>From: Robert P Poole [email removed]
>
>Doesn't adding a magic system kind of defeat the purpose of a SCIENCE Fiction
>RPG? I mean, there are plenty of good Fantasy RPG's out there. Besides,
>Traveller has a Psi system which is close enough as it is to magic.
No. Science Fiction and Fantasy have often been mixed not only in games
but also in literature. Many stories have magic and technology mixed and
remember the famous line that goes something like this "Sufficiently
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". These mixed games
and stories are often refered to as Science Fantasy. Some lean more toward
Fantasy some lean more toward Science Fiction but both approaches are
fun and interesting to play. I personally have played both types as well
as pure SFRPG anf FRPG. There are few enough games on the market that do
a good job of mixing the two that making you own is a valid approach to
the problem. If you want a SCIENCE Fantasy game you pick a good Science
Fiction game (or at least one you like) and add Fantasy elements. The
more you add the more Fantasy-like it becomes. If you want a Science
FANTASY game you start with your favorite Fantasy game and add SF elements.
In the past I ran a Traveller campaign to which I added Fantasy elements
because the players were also long time AD&D players and didn't want a
pure SF game. Because I allowd some Fantasy into Traveller, my AD&D DM
who was a player in my campaign brought some SF into AD&D. It was all
rather fun - for a while at least.
>Sorry, but magic offends the purist/rationalist in me. That's precisely why
>I avoid Fantasy games.
I'm sorry to hear that. Fantasy games can be a geat deal of fun as can
Science Fantasy. You should try finding a vaguely realistic basis for
magic sometime if you want a real physics challenge! But I have to agree
with you in part, magic/fantasy requires you to ingore a lot of reality
and it can be very unsettling if not handled properly (many games do not
handle magic well unfortunately) but if you can bear with it you can have
a lot of fun. However, if I only have time for one game, I will always
choose the Science Fiction game everytime!
TLH
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T.L.Hayes | General Mail : [email removed]
MIT/Lincoln Laboratory | Personal Mail: [email removed]
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