|
07-25-2024, 03:07 PM | #1 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
I like the idea of setting adventures on an interstellar cruise ship. But I'm having trouble imagining where it would stop.
I get every X year events like Mardi Gras or other festivals. But I want something that only a starship cruise could offer. Thanks in advance.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
07-25-2024, 04:01 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
How fast is your cruise ship, and what's interstellar civilization like?
Some of the stops would be astronomical oddities -- say Beta Lyrae, UY Scuti, or (sticking with current knowledge, which would in "reality" no doubt be superseded) TRAPPIST-1, Niven's fictional Jinx. Some spectacular sights in our sky, like a lot of nebulae, wouldn't be more impressive up close, so no reason to visit those. Some stops would be non-astronomical entertainment -- Canto Bight in Star Wars, Space Vegas, the Planet of Perfect Beach. There's a RL market for historic or cultural enrichment, so visits to notable planets in the setting's future history (possibly including exotic Earth, birthplace of mankind!), or the preserve planet of that one alien race humans encountered while overrunning the rest of the Milky Way. Shopping is popular, for whatever reason, so a tour might include places that produce some famous product or substance. "Why yes, that's actual Hagal Quartz. I picked it up on my last tour through the Herbert Sector." If the trade laws are anything like RL Earth duties, then there will be a lot of products sold in duty-free shops for personal consumption just to skip the import duties through the regular retail channels, which could be nearly anything, but usually expensive/luxury items to be worthwhile -- liquor, drugs, jewelry, foods, etc. Last edited by Anaraxes; 07-25-2024 at 04:05 PM. |
07-25-2024, 04:16 PM | #3 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
I'm agoraphobic, so have never traveled very far from where I was born. If it wasn't in an episode of The Love Boat or about Risa from Star Trek, I probably won't know about it. lol
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
07-25-2024, 04:47 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
Someplace with an impressive view. Get up close with the Orion or Coalsack Nebula, a giant star like Arcturus, or a planet with an impressive ring system like Saturn.
__________________
"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991 "But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!" The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation. Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting |
07-25-2024, 05:08 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Kentucky, USA
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
A Matryoshka Brain, each ticket includes one complimentary question that will be answered, if possible, with priority by the gigantic mile high face used for in-person communication.
A flat Earth, which would be a serious engineering challenge in all but the most over the top settings. Completely physically possible, but definitely something done for spectacle rather than practicality. A Smoke Ring. Imagine a giant, hollow tube completely encircling a star like a ring world. The inside is filled with atmosphere, giving you a gigantic zero-g environment to play in.
__________________
GURPS Fanzine The Path of Cunning is worth a read. |
07-25-2024, 05:35 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
An amusing note would be to have a cruise to the original home of humanitya planet orbiting some star other than Sol, either one that's fairly close (but far enough so we can't rule out its having a life-bearing planet!) or one in some entirely other sector of the galaxy with a made up name.
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
07-25-2024, 05:39 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Snoopy's basement
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
Risa for some of that sweet jamaharon.
|
07-25-2024, 06:26 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
Quote:
The [superlative] Whatzis - the biggest, oldest, most famous, most visited, least visited... whatever - those are always popular, but not really that [different]. Alien biospheres, which have stuff you haven't seen before, at least in the details, seem like your best bet. And of course there could be unique experiences to be had in the actual flight "Passengers may wish to set your viewports to open - we've entered the Enlightenment Cloud, the sole known region of hyperspace humans can look directly on and [not] go irreversibly mad. Be sure to use the viewport timer, many people do have paralyzing mental experiences, and we will be exiting the cloud in just over 70 minutes...."
__________________
-- MA Lloyd Last edited by malloyd; 07-25-2024 at 06:31 PM. |
|
07-25-2024, 07:11 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
I think a core problem for cruise spaceships is that looking at a spectacular sight through a window (or worse, a viewscreen) on a ship is not that different from just seeing it on a screen, what really makes visiting something in person different is the sense of actually being there. This means that you really want to target sights where it's possible to get off of the ship (cruise ships, because they have an open deck where you are exposed to things like weather, give more of a sense of presence).
|
07-25-2024, 07:48 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Apr 2012
|
Re: Possible Destination for an interstellar cruise ship?
On planet oddities like a 17 year cicada cycle except these cicadas weigh 5 pounds and feed on blood like giant horse flies. How many can you shoot without getting blood sucked?
The Pon Farr like tournaments on Zeta 5. For an extra fee, you can participate. Win and you get your choice of a mate. Fail and your heirs inherit early. See the exciting post zombie apocalypse world of Circie Alpha 2 complete with still animated hordes of zombies. For extra fun, tickets are available that allow you to attempt to gather a few artifacts. Avoid the zombies and get precious loot. Fail and you become an attraction for future visitors. Run with the triceratops on Jurassic Planet. On the planet of Lovecraft, yell out Cthulhu 3 times and then try to escape. No refunds! |
Tags |
black holes, campaign design, cruise, space |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|