I’m in the midst of crafting a campaign, and I’m aiming for a Space Opera with all the grandeur, drama, and interstellar intrigue one can imagine. Think vast star systems to galactic zones, ancient civilizations, epic space battles, intricate politics, and deep lore. I’m talking about a setting where starships are as common as cars and alien species are as diverse as the stars themselves. Very much on the softer side of sci-fi, fantasy and mysticism is fine.
Let me know if you find any Space Opera books, shows, games or other media that have given you an itch for adventure among the stars! I’m open to lesser known indie stuff too.
I forgot about the ‘Farscape’ TV series. That was quite fun.
I seem to recall the ‘Space Rangers’ TV series from the 90s. It didn’t last long. I’m pretty sure it was a very corny show, either due to over-the-top acting or because the writing was way out there. I’ll have to find it to refresh my memory. I dimly remember an alien barbarian hatched from a cocoon who had to wear a psychic collar, a thick space-gnome mechanized ship mechanic, a weapons specialist, a goofy space ranger, and Linda Hunt playing a commander or station chief.
LOL How I didn’t catch this forever and a day ago, I don’t know. Farscape, can I get a “Hezmanah yeah!”? Great source material. Just finished a rewatch of the series. Mostly. Still have PK Wars to watch. Definitely a good show to place a game in. Have the D20 version of the game, but one could adapt it to pretty much any setting, I’m sure. Just wish they’d have explored the Nebari more.
It’s a curious thing but incomplete universes or stories are easier to RPG that complete ones. Something open ended, like Farscape, Star Trek or Stat Wars you can use, endless stories to tell.
In this universe, you may embody anything with agency: a sentient starship dreaming of freedom, a psychic echo yearning for a body, or even a rogue spore of intelligence seeking to unravel the galaxy’s many mysteries. Yet no matter who - or what - you are, the Shackled Galaxy does NOT welcome free spirits. Every move you make will test your resolve, your ingenuity, and your capacity to survive.
That said, “Welcome to Shackled Stars,” an intricate web of oppression, mystery, and rebellion set against the backdrop of a galaxy steeped in shadows and secrets. Here, nothing is truly free - not your identity, your thoughts, or even the air you breathe. From the massive Imperium of Veils to the shadowy corridors of the Syndicate Worlds, every corner of this galaxy is a knot of rules, tariffs, and veiled threats. Add the dangers of the Coalition, the Expriet, Freehold, and the Fade. Yet, the chains that bind also create cracks - cracks where the courageous, the desperate, and the unorthodox thrive.
The obvious picks are Space Opera, Traveller, Star Trek, or Star Wars.
You could also modify a Battletech/Mechwarrior game.
You could go Steampunk like Space 1889. Or Pulp, like Vintage Future. Or More like Valerian (the movie) with the game G-Class Republic.
Old skool with Star Frontiers. Cinematic with Alien.
Or if you can find the games for the TV series classics: Farscape, B5, Dark Matter, Expanse, Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Stargate, etc.
You could also go the Cthulhu-esque route, like Dark Conspiracy.
But for the far-reaching, expansive epicness you mentioned, I think you might stick to Traveller or Space Opera. Traveller still has a strong following, so likely more info out there and plenty of published work. Space Opera was like Traveller, but more technical. You can still find the material on ebay or in certain archives online (if you look for a bit). I used to play Space Opera back in the day. It was a lot of fun, but much of it was theatre of the mind. Traveller has more info for helping you develop your campaign/exploration/worldbuilding in either a preplanned or hexcrawl (which I highly recommend) fashion.
Battletech as a Traveller style game was fun, too. Getting Mechs into a firefight with a weird carrion crawler-looking acid-spewing alien beast the size of the Chrysler Building, on exotic new worlds, or battling a thousand alien metallic sphere ships buzzing around with laser (death by a thousand cuts scenario) gives the big stompy mechs serious pause and tactics rethink. And that universe is well defined already, so you could take the campaign Outside the Inner Sphere, Outside the clan territories, into the deep black unknown reaches of space.
Then there’s Star Wars. The ancient past is the best period. 3000-4000 years before Vader, in the days of the Old Republic. A very advanced, active, populated galaxy with two major empires vying for control: The Sith Empire and the Republic. Read the novels and play the online MMO (SWtOR) for inspiration. Don’t rely on anything in film/tv after Revenge of the Sith. Best bet are the books, pre-2012.
Hope this helps. If you need someone to bounce ideas off of, message me. Qapla’!
