 May 18, 2016 - 2:50pm | I am currently working on a system brief for the New Streel system ( http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/9273 ) and I am populating it with the ruins of a race of energy beings. This race, which the Frontier colonists are calling the "Brights," had colonized the planet Corpco back during the time of the Tetrarch Societies and were driven to near extinction by another vampire-like energy creature. I am basing the Brights off of an unnamed race created by William Douglass in Star Frontiersman issue 18, pp. 19-20, though I am giving them a few different abilities. They won't communicate by telepathy but rather by radio waves and flashes of light. So, what kind of ruins would such a race have? Joe Cabadas |
May 18, 2016 - 2:56pm | I also thought of giving them some weird architecture, like the following from the old Space 1999 episode "Guardian of Piri." Joe Cabadas |
 May 18, 2016 - 3:12pm | Depends on how long they existed as pure energy beings and how good their tech was at the point they became pure energy. You could always borrow the Ancients look from Stargate. |
 May 18, 2016 - 4:41pm | So if they transitioned from material to energy they leave something but 10,000 years is a long time, things deteriorate, environment encroaches, entropy is a bitch. Very likely it be like finding a South American lost jungle city. Satellite observation would pin point a location but otherwise you'd have to stumble over it and observe it directly with the mark one eye ball. If a transition chamber existed and still worked the real danger would be disintegration. Or at least transition would play out like that. You'd have to treat any PC who did in much the same way AD&D did PCs who became lycanthrope or undead. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 May 18, 2016 - 6:30pm | I read a blog article a few weeks back on this sort of thing, they discussed how such beings could exist, I guess as mostly energy but some minute physical particles... Will-O-Wisps from old D&D are energy vampires more or less. As to architecture I think it would a mix of something useful for what ever they where before they transition and then maybe things that conduct energy... they would probably avoid things that nullify energy or disrupt their energy fields. I am thinking maybe it would be huge pathways to Nodes that they could operate for various purposes, some sort of bio-electrical places for their feeding. In a resting state would they need something a kin to a "battery", so their rest state might look like a new energy source to Frontier races? Could the nodes look like crystals? or pools of strange gels? With threads running through them. Could the planet be like a huge brain with living energy patterns running along pathways? I imagine energy beings could zap others maybe even transmute things. Just spit balling ideas. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 18, 2016 - 9:53pm | Yes, I've beem trying to contemplate the nature of such a creature -- the Brights, that is -- and give a rational scientific -- or at least a fantasy, pseudo-science -- explanation for how they can exist, how do they interact with the physical world. If I am loosely basing it off of the creature from Star Frontiersman #18, which I am, it mus have some kind of substance. William Douglass' creature was an omnivore, where it woud feed of fof certain electrical fields, such as plants, though it could feed off of non-plant life if necessary. His take was that it could not be harmed by electrical weapons, would be immune to stun attacks though it could be slowed or immobilized by a Gauss Screen... Again, I'm only taking bits and pieces from his creation, though those characteristics seem to fit. As a technological race, they probably don't have writing in the same manner as Frontier beings. The height of their civilization was around the time of the Tetrarch Societies, but they would have been more of a "client race" rather than one of the leaders. They would have an ability to hide... to mask their electrical field from detection... it could be an inate ability or some leftover technology from before their fall... They would use glass for surfaces that they wanted to be nonconductive. For items that they would want to use their energy, probably they'd use aluminum and copper... For weapons, they might be able to be their own battery... as Tch mentioned, maybe crystaline technology. So, not pure energy... so they could be harmed by lasers, masers... maybe bolt weapons (or perhaps those at 1/2 damage). Would slug throwers hurt them? Maybe not, but if you had a harpoon with a wire attached to it, you could "short them out"? And, yes, they would probably have some sort of battery or capacitor technology at one time -- probably some leftovers still around -- for an emergency recharge. Pools of strange gels? Hmm. Like a glowing witch's caldron! That could work... Joe Cabadas |
May 18, 2016 - 10:43pm | Ok Tchklinxa, maybe one structure/ ruin is a structure that they became the energy capacitor for. In other words the built a huge Circut board, transitioned to energy and powered the board and it performed it's magical mystery tour function whatever that was; gate to another Galaxy etc. They would not wish to be grounded. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 18, 2016 - 10:56pm | They would not wish to be grounded. That's for sure! Talk about a power outage.  Joe Cabadas |
 May 19, 2016 - 10:22am |  You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
 May 20, 2016 - 5:39pm | If you think of the energy beings as the software; you are asking what kind of hardware do they need to support themselves. If everything about them is energy then none. If they need somewhere to rest then some kind of capacitor device. What and how do they eat? Energy beings need more energy to stay alive, unless they are somehow self recharging but that is more fantasy then sci-fi. Unless they are just hanging around contemplating their existence they are doing something. What jobs do they have? How do they accomplish there work? What is their transportation system like? Are there telegraph lines going from city to city to move them around? How do they travel inot space where energy transistion is more limited? Too often energy beings in sci-fi are presented as Omnipitent Monks sitting around doing nothing or something mere mortals can't understand. Try to see them as a less conceited race. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
May 20, 2016 - 9:20pm | I wish I bookmarked the article... but in thinking on sci-fi energy beings often they are sort of gaseous and energy beings all at once, I think the article had a core part of the being being some sort of conductive material bits with surrounding gas in which the energy was generated from, moved about in and so on. An energy being needs a way to contain and focus it's energy or it would dissipate... we need a brain for our consciousness of energy to move in, the brain (the hardware) contains the energy (software), the brain moves and focusses the energy. I am thinking maybe the planet would have to work like that? So all the little energy people can stay whole, move about and so on, they might not be able to leave the planet? What would energy beings do? That is a good question... well they would need to expand their environment so they would build or change the environment, they could be mistaken for natural phenomenon when doing so, especially if a group was say making glass. All beings reproduce so little light families could be possible. Do they act as individuals or more group mind type beings? Has becoming energy beings stagnated their culture, or caused them to regress, or resulted in that angelic or demon like beings that are highly intelligent? "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 21, 2016 - 3:33am | It's hard to imagine an energy creature having a civilization. No schools to educate, no museums as repositories of art, etc Only the word of static discharge and and electric transmission of data over generations. At best they would be an intelligent animal passing limited knowledge and skills onto offspring. There is also the question of death do energy creatures die of old age? I like the gaseous approach as there will have to be some material component. Rsttraveler raises excellent questions. What if the energy creature was the creation of a dead race? Created to power some vast artifact (Circut board built on a monumental scale). Lists of mysteries to be unravelled and of course corporate desire to possess the underlying tech will get people killed. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 21, 2016 - 3:40am | Re: death and old age in the energy creature: what if part of their energy source was radioactive isotopes? And the clock is ticking on our creature as half life issues mean it's power is winding down. PCs land and "fog" envelopes the ship smelling the atomic pellets in the engines. It cause several electric discharges that short out several systems before retreating to consider options and what it's learned. PCs begin to explore, and repair ship and a few NPCs are killed by the energy creature out in the wild. Wait a minute that's starting to sound like a Star Trek script complete with red shirts. Beam me out of this thread Scotty. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 21, 2016 - 8:58am | LOL I do like the isotope idea... that could give them natural life spans. Could they posses genetic memory like in SG plus the ability to learn? D&D Elemetals also leaps to mind besides ST... are not the PCs Red Shirts anyway, I am thinking Clarion military should be dressed in Red... that old British Vibe. So it would have to be a ship from Clarion  "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 21, 2016 - 10:25am | I wish I bookmarked the article... but in thinking on sci-fi energy beings often they are sort of gaseous and energy beings all at once, I think the article had a core part of the being being some sort of conductive material bits with surrounding gas in which the energy was generated from, moved about in and so on. An energy being needs a way to contain and focus it's energy or it would dissipate... we need a brain for our consciousness of energy to move in, the brain (the hardware) contains the energy (software), the brain moves and focusses the energy. I am thinking maybe the planet would have to work like that? So all the little energy people can stay whole, move about and so on, they might not be able to leave the planet? What would energy beings do? That is a good question... well they would need to expand their environment so they would build or change the environment, they could be mistaken for natural phenomenon when doing so, especially if a group was say making glass. All beings reproduce so little light families could be possible. Do they act as individuals or more group mind type beings? Has becoming energy beings stagnated their culture, or caused them to regress, or resulted in that angelic or demon like beings that are highly intelligent? Yes, they would need some sort of form to stay cohesive. The type of energy being I'm contemplating is not a spiritual creature, nor an "ascended being" like in Stargate. But, maybe a will-o-wisp type and intelligent. Once high-tech but now reduced to a primative level, having lost or forgotten much of their history and technology. One that recognizes, however, that biologicals -- animals and intelligent creatures -- aren't food sources, but plants are. Perhaps a race that unwittingly caused its own destruction or didn't have the means to stop it. They aren't native to Corpco (New Streel), but had colonized the world. They reproduce slowly, usually having only one offspring when the parent "dies" and would normally pass on their knowledge. They could be killed, but this causes the premature "birth" of a child, and one that did not gain all the parent's knowledge because of a lack of preparation time. Now to read some of the other posts... Joe Cabadas |
May 21, 2016 - 10:27am | It's hard to imagine an energy creature having a civilization. No schools to educate, no museums as repositories of art, etc Only the word of static discharge and and electric transmission of data over generations. At best they would be an intelligent animal passing limited knowledge and skills onto offspring. There is also the question of death do energy creatures die of old age? I like the gaseous approach as there will have to be some material component. Rsttraveler raises excellent questions. What if the energy creature was the creation of a dead race? Created to power some vast artifact (Circut board built on a monumental scale). Lists of mysteries to be unravelled and of course corporate desire to possess the underlying tech will get people killed. Yes, some more good points to ponder... Joe Cabadas |
May 24, 2016 - 9:13am | Ok so we've imagined an energy creature and we need to explain its form: 2 classic approaches: 1. Current energy, jumping, traveling and existing like ecelricity infecting electrical systems and computers. 2. Gaseous: but how does the "cloud" stay together? To answer #2 I think we have to postulate that the creature is able to generate a field to aid in this. Perhaps something similar to the enertial field, an electrical field, or perhaps it can manipulate gravity. The implications for each field is different but significant. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 24, 2016 - 11:01am | Ok so we've imagined an energy creature and we need to explain its form: 2 classic approaches: 1. Current energy, jumping, traveling and existing like ecelricity infecting electrical systems and computers. 2. Gaseous: but how does the "cloud" stay together? To answer #2 I think we have to postulate that the creature is able to generate a field to aid in this. Perhaps something similar to the enertial field, an electrical field, or perhaps it can manipulate gravity. The implications for each field is different but significant. Thanks! Joe Cabadas |
August 10, 2016 - 2:17pm | OK. I started posting information on the race I am working on over here: http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/9461 Joe Cabadas |
August 10, 2016 - 4:33pm | I have to admit that when I started this thread I was thinking in terms of the classic star trek energy creature mostly. However, I do like JCab 747's take on the energy creature being one part silicone life, one part energy and one part mentalism. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 26, 2016 - 12:33pm | Here's a new, but related question that I'm hoping someone can provide me with some feedback. I am still working on tweaking my silicon-based, energy-feeding lifeform with psionic powers -- see the Brights mentioned earlier. Now, besides absorbing energy, would anyone hazard an opinion on what a silicon-based lifeform would need in the way of other foods? Would it consume rocks like the horta of Star Trek? Are there other "normal" fruits and vegetables that would provide it with some of its dietary needs. I imagine if it is to grow, it needs something besides absorbing energy; it needs "raw materials" if you will go go from a hatchling to a full grown adult. Joe Cabadas |
August 26, 2016 - 3:10pm | http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/05/stephen-hawking-on-non-carbon-based-alien-life.html
Above is an article based on Stephen Hawkings ideas about life lorms based on elements other than carbon. the arsenic one is interesting
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
August 26, 2016 - 3:16pm | http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/05/stephen-hawking-on-non-carbon-based-alien-life.html
Above is an article based on Stephen Hawkings ideas about life lorms based on elements other than carbon. the arsenic one is interesting
Thanks. I'll take a look at it. Joe Cabadas |
August 27, 2016 - 12:55pm | http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/05/stephen-hawking-on-non-carbon-based-alien-life.html
Above is an article based on Stephen Hawkings ideas about life lorms based on elements other than carbon. the arsenic one is interesting
It gives some ideas, but I'll need to do some more reseach. Joe Cabadas |
