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Old 05-07-2015, 05:43 AM   #1
scc
 
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Default [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

Yeah, really bad title, but it was the best I could come up with. Any way this is an idea that I've been kicking around for some time, this template represents female space colonists from a society that uses genetic engineering on it's colonists. The behind this particular group of modifications is to cause population to grow faster by skewing births to favor female. Because most of the items on this list are features they're listed alphabetically by TL to make reading easier, it also suggests multiple versions as TL progress as technology progress. Format is Trait, (Page number in Bio-Tech, followed by numbers in other books) [Point Cost] and TL

Attractive (45/B21)[4] TL9
Altered Sex Ratio (59) [0] TL9*
Extended Fertility (59) [0] TL9
Increased Fecundity (59) [0] TL9
Light Menses (58) [0] TL9
Sexual Orientation (Bi-Sexual)(59) [0] TL9


Easy Childbirth (58) [0] TL10
Modified Genetic Inheritance (Does not pass Traits on to male children)(59) [0] TL10

Right, the core of this is the Altered Sex Ratio trait, it's basically the whole idea. The Extended Fertility and Increased Fecundity are both the sorts of thing to be expected from such an upgrade, and adding Light Menses whilst making these changes makes a lot of sense. The Sexual Orientation is more the sort of thing that gets thrown in there by someone thinking it's a good idea, probably as some sort of compensation to the girls, or to make the whole thing more livable for everyone.

Easy Childbirth, if available is just a must have on this sort of thing, and given that it's likely to end up making the hips wider and coupled with a breast enhancement you just know someone's going to suggest Attractive makes sense and is likely to be part of a higher TL package. And as for MGI? Well it sort of makes sense, this stuff isn't going to be passed onto guys.

I did consider Extreme Sexual Dimorphism (170) in place of Attractive, but it didn't seem to fit. Likewise Lecherousness was considered, but it also doesn't seem to fit, it's styled for someone who's on the chase, not in a stable relationship.

An alternate version may have a male version which has the Altered Sex Ratio which would make the whole thing self-correcting,

So, thoughts?
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Old 05-07-2015, 05:58 AM   #2
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

By TL9, you generally don't want humans to gestate at all. You want to buy/build enough exowombs to cover the need. It's generally a better idea to spend $10k on an exowomb and keep using it* than to have humans restricted in terms of both mobility and mentality doing it the old way, particularly when humans are in short supply.

* == Adjust cost for maintenance etc.
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Old 05-07-2015, 06:21 AM   #3
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

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By TL9, you generally don't want humans to gestate at all. You want to buy/build enough exowombs to cover the need. It's generally a better idea to spend $10k on an exowomb and keep using it* than to have humans restricted in terms of both mobility and mentality doing it the old way, particularly when humans are in short supply.

* == Adjust cost for maintenance etc.
From a standpoint of pure economics, sure. That ignores all other factors of culture, though.
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Old 05-07-2015, 06:31 AM   #4
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

Such as the need to have several hot women wait on you.
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Old 05-07-2015, 07:15 AM   #5
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

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Such as the need to have several hot women wait on you.
Assuming that exowombs or similar technologies are availible this is probably the only reason to do this.

In practice I suspect that the rate at which a colony can sustainably expand will not be that high and that the last thing you realy want to do even if you are stuck doing things the old fashioned way will be to waste resources turning more than half of your potential workforce into baby factories.

Even doubling the population every generation or so only realy needs an yearly growth rate c3%. Given contemporary life expectencies that isn't exactlyy going to require a massive total fertility rate.

(Posting from tablet, so my spelling etc may be all over the place. Sorry.)

Last edited by Frost; 05-17-2015 at 05:45 AM.
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Old 05-07-2015, 08:41 AM   #6
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

If your goal is to increase birth rate, why would you want to make them bisexual? At best, that's a non-factor.

Also, unless you're messing around with humans on a truly fundamental level (to the extent that fertility with unmodified humans would be questionable), the sex ratio would be something determined through the father, not the mother.
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Old 05-08-2015, 11:04 AM   #7
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

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Such as the need to have several hot women wait on you.
If it's a frontier situation, nobody is going to be glamourous. But a few generations on, this could get complicated.
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Old 05-07-2015, 01:46 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

Quote:
Originally Posted by scc View Post
Yeah, really bad title, but it was the best I could come up with. Any way this is an idea that I've been kicking around for some time, this template represents female space colonists from a society that uses genetic engineering on it's colonists. The behind this particular group of modifications is to cause population to grow faster by skewing births to favor female. Because most of the items on this list are features they're listed alphabetically by TL to make reading easier, it also suggests multiple versions as TL progress as technology progress. Format is Trait, (Page number in Bio-Tech, followed by numbers in other books) [Point Cost] and TL

Attractive (45/B21)[4] TL9
Altered Sex Ratio (59) [0] TL9*
Extended Fertility (59) [0] TL9
Increased Fecundity (59) [0] TL9
Light Menses (58) [0] TL9
Sexual Orientation (Bi-Sexual)(59) [0] TL9


Easy Childbirth (58) [0] TL10
Modified Genetic Inheritance (Does not pass Traits on to male children)(59) [0] TL10

Right, the core of this is the Altered Sex Ratio trait, it's basically the whole idea. The Extended Fertility and Increased Fecundity are both the sorts of thing to be expected from such an upgrade, and adding Light Menses whilst making these changes makes a lot of sense. The Sexual Orientation is more the sort of thing that gets thrown in there by someone thinking it's a good idea, probably as some sort of compensation to the girls, or to make the whole thing more livable for everyone.

Easy Childbirth, if available is just a must have on this sort of thing, and given that it's likely to end up making the hips wider and coupled with a breast enhancement you just know someone's going to suggest Attractive makes sense and is likely to be part of a higher TL package. And as for MGI? Well it sort of makes sense, this stuff isn't going to be passed onto guys.

I did consider Extreme Sexual Dimorphism (170) in place of Attractive, but it didn't seem to fit. Likewise Lecherousness was considered, but it also doesn't seem to fit, it's styled for someone who's on the chase, not in a stable relationship.

An alternate version may have a male version which has the Altered Sex Ratio which would make the whole thing self-correcting,

So, thoughts?
Creeeepy. Also I don't see much point to Modified Genetic Inheritance except to keep the guys from kissing each other.
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Old 05-07-2015, 02:27 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

On exo-wombs, well the suggestion of them first assumes that their available in-universe, secondly it assumes that people use them and don't shun them for some reason (Thinking that the children are unnatural for some reason or whatever). Thirdly it assumes the colony can afford and support them. In a situation where your relying on in-situ generation of colonists via either exo-wombs gender in-balance chances are transport is limited, so spare parts and technicians to maintain exo-wombs may have to be generated internally, which means transporting a factory to make them and maintaining a population large enough to make the whole thing economically viable.

That comment about the transport should shed some light on the bi-sexual thing being used to attract male colonists
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Old 05-07-2015, 02:58 PM   #10
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Default Re: [Bio-Tech] Template for Female Space Colonists

Quote:
Originally Posted by scc View Post
On exo-wombs, well the suggestion of them first assumes that their available in-universe,
Are they, or are they not? You're the OP/GM . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by scc View Post
secondly it assumes that people use them and don't shun them for some reason (Thinking that the children are unnatural for some reason or whatever).
That ships seems to have sailed a long time ago given the other unnatural stuff you list.

Quote:
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Thirdly it assumes the colony can afford and support them. In a situation where your relying on in-situ generation of colonists via either exo-wombs gender in-balance chances are transport is limited, so spare parts and technicians to maintain exo-wombs may have to be generated internally, which means transporting a factory to make them and maintaining a population large enough to make the whole thing economically viable.
At which point I have to ask whether the whole colony is economically viable.
Exowombs are a relatively cheap item of TL9 infrastructure - compared to other TL9 infrastructural items. Even so, population growth bottleneck won't be in the amount of children born - assuming the colonists actually want to give birth to children. It will be upbringing and education up to TL9 standards.
If you can't afford to spare the required number of technicians for maintaining exowombs, then you can't afford the number of required teachers giving the kids knowledge, and can't afford to have mothers spend any amount of time on upbringing kids: pregnancy and childcare eat up huge amounts of workhours/reduce efficiency of the workforce, as opposed to needing, say, one technician per 100-500 exowombs.
Another related matter: If your colony is too small to afford specialisation, then you have all sorts of problems maintaining it.
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