Space monsters

[Blue Ghost]

I know there's going to be some groaning for a game like Traveller that's supposed to be immersed in hard science, and perhaps even a suggestion that I move this thread to the bestiary or contact section, but, since I've never seen anyone suggest one, I'm going ask that the topic of "here be dragons" be broached.

Other than the menagerie of Trek creatures, I recall one giant asteroid dwelling worm/tube-monster thing from Empire Strikes Back, but good plethora of space critters from Japan's sci-fi world (a good portion being Kaiju fare). Then there's Lem's "Solaris" beastie, and perhaps a dozen or so from 1950s sci-fi b-schlock classics.

So. Let's open this up. Space critters; a no-go or something worth pondering? Is it a case of YTUMMV or is there some real hard scientific basis for predator-prey relations in the vacuum of space?

Anyone?

 

[shadowcat20]

Everything needs energy of some sort so that is a good start. Everything exists to reproduce and that takes energy.


1. Maybe something in Orbit 0 - 2 that absorbs the suns energy? It would have to tack against the solar wind to keep from getting too far out,move around all the time like a shark. Possibly break up rocks for more building blocks and could mistake the ship as one.

2. Same as 1 but lives in a rock field. Absorbs elements by breaking down rocks for their elements in the field. Could be large enough to attack the ship or small enough to cause damage to the hull of ships that go through their chunk of space.

3. At least 2 printed items have critters in gas giants. AHL has the blobs and T20 has one in the adventure that comes with their ref screen.

4. Some sort of spore that is in stasis until the heat of reentry germinates it. Then it spreads where ever it lands. Maybe in a later life cycle it raises close to the limits of the atmosphere and launches spores some way. May be tough figuring out how it reaches escape speed though.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I always got a kick out of the name of the Star Fleet Battles scenario 'The Creature that ate Sheboygan VII'.

I don't see why a space creature couldn't be used in Traveller as long as it's not over used. A chlorophyll or fungus (or both) based creature that has a transparent but dense and sealable outer shell could live for centuries in outer space if it had a nutrient pocket, a carbon dioxide production method (liberating CO2 from sodium bicarbonate is probably a good one - think Alka-Seltzer) and a water reservoir. The biggest problem is a means of propulsion. An obvious one (and don't laugh too hard) is ignited methane from food processing breakdown. Another is to use the solar wind. It would take years to go between worlds in a star system, but to a creature that lives for centuries (possibly millennia) it wouldn't have a problem with it. And then you have to have a reason for it to even need to travel. Food, breeding, or escape from a hostile environment (seasonal migration) are the only real reasons I can think of for a creature to go from one place to another. And how could it know what it would find when it got there without some kind of long range sensing organ - possibly the same way that our telescopes are sensing the visible spectrum of other worlds to know what is in a new world's atmosphere.

 

[Frankymole]

3. At least 2 printed items have critters in gas giants. AHL has the blobs and T20 has one in the adventure that comes with their ref screen.

There are also the Jgd-il-J'agd or whatever they're called in one of the original (print) JTAS articles. Kind of Beholder things but with mouths instead of eyes and tendrils, that float around in a GG. White Dwarf magazine also had a mahoosive bladder/tentacle thing that inflitrated a GG's floating refinery's ducts in a Traveller scenario.

One possibility with the spores ejection thing is something that germinates on a highly volcanic, low gravity world. The warmth of a ship could activate the "seeds of death".

 

[Blue Ghost]

Some interesting and practical ideas here.

Spinward, I think that was Steve Cole's homage to a pocket game entitle "The Creature that ate Sheboygan". I actually have the remnants of it. There's six or eight different monsters to choose from (mostly classic kaiju fare) that rampage around downtown Sheboygan. You have police, military, "first responders", population and one or two other units to fight which ever flavor of monster is currently running amuck I used to play it while listening to my favorite radio station, KSFX in San Francisco. Good times.

Back to Space Monsters. Okay, some good scientifically based stuff going on here. Would anyone consider genetically engineering a species that's suitable for the harsh vacuum environment of space? What would such a creature do?

 

[nats]

The best space monster I remember was the one in Space 1999 which was trapped on a spacestation or ship or something. It sucked you in and spat you out as just a pile of bones. That was the only Space 1999 episode I remember.

Always felt that some of the Traveller scenarios based on ruined bases or ships could have done with something like this to really spice up the game. They all seem to be so, well, boring in comparison. I like my science fiction exciting like Star Wars, many of the official scenarios are more like 2001 A Space Odyssey for all the excitment they have in them.

As for science fact and Traveller I never felt the two went together all that convincingly, I mean Traveller has a lot in it that isnt based on anything factual, especially jumpspace. I never had a problem introducing laser pistols, grav tanks and space monsters despite the fact that we probably will never see the like of any of them in real life. In fact the way we are going at the moment we wont even find any evidence of life outside our own planet. 2000AD got it so wrong and so did Traveller!! There are many people on this forum who seem to feel that Traveller epitomises science fact but I dont agree.

 

[leo knight]

The first thing that comes to mind is Fred Hoyle's novel, "The Black Cloud". The space beastie is an intelligent gas cloud.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Cloud

I like the idea of a dormant seed or spore that kindles to life at the right conditions. I remember a Superman comic when I was a kid, with a giant spaceborne seed on course for Earth. These things would seek out earthlike planets, dig in, and multiply like crazy, sucking the entire planet dry of resources. Then, in a final spasm, they would fire more seeds out into space. The image of a Metropolis-like cityscape choked with ginormous vines and runners particularly got to me. Larry Niven had his much less malevolent Stage Trees, which were living solid rocket boosters, carrying a seed at the top.

Niven also had his Outsiders, a very intelligent race that lives in vast, ribbony ships out in the dark.

Nats mentioned Space: 1999. They had a giant space cloud monster, as well. I liked the early scenes, where an Eagle sent to scout the thing gets enveloped. Then a meteor crashes near Moonbase Alpha. Dr. Bergman reads off his analysis of the metorite: it's the crushed remains of the Eagle. The cloud digested it and spit it out!

http://www.space1999.net/catacombs/main/epguide/t20sb.html

Here's a link to a video of the episode Nats mentioned:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEhkCSLN58A

Enjoy!

 

[RainOfSteel]

Canon Traveller has psychic powers in it. The Zhodani are based on it. While psi is a staple feature of a lot of Science Fiction, it is about as squishy soft as it is possible to get. Basically, it's fantasy. After that, it's easy to add mysterious alien beasts.

If you want to add a "here be monsters" feel to your Traveller game, just look at Fading Suns and toss a Void Kraken at a player ship in deep or jump space.

Perhaps there are alien intelligences living between the stars that have decided that humaniti's time has come to an end, just like they did for the Ancients. They will send forth demonic-like creatures to scourge the stars; perhaps bit by bit, perhaps in a great wave. Who knows how such creatures would conduct a war?

Perhaps the inhabitants of jump space are tired of suffering damage from humaniti's trespasses.

These would be some pretty unconventional campaigns for Traveller from my perspective.

If you added a premise that only psychic powers could actually permanently kill the more powerful opponents, the Imperium might suddenly find itself revising its hatred of psychic powers.

 

[iron warrior]

Some interesting and practical ideas here.

Spinward, I think that was Steve Cole's homage to a pocket game entitle "The Creature that ate Sheboygan". I actually have the remnants of it. There's six or eight different monsters to choose from (mostly classic kaiju fare) that rampage around downtown Sheboygan. You have police, military, "first responders", population and one or two other units to fight which ever flavor of monster is currently running amuck I used to play it while listening to my favorite radio station, KSFX in San Francisco. Good times.

Back to Space Monsters. Okay, some good scientifically based stuff going on here. Would anyone consider genetically engineering a species that's suitable for the harsh vacuum environment of space? What would such a creature do?

Mostly correct. Greg Costikyan (sp) did a boxed game called "the creature that ate sheboygan: that was much as you describe. (It had a bad balance issue as when the creature player took the fire breathing ability, it almost invariably won by burning down the city.)

The SFB scenario was a tribute to that.

As to the idea of a "space monster" I suggest you look up a novel by fred hoyle called "The black cloud", a fairly hard SF novel about a spaceborne lifeform, tho it was hardly a "monster".

 

[Blue Ghost]

Hey Iron

The fire thing did get out of control. The game was originally a ziplock deal, but later expanded. It was one of the few Space Capsule game to make it to the boxed format. Lots and lots of fun.

Lots of possibilities for space creatures, benign and malevolent alike. The spore idea sounds very Traveller-ish. Something that has a link to some kind of science and has a plausible sounding premise, but not really a hard theory or phenomenon that's been witnessed or otherwise postulated beyond gaming realms (so far as I know at least).

The cloud thing has been bandied about. It's a good idea. There could be more than one type, each with perhaps a separate set of characters.

How about a molten creature? A creature whose makeup is primarily superheated minerals that are at such a state of stability that the creature can only live in space. Maybe it feeds off of asteroids or soaks up solar wind or something.

 

[BytePro]

If you want extreme Epic -> 'creatures' that inhabit stars, changing the evolutionary cycle for tastier meals or as part of their communications (mating rituals) or billion year wars.

Net effect being to cause drastic changes to stars - and when moving between stellar 'homesteads' wreaking havoc on unsuspecting ships (and any other tech in their path).

And space is not an absolute nothingness - there is plenty between the stars. Creatures that feast on cosmic dust (and big bang remnant energy), surf solar winds and swim in gravity wells come to mind. Nebula are another great morsel for interstellar beings...

Of course, I see these as more meta-game - the PC's may feel the effects but be powerless to prevent or change them. However, it is a great opportunity to 'change their stars' by placing them in larger events.

 

[shadowcat20]

Lots of planets got busted in the grandpa war. Maybe some Living Bio weapon was released and survived in the rock field full of organic material. Or nasty critters that can teleport from a planet to a ship in orbit. They home in on radio waves or other electronic noise.

I suppose something can exist in a trace atmosphere. So getting enough lift to escape the gravity well might not be a problem.

Something that lives off of metals and produces Oxy as a byproduct is also a possible. As the ship is sitting on the planet the crew notices everything unprotected is rusting quickly. This could mean items of other metals rather than just Iron based. If in a rock field those small planitoids with a atmosphere begging exploration could be less than a good thing.

I could see spores, whispys, or crystals in space due to lack of gravity. I can not see Space Dragons like SFB or large dense carbon based life forms.

Then there are robotic critters from Nano size on up that use radiation for power. Those could be around for a long time and be found anywhere. The crew could end up with a ship trying to rewire itself or change it's configuration. Sort of a very slow transformer in space. It may not know a living crew is on board till it is informed of this issue. (Seem to remember a book I read about a smart computer on a space station and the war it had with it's crew not knowing they were living critters.)

 

[Dragoner]

There were also the spider/crab things from the lost in space remake.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Wow, more excellent suggestions.

Il like the solar beasties thing, and those nano-creatures turning a starship into a living entity is pretty cool too.

 

[snapshotbygdw]

Does it have to be organic I'm thinking of a certain out of control tech: robot/nanobot self replicating all consuming swarm!
Berserker series of books by Old Fred Saberhagen was what I was imagining: locusts in space moving through a subsector threatening the high popn planets.

 

[BlackBat242]

There are also the Jgd-il-J'agd or whatever they're called in one of the original (print) JTAS articles.

Jgd-ll-jagd: Minor Race: Jagd (Lishun 2307): Journal of the Travellers Aid Society No. 17

The Jgd-ll-jagd are a gas-giant dwelling intelligent race with high technology and a very alien mindset. They are extremely long lived, and using slower than light ships have ventured many parsecs from Jagd (Lishun 2307), their home system.

 

[BeRKA]

Space Amoeba

A space amoeba is spotted in deep space, and it is approaching the planet fast... Will the space waffe be able to stop it before it eats up the planet?

SpaceShip Counters Rendering Machine

 

[Blue Ghost]

Interestingly enough I watched the Trek Space Amoeba episode last week. It doesn't strike me as being very Traveller like in flavor, but I guess that depends all on how you run your Traveller universe. It could be justified that this was another Grandfatherly experiment gone haywire. Perhaps he tried to tuck it away, or it was a product of his children who likewise let things run amuck and tried to either hide it, or simply forgot about the thing after the war.

Anyone else?

 

[McPerth]

At least 2 printed items have critters in gas giants. AHL has the blobs and T20 has one in the adventure that comes with their ref screen.

There is also an MT adventure (I think to remember on a MT journal, I cannot find it by now) where there were creatures on a GG. They were not predators, but were a danger to skimmers.

A space amoeba is spotted in deep space, and it is approaching the planet fast... Will the space waffe be able to stop it before it eats up the planet?

This message was recived sometimes in Masters of Orion II...

there was also a space dragon that menaced your planets on a similar way...

 

[leo knight]

Interestingly enough I watched the Trek Space Amoeba episode last week. It doesn't strike me as being very Traveller like in flavor, but I guess that depends all on how you run your Traveller universe. It could be justified that this was another Grandfatherly experiment gone haywire. Perhaps he tried to tuck it away, or it was a product of his children who likewise let things run amuck and tried to either hide it, or simply forgot about the thing after the war.

Anyone else?

I was thinking about this too. Most of the classic space monster fiction is gonzo, planet destroying level, far beyond typical Traveller play. Perhaps scale them down. Instead of eating planets, they eat ships, more age of sail, "Here be monsters" style. The asteroid worm from "Empire Strikes Back" has been mentioned, but remember the mynocks, the batlike things "chewin' on the power cables"? Any of the ideas above could be scaled down.

Another movie I remembered was "Lifeforce". It's more the 'dormant shipload of alien beasties awake', a la "Alien", than a space monster, but anything to keep player characters occupied. :devil:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeforce_(film)

Our local movie critic at the time, Lou Cedrone, was quite taken with the lead vampirella, Mathilda May, who spends the entire film stark naked (an artistic decision I heartily endorsed). He wrote, "If you're going to have the life energy sucked out of your body by a space vampire, this is the one you want to do it."

Hear, hear!