Editing is now 90% complete. I will be receiving the final edits for the new Fate mechanics sections in the next couple of weeks. I am now beginning the book layout. After two years of effort the end is very much in sight now.
What can you expect from Baroque Space Opera?
The Baroqueverse is a different take on space opera that meanders into the weird and fantastic. It is equal part science and fantasy combined together as a cohesive setting that leaves plenty of room for your own creativity. Nothing is impossible in the Baroqueverse; whatever magic you dream up can be hand-waived away as sufficiently advanced technology.
If I had to describe the Baroqueverse in a single sentence, I'd say: if Lexx and The Metabarons went out to snort some Dune spice, their awesome trip through the Stargate led to a baby called Farscape, who discovered the Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis.
...that sounds about right. You can read a bit more about the setting it in a previous blog entry.
Other significant sources of inspiration are (not in any order):
- Simon R Green's Deathstalker novels
- Scott Westerfield's Risen Empire novels
- Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun
- Babylon 5
- Warhammer 40K
- Chronicles of Riddick
- H.P. Lovecraft
- Fading Suns RPG
- Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space novels
- Pseudo-science
- Mythologies from all over our ancient world
The book will be released as a PDF and a 6x9 format print-on-demand book through DriveThruRPG. My current estimated page count is at 500 pages (yikes!).
Baroque Space Opera includes, among other things:
- The Tyrant's regime and its structure
- The 13 Pharisto houses and their Syndicates
- Various factions and societies
- Technologies of the Baroqueverse
- 63 unique planets -- filled with story hooks
- Plenty of adversaries
- Advice for the GM on stories and themes
- A new dials for stress boxes
- A skill list customized for the setting
- 22 archetypes to base your characters on
- A psychic powers mechanic
- A nanotechnology mechanic that is indistinguishable from magic
- A Wealth mechanic
- A Beneficial Things mechanic that lets you create any gear, allies, pets, poisons, personal vehicles, and anything else you desire to have a mechanical effect in your game
- A mechanic for spaceships
- A mechanic interacting with virtual cyberspace realms
Baroque Space Opera is a setting book and not a complete game, you will need the Fate Core book to play -- that is perfectly fine, because the awesome Fate Core book is Pay What You Want at DriveThruRPG.com. Evil Hat deserves your money for the awesomeness they produced.
