Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

1938: Grote Reber, constructor and operator of the world's first radio telescope, detects five distinct and oddly regular radio signals from outer space, separated by hundreds of light years. He publishes his results, seeking assistance from physicists to determine the cause of the signals.

Within a year, not only have the three of the original signals revealed clearly mathematical patterns, a dozen more have been discovered on different frequencies. Some come from close stars, and are relatively weak; others from relatively distant stars, but are more intense. Several of these 'beacons' transmit at multiple frequencies. It becomes an international sensation, as while the messages have clearly artificial patterns, their meaning remains obscure.

Dozens of quacks proclaimed to have solved the stellar radio mystery, often decoding them as divine revelation for the modern age, encoded secrets of the past, or personal horoscopes for credulous customers. However, a few people (some mathematicians, some intelligence analysts, and some civilians) found more plausible signs of sense. These were indeed intentional signals, designed to be discovered, decoded, and understood. And soon, every major government assembled teams to study the messages. Still, no one understood the scale of the phenomenon until 1942, when researchers deployed more sensitive instruments, uncovering vastly more information-dense signals in the 2-3GHz band.

These signals tended to share encryption with the lower-frequency signals, but included more than the simple mathematical codes described elsewhere. Some seemed to be noise, though mathematicians suspected they stored encrypted or 'compressed' data. Other signals contained a symbolic language describing elements, physical properties, descriptions of planetary systems. And technology.

Decoding these more advanced messages called for massive amounts of computing power. Tens of thousands of calculations per second, for a start...

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

The last time I found the word spelled like that "embassary" meant "multiple embassies", thus, "embassaries" means "mulitple embassary"... which is the "opera is both singular and plural" nonsense all over again.

I suspect you were portmanteauing embassy+emissary or some such, but it was the perfect spot for an Inigo Montoya quote... so...

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Mashing up a few science terms to sound smart, Quantum-locked Isomer Lattices (QILs) store energy by locking nuclear isomers into excited states for far longer than normal half-lives. Using high energy x-rays, the lattice can be driven to emit photons at useful energy levels. These can be directly converted into electricity at scales from handheld to building-sized. When discharged, they are simply a block of transparent diamond with impurities.

QILs make for a fine macguffin in near-future stories. The product of hyper-intelligent AIs or ancient alien precursors (or ancient alien hyper-intelligent precursor AIs), they can be placed anywhere you want to send humans.

I think putting them on the Moon, Mars, or Callisto and having a rover stumble over a cache of them would make for a great setting. Presumably aliens left them behind hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago. Or a few days ago, in which case you have a whole other issue...

I'm partial to the first option, as hyper-dense, stable, and very easily accessible energy stores provide a decent justification for a Moon War Now! campaign.

You could make it nationalist, but I prefer to make that sort of story post-national, with ideological conflicts rather than political ones driving the story.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

A general rundown of the world beyond Europe. In the first post I mentioned that the world of 2085 resembles a mix of The Jetsons, Barbarella and Mad Max. This isn't an even mix. Some areas like the USA and Australia lean strongly towards the first two. But there are areas that seem purely Mad Max.

Russia east of the Urals was largely free of stasis fields by 2044. Between disrupted trade flows and being cut of from their central government this area went pretty MadMax. Which given that the whole area was known to be pretty post-apocalyptic in 2025 is hardly a surprise.

The eastern most districts of Russia, the Magadan Oblast, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and
Kamchatka Krai, petitioned to join the USA as Alaska was their lifeline. The Allies suggested to the USA that that was a practical step. India, somewhat annoyed with America at that time, seconded the Allies in order to get America in a spat with Russia later. Several other countries also pushed the idea mainly to curry favor with both India and the Allies. The USA acquiested in order to end the nuisance.

It worked out well. Only Kamchatka Krai is a state, the other two aren't populous enough, but all three are doing far better economically under US rule especially with the Bering Sea Tunnel and the Chicago-Samarkand railway.

While Kamchatka, Magadan and Chukotka are very Jetsons places, life is normal and weird because of high technology and changed circumstances, the Sakha Republic leans more to the Mad Max side of things. Although life is getting better the low population, harsh climate, and the legacies of Russian rule are making improvement slow going in this vast land.

The Sakhalin Oblast has joined Japan and is doing well. But the Khabarovsk Krai, the Primorsky Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, the Zabaykalsky Krai, and the Amur Oblast, are all independent states trying to decide whether to form a unified nation or apply to join the USA. As Northern China is becoming more militant and scary either option is a better guarantee of independence than going it alone.

These countries are a blend of The Jetsons and Mad Max with Vladivostok and Khabarovsk both having Barbarella qualities (exotic, luxurious, otherworldly).

More later.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

I'm getting a real vibe of a sideways version of Vernor Vinge's "The Peace War" and "Across Realtime" here.

Which is a compliment.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Clarifying notes before more world building.

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Three terms need to be defined. Jetsons, Mad Max and Barbarella.

Jetsons is a subtle quality in this setting. It's really the normal and mundane made alien. In the Hannah Barbera Cartoon show The Jetsons you get basically the comic strip Blondie with the serial numbers filed off and Rosie the Robot Maid to bring in elements from Hazel. The show is comic and fantastical because the setting is filled with wild technology. It's the same old domestic comedy made exotic by using robots, flying cars, and a thousand other gadgets that fail to change ordinary life into something less ordinary but still make it weird.

Mad Max is the easiest to explain. It's the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Mind you there are plenty of places where present day life is very Mad Max. Sometimes the Mad Max elements are the psychological scars of the past.

Barbarella is opposite of The Jetsons. Barbarella is the strange and other worldly made normal and everyday. A fine example is in the Doctor Who episode Robots of Death. The Fourth Doctor and Leela of the Severteem land on a Sandminer. Basically, another base under siege. It is a working mine, just mobile. Unlike most such places in Doctor Who it isn't spartan, it's luxurious. This actually makes sense. Consider how different working class life is in 2024 compared to 1724. Most Middle Class homes in the US and Canada today have more and better bedding, clothing, dishes, and books than the kings of Scotland and England had in the year 1100AD. But the totally logical luxury and comfort makes the working mine exotic and alien.

The Barbarella element is this weird and alienating aspect of futuristic comfort and luxury. For a fascinating analysis of the links between pleasure, play, technology and human progress read Wonderland by Steven Johnson .

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The United Nations stopped existing during the war with the Aliens. To many members were gone and the bureaucracy was decapitated or irrelevant. The new replacement is the Council of Nations. It's far less ambitious. The UN was supposed to be the first step towards a world government. Between the Soviet Union's goal of revolution, Britain and France wanting to retain their imperial status, most of the members fighting to escape colonial empires, and lingering isolationism in the USA, that never came about.

The Council of Nations, which finances many old UN agencies (many of which were legacies from the League of Nations) is much more of a talking shop. A one stop general diplomacy set up. Nations send Ambassadors to the Council and they speak to anyone else they need to. Most nations only send Ambassadors to a few key nations and run all other diplomatic needs through the Council. Businesses and NGOs follow similar strategies.

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The US government was reorganized during the war.
In 2027 during The Crisis The chaos and destruction made the government unworkable. The Constitution of 1787 came to an end replaced by the Emergency Ordinances. The Emergency Ordinances were replaced by The Constitution of 2038 officially in 2039, but in practice there was an eight year transition.

The main difference between the constitutions of 1787 and 2038 that would be noticeable to PCs is that the US legislature is mainly unicameral (there is a non voting second chamber, it mainly edits the laws to prevent loopholes, confusion and similar issues. It also gets input from interested parties on the laws in question, but the power rests solely with the voting house.) The Voting house is elected proportionally, so the USA has a wide range of political parties.

There chief executive is the leader of the Voting House. The President is a Head of State and has few powers. The Leader of the Voting House is Head of Government.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Because they haven't been out of stasis for as long and the fact of the Russian population being more dominant Neither the Siberian Republic (formally the Siberian Federal District) nor The Union of the Urals (formally the Ural Federal District) have broken up into smaller nations yet. However each nation has had a separation.

The Tuvan Republic has separated from the Siberian Republic. This was peaceful, if a little bitter. Both nations want to focus on preserving their independence from both Russia proper and the Northern Chinese state. So if there's bad blood between them they've got priorities.

Less friendly, but also determined to pull together for survival the Union of the Urals and the Nenets Republic (formally the Yomalo Nenets Autonomous Okrug) both fear Russia more than they dislike each other. The simple fact that the gas fields that used to supply Moscow with fuel are in the Nenets Republic means Russia will attack there for its survival. Which would be a useless gesture. Although the Nenets people use the gas fields to synthesize industrial hydrocarbons the fuel processing facilities are long gone and the pipelines haven't been maintained in decades.

On the whole life in these nations carved out of the Ural and Siberian Federal Districts is a mixture of Mad Max and The Jetsons. As life was pretty Mad Max in these lands when Putin ruled them, the locals are delighted with the improvements. Even people living in Hellscapes will tell you how much better things are now. These people will fight for their independence.

The Union of the Urals was right up against the recently collapsed stasis field. They expect trouble soon.

No serious observers assume that either the Union of the Urals or the Siberian Republic is going to last long. The American led alliance mainly wants to prevent a pair of cold Yugoslavian-style civil wars.

More later.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Japan wanted a Studio Ghibli future. They didn't get it. Still, their population is recovering well, their society is far more egalitarian (by Japanese standards, which, since they are Japanese, is fitting) and modernity isn't seen as a burden. A hint of how Japan has changed is in their Animae dramas. Over and over again the modern Animae dramas have the heroes discovering that the Barbarians aren't really so barbaric and that their own side can be barbaric in different ways.

Compared to the Japan of 2024 this Japan is relaxed, self-confident and more tolerant than they've ever been before. Japan is very much a blend of Jetsons and Barbarella. Still the Mad Max factor is here. War brings trama, and unhealed trama can be a subtle and brutal reworking of a Yokai.

Taiwan stable and managing multiple alliances in the successor states in what used to be China. The Taiwanese point out that the Chinese empire comes and goes and the many peoples that make up China endure. Taiwan basks in a cultural richness. Like Japan they've escaped the demographic traps of the early 21st century and are enjoying stability. Taiwan is very much a blend of Jetsons and Barbarella. Example, Chinese fashions are a blend of traditional Chinese costume and modern Western clothing (it's beginning to catch on outside Asia).

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Korea has had a rough time. At first only part of South Korea south of Seoul was outside of Stasis. In the later 2030s all of South Korea and North Korea south of Pyongyang and the east coast including the areas near Yanbian Korean Autonomous Province in eastern Jilin Province. As Kim Jong Un and most of the military elites were in and around Pyongyang these areas simply collapsed without much fight. Most of Yanbian Province, isolated from the rest of China and majority Korean, accepted Seoul's governance.

South Korea began to prosper again. Then the rest of North Korea and the Chinese prefectures of Baishan and Tonghua came out of Stasis in the later 2040s. Kim Jong Un and his military fled northwest into former Russian territory. Once he realized he'd made a mistake he bargained to flee elsewhere. His army collapsed because it got attacked by the Aliens' devices.

At present Korea is unified. All of present day Korea, Yanbian, Baishan, and Tonghua prefecture form the present day Union of Korea. The Korean state is closely allied with Japan, Taiwan, the Russian successor states to the North, the Southern Chinese city states, the USA and the Western alliance, and anyone else that wants to keep the North Chinese state from conquering them.

Most of Korea is a blend of Jetsons and Barbarella, however, the sheer brutality of the old North Korean regime leaves scars and shadows that are very Mad Max. Many people still fear that the Kim family will return to rule Korea. Surprisingly large numbers of North Koreans believe that the Kims are nearly supernatural in their abilities. Much like the Germans once saw Hitler. The Nazis had twelve years to instill their cult of personality, the Kim's have had seventy-nine years. Many Korean who hate the Kims would serve them or their agents out of fear.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

China is broken into five main sections. Tibet, which has resumed its independence. Xinjiang which has become a Uygur ethnostate. The valley of the Yantze with its capital in Shanghai. The Southern Coastal city states which form a decentralized confederation closely allied with Taiwan. And a successor state to the People's Republic of China based in the valley of the Yellow (Huang He) River.

There are several other minor states, but they don't much matter politically, diplomatically, or economically. Until they matter enormously.

The Yellow River state demands the sole domination of China. They are run by the Communist Party of China. They came out of Stasis fairly late. They've been playing catch up for decades but corruption and a totalitarian state holds them back. This area of China is very MadMax.

The Yangtze state is stable and fairly prosperous. They've got demographic issues but they're making progress in democracy and social issues. They are held back by the money they are forced to invest in the military to keep the Yellow River nation at bay. This area of China is mainly Jetsons with Barbarella, but the constant stress of a hostile neighbor adds Mad Max touches.

The Uygur ethnostate in Xinjiang and Tibet are poor enough to both tend towards the MadMax side of things. They are tightly allied with the Yangtze state in order to sustain their independence.

The Southern Coastal city states are prosperous, glamorous, and progressive. They maintain strong alliances with the Yangtze state, Taiwan, United Korea, Japan, and the US led Western alliance. They are less military in focus, instead they bankroll defense against the Yellow River State.

The Southern coastal cities are wildly Barbarella, and have plenty of Jetsons too. Because of the simple fact that the economies of these cities bankroll the independence of most of China, the Yellow river state is constantly sending spies and sabotures to disrupt these communities. A fairly Xuwia spy versus spy campaign would work here.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

I take it China's busted up because of the stasis coming down at different rates. I don't think Tibet or Xinjiang would go that route unless the Chinese decided to do a complete reversal on the Hanicization policies.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

China is being fairly brutal to both the Uygurs and the Tibetans. I assume that with the central government gone for a few decades both Xinjiang and Tibet would rebel. Both the US led Western alliance and the South China coastal city states would persuade the Chinese minorities in both Xinjiang and Tibet to move to the prosperous coastal city states.

Granted my knowledge of East Asia is limited. So if you use part or all of this idea, play it your way.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Project Nerio Mission 4 launched in 2042, intended as the third to land on the Martian surface. The crew of ten included geophysicists, biologists, botanists, and ISRU experts. When the plasma sheath arose around the transfer module, the vessel was above a barren rock populated by only a couple dozen researchers.

When the plasma cleared, they were flying above a landscape of barbaric ruins - at least until the gravsail ships intercepted them...

In other words, start with characters for the first chapter of GURPS: Mars, and plop them in the world of the last chapter of GURPS: Mars.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Well, Tibet makes some sense, as they still hold very clear majority (though I'm fairly sure the Han are the ones with the guns). On the other hand, Xinjiang was almost even between Han and Uyghurs in 2020. Here's an article with a relevant table.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

The Philippines were never under stasis. they faced multiple attacks from the Aliens but lost proportionally fewer people than they did in WWII, which was brutal for them. As the war went on and aide and advanced tech came in the Philippines changed. An anti corruption campaign worked and the economy grew rapidly.

Most of the Philippines is very Jetsons and Barbarella, but Mindanao, the Sulu archipelago and Palawan are sadly Mad Max. Between the ancient bitterness of these Islamic Islands to the Roman Catholic majority of the Philippines and the bitterness of refugees that fled east from the horrors of the long drought and famine in Southwest Asia these islands are unstable and brutal. The local elites both fear development, because it would make the people independent of the elites, and demand instant development, in order to convince the masses that they care about them.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

The Homunculi Solution

I'm not done with Strange Dawn yet but here's a different idea. Basically, take the cloning technology from Transhuman Space and have it applied to a real world problem.

The problem is the demographic crisis. The social problems that prevent young couples from becoming parents. The birth dirth is threatening real world nations even now. In this scenario the technology to create large numbers of Eighteen year Olds within two years is being used to create large numbers of citizens.

These new people (the Homunculi of the title) have the zero point advantages of No Genetic Defects, No Mental Defects, and No Unattractive, from Transhuman Space. They also have base stats of eleven in all four attributes. They are decanted as high school graduates with a solid education. They are then trained in skills needed by the economy.

The rest of the population fear these new people. It's a combination of something new, technophobia, and fear of being replaced. It doesn't help that due to issues not clearly understood, the Homunculi all tend to be bisexual and not religious.

The PCs would be recently decanted Homunculi attending Nursing school and working in a hospital as orderlies. Innocents meeting the world, when the people in that world are under massive stress.

Look at old Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes for inspiration.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Probably has something to do with how they are "raised", and possibly the mix of genetics. If it isn't just straight up magic, I imagine they could force educate them into a different box.

So who's paying for all this and what if they don't want the jobs they're assigned?

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

Basically, the government. If they don't like the assigned job, they are free to seek other training and get another job. Having no families, other than those they create or are allowed to join, they generally wait until they have achieved some financial security before acting.

Although this is basically a "twenty minutes into the future" scenario, the Homunculi aren't occult in any way. Granted the technology involved in a "twenty minutes into the future" scenario are improbably advanced, but that's a feature of the genre.

I chose the traits of being bisexual and irreligious because those traits would cause paranoid reactions among those most given to neophobia and technophobia.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

I guess, but it just doesn't seem plausible that the reasons why irreligiousity and bisexuality are common among the Homunculi aren't understood. They're raised in the "All sexualities are valid / no particular religious direction" box. Put them in the "If you aren't straight you're sick / pray every day" box, and they'll come out of the box in a way that the reactionaries want.

You could do this as a whole metaphor for debates on education, adding in stuff like whether Homunculi should receive a general education or just be directly taught the skills they need.

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We Are Not Alone:

For years rumors of THEM have been circulating. Finally mysterious creatures have shown themselves openly. They are in a saucer like ship and shaped like grey distorted humans. They have a momentous message which the world has been waiting to hear. Is it a way to solve war, to protect the environment.

Actually it is: "Quality Spaceships at Low, Low Prices".

This can be played straight for a light session. Or there can be something beneath the surface.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

One of the most famous quotes from Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" is, "O brave new world, that has such people in it!" This line reflects the character John's initial wonder and later disillusionment with the society he encounters.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

I don't think so. 80% of China's water comes from Tibet. That means, 80% of its rice crop depends on it. I don't think China would allow a foreign country to control its food supply.

Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
 

First, China came out of Stasis in stages. Yes those stages wanted control of Tibet but survival came first. The fact that the Yellow River State in northern China is aggressively demanding control of the Central Chinese State, the Southern Coastal Cities, Taiwan, the Uygur ethnostate, and Tibet, redirects everybody to self defense. The Yellow River State is demanding a purge of all unChinese elements, a purge that would make the Cultural Revolution look like a Sunday school Picnic. This makes the rest of the states formed from the People's Republic of China nervous and defensive.

Vietnam: Long a target of whomever ruled China, Vietnam is determined to preserve its independence by helping the rest of China preserve its freedom from the Yellow River State.

Vietnam is prosperous and stable, it's a very Barbarella place. Partly because Westerners are largely unfamiliar with the culture and partly because the Vietnamese are determined to enjoy their lives.

Laos: Small, isolated, largely unknown to the outside world. Laos keeps quiet and defers to its neighbors. A very Barbarella place simply because it's so unfamiliar.

Cambodia: Unhappy being stuck between Vietnam and Thailand, but shrewd enough not to seek the aid of third parties that would make their lives worse. Cambodia has problems with human trafficking that give them a Mad Max element. The scars, physical and social of the 20th struggles that made Cambodia a little side war in the Cold War, are still here as well. For all that Cambodia is mainly Barbarella from being so unfamiliar.

Thailand: The long struggle of the Thai nobles to dominate Thailand and enforce their wishes upon a multi ethnic state continues. Thailand's Mad Max elements involve corruption, human trafficking, and low intensity struggles in several parts of the country. On the other claw, Thailand has industrialized and is as prosperous as normal European state. This gives Thailand a strong Barbarella quality.