Star Power IV: Boldly Bolding Where No Man Has Bolded Before!

[Traab]

Now for something completely different: a SEMI-Aquatic Race

Once again, Mookie makes a mockery of world-building. If you are a race adapted to live in a world of torrential rainfall -- indeed, you require it for your existence -- WHY WOULD YOU BOTHER TO DO ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING?!

Was your planet drying up? How does that happen? Would you even bother to build shelters? If no shelter, WHY ENGINEERING?!

...I may be too sleep deprived to think cogently here, but it just seems bizarre to me.

They acquired this skill when they tried to go explore space. They had to figure out how to bring the environment with them, or at least how to survive without it. That takes a lot of engineering skills. I actually like this one. Its not saying every member of the race is an engineer, but it is saying their species is the one that is famous for that type of engineering.

[AgentPaper]

A constant drizzle also implies that when it does rain hard, it rains HARD. You can get by as a species without being adapted to survive, say, giant floods or mudslides every once in a while, especially if you evolve in a more tame area and then migrate to more extreme ones. Makes sense that they would learn how to build large, complex engineering projects to prevent and protect from said natural disasters, at least once they had developed enough for it to be feasible. They could well have been building giant dams and water channels at the same time we were building pyramids and other monuments.

I actually like this entry. It's not the most interesting species out there, but there's no mention of "They're all meteorologists!" or such crap, but instead mentions of where they came from, a common unifying theme/weakness they have, and their greatest accomplishments. If the rest of the race summaries were done this way, I'd be just fine with it. Heck, there's even a potential hook to a future storyline with the whole thing about putting drugs in the water.

[Oracle_Hunter]

They probably build shelter for the same reason we do. Yeah, the constant drizzle really brings out the blue in your scales but when a hurricane rolls around you don't really want to be caught in the open. Previous generations dealt with the problem by breeding twice a month and burying their eggs to protect them when everyone else dies, but that was rough on the life expectancy stats.

I dunno, applying moisturizer "three or four times per day" along with "special water beds" indicates to me that they really need to be in the rain pretty much constantly. While you might conceive of emergency shelters in the development of this race, it seems like they must live & work in the rain -- which means that shelters don't make a whole lot of sense, let alone mega-engineering.

I mean, look at humans. We really don't like being outside:

• We have no natural fur to protect us from heat or cold
• Variation in sun exposure is hazardous to many phenotypes of Humanity
• Our technology does not like being wet or scoured by sand.

If you stuck a human in a stone box and fed him food pellets and water, he'd be pretty OK. Vitamin A deficiency sure, but that's about it. In order to make a "room" for Dalbeen you need to make some sort of continual water drip and drainage system.

I just don't see how the Dalbeen would start working in buildings; living yes, as a sort of "emergency shelter" but why would you bother making impressive engineering projects when your workplace is mostly open-air?

That said: this is at least novel. Well done, Mookie

[AgentPaper]

They don't necessarily need the rain itself, so much as the humidity. They may also have evolved to sleep in shallow ponds, to protect themselves from predators, and/or to absorb water through their skin rather than drinking it. They might still want shelter to stay out of the rain, and special water beds that they can protect, control, and keep clean better than some random pond.

They may also have needed to build shelter in order to work for the sake of the work itself. For example, it's hard to forge metal in the rain, or prepare a cake using soggy flour, or write a book on wet paper. Tools get slippery and hard to use, food gets soggy and less delicious, drinks get watered down and boring, etc.

[Kornaki]

That said: this is at least novel. Well done, Mookie

My favorite part is that we have an alien who is not accustomed to the standard human environment, but who has a more elegant solution than being a 24/7 astronaut. It's a nice change.

[Traab]

I dunno, applying moisturizer "three or four times per day" along with "special water beds" indicates to me that they really need to be in the rain pretty much constantly. While you might conceive of emergency shelters in the development of this race, it seems like they must live & work in the rain -- which means that shelters don't make a whole lot of sense, let alone mega-engineering.

I mean, look at humans. We really don't like being outside:

• We have no natural fur to protect us from heat or cold
• Variation in sun exposure is hazardous to many phenotypes of Humanity
• Our technology does not like being wet or scoured by sand.

If you stuck a human in a stone box and fed him food pellets and water, he'd be pretty OK. Vitamin A deficiency sure, but that's about it. In order to make a "room" for Dalbeen you need to make some sort of continual water drip and drainage system.

I just don't see how the Dalbeen would start working in buildings; living yes, as a sort of "emergency shelter" but why would you bother making impressive engineering projects when your workplace is mostly open-air?

That said: this is at least novel. Well done, Mookie

Im honestly unsure where this talk of buildings came from, they are more terraforming engineers from what I have read, experts at working with the existing environment to get what they need. The part that bugs me is "semi aquatic" Wtf does that mean? Amphibious? Or is it just the shortest way to say, "They need to stay real damp all the time"

[AgentPaper]

I think that's the best part of this summary: It raises more questions than it answers. Not the "why is this so dumb" kind of questions like many of the others, but questions about the details on things that were covered in broad strokes. It makes me actually want to see the race and their planet explored more deeply, so we can see what those answers are.

Of course, this being mookie, either we won't ever see mention of all this again, or we'll do some grand tour of the multiverse and the answers will be dumb and wrong in strange and wonderful ways.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Next Up: The Aliens Where We Ran Out of Ideas

TL;DR -- the Heduthin come from a planet that is so indescribable that we need to say so a hundred times

[Mewtarthio]

What does that even mean? I'm getting the image of an ever-shifting Chaos planet, where one moment you're walking down the street on a sunny day, and the next your dreams are raining down from the sky and you try to run for shelter but your legs are made of rubber and ecstasy and you want to scream but there is nowhere for the sound to come from for you have no form no location no existence anymore. Is that what we're supposed to be imagining?

[AgentPaper]

What does that even mean? I'm getting the image of an ever-shifting Chaos planet, where one moment you're walking down the street on a sunny day, and the next your dreams are raining down from the sky and you try to run for shelter but your legs are made of rubber and ecstasy and you want to scream but there is nowhere for the sound to come from for you have no form no location no existence anymore. Is that what we're supposed to be imagining?

Yeah, I'm thinking he would have been better off simply saying that it's strange and they have a hard time explaining it. It's like trying to explain what seeing Cthulu is like, rather than what seeing Cthulu does to the person who sees them. It's the kind of strangeness that can only be appreciated once-removed.

This one was pretty all over the place. I liked the first paragraph, and thought Mookie might have actually gotten a handle on this. Then the second paragraph...happened, and the third one is just back to "Planet of Hats" again.

[random11]

If the Heduthins constantly need to adapt to different environments in their own home world, why aren't THEY the race of planetary engineers?

Anyway, will any of this "world building" actually impact the plot in any way?
Even if only by atmosphere?

[Mr. McGician]

Is this Mookie's way of throwing up his hands and admitting he's not very creative? "Well, I would describe it, but I can only write boring and generic things; just try to imagine it, sorry!"

[Kato]

If the Heduthins constantly need to adapt to different environments in their own home world, why aren't THEY the race of planetary engineers?

Because it would make sense?
Anyway, will any of this "world building" actually impact the plot in any way?
Even if only by atmosphere?[/QUOTE]

NEVER!


You know what would be nice? Aliens not with a special ability but a special disability. Say, blind aliens which developed underground or so. But hey, who wants that...

[Kornaki]

They have a special form of marijuana that grows near active volcanoes. Upon eruption the burnt marijuana smoke floats through the air, causing every inhabitant of the planet to get high at the same time. This occurs two to three times a week.

[AgentPaper]

They have a special form of marijuana that grows near active volcanoes. Upon eruption the burnt marijuana smoke floats through the air, causing every inhabitant of the planet to get high at the same time. This occurs two to three times a week.

They have a munchies based economy.


Seriously though, you know we're going to see some kind of "galactic tour" that brings is to most if not all of these planets, so that everyone can fawn over how awesome Star Power is and reveal their ancient wisdom to her to let her become even more awesome. Basically a repeat of DD's world tour.

[Traab]

If the Heduthins constantly need to adapt to different environments in their own home world, why aren't THEY the race of planetary engineers?

Anyway, will any of this "world building" actually impact the plot in any way?
Even if only by atmosphere?

Because they adapted to it naturally, like any other species will to its native planet. Why do they need to be engineers when their bodies naturally are adapted to the raw maelstrom of chaos that apparently makes up their planetary existence? Seriously, this one was stupid. I guess they are agents of the burning legion and mookie didnt want to use the words Twisting Nether.

[AgentPaper]

If the Heduthins constantly need to adapt to different environments in their own home world, why aren't THEY the race of planetary engineers?

Kinda hard to build great works in such an unstable environment. Also kinda hard to build anything resembling a civilization too, though, so yeah I guess it's bad either way.

[random11]

Because they adapted to it naturally, like any other species will to its native planet. Why do they need to be engineers when their bodies naturally are adapted to the raw maelstrom of chaos that apparently makes up their planetary existence? Seriously, this one was stupid. I guess they are agents of the burning legion and mookie didnt want to use the words Twisting Nether.

According to the description creativity and sharp mind were used against the environment, not natural resistance.
That implies tools of some sort. What else can it be?

[Welf]

Next Up: The Aliens Where We Ran Out of Ideas

TL;DR -- the Heduthin come from a planet that is so indescribable that we need to say so a hundred times

I think either Mookie is

a) just multiplying with us

or

b) leaving it on purpose vague so later in the RP game* the DM can use their own ideas for this planet

*Disclaimer: to my knowledge there are no plans for a RP game. This is just a joke.**

Although making a RP games seems to be an easy way to make money for fantasy/science fiction web comic. Just create a kickstarter, party down with the money, then cobble together a few story notes, drawings and the D20 rules. I wonder why the webcomic community isn't swamped with these. About 95% of those comics are recycled old campaigns anyway.

[Traab]

According to the description creativity and sharp mind were used against the environment, not natural resistance.
That implies tools of some sort. What else can it be?

That also implies their planet wasnt meant to be like that or else they would have evolved to fit it, or never existed at all. It would be like making the sentient beings on an aquatic planet have to invent scuba gear. How the hell did they live long enough as a species to MAKE scuba gear if their planet is entirely water?

[random11]

That also implies their planet wasnt meant to be like that or else they would have evolved to fit it, or never existed at all. It would be like making the sentient beings on an aquatic planet have to invent scuba gear. How the hell did they live long enough as a species to MAKE scuba gear if their planet is entirely water?

How did humans evolve?
We lived in a world where everything was trying to kill us: Floods, drouths, animals, lack of food, heat, cold and many other things.
Naturally, we had no thick skin or claws to protect us, and yet we managed to survive and evolve.

It's hard to tell what the difference between them and humanity since the description of the world does not really exist, but basically it's possible to survive and evolve in a harsh environment.

[halfeye]

How did humans evolve?
We lived in a world where everything was trying to kill us: Floods, drouths, animals, lack of food, heat, cold and many other things.
Naturally, we had no thick skin or claws to protect us, and yet we managed to survive and evolve.

We had thick skins and claws when we lived up trees, it was when we became top predator that we didn't need them any more, so evolved away from them. People aren't weak compared to animals, ask a polar bear, or a big shark, orca, tiger, lion or a crocodile.

[AgentPaper]

We had thick skins and claws when we lived up trees, it was when we became top predator that we didn't need them any more, so evolved away from them. People aren't weak compared to animals, ask a polar bear, or a big shark, orca, tiger, lion or a crocodile.

Specifically, we evolved the greatest weapon: a brain that can solve problems without needing thousands to millions of years of evolution.

Sounds to me like these guys did pretty much the same thing, evolving brains that allowed them to navigate their wacky world of danger, rather than relying on static attributes like tough hide or sharp claws or breathing underwater that might help some times but not other times.

[EvilRoeSlade]

What does that even mean? I'm getting the image of an ever-shifting Chaos planet, where one moment you're walking down the street on a sunny day, and the next your dreams are raining down from the sky and you try to run for shelter but your legs are made of rubber and ecstasy and you want to scream but there is nowhere for the sound to come from for you have no form no location no existence anymore. Is that what we're supposed to be imagining?

All I know is that I'm imagining that the world is Dominic Deegan + all snark is cannon.

[Traab]

All I know is that I'm imagining that the world is Dominic Deegan + all snark is cannon.

Celesto channeled all of his chaos bird powers into space. It eventually collided with another planet and warped it into the incomprehensible mass of ever changing insanity that it currently is. Too bad they never evolved the ability to SEE THE TRUTH, they might have been able to figure things out and fix it.

[EvilRoeSlade]

Celesto channeled all of his chaos bird powers into space. It eventually collided with another planet and warped it into the incomprehensible mass of ever changing insanity that it currently is. Too bad they never evolved the ability to SEE THE TRUTH, they might have been able to figure things out and fix it.

And lo, though the sainted Celesto was soundly atomized in the collision, the planet's inhabitants believe that his spirit yet remains, watching over them, and if one strains one's psyche deep enough into the chaos, his cries of "**** YOU, I'M A BIRD" can still be heard.

[Kwatsu]

Call me a racist, but I wouldn't want to be operated on by a surgeon whose mind had been honed by a strangely-strange world of "perfect chaotic madness". That's straight-up Cenobite territory right there.

[Traab]

And lo, though the sainted Celesto was soundly atomized in the collision, the planet's inhabitants believe that his spirit yet remains, watching over them, and if one strains one's psyche deep enough into the chaos, his cries of "**** YOU, I'M A BIRD" can still be heard.

The oddest trait of the inhabitants of this world by far is their seemingly random action where they will look away from the person they are talking to and give a deadpan look towards nothing at all.

[Oracle_Hunter]

For someone who is ostensibly a New Age Retro Hippe, Mookie sure loves his Fantastic Racism
By and large, these are pretty awful -- but that we're used to. Also, all 3 of the Shulentin slurs come from Earth, apparently

I mean, "inhuman" for Humans? Really?

[T-O-E]

Did this comic get dumber (in an interesting way) while I was gone?

Star Power (VERY OFFENSIVE)