Sci-Fi Worldbuilding Dump

[Sizzlefoot]

Dump any random, cool science fiction worldbuilding ideas here. I myself am building a sort of space opera-ish SF universe to run in Savage Worlds, and I'm working on an alien race called the sulyuz. Sulyuz are reptilian religious extrimists. Their name in their own language translates roughly to "people of the stars", since they believe that they are the chosen folk of the stars, which they believe are semi-sentient, and that other species have no right to "use" solar power or even colonize solar systems. I always liked the idea of sun-worshipping reptile people and decided to port them in from my D&D setting.

[brian 333]

The oldest race known faded from the galaxy half a million years ago. Their ruins have been plundered by every civilization that followed. Indeed, many inventions claimed by other races are reverse-engineered from Elder artifacts.

The Elders are known to have terraformed many worlds throughout known space, and their extent exceeds known space.

Finding an intact space station or un-plundered world once inhabited by the Elders would make the finder wealthy beyond belief. Not disclosing Elder ruins or artifacts upon discovery will result in prison time, possibly with special counselling sessions in which the prisoner is debriefed aggressively. They will try to avoid making the interviews fatal...

[lightningcat]

My current gameworld is based on Transformers, but I can't help adding my own stuff - or blantent stealing other IPs to add in. This is one of my own races.

TIKKILA
The tikkila are a race of small relatively bird-like aliens, with both wings and forelimbs – the later of which can be used as both arms and legs. They have a similar appearance to the mythological griffon of Earth, although they are much smaller. The head feathers of the males make a pair of false ears, while the heads of the females are smooth. The females are on average larger and stronger than the males, but are naturally less colorful – their feathers are a combination of browns, tans, and grays. The males are both more aggressive and brighter colored – their feathers are a combination of white, blues, greens, with occasional splashes of reds and purples. Females will occasionally use cosmetics to brighten their coloration, they rarely go to the same extreme as males are naturally. Tikkila are omnivorous, but do little normal cooking, but often bake foods. Tikkila are able to use their beaks as both a weapon and as a manipulator, so they have designed much of their technology for use by their beaks. Like earth birds, the tikkila lay a clutch of eggs, although this is after a much longer equivalent internal gestation than birds have. They can move as either quadrupeds or bipeds, though they must drop to all fours to run all out. While significantly smaller than a human, a tikkila eats almost as much. Most modern tikkila have lost the ability to climb as well as their ancestors, and their claws are unsuitable for combat. Tikkila prize their ability to fly above almost anything else, and up until only recently the lose of flight was effectively a death sentence. Likewise, being cooped up – as is necessary for space travel – is psychologically difficult for them. This limited most forms of long distance travel including their native space program significantly, but they possess advanced scientific understanding in most areas despite these seeming limitations. Outside the areas of vehicles and mining, they are equal to or more advanced than Earth. Politically however they are more likely to have City-States, although often with subservient cities paying tribute, than anything like actual national governments. Their buildings are often half living, half constructed affairs with more outside door/windows than interior hallways, some of these buildings are taller than anything yet created on Earth. Tikkila wear little in the way of clothing, and even their armor is often crafted to be as little as possible, so as not to restrict flight as they are unable to fly when wearing medium or heavier armor. They do appreciate jewelry and art of any sort, including music and dances, the latter of which they prefer to participate in more than observe. Krassessal (best translations is “rock beneath the trees”) is a world very much like Earth, although it has never suffered the same degree of environmental damage from technological developments.

RAKKALLITE
Any of a number of hexapedal squirrel-like species domesticated by the Tikkila. The largest breeds can reach up to 20 kilograms, while most of them are between 5 and 10 kilograms. While most of the breeds are purely herbivorous, a few are omnivorous. Some breeds have membranes between their limbs allowing them to glide. As a whole, rakkallites are treated in much the same way as humans treat dogs.

[Bohandas]

Divination Engine

Given a setting where timetravel exists and is cheap and ge past can't be changed one could make a device that does computations with minimal work. The device works as follows

1.) The device chooses a random number (or word or whatever)
2.) The device displays the number (or whatever)
4.) The device checks to see if the number displayed is the correct answer
4.) If the number (or whatever) is not the correct answer the device sends a message back in time telling itself not to display and check the numner

It's impossible for the number picked to be incorrect. An incorrect number coming up would entail changing the past.

[Squire Doodad]

Everything is made of lasers.

[Accelerator]

A strange device that landed on earth. People are scratching their heads out wondering how it works. When pressed or handled, it pushes out sound, and according to the linguists, the sound is music, mostly resembling pop or heavy metal. Numerous dials seemingly made of light can be used to change the 'settings'. The strange thing is, the volume and 'area' controls are different from normal ones. Normal sounds appear loudest from the source, and over distance become softer and softer. For the device, sound stays the same regardless of area travelled from device, until the listener exits the 'area' designated.

People are still wondering who made this. Its obviously human, but who?

[Grek]

Divination Engine

Given a setting where timetravel exists and is cheap and ge past can't be changed one could make a device that does computations with minimal work. The device works as follows

1.) The device chooses a random number (or word or whatever)
2.) The device displays the number (or whatever)
4.) The device checks to see if the number displayed is the correct answer
4.) If the number (or whatever) is not the correct answer the device sends a message back in time telling itself not to display and check the numner

It's impossible for the number picked to be incorrect. An incorrect number coming up would entail changing the past.

Since the device can't output a wrong answer, the only possibilities remaining are that it outputs the correct answer or that it spontaneously breaks down, preventing the error message from being sent. Since the probability of randomly generating a right answer decreases with question complexity, the odds of a spontaneous malfunction would rise with the difficulty of the question. Useful information for balancing such a device.

[brian 333]

Legend of a warlord's treasire hoard leads to a planet inhabited by robots 1cm in length which strip any metal they find for use in creating more tiny robots.

They have four motive appendages, two manipulative appendages, and two, four, or six 'antennae' which they use to link to other robots for communication. The number of antennse dictates that robot's place in the heirarchy, with the sixes being able to link into supercomputers when a few hundred link simultaneously.

Of course, the warlord's treasure has long since been used to create more robot brains.

[Sizzlefoot]

An alien race which evolved from creatures similar to Earth squids/octopuses. They have a central hub of moist, slimy flesh, with eight flexible, elephant-like legs each ending in three suckered digits used for manipulation. The hub of flesh contains the brain, which is surrounded by a cone-shaped layer of tough keratin, and is ringed with four eyes, one for every two legs. They communicate via flashing colors on their skin and thrive in coastal environments.

[Squire Doodad]

An alien race which evolved from creatures similar to Earth squids/octopuses. They have a central hub of moist, slimy flesh, with eight flexible, elephant-like legs each ending in three suckered digits used for manipulation. The hub of flesh contains the brain, which is surrounded by a cone-shaped layer of tough keratin, and is ringed with four eyes, one for every two legs. They communicate via flashing colors on their skin and thrive in coastal environments.

"Flexible" and "Elephant-like" are not two words I associate with each other...

Sounds most unusual.

[Sizzlefoot]

"Flexible" and "Elephant-like" are not two words I associate with each other...

Sounds most unusual.

Elephant-like in appearance only, with more joints than you'd expect.

[GodEnigma]

Rok’Garian resemble, for all intents and purposes, humanoid beings made of stones and covered in patches of phosphorescent mosses of various hues and held together with twisting roots and vines. They most often have rudimentary mouths and gem-like eyes, two arms and two legs, though this is new for Rok’Garians who took on these shapes after meeting bipedal creatures some 200 years ago.

Rok’Garians are in truth a sentient form of fungus that uses tubers, vines, and mosses for gluing and binding together rocks in a protective outer shell; and they add appendages to this form as it suits their needs. Thus, no Rok’Garian looks alike and yet telling one apart is confusing as all a Rok’Garian needs is time to change their outer shell entirely. For this, some Rok’Garians have taken to scrapping out designs in the moss patches or applying paints to the rocky outer structure in attempts to provide distinctive markings for non Rok’Garians to tell them apart.

Furthermore, Rok’Garians are a practical sort, grounded and in no hurry to be anywhere. They disdain violence if only because it seems pointless. They are avid seekers of knowledge and have been roaming the universe so long none know where the Rok’Garians even call home anymore, the Rok’Garians themselves seem only to recall a place called Urth.