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Astromancer · 01-19-2018, 01:10 PM

I'm rereading Le Guin's Planet of Exile. The basic problem of the planet's long year (which is 65.75 Earth years long) seems like a good problem challenge. I think the biochemical mismatch between Earth life and Werel life doesn't interest me, but the cultural embargo which the stranded colonists slowly abandon during the novel does. Mainly as an explanation of lost knowledge among the colonists.

Picture an isolated town. It's a mixture of TL5 and TL6 and slowly dropping the self restrictions of the Cultural Embargo that has limited them for so long. Winter is coming, and on this planet (it's not Werel) winter lasts twenty Lunar months, or eight thousand planetary days.

The planet Calliope, named for the muse of epic poetry, has days that are 32 Earth hours long. The planet is a major mystery, its native life forms aren't native at all. The planet life forms, including native humans and close human relatives, all seem to have been brought to Calliope between the years 95,000BCE and 8,500BCE. The entire ecosystem is made up of Earth life forms only.

None of the planetary Human or near Human groups have gotten beyond TL2. They are however impressive at dealing with regular quarter century ice ages. The towns folk, isolated settlers who fear they are either forgotten or the people who sent them out have been conquered or worst.

The town, were the PCs live, has to survive as a lonely outpost on the edge of the continent. The tribes they've made truces with are being pushed out of their territory by new tribes hungry for better land and the fisheries which get better in the long brutal winter. The tribes see the Farborns, as they call the Earthfolk, as witches and threats. Besides they have good land and a fine strongly built city.

Can your PCs withstand a siege while gathering vitally needed supplies for the coming twenty-five plus years of winter? Can you convince your elders that the Cultural Embargo is both a threat to survival and meaningless if the Earth is a cinder? If they let you adopt new tech from old books can you make it work in time?

01-19-2018, 01:10 PM	#75
Astromancer Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Virginia	Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds I'm rereading Le Guin's Planet of Exile. The basic problem of the planet's long year (which is 65.75 Earth years long) seems like a good problem challenge. I think the biochemical mismatch between Earth life and Werel life doesn't interest me, but the cultural embargo which the stranded colonists slowly abandon during the novel does. Mainly as an explanation of lost knowledge among the colonists. Picture an isolated town. It's a mixture of TL5 and TL6 and slowly dropping the self restrictions of the Cultural Embargo that has limited them for so long. Winter is coming, and on this planet (it's not Werel) winter lasts twenty Lunar months, or eight thousand planetary days. The planet Calliope, named for the muse of epic poetry, has days that are 32 Earth hours long. The planet is a major mystery, its native life forms aren't native at all. The planet life forms, including native humans and close human relatives, all seem to have been brought to Calliope between the years 95,000BCE and 8,500BCE. The entire ecosystem is made up of Earth life forms only. None of the planetary Human or near Human groups have gotten beyond TL2. They are however impressive at dealing with regular quarter century ice ages. The towns folk, isolated settlers who fear they are either forgotten or the people who sent them out have been conquered or worst. The town, were the PCs live, has to survive as a lonely outpost on the edge of the continent. The tribes they've made truces with are being pushed out of their territory by new tribes hungry for better land and the fisheries which get better in the long brutal winter. The tribes see the Farborns, as they call the Earthfolk, as witches and threats. Besides they have good land and a fine strongly built city. Can your PCs withstand a siege while gathering vitally needed supplies for the coming twenty-five plus years of winter? Can you convince your elders that the Cultural Embargo is both a threat to survival and meaningless if the Earth is a cinder? If they let you adopt new tech from old books can you make it work in time? __________________ Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo Last edited by Astromancer; 01-19-2018 at 01:14 PM.