12-23-2015, 08:44 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Re: Technological development without fire.
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12-24-2015, 02:48 AM | #12 |
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
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Re: Technological development without fire.
The seed idea for this race is wood elves taken to the nth degree.
The reason for the aversion to fire is part of the back story. Elves are alien to this particular fantasy world and after arriving here discover that their fertility rates plummeted. To combat this each elven faction adopts a philosophy to help with their birth rates. The wood elves(just a short hand name) choose to get closer to nature hence the aversion to fire. They also stick to one region a "great Forrest" which is for all intents and purposes a garden for them. They have no trouble surviving. The elven racial package includes unaging and a modular ability package akin to timbrimi adaptation if anyone remembers gurps uplift. Basically the elves adapt physiologically to the local environment. Taking about 48 hours to adapt.
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Waiting for inspiration to strike...... And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn |
12-24-2015, 03:52 AM | #13 | ||
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
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Re: Technological development without fire.
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Not sure I'd call that evolution in any meaningful way, unless your going to argue that people who eat a higher proportion of raw food have evolved in any meaningful away from people who's diet's included only cooked or processed food. That said I certainly agree that fire is hugely involved in our development of technology and society (and that will have a knock on physiological effects). Hmm I guess maybe you could call that ongoing evolution, but then that would then include everything we do (which actually I guess isn't an unfair point)! Last edited by Tomsdad; 12-24-2015 at 05:53 AM. |
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12-24-2015, 04:13 AM | #14 |
Join Date: Nov 2015
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Re: Technological development without fire.
So, unaging, adapted to the environment (which I assume means some level of temperature tolerance) and living in a garden (again I assume food and water are easy to come by, and food grows naturally), no enemies, no real challenges to overcome... why would they develop any kind of technology ? With their only problem being low birth rate (not so bad for an unaging race, actually the opposite would be a problem) they can stick to TL0, and keep training in Erotic Arts I guess...
In any other case... how willig are yoi to explore magical biotech ? Sure you don't want to cast spells for everything, but what about enchanted plants ? Hey could provide all sort of things... |
12-24-2015, 04:42 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
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Re: Technological development without fire.
The enchanted plant thing works. I am just feeling out the idea. Looks like an alternate TL3 would work. Other races boil glue to laminate bows to get a compound bow. These guys enchant the tree directly maybe grafting live wood to create the laminate for the bow stave.
Trying to have an alien feel in this game world while still using the somewhat stereotypical fantasy standards.
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Waiting for inspiration to strike...... And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn |
12-24-2015, 04:50 AM | #16 |
Join Date: Nov 2015
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Re: Technological development without fire.
If you want the alien feel, you can go all the way with biogadgets.
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12-24-2015, 09:09 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Technological development without fire.
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So, these fire-less wood elves would need big guts like our ape relatives and have less energy to devote to big brains (like our ape relatives). Luke EDIT: unless they had another way to make the food easier to digest. Like fermentation or some such. They might be like leaf-cutter ants, gathering leaves and sticks and putting them in in a big underground chamber to rot with specialized domesticated funguses, Or catching squirrels and deer, shredding them up, and letting them steep for a few days in specialized yeasts that produce pre-digestive enzymes to soften up the meat. One of the aliens in a science fiction setting I've been developing does this instead of cooking, just to give them an even more alien feel. MORE EDITS: You might be able to go quite a ways with domesticating bacteria and yeasts and funguses and stuff. I have posted elsewhere about the potential for domesticating metal reducing bacteria such as shewanella and others, potentially allowing you to reduce bare metal from ores and form it into useful shapes by having your bacteria excrete it layer by layer. Last edited by lwcamp; 12-24-2015 at 09:35 AM. |
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12-24-2015, 10:09 AM | #18 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Technological development without fire.
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There are essentially never any large changes when you look at it on a really detailed level, though expecting there to be is one of the more common misunderstandings of the process. It's an illusion brought on by the incredible incompleteness of the record.
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12-24-2015, 10:20 AM | #19 | ||
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
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Re: Technological development without fire.
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X has also been moving into the plains, walking upright etc, etc To be fair none of these are ever cited as the one thing that did it, it's more likely that a culmination of different things came together over a period of time. (and so see malloyd's point). I do take the point about freeing up nutrition though. Quote:
Last edited by Tomsdad; 12-24-2015 at 11:11 AM. |
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12-24-2015, 10:39 AM | #20 | |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: Technological development without fire.
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...which brings us to the point that they are ignoring that fire is natural. >.>
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
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