Check out the story 'Karla's Kidnap', in the fiction section of this website:
Unofficial Stargrunt II Page
http://nemesis.com.au/fastjax/stargrun/main.html
Personally, I find this to be one of the more interesting and
well-thought out
ideas about the KV. I used it as the basis for some of my assumptions in my
previous post about the KV (which was really rambling, sorry, they're trying
to collect on my sleep debt).
> You wrote:
Very good story too.
But I think my all-time favorite fanfic ever has _got_ to be Ground
Zero on same site. Howled like a maniac, and my entire family thought I was
crazy.
On Saturday, May 02, 1998 1:10 PM, Tony Wilkinson
[SMTP:twilko@ozemail.com.au]
wrote:
> Theres quite a few things we have to consider about the Kravak
Though such musings are certainly an interesting discussion point, they are
moot once BDS actually gets published. However they may well help to get the
creative juices at GZG to flow. In this respect I would ask the Sa'vasku to
become shadow like ancient and deadly, and more feared than the Kra'Vak.
> at GZG to flow. In this respect I would ask the Sa'vasku to become
*whossh*Burble*Chime*Balance is a three-sided
teaspoon*tinkle*Clang*worble*
I think the problem with 'ancient,deadly' enemies is that they are ancient and
er.. deadly. I'm still sorely upset that in B5 Shadow vessels went from
'Arrgh!' to cannon fodder in a series. I think if you have the Sa'Vasku as
similar to the B5 Vorlon, powerful yes but no-one really knows what
their motives are, it's better for a narrative campaign flow. However that
makes the next to useless for 'encounter' play unless you do what a lot of
people
are with the Kra'Vak i.e. give them an in-built point multiplier. It
would
be OK to make them ship-for-ship much nastier than any human vessel as
long as you made this perfectly clear in the species definition.
TTFN
Jon
> You wrote:
> Though such musings are certainly an interesting discussion point,
What's BDS?
> at GZG to flow. In this respect I would ask the Sa'vasku to become
Been done. Let's make them really wimps who want everyone to think they are
ancient and deadly and more feared than the Kra'Vak.
(I really want to make a joke about France here, but that would a bit out of
line.)
I dunno. I'm sick of the media-based SF trend. Either aliens are
pathetically weak, or so immensley deadly that we need the help of
semi-mythical demigods to prevail. Yippee. . . How about aliens that
do alien things for alien motives which make sense to them? And have simillar
overall ability to humans, but in different ways?
The Sa'vasku (do all aliens have a ' in thier names?) seem to be an
interesting species. A lot will depend on how GZG chooses to 'point' them.
> Though such musings are certainly an interesting discussion point,
Bugs Don't Surf. The long awaited, possibly fictional supplement for DSii &
SGII which defines the Kra'Vak and Sa'Vasku in those games. While FT has
fairly extensive Kra'Vak and Sa'Vasku, as yet they haven't made much of a
impression in the grunt games.
Name taken from Apocalypse Now, yes?
TTFN
Jon
> On Tue, 5 May 1998, John Atkinson wrote:
This reminds me of a chapter from the book First Lensman by E.E. Smith (The
second book of the Lensmen series). Virgil Samms is going around recruiting
Lensman from alien races and encounters a race he has trouble communicating
with. Even though the Lens he wears acts a translator some of the concepts
(like what this aliens job was) didn't translate because there was no human
equivalent activity. It was refreshing to see something that was
untranslatable after watching so much TV SciFi (ST).
For the time period the series was written (1948+) the concepts of alien
culture was quite interesting and thoughtout.
Actually, I rather like the Kra' Vak being very powerful, and hoped that
the Sa'-boys would turn out to be as powerful but different.
Following the B5 ref, they could be two sides of the same coin, different, but
near equal in strength, and neither particularly healthy for the weak
humans in-between. Even the possibility of human powers becoming
client/puppets between the two sides.
Dunno if I'd like that part being official history, though.
The_Beast
> You wrote:
This is quite likely the way the SV will go; so different from humanity that
we can't even begin to comprehend their motivations. It won't be easy
to do, but we'll try. I always liked the two chlorine-breather (IIRC)
races in Cherryh's "Chanur" series, who did things that no other race could
figure out......
> The Sa'vasku (do all aliens have a ' in thier names?) seem to be an
> Though such musings are certainly an interesting discussion point,
Yes, and it WILL happen, just no promises when!!
John spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> I dunno. I'm sick of the media-based SF trend. Either aliens are
I'd make the counter point that pulp SF has been making aliens we can beat
that are about as powerful as us for quite a while. I think the universe is a
big place. It has room for humans, aliens that are weaker than us (and may not
realize it until we kick them around), aliens that are as tough as us
(competitors), and aliens that can kick our ass with both hands tied (hope
they ignore us). In any case, they should (like good Traveller aliens) be
*alien* in thought and motivation (or as much so as we can make them) (and
yes, there could be another race that is dangerous because it thinks nearly
exactly like we do......). I'm looking forward to whatever GZG decides to do
with the big S dudes. As much as I like blasting other humans, I LOVE blasting
bugs.....(or mutants or giant spiders, or whatever).
I'm sure the GZG team will entertain and surprise us.
Tom.
/************************************************
Ground spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> This is quite likely the way the SV will go; so different from
races
> in Cherryh's "Chanur" series, who did things that no other race could
The K'nnn and the T'ca I believe or something like that. Yes, they were very
powerful, had physics knowledge that the humans couldn't match (nor could the
other races like the Mahendosat or the Kif). But they did things for almost
unfathomable reasons (and of course the humans did the very human things and
attacked them because I guess they didn't know enough to give them a wide
berth).
A good model - incomprehensible, bizarre technology, and entertaining
as all heck to encounter since you would never know what they were going to do
(or why). Not like a human opponent at all.
Good luck!
/************************************************
> At 12:24 5/05/98 +0100, you wrote:
> creative juices
Let me guess? You are a Sa'vasku player right?
> You wrote:
> This reminds me of a chapter from the book First Lensman by E.E. Smith
[OT] I've been trying to find Lensman stuff, but Doc Smith is so out of
print in the US it's ridiculous. I just can't find it.
> recruiting Lensman from alien races and encounters a race he has
E.E. Smith and some of the other greats of SF in the 30s-50s attempted
this concept. It disturbed some readers and annoyed most editors, except
Campbell. Campbell wanted aliens that "thought differently from a man, but as
well as a man." It's a high challenge, and one rarely met.
> On Tue, 5 May 1998, John Atkinson wrote:
> [OT] I've been trying to find Lensman stuff, but Doc Smith is so out
Ripping UK has relatively recently reprinted at least the six first books.
www.thebookplace.com has them, and I presume amazon or the others
could order them for you.
Personally, though, they don't rank very high in my favorites list. The aliens
are sort of interesting and the books have sort of a nostalgic feeling, but
the worldview is just sickening. And some of the stuff is
just ridiculous (no, not the technology -- stuff like
muscle-thought-reading).
> At 06:14 06/05/98 -0400, you wrote:
After years of being hard to find over here, they are now easily available. I
saw a full set of the books the other day, brand spanking new. I don't like
the covers though. Maybe try emailing some of the bigger bookshops on this
side of the world? Waterstones, or Hodges Figgis perhaps.