How to Science Fantasy - Setting Creation Questions

    I really want to look for a Definition.

    "Science fantasy is a mixed genre within speculative fiction drawing elements from both science fiction and fantasy.

    Science fantasy vs. Science fiction:

    A definition, offered by Rod Serling, is that "science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible." The meaning is that science fiction describes unlikely things that could possibly take place in the real world under certain conditions, while science fantasy gives a veneer of realism to things that simply could not happen in the real world under any circumstances. Another interpretation is that science fiction does not permit the existence of supernatural elements; science fantasy does. Even the usage of this definition is difficult, however, as some science fiction makes use of apparently supernatural elements such as telepathy.

    For many users of the term, however, "science fantasy" is either a science fiction story that has drifted far enough from reality to "feel" like a fantasy, or a fantasy story that is attempting to be science fiction. While these are in theory classifiable as different approaches, and thus different genres (fantastic science fiction vs. scientific fantasy), the end products are sometimes indistinguishable.

    Arthur C. Clarke's dictum that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" indicates why this is so: a writer can write a fantasy using magic of various sorts, and yet turn the story into science fiction by positing some highly advanced technology, or as-yet-unknown but ultimately thoroughly provable science, as an explanation for how the magic can occur. Another writer can describe a future world where technologies are so advanced to be invisible, and the effects produced would be classified as magical if they were only described as such. A world might include magic which only some people (or only the reader) know to be in fact technological effects.

    There is therefore nothing intrinsic about the effects described in a given story that will tell you whether it is science fiction or fantasy. The classification of an effect as "fantastic" or "science fictional" is a matter of convention. Hyperspace, time machines and scientists are conventions of science fiction; flying carpets, magical amulets and wizards are tropes of fantasy.

    This is an accident of the historical development of the genre. In some cases they have overlapped: teleportation by matter-transmitter-beam is science fiction, teleportation by incantation is fantasy. A hand-held cloaking device that confers invisibility is science fiction; a hand-held Ring of Power that confers invisibility is fantasy. Mind-to-mind communication can be "psionics", or it can be an ancient elvish art. What matters is not the effect itself (generally scientifically impossible, though not always believed to be so by the authors) but the wider universe it is intended to evoke."

    Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy

    Why Sci-Fantasy?

    Action Tale features a lot of Science Fiction as Speculative Fiction together with Fantasy elements. This is the Setting's "feeling", with gigantic spacecrafts dividing space with colossal Dragons (the godlike Drakas). There is Magic together with highly advanced Science. Nothing is easy into this. A Master needs to balance all these elements. There are Powers to deal with Technology, together with Technomagic Spells. Also, Technology can make some special things that are nearly improbable, but all these things I planned together with Culture, because we need People. None of these things would exist without People, and the Blog will show it.

    The Story is made of People.

    Well, this all needs explanation, and the best way is to understand it throughout the Story.

    Don't go thinking there is highly advanced Technology, or Magic, or whatever else everywhere, though.

    All these issues are difficult problems amongst Races, and divergent Cultures.

    Every Race deals with these things differently, too.

    I invite you.

    Read. 

    Be my guest, because the best way to understand is reading, and the Story is about to happen, as soon as I can finish some secondary Setting questings.

    These are Settings I organized during the last years to create the Story.

    Beware Of The Horizon.

    Thank you.

--------------------------------------------
    Stay Plugged. Stay True.

    (Added on May 2012)

    Science Fantasy is a Style, and you may want to mix styles on your game.

    This adventure bloggathers on Sol Cajueiro's fictional universe, but when you decides to make an adventure blog, you may ask some questions.

    Make the questions you can think of, every and each one of them.

    Is there Magic on your setting? Who can do magic? Why? Are there people who can't? Who decides people can do magic?

    What people eat? How's a meal? Are there people who can't eat everyday? Why? Are there food for special holidays?

    Are there special clothes? Who use them? Why?

    Who control Laws? Are there nobles? Who can control and create Laws? Who can be taken into a trial, and how are the sentece cast upon the guilty?

    What is a prison like?

    How do people greet each other? How are you going to put that in narrative words? Do real people talk like that?

    Are there forensic magic spells or technolgies?

    What technolgies are usual? Who can pay for it? What is money? Who's rich, and why? Is it possible for a peasant to get rich? How your society deal with social changes, are there any organization who deals with re-thinking itself? What power those people have? Legal?

    Are there chapechangers? Who knows? Why?

    How's a middle class home? What about a noble's house? Are there castles, fortresses, space stations, nobbles in military service?

    Who can|must attend military? Why?

    What the suburban areas like? Are there crime lords? What's preciouss? Who can pay for that, and how that changes society?

    How is a police|guard dressed like, and why?

    How do people entertain themselves? Games? Gladiators? Football or music festival? Magic games, why and who can take part on them?

    What is a weapon? Wands? Staff of Power? Lightweapon? Mind control? Guns? Bigger guns? Powers that Be and their weirdness knife?

    Who can take a weapon with them? Why?

    Is there any way to time travel? Is there a Time Police division? Why? Are there different realities, or if you go past you change everything? How Time works? Is it magical? Is it a phantom, or a dream, or any other weird effect?

    How education works? Who can attend a special school? Why?

    How's religion on that world? One? Several? Is there real punishments for being nasty? Who decides who's been nasty? Is that only power? Do gods send avatars to grant faith to be real? If not, who masks religion as a real thing?

    Do people smoke? What people drink?

    Are there Gods? Aliens? Interdimensional or extraplannar beings? An Oracle of Time? Creatures? If not, are some people considered monsters? Psychopats? How those weirdos can be cured? Is there medical treatment for everyone? For magic users? For thinkers?

    Are there Machine? A computer Overmind? Nanobots? Mutants? How the Gov deals with those people, and why?

    Is there faster-than-light space travel? How that work? Is there any drawback? (like people to have space sickness). Space travel only for the spirit? Why? How can a person escape a planet, and if not possible, how alien is the idea? Religious? Why?

    Do people READ? What? Why? How literacy rates matters? Nobles only? Religious only? Magic dragons only?

    What type of Events players will mostly find?

    A harsh world, with harsh environment, and fierce warriors? Horsemen? Brave natives? Alien battleships, and space oozes? Not combat, you gotta be immortal? A dangerous suburban area? A postapocaliptic desert, with duelling masters (like old west)? Replicants? Dragons?

    What technology CAN do? What technology CAN'T do? Why?

    Why do player cahracters participate on a Story?

    Those are all questions you should ask yourself before playing, and more can be made. Do take notes on everything, and Date your piece of paper.

    May that help you to start your conloging.

    An adventure blog is more than a simple choice of words, and people desearves more than a couple of heroes and a bunch of troglodites to feel real, to get inside all that.

    Remember, when writing: Show, don't tell.

    That's probably an old advice, but that works for adventure blogs the same as literature.

    Thank you, and see you soon.

Soul Water (Poem)

First published at the Wormbar, and now also here at the House of Action Tale. Just for You. I hope you like it.

Entardecer (2001)
Água da Alma (revision, 2010)

O Verme,
encontro inesperado.
O Pulso que pulsa,
palavras podem te entardecer.

O Nunca
é o entardecer voraz
do Eterno Céu.

Evento Celeste,
chorei por ti,
por toda uma eternidade.

Agora sacia o Dom,
sacia a Sede de Essência.

O Verme,
encontro inesperado,
pois a bela rosa
também possui espinhos.

Água da Alma,
o apenas desejo de essência,
quiçá a Noite effemera
de um Dia Eterno.

O Pulso que pulsa
   sacia o Dom.

Deus extra dos Diurnos.
Deus intra dos Noturnos.

Chorei,
senso do entardecer.

Água da Alma,
A Dança infinita dos Eventos
é feita de Intenção.

O Pulso que pulsa,
   O Verme,
   sacia o Dom.

A Vida,
tão inesperada,
lusco-fusco
funesto
da mortífera Lógica.

Sol Cajueiro, Savassi, 2001
Revision, at Jan 2010

The Grey Character

    These are brief words about a rule that is not a rule.

    When a Player's absent, you'll need to consider what may or may not happen with that Player Character in specific.

    Here are Some Considerations necessary:

    1. Survival:

    The Character whose Player is absent will make everything to survive.

    That's in fact a good thing, because if a Player Character dies when their Player's absent it's a completely anticlimax situation. You should avoid that. Sure. A Character's death should be something important, essencially, to the Story.

    2. The Character agrees:

    Due to the Player's absence, the Character lacks point of view, but remember that she still have opinions, Ideals and the like.

    3. Help:

    An absent Player renders to the group a Character that will help the group.

    There's only one problem in this.

    Sometimes, another Player could take advantage of that. It's normal. Only you must take care with the Absent's very Help, not to let other Players take advantages that contradicts that Character's story, Ideals, goals and the like.

    4. Study Time:

    When there's anything the Character could do to help the others, that's good to make him practice something, to study or take care of her daily affairs.

    That's all for this Post.

    Hope you enjoy your Play, and,...
        ... Stay Plugged.

Starting Point

    Welcome Back, and Happy New Year.

    Everything must start at some point, and Players' decisions always matters.

    My Players want a Hit-and-Run Space series of Adventures.

    I want Adventure, Drama, Personal Horror, in a Memory-God-Illumination mood, and a long Sci-Fantasy series of Speculative Fiction, so we all need to agree with that.

    Remember that I write down only Inside Game during Adveture (label) Posts, and everything else is Offgame.

    I'll try to think on some very interesting Offgame Posts, to add feeling to the Story. But, well, I like the Blog not to be a Hard Sci-Fi adventure Blog. So, I added Magic, Planes, psy, and other stuff that make part of my original Settings (planned for Action Tale).

    And I have my own Rulebook for Action Tale, planned during 19 years, well-developed to this kind of Series of Adventures.

    This is the first step, and your Players must agree with the system you decide to use.

    How do I start an Adventure Blog?

    Chosing your Crew and Casting, selection of Settings, agreeing with the System you'll use, remembering Suspension of Disbelief, and starting to Plot.

    Of course, add to this the Idea for every Chapter planned for an Event-based Storyline.

    Style

    I prefere Resume, but you can chose the Style you want.

    You must define clearly the rules you use to write your Story, or Readers will get lost.

    My Offgame Posts are marked differently, but every Adventure Resumes are marked to make clear they're the Adventure.

    Well, I also post here about my Conlangs, Akkia, Trade, Oka, Draka, etc.

    These Posts are marked (with Labels) specially not to be confused with the Adventure.

    Learn well to use Labels (Tags).

    So, someone that clicks the "adventure" Label will see only Adventure Posts, and apply other Labels to specific matters.

    Start Conloging

    Conloging comes from "Constructed Log", a Label for Adventure Blog Theory.

    Argument

    You don't need to come up with all the original ideas of the world, but remember everyone will notice when you use some other Author's ideas. Use that in Honour to that Author, but if you plan publishing, then you'll need original material.

    I always plan to put some of my most admired Authors' ideas, but I always change it to a new form, a new way to use that Ideas.

    You'll notice I planned this influences to be mixed with my own original ideas.

    That's your Argument.

    The Argument is spread out into your Fiction description, as well as in the form of the Style you chose to write.

    If you chose something well known, then it's easy.

    If you chose to write a New Universe, as I have chosen here, you'll need some exposition, and well-planned Offgame Posts.

    Don't waste your Secrets.

    When you explain everything, the Magic is gone.

    So, That's it.

    You can start Conloging now.

    Good luck,...
...and Stay Plugged.