"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Well, probably not really. But I did enjoy this particular lecture of his http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/lindex.html (then click on Life in the Universe) Extract follows: There is no time, to wait for Darwinian evolution, to make us more intelligent, and better natured...Other qualities, such as intelligence, are probably controlled by a large number of genes. It will be much more difficult to find them, and work out the relations between them. Nevertheless, I am sure that during the next century, people will discover how to modify both intelligence, and instincts like aggression. Laws will be passed, against genetic engineering with humans. But some people won't be able to resist the temptation, to improve human characteristics, such as size of memory, resistance to disease, and length of life. Once such super humans appear, there are going to be major political problems, with the unimproved humans, who won't be able to compete. Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead, there will be a race of self-designing beings, who are improving themselves at an ever-increasing rate. If this race manages to redesign itself, to reduce or eliminate the risk of self-destruction, it will probably spread out, and colonise other planets and stars. However, long distance space travel, will be difficult for chemically based life forms, like DNA. The natural lifetime for such beings is short, compared to the travel time. According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light. So the round trip to the nearest star would take at least 8 years, and to the centre of the galaxy, about a hundred thousand years. In science fiction, they overcome this difficulty, by space warps, or travel through extra dimensions. But I don't think these will ever be possible, no matter how intelligent life becomes. In the theory of relativity, if one can travel faster than light, one can also travel back in time. This would lead to problems with people going back, and changing the past. One would also expect to have seen large numbers of tourists from the future, curious to look at our quaint, old-fashioned ways. It might be possible to use genetic engineering, to make DNA based life survive indefinitely, or at least for a hundred thousand years. But an easier way, which is almost within our capabilities already, would be to send machines. These could be designed to last long enough for interstellar travel. When they arrived at a new star, they could land on a suitable planet, and mine material to produce more machines, which could be sent on to yet more stars. These machines would be a new form of life, based on mechanical and electronic components, rather than macromolecules. They could eventually replace DNA based life, just as DNA may have replaced an earlier form of life. This mechanical life could also be self-designing. Thus it seems that the external transmission period of evolution, will have been just a very short interlude, between the Darwinian phase, and a biological, or mechanical, self design phase. Look forward to the sourcebook coming out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Throw in wars for dominance between the augmented and nonaugmented humans, and humans and machines, and I think you'll be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... For even more chaos, wait for the Supers vs. Normals vs. Sentient Machines war to break out, then have magic make an (re)appearance. I.E. magic isn't a myth, it's just been dormant for a few millennia and now it's back. (a la Shadowrun, if you're familiar with the material.) So you get to mash together Supers, Sci Fi, Magic, and depending on when you ahve the actual campaign occur, some post-Apoc flavor as large areas would likely end up being leveled as as a result of collateral damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... At last, Hawking has found his true calling. I look forward to his first STAR Hero game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... At last' date=' Hawking has found his true calling. I look forward to his first STAR Hero game. [/quote'] He'd probably enjoy it - he's quite the sci-fi fan apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... For even more chaos' date=' wait for the Supers vs. Normals vs. Sentient Machines war to break out, then have [b']magic[/b] make an (re)appearance. I.E. magic isn't a myth, it's just been dormant for a few millennia and now it's back. (a la Shadowrun, if you're familiar with the material.) So you get to mash together Supers, Sci Fi, Magic, and depending on when you ahve the actual campaign occur, some post-Apoc flavor as large areas would likely end up being leveled as as a result of collateral damage. And as a handy plot device have the ability to do magic as an exclusive trait of the non-augmented humans (due to the dna bonding irregularity every 23rd angstrom which is corrected in the augmented humans, but ironically allows magical activity) as a nice leveller. Eugenic supermen versus physically/mentally inferior homo sapiens (or Pan Sapiens Edulis to be precise) with magical wildcard abilities. Hell, this could be a goer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... I just like the idea that you wouldn't know what you were up against until someone started tossing stuff your way. You have a built-in possiblity for temporary alliances between 2 out of 3 factions to overcome a more powerful mutual adversary... Or lawmakers trying to regulate Mages/Supers/AIs... Groups trying to infiltrate each other... Regional spheres of influence... I'd love to run this as a campaign; I'd probably try to have everyone in the group fall into a single group, but maybe it'd be better to have some diversity (always assuming there's some premise for the to get along). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... For even more chaos' date=' wait for the Supers vs. Normals vs. Sentient Machines war to break out, then have [b']magic[/b] make an (re)appearance. I.E. magic isn't a myth, it's just been dormant for a few millennia and now it's back. (a la Shadowrun, if you're familiar with the material.) So you get to mash together Supers, Sci Fi, Magic, and depending on when you ahve the actual campaign occur, some post-Apoc flavor as large areas would likely end up being leveled as as a result of collateral damage. And as a handy plot device have the ability to do magic as an exclusive trait of the non-augmented humans (due to the dna bonding irregularity every 23rd angstrom which is corrected in the augmented humans' date=' but ironically allows magical activity) as a nice leveller. Eugenic supermen versus physically/mentally inferior homo sapiens (or [i']Pan Sapiens Edulis[/i] to be precise) with magical wildcard abilities. Hell, this could be a goer! Usable magic principles and/or artifacts could be discovered on one of the newly explored planets, among the ruins of an extinct civilization. Brought back as a curiosity, unaugmented humans realize that it gives them the tools to battle their superhuman and machine rivals/masters. Yeah, this could get good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Usable magic principles and/or artifacts could be discovered on one of the newly explored planets, among the ruins of an extinct civilization. Brought back as a curiosity, unaugmented humans realize that it gives them the tools to battle their superhuman and machine rivals/masters. Yeah, this could get good. Nice addition! Has anyone got Prof Hawking's email address, we need to get him to write this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Nice addition! Has anyone got Prof Hawking's email address, we need to get him to write this... Well, I didn't find Prof Hawking's Email address, but I thought http://www.mchawking.com/email.php?page_function=eotm was worth looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Well' date=' I didn't find Prof Hawking's Email address, but I thought this was hilarious. Oh my word. Incidentally I'm currently reading "Brief History of Time" and have been pleasantly surprised to find out what a witty writer Prof H is - hence my browsing his own site for more stuff. (I know the site you linked to isn't actually his, but thought this would be an appropriate point to raise this) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Imagine Hawking's mathematical brilliance being introduced to the Hero System. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Imagine Hawking as your GM... Gamer: I'm firing my 2d6 RKA at the robot's head. Hawking:The... aimed... shot... penalty... is a... minus... eight... bringing... your... OCV... to... a three... Gamer: *yawn* But I have four skill levels, plus I'm braced and set. Hawking: You... need... a... nine... Gamer: *rolling dice* Got it! Hawking: or... less... to hit... the... robot's... head. Oh... good... Gamer: *rolling dice* Ok, I got seven BODY and 14 STUN. Hawking: Now... roll... damage... Gamer: ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Imagine Hawking's mathematical brilliance being introduced to the Hero System. Imagine the rules debates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Imagine the rules debates! Yep V: So anyway my character is a recently awakened Victorian gentleman thief who was placed in a state of suspended animation by an evil sorceror and has just been revived. Basically a martial artist-stroke-stealth monster with an upper class British schtick. Other V: You could get a more effective character by shifting these points around here. V: Yeah, but I don't like min-maxing, for me, the character is the thing. Other V: It's not hard work, and you can still play the character the way you want, it's just more efficient. What do you think Steve? Prof Hawking: ULTIMATELY, NUM-BERS ARE MEAN -ING - LESS CONS-TRUCTS. (long pause) V: Game of canasta anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Imagine Hawking as your GM... Gamer: I'm firing my 2d6 RKA at the robot's head. Hawking:The... aimed... shot... penalty... is a... minus... eight... bringing... your... OCV... to... a three... Gamer: *yawn* But I have four skill levels, plus I'm braced and set. Hawking: You... need... a... nine... Gamer: *rolling dice* Got it! Hawking: or... less... to hit... the... robot's... head. Oh... good... Gamer: *rolling dice* Ok, I got seven BODY and 14 STUN. Hawking: Now... roll... damage... Gamer: ... Man, any subject can be funny if you handle it right, LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Imagine the rules debates! Are you going to get into a numbers argument with Stephen Hawking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Are you going to get into a numbers argument with Stephen Hawking? He could rebalance the entire system and likely provide a detailed mathematical proof as to why his costing methodology is superior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"V" Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Just as likely to work on a unified theory of character creation that results in having a single characteristic, the name of which defines the character's level in it and also removes the need for random die rolls to see whether it works or not in any given circumstance. And he'd still make it fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... This reminds me of a question I asked my high school chemistry teacher once: "If I could come up with a more efficient method for organizing the periodic table, whould it be worth extra credit?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... This reminds me of a question I asked my high school chemistry teacher once: "If I could come up with a more efficient method for organizing the periodic table, whould it be worth extra credit?" One of my ambitions in library science school was creating a new classification system. I thought that would be a good thesis, at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... "If I could come up with a more efficient method for organizing the periodic table' date=' whould it be worth extra credit?"[/quote']My high school Chemistry teacher did this, actually. Her table shows easily spotted patterns with regards to the whole protons, neutrons, and electrons. A friend (fellow colleague) of hers told her to patent it and she did. She needs a good marketing person, though, as I haven't seen it anywhere else and it is much more efficient (read: easy to comprehend) than the standard one. (That's if she wants to make money off of it, of course.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weldun Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... I just like the idea that you wouldn't know what you were up against until someone started tossing stuff your way. You have a built-in possiblity for temporary alliances between 2 out of 3 factions to overcome a more powerful mutual adversary... Or lawmakers trying to regulate Mages/Supers/AIs... Groups trying to infiltrate each other... Regional spheres of influence... I'd love to run this as a campaign; I'd probably try to have everyone in the group fall into a single group, but maybe it'd be better to have some diversity (always assuming there's some premise for the to get along). Or, require at least one representative from each group, having the team represent an effort to police the friction between the competing groups. And any "imbalance" in the party provides fodder for plot and background. "Why are there three magi, but only one Nietzschean and one Cyberian? This is clearly an attempt by the "old guard" to reign in their natural superiors. Down with the Neo-Bourgeois!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weldun Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... Hell, throw in some elements of Uplift, where certain species were biologically uplifted, in the face of legal restrictions against the engineering of the human genome, to assist humanity in certain endeavours. One favourite example of mine is the idea of uplifting bears to assist mars colonists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Re: Stephen Hawking working on Supers/SciFi campaign... I wish I could find a group of players that was free to play 2-3 times a week... I'd totally GM this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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