New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The People and the Otherkin

The Superiors are generally old money types simply because they have the opportunity to gain wealth and hold it. As their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are normally adults while Superiors are still active adults, wealth is securely passed down the family line. Although there aren't per se nobles on Arcadia, the wealthier Superior families do act the part.

Because Witches and Superiors live so long, these two groups of parahumans tend to dominate scholarship, the clergy, and the superiors tend to dominate politics. Quite simply, they live on and learn more while their rivals die of old age.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The People and the Otherkin

Three groups of Otherkin don't live near humans. Of these three people care the least about the Wolves. Poor people living in cold lands whom no one ever sees aren't very interesting. Just compare all the movies dealing with the Inuit as compared to those set in the tropics.

The Green really have the least to do with other humans, but they are seen as mysterious and they live in jungles and swamps. Their reputation is bad/scary but few people even see them from year to year.

The Amphibians live isolated from other humans but they deal with humans regularly and are respected tradespeople. The Amphibians are mildly liked.

The Flyers live fairly near humans but keep their distance as best they can. People vary between seeing them as familiar or standoffish. There's an ambiguity in how peoples see the Flyers.

The Witches, because of the Psionic Charisma, are well loved, but not particularly respected.

The Superiors are respected, but few love them.

The Gnomes are ignored, until or unless people want something.

[Astromancer]

Try this one..

Stealing from Resident Evil, a corporation makes a Proteus Virus. The idea is the create super-soldiers preferably addicted to some corporate medical services in order to stay alive. The first human trials seem okay. The test subjects gain impressive amounts of strength, stamina, agility. speed, reflexes, and endurance. Unforeseen benefits show up as well. Increased intelligence, heightened perception, empathy, and reports of ESP and similar phenomena, are also reported.

Suddenly it all went bad. The Proteus Virus became contagious. Large numbers of those infected went insane and burned out after a period of superhuman violence. Within a few months the world population was divided into the dead, the Mad, the Touched, the Scared, and the Uninfected.

Seven out of ten men died within two weeks of infection and one out of ten women as well. The vast majority of the survivors are the Scared, sickly, passive, sterile, and with little or no willpower (Low Willpower -7). The Mad and the Touched actually have some of the "benefits" of the treatment (Stats up to plus 10, Regeneration, Regrow, Enhanced Senses, powerful mental advantages, Extra Hit Points and Fatigue, and rarely some Psi powers). The main difference between the Mad and the Touched is that the Mad are permanently insane, the Touched only have infrequent fits of insanity, so far.

The Uninfected are the future, they aren't sterile. It has been discovered that the Uninfected aren't free of the Proteus Virus, their children are Enhanced (use whatever HomoSuperior Parahuman template you like from Transhuman Space to represent the children). But the kids are young and few. If the Touched and the Uninfected can't protect the children from the Mad, there won't be a future.

Basically the Mad Max post-apocalyptic world with loads of superchanged mad people hunting down the few remaining children.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

Due to the development of cheap reliable fusion power and continuing internal political divisions, the USA remains the most powerful nation on Earth, but it is a Great Power which acknowledges no significant outside interests. The old Bretton Woods System is either attacked as a fraud or denounced as a warped parody of what it was in the first three decades. The systems on which the system was built have collapsed and a more 18th century style of trade is the world norm.

The USA is as disinterested in trade as Medieval China and about as friendly to immigration as China was. Between fusion power, robotics, material science, and indoor agriculture, America isn't interested in bulk goods from elsewhere. The main outlet the USA has is Space Exploration and they don't even report their discoveries and achievements internationally.

Russia has collapsed, China and India are rent with internal issues, the EU refuses to gel into a stable force. Most of the world is a power vacuum. And TL9 insurgences are filling the gap.

The PCs would be mercenaries and rebels fighting in the brutal ruins of the third world.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The USA is as disinterested in trade as Medieval China and about as friendly to immigration as China was. Between fusion power, robotics, material science, and indoor agriculture, America isn't interested in bulk goods from elsewhere. The main outlet the USA has is Space Exploration and they don't even report their discoveries and achievements internationally.

Russia has collapsed, China and India are rent with internal issues, the EU refuses to gel into a stable force. Most of the world is a power vacuum. And TL9 insurgences are filling the gap.

Sounds like a myth parallel based on some of the weirder American right wing fringe beliefs - the world collapses without America, right thinking Americans of course have nothing further to do with their relatives abroad, and patriotically accept their taxes being spent on a space program the results of which are kept secret from them so as not to leak to foreigners. I assume the filthy liberals who think stuff like foreign aid or free speech are good ideas have been purged, and lesser races of potentially internationalist traitors - like Jews or Catholics - know their place. Might work with a sufficiently retro-future spin. Has a sort of Atomic Horror crossed with pre-atomic post-apocalyptic stories vibe.

[ronwit]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Try this one...

Due to the development of cheap reliable fusion power and continuing internal political divisions, the USA remains the most powerful nation on Earth, but it is a Great Power which acknowledges no significant outside interests. The old Bretton Woods System is either attacked as a fraud or denounced as a warped parody of what it was in the first three decades. The systems on which the system was built have collapsed and a more 18th century style of trade is the world norm.

This is the geopolitical theory of Peter Zeihan in his book The Absent Superpower: The Shale Revolution and a World Without America. With Shale Oil making the US energy independent and no Cold War to keep us interested, America will retreat from the world and without the Navy patrolling the seas, the world will look more like the nineteenth century without the Great European Empires preexisting.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Sounds like a myth parallel based on some of the weirder American right wing fringe beliefs - the world collapses without America, right thinking Americans of course have nothing further to do with their relatives abroad, and patriotically accept their taxes being spent on a space program the results of which are kept secret from them so as not to leak to foreigners. I assume the filthy liberals who think stuff like foreign aid or free speech are good ideas have been purged, and lesser races of potentially internationalist traitors - like Jews or Catholics - know their place. Might work with a sufficiently retro-future spin. Has a sort of Atomic Horror crossed with pre-atomic post-apocalyptic stories vibe.

It is based on the book "The Accidental Superpower," or rather what I saw the author say about it. The overseas setting is partially his fears of what a world of power vacuums would look like. I goosed up America's tech to make lack of trade more viable.

I said that America didn't publicise its spaceprogram abroad, not that it was secret. In many parts of today's Earth, if you believe that the USA landed a man on the Moon you're seen as an ignorant clod. So I just assumed a world where the US had its spaceprogram but had given up telling other countries the news officially. Space buffs in all nations know. Hipsters still know they're denying something real. No one really bothers much.

The present world trade system is a grotesque backwards and right-wing parody of what everybody including the US signed off on at Bretton Woods. So having that collapse if there was no dominant power to promote it seemed likely.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

In many parts of today's Earth, if you believe that the USA landed a man on the Moon you're seen as an ignorant clod.

In real life? Seriously? That's not the impression that I've gotten, but on the other hand, my experience is by definition somewhat limited.

[Ashtagon]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

In real life? Seriously? That's not the impression that I've gotten, but on the other hand, my experience is by definition somewhat limited.

Google "moon landing conspiracy". Then join me as we mourn for humanity.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

It is based on the book "The Accidental Superpower," or rather what I saw the author say about it. The overseas setting is partially his fears of what a world of power vacuums would look like. I goosed up America's tech to make lack of trade more viable.

I don't see why anybody would expect the withdrawal of the US to produce much in the way of power vacuums though. It's not like the world is short of nations with serious international resource needs and enough military capability to step in to defend their suppliers if they needed too. Sure places with no worthwhile exports may get ignored, but they do now - it's not like the US is rushing to rescue Yemen or Somalia.

The present world trade system is a grotesque backwards and right-wing parody of what everybody including the US signed off on at Bretton Woods. So having that collapse if there was no dominant power to promote it seemed likely.

Is there some reason you think the current world trading system has anything to do with Bretton Woods? Anyway the US is less than 15% of the world's trade volume, so it's not like there aren't other powers who have substantial interests in keeping some sort of system intact. I doubt the US is doing all that much to promote the current rules right now - our President seems to actively dislike much of it - and it doesn't appear to have fallen apart.