The sci-fi tropes thread - cool ideas, concepts and things

[Nobby-W]

From sci-fi literature, media, games, or your own ideas. What are your favourite things from sci-fi, or even just things you like?

These could be aliens, ideas for NPCs or factions, technology, concepts for spaceships, locations, critters, ways of thinking about psionic or force powers type powers (science-fantasy is fine). What are some cool ideas you've put in your game or would like to do so at some point?

I'll start with...

Freeside Station

Located in orbit around Babylon, a vacuum world in a system that was once a way point for a region under a terraforming project.

Freeside station orbits Babylon in the Ezra's Belt system. Originally built in 2561, it is a modular centrifugal gravity station of a type commonly built in that era. Stations of this type were built from modules that could be brought in with a freighter, and assembled with minimal in-situ infrastructure.

The station was originally built and operated by the Leyland-Futanari corporation, but it was replaced by the Prime A and Prime B stations, which were built and commissioned 40 years ago. The station was paid off when the Leyland-Futanari corpration collapsed, and then forcibly taken over by a local consortium using common salvage laws. The court case was won due to precedents in interstellar law that have allowed a lot of older installations to be taken over in a similar manner.

Now, the station is owned by the Freeside consortium, a collective society whose membership largely consists of Ezra's Belt inhabitants and smegulons. It has remained commercially successful as it has no capital to pay off, there is still a large after-market industry in services to maintain and refurbish these older stations. Because of its lower costs than Prime A and B it is widely used by free traders and independent prospectors, and is a transit hub for many shuttle and haulage services.

Freeside Station is the archetypal wretched hive of scum and villainy. Falling outside of any obviously applicable jurisdiction, it is governed solely by interstellar law and local station regulations, which have come to constitute a mini legal system. The strong smegulon representation on the consortium board mean that the station is a semi-official refuge for homeless smegulons, and has a large secondary population of both stated and non-stated transients.

Smegulons

Smegulons is a slightly derogatory term for stateless space-born people, a bit like the Belters from The Expanse series. Found all over known space, they are often stuck in space because they cannot build their strength enough up to live in a full gravity well. There is no formal census but estimates put the Smeg population into tens or hundreds of millions.

They have settled many regions, including colonies on low gravity planets. Interstellar law does not grant terrestrial nations automatic sovereignty off their own territories, and more than half of all inhabited worlds do not have a united planetary government. Smegs live in the cracks and form a major shadow economy. In some regions, Smeg owned concerns are significant players in the interstellar economy.

Smegs may be allies or opponents of PCs. They can be a resource able to fix or upgrade starships, perhaps on a no-questions-asked basis. Maybe they can obtain items for a price. Maybe they have various missions of a not-so-legal nature that they need somebody not obviously affiliated with them to carry out.

 

[Gabriel]

The station was originally built and operated by the Leyland-Futanari corporation,

I have this Star Trek adventure idea I tinker around with.

The ship visits a world with the typical human populace. They're greeted by a representative, and everything seems to go fine. But then the representative says something, probably in answer to a question. There's nothing about it which seems the slightest bit odd to the Starfleet officers, but the representative becomes nervous and other delegates look uneasy as well. The first meeting otherwise goes smoothly.

The next day the crew has a new representative to interact with. The new representative says the old one has been reassigned. I need a few more hooks here, but I think that's suspicious enough that PCs would get super nosey.

The planet is run by pure corporate concerns with strict ownership laws extending from physical property to ownership of concepts. This includes ownership of language. Everyone must be licensed and authorized to concepts. If you use a concept without license, then there are stiff penalties.

As the Starfleet officers track this mystery down, they learn how people who have violated license agreements are punished. They have all licenses retracted. In other words, violators are lobotomized.

At this point, with this secret revealed, the CEO of the planet realizes there really can't be any negotiation so the planet's asset licensing culture can be given the proper spin. Now Starfleet is a threat to the planet's Intellectual Property rights. There's also the matter of other regions. If people in other parts of the galaxy are allowed to use concepts without proper licensing, then that destroys the planet's entire economy and way of life.

I could see this thing ending with a TOS style quickfix at the end as restricted concepts are suddenly freed by a rebelling populace inspired by Starfleet officers. Or I could see it as a TNG style ending where the whole situation is quite obviously FUBAR and all Starfleet can do is make a speech to try to inspire change and GTF outta dodge.

 

[Nobby-W]

The station was originally built and operated by the Leyland-Futanari corporation,

Yes, it takes balls to build new worlds.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Here are a few of mine:

• I really like the idea of a player taking the roll of the AI that controls the ship (same as I like the idea of someone playing the magical talking sword in a fantasy game). I remember reading in a thread that someone in the Pub plays one. Awesome idea.
• Seems pretty standard, but I've never played in or ran a game where the players are the bridge crew of a massive/powerful ship (Star Trek/Rogue Trader). Star Trek is definitely on my short to-do list.
• Having the campaign completely underwater is also something I'm interested in. This wouldn't have to be a game based on it (like Blue Planet or Polaris). We used Sub Attica in cyberpunk when the players were sent to prison, but it was part of a bigger campaign.
• I would like to do a "trapped back in time" game where the players are time traveling researchers headed back to the frozen part of the Pleistocene, but end up way off in the Cretaceous period. "Hey, that looks really swampy out there, guys."

 

[robertsconley]

First idea that I am calling for now the Majestic Stars.

Mankind has reached the stars only to find… Earth. Birds flying through distant skies, fish swimming unknown seas and dinosaurs ruling unexplored continents. On a hundred worlds there are the children of the Earth… An Earth of sixty-five million years ago.

Now the new children have out grown their cradle and wonder who and what scattered the seeds of the Earth throughout the stars. They are forging a new life among the stars but old fears and conflicts still threaten them. The year is 2425 and this is their universe.

What year it is?
The year is 2425.

Where the campaign taking place?
In and around the Selene star system and the Artemis space station.

What is the status of humanity?
Humanity has spread out in a 200 light year sphere centered on Earth and the core worlds of Sol Sector. Human Society is still divided into multiple nation states and colonies. Many worlds have multiple governments. There has been limited exploration out to 500 light years. Hundreds of inhabitable worlds are known. The vast majority of which are terraformed worlds that were created by a dinosaurian civilization dating from 65 million years ago.

Dinosaurs?
It appears that the ancient dinosaurian civilization terraformed any remotely inhabitable world within their range of exploration. The limits of which hasn’t been reached yet. On some the terraforming faded causing the earth based ecology to die off and the world to revert back to its original state. This is mostly true of the smaller worlds that have been terraformed. On the larger worlds, the earth based ecology continued to evolve.

On some the descendants of dinosaurs still roam. On others they died out, mammals or other animal orders have taken their place. On at least two worlds, sentient life developed and created their own civilization.

Who are these two alien races?
The first are the Kang’rits. They look like a cross between a kangaroo and a hairless bear. They were first contacted a century ago in 2331 and their technology was a century behind humanity. Since then they have slowly integrated into the larger human community and now have a handful of colonies of their own.

The second are the Saurians. They are not the ancient dinosaurians but a more recently evolved sentient race of dinosaurs. First contact was nearly 50 years ago in 2376 and it was with a group of Saurians calling themselves the Commonwealth. It appears that the dominant Saurian culture is a single empire ruled by a seemly immortal emperor. The Commonwealth are composed of dissidents and refugees who have fled beyond the borders of imperial space. The Saurians appears to be a century ahead of humanity in technology and control a sphere of space over 400 years in diameter.

What is the status of Earth?
Currently the Earth in the beginning of an ice age due to the cataclysmic explosion of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia during the middle of the 22nd century. This tipped the global climate into an ice age. It is projected that the ice age will reach its maximum stable extent by the year 3,000 with a 100 meter drop in sea level. Currently the world has experienced a 10 meter drop.

The Northern Hemisphere ability to support a high population has been greatly reduced. This caused a massive diaspora of humanity outward that is ongoing today. Currently the Earth has a population of 2 billion people with 800 million living in India.

Politically the Earth is controlled by a single world government called the Earth Union. It is a federation of nation-states dominated by India.

Who are the other major powers?
The Earth Union is only one of the six major powers of human space. The others are the United States centered on Alpha Centauri. The United Kingdom, the French Union, and the German Bund (Federation) centered on Epsilon Eridani. Along with the Chinese Peoples Republic centered on Epsilon Indi.

There are numerous smaller independent powers as result of the human diaspora. It is not uncommon for worlds and star systems to be divided into multiple independent nations and colonies.

What used for interstellar travel?
It is a warp drive that fold space into a bubble containing the ship. It is connected to normal space-time via a microscopic wormhole. The topology of microscopic wormhole causes space to be warped around it to achieve faster than light speed. The bubble containing the ship is dragged along with the hole. It doesn’t allow for faster than light space combat which still takes place in normal space.

The warp takes a lot of energy and generate a lot of heat. Starships can only travel about 10 light years before they have to drop out, cool off, and recharge. Currently they can travel 1 light year per day. Message drones can travel 10 light years per day.

What interstellar space like?
Humanity has lightly settled a sphere that is a 100 light years in radius. Due to the limitations of the warp drive, and distribution of stars, the pattern of settlement follows a series of branching routes. Currently there are branches for each of the major powers and also a United Colonies branch which consists of colonies and settlements founded by smaller nations and groups.

What are the United Colonies?
The United Colonies are a loose association of major and minor powers. It is similar to the 20th/21st century United Nations but more focused on managing certain interstellar organizations than being a diplomatic forum.

The two most important organizations it manages are the Astroguard and the Interstellar Astronomical Union (IAU). The Astroguard are a multi-national military dedicated to exploration, search & rescue, and anti-piracy patrols. They function as an interstellar Coast Guard.

Over the centuries a series of treaties and conventions has established that groups and nations can only own a claim that they can exploit. That an entire world can’t be claimed unless it is fully exploited. The IAU registers, publishes, and adjudicates these claims. It also publishes the survey information that the Astroguard gathers. Because of this it has also evolved into an ombudsman investigating and publicizing human rights violations.

Another UC organization is the Interstellar Data Commission. It is primarily a standards organization publishing various circulars specifying different types of protocols and data formats so devices and electronics can interoperate. It also administers and maintains the Omninet, an interstellar Internet organized around a regular series of data drops delivered by message drones.

What is living in the 25th century like?
The development of fabricator technology means that most consumer goods are essentially free. The drop in cost also means that most governments offer a basic income to all residents of their territory. This allows for a comfortable but not luxurious lifestyle.

However money still exists due to the desire to acquire luxuries. Anything involving any type of service or labor still cost money. Entertainment, especially live, still cost money. Locations with limited spaces, like space stations, even comfortable housing will cost money. Even on the core worlds if you want something beyond a bedroom, living room, and a bath, it will cost money.

Most people are associated with several cooperatives, a group of friends or associates sharing time and resources towards a common goal.

Traditional corporations still exist especially for large scale projects involving hundreds and thousands of individuals working together. It is rare for a corporation to be owned by a single individual. Instead 25th century corporations are structured as a web of cooperatives with a single smaller co-op as owner of the business.

Money is still used by cooperatives and corporations to buy and sell goods and services from each other.

What is the Artemis Station?
It is a commercial station built by the Selene Republic with aid from all of the major powers to handle trade and culture exchange with the Saurian Commonwealth. It is in the L5 point between the planet Selene and its Sun. There is small but rich asteroid field at the L5 point that is known as the Outback. It is actively mined by Belters to provide the station with resources.

The station can support a permanent population of up to 35,000 sentient beings. There are currently 30,000 humans, 2,000 Saurians, and 1,000 Kang’rits resident on the station. The station has been in operation for two years.

Who runs the Station?
The Astroguard handles the day to day administration of the station. The Selene Republic supplies magistrates and ombudsmen to handle judicial affairs. Overall station policy and contact with the Saurian Commonwealth is handled by a United Colony advisory council with representatives from all the major human powers and headed by a governor appointed by the Selene Republic.

The current governor is Rosette Alcantar who works with the Station’s commander, Captain Anton Pikova of the Astroguard.

What is the Outback?
It is a small asteroid field circling the L5 point between Selene and its sun. It is home to a thousand belters mining volatiles and metals for processing at the station. The main station is buried in the asteroid Perth with 200 permanent residents and up to 300 transits at any one time.

What was the Outer Rim War?
By 2400 Human expansion had rapidly outpaced the ability of the Astroguard and major power to manage. Particularly on the United Colony branch which was dominated by dozens of small polities and groups.

Because of this large groups like corporations and cooperative operated with little oversight perpetuating many human rights abuses. The early 2410s saw a growing resistance movement among the small colonies and belt stations they preyed on and in 2415 this erupted in outright war between the resistance and the corporations allied as the Conglomerate.

At first branded as terrorists and pirates by the corporations. Public opinion turned favorable for the rebels when evidence of human right abuses began to mount. Finally the major powers allowed the Astroguard and their national militaries to intervene.

What is the Selene Republic?
It was an American colony founded 75 years ago by a conglomerate of allied corporations and cooperative to establish a base independent of United States oversight. After two decades, in 2363, the settlements joined together as the Selene Republic.

The republic’s legislature has the Popular Assembly elected by universal franchise and a Senate elected on the based on the value of held property. The executive branch are a council of three Consuls elected for staggered six year terms each. Two consuls are elected from the upper house, and one is popularly elected. Since the Outer Rim War the republic’s constitution has been changed to allow the Popular Assembly the right to pass any law that the Senate rejected.

The Selene Republic participated in the Outer Rim War as an ally of the Conglomerate. It was briefly occupied by a United Colonies peacekeeping force when the Conglomerate was defeated. Today there is considerable animosity between the Populist faction and the Conglomerate faction. The current government is backs the Artemis Station hoping that the prestige is generates will resolve the hostility.

First contact with the Saurians was made by a survey co-op operating out of the republic in 2374.

Psionics?
In the 22nd century, shortly before the Tambora explosion, a series of mental disciplines combined with an increased understanding how human consciousness work turned into the science of Psionics. It was discovered that human consciousness arises from how the neuron interact with each other at the quantum level. That in rare individuals their brain is structured to allow a form of quantum entanglement to occur between their mind and another.

Normally the only macro effect is that it operates as a form of empathy. It is common with any creature with a higher nervous system and plays a small but important role in how two individuals of the same species interact with each other.

However in a sentient mind, like those possessed by humanity, rare individuals can consciously control how the quantum entanglement manifests. This allows for telepathy, limited healing, augmentation, and even mental control.

 

[robertsconley]

The second brief idea is called Majestic Stars, Gateway

Overview
In the late 21st century, humanity has a tentative foothold within the solar system. There are thousands of humans living off planet scattered throughout the Earth-Moon system and a few transitory outposts on Mars and various near earth asteroids.

On July 6th 2089, observatories and astronomical satellites start tracking a high energy source inbound into the Solar system. Within 5 years it was clear that it was decelerating and would soon enter solar orbit. Over a dozen probes were developed and launched. Finally in 2098, the object entered into a solar orbit between Neptune and Uranus and ceased emitting energy. What remained was a small localized area where gravity was distorted. Barely detectable as stars and planets moved behind the object and then suddenly shifted back to their normal position once they emerged from behind.

The first probes reached the object in May of 2101, what they detected amazed everybody, it was a mechanism of alien manufacture creating an opening to a stable Rosen-Einstein bridge or wormhole several hundred meters in diameter. Upon further investigation the first transit was attempted and when the probe returned and its data was analyzed the results were electrifying. It was not just a bridge through space but time as well.

The other end of the wormhole was in the orbit around Earth, Earth of 65 million years ago.

The Campaign
It is the year 2118, the two stations has been built on both sides of the wormhole to support human expeditions to the Earth’s surface; Apollo and Artemis; Apollo lies on the present day side of the wormhole in orbit with the wormhole beyond Uranus. While Artemis lies beyond the past side of the wormhole in orbit around the earth.

Preliminary surveys have been conducted and now the first expeditions to the surface are ready to be landed.

 

[Black Vulmea]

Here's something i wrote up for Traveller way back when; it can be used with any setting in which gas giants are skimmed for hydrogen or other elements . . .

Jovibacter is a genus of microorganisms found in the atmospheres of gas giants. Jovibacter is an anaerobic chemoautotroph, converting methane and free amino acids into organic molecules using the energy produced by oxidation of hydrogen gas or hydrogen sulfide.

The scarcity of iron oxide in gas giant atmospheres is a critical limiting factor on Jovibacter populations. Starship and spacecraft hulls constructed of hard iron (TL 9) or crystaliron (TL 10-11) skimming fuel from gas giants provide a ready substrate for Jovibacter, which quickly expresses flagellae and pilli to reduce the iron oxide, reproducing very rapidly in the process. Jovibacter on exposed hull surfaces die-off rapidly when exposed to ultraviolet light beyond the protective envelope of the gas giant's atmosphere, but bacteria within the ship's fuel tanks continue to reproduce, pitting and scarring the metal walls and reducing the structural integrity of the tanks and hull - in rare cases the reducing action of Jovibacter may breach the tank outright, releasing both fuel and the organism into other compartments of the ship. In extremely rare cases Jovibacter may also affect a starship's jump drive.

Engineers and maintenance crews refer to the reddish-brown stains indicating the presence of Jovibacter as "crud." "Crud" is treated by evacuating the tanks and other infected compartments to vacuum and installing powerful ultraviolet lights. The tank walls usually require repairs as well.

The fuel tanks of ships and boats regularly involved in skimming gas giants, such as a fuel lighter or tanker, may be treated with a ceramic coating to reduce the risk of damage by Jovibacter - the cost is ImpCr 10000 per displacement ton of fuel tankage. This coating must be replaced annually at a cost of ImpCr 1000 per displacement ton.

It's rumored that some gas giants have been seeded with Jovibacter to discourage their use for refueling, though no specific claims of this activity have been substantiated to date.

Crud encounter: Scoop Jovibacter while fuel skimming - throw 13+ for infestation, +1 for every twenty tons of fuel skimmed. If the tanks become crud-infested, treatement cost is 1D% of the cost of annual maintenance per twenty tons of fuel, to a maximum of 10D%. Infestation may only be detected by visual inspection or biochemical sniffer.

An infested ship may suffer a hull breach: throw 15+ for a breach, +1 for every week the infestation remains untreated. Repairing a hull breached by Jovibacter is 1D% of the hull cost of the ship or craft. The referee should decide of the hull breach is to an internal compartment, spilling fuel and bacteria into the interior of the ship.

An infested hull may suffer additional damage during battle - each hit that causes the loss of fuel increases the cost of repair by 1D% of the hull cost.