the main difference between silvers world and this one is that this one will be a lot more... loose about much of the hard science. for starters, the setting will have a magic system, two in fact, one of which will be Ryuujin's science friendly one (not because it's science friendly, but because it fits a sci-fy setting better than one with books, staves, scrolls and runes) the other one i'll get into.
things like the periodic table will probably go out the window as well, since it stops a lot of the fun of exotic weapons i feel. if you enforce the periodic table you either get a game of "who can make the best gun" or "alloys". then it's better to just throw it out the window and have people use common sense to not make over powered materials.
as for the world we'll be playing in there's a few things to note.
1, colonized worlds are common, but they vary greatly, and most of the better worlds have their own politics much the same way we have them between countries nowadays.
2, resources, logistics and information doesn't travel as fast as you'd expect, sending what would be an email from one planet to another within a solar system would be about as fast as it is to send one from one place to another IRL, but sending what would be an email from one planet to another in a different solar system could take anything from days to months. (the game won't be played in real time, but this stuff will still factor in) so information might be outdated or inaccurate and such if it comes from a long ways away.
3, swords, spears and axes aren't obsolete. cybernetics are a common things and with a pair of strong leg implants you could easily sprint faster than what would be easy to target with a rifle or pistol, and vibroblades and other such melee-orientated tech has made them even more viable as a trooper with a sword can go toe to toe with someone in heavy armor.
4, weapons aren't a uncommon thing to own and know how to use. while not everyone has a rifle on their wall, there'll be some civilians that know how to wield a gun or how to swing a sword. and weapons aren't a thing strictly controlled by law enforcement or government, at least not everywhere.
5, "magic" and psychic abilities are a know thing. people wont furl their eyebrows and call you crazy if you say you saw someone move a rock with their mind or hurl a ball of fire from the palm of their hand. this doesn't mean magic is a common thing, it's just a documented thing that people generally know about. you'll probably still find some that call it witchcraft and want anyone able to do "magic" or the like to be burned at the stake, and you'll probably still find people that don't believe in it because they haven't seen it and such.
6, in the world is all sorts of alien races, some are well known and wide spread, humans are a good example, while others are new or stick mostly to their homeworld or personal colonies, like Vartans (and probably also Celions if Reks would allow them). this coupled with slower movement of information means that new alien races can be discovered and few people have heard or know of them. (this also makes the addition of new races and faction easier)
7, space travel i haven't really decided upon and would like some input on it. here's a few ideas:
A) space travel is a commodity, most middle-class families have a ship that can take them around to other systems. maybe not from one sector to the other like a large military ship could, be they would be able to move from one system to next without having to wait decades or use some form of public transport.
B) space travel is difficult, it's expensive and would only be something the middle to high class has any kind of access to. having a personal ship that could go from one system to the other would be a sign of great wealth and be something that gives great social status. so unless you're richMcgee, you best bet at getting from one system to the other is buying a pricey ticket on a space ferry or asking a trader or someone going in the same direction if you could be let aboard, though you'll probably still have to pay quite a fee.
C) space travel is restricted and only allowed by the military, VIPs and the few stellar travel companies. this gets strongly enforced to the point where the military is often allowed to shoot on anything without a license. so the stellar travel companies would be selling their tickets at a high price. (and by VIPs i don't just mean rich people, i mean presidents and ambassadors and such.)
8, augments are a common thing. practically EVERYONE has two base augments. a neural jack and a implant rebreather. the neural jack tech you know (maybe it was commercialized by the avali?). the implant rebreather allows someone to breathe in an atmosphere they normally wouldn't be able to breath in. this won't allow them to survive in space, but it would allow an avali to breath the air on earth, given it has taken the precautions of things like temperature, rainfall and such. and while a species like the avali could breath in an oxygen atmosphere, it wouldn't be as easy for them, nor would it allow them to drink water or anything like that without further augmentation. (though it would filter out harmful things like the water moisture in the air)
replacement limbs are also a common thing. companies have made prosthetic that even homeless hobos could afford! (while not better than their old limb it's better to have a stiff leg than no leg) but there are certainly also expensive ones, military and combat prosthetics are very very expensive, but they can often do extreme and awesome things, spiting your lower arm in two so your have an extra hand to dual wield two pistols on one arm? sure! a leg that can bend in every direction and grab onto things with a set of finger-like toes with super strong adhesive allowing for things like scaling buildings or grabbing weapons? yup!
(this is just a combinations of Elai's legs and a Vartan's leg...) of course you can have arms and legs that are just more robust or super strong too if you're boring.
(might be more to come, feel free to ask questions!)
as for the magic system i mention earlier.
sometimes, when a child is born, they show odd and peculiar skills and abilities. these abilities, call psychs can be put into two "classes", a positive psych and a negative psych.
positive psychs can form or alter materials, make a sheet of paper stiff and tough as steel, or take the soft soil and turn it into a deadly blade made out of an unidentifiable material. positive psychs are often centered around the body of the caster and the abilities, items or changes will quickly fade or disappear if the caster walks away from them.
a negative psych is all about manipulating what is already there or making illusions. a negative psych can often use things like telekinesis to move and hurl solid objects around, they can also form projectiles or of small amounts of energy which they can fire from their hand. these projectiles aren't that strong, most pistols do more damage, but coupled with telekinesis and smart thinking they can be very dangerous. negative psyches can also form illusions around themselves, these illusions are often only visual or auditory, but they can fool most scanners and cameras. an illusion made by a psych can't be super big, nor can it be touched (your hand or bullet would go through it) but making a fake wall or a body double can be done relatively easily. though of the negative psych moves too far away (usually only a few meters) the illusion fades.
but, if a person has psychic talent, they will also have something off about their body. this could be many things, it's very often a psychic has slowed tissue regeneration and a severely lowered immune system. (both about half of a normal human) their bodies also tend to reject more intrusive augments (both the neural jack and implant rebrether have been made to be as intrusive as possible) things like loss of sight and hearing are common too. psychics often also stick out visually, often albino, they can have odd or colorful patterns (depending on the race) a sickly appearance (flaky skin, molting feathers, shedding fur) or just odd physical mutations, though those are rare.
people having a psychic talent will often get picked up by a military, mercenary groups or as security guards for big corporations. while civilian psychics are seen, they are rare and often have an interesting story as to why they aren't in some form of uniform.
now, there might be more to come, and EVERYTHING! ABSOLUTELY EVERY SINGLE THING! is up for discussion and debate. something you don't like? go ahead and state why, these are just my ideas and it won't just be me that's RPing, so it would be silly if everyone just had to conform with my ideas.
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because it might be a little big