Laying the Groundwork, Part 1
Now that we know what a Gothic Space Opera is, we will begin fleshing out the framework for the setting. Sure, I already have some ideas for it, but without designing a framework ahead of time, we run the risk of internal contradictions, mission drift, and including things that are just counterproductive to the ultimate goal of creating a gothic space opera.
To do this, we will use a couple of RPG books, specifically GURPS supplements that directly address how to construct games of different genres. While it does not have a gothic space opera book, it does have one that tackles space-faring science fiction and one that is all about horror: GURPS Space and GURPS Horror. We will work through these, examining their suggestions and then merging the two in order to get the guiding structures we will need for a gothic space opera.
Let us also keep in mind that our goal is to produce a framework, that itself will be "fluff-light" but highlight large design decisions and help drive future development. This will have the fortunate side effect of driving toward a usable setting as quickly as possible, with details being filled in as needed. I’m sure we will see emergent ideas that feed our background, and once we have a playable ruleset, we will really delve into detail-building. But for now, let’s see what GURPS Space has to say.
This portion of initial development will walk through the steps laid out in GURPS Space for developing a campaign. Because this is a setting and not a specific campaign, it may tend toward being a little broader, but that’s ok. If we find that it needs focus, we can always trim things later.
All page references in this section are to GURPS Space.
Scale and Scope
(p. 8-10)
We have already determined that this is a space opera, and in such stories, heroes have significant impacts on their settings. This suggests that large scale is a must.
While it is also true that a hallmark of space opera is a sprawling setting with everything dialed up to 11, it is not absolutely required. In Dune, Paul’s actions are all on a single planet. So the setting should probably support a variety of scopes, ranging from national or planetary all the way up to galactic. Within whatever scope is chosen for a story, characters’ actions will have to be able to influence the entirety of that scope.
Tone
(p. 9-10)
Within the Scale and Scope section, we have a box called Tone. This is described as “the mood the GM wants to invoke in the setting”. We already know something about this from our discussion of gothic space operas! It is to be ominous, gothic, daring, exciting, and be a space opera. Let’s see how this fits into things and what suggestions are made.
For starters, Space Opera is already called out directly! Here we find that the scale should be “titanic”. Check. It also says that spaceships are “huge and baroque”. I am for this. It also says that psychological and scientific realism “[cower] helplessly as physical laws are broken with contemptuous ease.” This is excellent writing, but I disagree with it. I think, and you will see why later, why I think maintaining a degree of scientific accuracy will actually enhance our setting. Lastly, this section says that “Settings emphasize wonder (see below) and plots emphasize action (see above).” So let’s jump there next!
Wonder (p. 10). This section suggests that a sense of wonder and excitement (hey, that’s another one of our goals!) arise from encountering “new and different things”. This may be star systems, phenomena, aliens, technology, etc. This makes it particularly good for exploration or military games, both of which are common modes for space opera. But I am going to digress slightly now. The real world is far more amazing than anything an author will invent, and few people really know that much about how it works - especially in exotic environments like space. This is why I think it is worth keeping things more realistic than less. Let’s introduce the viewer to the oddities of the Coriolis Effect on rotating space stations, what a nuclear bomb would actually do to a spaceship, how lasers actually work, etc. This won’t make these things bad or wrong, but it will make them different.
Action-Adventure (p. 9). This is all about excitement (there’s that word again!). The focus is on danger, movement, and conflict. We want to see things happening, not planning, thinking, or other more cerebral things. This has the potential to play at odds with horror, but let’s see if we can find a way to marry the two as we progress. Right now, we are just grabbing bits we need. Space also says that Action-Adventure are especially suitable for police, military, criminal, and planetary romance stories.
Another key word we used as “gothic”. That implies a darkness and horror elements, so let’s look at Horror (p. 9). This section says that horror is all about fear. This makes sense and will influence out setting design to a large extent! The characters need elements to be afraid of, and so to the players - usually via dramatic irony. This section suggests that horror is suitable for law enforcement, exploration, and military games. It also says that antagonists should seem unbeatable, which runs contrary to the suggestion in Action-Adventure that suggests there should be a sense that the heroes will ultimately win. These will need to be rectified at some point.
Let’s look at one more tone: Thriller (p. 10). This one is a mix of Action-Adventure and Horror that suggests the overriding emotion should be one of suspense. Opponents are outsized and the chance of failure is very real and even probable. The stakes are high for the characters, and everyone should be on their toes. This might be a winner, but the “heart-pumping adrenaline” of Action and “fear” of Horror still need their chances to shine through. I am currently thinking of movies like Predator and Aliens as examples that would work for me.
Campaign Types
(p. 11-20)
We are ultimately developing this for a game, so let’s get a little gamist for a second. What sort of stories do we plan on telling in this setting? Let’s have a look at some options from Space.
Strange New Worlds
(p. 11-12)
This is all about exploration. Discovering new places and things. This definitely plays into the sense of wonder, and the isolated nature of exploration will lend well to horror, but the scale is not very large. Characters may have complete control over the fate of their ship, but finding a new planet doesn’t really scream “Save the cheerleader, save the world!”
I see this sort of exploration as the impetus for the main plot - discovering a new threat to humanity or the like. I could possibly see it as a side quest - “We need you to find out what is in this system and make sure it is safe before the fleet arrives” or “If you can locate the homeworld of the alien menace before they break our front lines, we just might have a shot at defeating them once and for all.” But these scenarios are encompassed within larger, non-exploration stories, so I’m not marking this as a must for our purposes.
Colony Alpha
(p. 12-13)
This one revolves around settlers trying to survive on the frontier. Again, this has excellent opportunities for horror elements, and the players have potentially immense scale, but the scope is, but the nature of the story, always limited to the colony. This makes it something of a nonstarter as a focus of this setting. That said, this would make a good background for a character.
Character Types: Survivalists, Outdoorsmen, Engineers.
Space Colonies
(p. 13)
This is basically just Colony Alpha, but In Spaaaace. The same thoughts apply here, but typical characters are slightly different.
Character Types: Asteroid Miners, Workers, Engineers, Military, Administrators, Everyman.
Survivors & Refugees
(p. 13-14)
This is the flip side of the two previous game types. Here, people are showing up on your doorstep because things went south where they are from. It remains a stationary type of game where characters have to deal with the influx of people and anything they bring with them. Of course, being a refugee is an interesting background, so let’s put it in that bucket.
Starship Troopers
(p. 14-15)
Now here is something that looks promising! Characters are soldiers, likely part of the same organization and unit, who get sent places to do violent things. That violence, also called “conflict” is a great source of Action, and the constant threat of death can provide fear, as can the nature of the enemy. It does have the downside that unless the characters are in command positions, they will lack the agency to make games fun. This just means that care must be taken.
Character Types: Soldiers, Pilots, Engineers, any other military types.
Ace Pilots
(p. 15)
This is Top Gun in space. Oddly, Top Gun didn’t even get a mention in the references, despite it epitomizing the genre. Weird. Anyway, we see that adventures revolve around space combat with the periodic side adventure via shore leave, crash landings, escaping prison camps, etc. There is enough meat here to justify it as a game type, but it is still pretty limited in terms of scale unless it gets tweaked a bit - either by making pilots also do commando work (I’m looking at you, Battlestar Galactica) or by somehow making every mission affect the fate of some world somewhere. This could get old or repetitive. I’ll tentatively include it, but likely tweak or discard it for something broader than one character type.
Character Types: Pilots.
The Big Chair
(p. 15-16)
This is your classic Star Trek type of game, but not necessarily centered on the captain. To have enough scale, though, characters should be in command of entire departments, if not bridge crew. On the upside, the ship can affect massive change on a battlefield, and depending on how it is deployed, can do so off, as well. Again, look at the Enterprise. Dangers include the captain hogging the spotlight and difficulties challenging a well--prepared and powerful starship. I do like the variety afforded by this option and will consider how to work it in. I think this will be a good approach to the space side of things.
Character Types: Crewmen, Engineers, Marines, Scientists, Pilots.
Space Patrol
(p. 16-17)
You are a space cop, space pirates beware! Well, not necessarily, but you are some sort of law enforcement agent, meaning a detective or patrolman, etc. That means solving mysteries and finding criminals. And if TV and movies are to be believed, it also means uncovering conspiracies, toppling governments, outing spies, and saving the world. A slight spin on this is the PI or the bounty hunter. This could definitely fit the bill for both Space Opera and Horror. Let’s Do This!
Character Types: Investigators, Ex-Soldiers, Cops, Ex-Cops.
Criminals
(p. 17)
Here is another broad category with lots of potential, but on the other side of the law. This has the potential for heaps of character agency, since they can basically come up with their own adventures. On the downside, the degree of scale is potentially low, unless they are trying to take over an interstellar criminal enterprise, lead an insurrection, or happen upon some sort of conspiracy that threatens everyone. This could work, and the breadth of character types is excellent. I am going to include this as a possibility, but not a definite at this point. Worst case, it is a background.
Character Types: Smugglers, Space Pirates, Hackers, Thieves, Assassins, Con Artists, etc.
Political SF
(p. 17-18)
I’m pretty sure this doesn’t belong here. As much as I enjoy political shows, I just don’t see politics as generating the kind of exciting, suspenseful, or frightening scenes worthy of the moniker “gothic space opera”. It might work as a background, possibly, but not likely.
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Blaster
(p. 18)
While I lauded police types as being good because they can uncover conspiracies and solve mysteries, I omitted their ability to bring violence to the table, chase down bad guys, etc. This is why I am going to say that a game revolving around reporters and the media is likely not a good fit. It is a good background, however. Remember, we want action, not just research and spin.
Agents of Terra
(p. 18-19)
Spies. In Space. Yes. Hell Yes. This combines the best parts of Political SF and The Pen Is Mightier Than the Blaster with tons of action and suspense. The stakes are always high, and you never know what you will uncover. This has the potential to surpass and envelop Space Patrol in some ways, too.
Character Types: Spies, Assassins, Thieves, Infiltrators, Con Artists, Soldiers.
Working Stiffs
(p. 19-20)
Let’s kill all of these right now. They are backgrounds, at best, though I’d be apt to roll them all into a single Everyman background.
Absurdist SF
(p. 20)
No. Just no.
Tying It All Together
From this quick look, we can already sneak a peak into how we will address the element of Character. What sort of characters do we expect to encounter in our writing on the setting? A brief look reveals some interesting patterns. The following character types appear at least twice: Assassins (twice), Con Artists (twice), Cops (twice), Engineers (four times),Military of some sort (six times),Pilots (thrice), and Thieves (twice – thrice if you count Pirates). Clearly we have one larger archetype that is sneaky, one that is all about overt applications of force. We also have some other roles, like investigatory types and engineers. Looking at those roles that were only mentioned once, we have Administrators, Asteroid Miners, Crewmen, Everyman, Hackers, Infiltrators, Investigators, Outdoorsmen, Pirates, Scientists, Smugglers, Spies, Survivalists, and Workers. Of these, we see that four – Hackers, Infiltrators, Smugglers, and Spies – fit into the idea of sneaky types. We also have two possible additions to the investigatory type: Hackers and Investigators. What remain are, in all but the case of Pirates, everyman types: Administrators, Asteroid Miners, Crewmen, Everyman, Outdoorsmen, Scientists, Survivalists, Workers. There is also another general division of character types worth noting. Many of the character types mentioned all fit neatly into the criminal category. That’s no coincidence since we said we are including criminal stories in what needs support from our setting.Aliens
(p. 21-22)
Next up, Space wants us to address the presence or absence of aliens. Before starting here, I am going to rant a little about characters and humans and stuff. I have done it before, I’m pretty sure, but here we go again!
I strongly feel that in order for players to feel connected to their PCs, the PCs must be relatable, not only to that player but everyone at the table. For this to happen, the PC must have an understandable, human personality and tendencies. Now aliens seem to come in a couple of flavors: bad knockoff stereotypes of human ethnic groups, dysfunctional Americans with odd-colored skin or pointy ears, and truly alien and incomprehensible. Only the latter feels like an actual alien to me. The rest range from shallow to insulting caricatures. For this reason, I expect every PC to be human. If you want to play an intelligent alien that doesn’t understand emotions, play Sheldon.
Now that I got that out of my system, let’s look at aliens!
I plan on doing something fun with aliens to avoid making them less easily understood or matched to a society or group of people. They won’t be based on such things at all. Instead, to tie in and play up the horror aspects of the setting, aliens will be embodiments of human fears. I don’t mean every possible phobia - that’d be silly. I mean things like a fear of death or fear of nature. This way, encounters with them will bring horror and remain alien, despite being imminently rooted in human psychology.
Because the number of Capital-F Fears are limited, I’ll be taking the Galactic Club (p. 21) approach. Most will be Exotic (p. 21), and at least one will be Advanced (p. 21). I am not sold on a Precursor (p. 22), but if I go that route (it is a trope for a reason), they won’t be around any longer. Only their technology will remain - and that would mean MacGuffins Galore.
Societies
(p. 22-24)
GURPS Space suggests that the most important worldbuilding choices regarding societies are that of size and political type. The former is limited by the speed of travel and information transmission, but the former we can address right now.
Anarchy
(p. 22)
Anarchies are broken into a couple of subtypes, with “patchwork states” being the international setup on Earth today - lots of countries with no cohesive government holding them together. Other types get more anarchic from there, but I don’t think our setting will. I think the overall setup in human-controlled space will follow this. It provides a great deal of freedom for characters and for worldbuilding. We get a rich variety of government types, cultures, etc., and we can even include other forms of governance on a smaller scale within it.
As a local government type, I see Patchwork States being smaller toward the fringes of human space and around failed states. Larger government tend to keep their neighbors functional because nobody wants a warzone on their border.
The Alliance
(p. 22)
Not the Star Wars kind, dammit! This is a group of autonomous self-governing worlds who have banded together, usually for mutual economic or defensive purposes. Think EU or pre-WWI Europe. This still affords much of the freedom of an Anarchy, but provides a little more order - even if the Alliance’s military (assuming it has one) cannot interfere with its members’ internal politics.
I think there will definitely be alliances, especially near the fringes of humanity. These are probably united against some outside alien threat. Member worlds likely have their own disagreements amongst themselves, making for a more interesting political situation. That would make these areas ripe for Agents of Terra stories!
Alliances may also form in response to a larger nearby expansionist government, as well. Member states may sign up for mutual defense and for increased bargaining power with opponents of their adversary. Again, this could make for the kind of political situation that breeds spy stories.
Note that as described, a confederation may fall in this category, as well. These can be quite resilient - look at Switzerland. It was a successful confederacy for 500 years.
The Federation
(p. 23)
This is like an alliance, but where member states do not have individual sovereignty. Instead, the central government has control over them. Real world examples include Russia and the United States, for two. These tend to be larger and multiethnic, but far more organized than alliances. In-fighting may still occur, but it is part of the political process and doesn’t generally threaten the existence of the federation.
Such governments afford less freedom to characters who can run afoul of local and federal laws and who may find themselves facing a much larger, more monolithic governing entity in matters of conflict. Of course, federations can also field larger, more impressive weapons of war because they have the combined economic power of all of their member states on which to draw.
I see this as being one of two main forms of government for large interplanetary societies, the other being empires, but we’ll get to those soon enough.
The Corporate State
(p. 23)
Thankfully, there are no real-world examples of this. It isn’t pleasant. It’s basically a dictatorship run by a soulless corporation. That corporation may be merciful and just or merely out for profit, but ultimately, the lives of its citizens are in the hands of an inhuman entity. It has complete control of the economy, the laws - everything. The corporation itself is controlled by its stakeholders, who may not even live in the corporate state. This tends to invite greed to overrule justice.
These are not free places for characters to live. They may be exciting, however! With The Company controlling everything, characters may have to overcome a hostile worldwide government. It is ripe for spy games, investgatories, and conspiracies. With the scale on which a gothic space opera should operate, this definitely seems a fitting, if bleak, prospect. I could see them existing on their own within a region of patchwork states or within an alliance.
An interesting spinoff might be a corporate state wholly owned by its citizens. Citizenship may involve buying shares in the government, and there may or may not be a limit to the number of shares. It may sound corrupt, but at least the rich would cop to buying their vote!
The Empire
(p. 23-24)
GURPS Space calls autocracies “empires” here. It is not referring to the form of governance in which one culture conquers and rules over states of other ethnicities. Even still, these autocracies may well be empires in the lexiconical sense or theocracies or dictatorships or even monarchies. Note that an autocracy need not be hostile to its people, even if most exist to elevate the autocrat. Also note that autocracies may be ruled by a small group of people, as was the case in Soviet Russia.
These offer a lot of adventuring possibilities at the expense of tremendous restrictions on character options. The law is absolute and possibly arbitrary. Corruption is often widespread. Changes in leadership may be quite violent. And don’t assume that the citizens want a different form of government!
There will be more than a couple of autocracies in the galaxy, and at least one actual empire. There will also be at least one small theocracy, and possibly some kingdoms so we can have beautiful princesses.
Alien Governments
(p. 24)
Here, Space suggests that other types may exist both for humans and aliens and that they are detailed elsewhere. I will address that when I get to it. For now, I don’t think there will be many we cannot relate to, and I won’t even try to address the governments of aliens. They exist to drive human fears - not be rationally explained.
Interstellar Organizations
(p. 24-27)
There are a number of general types of organizations we will need to concern ourselves with as we develop regions of space. These may be government, corporate, academic, or another number of other types, and their reach and power will be important. They may serve as patrons to characters, provide missions or jobs, or act as adversaries. They may even do all of these simultaneously!
I am going to go through these fairly quickly, with brief explanations where necessary. The need for many of these is fairly obvious.
Government Organizations
(p. 24-26)
Diplomatic Corps (p. 24). This can provide cover for spies or MacGuffins in the form of diplomats to escort or assist. It can also provide refuge to characters.
Interstellar Trade Commission (p. 24). If there is trade and any form of government, this will exist so the government can get a piece of the pie. It really doesn’t make for a good patron with our focus, however.
Mercenary Regulatory Agency (p. 24-25). I don’t see this sort of agency existing. Governments are not too likely to tolerate enough mercenaries within its borders to justify an entire agency, since mercenaries are, by definition, not loyal to a specific country. If they were, they’d just be called “the military”.
Navy (p. 25). This. Definitely. Exists. In fact, I suspect all military organizations will exist. Afterall, one focus of the setting is war.
Office of Colonial Affairs (p. 25). Is it impolite to be snoring before you’re finished typing the name? This does not scream action or fear (unless you have thaasophobia. At best, it could be a very local adversary.
Patrol (p. 25). Space Police are a thing. The characters may be police or they may be running from the police or hired by the police. Space Police just allows more planet-hopping, which is a time-honored space opera trope. It is in.
Postal Authority (p. 25). This one is boring on the face but could provide interesting courier jobs and MacGuffins. It definitely exists but likely won’t see much detail. No more than grocery stores will.
Security and Intelligence Agency (p. 25). Yes, please. This is where spies come from. We have spy stories. I want one.
Special Justice Group (p. 26). I wanted to gloss past this as “oh god another regulatory agency. Snore.” but it could provide an interesting source of investigators and spies - just on the corporate side. And considering how massive interstellar corporations must be, going against them is probably difficult at best and deadly at worst. I’ll keep this in just for this reason. Worst case, it is a potential patron.
Survey Service (p. 26). This is part of the Navy, and it isn’t terribly exciting. It might offer jobs or MacGuffins, sure, but this isn’t where the characters work. It is who they help or who finds things the characters need.
Private Organizations
(p. 26-27)
Alien Rights League (p. 26). What phobophiliac nutjob is trying to protect the embodiment of human fears? Sorry, but no.
Corporations (p. 26). Oh yeah! They might own an entire planet or just be hiring characters for corporate espionage. They might just be a brand of blaster. At worst, they are background color, and at best, they are antagonists on a galactic scale.
Free Trade League (p. 26). I’m sure at least one exists, but they are probably regional and not terribly important to the types of stories we are looking to tell. I won’t bother detailing any unless they seem like they might be mixed up in a conspiracy or serve as a good patron within a region of space.
Mercenary Companies (p. 26). I know I disparaged a Mercenary Regulatory Agency above, but that doesn’t mean that private military contractors don't have a place in this setting. In fact, a mercenary company might be an excellent patron for characters, since it would give them more freedom than a military would, and possibly more range. Of course, there probably aren’t tons of mercs, and governments will want to keep close tabs on them, too, since no one wants an unloyal army on their doorstep.
New Services (p. 26). This remains a background more than something characters work for. I suppose PI types might get jobs from news outlets, and those outlets would make good contacts. I just won’t bother fleshing these out on a grand scale.
The Organization (p. 26-27). I find it naive and simple-minded to have only a single crime syndicate. That said, there will be five to ten “big guns” that have interstellar reach. These make great antagonists for police characters and great patrons for criminal characters. They exist for sure.
Psionic Studies Institute (p. 27). This presumes the existence of psychic powers, and I have not committed one way or the other on this. My inclination is toward “no”, but if I swing the other direction, I think there will be quite a few of these.
Universities and Scientific Foundations (p. 27). These exist but aren’t the focus of the game. It would largely be time ill spent to detail them at length. They get attention as they become relevant to other setting components.
Planets and Places
(p. 27)
This section looks at different regions of the galaxy and classifies them by stereotypical characteristics. That isn’t meant disparagingly so much as descriptively.
The Core
(p. 27)
This is type of the region is heavily populated, technologically advanced, and efficiently run. It is also a seat of power and home to intrigue and political maneuvering. There are likely no more than two or three of these in the human expanse. And they will be separated by regions of…
The Frontier
(p. 27)
This is a backwater or actual frontier region where infrastructure and resources are limited and fighting is more prevalent. Governments may not have total control over the regions where they claim sovereignty, failed states may be common, and criminal organizations are likely to thrive in the face of insufficient or corrupt policing. There will be swaths of “frontier” inside the Dominion of Man, as well as ringing its borders.
The Unknown
(p. 27)
This is unexplored space. There is a lot of it. It lies beyond the Dominion of Man. Since it is unexplored, there isn’t much more to say aside that aliens come from here.
Hostile Space
(p. 27)
This is a region of space where an antagonist holds sway. The obvious ones are where aliens control space. There will be a couple of fronts for this. Otherwise, “hostile space” and “home base” (see below) are relative to the characters. I won’t really mark specific human regions as hostile or home.
Home Base
(p. 27)
This is where the characters find sanctuary, can rest and recharge, and are otherwise accepted as friends. Since this is dependent on the specific characters, I won’t be marking anything as a home base.
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