Random Questions Thread

Do the investigators know that paranormal forces exist in the setting?

edited 25th Jun '17 5:44:09 AM by hellomoto

Some do but the abberdale department is mostly unaware until after the first episode.

MIA

@Tera Chimera: I'm not quite old enough to remember cars from the Fifties, but I know that on my 1967 GTO the hood release lever was up under the front grill— so yes, on at least some models you could open the hood without pulling a hood release from inside the car..

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

If it's a more modern setting, it'll be up to those few to resolve them. Others would never even think of paranormal reasons the crime could have happened, and chase down more realistic but ultimately wrong possibilities.

The cases could also be left unsolved until what I assume is The Unmasqued World. Even after unmasqing, people with no knowledge of the paranormal would also not have the knowledge and abilities to deal with them, at least for a while. They'll also rely on the few people who already know about the paranormal.

edited 25th Jun '17 8:05:36 AM by hellomoto

In the course of a Proud Warrior Race's technological development over the millennia from tribal primitives to space-faring pirate-conquerors, how do I justify said race embracing the idea of ranged weapons if I want to maintain a cultural preference for close combat and personally slaying enemies out of both martial pride and thrill-seeking? Or to put it in another way, what could motivate such a race to invent (and subsequently embrace) ranged weapons?

For context, they're spider-like centauroids whose plethora of Natural Weapons includes web-spinning (useful for trapping prey/enemies as well as serving as makeshift Razor Floss, whips, and catapults/slings), ejectable sharp spines, and spitting acidic venom as their natural forms of ranged combat.

edited 26th Jun '17 6:10:35 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Any Proud Warrior Race Guy needs to eat. And as I understood from your description, they are mainly carnivorous. And since they need to find food more efficiently, the spider-centauroids could adopt "Hunting is not Combat" mentality, that allowed them to invent ranged weapons.

There's also a principle in sociology (which name I don't remember) that every society becomes more tolerant with passage of time. They could simply become more accepting of using ranged weapons in combat as their society evolves. Or extrapolate the aforementioned mentality to other species, i.e. (anyone who is not us is food).

Hope this helps.

edited 27th Jun '17 7:04:50 AM by Millership

Spiral out, keep going.

They might've taken to hunting flying creatures.

Well, technically they're omnivores, but their biology and psychology makes them being active predators the most nature state of feeding behavior. Vegetables and fruits are more of a side dish to them unless there's a severe shortage in available prey or the individual is too sick/injured to hunt.

See, here's the thing: Even as Stone Age-level primitives, their natural physical abilities allowed them to be very successful apex predators without using much in the way of "tools" (you don't need spears if you could throw your own webbing to tangle up your prey's limbs/wings, for example).

Also, I'm envisioning this race to be biologically hardwired such that getting a pleasurable rush from the thrill of getting up close and personal to one's prey as they're hunting/killing it and reveling in the psychological/physical suffering they inflict upon prey in the process is the norm in their psychology. (They're kinda like the Dark Eldar from Warhammer 40,000.)

Really? I'm interested in knowing more about this principle.

... Hey, now there's an idea. In Warhammer 40,000, Khorne is stereotyped to disdain fighting at range instead of in close quarters, but the fact is that many of his worshippers take the following approach to their deity's ways: They begin battle with an overwhelming and relentless barrage of ranged firepower, under the rationale that anyone who dies from that (that is to say, the majority) are obviously weaklings on whom the Khornates' martial prowess would be wasted, while the few who do survive said barrage are Worthy Opponents who have proven themselves deserving of being engaged in honorable melee combat. Either way, blood is spilled in the name of Khorne, who cares not from whence the blood flows.

So maybe I could have this race adopt similar beliefs as they get better and better at killing other species when they manage to establish a strong enough alliance of colonies under a sufficiently ambitious visionary leadership to consistently wage wars of conquest upon other species rather than between themselves, to the point they begin to find it tedious to waste their martial superiority on the masses of mooks, incentivizing them to invent efficient ways of slaughtering said mooks wholesale.

I forgot to mention that they can fly, too. And few creatures on their native world could outfly them; if they can't actually outspeed their prey, they can at least outlast it in endurance.

... Then again, maybe they could take up throwing spears as a way of showing those other flyers that they don't need to fly up to them to bring them down? Though a Proud Warrior Race, they actually value intelligence as a crucial, nonphysical component of the concept of "strength", since it's the most important factor that determines who will win in a fight between themselves rather than against other species (i.e. s/he who best uses their natural weapons is the one who is truly the strongest).

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

As far as I can remember, it's not an actual principle, but an observation of the obvious, I mean, look at the history of the humanity. There was probably more to it.

I could link you to it, if I remembered where I read it, and the article was in Russian, IIRC.

edited 27th Jun '17 10:33:43 AM by Millership

Spiral out, keep going.

Is there a way for a person to lose consciousness for several hours without sufferring serious permanent damage (and without the help of sedatives)?

edited 28th Jun '17 4:06:13 AM by Millership

Spiral out, keep going.

Not really, no.

Oh really when?

Contrary to stereotype, not all kinds of brain injury cause permanent damage. So yes, but it'd be mostly a manner of luck.

Also, but probably not what you are asking about: Sleep.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Hm. Would a combination of sleep deprivation and fainting from a heat stroke do the thing? Or that would be fatal?

Spiral out, keep going.

Just make the character tired and decide to sleep. Ever tried to take a half-hour nap only to sleep for 7 hours?

Alternatively, just take the Artistic License and knock 'em out for as long as the plot calls for. It's pretty standard practice in various media and people are used to it.

edited 28th Jun '17 9:48:33 PM by hellomoto

Eh, the thing is, the loss of consciousness needs to be involuntary. And I specifically want to avoid the Tap on the Head trope.

Well, thanks anyway.

edited 28th Jun '17 10:39:29 PM by Millership

Spiral out, keep going.

It's possible to fall asleep while standing up, but you usually wake up the minute your balance shifts and you begin to fall. If they're sitting, though, or leaning against a wall, that might not be a problem. (The only issue is that they can still be woken deliberately, unlike someone who has fainted.) Maybe do some research into that - sleep is not harmful in itself, but if your character is that exhausted they're not going to be in very good health anyway.

I'm thinking of trying to set up a writing contest in reference to the old annual ones is that a thing I can do?

The Prodigal Son returns.

If you have the time and resources to pull it off, you definitely can do that. Just know that potential contestants will want to know specifics. The rules, the scope, the timeframe, etc.

Award-winning screenwriter. Directed some movies. Trying to earn a Creator page. I do feedback here.

Define resources.

The Prodigal Son returns.

Huh, "old annual ones"? As in there have been such contests previously held on this forums?

I am quite curious to have a look at them, do you have a link or perhaps a thread title to search them by?

Just type in TV Tropes writing contest to get the essentials all in one place.

Annual redacted

edited 30th Jun '17 12:32:25 PM by MovieReference

The Prodigal Son returns.

This is intriguing. We'd upload the texts to http://freetexthost.com/ as was done before, and need, like, 10 people who would like to participate. I know I would.

Spiral out, keep going.

There are no pertinent threads with "annual" in title and just flat googling of what you said doesn't get anything either.

Although plugging "contest" into thread title search does land some. They just don't mention annuality anywhere at all Just which number it is in the line.

TV Tropes Writing Contest

Spiral out, keep going.

Ahhh thanks. Googling didn't pick that one up at all.

(because again zero mentions of annual Removing that keyword does show the page in the results.)