So I've suddenly acquired a fetish for Golden Age space opera, which shall be narrowly defined as 1940s and 1950s stuff published in and around Astounding magazine--van Vogt, Asimov, Bester, Piper, Heinlein to a lesser degree.

That's not Traveller. Traveller is Niven/Pournelle. Not sure what I mean by that exactly or what the precise difference is here, but it's huge. That one of the emperors in Foundation is called Cleon etc. etc. doesn't take away from that.

The Space Opera RPG has classes that are called Armsmen and Astronaut. Now that's what I'm talking about. I believe it also has "novaguns" and "BattleStarShips." That is good, too.

So the rules are apparently very bad. What's the setting like?

And are there other RPGs out there that cover the genre?

Heh, just finished re-reading "Voyage of the Space Beagle" by A.E van Vogt. I was thinking that it would be awesome to play in a game that was in that setting. Love to see what systems get suggested.

Quote from: Pierce InveraritySo the rules are apparently very bad. What's the setting like?

My comments aren't really on topic, but I hope they're helpful.

I haven't played it, so I can't say, but from what I have read, Space Opera is a toolbox, but perhaps not explicitly packaged as so. You're supposed to  disregard the rules you're not using in your campaign (e.g. psionics.) Allegedly the difficulty/excessive crunch with SO comes from attempting to use all the optional rules. I believe tetsujin (RIP) over on the other board occasionally defended this game along these lines, but I don't remember for sure. I know somebody did.

I don't know that SO's rules are bad; I do know that they are said to be ubercrunchy. I play in a Privateers & Gentlemen campaign right now (an old FGU game), and it's fairly crunchy, but it rocks. If SO is anywhere near as good as P&G (with the necessary Hearts of Oak supplement), then I would recommend SO wholeheartedly.

FGU still sells Space Opera for cheap ($20), and I considered it for a space opera game a few months ago, before deciding to run Star Trek with GURPS. GURPS provides detailed, diverse characters for a mostly rules-light campaign; it seemed the perfect match, and I'm happy with it so far (through five off-and-on sessions.)

GURPS could certainly do what you're looking for, but might require tweaking, and of course, it might not be to your taste... as is often the case with GURPS.

Quote from: Pierce InveraritySo the rules are apparently very bad. What's the setting like?

The rules are horrendous. Partially because they are poorly thought out, but also because they are not in any kind of logical order throughout the books. Space Opera was the second SFRPG purchase I had made after Classic Traveller and where you can cookbook your way through the later, you cannot figure out Space Opera on your own. I couldn't get rid of the game fast enough.

Now, having said that, the sector atlas books are gold. Buy them even if you have no intention of ever playing the game for the Jeff Dee artwork and the thinly veiled genre rip-offs scattered about them.

But hey, if you can run the Lucky Starr stories with it and have fun, then more power to you!

I think Jeff's observations trump my hopeful comments. I was half-figuring this was FGU's outer-space complement to Privateers & Gentlemen.

I guess I won't be buying Space Opera after all.

Quote from: FASERIPI think Jeff's observations trump my hopeful comments. I was half-figuring this was FGU's outer-space complement to Privateers & Gentlemen.

I guess I won't be buying Space Opera after all.

The rules suck, but like I said - check out their sector atlases because they are well worth the money.

Agreed with jeff.  I've used the sector atlases as inspiration for Traveller games, and the adventures have some good ideas, too.  The ship books are neat, but don't port to Traveller...they do evoke a golden age feel, though.

I never did bother reading the rules, as I'd read Aftermath! shortly before getting SO, and was all FGU'd out.

Quote from: Pierce InveraritySo the rules are apparently very bad. What's the setting like?

I liked them better than Traveller and had fun for a few over the top games back in the day. But then I also played Aftermath and Book of Mars back then.

Today I'd use HERO and create my own setting.

But I would still need some good starship rules. Since none of those exist, this type of campaign has never got off the ground. May have to make my own.

It's not right on target, having a grimmer, British bent, but I suspect Starblazer Adventures might be somewhat close to what you are looking for.  It's based on the FATE engine and the license for a long-running British sci-fi anthology comic of the same name from the 70s and 80s.

QuoteGigantic fleets prowl the starlanes, mysterious aliens devise inexplicable fates for humankind, devilish scientists operate enormous engines of destruction and swashbuckling princes defend their world from ancient empires.  

That sounds fairly "golden" does it not?

It does, it does. The only reason I'm not getting worked up about Starblazer is that it's based on a comic I don't know.

Re. SO rules, as so much else my SO box is sitting in a basement on another continent, and all I remember about the rules is vague despair. I believe some attributes are derived as the square root of other attributes?

The setting does look like pure gold though, and it's cheap too. They're giving away the sector books on rpgnow for $3.50 each. If I get this right, these are based on the various authors' personal campaigns, so one sector has an Asimov ring to it, another has Cold War Soviets in spaaace, and Phil MacGregor's sounds like military SF.

Re. the literature: Van Vogt is supposed to be an also-ran, but he is actually awesome. I just finished reading The World of Null-A. It is one paranoid rollercoaster.

Quote from: Pierce InveraritySo the rules are apparently very bad. What's the setting like?

All I know about the Space Opera RPG is that a few years ago, the creator actually sued another company for using the words Space Opera in the title of their game, and that company changed their title to avoid the legal hassles.  In fact, that's about all I need to know.  

QuoteAnd are there other RPGs out there that cover the genre?

TSR released a Buck Rogers RPG as a boxed set with several supplements (I have a few of them).  This is the old comic Buck Rogers from the 40s and 50s (not the 25th century one from TV) so I'd think it's what you're looking for.  I bought the boxed set for $1 at a flea market and the supplements that came with it for $1.   In fact, I bought all 3 boxed sets he had and gave them to friends.  

Pete

Quote from: pspahnI bought the boxed set for $1 at a flea market and the supplements that came with it for $1.   In fact, I bought all 3 boxed sets he had and gave them to friends.  

Pete

FUCK A DUCK!  I wanna shop at THAT flea market!  Pool of Radiance my ASS...!

Golly, did I just cuss?

Pete, yes, I've been meaning to look into that Buck Rogers game.

Re. legal action, it wasn't the SO authors who threatened it but rather the owner of FGU, Scott Bizar, or is that Bizarre.

I guess Star Frontiers would be another RPG to check out, but I could never get over the fact that the alien on the rulebook cover looks live Steven Tyler.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!FUCK A DUCK!  I wanna shop at THAT flea market!

Heh, yeah this one is pretty good for RPGs for some reason.  I bought a bunch of brand new Ravenloft Van Richten's Guides to _______ for $2 each and a couple of old Star Wars WEG adventure journals for $1 each from the same vendor, plus a few other D&D modules and Dragon magazines from other sellers.  Come to think of it, I need to get back there. . .

Pete

Quote from: Pierce InverarityPete, yes, I've been meaning to look into that Buck Rogers game.

This looks to be the game, but it's not in a box.  
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-TSR-RPG-Buck-Rogers-Adventure-Game-UNPUNCHED_W0QQitemZ220226362994QQihZ012QQcategoryZ44111QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

QuoteRe. legal action, it wasn't the SO authors who threatened it but rather the owner of FGU, Scott Bizar, or is that Bizarre.

My mistake.  I assumed he was the creator.  Still takes a lot of balls to claim the words Space Opera as your copyright.

QuoteI guess Star Frontiers would be another RPG to check out, but I could never get over the fact that the alien on the rulebook cover looks live Steven Tyler.

Wouldn't _that_ be a game.  

"Fire those blasters!  Scooba-daba-dooba-duh-bow!  Yaaahhh!!!"