Is it just me, or wouldn't the races and some of the setting elements of Talislanta translate well to a space opera milieu? Probably some of that is the exotic skin colors and mostly humanoid forms certainly seem like TV and movie space opera, at least.
So, this is what it could look like: the Galactic Empire of the Archaeans (or maybe, humans) was destroyed in the Great Disaster. A time of darkness followed, but now a New Age of progress is under way. Pockets of civilizations are expanding out into the stars. These new civilizations include:
- The Alliance of Seven Worlds: A confederation of the planets Astar, Cymril, Durne, Kasmir, Sindar, Taz, and Vardune.
- The Quan Empire: A territory conquered by a race of warriors, now fallen into indolence. It's subjects include the warrior Kang, the spiritual Mandala, and the technically skilled Vajra.
- The Instrumentality of Aa: An oppressive, theocratic regimen, at war with an offshoot of their race known as the Zandir.
Then of course, there are the independent races and worlds. Everybody takes shore leave on the pleasure planet of Thaecia. Nagra and Jaka bounty hunters chase criminals all of the galaxy. Then, their are the Imrian slavers, dealing in Batrean slave girls.
Works pretty well, doesn't it?
I always thought they would fit better in a space setting. I actually have the book you have pictured and never used it for fantasy, but when I ran a GURPS space adventure I used it to help develop some of the alien races.
ReplyDeleteHow did it work out?
ReplyDeleteI agree, and have done some "Tal in Space" pondering myself.
ReplyDeleteNot that familiar with the book I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great idea. How you going to handle spaceships? I remember their being airships in Tal, but can't remember if there was much mechanical detail.
ReplyDelete@Deadspot - "Great minds..." as they say.
ReplyDelete@Bill - Thanks!
@Lee - I guess there's two main ways to approach it: One is to use the ships from from whatever sci-fi game you enjoy (Traveller, Star Frontiers, etc.). The other would be to go with a Ironwolf/Cody Starbuck-like science fantasy means of space travel.
I hope you develop this out further. Id love to play in such a setting! As much as I love sci fantasy I think sci fi would be cooler for this concept.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably write some more up about it at some point. I've got to start prioritize my projects, though--otherwise the WA Companion will never get done! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike. I was planning to use some of them in a Traveller campaign, sadly, now aborted. The Sindarin and Kang especially seemed to fairly scream "In Spaaace..."
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not familiar with the book, what you describe sounds like it would work really well. Sounds like a great milieu for space adventures!
ReplyDelete@bard - Just follow the link to the Talislanta home page and you can download all the Tal stuff for me.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it... yes, great idea!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly would be a great resource for an exploration based Star Trek game.
ReplyDeleteRepurposing... great idea!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Talislanta has always felt more like a sword and planet setting than a high fantasy setting. So repurposing its material for a space opera sounds very natural indeed.
ReplyDeleteColin Chapman wrote some stuff for a Star Tal back in '06. Here's a collected version of the brainstorming:
ReplyDeletehttp://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?252324-Star-Talislanta-Complete-Overview-Notes
Thanks for the link, Douglas! That's cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about the reverse -- taking Space Opera aliens and inserting them into a fantasy game.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, Tekumel does this, since the original star empire has a very space opera, pulp sci-fi feel with weird aliens, and then they all get thrown into a medieval tech world.
I'm also working on a daVinci-punk setting into which I want to graft planetary romance memes.
Does someone have a better name for daVinci-punk?
Tekumel does that, as do Jorune and Planet of Adventure (in a way, no magic).
ReplyDeleteI'd have to know a little more about it before I could suggest a better name--I'm usually suspicious these days about "-punk" added to the end of stuff. :)
It worked out pretty well actually. For me it works better in a space milieu than fantasy for me. If I find my ancient notes I'll throw them up on a post.
ReplyDeleteOh, and just to follow up on my Tekumel comment -- someone has taken the Tekumel races and EPT game system and has created a pulp sci-fi setting and rules: http://hereticwerks.blogspot.com/2012/06/humanspace-empires-brief-intro.html.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. I've long been a fan of Ix's work there.
ReplyDeleteIf you're familiar with Talislanta, then the system in Hellas is 90+% the same. Sci-fantasy/Space Opera/Epic pulp goodness.
ReplyDeleteHttp://www.hellasrpg.com