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Old 08-30-2018, 07:32 PM   #571
dcarson
 
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Default Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

It might have a less in ores then you think. A surprising amount is created by biological action. banded iron ore is, chalk which becomes marble, gold nuggets, all have biological concentrating as part of the process. I'm sure there are more.
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Old 08-30-2018, 09:15 PM   #572
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In addition, arable land is a product of life. Without life, you have rock and sand, you do not have soil, as soil is defined by having organic content. Now, you can artificially add organic content through technological means, but it is usually just easier to add lifeforms that are capable of turning rock and sand into soil (nitrogen fixing bacteria first, then fungi and plants, and finally worms and insects). Even so, it would take a few thousand years to turn a barren world into a garden world if you do not have millions of people (or their equivalents) working on the project.
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Old 08-30-2018, 09:36 PM   #573
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There are no fossil fuels for the same reason as there are no fossils.
Titan has no fossils (presumably) yet has plenty of hydrocarbons. I'm not sure if such would be considered "fossil" fuels, but they could certainly fill that niche.

At any rate, if you want a lifeless planet to have hydrocarbon fuel sources, you can. What you can't do is claim none are there because the planet is lifeless.
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Old 08-31-2018, 07:31 AM   #574
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It might have a less in ores then you think. A surprising amount is created by biological action. banded iron ore is, chalk which becomes marble, gold nuggets, all have biological concentrating as part of the process. I'm sure there are more.
Perhaps the planet is processed in ways the locals don't know about.
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Old 08-31-2018, 07:32 AM   #575
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In addition, arable land is a product of life. Without life, you have rock and sand, you do not have soil, as soil is defined by having organic content. Now, you can artificially add organic content through technological means, but it is usually just easier to add lifeforms that are capable of turning rock and sand into soil (nitrogen fixing bacteria first, then fungi and plants, and finally worms and insects). Even so, it would take a few thousand years to turn a barren world into a garden world if you do not have millions of people (or their equivalents) working on the project.
The land is arable and is assumed to have been made so by whoever brought them to this planet.
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Old 08-31-2018, 09:35 AM   #576
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Faraway

"The land gained the name Faraway soon after people came here. I've also heard it called Hyperborea, the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom, Neverland, the back of beyond, and the Outer Zone. Whatever, it isn't where we came from. They say we're on a distant planet too far from Earth to even figure out how far away from Earth we are. Some say the gods or God put us here as a blessing or curse. Others blame fairies, aliens, or the C.I.A. whatever the last one is. Still, we are here and we don't know how we got here."
The biggest political fight on present-day Faraway is slavery. People from several slave-owning cultures arrived early in Faraway's history. Abolitionism followed quickly but there never was the combination of Western dominance and 19th European moral certainty which largely eliminated slavery on the Earth.

The largest slaveholding societies are the Islamic ones. Although a passionate Islamic abolitionist movement has cropped up, most Koranic scholars hold that since the Koran allows slavery Islamic societies must allow slavery. The Islamic abolitionists point out that the Propet was clearly unhappy with slavery and saw freeing people as a highly moral and worthy act. Further, the abolitionist says, for far fewer objections about wine the Koranic scholars demand total prohibition of wine. The Abolitionists hold wine less of a problem than slavery. They agree with Lincoln, "If slavery isn't wrong, nothing is wrong." The Koranic scholars cry out that that opinion is innovation and heresy.

The societies fighting for abolition in the Western culture lands are much like they were in 19th century Europe and America only with far less class, sex, gender, and racial bigotry. At least most of them, there are exceptions.

I'll need to read up on the end of slavery and anti-slavery ideas in Japan and China.

Although Faraway has sadly more than its fair share of racism slavery isn't race based on the whole. There are some exceptional areas though, unpleasant exceptions. Generally speaking the higher the local technology and the more democratic the government the less slavery is tolerated. Again, there are ugly exceptions.

More later...
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Last edited by Astromancer; 05-29-2022 at 06:41 PM.
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Old 09-04-2018, 02:46 PM   #577
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Try this idea...

Once space travel throughout the Solar System became commonplace minor problems with Relativity were noticed, in amending the theory a viable form of FTL travel was understood. By 2150AD ships that could travel at 70C cost about as much as an aircraft carrier. The sealed systems on such ships were seen as safe/viable for 60 months. Thus a circle of exploration 175 Lys was established.

The most active colonizers of the period, the USA, the EC, India, Indonesia, the East Asian Alliance, and United Africa, have set up a fairly wide variety of colonies and regularly send inspectors to analyze the communities from Anthropological, Sociological, and Psychological, perspectives.

PCs would basically be spies nosing into people's private lives trying to understand the mysteries of their communities and learn what's going on, right, wrong, or indifferent. The locals may fear this, or desperately need to control how they are being seen.
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Old 09-04-2018, 03:55 PM   #578
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Historically, governments have had a maximum functional range equal to three to six months communication (depending on how much autonomy the rulers could tolerate), so a society that can only travel 70c will likely only occupy a volume of 35 ly. Anything beyond that and it fragments into separate nations.
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Old 09-05-2018, 04:13 AM   #579
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Historically, governments have had a maximum functional range equal to three to six months communication (depending on how much autonomy the rulers could tolerate), so a society that can only travel 70c will likely only occupy a volume of 35 ly. Anything beyond that and it fragments into separate nations.
Look into the Spanish rule of the Philippines in the 16th century. Six months would have been a delight. Instructions normally took two to three years.

"If death came from Madrid we would never die."
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Old 09-05-2018, 04:26 AM   #580
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Default Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

How long does "fragmentation" take? Is there any problem with gaming in a period where that is happening?
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