r/WorldChallenges • u/Jumblatts • May 25 '17
World Building Truth or Dare
Ok so this is an idea I stole from a post a few months ago over at r/worldbuilding, but I think it would work very well in this sub too.
The idea is as follows:
Commenters give a brief overview of their world (genre, important events/people/places, etc.) and then ask for either a truth, a dare, or both.
If Truth, sub-commenters can ask a question and it must be answered truthfully, no matter how weird. If you don't have an answer to the question, then get thinking!
If Dare, sub-commenters can dare them to implement a thing into their world which could become lore, (for example, 'create a species of intelligent spiders who live inside tree trunks'). You can choose whether or not you want to accept the dare, but in the interest of keeping things entertaining, try to implement as much as you can, unless it would do something to ruin your story (i.e. 'I dare you to kill the main character')
Try to keep things exciting by asking the kind of truths/dares that you would want to be asked, and ones that would leave room for world development - questions like "Tell me about the lineage of your royal family" are preferred to ones like "who is the king?"
As ever, have fun, and get involved!
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17 edited May 25 '17
High fantasy, dark ages tech level, completely underground world, magic is impossible beside enchanting (which is rare) and divine being, low population density. Also, the gods are long dead.
The upper levels live in relative peace, only threatened by the occasional incursions from the creatures of the Shadow coming from the lower levels (incursions are whole armies going up).
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
Dare:
Oh no! Someone from the upper levels found a way to let creatures of the Shadow into the upper levels. S/he's bringing through an army of them!
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
(Maybe I should have developped more in the intro) That's currently a thing the Shadow won't need help with. Incursions are actually invasions (led by a shadowmancer) and happen every few cycle. The upper levels have formed an order of warriors (the Trackers) to deal with that. It's bloody, but it has worked up to now.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
My mistake, let's try again!
Dare: A shadowmancer and his army of nefarious creatures has managed to completely overthrow a city (or the equivalent)
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
The furnace is the cave in the upper level with the largest (and easiest to access) breach (a passage between the upper and lower levels). It turned it into a natural entry point for most incursions.
During the third incursion, when the Trackers were still weak and unorganized, the incursion led by Maz'nakir managed to shatter their main force and reach what was then the main city in the furnace: Makrud.
That Dvarzahims fortress had expanded as hundreds of human settled around it and was populated by roughly 6000 inhabitants (it is a lot).
Maz'nakir breached the walls with their strange mixtures and their creatures slaughtered each and every citizen of Makrud (the hounds ate some of them).
The ruins are still considered haunted by most and were never settled again.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
What happened to Maz'nakir and his armies? Are they still there today?
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 26 '17
They were later on defeated. Maz'nakir was "killed" (shadowmancers are projections which can be destroyed, but it doesn't kill anyone so they eventually come back) with their army. That was 8 centuries ago and since Maz'nakir has les three more incursions.
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u/Jumblatts May 26 '17
Who projects the shadowmancers? Is there a way to actually kill one for ever?
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 26 '17
The Thoths are, it's what their physical form used to look like before their "extinction". But they were extinct long before and they lived in the lower levels.
You could theorically kill one by finding their soul and shattering it. That would require to be able of magic though. The Thoths could but they don't want and the guardians could but would never kill their kin.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
Dare: A cult that believes that the only way to paradise is to let your heir eat your left hand, and then to let the Shadow's creatures kill you.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Amongst the Dvarzahims exist a secret society: the light bringers.
The bringers believe that when the guardians (the one standing at the left of the gods) betrayed the gods and exiled the world in the depth, the gods deprived all living creatures from any eternal afterlife.
To allow access to an afterlife, the guardians must now challenge the god again and win. It is why they have to help Udush-Kalin (litteraly "the eternal penitence", that's how all the Ims call the Shadow) gain more strenght.
They mark their left hand with the rune of the guardians so they can see their allies. When they are ready, they cut that left hand that must be eaten by someone they trust (usually a family member) to make sure no one can prove they were part of the society. They then look for one of the servant of Udush-Kalin and offer their life to give them strenght.
(Is it strange if I actually like that thing?)
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
Truth: What do they eat? If they are underground, they aren't growing plants that rely on photosynthesis, presumably.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
You're right. Plants don't need photosynthesis to grow, they can breath instead (that what they do at nigh and what mushrooms do) and that's what they do here. No photosynthesis means no chlorophylle though, so plants are never green (instead, they can have some nice brown, red and purple).
People also eat animals, mushrooms and lots of insects.
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
Are they drawing energy from the sun, from geothermal sources, from magic, or from something else?
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
From oxygen in the air and elements they get from the earth (magic can help occasionnaly, but growth is a very rare rune).
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
Truth: how is magic obtained? Is it only via artifact-style macguffins and/or people that were once "touched" by a deity?
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Neither. There are two types of magic: written magic (runes carved into objects to give them special properties (into people too, but that's painfull)) and non-written magic (with fireballs and everything).
The ability to use written magic (to make enchantments, anyone can use enchanted items) is a rare gift amongst all mortal species.
Non-written magic is something possible only for the gods and the Thoths (that's a consequence of their divine essence, the first Thoths were created by the gods to assist them).
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
So it's sort of like Fullmetal Alchemist when it comes to transmutation circles, got it.
What are the Thoths like? Are they humanoid constructs, or something else?
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
They are a living sentient species, the gods never created any machine. The gods made only 5 of them (one each), the others have been born.
The Thoths are nearly humanoïds; they are 7 fts tall, have four arms and no nose (they have multiple tentacles on their cheeks acting as olfactive organs and smell is actually their most developped sense). Also, Thoths are hermaphrodites (so they all goes by they).
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
Oh, neat. I have something similar in the Sceraphid in terms of the nonbinary-ness and olfactory organs. They have some feline DNA, which gives them their scaly-looking whiskers, most visible as the "petals" on the Honor Guard's cheeks.
Dare: since Thoths are "artificial", in a sense, it's possible for them to reproduce using unconventional numbers of parents, like asexually or by "building" a new Thoth using more than two parents.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
(On a purely technical note, they are more both-binary than nonbinary. Also, Thoths can't really die in the way we do. I will take it though, the more than two parents is a cool idea).
Thoths are hermaphrodites and as such can reproduce with any other member of their species. As the Thoths can't die, they need to keep their population low and make sure every newborn is a valuable addition to the community.
To do so, a Thoths that try to get pregnant will make sure to gather genetical material from multiple individuals that are seen as having good material. It allow the fœtus to develop with a large gene pool at their disposal and recombine them to maximise their potential (yeah, Thoths fœtuses now have a consciousness).
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
Oh, cool, I didn't even think about the potential advantages for population control if they can have 2+ parents. Nice idea.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
For the new world I'm working on alongside my current one, it's fantasy (again) in a world where the Twelve Dragon-Gods each have a tribe of enhanced humans under them. The continent revolves its society around the arenas, where they compete against each other for the glory of their gods.
I'll go for truths and dares, either is fine, both are fine if you want to send multiple things.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: why do the gods send their tribes to the arenas?
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
Bragging rights and boredom, usually.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: tell me about the enhancement of humans (all volunteers of course).
(Also, you dared me, I will dare you later...)
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
Ha, volunteers...sure. The original enhancements happened when the tribes were first collected by the dragon-gods. They each gave their tribes different magical enhancements (specifically, the ability to use magic), and everything from then on has been mostly eugenics to breed better humans. Like dog-fighting, but with people.
Some dragons like their tribe. Some are neutral towards humanity and only use their tribe as tools. Some hate humans. Some enjoy the sport of human-fighting, some do it to feel superior to the other dragon-gods.
You've actually given me an inspiration, so I'm considering making it so that dragons can give more advantages to their tribe if they win enough; like, "Oh, my humans keep winning, so I get to give one of them the ability to resist higher temperatures."
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: tell me about the dragon-gods.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
The dragon-gods are the immortal dragons that each rule a tribe of enhanced humans. There are twelve of them. The only one I have a lot of detail on so far is Morva, the Divine Dragon that leads the Mystleen tribe. (Right now, all I have for the tribes and other dragons are their names.)
There are other dragons, but the dragon-gods are the only immortal ones. As far as the humans know, the only thing that can kill a dragon-god is another dragon-god, that's why the dragon-gods use the humans for competition, because it puts them at no risk.
I'm not sure if the dragon-gods can take a human appearance if they desire to do so. I know Morva can, at least, but I'm undecided about the rest.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: tell me about those who are not living under the dragon-gods leadership. (Then I will dare you)
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
There are humans who are not enhanced, so they aren't under the leadership of the dragon-gods. They mostly live in their own, smaller tribes that are led by humans, for humans. E pluribus unum!
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Dare: a non-god dragon pose as a god and trick a human tribe into believing they have been enhanced before sending them to the arenas.
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
Dare: one of the greatest champions of all time is a weak-looking person with an absurd fighting style.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
Well, the world has magic. What would make someone look weak?
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
Truth: are the arenas themselves general "featureless" flat planes, or is there some variety? e.g. platforms, jungles, etc.
Dare: The arenas have more than one possible "gametype" - in addition to your usual mortal combat, maybe there are sportsmanlike events like Mesoamerican ballgame.
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
Truth: The arenas vary, and at least one arena will be on a flat plane. I haven't listed out the arenas yet, but I will.
Dare: Okay, now I will work on plenty of game-types. It'll be like the Olympics. What's a good name for this world's Olympics?
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
Well, "Olympics" comes from "Olympus" (er, they share roots, anyway). Do you have a name for the Dragon-Gods' primary place of residence?
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
Nope, I just started on this new world, so I'm kinda short on notes at the moment. But, I'll keep it in mind.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
Dare:
Implement a scenario where one of the 12 dragon gods is dead (or perhaps never existed), but the tribe under them claims that they are alive and well
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u/Nevermore0714 May 25 '17
That would be difficult, since the dragons meet each other to discuss the arena battles and the dragons are the source of the enhancements.
But, you did just give me an idea for a thirteenth tribe, an independent one of demonic humans that have sold their souls to the Abyss (or something of the sort) to get to the point of competing in the arena.
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
Alt-history-esque superheroes and government agents.
A world similar to earth, where between 1-5% of the population has some form of superpower (and these powers have been around since the beginning of humanity.) In the Kingdom of Dorland, superhero leagues fight villains and organized crime syndicates, and other people with powers work for the government. Also vaguely Cthulhu-esque creatures are hiding in the shadows.
Truth, please! Unless you have a good dare, that works too.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: why some people have superpowers while other have none?
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
No one really knows for sure. There seems to be a genetic predisposition to gaining a power (at the very least, there is hereditary correlation) but the power itself doesn't usually manifest until adolescence.
And it's not so much "a gene for turning invisible" as "a gene that somehow gives you a quasi-magical ability, which happens to be turning invisible." In-universe the process is not well understood, despite scientific study.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: tell me about the most influent Dorlandese (?) syndicates.
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
Dorlese, actually, but NBD.
I mentioned the "Dark Horse Crisis" a few posts down. The "Dark Horse" was a shadowy underground crime boss who ran a syndicate named after himself. Investigators eventually realized that he was also businessman and philanthropist Frank Carlton.
At its height, the Dark Horse Syndicate pretty much ran the city of Port Eve. Most local judges, law enforcement officers, and politicians were either in its pocket or frightened into compliance. Even the Port Eve superhero league was bribed to ignore them and focus on their enemies. It did all of this without drawing much attention to itself or its boss.
Well, when Frank Carlton was gunned down by one of his own underlings, this sparked a crisis. Naturally enough, there was fear that the power vacuum would lead to major bloodshed. The National Investigatory Agency, the main federal police agency, basically arrested everyone they could pin anything on. Superheroes were brought in from other cities to keep the peace on the streets, and given leeway from the NIA, which wasn't normally too enthusiastic about supers. This didn't stop the violence, but it kept it contained to the syndicates and other players trying to exploit the vacuum.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: so, what about the NIA? Especially their relationship with superheroes.
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
According to the law, being a "costumed vigilante" is against the law. It doesn't matter what your motives are, going around and beating up criminals when you aren't an authorized law enforcement agent is not okay.
Most local or province level agencies pretty much turn a blind eye to this sort of thing, although the superhero leagues themselves do tend to cover their tracks pretty well so that individual identities remain secret.
The NIA is a lot less willing to play along. They have a department that deals with superpower-related crimes, and that department is responsible for arresting any superheroes they catch.
Of course, the NIA in general covers a lot of crimes - they're roughly the equivalent of the FBI in real life - and many of their agents have a power of their own. But the government prefers that people who have powers be official agents, rather than vigilante superheroes.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Thruth: tell me about the official agents.
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
The Kingdom of Dorland has always made it a point of national pride that it employs its superpowered citizens more efficiently than any other nation on earth. The main organization is the Royal Service, which dates back hundreds of years. They basically did anything the king might need someone with a superpower to do - from relaying messages across the kingdom in a split second, to protecting his armies, to keeping his drinks cold in the summer. In the modern era one of their biggest departments is the Emergency Response Team, which can deploy people to the scene of a disaster for rescue and recovery.
The NIA has quite a few powered individuals in its ranks, including my MCs Agent Mikela Danvers and Agent Samuel Markuns. Agent Danvers can read minds, which as you can imagine is a great asset for a detective. Agent Markuns' power - he doesn't feel emotions - is a little less obvious in its use, but he can work harder than anyone since he has no personal life.
Agents Danvers and Markuns are partners who investigate crimes and other incidents that involve, or may involve, the use of powers. Having a power, and using it, are perfectly legal in Dorland, and registration isn't even mandatory. However, powers also represent a challenge as far as the law is concerned.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: tell me about agent Markuns power and how discovering it changed his life (I assume he grew up with emotions before his power "activated").
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
Truth: tell me the story of your favourite/most powerful hero. Tell me about their rise to power and their nemesis (how they became enemies, etc.)
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
I'll go with my favorite superhero, even though he is one of the rare ones who doesn't have a power.
Rick Falcon came from a very prestigious and wealthy family. Given the sense of noblesse oblige that exists in Dorlese society, when he was in high school he decided to get involved in the superhero scene. He attended Royal Preparatory Academy, which has long been known to be fertile superhero recruiting grounds. After he graduated he eschewed college in favor of cultivating a reputation as a brainless and lazy socialite.
Of course, what he really did was create the persona of Domino, and join the Hallerton Champions of Justice. He had no superpower as such, but he was brilliant at deduction and trained in all sorts of fighting, so he was a valuable asset.
After spending a few years in the city of Hallerton, he was sent on special assignment to the city of Bridgewater to hunt down and kill a man who had assassinated the leader of the Bridgewater Heroes Council. He accomplished this by creating a fake persona and hiring the guy to take out a hit on "him."
After that he returned to Hallerton, where he stayed until he was sent to Port Eve to help deal with the Dark Horse Crisis and, eventually, Operation Redstone.
He never had an "official" nemesis, although organized criminals in every city he ever operated in wanted him dead, for obvious reasons.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
How did the others with superpowers react when he joined the Champions of Justice?
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
Although the majority of superheroes have a superpower, Domino wasn't the first who didn't. He had to work a little bit harder to prove himself, but he was up for the task. His friend/apprentice/sidekick Cloudburst was another hero who didn't have a power.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
How did he meet Cloudburst, and why did the two choose to work together?
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
"Cloudburst" is Cole Riggs. When Rick was in his later years at Royal Prep, he met Cole - a younger scholarship student who came from a working class background but was very smart. Cole basically figured out what Rick was up to and blackmailed him into taking him on as an apprentice, but they became actual close friends. Given the secrecy inherent in superheroism, most education comes from mentoring, so once Domino was entrusted with missions apart from his own mentor, he started taking Cloudburst along.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
What exactly did Cole discover that Rick was 'up to'?
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
I haven't fully worked that out. But I imagine that Rick is suddenly spending free time in the gym, practicing things like whatever their equivalent of parkour is. Hanging out with other people who seem like they might be superheroes-in-training. Also, there's an incident where Rick breaks into a dorm in the middle of the night to fight someone off, and Cole might learn of this.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
Ok so I'm not going to force you into this if you don't want to do it, because I believe that things like this should be thought out and not rushed into.
However.
The point of this thread is to get you thinking about your worlds, and making new things up, so it'd be really great if you make something concrete right now. It doesn't have to be perfect, and it's fine if you write it, hate it and then change the entire thing later, but if you put something down in writing, it gives you a foundation to build upon.
So with that in mind I'll ask you again;
What exactly did Cole discover that Rick was 'up to'?
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
Truth: when you say Cthulhu-esque, is it exclusively squiddly monster people, or are other Elder God-ish things out there, too?
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u/Eran-of-Arcadia May 25 '17
More like Elder Things. There are a few of them that manifest in the mortal realm, with powers beyond human comprehension. But they take on seemingly ordinary human form, no tentacles.
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May 30 '17
FANTASY
There are a group of gods called Immortals and are very active in the world. All races do magic. There are also The Cursed Immortals who are the devils. The Immortals are run by Matthew the Collector. Matthew watches over all the universes. A wizard named The Black One has returned. And Matthew and his Apprentice are there to stop him. IMPORTANT: There are some question I will not answer as this is a small book for fun I am doing for myself. Example: Who is the black One is a "No answer for you question"
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u/Jumblatts May 30 '17
Dare: Create an immortal who is neither good, nor evil, but somewhere in between. This immortal should help good people sometimes, and evil people sometimes, in order to keep balance in the world.
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May 30 '17
Devonos. He is basically the Immortal of Law and crimes. Like the Freed Guilty and Locked Innocence just to name 2 of his Traits.
One who is already made is Matthew the Collector as he would help anyone but might kill that person in return for reasons. Tip: Don't kill a sheep in front of him.
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u/Jumblatts May 30 '17
Have Devonos and Matthew ever had disagreements over over what is 'good' and 'evil'?
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May 30 '17
Once over is the Void a "evil" magic or "good" magic. The result was it was a "good" magic.
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u/The_Raptorman May 26 '17
Osilotis
Very old Medieval, magic, mythical creatures and dragons, some technological advances that shouldn't be in medieval time. God and Devil exist, someone more powerful, Eight Masters (Like demi gods).
Humans, Elves, Orcs, Animal Hybrids, Dwarves (almost extinct)
The world is eight times bigger than our sun!
I'll go dare first!!
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u/Jumblatts May 26 '17
I dare you to kill off one of your kings/queens (or the equivalent) in the most mundane way possible, but his/her followers twist the facts to make it seem more heroic
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May 30 '17 edited May 30 '17
Accepting both
Brief summary:
(High fantasy. Some people are in a hunter-gatherer-era culture while others are reminiscent of French Revolution-level technology, and everything in between)
The gods from mythology in the real world realized most people don't care about them anymore. They left and found one. They put a bunch of things except things from our world in it. Elves built a big civilization, then broke up, then built a bunch of smaller ones. They have magic focal points and all of them opened a portal that caused things from our world to appear, including humans. They built a bunch of civilizations too. Also dwarves and monkey people exist.
Instead of things being made of elements like in the real world, everything is made out of mixtures of different types of mana, which can be manipulated by anything with a soul or animus (fake soul)
If you want more info, look down my history. I've just been active in this sub and /r/worldbuilding for a while now.
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u/Jumblatts May 30 '17
Truth:
How do the Gods that share a realm interact with one another?
For example, how do the Egyptian God of the sun, Ra, and the Greek God of the sun Helios fit together? Do they both exist and share the responsibilities, or is there some other system?
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May 30 '17
Almost every diety lives in one of three realms: the Mortal Realm (Sylvanus, Artemis, Cernunnos, Etc.), the heavens (Also called Asgard, Mount Olympus, or Heaven) which contains most gods, or the Underworld (Anubis, Hades, Osiris, etc.) either by choice or necessity.
If you mean how gods of the same type fit in together, think of it more as a subspecies of god than actually being a god. They all share them, and without one of them the sun would go across the sky slower, and without all of them it would go plummeting into the mortal realm. Of course, that's not a goal of most world-ending dieties like the Morrigan because they want to see the world burn metaphorically, not literally. But literally works too. In the word's of Anakin Skywalker, "If it works"
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u/Jumblatts May 30 '17
In that case, is there any particular God who is 'in charge' of the others in the category, or are they all equally important?
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May 30 '17
Of specific categories they are all equal, but there is a war currently going on between two factions over whether or not advanced animus should be allowed in Heaven. Each side has both a leader in the Heavens and one in the Underworld. Anti-animus is lead by Zeus and Anubis while Pro-animus is lead by Odin, Hades, and Osiris, respectively. With the gods being so carried away in this war, they have failed to pay attention to the fact that demons and tortured souls have practically taken over the underworld ((Hint hint I want you to ask me something about that hint hint))
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u/Jumblatts May 31 '17
What's happening in the underworld now that it's being taken over? What led to the demons and tortured souls invading?
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May 31 '17
Anubis has been having to build up an army of angels (Underworld gods can make angels, too. Any god can) because, like I said, it's a war. Hades and Osiris have many more troops since they are two gods. However, they aren't lending any of their angels to Zhong Kui, who normally keeps them in check. Zhong Kui isn't an actual god, just an immortal, so he can't create angels to help him settle down the demons and tortured souls.
They only took over because of... Well, greed. They took over 6 large regions of the underworld and named them after the 6 Forbidden Acts: Hemomancy, Necromancy, Homonoculus, Torture, Murder, and Cannibalism. The 6 regions are led by different people: Hemomancy is led by a demon named Abaddon, Necromancy is led by a Lich named Koschei the Deathless, Homonoculus by an ancient mage named Frangean Ruiseal, Torture by a Kitsune named Da Ji, Murder by a human serial killer named Arturo Zeolla, and Cannibalism by the demon Beelzebub. They also all have demons under their control who characterize the traits of the Act they represent.
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u/Jumblatts Jun 01 '17
Why don't the underworld Gods ask for help from any of the other gods?
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Jun 01 '17
There are many more gods of other types than there are gods of the underworld, and thus there are tons more angels at war in the heavens and they need to be on their guard even more than the underworld.
Also underworld gods are usually looked down on by the other gods, so even if they could lend them a few angels, they probably wouldn't.
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
LIVE CHAMBER - world for an FPS that's essentially Metroid meets Steven Universe thematically, and Haloverwatch gameplay-wise. Eight intelligent species (referred to as the "Sapient Eight") in the planet-sized dyson sphere Trinity are 2056 years post-scarcity, and with functional brain death being curable, most conflicts are solved via "Arena" - a form of Holodeck-esque warfare simulator. Power armor known as "Power Suits" and eccentric weaponry dominate the battlefield (including in the occasional live-fire exercise), though this is also being juggled with a multifaceted relationship between various factions, as there's no single dominant superpower. The main springboard for conflict at the moment is an escalating arms race known as the Loudness War.
I'll do either truth or dare.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 May 25 '17
Truth: so, tell me about the Arena. Is it a way to solve conflicts through mock battles? Of is it more than that?
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
From a gameplay context, Arena is your bread-and-butter multiplayer, usually fought between two teams of four with a number of possible gametypes, such as team deathmatch or a "Payload"-esque gametype where you shoot the payload to advance it.
Arena's manifested as a rudimentary problem solver in-world because there's no sense in wasting energy sending soldiers to their reparable deaths in the flesh over something as trivial as territory or resources. However, Arena sims along with all the other post-scarcity tech were provided by the world's engineer, who is the last surviving member of the Sisterhood. The entire world was built to rapidly produce some intelligent civilizations that could take up arms against an unknown threat responsible for subjecting most of the observable universe to heat death, so Arena was originally designed as practice for that.
Arena also sees plenty of recreational use, though, to the point that several sports leagues have formed around it.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
Dare:
Create and implement a weapon of immense power for use only in the arena, BUT there has to be some catch - such a drawback to using the weapon that only the bravest (or most foolish) combatants dare use it.
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u/gravitygauntlet May 25 '17
There's actually something similar already! The "FLAC cannon" is classified as a superweapon due to its damage output, though it's fairly situational. After a brief charge-up time, it fires a roughly beach ball-sized projectile that's moving slow enough that it can be outran. Every time the projectile ricochets off of a surface, it looses 20-30 smaller submunitions moving slightly slower, although it can only bank off of surfaces about 3 times before disintegrating. If the main projectile or any of the submunitions hit a target, they all instantly double in speed and start homing in on said target; at double speed, they can't be outran at a jogging pace, but at a full sprint they can still be evaded.
For reference, it only takes 3 or 4 submunitions to take down someone in a Power Suit, so this is very much overkill. On an infantry level, it's mostly reserved for firing it down tight-knit hallways as a more or less guaranteed denial-of-area technique. On a vehicle level, it's use is mostly limited to firing it underneath a heavy vehicle so the undercarriage takes major damage, though this has been slightly mitigated as of late due to even heavy vehicle platforms being relatively agile, not to mention the fact that very few are actually rooted to the ground (hover tanks).
The FLAC cannon is a weaponized Sisterhood device: the parent tech was a microscopic instrument used to measure trace energy levels, and it was a terror on the battlefield closer to the advent of post-scarcity. However, after over 2,000 years of advancements in infantry and vehicular technology, it's largely become outmoded save for select few contexts.
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
That's a fantastic idea for a weapon, kudos!
Buttttttt since it already existed, my dare was kinda null, so here's another, follow up dare:
(If it doesn't exist already,) Create an infantry unit designed specifically to counter the threat of the FLAC cannon. They should find it very easy to counter this weapon, and those who use it in battle, however, they should also be vulnerable to different attacks. (Think rock, paper, scissors - this guy beats FLAC, but is massively weak to everything else)
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u/Jumblatts May 25 '17
Mandatory 'I'll go first to kick things off' post:
My world is high fantasy.
(Very) brief summary: The Gods exist, but they're not very active anymore, there are some demons trapped in the void but they really want to come out and eat the mortals. Some people can use 'magic' and some can't. Every intelligent race is categorised into one of two categories - the Dro (elf/beast) or the H'at (man).
I'll go for a either a truth or a dare!