|
|
Post by contributor on Oct 15, 2017 5:31:31 GMT -5
Ok, maybe this is borrowing too heavily from Dwarf Fortress, but it would add a lot of depth to the life of my crew if there were some more intimate relationships formed between them. As tends to happen these relationships might lead to the appearance of more little humans.
There would be lots of implications of all this that aren't worth putting down right now, because I realize that possibility of this happening is pretty low. I would though, see young crew members as being present on the ship but not contributing any skill points to anything. They might even get killed in combat which would have a morale effect on their families. At some point (age 18?) there would be a moment of decision for the youth and the captain. The youth might ask to join the crew or they might simply get off at the next stop or stop of their faction. If they want to join the crew, the captain would have the opportunity of making them a crew member.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sinocelt on Oct 15, 2017 8:47:47 GMT -5
Romance? Maybe. Babies that might get killed? That's asking for a loooot of trouble. If there's ever a romance+babies option in STF, in some far future, I'm guessing it'll take the form of a "story mission"; then the offspring will stay with the contact until old enough to either become a contact himself/herself or become playable as a new captain. Of course, being the pessimistic clod that I am, I can imagine problems with romance too. Can you romance someone of the same gender as your captain? Whether the answer is "yes" or "no," you can expect minor flame wars. I should stress out that I like your idea, and welcome anything that would further my (currently low) emotional involvement with SFT. But you can expect people to be people.  |
|
|
|
Post by MintDragon on Oct 15, 2017 11:45:26 GMT -5
contributor Would be a cool discussion to have on the Star Traders fiction thread. Debate on children, ages, impact. ex. if spacers live hundreds of years, wouldn't the babies age at an incredibly slow pace? You'd be feeding them strained carrots for a 100 years! :-)
|
|
|
|
Post by fallen on Oct 15, 2017 12:29:47 GMT -5
If you read No Legacy Between the Stars, you'll find the first mate worrying about the loss of a crew member because she will need to tell his wife and son back onboard the ship - www.tresebrothers.com/fiction/ |
|
|
|
Post by contributor on Oct 16, 2017 15:23:29 GMT -5
I know babies don't seem like a wise decision on a Star Ship, but from a realism standpoint unless the Captain has total control of reproductive right of his crew it's going to happen. Especially when you consider that the crews of ST ships are even more tied to the ship than modern ship crews who get more extensive shore-leave and can have families off-boat. Maybe there's some lore though about swearing off family when you become a spacer, or how the hyper-warp engines fry everyone's doodads.
|
|
|
|
Post by fallen on Oct 16, 2017 15:42:24 GMT -5
If you consult the lore book on the effects of living near a void engine, you'll see that aging is completely messed up in its proximity. You can understand how that would have very bad effects on a newborn (you stay newborn for 8 years ...). We'll update the section on the void engine's effect on fertility.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cory Trese on Oct 16, 2017 15:42:51 GMT -5
The Void Engine interferes terribly with human metabolism. It slows the aging process dramatically and shuts down most natural processes.
That's why you need special Doctors, and why Star Traders mostly eat spiced foods. Spice helps greatly with the negative effects of Void Engine work -- but the Void Engine is a harsh master and permits the body no such luxury as fertility.
There will be no babies in Star Traders RPG. Babies are for gravs. This is a harsh world of pain and suffering, loss and terror.
Children, family, food, comfort and growing old in peace ... those are the things of the grav worlds, the zones. Go, retire, live out your life if that is what you want.
Me, I will keep my hands on the nav stone and my eyes to the void ... searching ... always searching ...
|
|
|
|
Post by contributor on Oct 16, 2017 15:52:25 GMT -5
My frame of reference for babies is Dwarf Fortress so I don't think you're going to convince me that any thing worse could happen to them on a Starship, but I'm not really arguing for this, it just for fun.
|
|
|
|
Post by fallen on Oct 16, 2017 15:59:19 GMT -5
Not a part of the game we are trying to emulate, and don't want to break with established ST lore over it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brutus Aurelius on Oct 16, 2017 19:57:26 GMT -5
The Void Engine interferes terribly with human metabolism. It slows the aging process dramatically and shuts down most natural processes. That's why you need special Doctors, and why Star Traders mostly eat spiced foods. Spice helps greatly with the negative effects of Void Engine work -- but the Void Engine is a harsh master and permits the body no such luxury as fertility. There will be no babies in Star Traders RPG. Babies are for gravs. This is a harsh world of pain and suffering, loss and terror. Children, family, food, comfort and growing old in peace ... those are the things of the grav worlds, the zones. Go, retire, live out your life if that is what you want. Me, I will keep my hands on the nav stone and my eyes to the void ... searching ... always searching ... A) What's a Nav stone? B) Weren't there young children on the ship in No Legacy Between the Stars? |
|
|
|
Post by fallen on Oct 16, 2017 20:27:32 GMT -5
B) Weren't there young children on the ship in No Legacy Between the Stars? What would be considered "adult children" could come onboard. That age range varies by Faction and Captain, but 14-18? |
|
|
|
Post by Cory Trese on Oct 16, 2017 23:29:08 GMT -5
Continuity is hard.
EDIT: (Literally no one said it was sterilizing people. LOL where did that even come from???)
|
|
|
|
Post by contributor on Oct 17, 2017 12:25:16 GMT -5
Not a part of the game we are trying to emulate, and don't want to break with established ST lore over it. This is just for discussion sake. I totally understand not incorporating this into the game from a mechanics stand point. The lore issue is tricky though. Some of the lore says that a star trader's license can be passed down hereditary lines. That's pretty hard to do if everyone's parts are turned into toast by the void engine. And even if a Star Trader did have child at some point, and left them on the planet, they would easily outlive their heirs, unless they're passing it on to their children's children's children. It's pretty odd to think about really. Imagine a mom telling her son, "You're great, great, great grandfather just sent me word that he landed. Let's go see him. He can tell us stories about your great, great grandfather when he was boy, God rest his soul."" Also didn't all the Star Traders once fly in the hive ships to the new quadrants? Did they all wear lead underwear the whole way? Otherwise it would seem that the result would be mass sterilization and the extinction of the Star Traders? I'm really hoping it's just game mechanics, because that lets me hold out hope for ST3 |
|
|
|
Post by ntsheep on Oct 17, 2017 12:56:14 GMT -5
Those are some of the things I was thinking also contributor. I mean in ST1, you got your ship from your father. The problem with some of the lore getting added to new games is it contradicts some of the old. One of the main reasons for working on a lore book and wiki. But who cares about that stuff. THE GAME IS FUN!!! |
|
|
|
Post by fallen on Oct 17, 2017 13:52:05 GMT -5
Hmmm, let me 'splain. 1. Just because Star Traders can live a long time, doesn't mean they do. See for reference your own Captains on impossible. Therefore, its very reasonable that you could inherit a ship from a father. 2. If we have used the word hereditary, it is meant that a Star Traders license is kept within a family or a cohort. Not specifically that it is passed from parent to child. 3. contributor - yes, this exactly -- "Imagine a mom telling her son, 'You're great, great, great grandfather just sent me word that he landed. Let's go see him. He can tell us stories about your great, great grandfather when he was boy, God rest his soul.'" -- gravs and spacers are very different and eternally separated by this very possibility. People who truly live out very long lives in space are set apart from those gravs that age below them. These are Star Traders. 4. On the last point, we used language a little too simple above without being clear. "Close proximity to a Void Engine has harsh effects and interferes with metabolism. It slows the aging process dramatically and shuts down most natural processes. Star Traders and their crew need specially trained Doctors and why their diets are so high in spice-rich foods. Spice helps greatly with the negative effects of Void Engine work. While a male or female is living in constant, close proximity to a Void Engine, they become temporarily infertile, unable to conceive children." 4a. Hive ships in the Exodus are very large. Star Trader ships by comparison are extremely small. The people on Hive Ships were not in close proximity to Void Engines. The ships were too large. Those thousands of crew assigned to the engine compartments likely suffered these consequences. 4b. Star Traders and spacers who relinquish the lifestyle go on to have children. They can have children if they take extended breaks from their profession, or have a wife, husband or lover who lives on world who they visit occasionally if they stay long enough. 4c. For some spacers, the experience of leaving the field of a Void Engine is pleasant, a nice return to the ground. However, something in the back of their mind starts itching for them to get back to space soon. For other spacers, this is a painful, sickening experience often called Gravity Sickness. I hope that helps. I will work on porting this into the lore book. |
|
