Telluric Waves by Statelet

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Harvey
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Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Harvey »

It's not a contest. I just want to know and think it would be good if we all said how the telluric waves are in our statelets. I came up with basic scales to judge them by.

Technology
1 - Primitive. Very lacking in technology. Basic metallurgy or crude engineering is possible but that's about it. Catapults, two-story houses, and iron swords are about as high as you can go.
2 - Medieval/Pre-Industrial. Buildings are sturdy and can be built tall. Some chemistry is understood, possibly up to dynamite. Coal may be used as an energy source.
3 - Modern. As in today, June of 2011. Certain items, like computers and iphones, are commodities, while there is other emerging technology that is still in development.
4 - Postmodern. What is reasonable to expect in the next hundred years or so if you have a decent sci-fi mind. Scary advances in genetics and computing.
5 - Far Future. What, in all likelyhood, Earth won't get to for a pretty long time. Easy space travel, technology-based teleportation, that sort of thing.

Magic, which includes things like wizardry, psionics, supernatural creatures, and the sort of technology that science will never approve of (ie steampunk)
1 - Nonmagical. Magical miracles that science cannot explain are possible but exceedingly rare and the public believes that science will come up with a reason sooner or later.
2 - Very low magical. Supernatural occurrences may be relatively common but are misunderstood or difficult to harness.
3 - Decently magical. Magic is believed in, though not necessarily easy to perform.
4 - Highly magical. Supernatural occurrences are common and believed in, though may still be under the control of an elite or a subbranch of culture.
5 - Magically saturated. Supernatural power is common and prevalent. Nearly everyone has it and it's a cornerstone of civilization. To go without is unthinkable and disastrous, akin to the world losing electric power all at once.

If you have areas with differing waves, try to describe as well as possible where the highs and lows are. If some of these categories don't fit very well, you can opt to weasel with the rankings a bit. So a technology of 2.3 would be closer to medieval than modern but still somewhere in the middle. Feel free to elaborate.

Earth, by definition of the rankings, is Tech: 3, Magic: 1

The Favored are Tech: 3.5, Magic: 2. They have some outright powerful genetic engineering at their disposal, as well as Matrix-esque mind dreamworlds, but they didn't "earn" it - they took it from First Bastion and are merely keeping it running. If it were to be destroyed, they'd be down to about 2.6 or so on technology.

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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Aryeztur »

Aryasht is Tech:2 (will become 3 in the future), Magic:2.
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Kallinn Ynnetrrr
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Kallinn Ynnetrrr »

Swnndyrrân Hallatekrrr is somewhere in the range of Tech: 3.1 and Magic: 1.5

We're probably 10-15 years ahead of earth tech-wise, our space program is hiding some of its more advanced stuff, but the public is probably just a 3.

There's a little magic, all in the hands of 2 or 3 magicians who can't do very much with it anyway.
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Carl Jackson »

Safiria is tech 4.7 and magic 3.3.

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Scott Alexander
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Scott Alexander »

So I was sort of thinking of splitting people up by continent.

Not against their will or anything, but making a policy that people who really want a certain kind of simulation are encouraged to go to a certain continent to be surrounded by neighbors and partners who feel the same way.

I was thinking that the eastern continent could be the place for Serious Real World Type Nations, the southern continent for Far Out Fantasy/Sci-Fi nations, and the northern continent the place for people who are somewhere in between. It's mostly ended out that way by coincidence, with a few exceptions like Col and Long Island.

Does this sound like a good idea to anyone?

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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Alicorn »

It sounds like a good idea to me.

Tech 2.5, Magic 4.2. But they're allowed to advance when I feel like it and magically cause the tellurics to fluctuate.

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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Aryeztur »

Yeah it seems to have ended out that way, good idea. It'll keep us from having ridiculous scenarios such as a super high tech sci fi army fighting a band of men with spears.
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Nathan »

Merveilles is Tech 2.3, architecturally similar to "medieval" styles but the assistance of Wonder allows for more fantastic elements otherwise not possible. Same for their personal tech, "medieval" level but greatly aided by Wondering to increase quality of life. No electronics, more akin to steampunk and clockwork for any sort of advanced tech they can Wonder.

Magic 4.5, Wondering can be done by anyone, but the quality of the Wonder depends on various factors. Also the four Houselands have different varieties of telluric waves which is manifest in a specialization of Wonderings (art for Amours, weapons for Matraques, etc).

I'm also content to have the northern continent be the catch-all continent :)
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Demon of Fides »

When I acquire more ECs, I intend to bridge nearly everywhere with lovely underground railroads. That shouldn't cause a problem with non-magical/non-tech nations, should it?

Colony is Tech 4 Magic 1
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Andreas the Wise »

TWSW are Tech 2.5, Magic 4ish. And yes, one day you will get more than just a notes thread about them. Really, I promise. Besides, my last exam is in a weeks time. =p
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Craitman »

Myëë Sëyëe (roughly):
Tech: 1.9
Magic: 3.4
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Illuminarch Nicholas »

By far, the Omega Complex is a Tech 5. Seeing as our entire goal is the advancement of science, it would be a shame if it wasn't. We are already testing genetic manipulation, instant transportation (limited for now, but should expand soon), and artificially-contained self-sustaining habitats and ecosystems, with more projects on the way.

To counter balance, Omega is like a Magic 0.5. We're not much into magic. Paranormal activities, events, and abilities can and should be explained by science. Religion is a coping technique that allows people to grasp things they don't understand.

Of course, that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to do some tests on those who have paranormal powers :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Shyriath »

Based entirely on what they've accomplished, Kennerext is around tech 2.5 and magic 1, and probably relatively evenly throughout.

But I think this kind of description might be a little ambiguous, in that it may not be wise to assume that a statelet that is at a certain level in either magic or tech is at the maximum possible level allowed by the local telluric field. A statelet might be at copper weaponry not because they've hit the ceiling, but because they lost the knowledge of how to do more and are still redeveloping... Or, for another example, suppose that a completely nonmagical society is that way not because magic isn't possible in their area, but because they've never been aware magic existed. (I've been considering letting the Deep Singers go down this route a little ways.)

Another thing we might want to think about, incidentally, is this: has anyone considered the implications of what happens when you try to take technology/magic originating in one place and try to bring it somewhere else? Does the telluric field only prevent something above a certain complexity from being created in a place, or does it keep it from functioning in a place? Because that would have enormous consequences, especially for anyone with a potentially wide-ranging presence (like the Colony) or who might want to embark on some conquering (like, apparently, some of the Favored). All the technological supremacy in the world won't help you, for example, if your anti-grav tanks start plowing into the ground on the other side of the mountain range, or if your train consistently breaks down at the same point on the tracks.

Weis and Hickman started a series of books based on this same idea, in which the galaxy was broken up into "quantum zones" with differing levels (and, in this case, types) of allowable magic and technology. The boundaries were more abrupt than I imagine the telluric field is, but the idea was the same: if you wanted to cross from one zone into another and still expect to function, you had to have tech or magic along that could cope with the new conditions. In our case, grouping similarly-rated statelets together avoids the worst of that, but any of them capable and willing to project their power over a distance is going to have to deal with the question.
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Harvey
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Harvey »

Shyriath wrote:But I think this kind of description might be a little ambiguous, in that it may not be wise to assume that a statelet that is at a certain level in either magic or tech is at the maximum possible level allowed by the local telluric field. A statelet might be at copper weaponry not because they've hit the ceiling, but because they lost the knowledge of how to do more and are still redeveloping... Or, for another example, suppose that a completely nonmagical society is that way not because magic isn't possible in their area, but because they've never been aware magic existed. (I've been considering letting the Deep Singers go down this route a little ways.)
Man, I never even thought of this. With me talking about how destruction of a building could bring down a telluric wave level... how does that even make sense? Um, yeah. Thanks. That's a really good point.
Another thing we might want to think about, incidentally, is this: has anyone considered the implications of what happens when you try to take technology/magic originating in one place and try to bring it somewhere else? Does the telluric field only prevent something above a certain complexity from being created in a place, or does it keep it from functioning in a place? Because that would have enormous consequences, especially for anyone with a potentially wide-ranging presence (like the Colony) or who might want to embark on some conquering (like, apparently, some of the Favored). All the technological supremacy in the world won't help you, for example, if your anti-grav tanks start plowing into the ground on the other side of the mountain range, or if your train consistently breaks down at the same point on the tracks.
I believe we're going on the latter approach; that is, technology or magic simply fails if it moves into a lower telluric area than was necessary to create it. So, if you create a gravtank and then move it into a low level tech area, it will experience breakdown after breakdown as the telluric fields tighten until it finally becomes little more than a lump of metal. But creating, say, a spear in a high telluric area wouldn't cause it to break or dull mysteriously in a low telluric field because the technology necessary to create the spear is very low. Something like that? I imagine stuff stays broken even if you pull it out of a low telluric area, but could be repaired if moved into a sufficiently high telluric area where the repair equipment can function.

Just my thoughts on it though. This is a pretty unexplored area, but it's going to be important for us to decide decisively on this one sooner or later if we want to have telluric clashes of sorts.

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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Orion »

Where, in your opinion, would steampunk fall across these two categories?

That's essentially what I'm going to be aiming for with Apollantis. Think crumbling Byzantine Empire but with airships, steam tanks, rocketeers, a little mix of supernatural, etc...

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Harvey
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Harvey »

Steampunk is probably something like Tech: 2, Magic: 3 or so. "Magic" in our situation is a vague, collective term that doesn't necessarily encompass all of wizardry and dragons and such. I kind of see it as an alternate set of rules totally independent from real science but no less powerful to those that understand it. You're gunna need some of that to make steampunk work.

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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Demon of Fides »

Oooh, idea! Scott, when you have extra time can you make a pretty little map with the waves ovlerlayed in colour? I image you could make a pretty easy opacity measure based on the numbers given... Anyone got any ideas?
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Alicorn »

I've been assuming that psions go on being psions anywhere (and that, for example, perturbers can push ships around anywhere in the world). It's going to screw up some of my assumptions if we assume otherwise.

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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Demon of Fides »

Perhaps we say the power is still there, just less accessible. So your psions would still have their power but it would require much more focus in Magic 1 or Gravtanks would still have plascanons and antigrav, but the power wouldn't always work, they'd be horribly unreliable but they'd still work.
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Re: Telluric Waves by Statelet

Post by Alicorn »

Huh. If that's how it works, it might make sense for Winged's low-control astrapitor to spend some time hanging out abroad in a low magic area so he's less prone to using his powers by accident. (It wouldn't make sense with his storyline for him to live there but perhaps such a location would be a good vacation spot.) I shall summon Winged.

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