The Campaign Builder's Guild

Fantastic! Well, let me waste my workday thinking further about things.

But technological development is only one of the angles that I want to approach. Human development and evolution is something extremely interesting to ponder on.

For example, without the eventual rise of computers, maybe some humans would form a guild of human-calculators, or maybe some would train their memories so well as to be living libraries - picture a shadowy cloister of muttering, semi-catatonic people hooked up to IVs of some kind of serum where all they do is remember and recite information, creepy but cool. In my opinion, at least, I think this all is plausible, if not possible. Without the advancement of technology to focus our energies into, who knows what we could do with ourselves.

And this would not only be in the mental sense, but physical as well. I know the super-trained assassin is cliche, but different types of meta-martial arts would be extremely interesting - warriors who manipulate their nervous system to become immune to pain, or others who can speed up their mental synapses for short bursts (basically a haste spell).

I'm almost at the point of totally excluding magic, there is just so much cool stuff that doesn't have to depend on it.

Quote from: Leetzwarriors who manipulate their nervous system to become immune to pain, or others who can speed up their mental synapses for short bursts (basically a haste spell).

I'm almost at the point of totally excluding magic, there is just so much cool stuff that doesn't have to depend on it.

Seems kind of mutually exclusive to me :P I mean, your saying one is essentially magic (and it isn't, as far as we know, actually possible).

Now, as for human calculators, check out savantism, something certain people with autism have. There are your human calculators.

There's a case from turn of the century Russia about a man who literally could not forget anything unless he tried. He would be a good case for your living library type person.

That being said, why would these people be shadowy? Seems like near functional people could manage it, I guess its just a flavour/atmostphere thing so what I've mentioned is just another idea.

The Dune series actually did the human calculator thing. Apparently they weren't too fond of computers after they rose up against them :) Probably some Dune scholars on the board who could say more about it...
My setting also has non-magical meta-disciplines which allow for slightly preternatural feats so i would be hard pressed to call that a bad idea :P

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowThe Dune series actually did the human calculator thing. Apparently they weren't too fond of computers after they rose up against them :) Probably some Dune scholars on the board who could say more about it...
My setting also has non-magical meta-disciplines which allow for slightly preternatural feats so i would be hard pressed to call that a bad idea :P

We could, but you pretty much caught the highlights :)

There were laws against "thinking machines" following the Butlerian Jihad -- a war between humanity and the machines thousands of years before the series. That was one of the main reasons technology largely stagnated.

Quote from: SurvivormanMay I just say:
I love it.

  I think it would be extremelly intriging to see how things would have turned out without certain materials. This is an entirely new angle. I am interested on what you're ideas were for animals and plants, and I would be more then happy to help with those ideas, if you need any help. So yes, I would want to be one of your partners in crime, specifically in fleshing out smaller stuff like flora and fauna. In short: really cool, i'm definatly going to keep up with this. :D

[Plug]In that case, how about signing up for the Review Partnering thread Leetz? We'll make you two the first official partners. We desperately need help getting that project off the ground.[/plug]

Using people as living libraries seems suspicious given that the setting is supposed to have an advanced civilization (if not technologically/materially so). Although it is possible to store and pass information by memorization, it is not a very practical way to do it.

There are good reasons why mankind has been remarkably creative in coming up with better and easier ways to record knowledge. Different peoples the world over have independently developed various writing systems, using a wide range of materials and tools: carving symbols on slabs of stone, pressing them on soft clay, painting them on a strip of wood, writing them by brush or pen on sheets made of papyri or animal hide or paper. But even in absense of all these things you could find effective ways to make records. The Incas for example, developed a complex system of "writing" that was based on knotted cords!

It's not wholly unplausible that the world would remain completely illiterate for so long, but it is definitely odd. About the only explanation one can give for this condition is that "no one has thought about it yet".

Quote from: GhostmanUsing people as living libraries seems suspicious given that the setting is supposed to have an advanced civilization (if not technologically/materially so). Although it is possible to store and pass information by memorization, it is not a very practical way to do it.

That's not the point of them.  The point of them is as a quick-access reference system, like computer records.  You'd still have the books, but if you needed to know something in a book now and don't have time to search you'd ask the living libraries.

Like a walking talking google?

Now there's an idea. Of corse, it would only work if you have the mnemoniac following you around, so that he's always there when you need to ask something. And they'd need to get their knowledge updated from time to time. They could be slaves bred specifically for this ability, or fed with drugs to enhance their memory.

Quote from: GhostmanOf corse, it would only work if you have the mnemoniac following you around, so that he's always there when you need to ask something......fed with drugs to enhance their memory.

This was basically how it worked in Dune, as far as I know.

But it's not hard to imagine someone rich who needs information employing (or owning) these sorts of people.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpaw

Quote from: GhostmanOf corse, it would only work if you have the mnemoniac following you around, so that he's always there when you need to ask something......fed with drugs to enhance their memory.

This was basically how it worked in Dune, as far as I know.

But it's not hard to imagine someone rich who needs information employing (or owning) these sorts of people.

The wealthy hired mentats because computers were forbidden. Mentats were not only calculators and had eidetic memories, but were generally trained in other disciplines, so they could serve as tutors (or doctors in the case of the main one in Dune).

I think they would have some kind of enhancement to prolong there lives along with the memory enhancing drugs. Obviously it would be illegal to tamper/harm one of these guys.  
 Who would use them?
 Only the wealthy like in the Dune books?
 Would they try to dampen any emotions the individual would have so as to only get raw data, instead of a biased opinion on something?
 In that case would they even have lives before they become these libraries?
 
 Would there be a faction against the use of people as data banks?
 
 Just some thoughts that sprung into my head.
 
 

First, holy cow. That's a lot of replies since I checked at breakfast.

Where to start eh? well, as for the walking libraries, let me see if I can explain it. Even thought it would be an advanced setting, and most urban dwellers would be literate, they would not have access to information at their finger tips like we do. they would have to go to the library - THE PEOPLE LIBRARY! And I know paper would make more sense, but it's not nearly as interesting or creative, which is what this whole thing is really about. Or maybe a global librarians guild has a complete monopoly over historic records and they found that the human brain is much more efficient than tomes and tomes because A) I want there to be LOTS of history in this setting, and B) I'm kinda flirting with the "we only use 5% of our brains juju (I'm sure there is more to it than that, but if we can suspend our disbelief for dragons and magic missiles, I don't think this is a stretch.)

And even though the setting would be humanocentric, that does not mean they think like we do. Even in our world, different taboos, traditions, cultures, etc. create vastly different points of view of right, wrong, what's efficient, what's important - things like that.  So once again, suspension of disbelief is key right now, as I'm more interested into how these bigger ideas and themes will fit into the setting than I am of the minute details.

Hmm, what else. Oh yeah, the walking talking google is a sweet idea. Maybe the Library rents out mnemonics that are loaded with specific information - economics for merchants, history and psychology for politicians, warfare for generals. But there would still be vast "banks" of the mnemonics back at the library that would hold the greater collection of human knowledge while they lived for centuries in a semi-catatonic embalmed state.

Maybe I should write something in-game about this Mnemonics Guild?

And I'm also looking for ideas of how I could transmute some types of modern technology into a human-nology.

I'll do more thinking.

Just one quick question. This guild, that seems to control all the history in the world and all the information in the world. Why don't they have absolute control of the world?

Just throwing that out there. And here's a quote: "If knowledge is power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, would absolute knowledge corrupt absolutely?" I think it's a question you should apply to this guild.

Quote from: LeetzFantastic! Well, let me waste my workday thinking further about things.

But technological development is only one of the angles that I want to approach. Human development and evolution is something extremely interesting to ponder on.

For example, without the eventual rise of computers, maybe some humans would form a guild of human-calculators, or maybe some would train their memories so well as to be living libraries - picture a shadowy cloister of muttering, semi-catatonic people hooked up to IVs of some kind of serum where all they do is remember and recite information, creepy but cool. In my opinion, at least, I think this all is plausible, if not possible. Without the advancement of technology to focus our energies into, who knows what we could do with ourselves.

And this would not only be in the mental sense, but physical as well. I know the super-trained assassin is cliche, but different types of meta-martial arts would be extremely interesting - warriors who manipulate their nervous system to become immune to pain, or others who can speed up their mental synapses for short bursts (basically a haste spell).

I'm almost at the point of totally excluding magic, there is just so much cool stuff that doesn't have to depend on it.

   I like the human library idea. Perhaps human libraries for specific jobs? Like a cook who has one of these human libraries that knows thousands of recipes and tons of ingrediants, if you get what i'm saying.

  For the no magic thing, I think its a good idea given the creative approach your going for. But since your thinking of extreme expansion of the human mind, some things that resemble the supernatural could be used, sort of like psionics, except the effects would be much, much more subtle and all the fluff totally different. Of course, these abilities wouldn't resemble any current magic (no fireballs, teleport spells, magic missiles, etc., etc.). Does this fit with what your trying to go for?