Uplifted Dolphins

[locarno24]

Okay..... random thoughts triggered both by someone lending me a copy of the Uplift books (not had a chance to read it yet, though) and by looking at the rulebook, where it's talking about default stats for uplifted dolphins.

Was thinking; if I was going to throw these into a campaign, how would I go about it?

What ground rules do you see there being for their TL, society, history, etc, if I want to include them in a 3I setting (albeit as a minor polity)?

Any thoughts are more than welcome!




Initial thoughts:

History - if in doubt, blame the ancients. Yaskodray and his merry minions are the only (confirmed) group to have successfully uplifted races to sentience. Interesting that Vargr have come out more intelligent than Dolphins, though.

That means the race would have been about since ancient times, and hence could potentially have just about any TL, depending on what they came through the final wars with.


TL - There is, I think, an operable minimum, driven by the No Fine Manipulators trait. Any computer, industrial process, etc, must be voice or neural controllable, or else be intelligent enough to operate on its own. Drones and Intellect programmes a-go-go.

Equally, augmentations allow you to make up for the weak characteristics.

Stunners would probaby be a default weapon as a sonic attack is a concept that comes naturally to a dolphin (hell, a microphone, high TL amp and directional speaker and you're good to go!)

Wouldn't mind plundering some of Rust's notes on amphibious starships as logically they'd be designed to land and then submerge.

Also - dry environment vac suits. I have no idea what a dolphin in combat armour or (god forbid) battle dress is going to look like, but I can't help thinking of James Pond games. Added legs? Grav systems to 'swim' in the air?


Planets - I know the default rules don't really have anything affect population, and there's no reason that dolphins should be any more affected per se. However, hydrographics becomes key. Relatively low-g worlds are fine provided they can retain a sea, and panthalassic worlds are a dream come true.

Ships - this is an interesting thought. Presumably the ships would be 'flooded' - which offers up several interesting questions. Firstly, that means a massive increase in inertia (although the Traveller rules only deal with volume, not mass - having your cargo bay and jump fuel tanks empty don't make you faster), but also means you're carrying dTons and dTons of water - which contains hydrogen. Lots of it.

 

[rust]

There is an interesting post on Dolphins over on CotI:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?s=14d702596f8c87945fe71ca68f27abf7&p=378331

I would also recommend "Startide Rising", one of Brin's Uplift universe no-
vels, as one of the best researched and thought through sources for intel-
ligent dolphins in science fiction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startide_Rising

Also very interesting and useful, and almost a scholarly treatment for a
roleplaying game supplement, is "Ancient Echoes" for the Blue Planet ga-
me:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=57269&filters=0_0_40050_0

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

CT had the Solomani uplift Dolphins and Apes, so I don't think you are restricted to just Ancients. Not sure how "official" that is for an MGT game though, up to you.

IF you go with the Ancients, or even Humans, why would they not be modified to have fine manipulators? The front fin could be slip to allow fingers and even an opposable thumb while still having the webbing needed for swimming, maybe not as well as their unUplifted cousins, but good enough.

If you don't go that way, then HOW does a race bypass all the lower Tech Level stuff to get to voice activated TL8? You can't really build voice activated stuff until you can make microcircuits, which you can't make without hands.

In the Reformation Coalition (TNE) they had a race called the Schalli, they were basically Dolphins with long whiskers that could be used to manipulate things; Dolphins could be modified to have something like that as well instead of hands.

As for combat armour, once they get to TL5-6, they will be able to develop Wetsuits which would allow them to move on land. At first they probably used wheeled vehicles, but once Contra-Grav was developed, I could see that taking over for them.

Their ships would be flooded during normal travel, but would be in a Vacuum, like Human ships during combat.

 

[GypsyComet]

The uplifted Dolphins (and Orca) of Traveller Canon were geneered by Humaniti, not the Ancients. They have certainly expanded during the Third Imperium, but I don't recall offhand if they were around during the Second.

While they can function in special suits above water, they are still aquatic by default. They do have "fingers" on their main fins.

Placing them is easy. In your chosen campaign area, look at any world with a Hydro of 7 or higher. If the world has Atmo 5, 6, or 8, and a non-isolationist government, there is a good chance that the world has at least a Phin scientist or four. They have settled enmass as far from Terra as the Marches, so settlements are likely anywhere the water tastes right.

 

[rust]

Dolphin societies would probably be as varied as human societies. The
main differences could be that dolphins are a little more playful and a
lot less prudish than humans, otherwise dolphin societies would not ne-
cessarily be much different from human ones.

The two most common misconceptions I have seen in descriptions of dol-
phins in roleplaying games are the "pacifist dolphin" and the "dolphin as
fish".

Dolphins are predators, hunting and killing prey is normal for them. They
can be as brutal and cruel as any other predator, for example the males
of some of the bigger dolphin species regularly rape and kill members of
smaller dolphin species. The orcas, certainly the most efficient hunter-kil-
lers of the sea, are a dolphin species. So, no harmless cousins of Flipper,
dolphins are at least as dangerous as humans.

Dolphins are air breathing surface dwellers. They rarely dive beyond 200
meters, and the sea below 300 meters is as alien to them as it is to hu-
mans. If you want to have dolphins around those domed cities on the sea
floor, you have to give them diving hardsuits with artificial gills.

 

[GypsyComet]

The two most common misconceptions I have seen in descriptions of dolphins in roleplaying games are the "pacifist dolphin" and the "dolphin as fish".

Part of the first probably comes from the same source uplifted Phins do, Brin's Startide Rising. As an ongoing uplift project, the Phins are also being molded as a race that will work with Man, work together, and pull its own weight. That would lead to removal of some of the more brutal carnivore traits over time. The book made the continuing brutal behavior of the uplifted orcas something of a plot point.

Give the geneers enough generations, or simply tailor the behaviors to the tasks, and it ceases to be an issue. The increased intelligence and scope of environment also will, over time, naturally submerge the rule of instinct.

As for the "fish" thing, I suspect the misconception may have migrated over from the whales, some of whom can go *very* deep.

Another SF book to read for Phins would be Alan Dean Foster's Cachalot. Foster's Phins aren't uplifted, however; they were always smart. They and the whales just decided that enough was enough, made it clear to humanity that they were intelligent, established communications, and demanded a planet of their own...

 

[rust]

Ships - this is an interesting thought. Presumably the ships would be 'flooded' ...

In my settings the ships which carry dolphins have higher decks (at least
4 meters instead of the usual 3 meters) and wider corridors (at least ca.
2 meters). Approximately 3 meters of each deck are flooded, 1 meter is
filled with breathable air. There are no staterooms, only common rooms
- the more open space, the better.

Zero-G conditions are not possible unless the dolphins have breathing
gear or are in vac suits, otherwise there would be a high risk that they
would drown.

A volume of 1 dton which is 75 % filled with water would have a mass of
ca. 10 tons, so together with the mass of the hull, the engines and all the
other stuff a "dolphin-capable" ship usually should have enough mass to
submerge without needing ballast tanks, and the gravitic maneuver drive
could be used to keep it floating or to move it on or under the water.

An important difference between an aquafitted human ship and a dolphin
ship probably would be that humans would want airlocks and cargo doors
above the waterline of a floating ship, while dolphins would want them be-
low the waterline. Both types of ships would need underwater sensors, so-
me kind of high tech imaging sonar.

 

[Solomani666]

You should find everything you want to know about the subject here:


The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #6
The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #7


If you can't find them PM me.

I don't see why you would bother really. As soon as the dolphins see trouble they are just going to thank you and leave the planet.

.

 

[locarno24]

I don't see why you would bother really. As soon as the dolphins see trouble they are just going to thank you and leave the planet.

Naturally. They are much smarter than humans, after all.

If you don't go that way, then HOW does a race bypass all the lower Tech Level stuff to get to voice activated TL8? You can't really build voice activated stuff until you can make microcircuits, which you can't make without hands.

Which is why I suppose they can only really exist as an uplifted race - you get to bypass the basics.

As for combat armour, once they get to TL5-6, they will be able to develop Wetsuits which would allow them to move on land. At first they probably used wheeled vehicles, but once Contra-Grav was developed, I could see that taking over for them.

You know, once you're at this level, you don't really need the water at all - as noted, they breathe air, so provided you've got a pool 'in your quarters' for when you're out of gravsuit, there might be something to be said for an all-air environment - no risks of drowning.

I would also recommend "Startide Rising", one of Brin's Uplift universe no-
vels, as one of the best researched and thought through sources for intel-
ligent dolphins in science fiction

See previous comment. That's what started this off!

The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #6
The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #7

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?s=14d702596f8c87945fe71ca68f27abf7&p=378331

The uplifted Dolphins (and Orca) of Traveller Canon were geneered by Humaniti, not the Ancients. They have certainly expanded during the Third Imperium, but I don't recall offhand if they were around during the Second.

While they can function in special suits above water, they are still aquatic by default. They do have "fingers" on their main fins.

Placing them is easy. In your chosen campaign area, look at any world with a Hydro of 7 or higher. If the world has Atmo 5, 6, or 8, and a non-isolationist government, there is a good chance that the world has at least a Phin scientist or four. They have settled enmass as far from Terra as the Marches, so settlements are likely anywhere the water tastes right.

Thank you all for the references. The name Phin is worth knowing.

The two most common misconceptions I have seen in descriptions of dol-
phins in roleplaying games are the "pacifist dolphin" and the "dolphin as
fish".

Dolphins are predators, hunting and killing prey is normal for them. They
can be as brutal and cruel as any other predator, for example the males
of some of the bigger dolphin species regularly rape and kill members of
smaller dolphin species. The orcas, certainly the most efficient hunter-kil-
lers of the sea, are a dolphin species. So, no harmless cousins of Flipper,
dolphins are at least as dangerous as humans.

Dolphins are air breathing surface dwellers. They rarely dive beyond 200
meters, and the sea below 300 meters is as alien to them as it is to hu-
mans. If you want to have dolphins around those domed cities on the sea
floor, you have to give them diving hardsuits with artificial gills.

That isn't a misconception I suffer from Dolphins are intelligent - and I'm fully aware that one very common component of intelligence (most predatory apes, humans and dolphins) is enjoying hurting things for fun.



Hmm...... find myself wanting to design a phin corsair. Or, for that matter, put a phin in command of a pirate ship*. If only to see the player's faces.

* Eye patch, of course. Although in this case it would probably be an implant of some sort.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

You should find everything you want to know about the subject here:


The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #6
The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #7


If you can't find them PM me.

I don't see why you would bother really. As soon as the dolphins see trouble they are just going to thank you and leave the planet.

.

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!