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  • File : 1304651378.jpg-(213 KB, 900x1250, 1284863430920.jpg)
    213 KB Praise the Walkers Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:09 No.14829225  
    Sup tg, ive had a setting kicking around in my head for a while and ive come here to see if yall can help me flesh it out. Its a post apoc survival/scavenger Earth, where society/humanity has long since collapsed due to nuclear warfare, biological warfare, overpopulation, heavy pollution, etc. Remnants are still around, such as occasional working power stations, or automated production factories endlessly whirring, their racks empty of fresh material to work with, but mostly everything is beaten and broken down.

    Now, in this setting, weaponry had been heavily controlled for several generations, and warfare had eventually evolved to using nothing but automated battle machines: mechs, tanks, jets, etc were all controlled by its owning country's Overwatch AI, with a backup onboard AI in case of loss of link. These AIs are still running to this day, though many of the warmachines have now run down.
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:12 No.14829261
    Only a few of the warmachines are still active, mainly humanoid, quadruped and spider-leg mechs. They are the only things able to deal with the mutants and horrible enviroment, and so groups of survivors have clustered around them, eventually growing to worship them as walking gods, for only near these walkers is the Earth safe for humans.

    So thats the basic setting tg; everroaming mechs, surrounded by bands of fanatic worshippers, wandering the dead and barren Earth.

    Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:15 No.14829314
    The walkers are controlled by very basic AI; it reacts to threats and marches when needed. Usually the period of marching lasts 24 hours, upon which the mech pauses for a week to await uploaded orders. If it doesnt receive them (and it wont anymore) it marches off again, its internal GPS attempting to find an area where it can download fresh orders.

    Those walkers that have a following usually have various symbols painted on them, divine markings of the power attributed to them by the humans.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:17 No.14829346
    >>14829314
    >>14829261
    >>14829225
    You cannot pitch this game to /tg/. The same guys that jump all over power armor, mechs, and anything that isn't TANK FOR tHE TANK GOD! will jump all over you and complain about projectrocket and all that bullshit.

    I wish it were otherwise, it sounds intersting enough.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:19 No.14829359
    >>14829225
    It's an interesting idea, though it does raise the question of: if the planet is dead, how do the fanatical worshipers sustain themselves? Perhaps the weapons were biotech that occasionally spawned small plant-like lifeforms. The followers would then graft these creatures (I know they wouldn't be animals, the term is for convenience) onto their bodes, with the creature's tiny roots burrowing into the host's bloodstream, where they would release some of it's excess food production from photosynthesis in exchange for nutrients.
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:20 No.14829374
    When eventually the walkers sustain too much damage to continue functioning at a predetermined efficiency, the onboard AI guides them to one of the various "Graveyards of the Gods"; giant fields of row upon row of walkers, standing in formation, eternally awaiting maintenance that never comes.

    Some of the crazier humans live in these Graves, attempting to salvage what they can and wring the secrets out of the walkers. Sometimes they succeed in reactivating one, with varying effects. Some wander into the wastes, never to be see again, some simply shut down again, and others go berserk, firing at random targets before eventual self termination.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:23 No.14829421
         File1304652199.jpg-(29 KB, 448x397, EndOmar.jpg)
    29 KB
    interesting
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:24 No.14829435
    >>14829359

    The planet can still sustain some forms of life, and some of the larger mutant organisms are still edible. There are also (very very rare) automated processing/growing/manufacturing factories that can be raided.

    That biotech idea is intresting though. Perhaps some of the various experimental weapons mutated common plants into this ....moss stuff i guess, and eventually humans would learn to let it grow on themselves. Alternately, they could be so filthy that they simply grow it naturally on themselves, with the plant propagating through spores. They dont question why they're not hungry, attributing it to their walkers.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:24 No.14829438
         File1304652271.gif-(759 KB, 170x144, what the hell.gif)
    759 KB
    >>14829359

    That sounds pretty unlikely - it's neat, though. I betcha somebody thought of that during the last war of OP's earth, and that there's still a few vats of the stuff lying around in a vault somewhere... whoever found them would be given what appears to be magical powers to others.

    Come to think of it, OP's humans sounds like they've regressed quite a bit, and we all know what sufficiently advanced tech look like.

    As for how they get food? Well... if the mechs operate on internal GPS, they'd probably know where all the supply dumps are. Maybe some of the automated repairstations still work? They'd be military installations, no doubt, and as such inaccessible to the humans (who probably count as hostiles, maybe?). So, the humans would every so often have to sit tight and camp around The Cavern of The Deities, hoping and shivering in the night that the wait is not too long.

    ... actually that still doesn't solve the food thing. >mfw still food problem
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:30 No.14829510
    Hey, what about satellite or artillery kill zones? Snipers? Think about it, how it must appear to a religious wasteland survivor: with a minefield, you can (after a few, ahem, trial and errors) ascertain a connection between the funny grey disks in the ground and being blown to kingdom come, but with artillery or satellites, all you'd be able to understand would be that going over to That One Place means getting blown up for no apparent reason whatsoever. There's that sufficiently advanced tech again.
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:30 No.14829511
    >>14829438

    "And we shall follow our GOD, he of the steel, he of the flames, he of the walking death that smites our ENEMIES! And he shall lead us to the Caverns, where THEY will judge US, and gift us with the scraps of their divine tables!"

    I like this idea; the GPS eventually would pass near to a military installation, and if the systems recognize the walker, it could either a) let it and its flock pass and reap the riches within or b) open fire, causing the walker to fight a retreating action, the humans scrambling in order to not get smited down in this battle of gods.

    Or the military base could not exist anymore, the GPS leading them to a smoking crater in the ground.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:34 No.14829559
    OP, I think you might want to consider having actual settlements of humans, in addition to the mech-worshippers. Otherwise, you're going to be telling a lot of the same stories over and over with this, a al "day 1: hunted rabbits, day 2: hunted deer, day 3: hunted alligator". With human settlements, you can get some contrast in: the settlers consider the fanatics to be, well, fanatics, and are more concerned with wether or not the mech is gonna start tipping cattle or whatnot (and by "tipping cattle" I mean "go berserk and start murdering everyone").
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:36 No.14829588
    The very rare human settlements would be founded inside the few working factories, where they would have a supply of....whatevers that the factory produces, be it guns, metal or food.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:37 No.14829593
    If technology had progressed to the point where fully-automated production systems, AI, and Mechs were all possible and fairly common, then there would probably be more than silent, marching war machines left. Obviously, even the most self-sufficient machines require resources of some sort, and armies require supply chains. A walker's "carrier," which could be anything from a large dropship to a humongous APC, could serve as a local base where established facilities do not exist. A carrier would be responsible for providing transport, repair, and rearmament services, along with the other vehicles in its chain. Its nature would require it to be heavily armored, hardened against EMP, and equipped with multiple redundant systems. In the event of a failure in Overwatch, the carrier's own AI would take over, as it would undoubtedly be more capable than those used by most of the walkers.

    These carriers would be priority targets in the event of a conflict. But, given their capabilities, it is likely that some would survive.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:37 No.14829595
    >>14829511

    Wee-ell... taking the station crater idea further, it could be that the station's been robusted, but it's minor damage that any modern-day idiot could repair in twenty minutes (loose plugs and a lever that needs pullin', essentially). Any idiot could do that, which of course means that it's an epic quest of divine salvation for the poor wastelanders who have to brave the station interiors in order to, iunno, sacrifice five scorpion carapaces to the mighty eye of judgment, the Windows to the realm of the Starkly Blue Eye (we're getting into AdMech territory here).
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:41 No.14829650
    >>14829593
    This could be another sort of human settlement, with gigantic APCs, loaded with AI to, above all else, preserve human life, as the hub of a small sprawl, with the AI being seen as a benevolent god. Settlers there could access the AI's data, eventually figuring things out if they work at it, while living off the resources supplied by the God Carriers.

    >>14829595
    Not familiar with AdMech
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:43 No.14829661
    >>14829593

    I like the massive carrier idea, but let's think about this: obviously, OP's world has suffered The End War (so to speak), and we can thus assume something like total mobilisation. I'm assuming here that the costs of operating the largest class of these carriers would be functionally equivalent to operating a modern-day naval aircraft carrier.

    There are today, according to wiki, 22 such carriers in operation, 11 of which belong to the US. Given the presumably enormous cost of carriers (both modern and OP's end war), and given the mobilisation mentioned earlier, I'm thinking we're looking at something like 30, maybe 35 such carriers were used, this being a conservative number (though anything is possible with sufficiently advanced tech etc.).

    cont.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:44 No.14829677
    >>14829650
    AdMech, WH40K's mechanicus cult.

    >>idsane syllable
    you said it, captchan.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:46 No.14829704
    >>14829661

    Assuming 35 carriers in operation, and assuming that the end war was sufficiently brutal to render the earth a new degree of shitholery (which seems likely, given OP's scenario), I don't think it's unlikely that less than a quarter of the 35 carriers are still in any actively functional, operative state.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:50 No.14829747
    >>14829704
    The largest class of carrier is likely to incorporate the largest degree of redundancy and self-repair capabilities. One that was not completely destroyed might be able to restore itself, in time.

    If we assume that, as the classes reduced in size, their numbers increased, such that many thousands of the smallest APC types existed, it seems probable that quite a few carriers of various makes and models are still in operation.

    This is not considering the machines that might have been stored in vaults or factories (having been recently constructed) at the time of The End.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:54 No.14829781
    >>14829747

    i think you'd be right in thinking the smaller APCs would be altogether more numerous. There's a lot of thinking here that needs doin'.

    OP, what sort of timeframe are we working on here? 400 years after the end?
    >> Rail 05/05/11(Thu)23:56 No.14829807
    >>14829781

    Yeah, think of the Last War as being in about oh...the 2500s, and 3000 is just dawning.
    >> Anonymous 05/05/11(Thu)23:58 No.14829827
    >>14829747

    Hmm... imagine if one of these supercarriers had to fix itself, but didn't have the materials - would it land mechs to scour the countryside? Would it capture mechs and melt them down? Would it even have the construction facilities for it?

    Thing is, if the largest carriers have nearly-autonomous AIs, construction facilities etc., then what's stopping them from just continuing the war, independently of Overwatch? OP needs to consider whether the war is still going on.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/05/11(Thu)23:59 No.14829840
    >>14829435
    You could put a twist in it, ya know.
    The plants were actually bioweapons designed to grow rapidly and consume the host. But due to radiation or whatever, one of the strains turned benevolent, and engages in symbiosis with its host instead of killing them. So you could have a 'seeder' robot which goes in a set route, and near the route is a survivor village. The villagers have a tradition for the coming-of-age where the youth go to the desert near the route and wait for the arrival of the seeder-bot. The bot would recognize these as targets, and start seeding them with seed/pollen/whatever, thus ensuring them photosynthesis, and they won't need food anymore.
    Maybe make the seeder-bot flying or hovering type, and it goes to an automatic lab where the seeds are cultivated and loaded into the bot. This could prove interesting.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:01 No.14829861
    >>14829827

    They wont continue the war, unless a wandering enemy mech wanders into its range, because Overwatch is not commanding them anymore, giving them no reason to move and find new targets. The war is over, only skirmishes happen now and again when walkers meet.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:02 No.14829885
    >>14829807

    Hot damn, with that sort of timeframe all kinds'a shit pops up. 35 carriers seems like a very low number. I mean, all the mining we do in our own time is basically at most 3 kilometres into the ground (record being 3.9km). With five hundred years of tech, I don't think it's impossible to consider that we may've dug reeeeaally deep, or started space mining to some degree (what can I say, 500 years is a lot of time).

    OP, what's left in space? Happy lunar lesbians with sweet hovercars, or just grumpy kosmonauts who fuck monkeys?

    (Surface and orbit detionation of nuclear devices would probably fry most satellites. EMP's a bitch).
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:03 No.14829898
    >>14829827
    What a damaged supercarrier would do depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is its programming. An ocean-going superfortress might begin deep-sea mining operations using drones constructed out of fragments of its hull. An air carrier might be forced into a crash-landing and, finding itself in enemy territory, send its remaining vehicular units to pillage known bases and industrial centers. The cliche scenario has one of the AIs developing a critical fault and attempting to deconstruct everything it found, technological or otherwise, to repair itself.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:05 No.14829925
    >>14829807
    We might have colonized the solar system by then, and sent ships to other, nearby systems. If FTL wasn't available, it'd be a long trip, but still.

    We're not just dealing with Earth anymore.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:10 No.14829972
    >>14829925
    ALIEN INVASIONS. DO IT OP.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)00:12 No.14829986
    >>14829925
    Maybe the colonies are 'stuck' on their respective planets? So maybe the Martian colony can't go back to Earth due to The War destroying their spaceship when it returned to Earth for a resupply run. Then there's the problem of the colonists stuck in the few FTL ship ever made which is hurtling through space to Alpha Centauri or whatever, how would they feel when they discover that the Earth they knew had disappeared?

    This setting gets better and better.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:15 No.14830014
    >>14829925
    TBH, I think focusing on space colonies and the like is going to pull too much focus away from the main setting/theme (i.e. giganti-huge god-warmachines in a post-apocalyptic setting; with lots a high density of hyphens). If there's no way for the groups to interact then for the purposes of this setting they aren't particularly important outside of maybe as an observer.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:15 No.14830015
    >>14829898
    I like the image of a carrier slowly disassembling itself in pursuit of mission completion. Dont know why.

    >>14829885
    Seen Wall-E? Think that, just more inactive weapons platforms rather than just junk. Some of the platforms might still have functional AI, others might have functional ground control, and still rarer others might have both.

    Humanity as a whole never really expanded past Mars. Early colonization of Mars started in the later half of 2100, with the Moon already housing several international areas. Over the next 300 years Mars was slowly terraformed into a second Earth, atmosphere and running water being introduced to the barren surface, with deep mining sending back shiploads of raw material to a straining Earth. Most of the framework of Overwatch and the carriers was built in this period. In the later half of 2400, humanity, already voracious, was already nearing the limit of easily acquired Martian resources, and sparks began to fly over land and mining rights, eventually culminating in what was referred to as the "Red Conflicts", a massive ground/space war on the surface of Mars, while large scale political upheaval mirrored it on Earth. The Conflicts ended near the turn of the century with the literal cracking of Mars, the fighting growing so heavy as to finally split the planet in a final tremendous explosion. A single year of shocked peace followed, before the dwindling resources finally sparked off the Last War.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:15 No.14830017
    >>14829986
    >So maybe the Martian colony can't go back to Earth due to The War destroying their spaceship when it returned to Earth for a resupply run.

    That seems a little contrived. Unless every single starship in-system was deliberately targeted, along with every facility capable of manufacturing new ships, no-one would be in total isolation. Either the war was on a much larger scale than originally thought, or the capability for in-system travel still exists, somewhere.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:18 No.14830039
    >>14829986
    Love this idea so im retconning it in: the Moon was used as a base for launching and testing various interstellar travel ideas, and several FTL prototypes were launched, along with more standard long haul, cryosleep, "arks".
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:20 No.14830056
    >>14830039
    I'm confused OP, is this supposed to be focusing on the warmachine cults stuck on Earth or the colonies it left behind?
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:21 No.14830062
    >>14830014

    Though this guy makes a valid point. I originally envisioned as the Walking Gods being the only things that still moved upon a baren Earth, but the various ideas for old carriers and such are awesome. Not sure about how space would affect it.

    Hmm, now im debating whether or not to retcon away the Moon launchings....
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:22 No.14830078
    >>14830056
    Warmachine cults. Humanity never expanded past Mars, >>14830015 is cannon, >>14830039 and >>14830062 are heresy.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:22 No.14830084
    >>14830056

    We're just settingfleshing, I think.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:22 No.14830086
    >>14830078
    canon even
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:23 No.14830090
    >>14830062
    What if you had rings of junk floating the planet? That could fill the role of "lost space tech", but still be close enough to Earth that could mesh with the setting (maybe some of satellite systems were EMP shielded).
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:25 No.14830106
    >>14830062
    The ships launched from the Moon have essentially no effect on Earth. The sublight cryos are already well on their way, and only have enough fuel to stop and maneuver at their destination, not turn around and come back. Same for the FTLs, though they will reach their destinations faster and therefore be able to make a faster return. If you want to keep them from returning, you could have one of the Overwatch AIs send all of the ships a lockout code to prevent them from using their engines to do anything more than decelerate to rest at their destination systems. After all, Earth is already lost, but mankind will survive, among the stars. Or so it seemed, at the time.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:25 No.14830107
    This thread is awesome, please still be here when I wake up.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)00:25 No.14830108
    >>14830017
    Maybe because the ship was destroyed when Mars was barely colonized. Like, terraforming had just started for two weeks when the war on earth got worse, and thus nobody on earth had time to monitor the colonies. Thus, even though Mars have what it needs to survive, it doesn't (yet) have the stuff needed to make spaceships. And the ones on earth either got destroyed, or abandoned, along with what spaceship they have 'docked'.

    Also, how about the plant bioweapon-turned-symbiote thing? I can envision villages having their morning 'staring at the sun' ritual to replenish their nutrients and such.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:31 No.14830163
    Dammit guys stop being awesome and making me retcon things.

    >>14830108
    I like the plant-bioweapon-symbiote thing. What should it be called? What does it make afflicted look like? Does it change the persons character? Mentality? Needs more delicious fluff
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:32 No.14830182
    Thank you /tg/. Threads like this make trawling through all the shit on this board worth while.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:33 No.14830187
    >>14830163
    Maybe you should stop retconning until we've stopped giving you ideas.

    Whenever that is.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)00:40 No.14830260
    >>14830163
    Well, just name them the 'Flower of ____' or some biblical/holy name. The afflicted's skin turns greenish, maybe green tints or flecks, sometimes breaking at some places to expose leaves which looks like grass.
    So they'll have grass-like hair in between their real hair or something... ooh, they could be a derivative of bamboo!
    As of mentality/personality... the original bioweapon is to pacify the enemy troops and consuming them inside out, so the benevolent grasshair strain would just mellow the villagers out, preferring peace instead of violence.
    It's like they're on some kind of diet ganja or something, all the time, after they get seeded.

    But of course, there are mutations, and unlucky ones might find themselves bursting into a tree... or a bamboo grove...
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:41 No.14830278
    >>14830260
    Like that scene in The Fountain.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:45 No.14830311
    >>14830260
    Some other changes might be present. The blood might turn greenish or black due to the presence of chlorophyll. Increased water intake and the ability to consume most soils for sustenance could also result. Continuing with the symbiote cliche, rapid healing, or even regeneration, could be possible.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:47 No.14830323
    A futuristic society would have a lot of space junk. Maybe mars has a colony that survived, but is unable to contact Earth through radio or similar means due to signal scattering and lack of Earthside know-how to receive. Flying a ship and landing would be considered a waste of resources considering anything passing through LEO would almost certainly get destroyed by micrometeorites.

    The satellite AIs would have been knocked out the same way, with a semi-local carrier or electronic warfare vehicle exerting limited control over its local area. The surviving overwatch AI could be moon based, exerting control only when the moon is overhead, and originally part of a larger satellite network, now disabled.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)00:47 No.14830330
    >>14830311
    >The blood might turn greenish or black due to the presence of chlorophyll.
    This is what causes the greenish tint in the skin! Fits perfectly, mon.
    >rapid healing, or even regeneration, could be possible.
    Only mutated strains which don't kill the host?
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:50 No.14830355
    >>14830323
    The moon based AI would tie in well with the religious aspect. Cults believing the moon is perhaps a goddess, creator of their salvation.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:52 No.14830365
    >>14830330
    Not right away at least. Shortened life expectancy due to cancer and replication errors.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)00:52 No.14830367
    >>14830323
    Ooh. 'Werewolf' walkers might be possible. When the Overwatch AI goes overhead, it receives contact, and acts on its new mission, but when the moon is not over it, it resumes normal programming (due to walker-side fault, maybe?).
    Maybe some walkers are used as 'mediums' to the moon god (AI) or something, and in actuality it's being used by the AI to contact earth or something. Perhaps there are lunar survivors who use this opportunity to contact earthmen?
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)00:57 No.14830420
    Not every society can afford the latest in computer technology. But, in this new age, where walkers are common and Overwatch is king, trying to defend yourself with T-34s and AK-47s is a non-starter. So how does a small, poor nation get ahead in a world of AI-controlled combat? Simple. Get a head.

    The human brain remains an extremely powerful, compact computing device, and is, in fact, the basis for modern neural net hardware. In a pinch, it could take over many AI functions, especially if paired with off-the-shelf parts to make up for certain pronounced deficiencies. In essence, you could just use a cyborg, combining the relative strengths of brain and computer while remaining cost-effective. The brain of an infant or young child would be ideal for use, due to plasticity. It is much easier to mold a young mind than an old one.

    Obviously, a human brain would not be as easy to back-up or repair as an AI. Therefore, any nation making use of cyborg controllers would have systems in place to provide for simple replacement of the core. In a combat situation, a walker with a damaged brain could still rely on basic automatic processes to seek out a suitable candidate for the pilot program.

    There is an added benefit in that poorer nations often have prodigious population growth rates. Shortages of material would be rare, until The End brought about the destruction of most of the world's walkers and the infliction of catastrophic damage on many that remained.

    A lot of those are going to be seeking replacement parts.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)00:58 No.14830428
    >>14830260
    Small blades of grass grow out of the scalp, poking through the hair of the afflicted, regrowing rapidly if cut. The persons skin takes on a green or brown tint and roughens, eventually developing into a tough, bark-like covering. Their blood thickens and darkens, the slower flow slowing down their movements and adding to their lethargy. The whites of the eyes take on a greenish tinge, chlorophyll tinting them. On the inside, the human's organs shift, the lungs contracting as the need for oxygen lessens, the kidneys expanding as water intake increases, and the stomach expands and changes to be able to process dirt and various decaying matters. One of the first signs of a successful infection is the noticeably longer period that a person can hold their breath; oxygen and CO2 both being breathable by the newly infected. As time goes on, CO2 becomes easier and easier to breath, while breathing oxygen makes the infected seem short of breath at all times. The reproductive organs are gradually shut down, and long time infected are sterile, only capable of producing small fungus like organisms.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:06 No.14830485
    >>14830330

    Oh christ, you're creating orks.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)01:07 No.14830498
    >>14830485
    naah. Orks are violent, and have the Waaaggghhh.

    We're making Dryads.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:11 No.14830537
    >>14830428
    I imagine the process would be flawed, due to its nature. Kills a good number of people for every one it converts like that. That is a LOT of things to have happen to a person successfully. If I was a player it would break suspension of disbelief for me.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:11 No.14830545
    >>14830428
    There is the slight issue that if the Changed could no logner reproduce, a village who all got infected by the plant would die out within a generation.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)01:14 No.14830566
    >>14830537
    What i described is what would happen if it managed to successfully run its course; most people die around the time their skin starts hardening, somewhere between the grass hair and serious organ shifting. Id say that their wounds (at least until the blood is more sap like) would actually heal very slowly, and wouldnt clot, so many would die due to infections or simply bleeding out. This society would likely breed young, die young, with a few elders managing to survive to be fully infected.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:14 No.14830567
    >>14830545
    Unless their lifespans were significantly increased by the symbiote.
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)01:15 No.14830583
    >>14830545
    The reproductive organs are the last to shut down, and they can still breed normally up till then. Few even survive till that point anyways.
    >> pax 05/06/11(Fri)01:16 No.14830591
    personally, i have to say i don't like the fungus idea at all. i mean, as a player, i would NOT want to play as one of those people
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:17 No.14830600
    >>14830591
    ...then don't.
    >> pax 05/06/11(Fri)01:19 No.14830618
    >>14830600
    i didn't mean for it to be a negative comment, i should have been more constructive
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:20 No.14830630
    >>14830618
    What would you change about it?
    >> pax 05/06/11(Fri)01:24 No.14830654
    >>14830630
    i would likely have fewer changes, likely limit it to chlorophyllic blood tinging the skin greenish, and a VERY laid back and submissive attitude. perhaps an inability to consume meat (if there even is any) over time
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:25 No.14830662
    >>14830545
    It would be a good flaw though: No longer hungry all the time, but no more kids for you!

    What about the prospect of autonomous terraforming stations? Created by Green party politics to limit mankind's damage to the Earth. Largely forgotten and nonfunctional now, but providing an occasional oasis in the desert. They would be eternally locked in struggles for possession. They could also be listed as a low priority objective for the walkers. Meaning humans might only be able to occupy one for as long as a walker would approach one in its wanderings.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:38 No.14830773
    maybe something happened, and earth is quarantined. some kid of high ambient rads and earth is off limits because too hot. the survivors are normal to themselves but freaks to the glorious SPAAAACCCCCEEEE MASTERRACE. your opinions?
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)01:42 No.14830798
    >>14830654
    I think a fungus would be the better choice than a plant. Transmission by spores. Microscopic colonies growing on a person's skin, eventually being accidentally ingested, where they take up residency in the small intestine. Fungus has a history of symbiotic relationships with pretty much every kingdom (biologic) and exist in digestive tracts already. Perhaps then it could create a yeast-like colony that would digest normally inedible biomass and would be consumed itself by the host. The passivization is not genetic or mind control, but the unintentional consumption of digestive by products (alcohol, THC, what have you).
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)01:51 No.14830862
    >>14830798
    Pretty much what I have in mind, but derived from bamboo. A fungus is fine too.
    >> Laughing Angel 05/06/11(Fri)01:56 No.14830912
    Reminds me a bit of Naasuca.

    We could have normal humans living in the wrecks of abandoned military bases, growing food from seeds salvaged from ancient greenhouses/hydroponics. We could see some unconventional primitive usage of advanced tech such as depleted guns serving as clubs or scrap-metal tools forged from bits of machinery. Still functioning items would either be regarded as holy artifacts or forbidden lore.

    The wandering Dryads would probably be seen as freaks, but relatively immune from the hardships of everyday life. Dryads would have a much longer lifespan, possibly live in definitely, but be unable to reproduce normally, forcing wandering populations to take on new members during their travels when their paths cross with old bases.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)02:23 No.14831118
    >>14830912
    you cant go wrong if it ends up kind of like NausicaƤ.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)02:29 No.14831171
    >>14830798
    How does this do anything helpful for the host? They'd still need to get resources *IN* to be able to produce anything useful, or anything at all... it doesn't solve the food problem. It could enable you to eat other stuff, but unless that other stuff is like bark, or grass, or something, I don't really see the point - we can already eat basically anything.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)02:35 No.14831206
         File1304663721.jpg-(197 KB, 1280x684, 1284804148105.jpg)
    197 KB
    So how does a civilization that is capable of creating self-sustained war machines running on evidently infinite fuel soruces manage to break out into a war over limited resources? If you've mastered space travel to the point where you've trivialized the earth-mars tripm and *bringing water* to mars, then you also have the ability to harvest basically whatever you'd need from nearby objects in space.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)02:36 No.14831226
    >>14831171
    How about it makes them hyper-intelligent and long-lived? The photosynthesis is also a plus. Or replace hyper-intelligent with psychokinesis or something like that. It enhances the mind.
    >> Indonesian Gentleman 05/06/11(Fri)02:40 No.14831252
    >>14831206
    Politics. The biggest cause of world wars. There's also greed. Infinite resources you say? Well if I get the other guys' infinite resource machine I'll have TWICE the amount of resources in less time! Let's WAR!
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)02:41 No.14831254
    >>14831206
    Compact nuclear batteries. Not infinite, just very long lasting. And the Mars/Earth trip isnt trivial, it takes months to get there and back, and its usually only flown by huge storage shuttles ferrying massive amounts of raw material to Earth, which is used up very quickly by the shuttleload. As for water/terraforming on Mars, its a gradual 3 century long process, involving prototype terraforming equipment, ice cap melting, new atmo manipulation tech, etc etc.
    >> Anonymous 05/06/11(Fri)03:16 No.14831512
    This is a good thread, nice work guys.

    As for the plant people... Idk fungus? Why not have the seed planted at the base of the neck, growing roots down the spine and leaves or vines from the back of the head.. hell throw a full flower on there if you want.

    The intended result is to paralyze the enemy as the roots painfully work their way down the spine, also borrowing leaf shoots or vines into the brain. Kinda a double kill.. cause you cant be too sure it aint dead.

    After a few generations of radiation exposure, to humans and whatever mother plant these seeds are coming from, plus survival of the fittest, and hereditary traits (I imagine the tribe was founded by a family unit, or has breed itself into one... reaffirming the need for outsider blood and new recruits, or chosen) the base of some mans skull was thicker than normal, the plant had been altered, its roots were rubbery (or borrowed out of the skin ((sweet back spikes))) and the leaves/vines also worked their way out. now exposed to sunlight they began a new path of development, not desperately seeking out all the resources the human host has, and a symbiotic relationship is formed.

    >>captcha DNA ingimund
    >> Rail 05/06/11(Fri)09:31 No.14833435
    Woah thread lasted this long. This is a lot of good ideas guys, and ill probably take all of this and refine it some for a more cohesive setting. Ill be back to tg sometime during the weekend with a nice timeline and some of the settlements and shit hashed out.

    >evedinin ferries
    alas the evedinin evening ferries me away
    (if the thread is still alive in 5 hours i will write more)



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