Space Opera[Genres]
Space OperaSpace operas could encompass so many different scenarios that it's hard to specify any one setting. For instance, an entire space opera game could occur inside a megastructure orbiting just beyond the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
If you're playing in a space opera game, you can probably expect faster-than-light (FTL) starships, and perhaps instantaneous transportation/teleportation technology that can beam or “portal” people planetary distances or farther—travel times may not even be important. Psychic abilities might be prevalent. Each planet could have a single biome and probably at least one place on it you can visit.
Alien creatures across the galaxy (and beyond) might be monsters to fight, while alien beings are often very humanlike (if not entirely so), likely differing only in appearance, or perhaps the entire species stresses a singular trait. In fact, you might even decide to play an alien character if your GM uses them in the game.
Most space opera is likely closer to fantasy than hard science fiction. Thus, space opera themes sometimes feature the role of destiny and perhaps a struggle against evil like in many fantasy games.
Others explore deeper themes, such as the fight against a much more intractable force: the underlying rules of reality itself.
If you've watched the various Star Wars and Star Trek movies and shows, you're familiar with space opera. Other examples include the Culture series by Iain M. Banks, the Known Space series by Larry Niven, and the Foundation books by Isaac Asimov (along with the 2021 television show). However, all these are on the “we're trying to seem real” end of space opera. Space opera also includes older pulp sci-fi stories and movies, such as Flash Gordon, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars series, and Andre Norton's many science fiction books like Sargasso of Space and The Time Traders.
Space opera is revealed by the fantastic technologies beyond those normally found in hard science fiction and postapocalypse games. And just as the technology is probably beyond what may ever come to pass, the genre is also partially defined by how a character can recover from their wounds. In a hard science fiction or postapocalypse game, a character who survives a battle with a warbot might have to spend considerable time in the med bay. But a space opera character might be back in the fight in an hour or even less.
Refer to the Science Fiction Skills table for a list of skills you can choose from when creating and advancing your character. Your choice of background skill, and possibly the extra skill you might get if you also choose a meaningful inability, also come from the same list of genre skills.
Nearly any science fiction species you can imagine might be part of your GM's space opera setting.
| Aarak |
| Cyborg |
| Delph |
| D'nec |
| Drakain |
| Human |
| Mutant |
| Naron |
| Prota |
| Rigellian |
| Stelan |
| Vendeer |
| Zantari |
The suggested space opera foci are less restricted than the smaller list of hard science fiction foci due to the more fantastic tone of the genre, including (if your GM allows it) the possibility of psionic abilities and alien supertech.
| Abides in Stone | Blazes With Fire | Builds Allies | Carries a Gun |
| Changes Shape | Commands Mental Powers | Crafts Illusions | Doesn't Do Much |
| Employs Magnetism | Entertains | Explores | Fights Dirty |
| Fights Unarmed | Fights With Panache | Fuses Flesh and Steel | Fuses Mind and Machine |
| Hunts | Infiltrates | Leads | Masters Telekinesis |
| Masters Weaponry | Moves Like the Wind | Never Says Die | Performs Feats of Strength |
| Reveres a Supernatural Force | Rides the Lightning | Sneaks Through the Shadows | Solves Mysteries |
| Stands Like A Bastion | Strikes With Mystic Might | Talks to Machines | Tends to the Wounded |
| Walks Through Walls | Wears a Sheen of Ice | Works for a Living |
Refer to your type's suggested equipment bundle or the Science Fiction Equipment table for equipment you can choose from when creating your character and for options that might be available to your character when you have more currency to spend.
These cyphers are present only in settings where weird prototypes or mysterious alien tech exists.
Space opera is usually a heroic genre. Using treatment to remove a wound takes a Last action for a minor wound, one minute for a moderate wound, and ten minutes for a major wound.
The currency underlying price categories in a science fiction setting usually are nonphysical credits controlled by a hidden financial network, accessible by a variety of different machines, including your character's smart device.
Each type includes suggestions for your character's background. Choose one or create your own.
At tier 3, your space opera character gains a mid- tier ability from the list of Science Fiction Genre Abilities, and at tier 6 you gain a high-tier ability from the same list. In addition, at tier 6, you can replace one of your mid-tier genre abilities with a different mid-tier ability. See that section for additional stipulations that might affect your science fiction genre ability choice.
| Android |
| Diplomat |
| Medic |
| Noble |
| Psion |
| Scoundrel |
| Soldier |
| Starpilot |
| Tech |
| Trader |
Before choosing a type, create your core character, which (as a quick reminder) grants the following.