Would the following description remind you of anything?

[Jolly Steve]

"Red tunics and wide-brimmed hats."

(Note: this is for a supplement I'm writing, which is why it's in 'homebrew design')

[Dairun Cates]

Discworld Wizards.

[Knaight]

...Red mages from Final Fantasy? Or 8 bit Theater at any rate.

[Jolly Steve]

What if they weren't wizards?

[Dairun Cates]

To be honest, in that case, unless they're actors or over the top overly dramatic, I can't think of a reason they'd wear red and large hats. Seems like a very ceremonial and impractical color to wear. Sure the Spartans did it to hide bleeding, but they'd also wear armor and helmets and not light protection and a hat.

So, short of magic-users, not much comes to mind.

I suppose you could be some kind of pirate or cowboy trained by Elan.

[Ashtagon]

Canadian Mounties, perhaps?

[lightningcat]

The cardinal's guards from "the Three Musketeer's".

[Jolly Steve]

It was Mounties.

As I said, I'm writing a supplement, based on a free game that I made a while ago (see my sig).

Part of the supplement deals with the Celestial Realm, which is effectively outer space.

One of the groups I mention is the Rocket Rangers of the Galaxy, who fly around with jetpacks.

Then I thought it'd be interesting if they were space versions of the Mounties.

I wanted to see if mentioning "their distinctive red tunics and wide-brimmed hats" would be enough to suggest the connection. But I guess not.

I thought about changing their name to the Rocket Corps Mega-Patrol, but I'm not sure if that would be enough, and I like the current name better.

[Dairun Cates]

Ah. I think the color red's throwing me off then. Given in context of a sci-fi thing, I'd get the idea, but if you're going to go slightly silly, push the metaphor a bit. Give them the equivalent of space horses. Also, tunics isn't very descriptive, but the usage of the word uniforms instead gives an impression of authority.

Maybe try something like.
"They wear bright red uniforms to strike fear in their foes and wear brown large-rimmed hats so that their eyes will never drift from their path. They are the Rocket Rangers of the Galaxy."

That's 2 sentences, but completely changes the impression. Throw in a space-horse equivalent and something about the harsh cold of space and it'll be pretty obvious they're supposed to be mounties.

[Rowanomicon]

Kinda reminds me of a show I used to watch as a kid.
A quick Google search reveals to title to be "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs."

I'd definitely say something about the harsh cold of space, maybe even give them cold resistance or something similar in terms of being able to stand harsh elements.

Changing the name to share the acronym RCMP would be a good clue as well.

Also depending on how silly you're getting with the game you can give them certain "Canadian" mannerisms.

[Jolly Steve]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. The relevant section now reads

"The Celestial Realm is a wild and lawless place, but some protection is provided by the Rocket Rangers of the Galaxy. This group, whose formal name is the Rocket Corps Mega-Patrol, may be recognised by their distinctive red tunics and wide-brimmed hats. They patrol on rocket-horses, righting wrongs and apprehending evil-doers. Their spacesuits require less heating than those of other beings, due to the extreme cold of their home planet."

[Temotei]

A duelist might wear something like that.

[jiriku]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. The relevant section now reads

"The Celestial Realm is a wild and lawless place, but some protection is provided by the Rocket Rangers of the Galaxy. This group, whose formal name is the Rocket Corps Mega-Patrol, may be recognised by their distinctive red tunics and wide-brimmed hats. They patrol on rocket-horses, righting wrongs and apprehending evil-doers. Their spacesuits require less heating than those of other beings, due to the extreme cold of their home planet."

That is...dorky to the point of being awesome. Do you have space-mooses?

[Rin_Hunter]

Discworld Wizards.

My instant thought too.

[Rowanomicon]

That is...dorky to the point of being awesome. Do you have space-mooses?

More importantly, can I play and Anthropomorphic Space-Moose?

I highly recommend watching the old Dudley Do-Right segments of Rocky & Bullwinkle as research.

[hamishspence]

Did the Inquisition in the Monty Python sketch wear red, and wide hats? It's been a while since I saw that one.

[Rowanomicon]

Did the Inquisition in the Monty Python sketch wear red, and wide hats? It's been a while since I saw that one.

That was actually my first thought.

[Jolly Steve]

If anyone wants to look at a draft of the whole thing and give me feedback, send me a PM.