Fashioning a futuristic science fiction setting takes some forethought. As just suggested, however, merely “evolving” current scientific trends forward a hundred or so years until man has colonized the solar system is a good start, even if your adventure is going to take place mostly on Earth, since it broadens both your possibilities and that of your players.
Next, you’ll want to figure out the central theme of your game. You could focus on a
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hat distinguishes the genre of hard science fiction from regular science fiction? Mainly, hard science fiction includes the perception of scientific accuracy. This means that a lot of the wilder aspects of science fiction are out because our current theories indicate that things like faster than light travel, UFOs and time travel may simply be impossible or beyond our capabilities ever to discover (for example extraterrestrial life).What does that leave for hard science fiction to cover? A surprising amount. For the purposes of this genre chapter, hard science fiction might also be described as near future, which means that games that include advances in biotechnology that might improve health, intelligence, and longevity are on the table, possibly even up to the creation of “post” humans. Advances in computer processing and networking speeds means that the emergence of truly artificial machine intelligence, in all the ways that such an event could both aid society and threaten it, is a possible avenue
The Fermi Paradox is the juxtaposition of high estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial life with the lack of any evidence for such life anywhere else in the universe.
examples exist, including the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, Cold as Ice and Dark As Day by Charles Sheffield, Mars (and other novels) by Ben Bova, and many more.
Rise of AI: A favorite movie and novel trope, examples can be found in the movies beginning with the classics 2001: A Space Odyssey based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Other movie and TV examples of human AI emergence include Ex Machina, Terminator, Battlestar Galactica, A. I.. Artificial Intelligence, and more. Novels include Carnival by Elizabeth Bear, Accelerando by Charles Stross, Wake and other books in the WWW trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer, and more.
Advanced Biotech: Like the previous categories, too many stories about advanced biotech exist to list them all, so here are just a few (that don’t overtly stray into horror). The movies Gattaca, Elysium, and Blade Runner. The novels Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Blood Music and Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear, and the Rifter series by Peter Watts. war between breakaway colonies—maybe
Mars or a large corporation set up in the asteroid belt (the “Belt”) decide they want independence. You could focus on the emergence of AI, incorporating the possibility of both wonderful uses of AI as well as “weaponized” uses for AI, not the least of which is the possibility of AI running amuck. A theme whose central story revolves around asteroid mining, deflecting an asteroid heading for Earth, or exploring an asteroid could be very interesting. Themes of more limited scope, such as attempting to get a malfunctioning spacecraft running again before it plunges into the sun or the atmosphere of
Jupiter would also work well as one-shot adventures or short campaigns.
Many examples of hard science fiction are out there from to mine for concepts and ideas.
Solar System Colonization: The novel and TV series called the Expanse by S. A. Corey is a prime example of human colonization of the solar system, but many other
Sometimes hard science fiction asks readers to accept one element of the impossible along with other more scientifically grounded speculative fiction.
HARD SCIENCE FICTION THREATS
1 Solar flare (level 3): A freak solar flare sends hard radiation sleeting through the
character’s vessel or location, affecting them and everyone nearby; inflicts 3 points of ambient radiation damage per minute each minute the character fails a difficulty 3 Might defense task; might lead to cancer if not treated later.
2 Belligerent asteroid miner: Four space-suited asteroid miners ambush one or more of the PCs at an unexpected location or time.
3 Spacesuit issue: One PC’s spacesuit has a control malfunction, requiring a difficulty 3
Intellect task to repair it before the malfunction leads to a lethal outcome.
4 Unexpected shake (level 5): The spacecraft, station, vacuum habitat, or similar structure,
convulses for not immediately obvious reasons, inflicting 5 points of damage on a failed difficulty 5 Speed defense roll and possibly leading to additional repercussions.
5 Malevolent official: A security officer, inspection official, habitat governor, or some other
authority figure takes an interest in the character(s) and begins to work against them. 6 Take them to the brig: False charges (or real charges, if the PCs have conducted any
illegal activities) means brig time for one or more of the characters if they submit to being led off by guards.
7 Diplomatic event: Is the diplomatic event the PCs have been invited to on the station a reason
to celebrate, or an opportunity for an assassin hidden among the delegation to strike? 8 Tunnel collapse (level 6): The tunnel connecting two craft, subsurface moon tunnel,
or spacecraft corridor collapses. Characters suffer 6 points of damage and on a failed difficulty 6 Speed task are either set adrift in the vacuum of space or are buried under sparking rubble until they can find some resolution, or die.
9 Toxic reaction: One PC suffers from a reaction to a solvent, food additive, or gas leak and
must succeed on a difficulty 4 Might defense task or be treated as dazed for several hours, during this time the difficulty of all tasks attempted by the character increases by one step. 10 Micrometeorite: A tiny meteorite holes the craft, station, or habitat, with a chance to
hit one character who fails a difficulty 7 Speed defense task and inflict 10 points of damage. If in a vacuum, repairing the punctures requires two difficulty 3 Intellect tasks plus something to block the punctures.
11 Unexpected delay: Before the PCs can proceed, they are stopped by a habitat lockdown, a
summons from station leadership, a malfunctioning AI, or some similar slowdown. The unexpected delay could turn out to be due to yet another, more serious threat, such as an attack of space pirates, a robotic uprising, or even the appearance of a fleet of warships. 12 Ant infestation: Through some monumental screw-up, crazy ants—the kind of ants that
swarm inside electrical devices causing them to short-circuit and preventing them from turning on—have infested a critical component or device, such as a cryogenic sleep pod where crew hibernate in long-haul missions out to the Oort Cloud.
13 Genetic mistake: One PC (or an NPC ally) was the product of selective genetic tailoring,
like many others. Normally a plus, the PC sometimes suffers from a “Berg syndrome” which causes palsied shaking for several hours on a failed difficulty 4 Might task. 14 Space debris: A falling satellite, space station, or other craft threatens to impact the
moon, planet, or craft of interest. PCs might need to board the failing relic or otherwise try to change its trajectory to avoid impact.
15 Asteroid warning: Some observation stations have put out a warning that an asteroid of
immense size is heading toward a widely inhabited planet or moon. It might be a false alarm, but PCs need to determine that or if disaster is heading their way.
16 Fuel leak: Reaction mass is leaking somewhere in the system, and PCs have to figure
out where, and how to repair it, if they want their craft to continue to move. 17 Solar array damaged: Environmental subsystems that depend on solar energy are
damaged through malfunction (or sabotage). PCs must venture out to the arrays and replace a power modulator by succeeding on a difficulty 6 Intellect task.
18 Breakaway activists: People are people, even when spread through the solar system. Violent
protests (level 3) get in the way of the PCs and precipitate a riot in a habitat or station. If on a spacecraft, an NPC turns out to be a saboteur.
Asteroid miner, page 123
Guard, page 337 Assassin, page 335
Newcomers must succeed on a difficulty 3 Might task or suffer mild nausea for about two to four days, during which time one step increases the difficulty of all tasks attempted. A few unlucky travelers (those who roll a 1 or who otherwise gain a GM Intrusion, usually) are almost completely incapacitated, and find the difficulty of all tasks increased by three steps during this period.
Low Gravity: Weapons that rely on weight, such as all heavy weapons, inflict 2 fewer points of damage (dealing a minimum of 1 point of damage). Weapons with short range can reach to long range, and long-range weapons can reach to about 200 feet (61 m) instead of 100 feet (30 m). Characters trained in low gravity maneuvering ignore the damage penalty. High Gravity: It’s hard to make effective attacks when the pull of gravity is very strong. The difficulty of attacks (and all physical actions) made in high gravity is increased by one step. Ranges in high gravity are reduced by one category (long- range weapons reach only to short range, and short-range weapons reach only to immediate range). Characters trained in high gravity maneuvering ignore the change in difficulty but not the range decreases.
Zero Gravity: It’s hard to maneuver in an environment without gravity. The difficulty of attacks (and all physical actions) made in zero gravity is increased by one step. Short-range weapons can reach to long range, and long-range weapons can reach