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Old 11-23-2020, 08:06 PM   #2041
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

The Oni System was colonized by Japanese immigrants over 3,000 years ago. In addition to three terraformed terrestrial planets that were seeded with Earthlife, the Oni System possesses five dense asteroid belts and five gas giants. The colonists embraced the principles of isolationism, so they were untouched by the Dark Age that plunged the rest of Human Space into chaos for two thousand years.

Recently though, a few of the neighboring systems have recovered FTL capabilities and have been established trade networks with the local systems and, when the inhabitants are nonexistent or primitive, they have conquered the system. A dozen petty empires have evolved in recent decades that surround the Oni System, and it is only because the Oni System maintained the old technology that they have not been able to conquer the system.

The Oni System is a TL12 enclave surrounded by TL10 neighbors. Since its safety depends on its technological superiority, it forbids any trade with outsiders. Anyone who violates the ban finds themselves transformed into sapient pigs by metamorphic viruses, doomed to spend the rest of their existence rooting around in the wilderness preserves of the two terrestrial worlds with the memories of their human lives.

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 11-23-2020 at 08:17 PM.
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Old 11-24-2020, 03:51 AM   #2042
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Default Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

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Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
The Oni System was colonized by Japanese immigrants over 3,000 years ago. In addition to three terraformed terrestrial planets that were seeded with Earthlife, the Oni System possesses five dense asteroid belts and five gas giants. The colonists embraced the principles of isolationism, so they were untouched by the Dark Age that plunged the rest of Human Space into chaos for two thousand years.

Recently though, a few of the neighboring systems have recovered FTL capabilities and have been established trade networks with the local systems and, when the inhabitants are nonexistent or primitive, they have conquered the system. A dozen petty empires have evolved in recent decades that surround the Oni System, and it is only because the Oni System maintained the old technology that they have not been able to conquer the system.

The Oni System is a TL12 enclave surrounded by TL10 neighbors. Since its safety depends on its technological superiority, it forbids any trade with outsiders. Anyone who violates the ban finds themselves transformed into sapient pigs by metamorphic viruses, doomed to spend the rest of their existence rooting around in the wilderness preserves of the two terrestrial worlds with the memories of their human lives.
Cool setting, what adventures do you plan for it?
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Old 11-24-2020, 07:26 AM   #2043
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I was imagining that the characters would be infiltrators sent from the Oni System to the nearby petty empires to spy on them and to sabotage any efforts to invade the Oni System. With TL12 biotechnology, the characters would have an array of methods through which they could neutralize potential threats, though they would be mostly cut off from the Oni System. Among their weapons are metamorphic viruses that are capable of transforming humans into nonhumans, as the inhabitants of the Oni System prefer to avoid killing people.

There is one exception to the trade ban that exists, maintained by the nobility that rules the Oni System. Beyond the hyperspace barrier of the Oni System exists an ancient space station, called Tengu Station, where outsiders may trade artistic works for the biological creations of the gene smiths of the Oni System. The nobility of the Oni System maintains Tengu Station to facilitate espionage and to recruit concubines for their pleasure.

Human biological sapients may offer themselves as concubines to the nobility of the Oni System through Tengu Station. After a quarter century of service, they will find themselves back on the station, without a memory of their service and not a day older, but they will have a substantial amount of resources deposited in their names in the vaults of Tengu Station. At the very least, they will have enough to give them Wealth (Wealthy) and Independent Income 5 at TL10. Some of them never return to Tengu Station though, having proved themselves exceptional enough to have been granted citizenship by the nobility of the Oni System.
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Old 11-25-2020, 04:43 PM   #2044
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Try this one...

The 2030s looked like the world had hope. Several different nations cracked commercial fusion in the late 2020s. The USA made major breakthroughs in robotics and Vertical Farming (which, because it uses 90% less water than outdoor agriculture. was needed to deal with drought). It looked as if the world had turned a corner, then the zombies showed up.

It was assumed to be something the Russians cooked up since the first reports came out of Yekaterinburg. It was assumed to be some kind of Russian military project gone wrong.

Eurasia got hit first and hardest, Tibet seems to be the only remaining nation on mainland Asia. Mainland Europe is as dead. Britain had multiple outbreaks and collapsed after a few years. Ireland and a few other nations remain.

Someone brought zombies to Argentina in 2043 and they got loose. By 2050 South America was dead. Until 2055 the US and its remaining allies maintained barriers in southern Panama. Then in 2054 gangs of drug-runners brought the zombie infection back to Nicaragua after failed attempts to recover money weapons from a mob warehouse in Columbia.

The USA and Canada, having had decades to plan their defenses, still survive in 2090. People live in fortified cities. There is limited transport between the cities, but only essential goods and personnel travel between cities.

The non-zombie population of the USA and Canada combined is about seventy million. Although Cuba, Trinidad, and Haiti/Dominican Republic all fell to Zombies, most of the rest of the Caribbean is clear of Zombies. And they are teamed up with the US Navy to keep it that way at all costs.

The world Zombie population is still high, although about 2% of zombies rot away in any given year, the remaining zombies seem to become more dangerous over time.
Life in the North American cities is in many ways dull and spartan. People get plenty of healthy food, and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, but most people eat meat about two to three times a week. Apartments are on the small side but homelessness is unheard of. Clothing, furniture, and other moveable goods are sturdy if very utilitarian. People work forty-five hour weeks, but unemployment is very rare. Underemployment is another issue.

On the other hand, all medical services are paid for by taxes. Part of those taxes are livelong requirements to be in a certified exercise program. Everybody has access to broadband, and people access most entertainment media through their computers. Similarly, people access bureaucracy through their home computers as well. Voting is also run through computers.

The national government funds the arts very generously. All North American cities (and more than 95% of North Americans live in fortified cities) have live theatre, music, and similar venues. New North American films debute weekly and films from other lands (mainly Indonesia, Taiwan, and Australia, although Japan and New Zealand produce well-respected films) are also widely available. The visual arts are highly popular, gallery showings are well attended. This means artists of all kinds are among the most widely traveled people in this society and great choices for PCs.

More later,
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Old 11-25-2020, 06:27 PM   #2045
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Just out of curiosity, why don't they have cultured meat? I mean, there are around a dozen companies that are presumably coming online next year with commercially available cultured meat (and even more companies in the pipeline), though they may be delayed by the pandemic. Since they figured out the plant-based growing medium, the only thing that they really need the animals for is to periodically renew the cell stock.
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Old 11-25-2020, 07:21 PM   #2046
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Just out of curiosity, why don't they have cultured meat? I mean, there are around a dozen companies that are presumably coming online next year with commercially available cultured meat (and even more companies in the pipeline), though they may be delayed by the pandemic. Since they figured out the plant-based growing medium, the only thing that they really need the animals for is to periodically renew the cell stock.
Unlike vertical farming, where they've learned how to properly "stress" plants to make them grow to maximum levels of taste, texture, and nutrition, vat meat, call "smeat" just isn't tasty. It's used as extender in many places, but it has less flavor than tofu. They're still working on the problem.

I've done more study, Vat grown meat is likely to be on the market in five to ten years. So revise the setting, they have plenty of vat meat.
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Old 11-28-2020, 04:26 PM   #2047
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Default Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

Quote:
Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Try this one...

The 2030s looked like the world had hope. Several different nations cracked commercial fusion in the late 2020s. The US made major breakthroughs in robotics and Vertical Farming (which, because it uses 90% less water than outdoor agriculture. was needed to deal with drought). It looked as if the world had turned a corner, then the zombies showed up.

It was assumed to be something the Russians cooked up since the first reports came out of Yekaterinburg. It was assumed to be some kind of Russian military project gone wrong.

Eurasia got hit first and hardest, Tibet seems to be the only remaining nation on mainland Asia. Mainland Europe is as dead. Britain had multiple outbreaks and collapsed after a few years. Ireland and a few other nations remain.

Someone brought zombies to Argentina in 2043 and they got loose. By 2050 South America was dead. Until 2055 the US and its remaining allies maintained barriers in southern Panama. Then in 2054 gangs of drug-runners brought the zombie infection back to Nicaragua after failed attempts to recover money weapons from a mob warehouse in Columbia.

The USA and Canada, having had decades to plan their defenses, still survive in 2090. People live in fortified cities. There is limited transport between the cities, but only essential goods and personnel travel between cities.

The non-zombie population of the USA and Canada combined is about seventy million. Although Cuba, Trinidad, and Haiti/Dominican Republic all fell to Zombies, most of the rest of the Caribbean is clear of Zombies. And they are teamed up with the US Navy to keep it that way at all costs.

The world Zombie population is still high, although about 2% of zombies rot away in any given year, the remaining zombies seem to become more dangerous over time.
Religion

Zombies at first led to a religious revival but after two generations of urban life (which in the modern West tends toward secular worldviews) the North America of 2090 is less religious than it has ever been. Social tolerance, which is vital to survival in the fortified cities, is a strongly promoted virtue. This has often been bad for conservative religious groups.

The Papacy fled Italy ahead of it's being wiped out by the Zombie plague. At present, the Papal Court is located on the island of Luzon in the suburbs of Manila. The Coptic Pope fled to Sydney Australia. The Patriarch got to Honolulu.

The Ecumenical Movement is fairly well developed but neither Protestants, Catholics, nor Orthodox, see much growth in their numbers.

Islam is the religion with the most followers at this time. Although Indonesia always followed a mild form of Islam, Wahabism disturbed and offended non-Muslin Indonesians, and modern Islam in Indonesia is subdued.

Buddhism and Hinduism are both surviving in Indonesia. Buddhism seems to be the only religious faith that actually growing in North America.

more later
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Old 11-30-2020, 07:43 AM   #2048
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Default Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

GURPS Infinity Wars

What if no one was trying to be subtle in Infinite Worlds? Imagine if Homeline, Reich-5, and the Cabal were rolling over and absorbing timelines the way Centrum does (I may not be remembering that right). Maybe Infinite Worlds turns into a kind of "parachronic opera" rather than the "cross-time espionage" it is right now.


Apologies if this isn't fully-baked (or even baked at all).
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Old 11-30-2020, 07:21 PM   #2049
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GURPS Infinity Wars
I don't mean to be annoying, but I think there's another thread for this.
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Old 12-01-2020, 04:33 AM   #2050
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I don't mean to be annoying, but I think there's another thread for this.
This was the first one I could find.
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