How Do You Handle A Problem Like A Death Star?
So I’ve started very casually puttering on “Stellar Battles”, enough to already know that if I finish it, it will be a bit different than “OSRIC in Spaaaaace”, thought it’s still going to draw from a lot of older design patterns and probably be pretty “Generic retro-clone compatible if you work at it”. If it gets any further, which, who knows, it may or may not. I like to be definite.
Anyway, in the course of writing Generic Flavor Text while describing how hyperspace works, because that’s the bit which grabbed my mayfly-like attentions, I need to put in $DEATH_STAR, or, in other words, “Something that isn’t called a ‘Death Star’ but which is patently obvious to even the most clueless reader that it occupies the same trope-space.” (I want to use the word ‘tropic space’, but that implies a hot part of space with palm trees and suntanned women in bikinis. Tropeic? Doesn’t look right either.)
So I’d started with Omega Base, but it seemed meh, and I am using Greek letters thematically in Earth Delta, and while Judge Judy would inform me that my trousers have been involved in a conflagration if I ever said anything like “And I hate to repeat myself”, I did want to at least try for something else.
“Murder Moon” sounds great and I’ll need to use it for something, but it’s too Jack Kirby for this. Granted, “too Jack Kirby” borders on inherently contradictory, much like “too much sex and violence” or “too much money”, but it is tossed to the holding pen for now.
So I’m throwing this out to the world.
Random brainstorm of adjective-y words: Death, murder, mayhem, chaos, omega, apocalypse, genocide, armageddon, slaughter, massacre, alpha, prime, ultimate, nova, cataclysm, omni-, fire, firestorm, laser, fusion, plasma, war, doom, dark, orbital
Random brainstorm of noun-y words: Base, station, star, platform, moon, world, complex, center, fort, fortress, craft, point, nova, cannon, sphere, satellite, core
So we can get things like “plasma sphere”, “alpha base”, etc. with any additional decoration as needed… Imperial Plasma Sphere, Imperial Plasma Omni-sphere, Dark Omni-Nova Complex, or something.
Any other ideas?
THE PLANET KILLER!
Go with what it does: “Planet Killer”
If you need to be more descriptive (because some planet killers might not be so massive) add “Planetoid-sized Planet Killer”
And/Or add “Manufactured” to indicate that it’s not a natural formation.
But personally I’d just call it a Planet Killer and be done.
Gun platform
One of the tricks to creating something memorable is to avoid using a descriptive name. (For example, the Millennium Falcon has really nothing to do with either 1000-year time keeping units or flying birds of prey.)
I think the Halo series did a great job with this in the names for the human warships: Pillar of Autumn, Forward Unto Dawn, etc.
Murder Moon sounds awesome – but you’re right, maybe not for a space opera game (though it would be a sweet place to have adventures with the Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four… this issue, Murder Moon vs. Ego, ’nuff said).
I only came up with two names: “Imperial Void-Moon” (if it’s a class of warship) and “The Thanosphere” (if its a unique battle station).
I think I’m going to end up with Planet Killer because it has a sort of clear directness that fits the late 70s/early 80s vibe I’m going for… I like both of your other ideas, though, esp. Thanosphere, and I have to come up with a use for that latter one….