Conveying threat across major TL differentials

[Ulzgoroth]

Scenario: You are running a non-covert ultra-tech expedition through a populated low-tech area. Fairly extensive equipment is available, but probably not heavy military stuff.

Problem: You want the locals, who have no prior understanding of your capabilities, to recognize that you are well protected and not a good target for robbery or threats. Preferably without you having to make regular violent shows of force.


What would you do? I figure most places you'd make a pretty solid impression if you had a heavy power armor along, but that's the kind of heavy armament that doesn't really belong here.

[mr beer]

Violent show of force to non-people is fine? Explode something and tell the natives to spread the word.

[mr beer]

There's also the God Ploy; fly around and claim to be an angel or something like that.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Problem: You want the locals, who have no prior understanding of your capabilities, to recognize that you are well protected and not a good target for robbery or threats. Preferably without you having to make regular violent shows of force.

Generally speaking, just being strange will make the locals a bit wary, particularly if the strangeness involves mysterious abilities. Details depend on the local tech level, but typically your transport will be enough to make it obvious that there's a large capability gap.

[Mr_Sandman]

"All right you primitive screw-heads, listen up."

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

What would you do? I figure most places you'd make a pretty solid impression if you had a heavy power armor along, but that's the kind of heavy armament that doesn't really belong here.

Power armor is way over the top if all you are trying to do is *look* heavily armored. You can probably just issue your guards a mylar jacket and call it good. Looking like they are clad in (miraculously flexible) metal, ought to make the point well enough. It won't hurt to give everybody a fairly obvious weapon too. I recommend short swords - big enough to be obvious, but not too heavy or cumbersome, and costly enough to make a point - you don't carry an expensive dedicated weapon unless you are either rich enough to have social connections who might avenge you, or good enough you use it to earn a living.

Everybody else should be in brightly colored patterns, to demonstrate you are filthy rich magicians, since nobody else could afford colors like that even if they were possible without magic.

[Andreas]

You could probably intimidate potential robbers etc. with a Sonic Projector and some holography.

[vicky_molokh]

What are the actual TLs and cultures involved? That might affect things.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Everybody else should be in brightly colored patterns, to demonstrate you are filthy rich magicians, since nobody else could afford colors like that even if they were possible without magic.

Or impossibly coloured patterns.

Some years ago, I learned from a TV docu that the colour mauve was a complete novelty in the Victorian Age. Before that, no dye that was even close to that had been possible to make. At all.

Different planets probably have different dyes available, so it'd be necessary to do quite a lot of scouting to see if there actually is one or two colours that the natives can't do at all, and one that is distinctive enough (like mauve apparently is - it becale a total fashion craze).

Or on iron age or medieval Earth you could just use Tyrian purple. That's not an impossible colour, but it is very expensive, and in many cultures there were very well defined restrictions on who was allowed to wear it and how much. So flaunting such rules, blatantly, would be a strong signal.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Different planets probably have different dyes available, so it'd be necessary to do quite a lot of scouting to see if there actually is one or two colours that the natives can't do at all

Most fluorescent or metallic colors are unlikely to have low tech sources. Day-Glo orange might not be very tasteful, but it would certainly get the 'something weird here' point across.