Cyber Thief by Fredy “fredy3d” Wenzel

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available servers and other computers by moving information from them to the computer’s local memory. The same connection allows that computer to send information to servers on the network; that information is in turn accessed and potentially modified by a variety of other interconnected computers. A majority of widely accessible information on the Internet consists of inter-linked hypertext documents and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW). Computer users typically manage sent and received information with web browsers; other software for users’ interface with computer networks includes specialized programs for electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and file sharing. (Source: Wikipedia)

Well yeah, for those misfortunate enough, not to know what the internet was the above describes THE INTERNET, as we know it since the 1970′s. Love it or hate it the internet changed the way that we thing, the way we acquire and transfer knowledge, thoughts and ideas.

Have you every thought of what’s holding us back from those kick-ass cyber punk novels? why don’t we have the ability to feel, as we can read through great distances? Right now we lack advances in two major technologies that will create a suitable environment for the developement of the next level, the Grid.

What is the Grid

The Grid (or usually called Cyber net) is the next evolution of the WWW, or better, the next step, because itself will also evolve. The Grid allows the user not only to browse through documents stored in distance servers but also to be able to travel within it by the use of a three dimensional avatar. You can think of it like actually being your character in a MMO game. The major difference would be that you will be able to control this character with your thoughts, making the whole experiance much more interesting that it used to bel. Once you access the Grid your Avatar, or Shadow form, becomes your visual representation. The only thing that can limit you is the quality of your hardware and your software. The better technology you posses the more your ability to interface and interact becomes more real.

The technology behind the Grid

The need for Speed

As communication technologies evolve so does our ability to transfer data in faster rates and more reliable ways. The current connection speed in one of the two things that limit the development of the Grid. SONET/SDH networks (optical networks) is going fairly well since it is expected that in the next 5 to 10 years we will be able to transfer 301.33598 Gbit/s but this of course, will not be available for home use, The truth is that the Grid won’t need 300Gb/s in order for you to access it from your station but it will still need a fair about of bandwidth per second in order to be able to transfer and receive data coming from your Shadow to your neural receptors.

Interface with me Baby!

Talking about Neural receptors, this will be the second technology that needs to be perfected in order for the human civilization to utilize the Grid. Neural interface will make the need of a computer screen, a mouse, or a keyboard void. A neural interface will be a sub-dermal or a removable port (like USB only BETTER!) that will be in close proximity or in direct contact with your brainstem (the brainstem is the lower part of your brain that is connected with your spinal cord) and it will give you the ability to use your personal computer, using your mind.

Coming soon:

The environment of the Grid, the Shadow form, Social Networking in the Grid, Neural Interface a more in depth analysis (Cyber sensory), Gloves off: Crime in the Grid, Hacking and Law Enforcment, Bubbles or Domains, A day in the Mall: Grid Economics 101, Distances and Lag, The Grid and AI

Stay hooked!

Just another day by Marc “Bluefley” Brunet

A successful campaign in any type of RPG has greatly to do with how “hooked” your players will become to the campaign itself. To do that you have to explore two very important aspects of the players psychology, their player-to-character, character-to-character and last but not least character-storyline connection.

Player to Character connection

Before you Begin

Your player will always have an idea of how he wants his character to be and how he wishes him to become. Talk with your player about those things before you begin the campaign and get to know the vision he has and the way he sees things. A very good idea would be to add to his story. Things like

• Relations
  Friends, family, contacts, previous employers or coworkers
• Experiences
  Places he visited, Things he may have studied, Incidents, Accidents (these things tend to shape and mark you)
• Hobbies
  Everybody has hobbies things that might not even be related with the skill system that you use, but add to the character

Don’t try to create an extensive 10-page-book background. A simple “Your last girlfriend that likes you but you had to be apart is a Detective” could easily be a resource that gives the character an extra choice within the game. Also try to find a connection between his skills and the above. For example having the Small Firearms skill generally means he had some sort of training or a hobby. Having the Seduce skill might mean she knows her way around some Bars and obviously some barmen.

During the Game

The story of a character must not come to an end because your storyline kicked in. Character centered subplots help the player create a “mythos” around his/her character. Personal struggles (financial or psychological), unfinished business, demons of the past that surface again, or simple stuff like “He is broke and can’t pay the rent” will create an environment that will make the player feel important and part of the whole game even if his main plot involvement at a time is minimal (being a tech guy in a shoot shoot-some-more situation can be rather boring).

Story fluidity

The fact that a player wishes for something doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to make his dreams come true or even that his dreams will remain the same. Chactert concept creation takes about 0 – 10 hours of brain-storming and a game could very well last for months. During this time a player’s wishes might change due to a swing of mood or because of the way that your storyline evolves. Try to keep track of what your players think about. At the end of each session try to talk with them privately or all together. Ask them how they see their character or the story development.

DO NOT ask them how they think the story will develop. If by luck or perception they have a heads up on your story it will make you feel crappy, and changing the story just to suprise them might be a good tactic from time to time but it can create inconsistencies within your story and also make the players lose interest (it’s good to keep a balance between what players will find out and what will surprise them, if everything is a surprise there is no meaning in trying to change things)

Killing a character

The action of killing a character can be very hazardous. But I suppose this is known already. Killing a main character is a story altering event that is bound to shake both players and characters of the team. The are two possible reasons that a character might die

• Going for it
• Bad Luck

Going for it

… is the most common reason for a character death. Super heroism, wreckless behaviour etc can lead a character to a situation that he won’t be able to cope with. In order to prevent that you can warn the player and make him understand what’s at stake. If all goes wrong and the player still has a huge “I will either prevail or die” sign nailed to his forehead you can evoke two different scenarios a) The caught and tortured scenario or b) The not-so-dead scenario. Both scenarios leave the player unable to play and his character out of his control. That hurts but not as much as loosing your character.

Do not make a habbit of the not-so-dead scenarios. Miracle healings etc can make the players even more wreckless.

The aftermath, must be something that will keep the player from doing something so wreckless again, being a hero is one thing, being a complete jerk about it is another. Try to make him remember it. A permanent scar, the fact that his hand had to be removed and a cybernetic one had to replace it but that due to the circumstances the procedure left a permanent reoccuring pain (and yes the cybernetic limb might also work as a perk). Severe psychological trauma can cause him to develop phobias, obssessions and other cuties like that. In simple words DO NOT let the deed go unpunished.

Bad Luck

It’s true that some times the dice can be really bitchy and can turn a situation the other way around even if you don’t wish it to. A player with amazing skill scores can just botch a roll that will make their shuttle crush and kill the whole crew.

Tip: Always roll your dice behind your Storyteller’s screen. When there is a roll for something hard make that a complex one (multiple rolls required) and give a chance to other characters to assist the one doing the dice-related effort. This way you leave less things to luck.

When a situation like this arises either way treat it as a chance for your players to shine by doing actions that require some extreme bravery. Don’t let luck decide the fate of your players, you can do that much better. The dice can spice up your game but you don’t have to be a slave to their will.

Worst case scenario

A character actually dies. In the words of the Hitch Hicker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

DON’T PANIC

Try to present this to your player as a chance to do something new. Give the new character some very important place in the main plot and you might even consider a character from the past of the deceased character (a girlfriend,a child or someone that the character was familiar with). Giving the player some “bonuses” without making the other players angry can be a good idea if the player is your girlfriend and you want to be able to sleep at night (the rest of the players will understand)

2009 must be the year that Humanity will be doing some invasion of our own.
Battle for Terra is a film about the remainder of Mankind (after a war and an environmental destruction) invading the peaceful planet of Terra. The story evolves around Senn (Justin Long) and Mala (Evan Rachel Wood), two rebellious alien teens living on the beautiful planet Terra, a place that promotes peace and tolerance, having long ago rejected war and weapons of mass destruction.

During the upheaval, Mala befriends an injured human pilot (Luke Wilson) and each learns the two races are not so different from one another. Together they must face the terrifying realization that in a world of limited resources, only one of their races is likely to survive

As you will (or already did you I-can’t-wait-to-see readers) see the movie has stunning graphics and animation as well  as a very strong soundtrack.

I wonder where did all those movies come from. I mean, why suddenly the idea of humans finding aliens and not the olde classic “Alien meets human, human meets alien, all ends in a beautiful sunset or moonrise on Earth”. The truth is I don’t mind at all, it was time for some change of scenery. But enough with my blabber

Enjoy the movie.

Official Movie site: http://www.battleforterra.com/

Arrival – Stargate Daedalus by Ryan “Mallacore” Begemann

I first met Ryan a.k.a Mallacore and his art about a year ago when I was searching for a modeller to help me you with a project I was/am working on. Ryan is a 3d modeller with an amazing ability to capture detail and make an inanimate and blunt object like a starship come to life. He has the ability to make the hull so detailed without over crowding the design and a good eye for balance.

Apart from that Ryan is a huge SG (Stargate) fan, and one of the founding members of C.A.S.F (Calling All Stargate Fans) Community. Ryan’s latest work evolves around the Star Gate universe and he has to show some exemplary space craft designs.

I hope you enjoyed Ryan’s work as much I did featuring it.

If you wish to contact Ryan you can always mail him at rjb2323@shaw.ca or drop him a line at C.A.S.F Forums. He is a pretty busy man but, in my experience always glad to help out.

Mallacore DeviantArt Portfolio: http://mallacore.deviantart.com/

Worldshapers by Vincent ‘Wallace’ Hie

Having mastered certain aspects of your brain’s higher functions could be a great advantage in many situations. Alien races with psychic abilities or people that have studied and excelled in the use of Psychic powers have populated science fiction since it’s very beginning. In some occasions like the Jedi Masters in Star Wars or the psionisists of Babylon 5, or in the very new Heroes series they play a very significant role in the evolution of the storyline.

Psychic abilities are a huge chapter in science fiction that I really hope I will have the opportunity later on to explore in posts to come. In today’s post I will try to give you some ideas of how a Psionicist’s power could be used to control systems of a starship using his powers and pieces of technology designed to augment and focus them in order to achieve a specific task, like travelling in speeds faster than light or being able to communicate over great distances or even neutralizing a target when deemed necessary.

psionic energy point (PEP): an abstract measurement unit I will be using to describe the potency and/or needs of a piece of equipment. You can safely theorise that an average human psionisists has about 15 points when fully rested.

The skills used in this article will be described in more detail in the next article.
A link will be provided here when the article is ready

Psionic Tranceiver

This device consists of a special array of psi-enhancing devices
that make it possible for a mindwalker (psionisist) with telepathic abilities to communicate over interstellar distances. The receiving station must also have a telepath equipped with a psionic transceiver, or the ship’s mindwalker is wasting his time. Monitoring the transceiver for incoming messages requires the mindwalker’s attention, although he can go about other duties as long as he wears the headset that links him to the transceiver. Guarding the psionic frequencies counts as psionic activity, so the character can’t recover psionic energy points while he’s on watch. Compressed data files, technical diagrams, or tactical readouts can also be sent — as long as the ship’s mindwalker also has the ability to “Datalink”. It would cost the psionisist about 1 PEP per 5 Light years of distance in order to send a message and it would be progressively harder to do so as distances grow. Theoretically there is no maximun distance as long as the psionisist is capable of successfully using his abilities and has the required PEP for the task.

Datalink is the ability to interact with computer equipement using his mind, a skill that supposedly each member of a psionic race ship should possess in order to be able to fully intergrate his powers with the ship’s systems.

Omniscience Sphere

Based on rare psi-technology, the omniscience sphere is a sensor device that automatically detects any and all objects that approach within 50 megameters of the ship or station.  Sophisticated neural filters and data-feed programs allow the operator to instantly relay his findings to the ship’s computers for fire control solutions and detailed tracking predictions. The omniscience sphere must be manned by a psionic character who possesses ESP (extra sensory perception) abilities. The character cannot rest or meditate while plugged in to the sphere. Operating the sphere requires 2 psionic energy points per hour. Usually, ships with this sensor system will employ a team of “ESPers” to continuously man the sphere while underway.

Psychoportive drive

Psychoportive drive technology uses the power of the mind to defeat the restrictions of time and space. The psychoportive drive works a lot like a jump drive, except that instead of burning fuel, it burns psionic energy points (orPEPs) as shown below:

Class Psi Energy per LY
Small 3 PEP per LY
Light 6 PEP per LY
Medium 10 PEP per LY
Heavy 15 PEP per LY
Super-Heavy 25 PEP per LY

Multiple psionic characters can contribute PEPs to increase the range of the jump. Each psychoportive jump takes one full day. Psionic characters recover their psionic energy points normally after using them on the initial entry into Otherspace. Calculating the probabilities and energies of the next jump requires one psionic character, the navigator, to perform a complex ESP-navcognition calculation. The navigator requires 4 successes and may make one skill check every ten minutes to prepare the ship for its next jump.

Navcognition a character with this skill can instictively determine his location over great distances and mentaly plot a course to that location. Keep in mind that in order to do that they psionisist must be highly trained to this ability, since during his first steps he will only be able to navigate through small dinstances and only on planetary bodies

Transcendent Drive

The Transendent Drive is the evolution of the Psycoportive drive. The transcendent drive system harnesses the power of a psionically gifted person and unlocks unfathomable energies with the key of an intelligent mind. The drive permits travel at FTL speeds in normal space with no careful navigation plots or calculations required. The ship’s speed is a number of light-years per hour equal to the psionic energy score of a single psionic character who is flying the ship at any given time. A psionic character who powers the transcendent drive even for a moment immediately expends all of his psionic energy points. He can stay “in the chair” for up to eight hours before becoming exhausted. He can begin to recover psionic energy points normally after he leaves the chair.

Kinetron

As a Psionisists with Telekinetic abilities can move an object or levitate it so he can also move the ship it self. The Kinetron is a complex neuro-electronic system capable of amplifying his psionic powers but also to direct them in order to give to him the ability to steer the ship with grace and point presicion. The Kinetron can both be used for space flight as well as a planetary thruster. The network will require about 5% of the ship’s hull point and 1MWatt of energy per hull point. Kinetron would spend an ammount of PEP equial to the ship’s size category (1: small 2: light 4: medium … 32: Super Heavy ). PEP per hour per Megameter or acceleration. Meaning that light ship travelling with an acceleration of 2megameters per hour requires 4 PEP per hour from its user.

Hull points: yet another unit used to count the space of a starship and it’s system allocation. More information about ship sizes and construction will be provided in the article to come about the subject. A link will be provided here when the information will be available.

Psionic Capacitor

In simple terms a Psionic capacitor is a huge battery made by a crystallic compound able to story psionic energy over a period of time. The rate of decay of the capacitor is analogue to it’s quality. A marginal quality capacitor has a decay rate of 2% per hour as an amazing quality capacitor can hold psionic energy over much more extended periods of time with a decay rate of 1% per day. It’s total capacity is relative to it’s size and quality, 1 hull point of a good quality capacitor can hold about 75 PEP.  All subsystems of a ship using PEP to function can draw them directly from the ship’s capacitor.

Psionic Emmiter Array

The Psionic Emmiter Array works as an amplifier of a mindwalker’s psionic abilities. Skills like Elentrokinetics, Pyrokinetics, Photokinetics and Telekinisis can be enchanced and significantly boosted in order to create disastrous effects and concequently damaging the targeted object. In most cases he user of the Psionic Emmiter array is feeded data from the Omniscient Sphere but the Array can also be used with any other conventional sensors. The array must have a direct line of sight with the target and has a 180 degrees active view.  The mindwalker can choose to allocate as many PEP from his self or the Psionic Capacitor as he wishes as long as this will not overcharge the neural pathways of the system. A good quality system can withstand a charge of 10 PEP per minute that the system amplified by 3 for matters of damage calculation.

An electrokinetic blast coming from a mindwalker can cause about 1d8+2 wounds to a human being. A human being has about 8 – 10 wounds per PEP he uses. Meaning that that a Mindwalked that uses the same skil using the Array will cause 1d8+2 multiplied by 10 PEP amplified by 3, A stunning damage of 30d8+60 wounds.

Psionic Conductor Array

A Psionic Conductor Array work with the same principles that the Psionic Emmiter works but the system is designed in  order to cover the whole area of the ship and to use the PEPs provided to shield the ship by modulating a psionic shield in order to dissipate incoming damage.

Ideas not Rules

the above are not part of any ruleset. These are data that are meant to help you design your own system or fit them in the system you are already using or just to give you an idea of how these systems would work. I am preparing a ship design for a Psionic Race that will employ most of those systems and some more to give you a better idea of how you could put all the above into use.

Acknowledgement: The above are inspired by the Alternity’s Warships book. A great, half finished book that is a great source of information on space ship construction and a great guide to a starship battle system.

Angels of War by Ridwan “MeganRid” Chandra

When you lay the foundations of a multicultural setting with various of nations, stellar empires, mega corporations, religious castes, rebel or pirate forces it is rather important to be able to keep an eye on the relations of these factions.

The fact that pirates will attack most of the ships in order to grab it’s precious loot doesn’t necessarily mean that they have bad relations with every major power in their vicinity. Pirates can be paid or otherwise being used by a Nation or a Mega corporation (also known as Privateering). Rebels do not rebel against each and every one of the nations around them, as a matter of fact is more probable that they will try to form alliances with the rest of the powers in order to overwhelm the force that currently oppress and/or occupy them. And of course nations might be at war, at peace or not even know each other as much as corporations create trusts or have vendettas with other corps over monopolies and so on.

Status

A very simple way to keep track of the status between two factions is to state a numerical scale that would show their diplomatic status. A scale of 0 to 9 would show the general friendliness factor between them, with 0 standing for hating the guts out of them and 9 displaying a warm an cuddly love of a young couple sleeping together.

Status is not about diplomatic agreements but more about the general tendency/goodwill of a faction to another. Keep in mind that this doesn’t necessarily mean that both factions would have the same status against one another. A small nation might be infatuated with the glory or prestige of a greater close power but the great power might as well don’t give a crap about their counterparts.

A good way to keep track of these relations could be a colour coded relational table like the one below.

Table 1.1: Color coded Standings representation of Factions

or a simple table showing the numerical values of their standing

Table 1.2: Numerical Standings representation of Factions

The advantage of the first table is that your can get some more info into the rectangles like abbreviations of their diplomatic treaties, that we will be talking about right away. Table 1.1 is an oversimplified color code since I’ve only used 3 colours for 10 standings separating them just in 3 categories bad, average, good. This is a more efficient colour palette you can use.

Table 1.3: Color palette representation of Faction standing

White can be used to signify the status of a nation against it’s own people. If you want to analyse even the internal relations of a nation (population – government or intra national conflicts you could as well colour the one part of the white rectangle following the same rules.

Table 1.4: This would signify that the citizens of a nation are in perfect harmony with the government

Diplomatic Relations and Treaties

After a war the winner, if there is such a thing in war, takes the spoils of war. In some occasions this would mean the submission of the opposed power in a form of a protectorate. A protectorate is a nation by some means independent under the “protection” of an other greater power. The protector will be able to station troops use military basis of the protectorate and of course it will be paid handsomely by taking a part of the of the protected powers profits within a specified period of time as taxation. Of course the protected nation should help their protectors as allies in the case that another conflict arises. This though doesn’t mean that the two nations have a good status between them, most probably the “not-so-enslaved” nation would be rather unhappy with their Protector.

This is one of the cases that diplomatic relations do not represent the standing between two nations. But what sort of diplomatic relations can exist between two factions? The list below can give you a good idea about it.

Agreements

• (W) Declared War
  The two powers are engaged in open hostilities
• (CF) Ceasefire Agreement
  Requires the two powers to be engaged a war.  Ceasefire means that the hostilities cease during diplomatic dialogues. A cease fire can be the prelude to the end of a war or just a break. Some times ceasefire can have an expiration date.
• (NaP) Non-Aggression Pact
  Or Peace treaty marks the end of a War or just the fact that the power has no hard feelings against another power and wishes to make it known. This can very well be the first step during a successful fist contact between two stellar nations.
• (Pr) Protectorate Agreement
  As mentioned before an agreement that a more powerful faction will take care of another smaller or defeated at a price.
• (TA) Trade Agreement
  A trade agreement sets the rules for two nations trading. This might include the quantities or the products that will be moved in a certain period of time, taxation and passage policies etc.
• (RC) Research Cooperation
  A share of technological and scientific findings, cooperations between universities in order to boost both powers research output
• (CE) Cultural Exchange
  Mostly an act of goodwill cultural exchange allows ideas and thoughts to be moved freely between the two powers
• (OB) Open Borders
  The ability of the citizens of each power to move freely between the two territories without any control
• (MAc) Military Access
  The ability of the armies of each power to move freely in the sovereignty of the other
• (DefA) Defensive Alliance
  An alliance that signifies the fact that one nation will protect the other in case that it’s being attacked
• (OffA) Offensive Alliance
  A joined effort against a common enemy
• (Esp) Information Exchange
  Espionage/Sabotage and general intelligence cooordination to maximize efficiency
• (EU) Economic Union
  First step toward a federal union. Most of the times includes Open Borders, Trade, Research and Cultural exchanges and same coinage for the two or more involved parties
• (Fed) Federation / Union
  The Ultimate union of two or more powers. New laws are created that stand the same for all the citizens of all parties.

(Abbreviations to be used to Diplomacy Tables)

Gifts and Exchanges

• Region
• Technology
• Payment (One time)
• Payment (Periodical)
• Infrastructure
• Military Equipment

Diplomacy and Dialogue

Each diplomatic dialogue can take three basic forms. Exchange, Mutual Agreement Demand or Threat. What this means is that two powers might agree to create for example a Mutual Defensive Alliance or Exchange a Defensive Alliance for a Trade Agreement, the one power will have to protect the other in case of war and the other will get some benefits when trading with the other. Mutual agreements hold the same rules for both parties as Demands are rather offensive and intent into bullying the other power into giving something to them. Finally Threats are more clear in nature than demands and simple state your either do that or we declare War.

Tracking Relations

Standings between powers do not change overnight most of the times it takes extensive periods or some very major events to change (declaration of war out of the blue could do that, or an unexpected gift), but Diplomatic Agreements in some ocassions can be settled in a matter of hours. Apart from the tables above a good idea would be keep a track of those diplomatic actions by keeping a log of them. The log entry should include the date, the power initiating the diplomatic dialogue, the power to the other side of the table, the type of the agreement, and of course some key notes about it. If there was any significant status change this should also be recorded. Here’s an example of a log entry.

2149.104 Solar Empire – Centaurian Empire Fed +1/+2

Colour coding of the agreement’s abbrevation can also signify the form that this was conducted in (mutual, exchange, demand etc.) and the number beside it the effect that it had in numerical scale of status for both or only one of the counterparts.

This system can help you keep track and records of  huge worlds very easily. I would suggest you use some sort of spreadsheet like Microsoft’s Excel, or Open Office’s Calc, or Google Docs (the two later are free)

If you have any ideas of suggestions I will be really happy to hear them, please do

It’s not a very uncommon thing to put the heroes of the adventure into a first contact situation. By first contact we refer to the event of two civilizations meeting each other or to a civilization making it’s first contact ever.

In Alternity Role playing gameFirst Contact is actually a skill under the Diplomacy Broad skill (group of skills)  The reason that First Contact is a skill is very simple. Understanding the protocols that you must follow in order not to create a very ugly situation are very specific and require an extensive knowledge of Cultural/Social sciences and Psycology.

But this is not an article about the fine art of diplomacy it’s about a movie that will be launching later this year called Planet 51. Planet 51 is an animation that, from what you will soon see is about a human landing on an alien planet from teh Aliens point of view … who’s the alien now huh?

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

Planet 51 Official web site

From the dawn of Human civilization technology was what gave the Humans (or any other intelligent lifeform) the edge that kept them one step higher than the rest of fauna in their world. Certain technological advancements, called breakthroughs signified the dawn of a new age. From the first time that Stone was used to create tools and weapons to the discovery of Energy to Matter transmutation technology Replicators these advances literally changed the way that its civilization perceives the world around it.

What’s your Age

When you create a science fiction campaign setting, a written or painted work of fiction establishing the Progress Level a.k.a the Age that this takes place will help you put some boundaries, create a set of rules that govern the way that individuals react and/or think into a community/civilization.

You must keep in mind that different civilizations in the same setting might achieved diffrent progress levels a.k.a one can be significantly more advanced than the other.

A clear example of distinction is a space faring civilizations and one still grounded in their home world or their star system. The discovery of means to travel in speeds faster than light makes that possible (commonly known as FTL technologies*), and even in cultures that posses FTL technologies the means that are able to achieve these speeds signify a difference between them (hydrogen fuelled Jump drives to Warp Drive).

Also, even if a race has reached a Certain Progress level doesn’t mean that will possess all the advancements of this level. Each civilization tends to research certain areas of a technology more than others depending on their needs, requirements and moral beliefs.

The discovery of Nuclear Power gave birth to both the atomic bomb and nuclear power plants. Some cultures dedicated funds to research cleaner disposable methods and safer more controlled use of the thermonuclear reaction and others perfected weapons of mass destruction and in some occasions both happened in some level.

Human Civilization Progress

• 0: Stone Age -> 4000 B.C.
• 1: Bronze and Iron Age 4000 B.C . – 475 A.D.
• 2: Middle Age 476 A.D. -1453 A.D
• 3: Age of Reason 1454 A.D. – 1850 A.D.
• 4: Industrial Age 1851 A.D. – 1945 A.D.
• 5: Information Age 1946 A.D. – 2046 A.D
• 6: Fusion Age 2047 A.D. – 2160 A.D.
• 7: Gravity Age 2161 A.D. – 2525 A.D.
• 8: Energy Age 2525 A.D. – 2814 A.D
• 9: Matter Age 2814 A.D – 5260 A.D
• 10: Far Future

The above is an example of a possible technology progression of the Human civilization. The utilization of steam power, the discovery of the Microchip, the achievement of Cold Fusion, Anti Gravity technology, the manipulation of subatomic particles in order to harness forms of energy like gamma radiation and finally as said before the Energy to Matter conversion technology were the mile stones that signified the change of Progress levels.

Other civilizations may have different technological advancements but new forms of energy usage (fossil fuels to antimatter), miniaturization, energy transfer, advances like cloning, genetics, material synthesizing (alloys), information technology advances like artificial intelligence and robotics (servo mechanics)  play a very important role as each of them radically alters the world around any citizen of a civilization.

Can you think of any other advancements that could significantly alter the course of a civilizations history?

* Faster than Light travel and FTL engines will be explained furtherly in a post soon to come

MANTLE by Adam ‘Phoenix-06′ Burn

When your species first came into existence,
we were old
When your planet was young,
we were old
When your star burst into existence,
we were old
When your galaxy was formed…
we celebrated
We are your creators
We made all of what you see for you
We are your ancestors, and you are our children
Look into the heart and you will find the truth
Look into the heart and you will find us…
We will be waiting

Lately I’ve been watching Star Trek: Voyager and the fact that all alien races in Star Trek as bipedal humanoids that most of the time their only difference would be skin colour and/or facial characteristics like position and/or shape of their nose, ears and forehead got me going.

Babylon 5, Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Star Wars mostly use bipedal humanoids as the “alien” figure. Of course I can understand that is much cheaper and easier to do so and that viewers tend to familiarize easier with two feet one head four limbs creatues, but how can we support that?

Hypothesis

In many occasions  highly technologically advanced races  appear to be intellectually enlightened creatures that seek some sort of godhood or “next level”. In order to do that they evolve themselves into long and miraculous to the eyes of the rest experiments.

We can theorize that there was an ambitious “ancient” race like that, that long ago when most of the planets were still in the first stages of their genetic evolution cycle, seeded a part or even a whole galaxy with a generic bipedal humanoid made in their image or completely from scratch.

This race would have to adapt to different fuuna and flora in different gravitic conditions, atmoshperic compositions, terrain and the colour of the star that their homeplanet circles among another good ammount of environmental conditions. As the species evolved it started to manifest different genetic characteristics in accordance with the environment that they had to adapt to and so many different species that originated from the same gene pool would exist.

Someone can say that this fictional explanation draws a fine line between the Darwinian Theory of Evolution and Creationism since none and both apply.

Humans originated in a distant galaxy, descended from the Alterans, who later became the Ancients and the Ori. The Ancients later seeded the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies (probably more) with Humans, as both galaxies seemed to be devoid of sentient life. The Ori later created a new evolution of Humans that served as their worshippers.
Source: Stargate Wiki on Humans

Related Facts

This theory and sustain the fact that many of the vocal interaction between these races would be rather “close” meaning that most of them would speak something close to the same sound frequency since their vocal cords are adapted but still of the same origin.

It is possible that there will be races inhabiting the galaxy/region that won’t look at all like these races since this theory does not stop natural evolution from taking steps into creating their own sentient and intelligent species. We can safely say that many of these races were very well extinct while trying to survive their environement as any other species in their new-found-homeworld.

Adventure Hooks

How could they survive so long? There is a good chance that they where they just replaced from time to time as a crew and from time to time I mean long periods of time. a race able to create life or even genetically manipulate it to this level could as well live for a thousand years or more. A very good idea would also be to have a robotic crew to help or even take over the whole research program since this could very well be a very boring ride.

The Aliens race that seeded these creatures can be around even now after thousands of thousands of years studying how the experiment is going or it might long now abandoned their endeavours. How earth shaking would have been if a space ship of this race was to be found? A research lab with the blueprints of all races, with a detailed log of the evolution of one or many of them an observatory dating back aeons. They aliens can be alive of in stasis or even dead in this ancient relic that pre-dates prehistory.  Would the aliens by caring and would have left an instructions manual or a ticking bomb ready to explode if any of the data were to be comprimised and/or stolen?

Things to think about

How would the mother race would look like?

Could they have evolved themselves after so many years or did they reached a crucial limit that they can no longer evolve and that they are deteriorating ? Could this be the reason that they started the experiment as well? Are they dying or a long dead race?

Do they have any reason to make contact?

Would they want to share their technology with their children?

Additional Reading

Theory of Evolution in Wikipedia

Please feel free to contradict me discuss and drop your own ideas on your subject.