Is it possible to use 3.5 classes in a space opera?

[Sir_Chivalry]

In a futuristic world, is it perfectly fine to use 3.5 classes? Yes? No? Yes with some classes exempted? If so, which ones?

[Agent 451]

Psionics would work just fine.

edit: Totally forgot that there is a d20 Modern book about adding casters in. Urban Arcana.

[Telonius]

Artificer should work just fine. It can be moved forward to steampunk or sci-fi with minimal problems.

[OracleofWuffing]

Basically, you slap the word "space" in front of every noun, make sure that whatever deus ex machinas you might run are centered around the concept of reversing the polarity of something, and well, go nuts (http://youtu.be/7jiPOItoRsk?t=2m8s).

[bloodtide]

In a futuristic world, is it perfectly fine to use 3.5 classes? Yes? No? Yes with some classes exempted? If so, which ones?

Yes, works just fine.

Two of my weekly D&D games use Spelljammer stuff just fine.

[Tvtyrant]

Totally! The things I like best for space are Psionic, Binding, Incarnum and Invocation users. Unless it is particularly Spelljammer, in which case everything flies! But for a technology driven game the above are all awesome in fluff and crunch.

[Coidzor]

You'd need to work the weaponry and armor system around more than the classes by my estimation. Like come up with actually ranged-combat friendly guns/feats.

[Flickerdart]

Eh, just make everything lasers. Laser swords! Laser bows! Laser unarmed strikes!

[Venger]

yeah, works just fine. all you need to do is change the fluff stuff. I'm working on playing Mal from Firefly in an upcoming game, it's going to be fun.

[Ravens_cry]

If it's space operatic enough, you don't really need to change the fluff all that much.
Arcane magic is just the 90% of the brain, untapped potential and all that.
Divine classes tap into power gifted by Sufficiently Advanced Beings.
Psionics you don't need to change at all.

[hushblade]

One class I see having a hard time fitting in fluff wise is Druid. The rest of the major classes people tend to play require very minimal effort to refluff and make fit the setting perfectly

[Tenno Seremel]

One class I see having a hard time fitting in fluff wise is Druid. The rest of the major classes people tend to play require very minimal effort to refluff and make fit the setting perfectly
They are guardians of creator type aliens.

[gomipile]

The more mundane Tome of Battle schools would fit in a Firefly-type space opera quite nicely. And if you allow refluffed magic/psionics as other posters have suggested, then the supernatural maneuvers would be okay as well.

Edit: Also, the Factotum would fit right in whatever the setting, though in a no-magic world, you'd need to replace their spell like abilities with some setting-specific abilities.

[Psyren]

Biotics Psionics makes a useful magic system for space opera.

[Telonius]

One class I see having a hard time fitting in fluff wise is Druid. The rest of the major classes people tend to play require very minimal effort to refluff and make fit the setting perfectly

Warforged Druid = Transformer. Otherwise ... mad biological science? Temporary DNA alteration?

[Person_Man]

In a world with guns and lasers, using melee weapons doesn't make much sense, unless they have some sort of defense against them (lightsabers, deflection shields, etc). And you have to be very careful with this, because if the defense is too powerful, then it doesn't make sense that anyone would use guns and lasers.

Although you could say the same thing about normal D&D (in a world with magic, using melee doesn't make much sense).

[The Glyphstone]

Eh, just make everything lasers. Laser swords! Laser bows! Laser unarmed strikes!

10-Foot Laser Pole... (http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0001.html)

[Psyren]

Although you could say the same thing about normal D&D (in a world with magic, using melee doesn't make much sense).

It does make sense for D&D though - there's a barrier to entry for magic (long hours of study, mental self-actualization, birthright, divine blessing etc.) It would be hard to imagine a space opera setting where using a blaster has a similarly high learning curve.

[The Glyphstone]

It does make sense for D&D though - there's a barrier to entry for magic (long hours of study, mental self-actualization, birthright, divine blessing etc.) It would be hard to imagine a space opera setting where using a blaster has a similarly high learning curve.

Depends. Maybe it's not the learning curve, but the expense. Blasters are rare, often custom-made and individualized, and their ammo is equally expensive. Sure, if you can get one and secure a steady supply of power packs, it'll be a devastating weapon, but for the average space pirate or traveler a simple sword/bowgun will do.

[Kaje]

There'a a 3rd-party setting called DragonStar that does indeed use the core classes in a space fantasy setting.

[Psyren]

Depends. Maybe it's not the learning curve, but the expense. Blasters are rare, often custom-made and individualized, and their ammo is equally expensive. Sure, if you can get one and secure a steady supply of power packs, it'll be a devastating weapon, but for the average space pirate or traveler a simple sword/bowgun will do.

A well-made or custom one might be difficult to get hold of, yes - but if guns aren't relatively cheap and plentiful, what do you arm your military/police with?

[Ravens_cry]

Depends. Maybe it's not the learning curve, but the expense. Blasters are rare, often custom-made and individualized, and their ammo is equally expensive. Sure, if you can get one and secure a steady supply of power packs, it'll be a devastating weapon, but for the average space pirate or traveler a simple sword/bowgun will do.
A sword may be a better weapon on-board a spaceship because there is little chance of busting open a bulkhead, leading to explosive decompression, compared to a high powered blaster.

[CIDE]

My group already did this in one of our games. Space Opera setting where the party/crew were fugitives and basically a rebel group. Multiple systems were included to allow greater diversity (D20 Moder/Future, BESM, 3.X, etc) and it worked perfectly once the equipment situation were straightened out.

Basically allow your spellcasters to wear a space suit and you're good. Hell, the list of"simple" weapons in D20 Modern/Future is pretty good. Like the vibro-sward that's like a 2d6? Before you "magic it".

Magic is already included into those settings anyway in the D20 Modern core book and Urban Arcana. Even if their mage classes (and psi) classes are comparatively weak.

[The Glyphstone]

A well-made or custom one might be difficult to get hold of, yes - but if guns aren't relatively cheap and plentiful, what do you arm your military/police with?

Unless you're running the sci-fi version of a mageocracy, the same vibro-sword, electro-axes, energy-maces,and plasma bows that the civilians have, just stronger and more well-crafted versions of same.

[KutuluKultist]

I'd recommend using a game system actually made for the genre, else it will probably feel odd and be difficult to take serious at times. 10 foot laser pole indeed.

Grab a load of Alternity or Star Hero or even Traveller. There's also more modern stuff out there like Eclipse Phase (which is even for free) and Transhuman Space. For a more Dune-like experience you can't go wrong with Fading Suns.
If you really want casters and stuff in space, get yourself some spelljammer stuff and you got magic powered space ships, odd alien menaces, anthropomorphic hippopotamus and giant space hamsters. There's probably a 3.5 conversion out there somewhere, too.

[Psyren]

Unless you're running the sci-fi version of a mageocracy, the same vibro-sword, electro-axes, energy-maces,and plasma bows that the civilians have, just stronger and more well-crafted versions of same.

But Star Trek, Mass Effect and Stargate weren't mageocracies, and they had guns everywhere. Star Wars counts too as the Jedi weren't really in charge, they were just enforcers.

In other words, to use a gun well may take a lot of training in these settings, but merely to use that gun does not; there's no barrier to entry more significant than "aim and shoot."

[The Glyphstone]

But Star Trek, Mass Effect and Stargate weren't mageocracies, and they had guns everywhere. Star Wars counts too as the Jedi weren't really in charge, they were just enforcers.

In other words, to use a gun well may take a lot of training in these settings, but merely to use that gun does not; there's no barrier to entry more significant than "aim and shoot."

Yeah, but there guns were the norm, a la bows/crossbows. We were (I thought) discussing the analogy of Blasters = Magic, and I was proposing an in-setting solution for why blasters/energy weapons in a space opera setting could be rare or uncommon the way magic is described as being in a typical D&D setting.

[Lord Ruby34]

You could always simply allow maneuvers to be used with blasters or whatever. I doubt it will break anything.

[Psyren]

Yeah, but there guns were the norm, a la bows/crossbows. We were (I thought) discussing the analogy of Blasters = Magic, and I was proposing an in-setting solution for why blasters/energy weapons in a space opera setting could be rare or uncommon the way magic is described as being in a typical D&D setting.

Oh! No, I didn't consider them to be equal to magic. The main difference between technology and magic is that technology can be used by anyone. Magic that pervasive effectively becomes technology.

[The Glyphstone]

Oh! No, I didn't consider them to be equal to magic. The main difference between technology and magic is that technology can be used by anyone. Magic that pervasive effectively becomes technology.

In that case, yeah - the blaster analogue would be bows or crossbows.

From there, you need to decide if melee weapons/combat have any place in the setting at all - if your answer is yes, then you need justification. Maybe blasters are common, but so are energy-resistant armor, a material so cheap and available even civilian clothing is made from it in varying degrees. Thus, ranged combat is 'safe', but to really guarantee a kill you need to get up-close and personal.

[gomipile]

As far as melee weapons go, melee weapons still have a place in today's world. I'd imagine that melee weapons would be very useful in a boarding action, not just for the reasons stated above. In addition, melee weapons can simply be more convenient in close quarters for various reasons.

As an example of a modern day melee weapon which sees some use, here you go:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=221476&d=1310018512
Source thread, with video of its use vs. a IIIA kevlar vest:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/889870-Sayoc-Winkler-hawk-vs-IIIA-kevlar-vest

[Urpriest]

You could also just have a really melee-focused space opera. Dune does it with personal shields that explode like a nuke if hit with a laser but let melee weapons and bullets through. You probably don't want nukes that easily in PC hands though.

[Ravens_cry]

You could also just have a really melee-focused space opera. Dune does it with personal shields that explode like a nuke if hit with a laser but let melee weapons and bullets through. You probably don't want nukes that easily in PC hands though.
I don't think bullets were let through, considering that the books at least mention a conscious effort to slow down the blade right as it encountered the shield.

[FMArthur]

One way you could rationalize it is that handheld blasters are actually weaker than projectile-firing guns. The weapons' advantage is that they only damage organics and can't damage ships' interiors like projectile weapons do, so firefights don't inadvertently kill every living thing onboard by mistake. That can make melee decent in space. Other types of energy weapons in use for warfare are far more destructive, but none of it can be carried by a person.

Planetary outings may well be different, though. Maybe handheld blasters could be in distribution simply for being dirt cheap and not needing constantly manufactured ammunition (you could have their battery packs only recharge gradually over time if you still want to use ammo and reload mechanics for blasters).

Maybe colonies need to have big magneto-fiat fields covering them that prevent projectile-firing weapons from actually working at all. The fields' purpose could be any number of things: to protect them from hostile debris-filled environments, to protect them from their enemies' faster-than-light interplanetary artillery that would otherwise destroy them without need of ships or combat, or simply to facilitate interstellar travel in some way by damping/manipulating forces of incoming/outgoing ships. Hell, they could even just be established specifically to impede violence on the surface. Magnetic fields of incomprehensibly advanced technology are basically all-purpose magical plot glue for science fiction.

[Hecuba]

If you really want casters and stuff in space, get yourself some spelljammer stuff and you got magic powered space ships, odd alien menaces, anthropomorphic hippopotamus and giant space hamsters. There's probably a 3.5 conversion out there somewhere, too.

Indeed there are. Well, 3e anyways.
http://www.spelljammer.org/rules/#h_RulesforDampD3e

Interesting historical note: when WOTC was deciding what 2nd ed settings not to port over, they gave license to one fan group per setting to deal with development and upkeep. Links are here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/owa