While I was kicking around an idea on the small scale for a Spinward Marches campaign... I found myself getting more interested in a completely different larger-scale idea. At the moment, I'm hoping that people more creative than I (Probably most of you, haha. I'm a tweaker, not an innovator) might have some thoughts about what I might need to look into with regards to fleshing something out.
To begin, I'm your prototypical 80's kid, so the television re-imagining of "V" is somewhere between awesome and sacreligious. I work nights, so I'll probably end up having to wait 'til DVD to see the entire thing, but it did get my brain working.
I'm thinking of developing an arc of human history starting with something similar in the modern day and then progressing with various analogies to various landmarks of human oppression over the subsequent 'However Long it Takes'. I'm thinking of a split in the human race, each taking different historical parallels, over the course of a few centuries.
I. A New World
TL:8 Earth. Roughly modern day, possibly near-future. Earth is "invaded". I'm not thinking the aliens having any devious secret plan or anything. Humanity is their first "alien" contact, and this system is one of their first colonial efforts -- The first with native life. Possible ethical divides within their ranks, but in the end, the result is the effective subjugation of humanity.
The aliens aren't necessarily cruel or "evil", though individual variation certainly provides the opportunity for such (Medical Experiment Camp, anyone?). There are likely pockets of resistance, turncoats, and intrigue. There is no magic Independence Day Computer Virus, however, and the aliens are the new bosses for the indefinite future.
I'm picturing a race in the 'Early Stellar' or 'Average Stellar' range. Technology sufficient to put a bootstomp down on silly primative earthlings, but no gargantuan galactic power or any such. TL:11 or so? Likely from a slightly different natural environment so some "terraforming" process might be implemented.
II. Divide and Conquer
A significant portion of Humanity, once some "stable" equilibrium is reached, and some studies are conducted, etc... is returned to the alien homeworld.
Thus, we end up with a couple branches for the development of these human-alien shared histories. Obvious allusions are the histories of Native Americans for the 'Earth' humans and African Americans for the 'Alien Planet' humans.
Ideas for development bounce all over the place. Could there eventually be emancipation? Would the humans eventually be accepted as equals thanks to the efforts of 'Human Rights' advocates? Or would they remain forever second-class citizens? Or even less than that? Perhaps the aliens decide the best use for humans is as the canary-in-the-mine for further colonization efforts? (The new 'chimpanzee cosmonauts'.) Send a handful of humans to colonize the promising new world... if they survive, we can move in! If not... well, it's not like they're important, we can breed more.
What about the humans back home? Would they fare as "well" as the humans taken to the higher-tech world? What cultural differences might emerge? Does an utterly crushed population have the ability to return to prominence?
Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!
To begin, I'm your prototypical 80's kid, so the television re-imagining of "V" is somewhere between awesome and sacreligious. I work nights, so I'll probably end up having to wait 'til DVD to see the entire thing, but it did get my brain working.
I'm thinking of developing an arc of human history starting with something similar in the modern day and then progressing with various analogies to various landmarks of human oppression over the subsequent 'However Long it Takes'. I'm thinking of a split in the human race, each taking different historical parallels, over the course of a few centuries.
I. A New World
TL:8 Earth. Roughly modern day, possibly near-future. Earth is "invaded". I'm not thinking the aliens having any devious secret plan or anything. Humanity is their first "alien" contact, and this system is one of their first colonial efforts -- The first with native life. Possible ethical divides within their ranks, but in the end, the result is the effective subjugation of humanity.
The aliens aren't necessarily cruel or "evil", though individual variation certainly provides the opportunity for such (Medical Experiment Camp, anyone?). There are likely pockets of resistance, turncoats, and intrigue. There is no magic Independence Day Computer Virus, however, and the aliens are the new bosses for the indefinite future.
I'm picturing a race in the 'Early Stellar' or 'Average Stellar' range. Technology sufficient to put a bootstomp down on silly primative earthlings, but no gargantuan galactic power or any such. TL:11 or so? Likely from a slightly different natural environment so some "terraforming" process might be implemented.
II. Divide and Conquer
A significant portion of Humanity, once some "stable" equilibrium is reached, and some studies are conducted, etc... is returned to the alien homeworld.
Thus, we end up with a couple branches for the development of these human-alien shared histories. Obvious allusions are the histories of Native Americans for the 'Earth' humans and African Americans for the 'Alien Planet' humans.
Ideas for development bounce all over the place. Could there eventually be emancipation? Would the humans eventually be accepted as equals thanks to the efforts of 'Human Rights' advocates? Or would they remain forever second-class citizens? Or even less than that? Perhaps the aliens decide the best use for humans is as the canary-in-the-mine for further colonization efforts? (The new 'chimpanzee cosmonauts'.) Send a handful of humans to colonize the promising new world... if they survive, we can move in! If not... well, it's not like they're important, we can breed more.
What about the humans back home? Would they fare as "well" as the humans taken to the higher-tech world? What cultural differences might emerge? Does an utterly crushed population have the ability to return to prominence?
Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!
