A bit too weird, perhaps ?

[rust]

An idea for my Pandora setting's aliens, most probably influenced by a
dozen science fiction novels, and perhaps a bit too weird:

Imagine an aquatic species where only the young members of the species
were intelligent, while the adult ones turned into dangerous predators. A
long time ago this species had outposts on several planets, including Pan-
dora. Over the last millenia the species began to "devolve" and to split in-
to two closely related species, a smaller and now semi-intelligent species
and a bigger, extremely dangerous and quite stupid species of predators.
On most of the planets where the species once was present only the big
predators remain, the smaller sub-species exists only on the species' ori-
ginal homeworld, where it is now hunted by its big relatives.

Visiting this homeworld of the species, the characters can easily discover
that the big predators are the same species as those found in the polar
seas of Pandora, and that the smaller species is closely related. They can
also discover the few remnants of the planet's past civilization, but these
remnants give no indication what exactly the aliens looked like - and the
aliens themselves seem to have disappeared, just as on Pandora.

The marine biologists will most probably take a few members of the small
semi-intelligent species to Pandora, where they are likely to become use-
ful assistants for the aquafarmers (much like the dolphins) as well as pets.
Only after a series of other adventures with more pieces of the puzzle can
the characters realize that their trained pets indeed are the aliens they
have been searching for all the time ...

A bit too weird, perhaps ? :?

 

[Blix]

That seems reasonable to me. There is no requirement for aliens to be what we would consider "normal", after all!

Also, there are actually some species on Earth that become "stuck" in their juvenile forms (I forget which ones they are. I think they are aquatic though). It doesn't seem unreasonable to posit that this could have happened to this species, which explains the existence of the smaller semi-intelligent species. It also might be possible that the opposite genetic switch could be flipped, causing some to be born as "young predatory adults" rather than going through the intelligent juvenile stage first.

I suppose the problem would be explaining what happened to the species that had both those stages. Perhaps a mutation caused the "genetic switch" to go from allowing both stages to exist in an individual's life to only allowing it to be one or the other for its entire life? Though I can't think of a reason for that to affect the whole species at the same time.

I think the issue would be the timescale though; perhaps have the divergence happen tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago rather than just in the past 1000 years?

 

[rust]

I think the issue would be the timescale though; perhaps have the divergence happen tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago rather than just in the past 1000 years?

Thank you, a good idea.

Looking at my setting's historical timeline, I can move it back to about
30,000 years before the present without problems, so I will do that.

 

[far-trader]

Sounds vaguely familiar* but that's not a bad thing or necessarily due to you reading it before

Lots of good stuff to work with in even that brief description. And far from "too weird" so no worries there.

* but I can't recall specifics to start looking for sources

 

[rust]

Lots of good stuff to work with in even that brief description. And far from "too weird" so no worries there.

Thank you.

 

[alex_greene]

Bear in mind that an OTU precedent exists for this sort of thing: the Chirpers, the Droyne and the Ancients.

 

[rust]

Bear in mind that an OTU precedent exists for this sort of thing: the Chirpers, the Droyne and the Ancients.

Ah, I see, this could very well have been where the idea came from - I
knew I had somehow "borrowed" it somewhere.

However, since my setting is non-Third Imperium, and as far as I know
the players never encountered the Droyne etc. in any setting, this should
cause no problems - but I will take care to focus on the differences, just
in case.

Thank you for the hint.

 

[Dave Chase]

Star Marines (by Ian Douglas) trilogy has some aquatic aliens in the first book. As they mature the phyiscally revert back to their 'tadpole' form.

Also in that series their is no Jump like Traveller so it takes decades to get where they are going (the nearest star systems).

Dave Chase

 

[rust]

Star Marines (by Ian Douglas) trilogy has some aquatic aliens in the first book. As they mature the phyiscally revert back to their 'tadpole' form.

Interesting, I will see if I can find the book somewhere.

By the way, the small semi-intelligent sub-species, the Kanga, will look
a bit like this here, although their first pair of fins can also be used as
manipulators:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fileolichorhynchops_BW.jpg

And the current stats:

Kanga : Str 10, Dex 12, End 10, Int 2, Inst 11, Pack 8
Hunter, 200 kg - all seas, all depths
Skills: Recon 2, Melee 1, Survival 2
Sonic Weapon (1D6), Bite (1D6), Scales (1), Number 2D6

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Something like a CME or a cell-damaging X-ray burst could be the underlying cause for the "switch on/off" of the genes responsible.

Will the colonists consider getting in specialists to uplift the aliens?

 

[rust]

Something like a CME or a cell-damaging X-ray burst could be the underlying cause for the "switch on/off" of the genes responsible.

A good idea. At the moment I am not yet sure whether I would prefer a
natural cause of that kind or an unnatural one, like some biological warfa-
re, that could be connected with a next potentially interesting mystery:
Who did it to the aliens, and why ?

Will the colonists consider getting in specialists to uplift the aliens?

I do not think so, I have not written any uplifted species into the setting,
even the colony's dolphins are not uplifted. However, it could be that the
characters come up with the idea, for example in the hope that an uplifted
Kanga could find it easier to comprehend the few artefacts of his ances-
tor's aquatic civilization than a human.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Sounds vaguely familiar* but that's not a bad thing or necessarily due to you reading it before

Lots of good stuff to work with in even that brief description. And far from "too weird" so no worries there.

* but I can't recall specifics to start looking for sources

James White star surgeon series had an encounter between a star ambulance and a wreck. On the wreck they found a large violent species from a death world who's unborn young were telepathic to learn all they could in the womb before being born stupid so that pure instinc alone keeps them alive on such a dangerous planet.

The other species was a blind borrowing type that used the telepathic unborn to see. This may have been called star ambulance.

Any awake biologist who finds a direct conection between species on two seperate worlds should be dancing in the corridors or sitting down somewhere trying to draw breath. In a game with no non human life this is a vast discovery.

If the players don't get the connection perhaps some of the artifacts from the ruins could activate in the presence of the semi sentient types. Having a working advanced sensor that needs you to also carry a few of the semi sentients with you to make it work

Besides which a planet is a huge place, a water world is so vast it will take centuries to explore. Who is to say that somewhere the old race still hides. Finding a still working artifact from 100,000 years ago is incredible, but what if they finaly manage to date its strange super hard alloy and its only a 1000 years old :shock:

It doesn't matter if they are there or not, the dating result could easily be wrong or right. Its more stories and rumours. It adds depth to the game, here be dragons on the map. The players on pandora could get news of the findings from a visiting ship leaving them to speculate to thier hearts content. They know about the large predator species but have not seen the smaller ones till samples arrive a year or more later due to the infrequent ship visits.

In the mean time they find those strange chambers which realy do look artificial and can wonder about them till the ship brings the samples and pictures of the ruins on the world where the semi sentients were found which look remarkably the same as the pandora ones.

If you give two rumours or spacers tales for every fact then you either get lynched by your players or you build up a huge reserve of plot hooks and "hey wait isn't that?" momments.

 

[rust]

Thank you very much for your ideas.

Besides which a planet is a huge place, a water world is so vast it will take centuries to explore. Who is to say that somewhere the old race still hides.

Indeed. With 388 million square kilometers of ocean with an average
depth of 2.4 kilometers the colonists even cannot be sure that some
members of the old race do not still hide on Pandora itself, or that the
semi-intelligent sub-species really does not live here, too. :twisted:

"You know what that diver told me, she has seen one of them near the
coast of Bluesands, at the new wave power plant, and she is certain it
wore a kind of helmet and carried some strange device, and there was
that eerie blue light all around him - the Governor really should send
someone over to deal with them before something bad happens ..."

 

[kristof65]

Hmm. Some random thoughts:

- if adults "go feral", there may be some sort of transitional phase where this change happens. In all likelyhood, culturally there would be some sort of banishment ritual to expel individuals who are about to make the transition to dangerous predator. Evidence of those rituals may still exist (though likely no one could fathom what they really were).

- Unless, of course, the adults are still cognitive of and protective of their young, in which case the ritual may more of a farewell. One parallel I keep envisioning here is dealing with alzheimer patients. But you mentioned the smaller species was hunted by the bigger one, so this doesn't seem likely.

- the devolution here may be self inflicted. A short lived intellegent species who knew they devolved into a stupid dangerous predator may seek ways to lengthen their own period of sentience. A little genetic tampering gone awry, and you could have the present situation.

- you could take it even further and make the technology base of the civilization organic based - their tools are actually engineered species to perform various tasks. IMO, an aquatic species might very well depend on organic technology, simply because of the harshness of the environment. This could lead to a confusing array of similar and unexplainable species/fossils on every world the civilization visited.

- you could further add to the puzzle by getting the geologists involved. Certain types of rock formations should contain certain types of minerals, etc. Imagine the geologists getting quite frustrated that an "ideal" spot for something like oil turns up completely dry. Not because they're wrong, but because the deposit was tapped out by the aquatic civilization a millennia ago.

 

[rust]

Hmm. Some random thoughts ...

Thank you very much for the many interesting ideas, I especially like the
organic technology and the depleted natural resources - excellent stuff
for a number of surprises.

By the way, after a look at Pandora's timeline there could also be another
one. When the aliens came to Pandora about 50.000 years ago, the planet
was much warmer, with smaller polar ice caps and therefore a higher sea
level. This means that the ruins of the main base of the aliens, which the
characters will doubtless try to find, do not have to be submerged, they
can now also be above the sea level on one of the northern islands that
emerged from the sea when the climate cooled down, more sea water be-
came a part of the polar ice caps and the sea level fell.

So, scanning the sea floor for ruins with the sonar sensors can turn up a
lot of interesting finds, but for the alien ruins the characters will have to
dig on an island ...

 

[Blix]

Bear in mind that an OTU precedent exists for this sort of thing: the Chirpers, the Droyne and the Ancients.

I'm pretty sure that something like what rust is suggesting happened in the Flare Star adventure available from e23, now you mention it.

 

[rust]

I'm pretty sure that something like what rust is suggesting happened in the Flare Star adventure available from e23, now you mention it.

Thank you for the hint, I have to take a look at it.

 

[kristof65]

So, scanning the sea floor for ruins with the sonar sensors can turn up a lot of interesting finds, but for the alien ruins the characters will have to dig on an island ...

I love that - we're so used to human ruins being found underwater, but that of an aquatic race being found above water is a great idea.

The 3 dimensionality of an aquatic race's thinking should lead to some interesting architecture - you could probably put the ruins in plain sight, and still not have them be obvious as to what they were. FREX, rooms with "doors" on the floor, no stairways at all, no balcony railings, etc to give away the fact that something is a "building".

Being underwater, there would probably be little evidence of plumbing either - I'd bet that an aquatic race's version of plumbing would be areas of forced water streams/currents to carry away things like sewage and garbage.

Furthermore, an aquatic race probably wouldn't have anything recognizable as a chair or bed. Above water, that could be quite puzzling to someone trying to figure out the race's anatomy based on their architecture and furnishings.

If there was an organic technology base, even light fixtures and such wouldn't be recognizable - imagine a globe filled with engineered bio-luminescent bacteria that glow when they 'hear' a certain frequency/pattern and stop glowing when a second different frequency is sent to them. A species who are capable of emitting specific frequencies directionally (not unlike Dolphins) could enter a room, click a frequency/pattern to turn on the light, and emit a second one to turn it off. No need for electrical wiring, or any type of control panel. Above water this globe would probably be dried out and dead, but underwater could provide a mystery in and of itself.

 

[rust]

The 3 dimensionality of an aquatic race's thinking should lead to some interesting architecture - you could probably put the ruins in plain sight, and still not have them be obvious as to what they were.

I think the first evidence that the characters have found the ruins will only
be the material used, because it will be no locally available material, and
not the shape of any remnants, as the characters will hardly be able to
comprehend what something of any shape could have been used for by
an alien aquatic race.

As for the material, a nice idea could be genetically modified "coral" that
grows faster when fed with a nutrient fluid, and can be shaped because it
grows in the direction where most of the nutrient is applied (or something
like that).

A find like this one is not as spectacular as a disintegrator gun, but on a
water world with underwater construction projects the DNA of the "coral"
could turn out to be much more valuable - enough to make the characters
famous (if they gift their discovery to the colony) or wealthy (if they pre-
fer to produce "coral" and nutrient or sell the information).

 

[kristof65]

I think the first evidence that the characters have found the ruins will only be the material used, because it will be no locally available material, and not the shape of any remnants, as the characters will hardly be able to comprehend what something of any shape could have been used for by an alien aquatic race.

While the characters may not be able to comprehend what the shapes are used for, the shapes themselves could still be the first clue. Above land, it's very likely that any sort of underwater ruins would look out of place - FREX, imagine aliens running across the Cadillac Ranch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cadillac_Ranch.jpg) here on earth. They don't have to know anything to know that something is out of place.