CS: Science Fiction

What Defines Science Fiction?
The nature of science fiction (SF) is surprisingly complex. For a long time, the engineers dominated the genre, and the name alone defined it: science. SF was all about scenarios and campaigns defined by discovery and development that are still in the realm of prediction.

This was the home of the optimist, the Gene Roddenberrys of the world. This was their chance to predict the future, and their vision even shaped the style that defined the next-big-thing. It was a chance to inspire, and a goal to aspire to.

But every shining light can create a dark shadow. "Literary" works, the dystopian pessimists (or realists) such as George Orwell and Ray Bradbury (in his Fahrenheit 451 mode) were legitimate examples of science fiction studying social impact.

Where hard science fiction emphasized an aspect of technology's capacity and its effect, SF became mainstream as stories tilted to focus on human interaction rather than performance specs.

What's in the Suitcase... Still Matters
The audience expectations of the genre can be complicated. While we focus on effect and significance, that technology X has an impact at all makes it a specific motivator that moves plot points. We respect those defining traits.

We might occasionally throw a red herring, but generally feel that MacGuffins are lazy. While the overall focus is generally on the effect of the science/technology, we acknowledge that this particular effect wouldn't exist without that particular development. For a Science Fiction campaign, it's the Ref's challenge to find the balance – and Speculation gives a System Mechanics toolset to get it done.

SF Campaign Ideas
The possibilities for Science Fiction scenarios are literally endless. Our criteria for manageable categories is blocks of time. While this is arbitrary by itself, we have to make some predictions (and connected assumptions) of what scientific understanding will be versus how much applied science/engineering will have trickled back to commerce, industry and society at large.
 * Speculative Scenarios: modern day/contemporary extending about ~15 years in the future.
 * Near-future Scenarios: scenarios 15-30 years in the future, reaching to 80ish years.
 * Mid-future Scenarios: scenarios 80-250 years in the future. This begins "the impossible tech."
 * Far-future Scenarios: scenarios 250+ years in the future, bringing us to interstellar-level interaction.