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Halloween Jack posted:Ringworld is really weird.
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Nov 12, 2017 23:54
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...well, mostly. Niven did the Fleet of Worlds stuff more recently, but I don't think they were as good.
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Nov 13, 2017 00:11
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Mors Rattus posted:...well, mostly. Niven did the Fleet of Worlds stuff more recently, but I don't think they were as good.
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Nov 13, 2017 00:16
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Nessus posted:I think those were collaborations so he may not have contributed much... are they set long after Ringworld? I meant chronologically. He wrote a couple more things in the setting after Ringworld, but they weren't set after Ringworld. Fleet of Worlds is focused on, basically, a few years after the Ringworld books, when the Puppeteers have decided to just gently caress off out of the galaxy to escape the Core Explosion. They're actually mostly Niven, focusing on Sigmund Ausfeller, and they're mostly concerned with stuff that has nothing to do with the rest of Known Space because the Puppeteers have hosed off out of there.
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Nov 13, 2017 00:19
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Mors Rattus posted:Fleet of Worlds is focused on, basically, a few years after the Ringworld books, when the Puppeteers have decided to just gently caress off out of the galaxy to escape the Core Explosion. They're actually mostly Niven, focusing on Sigmund Ausfeller, and they're mostly concerned with stuff that has nothing to do with the rest of Known Space because the Puppeteers have hosed off out of there.
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Nov 13, 2017 00:23
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Bieeardo posted:Did they raid the old Spelljammer appendices? Because 'contemplative' in this context sounds awfully familiar. Not that I'm aware of, but never got deep into Spelljammer. I don't think they could legally nab much without filing the serial numbers off - at the very least, the contemplative in Starfinger isn't really like the one in Spelljammer other than being thinking-themed. Most of the raiding is just from pop culture, AFAIK.
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Nov 13, 2017 00:57
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Nessus posted:Given that Ringworld and Known Space was written in the late 60s/70s, it totally, one hundred percent inspired Star Control. Most of the weirdness here is because Niven used most of these settings for individual stories (Plateau was "A Gift from Earth," etc.) and so it was kind of this cumulative setting. Ringworld is sort of the last entry in the setting's timeline. Niven's Known Space stories are in general fantastic. Even the later Ringworld ones. Gift from Earth, Protector, and the Gil the Arm ones are my favorites
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Nov 13, 2017 01:00
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Niven's Known Space stories are in general fantastic. Even the later Ringworld ones. Gift from Earth, Protector, and the Gil the Arm ones are my favorites
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Nov 13, 2017 01:17
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Nessus posted:Given that Ringworld and Known Space was written in the late 60s/70s, it totally, one hundred percent inspired Star Control. Most of the weirdness here is because Niven used most of these settings for individual stories (Plateau was "A Gift from Earth," etc.) and so it was kind of this cumulative setting. Ringworld is sort of the last entry in the setting's timeline. Imagine how a RPG about Stephen King's shared universe would read. "So there's vampires and demon crab spiders and bug-bird men and and..."
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Nov 13, 2017 01:18
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And let's not forget that the Kzinti were a part of Star Trek for the Animated Series and were planned to be in the fifth season of Enterprise that got canceled.
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Nov 13, 2017 01:24
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Cythereal posted:And let's not forget that the Kzinti were a part of Star Trek for the Animated Series and were planned to be in the fifth season of Enterprise that got canceled. That said, many concepts of the Kzinti entered Trek through the elaboration of the Klingons in TNG and onwards.
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Nov 13, 2017 01:27
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The Trek Adventures RPG license covers the animated series, which means we will probably at least get a fan writeup of the Kzin eventually.
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Nov 13, 2017 01:32
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Nessus posted:They have nobly resisted the lure to use large, expensive-to-animate-even-if-CGI aliens who also necessitate paying Larry Niven money... thus far. (The animated series, of course, dodged this issue entirely.) Cat-people showed up as part of Starfleet in the movies, too, though they never got any elaboration - not clear if they were meant to be Kzinti who had joined the Federation or the Caitians from TAS (Star Trek had a catgirl in a miniskirt in the 60s folks) or some other race. This was the concept art for the Kzinti ship in Enterprise, had we got the fifth season. 
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Nov 13, 2017 01:38
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Has anyone mentioned that thanks to the Animated Series loophole, the Kzin are in ADB's Star Fleet Battles universe?
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Nov 13, 2017 01:46
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Not that I'm aware of, but never got deep into Spelljammer. I don't think they could legally nab much without filing the serial numbers off - at the very least, the contemplative in Starfinger isn't really like the one in Spelljammer other than being thinking-themed. Admittedly, Spelljammer did the same thing.
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Nov 13, 2017 01:55
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Halloween Jack posted:
Why imagine it when you can read the dark tower.
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Nov 13, 2017 02:06
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rumble in the bunghole posted:Why imagine it when you can read the dark tower. Pretty sure telling people to read the Dark Tower is classed as assault in some countries.
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Nov 13, 2017 02:08
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ZeroCount posted:Pretty sure telling people to read the Dark Tower is classed as assault in some countries. Watch the movie then I guess
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Nov 13, 2017 02:19
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rumble in the bunghole posted:Watch the movie then I guess Going from "simple assault" to "war crime" isn't an improvement!
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Nov 13, 2017 02:28
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I, ugh, liked the Dark Tower books, though I haven't read past Wolves of Calla. Sorry 
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Nov 13, 2017 03:04
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JcDent posted:I, ugh, liked the Dark Tower books, though I haven't read past Wolves of Calla.
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Nov 13, 2017 03:21
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I'm wondering if it might be helpful to have a Known Space primer for the background, since a lot of the rule set seems to assume familiarity with the setting.
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Nov 13, 2017 03:26
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Cythereal posted:Cat-people showed up as part of Starfleet in the movies, too, though they never got any elaboration - not clear if they were meant to be Kzinti who had joined the Federation or the Caitians from TAS (Star Trek had a catgirl in a miniskirt in the 60s folks) or some other race. I'm still convinced that 5th season Enterprise would have been amazing. They really put out some good stuff in the 4th season, and to see it end like it did instead of us getting the Romulan War is just disappointing.
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Nov 13, 2017 03:42
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wiegieman posted:I'm still convinced that 5th season Enterprise would have been amazing. They really put out some good stuff in the 4th season, and to see it end like it did instead of us getting the Romulan War is just disappointing. If they had started pulling up in Season 3 it may have been remembered very differently. But it was too little, too late  .
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Nov 13, 2017 03:45
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Kzinti also showed up in Star Fleet Battles, where they were very fond of using drones (missiles, essentially). From what I recall (I mostly learned about all of this from my dad, mind you), they were rivals with yet another species of alien space cat that liked to use Expanding Sphere Generators on their ships, which generated a sort of hard shield that was not only a strong counter to drones but also let them "ram" other star ships. They also showed up in a PC game, Star Fleet Command, that was very heavily based on the rules for SFB. Of course, the Kzin went under a different name to avoid legal issues, but they were there.
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Nov 13, 2017 03:52
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Star Fleet Battles has such a bizarre licensing and lore history. They initially had straight up Kzinti thanks to them showing up in the Star Trek Animated Series, but eventually lost the rights to using Niven's stuff - but not until well into it's lifespan. I think Kzinti persisted into the 90s at least?
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Nov 13, 2017 04:28
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Comrade Gorbash posted:I'm wondering if it might be helpful to have a Known Space primer for the background, since a lot of the rule set seems to assume familiarity with the setting. The game actually covers a lot of it (I do own a copy of it and it's supplement).
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Nov 13, 2017 04:31
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Comrade Gorbash posted:I'm wondering if it might be helpful to have a Known Space primer for the background, since a lot of the rule set seems to assume familiarity with the setting.
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Nov 13, 2017 04:32
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Cythereal posted:Cat-people showed up as part of Starfleet in the movies, too, though they never got any elaboration - not clear if they were meant to be Kzinti who had joined the Federation or the Caitians from TAS (Star Trek had a catgirl in a miniskirt in the 60s folks) or some other race. Makes me think 'space hot rod' for some reason. Star Trek Online somewhat infamously has playable Caitans, and Ferasans as an offshoot race of them that are basically a replacement for the Kzinti that are aligned with the Klingon Empire. It is pretty easy to see where Star Control shamelessly nicked ideas from Known Space. I think that would make the Shofixti the Kzinti counterparts?
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Nov 13, 2017 05:17
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Silly cat!
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Nov 13, 2017 05:36
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 Starfinger Alien Archive Part 02: "Once you are satisfied with your NPC’s statistics, give it a name if you haven’t already, and it is ready to encounter your player characters, whether on the field of battle or in a tense negotiation scene!" Ah, yes, Starfinger's detailed social rules will make that interesting. "Roll dice and see if you roll higher than the NPC... well, you fail to beat their roll and they don't accept your offer." "Did you spend twenty minutes making a character for that? A lot of work for one roll, huh?" "N-no! Uh, but I guess I better use the rest of the statblock, then... roll for initiative." Introduction Of course, at only 158 pages, we're told this is only a "small sampling" of the myriad creatures  There is a cute reminder that the word "alien" is relative, and some of the races might be perfectly normal folks in the Pact Worlds. Lastly, we have a note that PC stats and monster stats for a races may differ for balance reasons, and that the 22 new races are optional so if they're not balanced, heyyy, it's the gamemaster's fault, not ours, we didn't tell you to pick up the gun, we didn't tell you to kill, we just put the gun on the table and suggested maybe you kill somebody, but we're not responsible-Also we get "How to Read a Stat Block" reproduced here for some reason, even though it's already in the core book (the book with one useless monster, you'll recall). Presumably it's in the core book so you can just use Adventure Paths without buying the Alien Archive, but it's mostly just a page and a half of stopgap measure for the two months in which the Alien Archive didn't exist for Starfinger players.  Appendix 1: Creating Monsters and Other NPCs also starring Appendix 3: Simple Template Grafts and Appendix 4: Universal Creature Rules So I'm skipping ahead to page 126 here to get this stuff out of the way. The monsters, let's face it, are the dessert of the book. We need to get the broccoli out of the way. And pages of charts like this-  - are definitely broccoli. Mind, I like broccoli. But probably not as much as cake. So, they're introducing a new monster design system to simplify the process of creating new NPCs. For those not fully familiar, d20 monster design was a weird mix of exacting numbers and eyeballed abilities. That is, every creature had fixed base stats depending on its type, size, hit dice, class levels, etc. However, assigning things like monster abilities was mostly an "art", though there were some guidelines and rules. In short, monsters were built like player characters, except when they weren't. It was both more complicated than it needed to be yet simultaneously so vague that it was easy to design a bad monster. Just open any d20 monster book and you'll probably find at least a few. So, the first step in Paizo's new monster factory is to choose an array. There are three main arrays:
The second step is to add a creature-type graft, which is their odd terminology for what used to be called "type" in d20 games like Pathfinder. Each graft grants different bonsues. These will be familiar to most d20 players, however: abberation, animal, construct, dragon, fey, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, outsider, plant, undead, and vermin. Almost all of them grant some seeing-in-the-dark ability, strangely, and a dime or nickel bonus to some attacks or penalties. Mind, there's no "balance" to them; a dragon creature is straight-up stronger than a humanoid creature, though only modestly so. The main thing that'll shift a creature's threat level are the construct, ooze, plant, and undead types, which give creatures immunity to a number of effect / condition types, rendering some player character abilities useless against them. As such, it starts to become clear that just following the formula flatly won't always get you equally challenging monsters. The third step is to add any subtype grafts you want for the creature. These almost always make them stronger, and include aeons (neutral outsiders), agathion (a kind of celestial), air, android, angel (another type of celestial), aquatic, archon (yet another type of celestial), azata (again, celestial), cold, daemon, demon, devil, dwarf, earth, elemental, elf, fire, giant, gnome, goblinoig, gray (alien, that is), halfling, human, ikeshti, incoporeal, inevitable, kasatha, lashunta, maraquoi, orc, plantlike, protean (chaos outsiders), reptoid (alien, that is), ruphorian, sarcesian, shapechanger, shirren, skittermander, swarm (no relation to The Swarm), verthani, vesk, or ysoki. Words you may not recognize are probably races in this book or from the Starfinger Core Rules/ The fourth step is to add a class graft, if you think the creature is the sort that would have a PC class. This adds... a lot of special abilities by cross-referencing the CR of the creature and the class in question. These are basically an abbreviated subset of the abilities PCs get, though the gamemaster still has to select things like stellar revelations or magic hacks.  The fifth step is to add a template graft. There... are we on our fourth graft category already? So much for simple... anyway, these replace the templates from normal d20, granting specific abilities or penalties, but these are listed throughout the book. They don't affect a creature's CR, but some have a "minimum" CR you can apply them at. No minimum CR for a template graft is higher than 3, with most being 0 or 1. However, we get a list of "basic" ones, including: aerial (from the plane of air), aqueous (plane of water), astral (astral plane), celestial, cthonic (plane of earth), cybernetic, entropic (chaos planes), fiendish, fiery (plane of fire), giant, miniature, phrenic (i.e. psionic), resolute (planes of law), synthetic (robots), two-headed, or umbral (from a dark place). The sixth step is to select special abilities. A creature gets 1-4 special abilities based on its CR (the higher, the more of them, varying by array type). To find them we go to Appendix 4 for most of them. Now, a creature can be assigned a number of abilities for free - basic "see in the dark" senses, a lot of movement types, or abilities it needs to survive in its home environment (like being amphibious). Adding a feat to a creature counts as a special ability for the most part, but it suggests to stick to feats that give flat bonuses that can be incorporated into the statbock. Also there are "adjustment" special abilities that adjust a creature's statistics, if grafts weren't enough for you. Oh, and you can add weaknesses as you like, and it's suggested you do so if you have given a creature "many helpful special abilities". It also generally guides you to select abilities based on its array, so combatants should have things that help in combat, while experts might have ones that help them move or sneak, and so on. Abilities include: amorphous (immunity to additional crit damage, if not effects), amphibious, attach (to PCs), aura, blindsense, blindsight, breath weapon, change shape (for disguises, only grants a few special abilities based on form), compression (for small spaces), construct immunities, create darkness, crush (death from above attack), darkvision, dependency (the creature requires something to survive, like water), detect alignment, distraction (causes nauseate on damage), earth glide (pass through earth), elemental immunities, energy dragon, fast healing, ferocity (fight past 0 HP for 1 round), fly, frightful presence, gaze (attacks), grab (auto-grapple on a successful enough attack), immunity (to stuff), light blindness (the liiiight), limited telepathy (communication only), low-light vision, mindless (immunity to mental effects), multiattack, natural weapons, no breath (doesn't need to breathe), ooze immunities, plant immunities, plantlike, regeneration, resistance (to an damage type), see in darkness (which I guess is different from darkvision), sense through (a substance), sightless, spell resistance, stellar alignment (grants a Solarian's attunement modes to be used with stellar revelations), summon allies, swallow whole, swarm attack (automatic damage when you're in its area), swarm defenses, swarm immunities, tracking, trample, truespeech (autotranslation, more or less), undead immunities, unflankable, unliving (diet undead, now less grim), vortex (like a whirlwind in water, see whirlwind), vulnerability, water breathing, and whirlwind (the ability for a creature to turn into a whirlwind, and it takes a full half-page to cover all the rules for it, so probably don't use it). The seventh step consists of assigning skills. You determine the number of with "high" and "low" skills based on array and CR, and it suggests the high skills should match up with their higher ability scores. However, it notes that this is only a guideline, and you can vary it as necessary. The eighth step consists of spells, but this only usually matters to creatures with a spellcaster array or by purchasing "secondary magic" as an ability. We get another chart, which gives us varying numbers of which level spells they get and how often they can cast them based on their CR. Lastly, it suggests that if this is a creature your're planning to use more extensively, eyeball it and compare it to "similar creatures" in this book and see if it might be adjusted to match Starfinger's no-doubt rigorous standards. Whew. This is actually a useful system... but it codifies d20 monster creation more than it simplifies it. To be fair, it shortens statblocks by removing things like hit dice or ability scores, but that's a bandaid on a stab wound - d20 monsters are still plenty complicated, but it's at least better than Dungeons & Dragon 3rd Edition's completely overwrought statblocks. It'll still take a good while to put together a creature unless you've internalized this system, and balance is pretty variable, sincesome abilities and grafts synergize better than others. And there's nothing guiding a GM from creating an overgrafted monster or a wimpy pushover. In particular, adding a class graft is a significant bump to the power level of an NPC that the CR system doesn't account for. So... like the class system in Starfinger, it's better than the systems that preceded it, but not a great system.. We're not quite done with broccoli yet. On to the beets. Next: Z is for Wizardry. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 07:53
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10 scream 20 leap 30 goto 10 40 end  Today we meet the Kzin. We've touched on the Man-Kzin wars. We're going to start this by skipping ahead a little to examine Kzin culture, lifestyle and society. Kzinti are large (2.4 meters average) catlike creatures which resemble humanoid predator cats, primarily tigers. The resemblance isn't perfect; their ears resemble those little paper umbrellas you find in your drink, their pupils are round like humans', and their tails are more like rats than cats, anatomically. But that's the general idea. From a distance they resemble big fat tabby cats. A safe distance. Kzinti place a great premium on honor, courage and honesty. Their general cultural perspective is that the Kzinti should, eventually, rule the galaxy. Their government is called, straight up, "the Patriarchy," and is essentially feudal, with new honors and total decadence prevented by the system of Names. Kzinti have to do something really sweet and cool to earn a Name (the way this is done is not clear, but presumably it's done through the Patriarchy's bureaucracy). Conquering a planet, obtaining a new hyperdrive, saving the Patriarch's life, stuff like that. Kzinti of exalted birth or less exalted but still meritorous deeds would receive a partial name ("Chuft-Captain") while your everyday Kzin would be known by a professional name (Speaker to Animals, Slaverstudent, Telepath). One of the benefits of a Name is that you get breeding rights. The "Patriarchy" label is not a euphemism. Kzinti females were, long ago, selected genetically to be docile and stupid, and are not treated legally as people by Kzin law and custom. (This is not neccessarily the case for ALL kzinerret. It is explicitly not the case for the Kzinti who were taken to the Ringworld - but we'll get there.) Earning a Name means you can keep a harem and get your Bone on. This produces kittens, who in time become Kzin, or do not, and instead die. This, along with the violence inherent in the system, keeps Kzin population numbers relatively low; Kzin itself has about 250 million (male) kzin on it, despite having less ocean than Earth. Lots of big hunting estates.  shown here: the daily activity of the typical Named kzinti Kzinti are not particularly bigoted towards human women, despite living in a literal Patriarchy, and recognize that human women are intelligent beings, although they will not necessarily comprehend this at all times, or if not prompted. They are, in fact, decidedly intelligent-female-curious, although they do not seem to show sexual interest in the way that humans do. The Kzinti have learned empathy and social behavior - or at least, the prospect of living with other species on a non-tyrannous basis - by the expedient of losing the great majority of their young during each Man-Kzin war, as they are heavily militarized and young Kzin are motivated to help out in conquests by the promise of Names and new slave worlds where they can be top cat. Most of the species in Known Space had been enslaved by the Kzinti to at least some extent. This even includes humanity (the Wunderlanders). At present the Patriarchy is demilitarized except for police gear and ships; this is enforced by humans, after giving the Patriarchy repeated rear end kickings, to the point that a fifth Man-Kzin War would probably lead to a human conquest of Kzin itself. So much for the Kzin. Oh, one fun note: Kzinti telepaths. The only psionic ability that the Kzin usually show is telepathy, which is induced by a special drug and extends over two thousand kilometers, making them very useful on Kzin military vessels. They cannot, thank God, instill commands like a Grog. Using the drug is an ordeal and most Telepaths are bedraggled neurotic wrecks due to its use and the experience. At present, Telepaths are pretty much always involved in crimes. They cannot be forced to read the minds of herbivorous entities (such as Puppeteers.) We'll discuss Kzin character generation next time, including some of the few remaining planets that the Kzin didn't lose to human attack fleets!  kzinti character generation will be conducted featuring ray smuckles.
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Nov 13, 2017 12:47
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Inescapable Duck posted:Makes me think 'space hot rod' for some reason. I'd actually say more the Yehat, albeit with some rather notable twists. Most notably: not a patriarchal society with women in a particularly poor place. E: It should also be noted, Kzinti telepaths tend to be weedy, stringy little assholes by kzin standards, but are very useful militarily...most of the time. The first Man-Kzin War got kicked off when a Kzinti telepath reported to his captain that a human ship had no weapons, humans having been at peace for a long-rear end time before meeting the Kzin. This was true, to an extent, except that human ships run on reaction drives, leading to what both species remember as the Kzinti's Lesson: a reaction drive is a weapon whose power is directly related to its efficiency as a drive. Which is to say, humans lost the first battle but managed to take out a single Kzinti ship by hitting it with the giant fusion flame come out of their ship, because the Kzinti thought it was unarmed and were basically toying with it until that happened. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 13:25
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Mors Rattus posted:I'd actually say more the Yehat, albeit with some rather notable twists. Most notably: not a patriarchal society with women in a particularly poor place. 
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Nov 13, 2017 14:22
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Alien Rope Burn posted:
Don’t worry, I’m sure Paizo will eventually introduce a season pass (a steal at only $119!) that lets you play any race available. Or you maybe you could buy them as individual DLC at $8.99 apiece.
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Nov 13, 2017 15:14
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Upon its death, the spirit of your middle school AD&D game ascended to the Outer Planes and merged with The Deck of Encounters Set One Part 26: The Deck of Bulettes, Centaurs, Chimera, Dinosaurs, and Displacer Beasts 153: Landshark Attack In a human town, a halfling runs in, exhausted, from a nearby halfling town that has been wrecked by a bulette. He’s looking for aid. They’ve pooled their money to hire some murderhobos if they can. The PCs can probably track the bulette down, or wait for it to return. It’ll try to flee if too wounded, but the halflings won’t accept anything less than its death. Keep. 154: Suspicion Moving through a forest, the PCs enter a glade with eight of pissed-off centaurs, some wounded. They were just attacked by human bandits and will move aggressively toward the PCs. If the PCs put up arms, they fight - if they talk peace, they can probably avoid it. If they do, the centaurs will accept help, especially from elves and clerics, and be grateful. Too conceptually similar to #37: Centaur Vengeance. I suppose it has the advantage of telling me who attacked the centaurs, which was one of my major complaints about that one, even if the answer is terminally boring. Keep, but it doesn’t particularly excite me. I might send it back into the deck if I actually drew it in play.. 155: Look to the Skies! The PCs are on a wide, grassy plain near some mountains. They’re watching the clouds because it looks like it might rain, when they see a flying creature drawing near. It’s a chimera, flying from the mountains! It’s here to eat them. The card says they should be about 200 feet from the cover of trees when it comes, and be able to run about 150 feet before it reaches them, and that furthermore it will try to burn them out if they hide. But those are pretty thin additions to a “monster attacks!” encounter. Boring. Pass. 156: A Tasty Snack In a thick jungle, the PCs hacking away at the undergrowth draws the attention of two young male ceratosaurs, who attack. There’s no other interesting content to speak of. Pass. 157: The Imprint, Part 1 of 2 In the high mountains, the PCs pass a cave with a mother displacer beast. "Regardless of what the PCs do, the displacer beast is intent on protecting her cubs and she ferociously attacks the PCs." In the cave is a long sword +2, a ring of protection +1, and four l'il displacer beast cubs that will imprint on the first PC they see, "adopting him or her as a new parent." You know, like baby animals generally do after you slaughter their mother within earshot. Forced combat with no room for PC ingenuity? Check. Proliferation of boring magical items? Check. Pass? Check. 158: The Imprint, Part 2 of 2 “This encounter takes place three days after the first encounter.” Basically, wherever they are, three adult displacer beasts track them down. They wait for one person to separate from the group, ideally at night, and then… one of the three goes after that person, while the other two attack the camp and try to distract them so they can’t help. Huh? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just take the separated person down quickly, surrounding them so they can’t escape, then withdraw? The beasts also want to snatch back the cubs, and they’ll also try to kill their adopted mother before any other PCs, so they’ve got like three or four different goals here. I find it confusing. Pass.
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Nov 13, 2017 15:42
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The Kzinti Lesson is a fun bit of science fiction. It ended up being kind of iffy science. It was not quite as bad when Niven first came up with it. The more popular notion was that we'd lean on high energy physics to reach deep space. Gigawatt lasers and nuclear rockets and the like. But even then other scientists were pointing out that low-power, constant acceleration drives have a lot of inherent advantages for spacecraft, notably very high efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and mass. The latter are not particularly useful as weapons, unless you're aiming at a stationary target. Over time the second kind of efficiency has generally had more value than the first. Being fair to Niven, the whiz-bang superhero physics stuff is a lot more exciting for the kinds of stories he was writing; mostly it just looks dated, like the idea of flying cars. Also worth noting that other writers have typically taken it too far. They've misinterpreted it as a drive being literally a weapon and just as effective as a purpose built one to boot, which is patently ridiculous. There's even a couple Man-Kzin War stories based on this assumption, so it's probably good those short stories are mostly non-canon. In Niven's case, it was more that humans had access to technology that they could use as makeshift weapons in a pinch, with their effectiveness largely depending on surprise, and that given time could rearm with proper weapons based on the same tech. The Kzinti, being kind of dumb and arrogant, ignored the capabilities of human tech and focused too much on intent. The Lesson is essentially "a species that's regularly using fusion torches and gigawatt lasers is inherently dangerous; they can turn those things on you as crude stopgaps immediately, and can build nastier stuff if they get the chance." Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 15:47
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Back to Starfinger: so I can build a giant, unliving, human dragon? Also, demons, daemons and devils? Really?
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Nov 13, 2017 16:01
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Demon/daemon/devil is a distinction that dates back to 2e, though for a good while they were baatezu/yugoloth/tanar'ri because that would be less religious.
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Nov 13, 2017 16:11
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| # ? Mar 22, 2025 16:36 |
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Mors Rattus posted:Demon/daemon/devil is a distinction that dates back to 2e, though for a good while they were baatezu/yugoloth/tanar'ri because that would be less religious. Also actually easier to keep straight.
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Nov 13, 2017 16:12
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