:rofl: Though no doubt better in 1985 than 26 years later. (Never saw it. Probably should.) But the thought amuses me. :rofl:
Space monsters
- Thread starter Blue Ghost
- Start date
:rofl: Though no doubt better in 1985 than 26 years later. (Never saw it. Probably should.) But the thought amuses me. :rofl:
Dunno, do a GIS for her. Looks pretty damn good for 46. I'd still let her suck the life energy out of me.
Hell, if you married her it'd happen any way :rofl:
Sorry for the double post;
I get the sense that most Travellers don't dabble in "doomsday machine" like scenarios, and haven't really considered them too much given Traveller's oft emphasis on real physics (save for jump and grav stuff). I won't say this has been a chief complaint of mine, but sometimes it seems like Traveller tends to shy away too much from big (perhaps borderline absurd) monster or monster like scenarios or any scale because of this.
Be that as it may (or may not be), I'm wondering what other monsters from the deep of space can be conjured.
I get the sense that most Travellers don't dabble in "doomsday machine" like scenarios, and haven't really considered them too much given Traveller's oft emphasis on real physics (save for jump and grav stuff). I won't say this has been a chief complaint of mine, but sometimes it seems like Traveller tends to shy away too much from big (perhaps borderline absurd) monster or monster like scenarios or any scale because of this.
Be that as it may (or may not be), I'm wondering what other monsters from the deep of space can be conjured.
iron warrior
SOC-12
Sorry for the double post;
I get the sense that most Travellers don't dabble in "doomsday machine" like scenarios, and haven't really considered them too much given Traveller's oft emphasis on real physics (save for jump and grav stuff). I won't say this has been a chief complaint of mine, but sometimes it seems like Traveller tends to shy away too much from big (perhaps borderline absurd) monster or monster like scenarios or any scale because of this.
Be that as it may (or may not be), I'm wondering what other monsters from the deep of space can be conjured.
Actually artificial gravity is real, now.
http://sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci.space.policy/2006-03/msg00605.html
shadowcat20
SOC-12
Why a monster? How about alien ships with different types of jump drives that just pop in and attack? Something way out of whack with the normal Traveller type life forms. Or some strange gravity wave plowing through space like a space tsunami? The leading edge of a supernova blast wave with hyper speed rock bits? (Large burst of energy from a hydrogen plasma burst, Super Jump Drive?)
Or have the ship pop out of jump way out from a system when they get withing 100 Dia of the gravity field of a superdense sun core floating out in the cold. Small but VERY dense.
Back to critters, Some sort of Antimatter sifter in deep space that eats matter particles for energy? Not so much sucks tham down as filters the energy through it's skin as the particles impact upon it and flare. Most energy weapons would just feed it but Missiles may cause it problems. Sand Casters close in could also ruin it's day.
Or have the ship pop out of jump way out from a system when they get withing 100 Dia of the gravity field of a superdense sun core floating out in the cold. Small but VERY dense.
Back to critters, Some sort of Antimatter sifter in deep space that eats matter particles for energy? Not so much sucks tham down as filters the energy through it's skin as the particles impact upon it and flare. Most energy weapons would just feed it but Missiles may cause it problems. Sand Casters close in could also ruin it's day.
Frankymole
SOC-12
They'll have to evacuate on a B-Ark...
One of the "Challenge" magazine issues had a supernatural/haunting theme, and the Traveller article therein was about legendary ghost ships of jump space or somesuch. Basically a lost ship that never came out of jump - not sure if there were any freaky hyper-dimensional denizens involved. There was a movie a few years back with a similar theme (though their ship had eventually reentered normal spacetime before being rediscovered - in Challenge I think the players' ship could somehow interface with the 'ghost ship'; a bit like the Dr Who story "Nightmare of Eden" where two ship leaving jump got tangled together?).
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It's interesting to me that Traveller, for the most part, doesn't rely on monsters in the way that most RPGs of that era do: that is, creatures that provide the players something morally permissible to kill. There's no orc/goblin analog - you have animals and you have sophonts, and certainly there's plenty of opportunity to kill both, but in the one case it's basically hunting, and in the other, it's not significantly different from humans killing humans: a war makes things less ambiguous, to be sure, but even blowing up lots of K'Kree invading your meat-eating homeworld is more like a plain-jane human war than a bug hunt.
Though it does occur to me that even back in the 70s, Tunnels and Trolls made it pretty easy for players to run monster characters, orcs and the like. Once that happens, the black hat/ white hat "why of course we're slaughtering orcs, that's what they're for" sort of thing isn't as convincing.
Though it does occur to me that even back in the 70s, Tunnels and Trolls made it pretty easy for players to run monster characters, orcs and the like. Once that happens, the black hat/ white hat "why of course we're slaughtering orcs, that's what they're for" sort of thing isn't as convincing.
I think that's an excellent point, and it's probably part of Traveller's durability among a slightly more intellectual fan base of gamers and sci-fi afficionados. Traveller strikes me as having Trek like roots in that there seems to more of a psychological application in terms of international conflict in a sci-fi venue, than an exploration of the human soul as so many other media examine; i.e. why are we doing this as opposed to "shoot it!"
It certainly contributes towards avoiding the proverbial "let's kill it! ... whatever it is." mindset. Your example of orcs is an apt one. And not to get too far off the track, but, I sometimes had a problem with a lack of explanation regarding what it is that was gnawing at the orcish psychology. You just had to accept that they were the bad guys (things), and, as you say, were there to be killed. In a Traveller setting we, as players and referees, would probably be asked to examine the orc issues; i.e. is there a lack of farmland, something in their water that's making them irritable, or perhaps they're just naturally aggressive and need some form of social structure to keep them pacified.
Sci-fi, unlike fantasy, asks us to examine our actions when confronted with the strange or unknown. I guess when I brought in the whole "monster" theme I actually was thinking in terms of space clouds, amoebas, giant robot planet killers and so forth, but as many a poster here has reminded us, that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. The monster, whatever it is, is more or less a phenomenon that the players don't regularly encounter readily in a Travellerish setting.
Oh sure, we have exotic worlds, interstellar nation states that have social structures vastly different from our beloved Imperium, and even the bizarre or exotic Ancient device creeping in here and there. But Traveller stays within the parameters of humans dealing with facets of human personalities (at least the official adventures are geared), and not so much the "what the heck is that?!" deus machina.
Along that vein we rarely seen the adventure that asks the players to "mow down the opposition" (the odd Chamax plague not withstanding). The players, if they're going to go a-bug-hunting, are given the weight of choosing the course of how to attack the bug-hunt problem, and what the ramifications of that are. In this light, perhaps "monster" is more appropriately used loosely to describe a creature or phenomenon that the players must tackle as opposed to destroy.
I guess that goes without saying, and perhaps I'm just showing off my ability to extrapolate arguments here, but a monster, however large or small, may not be a "monster" as such. It may not be misunderstood, heck it may not even be intelligent, but perhaps a thing or sorts that poses a unique opportunity for the players to address a problem posed by an entity that is unaware or simply doesn't care how its actions effect other life forms. And perhaps that's the key to good "monster story" material for any story or any kind.
I like that. Thanks jawillroy.
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nats
SOC-12
Some monsters are just monsters. You don't have to look very far in our own history to see evidence of that.
No, because in history, the monsters are inescapably human - no matter how much we wish to disassociate ourselves from them. Every atrocity ever committed in war or peace in the history of our species has been perpetrated by humans on humans. We are relentlessly horrible to one another. (I'm not breaking forum rules 'long as I don't get specific, am I?)
This is perhaps the attractive thing about monsters in fiction: the wicked are easily identified and can be destroyed without reflection.
It certainly contributes towards avoiding the proverbial "let's kill it! ... whatever it is." mindset. Your example of orcs is an apt one. And not to get too far off the track, but, I sometimes had a problem with a lack of explanation regarding what it is that was gnawing at the orcish psychology. You just had to accept that they were the bad guys (things), and, as you say, were there to be killed. In a Traveller setting we, as players and referees, would probably be asked to examine the orc issues; i.e. is there a lack of farmland, something in their water that's making them irritable, or perhaps they're just naturally aggressive and need some form of social structure to keep them pacified.
Sci-fi, unlike fantasy, asks us to examine our actions when confronted with the strange or unknown. I guess when I brought in the whole "monster" theme I actually was thinking in terms of space clouds, amoebas, giant robot planet killers and so forth, but as many a poster here has reminded us, that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. The monster, whatever it is, is more or less a phenomenon that the players don't regularly encounter readily in a Travellerish setting.
I guess that goes without saying, and perhaps I'm just showing off my ability to extrapolate arguments here, but a monster, however large or small, may not be a "monster" as such. It may not be misunderstood, heck it may not even be intelligent, but perhaps a thing or sorts that poses a unique opportunity for the players to address a problem posed by an entity that is unaware or simply doesn't care how its actions effect other life forms. And perhaps that's the key to good "monster story" material for any story or any kind.
I like that. Thanks jawillroy.
Even if it's not really traveller, in a 2300 AD there were the kafers to play this role...And there's an explanation about why they are so aggresive...
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Yeah, we discussed Kafers in the last three years sometime. I never did 2300, but they sounded like an interesting homage to the Boer and Zulu wars in British South Africa.
And monsters can be allegorical, but they can also be an outlet for pent up angst.
Any other suggestions?
And monsters can be allegorical, but they can also be an outlet for pent up angst.
Any other suggestions?
leo knight
SOC-12
Mithras had a thread a while ago re-imagining the Spinward Marches:
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=19271
There was a section of Lanth subsector called the Abyss Rift. Spacers who crossed it reported strange things...like the sound of someone on the hull trying to get in...
http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Abyss_Rift
Here's a filk song about a ghost ship in space:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3fIu2OdWn8
Perhaps it's because I've been digging out all my old Star Trek stuff, but yeah, "monster" might be the wrong word, sometimes. I usually like to understand the motivations of the adversaries I throw at my players. They still usually get into "Kill the Evil!" mode, but at leastI tried.
Good links. Cool video and music. Reminds me of some of the people I grew up and went to camp with many many years.
Anybody else with some good serious suggestions here?
nats
SOC-12
It was a pretty rubbish film, but definitely worth watching for the lead female who must have the most impressive set of t$^s ever in history. Its the only reason I watch the film whenever it comes on that's for sure.
nats
SOC-12
Hey thats the one alright, great to see it again thanks. I was pretty scared by that episode when I was ten.
About the only other monsters that scared me at that time were the invisible monster in a Dr Who episode, the creepy DR Who Space Ark insect thing and finally the 'Monster from the Id' in Forbidden Planet - that one gave mne a few nightmares I remember.