to navigation and biotech.

As far as the oppositional mechanics, no those are for several other games I have in the mix. One of which is going in my RPGnet column sometime soon. I've put in a little more on that in my column at actionroll:

http://www.actionroll.com/node.php?id=26

Thanks for you interest, and thank you Rob as well, I'll make a point to post my progress as I get going on this one.

-Mendel S.

OK, that last post really cleared some stuff up, and I am now on the "Cool stuff" bandwagon.

When can we see more?

Mike

Yes, wow.

It seems to me this could be either exploration of setting, or character. Both?

Fascinating anyway.

Mike,

Good to hear I'm making some sense.

As far as more elements of the game, I actually have the majority of the insights and the truths figured for the game. The next element I need is the flavours. As it stands I see two real options.

First,

Go with the almost pun of naming the flavours after flavours:

Sweet
Bitter
Sour
Salty
Hot
Cool

I like the idea of a Bitter Sweet action myself, but I'm not sure if that will provide too much conflicting imagery.

Second,

Go with more generic approaches,

for example,

New
Old
Deep
Surface
Loud
Soft

Which do you think is better? Which fits the themes of the setting more?

I'm also considering making eight rather than six flavours, but I'm not sure which to add, especially in the first option.

Regardless, characters can acquire up to half of the flavours per insight or truth, but that's the limit of total character growth, I'm far more concerned with faciliating character change, perhaps even requiring it, but more on that when I get to the growth / change mechanics.


contracycle,

The way I've been seeing it, it's an exploration of the themes of isolation and the drifting that people do when they leave a place. I'm reminded of the boxmaker in Count Zero (by Gibson) who is asked why the boxes it makes are so sad, it replies (I paraphrase) 'They are not sad, they are of distance and time, it is you who sees this as sad.'

Of course that's the most fundamental level, the game is also meant to be about exploration, and even elements of classic space opera, but everytime you leave somewhere you've left it forever, and that is the central sense of the setting and the game.

Thank you for your time,

-Mendel S.

Go with actual flavors. More evocative, and no less potentially confusing than the other titles you chose.

Don't forget to include Savory, which means, essentially, MSG, and scientists have admitted works just like any other flavor does.

:-)

Mike

Mike,

Savory looks like a reasonable idea, perhaps it becomes the most social flavour. Hard to say. If I include it, what would be a valid eighth flavour. I'd like to keep them even, so as to permit up to half on any insight or truth.

I can see what you mean about the directness of the flavours as flavours. I just worry that it is too silly as an approach.

Of course the other aspect of this is making intuitive and yet balanced interpretations for each flavour.

Thanks for your input,

-Mendel S.

Personally I do think the flavors cross the line between clever and corny. I'd call them Tints and go with your second list. Or if you like the word play idea go with a ROYGBIV spectrum (you can ditch indigo to keep it even) and go with the interpretation of Blue = cold, cool, calm where Red = hot, angry, agressive.

So I might have Law and Order Red and you might have Law and Order Blue and we are very different in how we perceive the very nature of Law and Order.

Valamir,

That's what I was afraid of. The tints idea makes just as much sense, and should be at least as accesible. On the otherhand the colour scheme seems almost as risky. I suspect that it would detract, unless there was some in game story element associated with it. In general, I'm trying to make the setting fairly fluid, i.e. the ships themselves have drifted apart significantly, I don't see a colour scheme surviving that. I suppose I'm trying to find a reasonable catagory scheme, that would be consistent. Perhaps that's just something that should be made to vary.

Well, for that purpose it's useful to approach the question from the angle of what things do I want to be catagorized:

Creating
Repairing
Attacking or directing
Defending or resisting
Percieving
Hidding
Explaining or relating
Destroying

From that I see:

Creative
Direct
Destructive
Resistive
Deceptive
Revealing
Restoring
Informative

Perhaps those could be cleaned up a bit. I'm not sure if making them less accessible is worth the added setting link.

Thanks for your suggestions,

-Mendel S.

Wormwood wrote: Valamir,

Well, for that purpose it's useful to approach the question from the angle of what things do I want to be catagorized:

Creating
Repairing
Attacking or directing
Defending or resisting
Percieving
Hidding
Explaining or relating
Destroying

From that I see:

Creative
Direct
Destructive
Resistive
Deceptive
Revealing
Restoring
Informative

Perhaps those could be cleaned up a bit. I'm not sure if making them less accessible is worth the added setting link.

Thanks for your suggestions,

-Mendel S.

Wormwood wrote: Well, for that purpose it's useful to approach the question from the angle of what things do I want to be categorized:

Creating
Repairing
Attacking or directing
Defending or resisting
Percieving
Hidding
Explaining or relating
Destroying

From that I see:

Creative
Direct
Destructive
Resistive
Deceptive
Revealing
Restoring
Informative

FWIW, I like Valamir's spectrum example very much. Intuitive and interesting, though getting the right color symbolism could pose a bit of a challenge.

Best,

Blake

Wormwood wrote: On the otherhand the colour scheme seems almost as risky. I suspect that it would detract, unless there was some in game story element associated with it.

Rob,

I do like your idea about fixing the 'flavours' into the setting in a concrete manner. Still working out how that would fight. I don't want to build in the emphasis on research too much. In pratise most technology is developed by a process analogous to programing. Advancements in the state of the art, as it were are uncommon, and tend to eventually pass from ship to ship via colonial store houses and the like.

Also the university ships are only a portion of the ships that are out there, and can be played as a setting. I'm seriously considering making something which is ship specific in terms of flavours. Or more accurately, reflecting the tone of the ship and it's nature by the use of flavours. I think that fits the idea of drift well, as characters are inclined to actually acquire flavours, but truths and insights are fixed in number, and can vary with less direct control.

Thanks for the push.


Fang,

Thanks for the list but it goes somewhat counter to the effect I'm going for. I want the flavours to be combinbable, a given action having two or more flavours associated with it. To me it makes far more sense to have an action being Creative, Revealing, and Direct, than it does for it to be a Produce, Direct, and Sense action all in one. A flavour is meant to be something that describes the slant or tone of the action, rather than the core of it, I want that to remain as the truth or insight involved.


Blake,

Well in looking back over it I can see usng the colour system, but in this case I want to combine it with Rob's idea about fixing the flavours into the setting. In other words, asssociating colour with department and and using that as a ship specific choice for the flavours does appeal to me. But it's good to know people do consider colours at least potentially intuitive and fitting in a way that tastes are not.


greyorm,

Well the red-shit / blue-shifft thing is pretty loose for a connection. And it sets up and ordering on the colours, that really detracts from their use as flavours. But I'll take your post as evidence of support for the colour scheme as well.

To clarify, in Drift there is no FTL travel, the speed at which interstellar distances are crossed is wholly due to relativistic time dilation.

Thanks for your help,


-Mendel S.

Just a few questions:

The setting, just how realistic is it supposed to be? Are you solving the practical problems of high speed travel? For instance, if you travel near enough c and hit some gravel-size space dust then that would have enough energy to shred even a massive space cruiser to to bits.

(Since you're talking about time dilation which doesn't really become helpful until you come pretty near c. At 0.87c you have halved the perceived time to cross a distance. If you want 1/10 of the time you're talking about 0.995c. The movement energy of 1 gram of space dust at that speed is about 9 TJ (thats Terra - 10^12).)

Are you bothering about these things (like bothering to describe the deflector shields or whatever they have to protect the ships) or are such concerns uninteresting?

Hey Mendel,

Wormwood wrote: Fang,

Thanks for the list but it goes somewhat counter to the effect I'm going for. I want the flavours to be combinbable, a given action having two or more flavours associated with it. To me it makes far more sense to have an action being Creative, Revealing, and Direct, than it does for it to be a Produce, Direct, and Sense action all in one. A flavour is meant to be something that describes the slant or tone of the action, rather than the core of it, I want that to remain as the truth or insight involved.

Pale Fire,

A reasonable question, and one I attribute several answers. The most important element of the technology in Drift is that it is incredibly potent. In some ways almost anything is acheivable, but it's the creative forces behind the technology which prove most difficult. True some things are impossible, but nearly any problem encountered can be solved, given the right approach well handled.

For example, the mid-trip collisions could be handled by carefully callibrated electric fields, which 'rail-gun' the particles into the velocity of the ship, causing them to bounce off at comparitively small relative velocities due to acceleration. Or the use of large (we are talking true generation ships here, so a mile or so for shields isn't asking too much) bulkheads derived from any number of technological innovations to allow it to absorb the incoming particles. Of course those smart materials will require maintenance and calibration to keep the ship safe.

Ultimately it comes down, not to having the technology to do something, but having the insight to make the technology effective.


Fand,

Well, from that perspective they do help. Thank's for the suggestions.

-Mendel S.

I have not got a developed idea, but thought I'd throw this in. A comment on the use of light for flavours - light is quite a complex thing and if you could develop analogies for several of its properties you might have a fairly developed flavour/tint system.

Light, when acting as a wave, has both amplitude and frequency. Frequency determines colour; amplitude is proportional to energy at a given frequency. At the very least, this permits another layer of distinction: Bright and Dim.

Another angle which might be exploited is the photoelectric effect, one of the "particle" properties. Light will knock electorns off atoms if it is above a certain minimum frequency, depending on the matrial. The number of electrons affected is proportional to the amplitude/intensity, and the velocity with which they are ejected is proportional to frequency.

Hence, you end up with an array; the colours are arranged by severity of effect by frequency from Red (lowest) to Violet (highest), and are governed by qualifiers inidicating Brightness (quantity of effect). Coloour (frequency) is a minumum value; if you don't have sufficient frequency ("blue enough") no amount of Brightness will help. If you have exceeded the minimum colour, both Brightness and more blue will increase the effect (differently).

Hmm, this sort of thing is quite suited to the outputs for a resolution mechanic, and allows the use of flavours as flavours to explain the How of an act. Just an idea.

Wormwood wrote: For example, the mid-trip collisions could be handled by carefully callibrated electric fields, which 'rail-gun' the particles into the velocity of the ship, causing them to bounce off at comparitively small relative velocities due to acceleration.

contracycle,

Well, that's an interesting application for the photo-electric effect. As a game system it vaugely reminds me of a (potentially) diceless version of the breadth / depth system for Godlike. I'd suggest naming the componants Intensity and Activity, since we are talking about the single photon energy (as determined by frequency) and it's ability to provide activation energy for the ionization of the metal. This is not an uncommon two-dimensional scale. It gives quite a bit of room to vary abilities, by having a range of values.

I'm looking more for a six to eight dimensional scale, but with much stronger graininess in each dimension. Also, I'm strongly focused in this game on culture. It's science fiction, yes, but it's not about the technology as much as the people.

Bringing a heavy sense of a fairly narrow physical event into the mechanics will likely detract from most games. In the very least the mechanic you are centering on would work best extended to apply to a broad range of phenomena. Perhaps a chemical perspective is better, with Intensity acting as concentration, which allows new avenues of complication such as catalysts, limiting reactants, and reverse reactions.

It's certainly something to look into, but it doesn't really fit this setting too well.


Pale Fire,

Well, I plan to break out my GR book and figure out the specifics with the time dilation and acceleration concerns. But as to the general potential of technology, I don't think that can be done by anyone. What is possible it determined by what you can develop and debug sufficiently well, not what is theoretically achievable. This is why insights are so important, and why they span various distinct technological disciplines. They center on the problems of technology, not the theory of the science.

In practice each ship will have patched a different solution for that and a hundred different other problems. Many of the strategies may be similiar, but I doubt there is a best solution, and certainly not a universal solution. Explainations can be provided in techno-babble, extensions of real theory, or simply glossed over. Part of the theme of the setting is that nowhere stays the same, and no universal standards can be enforced accross the paths between stars. The only exception is that some laws, like no FTL, are absolute. I'd be interesting to hear suggestions on what other laws should be in that catagory.

Thanks for your help,

-Mendel S.

Here's a first stab at a list of Truths:

Truths:

Aspiration: Exploration - The journey to find new worlds, both
metaphorically and in reality is the fundamental drive. To deny it is to
stagnate and die.

Aspiration: Chaos - The structure of the world requires shaking,
in the very least to prevent stagnation. Pure energetic action and disorder rovide the fertile ground for life at it's best.

Aspiration: Knowledge - The advancement of humanity is defined ost directly by the body of knowledge that has been accumulated. Without this we would be nothing more than animals.

Aspiration: Peace - The path of war has held humanity back for
millenia. Only a concerted effort and unending vigilence can allow us to
overcome this base urge and become truly masters of ourselves.

Aspiration: Purity - Things, including people, must attain a state
of true being. It is the reason for existence, without that we would be purposeless. What matters is working towards this perfection in ourselves and those around us.

Aspiration: Stability - The first necessity in life is to stabilize
your environment. Without stability life consists of merely surviving and
nothing truly worthwhile can be accomplished.

The Great Wheel - All things return in time, and balance is restored. Living in balance and setting things right that are imbalanced helps to guide the world in the correct path.

My Country, Right or Wrong - The first and most basic loyalty is
to your nation, whether chosen or by birth. You may work to change policies you disapprove of, but it is your responsibility to support the results, regardless of your agreement. To do otherwise would invalidate the entire process.

Law and Order - Society exists because of the rules that must be obeyed. Following those rules provides the necessary structure for humans to grow beyond their humble beginnings.

Natural Law - The laws of nature predate humanity. Without them we could not exist. To forget them and try to change them is the ultimate folly.

Sin: Anger - To be clouded in judgement and to show anger to another human is to insult the rise above the beasts. Humanity is beyond such unconcidered action. Violence carries a determined nature and it is with determination that is should be performed.

Sin: Dishonesty - To tell a lie is to put at risk to world in
which all people must live. The world is harsh enough, without trust all
would be for naught.

Sin: Hubris - Pride is a violation of the natural order, it ignores
the truth worth of the world and yourself. One's place is not to stand in
defiance to the rest of the world, but to work within it.

Sin: Love - Romance leads to pain, and placing one's desires above the needs of your society will cause nothing but heartache. Learn to live, not to love.

Sin: Lust - Reckless carnality is wasteful, regardless of the target of the desires, giving in to them causes the people around you to suffer, and likely yourself when you return to your sense. Keep those desires firmly in check, or you will regret it in the long run.

Sin: Self-Denial - To deny one's self is to open the door to self
destruction. You must live, and experience the world, in all it's grandeour
and villainy.

Virtue: Beauty - Aesthetics define what is good and what is evil.
Beauty in it's truest form is what makes life worth living.

Virtue: Freedom - To be one's own master is the greatest gift, and the greatest responsibility. Striving for better world, freeing others,
and living your own life for yourself, these are the central tenets of freedom.

Virtue: Friendship - Friends are those to whom you owe the greatest debt. A true friend is your rock, a place of stability and one must be protected against all threats.

Virtue: Hope - When the world turns darkest, it is time to shine
through. Hope is a great power and it can guide you through the most horrible events.

Virtue: Instinct - The purest expression of survival is instinct.
Acting without thought to cloud what needs to be done. It is the last best
hope when danger comes calling.

Virtue: Justice - The world must be maintained in a set of balances. When actions remove harm the innocent, it is the responsibility of the just to alleviate the situation.

Virtue: Love - Romantic emotions are the pinnacle of human experience. They define what is good and bad in our lives and give us purpose in the face of despair.

Virtue: Reason - The fundamental human experience is to think. To forget the power of reason and ignore the abilities of careful consideration is to become less than human, less than what we should all aspire.

Virtue: Sincerity - Perception of dishonesty is a break down in
the ability to interact in a real society. Truth is less important than the
social obligation of being of one face.

Virtue: Strength - Strength defines status and weakness is a loss of that status. To show strength is good, to be truly strong and self-reliant is even better.

Virtue: Unity - Discord brings pain and destruction. By cultivating a unified purpose among people around you, you aid them as well as yourself. When disunity arises disaster is at it's heels.

Virtue: Wealth - True worth is based on your ability to acquire
material wealth. It is the ultimate game, and victory in it implies a true
master of the world.


-Mendel