Robots, time machines, clones, starships, aliens and their artifacts and invasions, skin-tight jumpsuits, hyperspace, mutants, blackholes, ray guns, comets, planet-wide holocausts, supercomputers, clones, warp speed, cyborgs, laser beams, empires and federations, cyberspace, supernovas, power armour, purple skies, hover tanks, giant mechs, cold fusion, poor taste in fashion and holograms have been a part of roleplaying ever since the earliest days of Traveller and Gamma World.

Even D&D got a shot or two at the science fiction world with the Blackmoor setting and Spelljammer settings, as well as the fabulous Beyond the Barrier Peaks module.

The last few years has seen a bit of a resurgence in the genre, reflecting an increase in science fiction movies and television shows - it would be hard to deny the effect that Babylon5 has had on the concept of a long running television series. Old games such as Traveller have been rereleased in their original forms, and new science fiction games have appeared on the shelves, such as Fading Suns, keeping the ongoing favourites such as Cyberpunk company.

In 2001, Arcanacon has chosen Science Fiction as its con theme - it was too auspicious a year for the genre to let it slip past without taking the opportunity to go into all the permutations of sf gaming. Science Fiction literature and cinema is dear to the hearts of many gamers at Arcanacon, as is evidenced by the 11 wildly different games we have on offer this year - from First Contact and Future Tech to Alternate Realities and more.

So whether your tastes in Sci-Fi tend towards the trashy, or take a more serious bent, you should be able to find something to suit you. If you've never played a Sci-Fi game before, now's the perfect chance to try one. Or maybe you'll relish the chance to be reminded of all the old classics you haven't played in ages.

Have you played... Aeon Trinity * Albedo * Aliens * Alternity * Babylon5 * Battlestar Galactica * BattleTech * Blue Planet * Buck Rogers * Car Wars * Conspiracy X * Cyberpunk 2020 * Dark Conspiracy * Deadlands * Delta Green * Demon City Shinjuku * DragonBall Z * Dr Who * Earthdawn * Fading Suns * Fringeworthy * Futureworld * Gamma World * Heavy Gear * HoL * Hunter Planet * Incursion * Jovian Chronicles * Judge Dredd * Living Steel * MIB * Mutant Bikers of the Atomic Wastelands * Mutant Chronicles * Necroscope * Over the Edge * Paranoia * Renegade Legion * Rhand: MorningStar Missions * Rifts * Robotech * Shadowrun * Shatterzone * Sky Realms of Jorune * Space 1889 * Space Opera * Spelljammer * Star Ace * Star Frontiers * Star Trek * Star Wars * Starshield * Tales from the Floating Vagabond * Tank Girl * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles * Traveller * Tribe 8 * Warhammer 40K * Zero ...

See also: Tournament Ratings Explained | Entry Form | Schedule | Fee Structure | Science Fiction Theme

I'll be back.

613 9885 9581 arcanacon@vurt.net tue 21-nov-00 8:25