Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

OK, that's two votes (one of them being mine) for our Star Fleet expy having survival knives, and one for no standard-issue melee weapons, but yes for survival tools/multitools. Anyone else want to weigh in?

EDIT: ericthered, I've been reading your blog, and am working on a question for this thread to vote on, related to the 'Eggshells with Hammers' issue for GURPS Spaceships. BTW, when you checked the scaling of armour, did you also check the scaling of force fields?

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

Thank for the interest.

If you accept armor DR scaling linearly with its thickness*, The armor in spaceships scales wonderfully, and force screens scale just like armor systems. The DR value is consistently twice the value of the best armor at that TL, and four times if you pay for the heavy screens (which don't actually weigh more).

*something that is very true in gurps for larger values of armor, but that I'm less sure about for human scale armor. It plays well with the damage used for gurps weapons by caliber and by energy output, though the scaling of caliber sizes on spaceships in the book is quite odd.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

Huh. If our Star Fleet expy normally springs for heavy screens, that probably solves the Eggshells with Hammers issue in a way that's consistent with both the show's setting, and how I'm imagining this setting.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

I think that it would be situational: technicians on the ship probably carry the equivalent of a multitool and away teams often carry a basic survival kit (something on the order of a couple of pounds plus any needed equipment for the environment they are going to. I think that the various uniform options should build on a basic emergency vacsuit, adding jackets, boots, packs and such as needed by mission and/or job.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

Force screens is the TL11^ technology that makes those pesky TL7 missiles behave. Using larger ships also helps weaken missiles, so star trek is in a pretty good place on the egg-shells with hammers front. You still need to respect x-ray lasers though: At SM+10 a major x-ray laser battery does an average of 100(5) damage against the 300 DR heavy force screen for an average of 40 damage against a 150 HP ship. The equivalent missiles do an average of 240 damage against the 300 DR heavy screen. Also, its easier to add more forcescreens and hard to increase damage.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

OK, the question that I was going to ask no-longer makes as much sense as I thought, and may not be needed, so here's a different one:


Earliest 'Preserver' Activity question

This is another one that probably should have been asked sooner. When did the Preservers or their equivalent begin taking life-forms from Earth and settling them on other worlds? The farther back it is, the more likely that there were multiple groups doing this, but that's another question. I'll also probably be asking how often they did, and when they stopped, but again, those are questions for later.

Please include the number when you vote.

1. Prior to 66 million years ago.

2. Circa the K-T Event (66 million year ago, approximately).

3. Circa the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event (about 34 million years ago).

4. Circa the Middle Miocene disruption (about 14 million years ago).

5. Circa the Lower Paleolithic (around 3 million yeas ago).

6. Circa the Toba Event (closer to 70,000 years ago, rather than the actual eruption).

7. Circa the Quaternary extinction event (around 10,000 years ago).

8. Circa the Protohistorical era (in the rough vicinity of 5,000 years ago).

9. More recently than protohistory (please specify).


Thoughts?

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

2, if you're going to use it to have a less silly reason for the Voth or have Kirk ride a Brontosaurus.

No earlier than 6 if you want to place Humans civilizations around, like in the TOS episode.

Somewhere between if you're using them as an excuse for why everybody is Humanoid.

Not one for all three decisions unless you have a good excuse for why there all gone.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

I'm I've two minds. One half of me says to aim for the 400,000 year mark (in the middle of the big gap between 5 and 6), so as to give humans adequate time to evolve and develop on their new home-worlds. The other half of me says to target 7, so that we have an excuse for everyone developing space travel at the same time.

And if we want to use an earlier wave of seeding, that should be a different group.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

I'm in the "between 5 and 7" era myself, but probably closer to 6.

For a wider ranging set of life, you may want to have each of those be true! The Preservers just kept coming back to Earth to see how things have changed, or perhaps different waves of Preservers stopping by each time.


And be sure to add a more historical incident for some of their activity as well. You never know when you may want to run "A Piece of the Action" with mobsters from the actual 1920s.

Re: [Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding
 

I personally lean towards 7 myself. 10K years gives the displaced humans plenty of time to develop their own unique cultures. That may also be long enough for some minor adaptation to occur.