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Post by Dashing Inventor on Sept 9, 2014 12:10:04 GMT -8
Hey everybody, I've finished the Starward Horizons Setting Primer I've been working on, it's scheduled to be released with this week's update (hopefully tomorrow!). I wanted to give forum users the fist opportunity to check it out, if you're interested! Feel free to leave your thoughts below, as well as report any typos or run-on sentences! www.dropbox.com/sh/s4ae9tb6qqzn1xh/AACXrMLiO5jLIGRsUu4ykQQua?dl=0 |
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Post by Arcanet on Sept 9, 2014 12:57:46 GMT -8
Awesome, interesting lore.
This also answers a question I had of the settings, specifically if they could include special rules.
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Post by Arcanet on Sept 9, 2014 15:52:14 GMT -8
First chapter:
"Seemingly ordinary mysteries and routine adventures can take Unimaginable turns as heroEs encounter individuals etc."
I'll see if I can find more, but I think I should sleep now...
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Ziphion
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Post by Ziphion on Sept 9, 2014 16:20:34 GMT -8
Very cool campaign setting! I am intrigued by Reclaimed Space. Assuming a single R.S. structure is a sphere of a little over 10,000 light year radius, it contains approximately 5 * 10^12 cubic light years of breathable atmosphere. I'm also assuming that atmosphere is much like our Earth’s, which has a density of 1.28 kg/m^3 at standard temperature and pressure. This means a single R.S. contains 3 * 10^30 times the amount of mass in our sun! That’s enough mass to fill 30 quintillion (30 billion billion) Milky Way galaxies with stars. The amount of energy required to prevent R.S.es from clumping into stars and galaxies must be... well, astronomical doesn't begin to describe it! Those Disparate Lords really knew what they were doing. Perhaps an adventure could revolve around preventing a catastrophic failure of an R.S... although the process of all of that gas actually collapsing into stars would still probably take millions of years. Edit: Maybe the gravity disabler malfunctions, and suddenly everything and everyone starts falling towards the center of the Reclaimed Space? You have to fix it in time to prevent a catastrophic crunch! This could be an interesting situation to ask the xkcd guy about. |
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Post by Dashing Inventor on Sept 9, 2014 16:20:36 GMT -8
Good catch, corrected.
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Post by SirManCub on Sept 9, 2014 19:10:18 GMT -8
OK, first of all, a gratuitous SQUEE because I've been eager to see this!!
I have kind of a lot of suggested edits, as well as a few typo notes. Would you prefer an email or a post here?
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Ziphion
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Posts: 132
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Post by Ziphion on Sept 9, 2014 19:32:30 GMT -8
I think "sapient" might be a better word to use rather than "sentient" for the races. A lot of animals would qualify as sentient, but as far as we know only humans are sapient.
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Post by SirManCub on Sept 9, 2014 19:34:48 GMT -8
I think "sapient" might be a better word to use rather than "sentient" for the races. A lot of animals would qualify as sentient, but as far as we know only humans are sapient. I half agree. I think some instances of "sentient" could become "sapient" but remember with a universe this unlimited, there will be sentient and sapient life aplenty. The more generic term might actually apply better in some cases. |
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Ziphion
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Post by Ziphion on Sept 9, 2014 19:43:30 GMT -8
Yeah, that's true. I was referring to what most player characters would likely be, which is a thinking being, capable of language etc. But there's no reason for all important races of the universe to be sapient!
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Post by Dashing Inventor on Sept 9, 2014 19:47:40 GMT -8
There is definitely some crazy super science going on to create the areas of reclaimed space, it's not clear if they are actually filled with atmosphere or somehow create one in the vicinity of any objects within them. More than anything I really wanted to bring back the old-school 'rocket bikes in space' scenes from the early days of science fiction, because it's awesome! More Flash Gordon than Gravity, if you know what I mean. And seeing as so many of the universe's inhabitants live in reclaimed space, an adventure involving a threat to it could be pretty epic! I've actually got something like that on the back burner; as usual Ziphion your mind is like a laser.
If you have a lot of edit suggestions, you could send them via a pm (private message). It could be that some other have already caught them and pm'd me about them. I appreciate your feedback!
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Post by SirManCub on Sept 9, 2014 19:49:59 GMT -8
d'oh, I wasn't patient enough. Already sent an email  Hope the ideas help, this is really amazing stuff! |
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Ziphion
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Posts: 132
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Post by Ziphion on Sept 10, 2014 10:30:42 GMT -8
A friend and I were discussing the physics of Reclaimed Spaces today, and the question of entropy came up. Are there power sources (like suns) in these Spaces? If not, the "available" energy in the Space (like UV light, which provides plants with the energy they need for photosynthesis, which kicks off the whole life cycle) will eventually all be converted to "unavailable" heat energy, and the Reclaimed Space will eventually become a giant hot plasma soup. DI, I know you mentioned that these things defy the laws of thermodynamics, but I don't think it can be as simple as saying "entropy doesn't exist" in these Spaces; otherwise, nothing would make sense at all. Probability wouldn't work anymore, chemistry wouldn't work, nothing would be predictable, life would be impossible. Instead, my friend and I decided, the incomprehensible and trans-dimensional Disparate Lords must have set up some sort of Maxwell's demon mechanism in the Reclaimed Spaces, which converts excess phonons (sound, heat) into photons (light) of various wavelengths, keeping the amount of light energy available constant.
Here's the cool part. This could mean that loud noises flash brightly as the vibrations are converted to light. Overheating weapons glow dimly. The possibilities are endless!
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Post by Dashing Inventor on Sept 10, 2014 15:14:50 GMT -8
Midichlorians?
Just kidding. That sounds cool, and there are most definitely stars in Reclaimed Space, as well as the full gamut of other celestial objects. I think the issues you raise would be mitigated if the atmosphere experienced in Reclaimed Space only appeared in proximity to the objects within it. That would also explain why aerodynamics don't affect things moving at high velocity in Reclaimed Space. Thoughts?
In the end, the mysteries of how Reclaimed Space works adds to its charm!
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Ziphion
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Posts: 132
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Post by Ziphion on Sept 10, 2014 17:09:14 GMT -8
Ahh... I didn't realize there were stars. So... Is there gravity? If not, how do the stars stay together? Do things orbit them?
I think what I'm gathering is, Reclaimed Space isn't really what I thought it was; it's in many ways exactly like regular space, except all objects (and creatures) have their own breathable atmosphere. Very intriguing! And mysterious!
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Post by Dashing Inventor on Sept 10, 2014 18:30:56 GMT -8
That is exactly the idea.
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