Mention a random quirk of your world

Somewhat related to the above: In my GURPS sci-fi setting, heavily-armed Humongous Mecha exist...but not in the military. They're part of a popular sport. Mecha-based gladiatorial combat is basically the Empire's equivalent to NASCAR (sponsor logos and everything). Pilot injuries are fairly uncommon, but spectacular destruction of hardware and property is very much a desired result.

edited 31st May '16 12:39:01 PM by MattStriker

As much as I like Mechs, Tanks beat Mecha no matter what in all of my settings.

Even in space? Underwater?

Very few mechs go into Space.

And the one where they do, drones and space fighters are still better than Mechs.

And this corporate setting is all ground combat, space combat is done with drones and long range guns.

No submarine based anti-orbital batteries?

Let us move this to the Sci-Fi weapons thread. And you can ask all questions needed of me there.

Aww

By contrast I've got mechs used just about everywhere because A. they're easy to train for. B. need only a single pilot and C. while they aren't the best option for any given environment, they are an option. As such, mechs are used in swarm tactics, overwhelming the enemy with raw numbers.

They're based on orbital tugs, think a mix between underwater exploration vehicles and construction vehicles. As such, the design is common and very modular.

edited 1st Jun '16 11:33:26 AM by Belisaurius

Demons are not evil spirits but flesh and blood life forms from a very different parallel world.

One of the cities is named Fluxburgh. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzVhrFoOA1w)

So the Doo M interpretation, then?

It makes them very Rip and Tearable.

Crownen, my High Fantasy Middle Earth-like setting, has a race called the Pipsians. They are a quite goofy race often considered Cloudcuckoolanders by the other races, especially with the large crop of pixie palm^note which is totally not cannabis they produce and the silly pointy hats they like to wear. They also have a knack for practical magic, and have a culture revolving around flying on long objects - anything from brooms to tree branches to long, slender oil lamps. It is rumoured that this race led to the belief that witches fly on brooms.

I'm currently putting together a fantasy setting where "Modern" magic beats ancient magic 99% of the time. In my setting there's a (potentially apocryphal, I haven't decided yet) story of the First Necromancer rising from the grave then in turn raising an army of undead minions from a cemetery he happened upon. Only for his entire army to be obliterated by the town guard's resident invoker and himself arrested.

To be clear, an "invoker" in my setting is a person who knows a handful of spells that are useful to whatever their job happens to be, but doesn't have an in depth understanding of how magic actually works. Basically, if being a fully-trained sorcerer is the equivalent of having a P Hd in magic, then being an invoker is the equivalent of taking a "magic 101" elective while studying for a completely different degree.

My setting involves a benevolent group of Machine-Worshipers who consider a particular super AI (known as Metatron) an incarnation of God. Their robot companions have an angelic theme going on, and they go around the galaxy fighting luddite gothic necromancer communists and similar horrors.

edited 7th Jun '16 3:10:07 PM by Protagonist506

There is a God of Dragons, Fire, Greed...and Capriciousness.

In a World of Funny Animals that I'm working on, insects aren't just pests: they replace the regular animals as the wild life and are usually sized up. Beetles are essentially Horses, Spiders and Earthworms are farmed for their web and meat, Dragonflies are...actual Dragons.

The Northern Provinces of a mythical land, based on Heian period Japan, employ foreigners as their mercenaries. Much to the capital's ire.

There's a division between interstellar and intrastellar forces. Intrastellar forces are known as space forces. Space fleets, space ships, space patrols. Interstellar forces are known as star forces. Star ships, star fleets, star patrols. Star forces are often thought of as more elite as they see more of the universe than space forces.

Which makes the idea of geneticly engineered supersoldiers calling themselves Space Marine s a bit weird

Phase Drives are relatively easy to understand, they are simply Hyperspace drives, but the results of seeing one enter and exit realspace are often awe inspiring... for members of generational colony ships or cryogenic frozen humans.

A small ship (Can be piloted and operated by 1 pilot) entering and exiting realspace will often seem as if they are fading in and out of reality, as their ship slowly becomes visible again bit by bit.

A capital cruiser (A Battlestar, large scale, any number of names) works differently, there is almost a visual lag with the size of the ship entering and exiting realspace that there is often a visible tear as the ship becomes more visible, some have reported actually hearing the sound of hyperspace and realspace tearing open upon seeing Capital Cruisers.

edited 15th Jun '16 1:30:52 PM by EchoingSilence

In my new fantasy setting there are three basic categories of Dragon.

Forest Drakes, Mountain Drakes, and Prime Drakes.

Forest Drakes are the smallest and most common. They are around the size of an elephant (but much longer, lower to the ground, and lighter) and tend to have green or brown scales. They cannot breath fire or fly for long distances, but can exhale a toxic gas that they are immune to. The overwhelming majority of tamed Dragons are Forest Drakes.

Mountain Drakes range from twice as large as Forest Drakes to five times as large. They tend to have grey scales, though black and white are also relatively common. Unlike their forest-dwelling cousins, Mountain Drakes can both breath fire and fly for incredible distances. Only the most hardcore of Dragon tamers even attempt to tame Mountain Drakes, and only the most hardcore of the most hardcore ever succeed. Entire wars have changed their course because one side had a mere handful of tamed Mountain Drakes.

Prime Drakes superficially look like slightly smaller Mountain Drakes and tend to live in similar habitats, but unlike their larger kin Prime Drakes are sentient. Because of this, they have an actual civilization in the northern Barrier Mountains. It might not look like much since they have few things that could be described as structures, and it's generally just called "Dragon-home" because the Prime Drake's name for it is unpronounceable and has no direct translation, but it's very much a true nation complete with a government, and economy, and formal diplomatic relations with neighboring nations. Basically no one ever tries to tame a Prime Drake because that would be slavery....and also a great way to get your head bitten off (remember, they are still Dragons).

I think every time I add a post here, I'm gonna try to include all three of the major worlds I created and add a quirk about each one, and have each quirk be about a specific topic.

Today's topic: faeries!

Mystrica (modern virtual world with Mons): Yup, even this world has faeries, and their job is to help out people who are exploring about the MMORPG-like world. Every creature in Mystrica is assigned to an element and a class, and there is in fact a Faery class. Not surprisingly, the faeries of Mystrica are always this class, and a few Mystripets and other related creatures are as well.

Crownen (High Fantasy setting): In this world, faeries are very small and are born fully mature out of flowers. They plant such flowers in order to reproduce, after which they usually die.

Orenya (Tidally Locked Planet with a Background Magic Field): Notably, there are no faeries here, but there is a race called the Sumiri which have faery-like wings. These wings are not so much used for flight, but for photosynthesis, which is very useful since they mainly inhabit the daytime half of the planet.

To combat the psychic threat, the US Army has deployed the first cybernetic soldiers onto the battlefield. These soldiers can withstand massive telekinetic force, and they are immune to telepathic manipulation. Unfortunately, they do not feel true emotion as the procedure of augmentation kills that part of the brain permanently.

Random quirk:

"Satan" is actually a demonization of a pre-existing god, who was so demonized at his own instigation. Don't ask why, numerous Gambit Roulettes were involved.

A common and mildly blasphemous curse among lower-class Uelane, somewhat equivalent to "goddammit", is "parrot's tits." This usually causes confusion among those who have learned the language of Uel, but not the particular cultural quirks and slang.

The precise origins of the term are lost, but the general root is easy to figure out with a bit of context. Golden Parrot is a well-known spirit of luck, fortune, and competition, inherited from the Yoth after they were conquered by the Uelane. Despite the name, she's usually depicted not as a parrot, but as a woman, still dressed by tradition in Yoth fashion: a long skirt worn without shirt or bra. For a sufficient number of lower-class Uelane, this proved extremely memorable. So when she screws them over, what's the first thing that comes to mind and finds it's way to the tongue? "Parrot's tits."

edited 8th Jul '16 9:49:54 PM by KillerClowns

@HydraGen

AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH. That is all.

To keep this on topic, "matrule", from Latin "matrula" or "little mother" is the term of address for an adult female member of the herd who is not the speaker's mother or sister; as the mother of a given Pony is automatically the *head mare, this is for all intents and purposes the stallion's other wives or concubines.

edited 14th Jul '16 9:36:27 PM by SantosLHalper