SF Campaign: Player Responses

Recently, I emailed my players with the following question:

"What is one thing--one element, one feature, one theme, one *whatever*--you absolutely want to see in my campaign?"

Two answers ...

... out of 5 players--*AHEM*! ...

... and my commentary, follow.

"Lots of anthropomorphic aliens, AIs (but not necessarily sentient robots), beam klaives (light sabers), xenoarchaeology. (Well, I couldn't pick just one, so any of these would work.)"

This response tells me that the player wants the trope of ancient alien civilizations and technology to be a part of this game, and more, that he wants this element to play an active part of the campaign, as opposed to just being setting color. Thus, I may need a rules system that scales easily for dealing with objects of great power.

I'll also need rules for constructing a variety of alien races (preferably, quickly and easily). If I'm dealing with AIs, I'll not only need rules for them, but setting-wise I should also start to consider why THEY haven't taken over ... or, if they have, what the ramifications are.

And hey, who wouldn't want laser swords?!

"Space suits, space ships, and other ways to breathe in the great beyond."

(Well, I think we can accomodate you here. Otherwise, it's likely to be a very short campaign. :-)

I found this response interesting because it implies that, yes, she expects the characters to be going someplace. This is important, because "space opera" is a pretty broad subgenre, and some examples of space opera don't actually show people in space, flitting about from planet to planet. Then again, some nitpicky types (like me) would consider planet-bound stuff as more space fantasy / sword and planet / planetary romance, so there you go. It also tells me that I will likely need: a vehicle system; a system for vehicle combat; and fiddly bits for dealing with little details, like "what happens to a character whose suit is leaking oxygen?"