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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