Worldbuilding Wednesday #4: Mundane Utility

[Wes]

Welcome to Star Army's Worldbuilding Wednesdays! It's a new way to expand the Star Army universes with your imagination and ideas!

The concept of this forum goes like this:

• Every week, on Wednesday, a Star Army staffer will post a question about the SARPiverse:
• During the week, Star Army players can creatively answer the question with their ideas
• Star Army players can also upvote other responses they like
• We'll try to use the top ideas:
  • can be submitted as suggestions to add to the Star Army universe
  • can be put into an article by the creator and submitted
  • can be GM fuel for RP plots

Today's prompt comes from @Arbitrated

Prompt Title: Mundane Utility

SARP has a lot of aliens, and cool technology. A lot of it has a very clear intended use, any aliens with special powers use them in their written ways (Nekovalkyria use gravity manipulation to fly, Operators possess computers to get data easily, etc.)​

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But what about not-well-thought-out uses for these powers and tools? Your gravity bubble can let you carry a lot of awkward things without using your arms as much; a Geist implant could remote-start your car in the middle of winter as soon as you wake up. What are some things that you don't even THINK about, because it's a basic, non-flashy application of something that's really cool?​

Please submit your responses to the prompt below! Responses can be voted on so try to include everything in one post!

 

[Wes]

Nekovalkryja and Minkan anti-gravity fields extend a short range out from their body which allows them to push and pull on things that are very close to them. It is rumored that there are some Nekovalkyrja out there that have figured out how to use this field to jiggle the locking pins in mechanical door locks, allowing them to open doors they weren't meant to open.

It's also become a social media trend among Yamataian teens to gravitationally tug people's faces closer when going in for a kiss, transforming what was intended to be a gentle peck on the cheek into a big wet kiss.

Sometimes you can catch skilled Nekovalkyrja hovering objects like donuts a centimeter away from their hands so they don't get their hands dirty or sticky.

 

[demibear]

I always figured the computer-like minds of Minkans and Nekos have could be used with a much more advanced "Internet of Things" type environment. Remote-start cars, remotely access a connected computer, etc so long as it is connected to SYNC/PANTHEON and said equipment has proper access rights. Other machinery likely would need computer hacking suites and a means to connect directly (or natural wireless connection) and "dive".

 

[Soban]

Separa'Shan are able to directly sense the temperature of things. This is really useful as they are cold-blooded. It also comes in surprisingly useful when they are cooking.

Venis Separa'Shan have venom, with strength and type depending on the specific variety. Their Venoms are complex mixtures of enzymatic and non-enzymatic components with specific pathophysiological functions. They are used in Tradtional Separa'Shan medicine. Consequently, Separa'Shan venoms can be considered as mini-drug libraries in which each drug is pharmacologically active. However, less than 0.01% of these toxins have been identified and characterized. There are a number of medications that are based on Separa'Shan venom.

(I stole some technical words from a article here about the uses of Snake Veom, interesting stuff)

 

[Whisper]

Speaking of cool mental communication tricks -

Any of the digital comms types (Geist, Neko/Minkan, etc) could be sending more 'rich' media! Geist users have something akin to a smart phone stuck in their necks, so emojis, sound bites, pictures, etc are all on the table. I think Nekos might do more with emotions or sensory data. Either way, it can go beyond just text.

I think fashion might have some cool impacts from all the weird tech running around. With the prevalence of small-scale volumetrics and built-in AR, it might be a common thing for people to wear very basic clothes and then rely on tech to do the rest. I know this is semi-common practice for some Nekos on the military side, but why not civilians, too? We've been exploring this idea with some NDC concepts around cities and ships looking featureless and gray, but anyone with a Geist sees them in full, moving color.

 

[Alex Hart]

We've been exploring this idea with some NDC concepts around cities and ships looking featureless and gray, but anyone with a Geist sees them in full, moving color.

I had just thought to bring this up when you beat me to the punch.

To expand, in the NDC, most architecture is very no-frills and utilitarian (though not necessarily ugly). Larger buildings in the cities tend to look almost brutalist, and towns and smaller cities on the frontier often resemble something close to unadorned 18th-century city architecture, with lots of low-rise buildings and sloped roofs. This architectural style is brought about by the heavy utilization of rapid construction that works best with simple shapes (Think akin to what NASA is looking at for mars bases in terms of printing with concrete) and the Geist allowing decorations and advertisements without having to build them.

 

[demibear]

Speaking of cool mental communication tricks -

Any of the digital comms types (Geist, Neko/Minkan, etc) could be sending more 'rich' media! Geist users have something akin to a smart phone stuck in their necks, so emojis, sound bites, pictures, etc are all on the table. I think Nekos might do more with emotions or sensory data. Either way, it can go beyond just text.

Reminds me of when I would have my character Mikael Harris send animated chibis instead of speaking. I am going to have to work out how he interacts with NDC technology soon.