Silvercat's Dream: a place to put notes

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

NOTE: Readers will probably get more out of this thread by starting at the bottom than the top.

Physics and Stuff

Travel method: Fluctuations in gravity fields creates holes in the fabric of space that cross the universe.......or dimensions (no one knows which!).  These holes aren't always open and must be coaxed to do so (though occasionally they manage it on their own), though it's a bit dangerous to keep them open.  Holes will only open near significant sources of gravity (i.e. at least a medium-sized moon), and only in certain spots, but there are methods for determining which exit the hole opens to.  Interesting thing: it's easier for holes to open nearer to the center of the gravity, but the further from the center the larger the hole can be.

UPDATE: The holes have been formally named "rifts".

The natural way for the holes to work is to only open to one place at each end. You cross through and you're there. Then to get even further you have to find a new hole that goes to another place'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦etc. until you end up where you want to be.

Opening the holes depends on how sensitive they are to interaction with their warped spacetime. Most holes will respond to being "fed" the right kinds of energy, possibly opening because the energy allows them to fuel whatever force keeps them in that state. However some holes seem to be so sensitive that any reasonably solid matter either brushing up against the hole or in some cases just moving near the hole triggers this response'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦and often triggers an additional "suction" force drawing the matter in. Scientists speculate that these extra-sensitive holes may be responding to the increased distortion of gravity cause by the denser nature of solid matter. Unfortunately/fortunately these sorts of holes are rare and in hard-to-find places.

As to changing where a hole leads: It's been known to happen naturally in a few holes where one end of the pair is not fascened, and that one end jumps around destinations. It is possible to duplicate this phenomenon a few different ways, most reliably with application of a rare form of spacetime energy. However many people believe that this is a dangerous idea, worried that once an end is moved from its natural spot it will become permanently unattached and too erratic for travel in either direction. In fact fringe theories hold that this is what happened to the Ancient Ones when they tried to create a quick method for traversing the cosmos (and consequently made their planet the epicenter of every Lost Land myth).

UPDATE 2: How to Alter Physics and All That Jazz
There are no "magics" or "psychics/psionics" or any sort of "divine/spirit" powers in this setting.  However "special powers" do exist in this universe, and are scientific at their core, but are not well understood.
One example is "spirits" or "programs": living energy patterns existing coiled up in the extra dimensions proposed by string theory, able to respond to material beings' requests to alter reality.
Another is less well understood: the ability to cause fluctuations in the spacetime continuum.  This appears to be a rather unsubtle ability, mostly useful for transportation.

ORIGINAL POST: First interesting thing this means is that civilizations can make contact with each other even if they lack spaceflight technology.  All they need is a way to make the holes open.  Fortunately reality-altering powers exist in forms that can be used for this purpose, and while some are technologically-based enough aren't.

So in the end you can end up with the sort of galaxy-spanning civilization you see in so much sci-fi but without bringing the middle-man of deep space into it.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Metasetting species:

Notes: Panian: Essentially means the same thing as our word "humanoid", except it isn't based upon referring to one species and thus is not considered specist.  When referring to human-like head/facial features the word hominid is used.
Regarding references to personality: I'm not going for the "one species, one outlook" trope.  What I say about a species' personality is just a very broad generalization.
On hybrids: Hybrids between species happen.  Unfortunately the relative chances of success are difficult to predict, even disregarding the influence of '" powers.

Tek: Panians with feline features blended into a hominid face.  Compared to humans the most striking differences are the feline ears, the tail, and the coat of crowded, short fur that sometimes leaves observers with the impression that tek simply have colored/patterned skin.  In terms of the face it is mostly hominid, but with a feline nose, thinner lips, and in some cases a slight projection of the mouth area.  Many tek grow longer fur from their heads, similar to human hair, but some cannot and the difference is due to regional genetic groups.  Said groups are also responsible for the different fur colors/patterns.  Tek range in height from 5 to 7 feet, and walk on plantigrade feet with four same-sized toes.  Despite their feline features tek are not especially carnivorous.  Tek become sexually mature at around 15 standard years and usually live and average of 200.
Tek have often been at the forefront, or backers, of many interplanetary processes including scientific and sociological development and exploration of new planets and contact of new cultures, both currently and in the past.  The tek are also prominent in interplanetary history and society for another reason: the total tek species has no one homeworld currently, instead occupying many far flung planets among the cosmos.  This has led some to speculate that the tek have some special relationship to the ancient civilization that left artifacts lying across most of known space.

Gekkani: It is said that they gekkani are what the tek would have been like if the tek had been descended from a much smaller species.  In this case the species is lapine: long, lens-shaped ears, short, triangular tails, and a slightly different shape to the nose.  The rest of their features match those of the tek.  While they mature a bit faster (around 12) unfortunately they also have a shorter lifespan, usually expiring around 100.

Maicoh: Canine panians.  Their heads are very much canine, though with more forward-facing eyes and having molar-like teeth.  Their whole bodies are covered in fur except for the pads on their four-digit hands and digigrade feet.  Colors are generally browns, golds, black, grey, or white.  Only the females grow longer fur on the head.  They are not exclusively carnivorous.  Their sexual maturation can actually vary wildly, between 10-20 for the extremes, but they average out more to 200 for lifespan.
Maicoh are rare among the inhabitants of the multiverse in that every member of their species possesses some form of Alter/Summon power.  The manifestation and strength vary between individuals, with members of bloodlines having a greater chance of inheriting similar abilities.

Koryuu: In outward appearance no different from small, rodent-hunting felines, the koryuu are in fact fully sentient.  In addition that have a very unique ability: despite their bodies seeming more appropriately suited to four-legged existence they function quite well moving about on two and using their paws as hands.  Of course it helps that many koryuu posses Summon powers, though some of their cultures are well-known for brain-affecting Alter powers.  In coloration and appearance koryuu vary widely, with furless to long-furred varieties in many shades and patterns of black, white, brown, orange, and grey.  They become sexually mature at 16, but can live for up to a surprising 400 years.

Cenan: Hexapedal cervines with the portion of the body forward of the second pair of legs resting upright.  This foreward torso is panian while the head is still cervine, though about half as long.  Nearly all have the same coloration: brown, with a cream chest and underbelly.  Mature at 12, max around 120.

Kellen: Furless hominid panians, but possessing multiple vulpine tails.  Their ears, while located on the sides of their heads, are pointed, and some individuals develop fur on these.  Certain bloodlines are well-known for having Alter-Summon powers.  Mature at 15, max around 120.

Atausiqa: Dwarf equines, standing no more than 3 ft high at the shoulder having less knobby legs and slightly shorter (some would say more primitive-looking) heads than most equines, with a single horn in on the forehead.  They use that horn as the antenna for their communication Alter powers.  Their lifecycle is quite long, maturing at nearly 70 standard years and surviving well over 1,000.

Heyaafoura: A very unique species resembling mantid insects, heyaafoura are not in fact biological organisms.  Though their bodies mimic biological functions there non-bio nature can be seen in their ability to upgrade via modular parts.
The basic form of a heyaafoura is a nearly rectangular semi-chitonous torso, with appendages at each corner and one pair in the middle.  The legs each have two normal joints and one "wrist" joint, plus a "hand" with an average of six finger-like claws.  Their heads are triangular with the point toward the jawed mouth and large eyes at the other points.  They do not possess any form of antenna.
All other aspects of heyaafoura appearance depend upon what parts they have on their bodies: they can be large and hulking or smaller and thin; they may utilize four of their appendages as legs or only two; color can vary, but is usually either a sandy gold or dark blue-grey.  The parts are easy to deal with: the heyaafoura enters a "trance"  and then can just tug out a part and place in a new one.  The only limitation to this procedure is that the brain of the individual is unreplaceable.
Heyaafoura reproduction is surprisingly simple method given their "biology": each mating individual, and there can be more than one, produces a "seed part" which can then be attached together and grow into a new heyaafoura.

Guruwe: Porcine panians.  In addition to the porcine snout and floppy ears their heads and faces are wider and less tall than standard hominid.  The fingers of their hands from the last joint are covered in horn.  Their feet are plantigrade and they have four toes, but unlike the tek and gekkani their toes are graded from largest to smallest starting on the inside.  They also have no tail.  While their skin is smooth and hairless it is reasonably thick and protective.  In fact all parts of the guruwe body are quite tough, especially their strong stomachs that allow them digest many foods that would at least sicken other species.  Their hardy bodies give them long lifespans, easily pushing 300 years.  They are normally considered adults at around 15.

Etau and Omoachel: A startling case of sexual dimorphism, what appears at first to be one species of males and one of females is actually the different genders of only a single one.
Etau are chimeric panians whose scale-covered lithe bodies seem reptilian but their heads more a mixture of cervine and lupine: they have a defined stop to the nose bridge and muzzle that smoothly tapers just slightly toward the end, but the nostrils flare and the ears become tubular before entering the body.  Unlike reptiles Etau grow hair, copious amount in fact, including facial hair and a a tuft on the end of the tail in adults.  In addition they also grow antler-like horns from near the ears.  The scales covering their bodies more resemble fish than reptile.  Their most common colors are brown, green, blue, and white.
Omoachel are much simpler, being avian panians with scaled hands and feet and wings growing from a third pair of limbs on the back.  Their beaks are small and point forward, but the upper beak curves down toward the front.  Both their feet and hands have three main digits and one opposable.  Their tail feathers grow into a long fan that can be raised.  Their colors are usually gold, red, orange, yellow, and blond.
Both sexes mature at 80 and can live to be nearly 1,000 years old.

Feel free to comment.

[Steerpike]

Do the Tek/Gekkani walk on their toes like cats?

Also, are you planning on including any reptilian/amphibious/marine species?  Or will the species be very strictly mammalian?

[Llum]

Any special reasoning behind the word Panian? Or did you just pick it randomly?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Do the Tek/Gekkani walk on their toes like cats?

D'oh!  x.

Also, are you planning on including any reptilian/amphibious/marine species?  Or will the species be very strictly mammalian?

I'm not entirely certain.

The main issue I have when designing a race/species is that if I want to use them regularly I have to like the way they look.  For humanoids that means they generally are mammalian or have significant mammalian body-parts (such as griffins).  Reptilian/amphibian/fish/etc. don't lend themselves well to anthro-ization and if done they work better as something more non-human and fancifal (such as reptiles becoming a dragon).

I think it's got a lot to do with the head: certain mammal species have heads and facial features that are much more compelling than others.  Reptiles/etc. heads loose out on this and thus are just very hard to keep focus on and in turn make any species derived from them difficult to feel like interacting with (the exception seems to be insect species with jaws: e.g. ants, mantids, beetles).  So if I make a reptilian/etc. species I might still have to give it a head similar in form to one of the compelling mammalian species if I wanted it to keep my interest.

(Also I get a lot of my inspiration for this angle from pictures created by the furry fandom, which is very lopsided in favor of mammals and even certain mammals at that.)

Any special reasoning behind the word Panian? Or did you just pick it randomly?

There's an interesting story: I have a book that at one point argues that humans aren't really "wise man" (homo sapien) but should really be considered the "storytelling ape" (pan narrans).  Since pan is the genus of our closest genetic relative, the chimps, and using it links us with them, I decided that it made an interesting statement to use it to refer to something "humanoid".

[Stargate525]

How are these crossings done, and how is it determined where they lead out.

Or:

How do you dial and engage the stargates? :)

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

How are these crossings done, and how is it determined where they lead out. Or: How do you dial and engage the stargates? :)

The natural way for the holes to work is to only open to one place at each end.  You cross through and you're there.  Then to get even further you have to find a new hole that goes to another place'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦etc. until you end up where you want to be.

Opening the holes depends on how sensitive they are to interaction with their warped spacetime.  Most holes will respond to being "fed" the right kinds of energy, possibly opening because the energy allows them to fuel whatever force keeps them in that state.  However some holes seem to be so sensitive that any reasonably solid matter either brushing up against the hole or in some cases just moving near the hole triggers this response'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦and often triggers an additional "suction" force drawing the matter in.  Scientists speculate that these extra-sensitive holes may be responding to the increased distortion of gravity cause by the denser nature of solid matter.  Unfortunately/fortunately these sorts of holes are rare and in hard-to-find places.

As to changing where a hole leads: It's been known to happen naturally in a few holes where one end of the pair is not fascened, and that one end jumps around destinations.  It is possible to duplicate this phenomenon a few different ways, most reliably with application of a rare form of spacetime energy.  However many people believe that this is a dangerous idea, worried that once an end is moved from its natural spot it will become permanently unattached and too erratic for travel in either direction.  In fact fringe theories hold that this is what happened to the Ancient Ones when they tried to create a quick method for traversing the cosmos (and consequently made their planet the epicenter of every Lost Land myth).

And at this time I'm going to formally name the holes "rifts" because it just sounds better.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

NPCs and Organizations

The Systems United Nexus (aka SUN): ("Nexus" in this case is a word used to describe a group of worlds connected by rifts.)  The largest and most famous government in the Known Regions, encompassing hundreds of native and colonized planets.  It is a full-sufferage representative democracy with constitutional articles guaranteeing freedoms of speech, religion, and political assembly, and barring public policies based upon intolerance of species, culture, religion, or non-harmful choice in sexual partners.  Though it has a military they are primarily a self-defense force.  Since the SUN also lies next to the Frontier it is the focal point of most efforts to investigate and utilize that region.

Princess Ouchan: Third generation of a royal family in exile from their home planet in the Frontier.  Unlike most of her relatives and their retainers she has no desire to see her family restored to the throne and instead just wishes to be a normal teenager.  Unfortunately at the moment she is too afraid of her family's reaction, and continues to act as if her "royal station" is all-important to her.  Species: To be written.

Doc Hazard: "The Walking Disaster".  A loser from 1940s Earth accidentaly transported into the greater cosmos.  Finding himself in  a world resembling pulps and movie serials he fashioned himself a "scientific adventurer" and set about fighting injustice and trying to find a way home.  An accident-prone buffoon, his greatest success has always come about either because his bad luck rubs off on the bad guy, or because his retinue of loyal "Science Rangers" has done all the work.  Despite this reputation he is genuinely viewed as a champion against tyranny.  Species: Human, though if anyone from Earth knew they'd ask why he hasn't aged.

Evil Emperor Thanos: The Doc's arch-enemy, a cunning mastermind even if he always overestimates his intelligence.  Fortunately wherever Thanos shows up to seize power that infernal Doc Hazard and his meddling Science Rangers are never far behind.  Thanos is quite certain that the Doc is the only one in existence with skills to match himself.  Species: (TBD).
Thanos never caries out an evil scheme without his standard group of henchmen:
* One femme fatal personal assistant who inexplicably falls for Doc Hazard.
* One brutish lieutenant who's so dumb that a dress and a long-haired wig convinces him that the wearer is female.
* One small yet brainy lieutenant with shifty eyes who's job it is to yell at the troops if Thanos isn't there to do it and to constantly plot to overthrow Thanos.
* One seemingly endless supply of themed warrior-mooks who have face-obscuring helmets.

Ixator's Discount Villain Supplies: "Ixator's, where you always know what to buy because it's the same stuff you bought last time!
Ixator's is not responsible for any failure of our merchandise due to the cleverness and/or incompetence of a plucky/ragtag (band of) hero(es) and/or your own minions even if you bought them at Ixator's."
Ixator's appears to be a multidimensional service  catering exclusively to the basic needs of villains: elaborate costumes, showy gadgets, fully-stocked lairs in out-of-the-way places, even henchmen and mooks.  Villain's never have to seek out Ixator's: if they are suitably villainous a salesthing from Ixator's just shows up to present a selection of merchandise and take orders.  Oddly no money has ever changed hands in these sales, leading many to wonder what exactly it is that Ixator's takes as payment.
Non-villains are acquainted with Ixator's through the distinctive logo stamped somewhere on all their products: a large, painfully obvious red circle with the words "Do Not Push" written on it in a selection of regional languages.

"Big Boss": Most mob bosses you see aren't the physically toughest people.  You can tell because they always have someone whose body language says "I break people for a living".  Not Big Boss: he's got the brains, he's got the charisma, and he's 8 ft of pure muscle and hide.  When he goes out he's surrounded by people whose body language says "I'm payed to stay out of the way and clean up afterwards".

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Goons]One seemingly endless supply of themed warrior-mooks who have face-obscuring helmets. [/blockquote]

Ahhh... these are the guys I was looking for!

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

[blockquote=Goons]One seemingly endless supply of themed warrior-mooks who have face-obscuring helmets. [/blockquote]

Ahhh... these are the guys I was looking for!

You can get all this and more, at Ixator's Discount Villain Supplies!  Ixator's, where you always know what to buy because it's the same stuff you bought last time!

Ixator's is not responsible for any failure of our merchandise due to the cleverness and/or incompetence of a plucky/ragtag (band of) hero(es) and/or your own minions even if you bought them at Ixator's.

(No, seriously, there really is a Discount Villain Supplies store.)

[Nomadic]

So I take it this is supposed to be a fairly light-hearted style of game.

[Steerpike]

I get the feeling it's meant to hover on the edge of wacky but rarely devolve into all-out slapstick... but that's just my impression, Silvercat probably has a much clearer idea about the tone of the setting, of course.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Let's put it this way: dark stuff causes me to get confused.  I'm not totally sure why, the discovery process is still ongoing.  Possibly it just requires brainpower I don't have to spare.  Thus I do light-hearted stuff because I can manage it.  In terms of how comedic it is I'd say it could get slapstick if the right opportunity came up, but it's easier to set a whacky scene and then wait for the right opening then to completely mess everything up trying to get that one specific joke you wanted out.  It's the most important thing I've learned about collaborative comedy.

Also I should note that what you've seen so far isn't one setting: it's a metasetting, designed to fit whatever genre (except space opera, no real loss) I feel like using and the reasoning behind transitioning from one to another in-game should my tastes change.  The metasetting is a toolkit with which I can build worlds.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

How to Alter Physics and All That Jazz
There are no "magics" or "psychics/psionics" or any sort of "divine/spirit" powers in this setting.  What does exist are two kinds of reality-bending forces.  The first is known as Alter, which can change the state of the superstrings that make up matter and energy (String Theory in case you haven't heard about it).  The second is Summon, which warps spacetime to change the positions of things.  Used together these two forces can account for all known "special powers" existent in the cosmos.

[Ghostman]

Heh, sounds like TV Tropes would be a goldmine of inspiration for something like this.
[spoiler](Warning: TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life.)[/spoiler]

If you're going to do this as a metasetting, then it might be a good idea to keep it as generic as possible. Stuff like NPCs and even races may be better kept in the realm of the settings proper. Keeping world-related things in separate threads would avoid confusion. Just some food for thought :)