Future Imperfect Introduction
Contents
Dedication
Future Imperfect is dedicated to Charles Russell Rifenberg Jr "Spike", without whom Space Opera likely would not mean nearly the same thing to either one of us. May he rest in peace.
Why Space Opera?
Of all the potential projects we could have undertaken, you may wonder why Space Opera was chosen over the many other potential foci. Besides the dedication mentioned above, many other details contributed to this choice.
At first glance, you may think it as nothing more than nostalgia. And while I will admit there is some measure of that, the project itself is much deeper. Clearly, the original Space Opera game as written is unplayable. There are no unified mechanics, resolution systems or really any cohesion across aspects of the project. Even many of the disparate minigames that encompass the rules set are unplayable in their own right. The game was designed by creators living on different continents, literally on the other side of the world from one another, with no communication other than occasional snail mail.
And yet it endures.
Since it is not the system which causes the fandom to persevere, it must be something else, and that something is the setting. At its core the setting was intended to be all encompassing. To achieve this they made attempts to provide rules for just about everything the authors had seen in science fiction up until that time. It is arguable whether their initial intent was that it would all coexist within one realm, yet in practice, by putting it all together into the same umbrella, that is exactly what it did. The universe as written became possibly the first true "gonzo" RPG setting.
Much maligned though the system is, it did have fragments of genius buried in there to inspire gamers for decades to come. The Seldon's manuals provided a wealth of excellent ship designs (and like much of the rest of the game, borrowed liberally from fiction). The weapon penetration tables offered possibly the first glimpse of tool specific mechanics.
Nostalgia and Familiarity
My personal journey with Space Opera began in 1998 when I gave Bruce back all of Russ's Space Opera books. We had played a few years earlier, but I was moving to Seattle so I returned them. Needing copies of my own, I began to scour eBay to find some. This turned out to be a tall order. In those days they just did not come up for sale very often. Being of the obsessive type, I decided I might try and corner the market (oh to be so foolish and naïve again!). For a period of about 6 months in 1999 I won every Space Opera related auction that came up on eBay. Eventually I realized that while there were not many coming to market, they were not nearly beginning to become scarce. To compensate I expanded my search to all FGU games, and just started filling box after box with the stuff.
But I wasn't done. No, not by a long shot. Since the internet was exploding around me I decided that maybe I could contact the authors and buy the rights to the ip. I succeeded in contacting both Ed Simbalist and Phil McGregor, though could not locate Mark Ratner. The two I contacted indicated they would be happy to let me do something with their game, but indicated that Scott Bizar, the owner of FGU would not agree, and he asserted that he owned the rights, not the authors. Given the nature of this dispute, and my position, I had to let it go. At least for the time being.
Give up I did not, however. The dream kept alive in me while I regularly searched the internet for news about the game. Eventually I found fumbl.org, and the Space Opera website and mailing list run by Dominic LaPorte. The work of others dedicated to the game kept the fire alive. The work I had been doing on my complete system rewrite went into hiatus.
Around 2005 I did a conversion for Hero 5th edition and posted it on the boards there. Over the years since I have run numerous campaigns in this universe, using Hero, to great success. The players from those games and I still have nostalgic recollections of moments from those campaigns. And while Hero is a great game, one of the very best on the market, I still yearned for my own system, and I felt Space Opera was the place to bring it to fruition.
Many creators want to ensure that when they do a project, it is fully their own. This is also the case in many RPGs. Many GMs and players enjoy games in fully homebrewed systems and settings. And while I have no problem helping test a homebrewed system, I strongly resist playing games in homebrewed settings. Some find this difficult to understand, but for me the rationale is simple. Any new game requires some investment from the players and GM. There will be an amount of time early in the game where the players are unfamiliar with what it is the universe is about, and what the GM is trying to accomplish. During this time the group struggles for immersion, and for cohesion, so that they can be on the same page. The more unique aspects in the setting, the longer this inherently takes.
I call this syndrome: Too many proper nouns. Who are they again? What was the name of that place? I thought this race was the one with the purple eye stalks. We all need some kind of anchor, something we can use to bring understanding to our minds eye. For me, game time is too precious to spend so much of it struggling for immersion. Make the setting familiar.
That doesn't necessarily mean the same as what other people are doing, in fact far from it. For example, scientists in 10th century Pakistan somehow invent lasers and discover PK crystals. That is familiar, because not only is it easy to understand what Pakistan is (and where), but it is also easy to discover more as necessary. A ten second internet search and you can find more information that you could possibly need, and from many, many authors (more viewpoints are extremely important, which is why no matter how much your GM writes, it can't compensate). We also all have some idea what the rest of 10th century technology looks like.
The same goes for settings that are pervasive in culture. We know what Tatooine looks like. We understand what it means when the eyes of a Fremen glow blue. And if you don't, it is simple to discover it (and not necessarily during game time), with more detail than a single source could ever provide.
So, for me, to create my system required I followed my own advice and developed it in a setting that is familiar. This way I can concentrate on making a good game, instead of a good setting. It also doesn't hurt that fans of the existing setting can be leveraged easily.
The Future Imperfect Project
A few years back I became reacquainted with Bruce. Given the magic of social media and the internet we were able to rebuild the friendship we forged so many years ago, and this eventually led to us playing games again. At first it was hard because he lives two hours away, but again...technology to the rescue: roll20. It is not the same as being in a room together, but it sure beats the alternative.
Future Imperfect is a child of many parents. Any tabletop RPG owes much to Dungeons and Dragons. This game, owes much to many. It is hard to find truly unique game mechanics. A lot of what you see in the pages that follow will be familiar, both thematically and systematically. Some strong inspirations are Deadlands (original), Riddle of Steel, Hero and, of course, Space Opera. You may have seen some of these ingredients, but this casserole is from a brand new kitchen. I sincerely hope it is to your taste.
