Science Fantasy General

>vs. cyberpunk
More fantasy elements. Usually in the form of outright magic instead of purely technological solutions and "a dragon did it".
>vs. sword and planet
Fairly similar, but higher technology levels.
>vs. magitek
Wider scope. Magitek tends to be more focused on a smaller scale, typically continental or planetary at the most.
>vs. steampunk with magic
Higher technology level and larger scale.
>vs. high fantasy
Higher technology level with particular focus on technology instead of pure magic and larger scale.

Science fantasy is a larger genre which includes many of the sub-genres you mention under one heading.

t. people who don't understand what science fantasy is

Science fantasy isn't really a specific genre like cyberpunk or sword and planet. It's more of general genre like science fiction or (high) fantasy. Difference between it and science fiction is the fact that it has actual magic in some form of other, but it differs from (high) fantasy by having technology play prominent role in the setting. It can also have technology that is purely fantastical and ignores laws of physics like Star Wars lightsabers and blasters.

Best examples of science fantasy would be Shadowrun (cyberpunk), Star Wars (space opera), Outlaw Star (retrofuturism, space opera), Fallout (retrofuturism, post-apoc) and Elder Scrolls (high fantasy with science fantasy in the background).

>cyberpunk
I'm pretty sure cyberpunk is "supposed" to be grounded. Like, we could theoretically digitize our brains, we can't just materialize a fireball out of thin air.
>sword and planet
I'm sure someone will argue this isn't science fantasy but I'm pretty sure this is the OG science fantasy.
>magitek
I have no idea why anyone thinks this is a separate genre.
>steampunk with magic
I mean, steampunk is basically a specific kind of science fantasy already, isn't it? Steam power isn't nearly sufficient to power any of that wacky shit they come up with.
>high fantasy
I think there's no "science" elements involved in high fantasy.
Awesome.

You can easily have cyberpunk with science fantasy. Just take a look at Shadowrun. Also high fantasy with science fantasy ain't exactly impossible either as it's done by Arcanum and Elder Scrolls.

You're spot on for sword and planet being the OG science fantasy though. Although back then it was considered real sci-fi as the term fantasy didn't really exist and there was greater tolerance of unrealistic things in sci-fi.

Traveler is just jank, SWN or GURPS would be much better.

Anybody have good science fantasy artwork?

I think science fantasy is a bad term for the genre - technological fantasy would be far more accurate and encompassing.

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Machinations of the Space Princess

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I've had dreams like this before. Where everything is inside giant rocky bubble caverns, like super sized Volcanic rock. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's ever thought of that kind of shut before

>when you live in a fuckhuge Saturn wide volcanic tube, just at the lip
>looking to the left, there's an inky void deeper into the unknown, like looking down from the far end of an infinite O'Neil cylinder
>looking right is looking out passed the mouth of the tube into a bubbly like cavern that's wider that the whole solar system
>you can only faintly see patches of green where gasses cupped a rocky gully and allowed life to form, in between huge planes of sharp obsidian outcroppings
>the "sun" is just a faintly glowing hot Jupiter in the center of it all, just nearly illuminating the walling around it.

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Do you suppose some problems with the wider adoption of the genre is that some people can't let it be that you can have a modern-esque looking setting but still have dudes in plate armor running around with swords and machineguns? Everyone is going to have their own individual tastes and preferences but it seems like when anything modern like or high tech is involved there is more scrutiny of the setting then if it was just some bog standard fantasy setting

Just started writing how GURPS is overbloated and overrated, but then I understood that the same is true about Traveller. Yeah, so SWN would suit best.

Traveller you can cut down to 1 book (the Core book) - two if you add Flynn's Guide to Magic, or jack the spells from Twilight Sector's Netherell.
Personally, I prefer Flynn's, with a point pool that can boost spells and is the first to suffer spell burn.
Also, pulling the GM tools from SWN is always agreeable - Factions and World Tags are my go-to subsystems.

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Space vampire.

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The exact same argument can be made for GURPS too, though.

So, what are the best parts about Traveller as a system, and what are the best parts of SWN.
Aren't both 2d6 based?

I've read both Traveller (Mongoose 1e) and SWN recently. Didn't get any experience with either of them tho

Traveller
>uses exclusively d6
>character generation is a game on itself, leaving the player with less choice, but fun and realistic experience
>classless, you get your skills based on your choices on character generation
>has ~5 complete playable alien species with societal traits and physical bonuses and weakness
>no clear setting story, at least in the core book, just enough to get you rolling
>hit points inexistent, instead you lose your base stats (str; dex; end)

Stars Without Number
>uses d6 for skill check; d20 for attack; d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12 for damage
>character generation is tradicional: pick class, pick origin background, pick training background
>class based, Warrior; Expert, AI and Psionics
>has 3 complete playable alien species, with societal traits, bonuses and weakness, but only 1 of them is okay to play. Alternatively, it has a robust system for the alien creation, with tables and whatnot
>clearer setting story in the core rulebook
>hit points as traditional: d4 d6 or d8 based on class +Constitution Modifier
>Bonus: MECHAS! Suit, light mecha and heavy mecha. Not absolutely customizable, but has a quite good backstory to it and enough options to be almost as nice as a starship
>Bonus: FACTIONS! There's a neat and simplistic system for intrigues between groups, from raiders to armies, militias, corporations and anything you can think of.

Fuck that was big, but since I've already written it down...

Notes:
Traveller is an old-school RPG, with a clearly unique system, although most of the players choose to get a bunch of rules from other books, making it more robust and modular
SWN is clearly inspired with the idea of turning DnD into a simpler, yet fully functional, space opera RPG.

Both have a pretty nice planet, government and society generation tools.

The faction and mecha system are really good, yet simple, tools. Is personally a huge turn on for me having the option of resolving conflict between factions with an in-game system and having the players clearly interacting (positively and negatively) with it.

Both have psionics (idk where this thing came of, SWN is clearly inspired from Traveller, but I don't know where this came from in the first place). I personally don't really am into that stuff, but is an okay substitute for magic and supernatural things. Removing it from Traveller is rather simple, but not from SWN, since the setting story is based on a big psionic event.

Nice, I was looking something like that.
Fug, I like and dislike things of both, how hard would be to make SWN classless and setting neutral do you think?

>SWN classless and setting neutral

Setting neutral is pretty simple desu, you just have to think how to justify some stuff. Why there are psionics? AI? Mechas? / What are the impact made by them?

Classless maybe not so simple. Haven't really thought about it (and oh shit this is a good idea, I would prefer if it was classless too).
The classes themselves aren't that complex and well structured (a bit of a bad thing), probably you can remove them, who knows? Anyway I'll try to think about that in a few time. Maybe I'll show up again in this or another science fantasy thread.

>SWN is clearly inspired with the idea of turning DnD into a simpler, yet fully functional, space opera RPG.
Isn't SWN just OSR with a coat of space opera paint slapped on?

>OSR with a coat of space opera paint slapped on

Well if you want to put it in that way... I guess it is. But its simplicity and diverse mechanics, added to the space opera theme, pleases me very much.

I didn't mean it in a disparaging way, mind you. Just mater-of-factly.

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It means the same thing though. Science fiction is about real technology. Science fantasy is about fantasy technology.

Yeah, usually when I think science fantasy i think more about star wars or guardians of the galaxy; a sci-fi setting that doesn't really care much about the science about it.

>a sci-fi setting that doesn't really care much about the science about it
This is pretty much exactly what sci-fan is about

Yeah. As opposed to what starfinder/starjammer/whatever is, which is science fiction with magic in it as an actual, direct, measurable force.

I'm trying to make a setting that's a lot like Blame! with sword and sorcery themes. Basically a completely manufactured world where all the super-advanced tech people had is malfunctioning/broken over thousands of years and they now treat it like magic when they actually get it to work.
The thing that I'm struggling with the most is the tone. Stuff like Conan can be dark and gritty, certainly more than regular fantasy, but nowhere near the hopelessness and isolation there is in Blame!.
I'm wondering if I should have different areas that have different feels to them, like kingdoms where things haven't gone completely to shit yet, and completely dead wastelands devoid of all life but small crazed hermits.

Depends on what you want to be going for. If you're making for a group, know what kind of tone you want to have with your players. If it's just a personal worldbuilding thing, then separated areas sound good.

It's a personal thing. Maybe if I can get it down enough I can turn it into a group setting.

What would a world with industrialized D&D magic be like? Like imagine if spellcasters were widespread and they used everything at their disposal all the time to affect society, what would that society look like?

>the best parts of SWN
The latest edition now has straight up rules for science fantasy. It's a toolkit approach though. It just gives you tools for easily making a Magic User or Jedi. You'll need to provide spell lists yourself. It also has much more expanded transhuman tech section compared to SWN 1e. I quite like it, so I added transhuman tech to my fantasy game.

Widespread Prestidigitation would make cleaning services obsolete. Instantly clean 1 cubic foot of material every 6 seconds?
>It's a dirty job, but- oop, no, it's done

>latest edition
Is it 2ed or a supplement?

It's from the premium edition of the recently kick-started Stars Without Number Revised.

Savage Worlds with the Sci-Fi Companion and a few switches flipped. That and Slipstream if you want a premade setting.

Huh, just in time. Looking forward to what this general offers.

Thinking of doing sci-fantasy campaign on dnd 5e, any tips or resources?

>make it classless
Just make everyone an expert
They can choose to specialize in combat if they want

I been checking the new version and it has the adventurer class,less specialized but with more options, so I will pic it up desu.

GURPS. Anybody givinf you any other answer is lying.

OR giving better advice.

>Thinking of doing sci-fantasy campaign on dnd 5e, any tips or resources?
Fucking STOP
STOP doing this shit.
Fuck.
WHY do you think you need to use D&D for a science whatever campaign? Half the classes don't make sense for it. FUCK OFF and use a better system.
And no, you are not being interesting by filing off the names and renaming everything with something sci-fi sounding.

You seem angry, friend.

The reason is because the classes and races fit the campaign and setting I want to do just fine, and my players wanted to play 5e with me.

In other scenario I'd use a different system but I have no need for that because fine-tuned science isn't the focus of the campaign and the players are just going to be mercenaries that serve the exact same mechanical purpose as their core rulebook counterpart.

Beyond narrative and the DMG's weapons there's not a lot if I want to introduce more shit, but I figured I don't really need much, so I don't need any new suggestions.

>You seem angry, friend.
Yes I am angry.

Stop using D&D as a generic system.
>The reason is because the classes and races fit the campaign and setting I want to do just fine
No they don't. If they "fit" it's only because your setting doesn't make sense and you're guilty of what I said before, just playing a generic fantasy setting with the names changed to something sciency sounding.
> the players are just going to be mercenaries that serve the exact same mechanical purpose as their core rulebook counterpart.
This is how I know you're full of shit. Half the classes don't even work in a technological setting.
RAW smiting doesn't even work with ranged weapons ( and if you're playing a technologically advanced setting, this will be 99% of weapons ), so paladin is out. So is barbarian for that matter. Similarly for fighters.
Oh, melee weapons are still important? Fuck off, you're playing NPCs wrong and stupid. You will only have excuses and contrived bullshit. Thanks to bounded accuracy a dozen gobbo equivalents with guns will mess your party the fuck up. Unless you do contrived bullshit. D&D is not designed, nor balanced around, firefights. Little/no guns? WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING A SCIENCE SETTING.
What is a ranger supposed to do? Preferred terrain: fucking nothing? Druid? You're in fucking SPACE.
Rogue? What is infrared/heat vision/etc/etc/etc/ETC sneaking DOES NOT WORK. You will literally need magic for stealth, unless you go full retard and make invisibility equipment. In which case you just made a spell fucking equipment.
You can't lockpick a electronically locked door. You'll just call it hacking? Hacking doesn't work that way, asshat. And you're still just rebranding things with a science-fiction flavor.
I am extremely mad. Just use some of the myriad of already created science-fiction systems for fucks sakes.
I will reiterate because this is the biggest point: D&D IS NOT BALANCED OR DESIGNED AROUND FIREFIGHTS.

lol mad

You are everything wrong with ttrpg. Too lazy to learn a new system that does what you want so you just play D&D and pretend you're playing something else, ensuring the cycle of everyone else being too lazy to learn a new system continues.
Fuck you.

>Too lazy to learn a new system that does what you want
counterargument: D&D does what I want

But it doesn't
Bitch I already told you, it is incompatible with modern/future combat.
Not designed for firefights. Most class features don't work with ranged weaponry.
For fucks sakes just play Lasers And Feelings until your group gets bored and wants to go back to generic fantasy then you can bust out D&D again. Just don't contribute to the idea that D&D CAN DO ANYTHING mentality.

I'm not implying it can. It's admittedly just a coat of paint. You're assuming a style of generic sci-fi or whatever that doesn't fit the D&D ruleset, but I'm building the setting integrating that ruleset instead of building around it.

There won't be any firefights as the only ones with access to military-grade futuristic weapons in the campaign will be the players, and the things that aren't covered by what the PCs can do (vehicles, specific tech, systems, security) are specifically covered by their crew of NPCs.

I'm not treating D&D as a generic system and I know it has its limitations, but this time around it's right up my alley for what I want and what the players want. I wouldn't run, say, a cyberpunk setting on it because there are too many things implied to be had. The fact that you assume that I'm doing anything but generic fantasy in another planet with some background tech gives me the idea that you're an unimaginative fuck that can't work around limitations.

If I want to play or run something else, I'll play or run something else. But right now, it's exactly what I want and need.

I'm not what's wrong with TTRPGs, user. Your attitude of STOP HAVING FUN WRONG and complaining about things you're basing off of pure assumption are, because you're so dull you can't see past your nose unless a mechanics tells you how to do it doesn't mean other people can't be flexible with the tools they use.

Have fun in your games, user. I know I'll have fun in mine.

>not wanting to play D&D sliders

>what is spelljammer lul
i want newfags to leave

>Anything above a standard fantasy setting is only a firefight
>Can't be a loin cloth wearing shaman walking around in a big city or a barbarian that's basically Brock Samson

You need to work on your imagination friend.

>any tips or resources
Run Starfinder. It's basically 5e in space, so you won't have to kludge too much together to get what you want out of it.

That's a setting not a system.

I wish Starfinder was 5e in space, that would be a much better game.

spelljammer was just a bunch of splatbooks with some setting fluff, the mechanics were the same.
it was literally D&D in space

that's literally my point
that retard is arguing that D&D literally cannot support a sci-fantasy setting in any way shape or form, i'm just pointing out a specific example on why he's a) wrong and b) retarded

Starfinder is a sci-fi version of D&D, based on pathfinder, which is based on dnd 3.5, which is just 5 edition but a bit more convoluted.

You should probably use that if youre wanting to do like an actual system

Exactly. Starfinder uses a lot of the streamlining that 5e enjoys without the half hearted attempts to hide behind a non-functional buzzword mechanics like bounded accuracy.

It also doesn't resolve every single stat effect by giving letting you roll twice and take the better/worse result.
Combat can be made a lot simpler by just imagining it's xcom. It's always phrased kind of awkwardly, and very over-explained.
If you've ever played a modern xcom its a bit like that.

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If you're going to do a science fantasy game, I honestly recommend using some sort of generic system. The setting is already going to be a kitchen sink by default, and going with a system like D&D 5th or even Starfinder will just get you a less versatile system for your trouble.

What system should I use for a sci-fi campaign? I'd prefer not to have magic and spellcasting in the game.

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Traveller. Psionics is optional, no matter what the book says.
Don't use T5, its as bad as GURPS - but less understandable. Use Cepheus Engine.

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I'm fairly certain this is from some webcomic about a fantastical space future where everything is controlled by horrifying mutated brain blobs with tremendous psychic power who project themselves as motherly goddesses. I saw someone posting stuff from it on Veeky Forums a while ago but can't remember the name. Anyone?

>NOOOOOOOOOOO YOU'RE DOING THIS GAME THAT I'M NOT A PART OF AND I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WROOOOONG
>YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE FUN IF I HAVEN'T APPROOOVED OF IIIIIIIT

>I'm fairly certain this is from some webcomic

Nope. Fanart of a Standard comic. Prophet.

synthezoide.deviantart.com/art/Prophet-496332549
imagecomics.com/comics/series/prophet

Yeah, that's the one. I didn't know it was something published rather than on the web. Cheers.

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Where to get good maps?