Old School Anime Ulysses 31 As Inspiration For Your Old School Space Opera

 



This is one of my favorite old school Saturday morning cartoons/anime that I encountered on Nickelodeon back in the early 90's or so. My fiancee whose from the U.K. recently spoke to me at length about this one. Since I've been down with the flu the last day or so my buddy Peter has been keeping me supplied with DVD's and this one was among them. Most of what follows comes from the wiki entry right over
HERE  


Ulysses 31 (宇宙伝説ユリシーズ31 Uchū Densetsu Yurishīzu Sātīwan^?, lit. Space Legend Ulysses 31) (French: Ulysse 31) is a Franco-Japanese animated television series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulysses" in Latin, hence the name) to the 31st century. The show comprised 26 half-hour episodes and was produced by DIC Audiovisuel in conjunction with anime studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha.^[1] This is also the first show produced by DiC Entertainment, now Cookie Jar Entertainment (2008–2012) and DHX Media (2012–present).

Plot : The plot line of the series, (made by the French Jean Chalopin), describes the struggles of Ulysses and his crew against the divine entities that rule the universe, the ancient gods from Greek mythology. The Gods of Olympus are angered when Ulysses, commander of the giant spaceship, Odyssey, kills the giant Cyclops to save a group of enslaved children, including his son. Zeus sentences Ulysses to travel the universe with his crew frozen until he finds the Kingdom of Hades, at which point his crew will be revived and he will be able to return to Earth. Along the way they encounter numerous other famous figures from Greek mythology who have been given a futuristic twist.

Ulysses (ユリシーズ Yurishīzu^?)

Main character and captain of the Odyssey. He achieved the solar peace before becoming the subject of the Olympian gods' revenge. His weapon of choice is a laser pistol that conceals a blade very similar to the lightsabers in George Lucas' Star Wars, complemented by an energy shield and a belt that allows him to fly. Ulysses is brave, noble, determined, and will stop at nothing to defeat the Gods and the conditions imposed upon himself and his companions.

Telemachus (テレマーク Teremāku^?)

Son of Ulysses and second in command for most of the voyage. Yumi's friend and protector. Very beautiful, as described by Yumi in their first encounter. Courageous, adventurous, and level headed. He is a skilled pilot, and his weapon of choice is a hi-tech, energy-ball shooting slingshot.

Yumi (ユミ Yumi^?)

Thémis in the original French dub (after the name of the ancient Titan). A blue-skinned humanoid alien girl from the white planet, Zotra. She is the younger sister of Numinor and possesses telepathic powers. She is saved from being sacrificed to the Cyclops, along with Telemachus and her older brother, by Ulysses. She also exhibits telekinesis to some extent, as shown in the episodesAt the Heart of the Universe and The Lotus Eaters; in addition, she is immune to fire. Although physically very frail, she is very intelligent and courageous. Zotrians, aside from blue skin, have snow-white hair, pointed ears and slanted eyes with cat-like vertical pupils; they are considered extremely beautiful.

Numinor (ユマイオス Yumaiosu^?)

Noumaïos in the original French dub. A Zotrian teenager and older brother of Yumi. He is saved by Ulysses from being sacrificed to the Cyclops. He is in suspended animation along with the rest of the crew for most of the series. Like his sister, he is considered extremely beautiful. He has a sweet and very gentle personality. He is courageous, as well as trustworthy and loyal. He awakes three times before being finally released from the gods' curse in the final episode of the series: The first time in The Lost Planet, where the Odyssey comes across a white Zotrian moon. Secondly, in Mutiny on Board, where the crew are subjected to possession by an alien essence. The third time is in The Magician in Black, when the entire crew is awakened by a powerful spell by the mysterious Magician in Black. Japan name Yumaiosu is the katakana ortography of English pronunciation of Eumaeus, the pig-guardian of Odysseus in Homer's poem.

Nono (ノノ Nono^?)

Small robotic companion of Telemachus. Fond of eating nuts and nails. He is a trusty friend who was given to Telemachus as a birthday present. He is rather timid, but can be relied upon in a crisis. He is skilled at machinery repair and possesses tremendous physical strength.

Shirka (シルカ Shiruka^?)

The Odyssey's main computer. Speaks with a deep female voice. Japan name Shiruka seems a katakana form of the name Circe.

Zeus (ゼウス Zeusu^?)

The god of gods, Ulysses' persecutor.

Poseidon (ポセイドン Poseidon^?)

God of the Seas, he is enraged by Ulysses' killing of his creature, the Cyclops. He wields a trident, the symbol of his power, and his servants pilot ships that are shaped like a trident.

Hades (アデス Adesu^?)

Ruling god of the Underworld. Ulysses must find his realm to find the way back to Earth.
Using Ulysses 31 For Your Old School Space Opera 

I always have loved this anime and personally I think it would make a fantastic campaign for either X plorers or Stars Without Number. The juxtaposition of anime and mythology got me thinking about running this as a one shot or perhaps as a complete campaign.

The Destroyer star ship class from Stars Without Number makes a good solid stand in for the ship from the crew of Ulysses you are looking at a battle ship from Stars Without Number. 
We're possibly looking at least a decaying tech level four interstellar society almost about to collapse under its own weight. This is a very decadent   and dangerous time as the mythological planar powers are reasserting themselves. We might even be seeing a shift between the powers of law(in this case science and technology) and the emergence of chaos. 
 Much of the interstellar backdrop that the crew of show finds themselves in a fun house mirror of actual Greek mythology and the powers of Ulysses world are dark, dangerous, and almost Lovecraftian in nature. They'e  actually how I pictured Nodens and his bunch in my mind. There are a good deal of cults and mystery religions echoing through this series and my bet is that there are much much darker corners of Ulysses's universe that we don't get to see. There are also a number of dangling plot hooks just weighting for a party of adventurers to solve that the crew of this show leaves behind.Pick your Greek mythological poison and add a technological twist for a first adventure or simply use the dangling plot hooks that the show left behind. If the gods were screwing with Ulysses over a minor infraction. Who knows what they might do to worlds that displease them. 
Don't be afraid to take risks with this type of campaign. Speaking to several players today I got a sense that even through this was a kid's show it had a dark streak that folks took too. "His weapon of choice is a laser pistol that conceals a blade very similar to the lightsabers in George Lucas' Star Wars, complemented by an energy shield and a belt that allows him to fly."
 Ulysses's weapons are tech level four and family heirlooms. PC's should only encounter such items after a series of  life threatening events and adventures! Experience should be handed out for such treasures but it doesn't mean that they'd work for any given amount of time. 
There is a metric ton of room to explore the 'Ulysses thirty one' universe and as such the DM is fairly open to explore and feel free to interpret their own version of this old school anime classic. 

Ulysses 31 makes a perfect campaign canvas for Stars Without Number rpg  especially with The Codex of the Black Sun: Sorcery book. You've got all of the factions, powers, & even traces of 'the Roman Greco gods' in this book.





So what the Hell is up with the 'gods' in Ulysses 31? Someplace in humanity's distant past in the universe of the anime we had some falling out with what appear to be these gods. Magick & divine magick is found within the setting but extremely rare. And this sorta of fits the options that are within The Codex of the Black Sun: Sorcery.  Many of the tropes & ideas that are within Ulysses 31 are already available to the DM in Stars Without Number. 

Review And Commentary On The Free Old School Science Fiction Download - Rocket Jockey (1952.Winston) - Philip St. John For Your Old School Space Opera

 

 Grab it Right Over

HERE

Need a fast overview of a retro future nineteen fifties style tour of the solar system? Complete with a real settlers of the solar system vibe. This book was part of the Winston series of science fiction books for boys and girls back in the 50's. They make a great addition to a DM's arsenal of books that can be turned into instant adventures simply add water or monsters! The plot according to Wiki :

The story follows the heroic efforts of young man Jerry Blaine in his efforts to win the famous rocket race, the Armstrong Classic. Rocket Jockey is a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, a series of juvenile novels which have become famous for their influence on young science fiction readers and their exceptional cover illustrations by award winning artists.

Most often these novels are man vs man sorts of affairs of science fiction while sneaking in some science 'facts' about the planetary locations featured in the books.  Believe it or not these books are great for OSR games like X plorers or Stars Without Number when you don't have a lot of time for doing preparation for a campaign. 

Believe or not this one was by Lester Del Ray under the pen name of Philip St. John. It had a few reprints and its worth taking a look at. The story is pretty well done. The situations, ideas, and overview make a solid campaign.

 In depth Plot Overview(With Major Spoilers) according to Wiki : 

Jerry Blaine, a young man studying at the Space Institute, is kicked out just after his second year exams at the request of his brother, Dick, in order to help him get his ship, the Last Hope ready for the 18th Armstrong Classic. Jerry is initially bitter, but realizes that how he conducts himself in the classic will go a long way toward proving himself as a spaceman, and eventually being readmitted to the institute.

The Last Hope is a refitted asteroid mining ship using the Jerry and Dick's father's experimental fuel which is supposed to be a radical improvement upon existing technologies. Their parents were both killed in the first test of the fuel however, and it is only now, years later, that improvements in materials and engine design will allow the fuel to be tested again safely.

Just before liftoff, Dick is injured when fuel splashes in his face, temporarily blinding him. Jerry is forced to take control of the Last Hopewhile his brother is incapacitated below decks. The qualification run to the moon is begun, and Jerry is racing against 10 other ships from earth for the right to represent their home planet in the classic proper. Jerry manages to win, but only after he witnesses the first fatality of the classic; a fellow earth pilot pushes his engines too hard and his ship overheats and is destroyed.

After some political wrangling on the Moon that puts Jerry officially in charge of the Last Hope despite his brother's seeming recovery, they head out to touch on the 4 Galilean moons, Mars, and Venus. Heading for Mars first they make good time and land with high spirits.

The Martians are not happy to see them, however. There has always been a bitter rivalry between the two worlds, and Mars has a reputation for winning the classic at all costs and through any means, scrupulous or otherwise. When they try to refuel the Last Hopethey discover their shipment of fuel has somehow disappeared from the warehouse in which it was stored. A long drawn out search finally locates the missing fuel in a pile of garbage that was ready for destruction. Jerry, Dick, and Tod all believe that Mars was intentionally responsible for the delay of 18 hours searching for the fuel. They take off from Mars and head towards Jupiter.

Halfway however, Jerry discovers that Dick has not fully recovered from his injuries. He becomes sick and delirious, and they are forced to turn back to Mars to get Dick the medical care he needs. By the time the Last Hope leaves Mars for the second time, they are nearly 100 hours behind schedule, and their carefully planned course is now useless.

En route to Jupiter for the second time the Last Hope loses power due to a blockage of the rocket tube. Losing more time, they coast while making repairs. Unfortunately, they coast so far, they no longer have the distance necessary to decelerate to rendezvous with the Jovian moons. Jerry is forced into a nearly suicidal braking maneuver into the Jovian atmosphere known as the "Dead Man's Orbit". Despite Jerry's vague recollections, such a feat had never before been accomplished, and he receives admiration and applause upon arrival on Io.

After visiting the other 3 Jovian moons and experiencing an unfriendly reception on Ganymede, considered by many to be a puppet of Mars, the Last Hope set course back to the inner planets: Venus, Mercury, and Earth. While approaching the asteroid belt, they intercept a distress call, and come to the aid of what appears to be the Martian racers. After rendering assistance and parting ways, Jerry realizes his asteroid chart has been stolen. He must now navigate the belt by memory and luck.

After some close calls and an actual impact with a small pebble, the Last Hope makes it through the belt relatively unscathed. Because of the delay with the decoy Mars racer, they are no longer in a position to rendezvous with Venus. Mercury is now their best stop.

Once  Again Wiki: 

As a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, Rocket Jockey has helped lay the foundation for many young science fiction readers. The dust jacket was illustrated by Alex Schomburg, a prolific comic artist, and Hugo award nominee for Best Professional Artist in 1962.

 The plot concerns a desperate race against odds put against the backdrop of interstellar politics and spacecraft. The book is well written and a fast read. The ideas still ring well and the book isn't that well known at all today. So borrowing plot elements for old school campaigns is a breezy.  It  would also make a great campaign for the old Buck Rogers T$R era game or for Star Frontiers as well.

Rocket Jockey takes a realistic scientific look at rocketry and space navigation, utilizing technologies that were understood at the time of publication. It extrapolates the advancement in chemical rocketry to a point where constant 1-2g acceleration is possible, making travel through the solar system a matter of days rather than years.

All in all I was pretty happy to have stumbled upon this one while doing some research for an upcoming game!

1d20 Lovecraftain Space Hazards Random Encounters Table For Your Old School Space Opera

1d10 Lovecraftain Space Hazards Random Encounters

1. A spinning golden pyramid containing the melded essence of 1d4 alien races joined in a spinning vortex of madness and insanity that will do 1d6 points of energy damage to any space craft within a light year. This spinning helix of crazied insanity will try to level drain and merge any crewmen encountered. Has 40 Hit points And an Armor Class of 8. 
2. An avatar of Cthulhu called the Dreaming Nightmare. This creature is a projection of the great old's roaming astral essence. The thing acts a symbol of insanity and will devour anything it comes across. The thing must be avoided at all costs. A powerful cosmic entity may be able to banish it back to the depths of nightmare. 
3. The Vortex of Thom - This vortex of cosmic draining energy is actually the mouth parts of a dimensionally trapped god that wishes to drain any remaining energy it can to free itself from its other worldly prison. It will drain 1d10 points of energy from any source it can per round. Only a burst of proto antimatter will banish this monster back to the depths of dimensional darkness. 
4. The Spheres of Thal - These machines of dust and darkness roam the cosmos for any star ships they can find. These machines are the scattered remains of an AI god now hell bent on claiming the lives of any it comes across. There are 1d8 spheres present. They have an armor class of 6, 12 hit points and attack for 1d4 points of damage per round using particle laser weapons. These things regenerate as per troll. Only stellar matter can burn these alien machines up. 
5. The Colour Out of The Interstellar Gulf - This level draining monstrous cloud is the size of large star destroyer and will suck dry anything present. The monster will then try to possess any remaining crew. The monster is able to travel as a small star ship. A burst of any proto matter may dismiss it back between dead stars. 
6. The Deadworld of Helas -This world moves around the universe filled with astro zombie warriors cursed by the Norse god Hela to wander across the cosmos prying on any ships that it finds. The thing moves across the universe at will claiming more damned for its silent waste filled world. 
7. The Spools of Thrusr'a - These relic weapons of a mad god appear strung between worlds. These monofiliment nightmares are only a molecule thick and able to slice a ship to wreckage in seconds. The things form webs made by alien robotic machines. These weapons do 1d6 points of damage to any ship flying into a star system where they have been deployed. 
8. The Worms of Gr'ura - These giant world destroying worms move slowly constricting worlds of vital essence. The worms of thousands of miles across and each houses 1d20 lesser monsters. The worms are 20 hit points each and can do 1d10 points of damage by expelling a chunk of stellar matter at a star ship. They each have an armor class of six. A nuclear war head at the right spot might damage a worm. There are always 1d4 of these monsters. They are capable of warp flight. 
9. The Eye Balls of Thesvru - These giant interstellar flying eye balls were the eyes of a giant god millions of years old. The gods cut the beast apart and now the eyes roam the universe looking for their other parts. Each 20 hit point eye has an armor class of 6 and can emit a cosmic blast of energy for 1d10 points of damage. Each eye will attack any starship it runs across.  Only a burst of neutrino particles can damage these creatures. Many ancient alien craft had such things on board. 
10. Space Around your vessel ripples and Azathoth appears! What will you do? 
11. The War Ship Of Cirus - This ancient preprogrammed AI Death God roams space hunting down any humanoid races it finds. It will only back down if worship with the sacrifice of the enemy's star ship captain! The ship is armed with xray lasers and particle beam cannons. Within its confines is the trapped mind of a Great Old One. 30 hit points Armor Class 5 Damage 1d8 per round from a mix of particle ray cannons and x ray lasers. Only a cosmic entity of light may have a 20% chance of banishing it back to the wastes of hyperspace 
12. The Monolith of Thel - This blue green twenty foot tall monolith spins through space churning out hard radiation  to any vessels it finds. This uncaring plaything of the gods will bath any vessel in Gamma Radiation and other hard radiations for 1d10 rounds before vanishing back into hyperspace. There is a 20% chance of it reappearing 1d4 rounds later. 
13. Constructors of The Great Race - These fourteen block long grey rectangles once belonged to the Great Race of Yith. They now roam the wastes of hyperspace destroying anything that runs across their path. They will attack with 1d4 point of neutrino energy per round and 1d6 points of laser damage. They will neatly cut up any ship that they run across. These ships will then absorb any wreckage and disappear. They are Armor class 7 and have 30 hit points. 
14. The Swarm of La - This swarm of nanobot nightmares is actually a one light year long cloud. The nano bots will dissemble anything they encounter. All the while they will broadcast praises to the Great Old Ones. These creatures only do one point of damage each. There are billions and billions of them. Anyone eaten by them will live on locked in disembodied hellish existence caught between insanity and horror beyond existence. Only a burst of neutron energy aimed at the central brain cluster has any chance of destroying these things. 
15. The Churning Horrors - These insect like beings are actually the space going remains of a once great alien race now locked forever within the confines of these bio synthetic horrors from beyond space time. Each one is a 10 hit point horror armed with 1d4 energy weapons there are usually 1d20 of these things encountered. They move locust like from world to world. They devour the brains of any being they encounter to add to their insane knowledge. 
16.  The Spinning Robot Nightmares of Trall - These space probe droids have been augmented by merging with the essence of a Great Old One. These monsters now wish only the extinguish of all life as we know it. These 12 hit point beings only wish to end their own existence but they cannot. Their programming will not allow such things to happen. They have an armor class of 5 and attack with mono blades that do 1d6 points per round when they hit. There are usually 1d8 machines encountered. Only a deadly burst of neutron energy to the lead bot will cripple them. 
17. The Trimplenx - This cosmic being is wounded any bleeds chunks of reality altering blood and gore. Each time this giant is encountered bits of him will attack your ship. There are usually 1d4 gore units. Each has 7 hit points and attacks with 1d4 points of damage per round. Should any reach your hull they will eat through within three rounds. After 1d4 rounds this giant diseased god will disappear and there is a 20% chance of him appearing again within the same star system. Only the Hymns of La can banish this slowly dying immortal. 
18. The Mind of Azathoth - An entire light year will be blanketed by the telepathic insanity that will spread across the entire star system. Each being will be possessed to do the most alien and horrid things imaginable. After a night and a day the disembodied mind will move on to spread the insanity else where. 
19. The star system is filled with stellar chucks of Great Old One gore. The entire system swarms with this stuff shunted out from hyperspace. There is a 50% of the stuff being infected with the most lethal monsters imaginable acting as parasites aboard this stuff. The flesh will cause 1d20 mutations to any being that has any contact. After 1d10 days the flesh will dissolve away from the local space time. Any star ship hulls encountering this stuff has a 10% chance of dissolving into soul screaming goo. 
20. A Star Spawn of Cthulhu is encountered off the port bow! 

Five Unsung Classic Television Shows As Inspiration For Your Stars Without Numbers Campaign Or Your Old School Space Opera Campaigns

Space Island One 1998 

This was a hard one to track down, its a wary look at the for profit corporate exploit of science and some pretty weird and interesting science fiction in space aboard an international space station.

According To Wiki : 

Space Island One (or Raumstation Unity in German) is a British/German science fiction television series that ran for 26 episodes beginning in 1998. A co-production between the UK's Sky One channel and the German Vox channel, it starred Judy Loe as Kathryn McTiernan, the commander of the multinational crew of the space station Unity. Described as “a mix of Moonbase 3 and Jupiter Moon, but more turgid than either,^[1] other sources describe it as

"The best science fiction show you've never heard of… The show unflinchingly looks at the implications of for-profit science… and provides the most realistic look ever at life in space, including bone-mass loss. A few episodes are dull, but the show is often surprisingly weird and fun… It also features some of the most complex, believable characters of any television show".^[2]

Apart from the show's creator, Andrew MacLear, other script-writers for the show included well known TV writer P. J. Hammond, acclaimed science fiction novelist Stephen Baxter and young adult writer Andrew Lane.

There are some solid ideas here for incorporating into an Xplorers campaign setting or a Stars Without Number style space station.
There's a few twists and turns that might make things very interesting for a group of PC's not used to dealing with some high end science problems. A relatively unknown show and when last I checked there wasn't a Blu ray available. 

Star Cops 1987

Way back in 1990 something a British friend of mine turned me on to this show when I was working in a back alley video store in Boston. The show was interesting, and the cases pretty engaging but here the bit that I loved about the show : 

Operating in a relatively accurately realised hard SF, near-future, space environment, many of the cases that the Star Cops investigate arise from opportunities for new crimes presented by the technologically advanced future society the series depicts and from the hostile frontier nature of the environment that the Star Cops live in.

Star Cops is set in the year 2027—some 40 years into the future at time of broadcast—a time in which space travel has become common and mankind is in the process of exploiting and colonizing the Solar System. There are five permanently manned space stations orbiting the Earth and there are bases on the Moon and Mars. Approximately 3,000 people are living and working in space. 

Most of the above came from wiki. 

 Set early in the development of outward bound colonizing efforts, I've used this show for several small one shot Alien and Alien style backwater one shot adventures with X plorers and Stars Without Number. It worked out quite well. 

Don't feel like getting spanked by Star Trek fans every time you want to set up a quick game set in the Star Trek universe? There are so many back drop continuum problems now it shouldn't be a problem but I used the Animated series which ran from 1973 to 1974 for all of the quick pick up games I've run. 

Another classic series that gets not a mention is one of my all time favorites, Space Above and Beyond.
According to Wiki : 

Set in the years 2063–2064, the show focuses on the "Wildcards", members of the United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry, 58th Squadron. They are stationed on the space carrier USS Saratoga, and act as infantry and pilots of SA-43 Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Attack Jet ("Hammerhead") fighters.

There is enough material here to run at least three to six campaign's worth of material. The series is mostly forgotten but had a Robert Heinlein Star Ship Trooper vibe to it. And there was plenty of weirdness, modified humans, worm hole hijinks and more. Wiki has a nice break down HERE

Man I miss this show and its mostly been forgotten but it would make a very nice early campaign setting. Lots of action and corporate betrayal and more. 

I also think that with a bit of work this setting could work very strongly with X plorers or Stars Without Number 

Star Rangers 1993

From 1993 comes a show that I used for Star Frontiers and later as an add in to my Stars Without Numbers campaign : 

In the year 2104 the Earth colony Fort Hope on the distant planet Avalon struggles to survive. A small force of police/marines called the "Space Rangers Corps" are the first, last and only line of defense for the colonists against crime and the perils of interstellar exploration. The series concentrates on Captain John Boon and his team of Rangers aboard Ranger Slingship #377.

You can find more information about the series on wiki HERE 

 However I confess to using the comic book that it was based on as more of the background. The comicbook was written by Mark Ellis and had a much deeper background as well as more alien races so its pretty easy to see where the scattering of adventures went for this game. We eased away from the show and moved into the world of the comicbook. 

The comic is much more dynamic and interesting a background, so I simply shoved New Hope into the background. Here's why.. 

Set in the 25th century, the series revolved around the crew of the Sabre, the last ship in the Frontier Battalion of the once-fearsome Star Rangers Corps. In both Star Rangers and its companion series Death Hawk, the era is a dystopia of solar system-spanning corporations that held the true power behind the centralized government of the Sol 9 Commonwealth. By the time of the series, the Star Rangers Corps has been reorganized into a token peacekeeping force while the corporations maintain their own security divisions, such as the Sol 9 Shogunate's Tigers of Heaven. As such, all Star Rangers ships and weaponry are outdated, making it difficult for Sabre crew to perform its duties. The ship patrols Sectors Four through Nine of the Orion Spur.
The above is from wiki of course but because of this setting's deep connection to my Stars Without Number campaign, I'm going to have to revisit it soon. The Space Rangers comic is set within the same world as the The Spur - Loki's Rock which is an excellent book by Mark Ellis available HERE

Dungeon masters frequently borrow, steal, modify, create their own fan fiction campaign settings and then ply them with players. I've done it countless times and once in awhile continue to throw elements from these sorts of campaigns into my games.Just seems like its an old school thing to do and I find myself slipping in these sorts of references and story elements to entertain my players. Your mileage may vary but its fun to play around with this sort of material for games.