New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

[YankeeGamer]

Something I worked out for a tale I was working on at one point, and could be added to most science fiction settings.
Prolong/Anagathics/Anti-aging has been a project for a long long time, always failing. Sure, life is longer than it was, but people still just plain wear out.

Some time ago, a less than ethical scientist thought he had a breakthrough, but Prolong can only be applied to the very young. So, some were involuntary test subjects. (Many didn't even know they were test subjects, as it was done clandestinely.)

Many died in various disturbing ways over the next 10 years. (Some aged at incredible speed, some just reacted badly--no detectable pattern. Some broke out in various cancers) Some aged normally. A few aged slower. A few stopped aging altogether. Some never matured past the two year old stage, and stopped. Some, their bodies matured, but the brain stopped developing. Some died horribly when they hit puberty, AKA Miri on Star Trek. Feel free to make the consequences as horrible as you want.

Now it's 30 odd years after the atrocity, and 95% of the subjects are dead, on life support, or wish they were dead. Some are living normal lives, unaware that they were even used for test subjects. Some are aging slower. Some have stopped aging altogether, at different stages of life.

In a Supers or other 4 color type of game, the Treatment could be an origin story for some.

In a less 4 color campaign, being one of the treated could be justification for a variety of advantages and disadvantages, or justification for buying one later.

The possibilities are endless for almost any form of sci-fi or magic campaign...

[Astromancer]

I forget the title of the story, it was in Analog in the 1990's, but it involved children and immortality.

The plot was simple and deeply horrific, a Proteus virus, or something like that, was distributed in a vaccine that all babies were to get at age one, this vaccine meant that every vaccinated child would stop aging at Brain maturity (roughly 23 in most people) and never age again. At first no one noticed any difference, how would you until the children reached their late twenties or early thirties? But eventually the cat was out of the bag. At first their was anger, "How dare you experiment on children!", but things settled down...for a while.

As time went on jealousy came into the picture. Most folks older than those that got the vaccine were jealous, some were petty, big deal. Some were driven mad, slowly coldly, brutally mad. They started hunting children.

In the story concentration camps were set up to protect and shield the children. Some people hid their children at home. The lucky ones were found by the authorities. The unlucky ones often died defending their children or grandchildren. Then the children were butchered.

In this scenario the PCs are camp guards desperately trying to shield children from the mad monsters that want to butcher them. You got to be hard enough to shield the kids, but you need to have enough heart to give them love too. Welcome to the saddest acres of Hell!

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

Riffing off Space 1999 (fun, if deeply flawed), have the moon with Moonbase Alpha return to Earth Orbit, but the wrong EARTH!

Some possibilities...

A) Riff off of Kamandi orGenesis II or any other post apocalyptic world.

B) Some other TV Sci Fi world. Perhaps the Daleks stole the Moon and the Doctor snaged the best replacement he could get.

C) An alt history world. Maybe it's a Kalterkreig world. Moonbase Alpha looking to ally with either or both Britain and the USA.

You can spin tons from there.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

You got to be hard enough to shield the kids, but you need to have enough heart to give them love too. Welcome to the saddest acres of Hell!

Someone wrote a song called "Russians love their children too". A pretty obvious point though not of any particular political benefit (other than the statement that yes, we were holding each other's children hostage back then and a nasty thing it was).

Be that as it may, it may be less hard than you think to find some pretty tough customers who do in fact like kids. Taking care of kids and beating the tar out of people are basic human instincts and finding a human doberman when you want one probably can be done.

[jason taylor]

I may be repeating something as we have a lot of posts:


There is a gigantic pageant being held on this planet. Various events can be picked as the GM chooses. Hawkwood is a possible inspiration but some high-tech. As well as traditional sports, some will include hi-tech things. Traders come from hither and yon and there is plenty of gossip. On the surface nothing more sinister is going on except comparatively harmless vice.

However there is a conspiracy going on underneath the surface. Someone want's to overthrow someone else/assassinate someone else/do some sort of terrorist action. This is aside from all the swarms of spies that always follow VIPs.

Darker versions of this are available. There could be a gladitorial show as in Hunger Games. There could be a culture that considers sophants a delicacy. Or even more horrific, the last of a race thought extinct could be prowling the shadows looking for victims. An ancient conspiracy may be preparing a slave breeding program.

You can also go the Casablanca route and have an evil empire be breathing down peoples necks and/or a an interstellar war going on nearby.

Or you can have someone arrive with a cryptic message, "Fools! They are Coming."

Any combination of these is available.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

H.P. Lovecraft & C.A. Smith Co. Rocket Expeditions Ltd.

In this universe (I'm stealing from Eldritch Skies), extradimensional influences keep most worlds that could develop life barren. This means that most galaxies haven't even one world that naturally developed life on its own. Earth is a stand out rarity. And when certain elder things that favor life flourishing, although not often for human friendly reasons, saw that Earthlife keep flourishing in spite of multiple extinction events, they saw something they liked.

So, from the time of the dinosaurs on, lifeforms from Earth were moved to many suitable worlds around the universe. There are a few dozen worlds were lifeforms from Earth were taken from before the time of the dinosaurs, just to see if Earthlife could prove itself. But millions of worlds got Earthlife later. Especially after genus Homo was discovered by various elder beings. Humanoid brains have so many fun uses.

Long after various worlds were settled paths between them were discovered or forged. Certain beings, neither wholly spirit nor flesh, travel these paths. Humans, who achieve a certain degree of awareness, can travel most of these paths largely unharmed...normally.

Some paths are so regularly traveled that primitive communities living near the portals to and from other worlds think of extraplanetary realms as nearby lands. As with Atlantis, when the path/portal fades or it broken, people think that that land was destroyed somehow.

Now a rift within a rift, this time off The Roads of Heaven, Hermetic scholars have found how to cross the interstellar void using mystic symbols and magecraft! Earth is rediscovering our lost kinfolk!

Because of how long members of genus Homo have been taken off the Earth by all sorts of creatures (read the collected fiction of Lovecraft and Ashton Smith, and toss in C.L Moore and Leigh Brackett), there are multiple human species out there in the universe. Many genetically close enough for sex to produce fertile off-spring. But remember, human-like isn't human, nor is human necessarily humane.

Basically, this is a TL6+3 Space Opera with magic and weird science. Take Moore, Brackett, and Ashton Smith, and turn the dials toward later Lovecraft. Reread At the Mountains of Madness for Lovecraft's sci fi, and go from there. You could also go for John Marsfelder's take on Star Trek as "Working Class Mysticism" and do Occult Star Trek in a Lovecraftian universe.

[jason taylor]

That's actually a fairly good one.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

That's actually a fairly good one.

Thank-you. I try.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Try this one...

H.P. Lovecraft & C.A. Smith Co. Rocket Expeditions Ltd.

In this universe (I'm stealing from Eldritch Skies), extradimensional influences keep most worlds that could develop life barren. This means that most galaxies haven't even one world that naturally developed life on its own. Earth is a stand out rarity. And when certain elder things that favor life flourishing, although not often for human friendly reasons, saw that Earthlife keep flourishing in spite of multiple extinction events, they saw something they liked.

I'm going to stress this last idea a bit more.

You could also go for John Marsfelder's take on Star Trek as "Working Class Mysticism" and do Occult Star Trek in a Lovecraftian universe.

Marsfedlder is a literary critic fascinated with Star Trek. His blog Vaka Rangi, while doing some actually solid analysis on Star Trek, is a wild occult take on the series too. Rifting off of Marsfedler, and A.E. van Vogt's book Voyage of the Space Beagle which Roddenberry put down as a major source for Star Trek, and the settings of C.L.Moore's book Northwest of Earth it become clearer how to do a pulpy-er Lovecraftian Star Trek. Characters like Harry Mudd, Cyrano Jones, and Thadiun Okona, become more important and more sinister. Devinoni Ral might be working for even less savory clients. Ardra might be real, or less fake than she understands. The Time War could have far nastier players.

The mood/style should be more like Captain Pike's fantasy sequence from the Cage. That Arabian Nights Pulp Sci Fi mix fits Lovercraft, Moore, Brackett and Ashton Smith perfectly. And it is very much an aspect of Star Trek: OS.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Try this one...

H.P. Lovecraft & C.A. Smith Co. Rocket Expeditions Ltd.

In this universe (I'm stealing from Eldritch Skies), extradimensional influences keep most worlds that could develop life barren. This means that most galaxies haven't even one world that naturally developed life on its own. Earth is a stand out rarity. And when certain elder things that favor life flourishing, although not often for human friendly reasons, saw that Earthlife keep flourishing in spite of multiple extinction events, they saw something they liked.

Further notes:

Magery in this universe always comes with either positive or negative Charisma. Thus the in universe equivalents of James T. Kirk and Northwest Smith have spellcasting abilities. And the Wilbur Whateley power repels as much as his appearence. Thus a level of attractive Magery costs 15 points (Magery plus Charisma) and repellent Magery costs five per level (Magery minus Negative Charisma).

Near Humans are the main Aliens of this setting. Feel free to pull near humans in as you like. The Vulcans were obviously designed to be a Homo Superior group. But the early Vulcans were driven nearly mad by their own telepathy and the subconscious selves interfering in other people's dreams. Only there Iron disciple keeps them sane. C. L. Moore's take on Venusians fits this setting. They were angelically beautiful savages. "Faces like cherubs, hearts like devils.." was one of her phrases. Play around with the Star Trek and Northwest Smith aliens. Go for a subtle wrongness that builds to spooky.

Cultural Backgrounds should be lush, decadent, and exotic. Moore, Smith, and Leigh Brackett all went that way with Mars and or aliens. Lovecraft's The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath should be a major guide to the style and appearance of alien societies. Pedantic Violet mists that don't believe in humans are a must.