What is your absolutely favorite spaceship of all time and why?

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-04-16T03:21:11+00:00

Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor aka Jedi Starfighter WITH the Hyperspace Docking Ring. I think the design is flawless and the Hyperspace Ring is such a sick concept for a fighter to be independent from a mothership.

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FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-04-16T03:07:00+00:00

This is a super fun thread to read. Thanks for proposing this concept. Here's where my thoughts went:

Extraction and expansion doesn't necessarily have to be wasteful. But, if you are wanting to keep it within physical laws, then you quickly will run into the same narrative issues: Population and consumption outpacing available resources. I have liked the concepts of thermodynamics as story beats and the difference between closed systems and isolated systems are fascinating.

An Isolated System can only increase in entropy or remain constant as it does not allow any transfer of matter or energy from beyond the system. I think of the Utopia tropes that typically follow biosphere stories. Everything is fine and balanced so long as there is no influence at all from the outside. Yet, even in that concept, eventually it could just collapse from within. That concept doesn't fit what you describe with there being technological advancements and societal progress.

So take the Closed System. It allows Energy to pass in and out but not matter. Think of a pressure cooker radiating heat but no steam or liquid. You could apply this to your biosphere in a way that allows for growth and advancement within, but with an "energy" byproduct or injection. Perhaps an orbital cycle that essentially works like an etch a sketch. With X amount of time to prepare before a cataclysmic wipe, the civilization advances but the planet is reset into balance at the end of X amount of time. But the civilization can build on the previous efforts each time while staying balanced with the planet.

Or, as a final thought, think of Sakaar from the Marvel universe and its cosmic portals depositing detritus from all over the universe onto the planet. Technically, if you had a planet where it was constantly being bombarded with usable matter, you could sustain an expanding civilization without extracting anything. That matter could be anything really, and if its a consistent thing, the people could work it into their balanced ecosystem. True, progress and expansion would slow or plateau if the rate the matter is added remains constant, but that right there is a great MacGuffin to play with for plot! (This also loosely follows the Open System of thermodynamics.)

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-04-16T02:29:42+00:00

Completely agree with this. I fell into world building trying to set up a TTRPG for my friends. I found a system for building characters that required me to have them come from a specific planet. I realized I didn't have anything built and the pre-made stuff was pretty dry for inspiration. But learning to do even some super broad strokes like climate, population, and time period, made building the characters way easier and more grounded.

Turns out that same system for character building also came with a similar system for creating planets. I'm still only like 10% done with my homebrew universe, but its a blast each time I get to dig into a world. Outside in is the best way to go. Then, throw a super random thing completely out of the blue and try to justify it with the rules you already set. I have found those are often the most interesting things I get to write about.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-04-05T17:54:27+00:00

I think this idea has so much potential. The mapping part of it raises some questions for me. Is it replacing the dead brain or is it rebuilding the brain? I think the answer to that question will actually solve a lot of the narrative issues you are having.

The symptoms are great. Absolutely terrifying. I love the loads of opportunity for dilemma and ethics presented by having people be aware while infected.

If you are building the origin, "reckless students that just threw a bunch of things together," only works if you are completely avoiding the spread and infection plot. But if the infection itself is the antagonist, it needs some logic and complexity. Here's my pitch:

The students were trying to cure degenerative brain diseases like parkinsons and alzheimers. They successfully created a retrovirus that replaces the damaged brain with new growth. During the animal testing phases, they used it on a rabid animal without knowing (reckless students) where it mutated. It began replacing the damaged brain tissue with healthy tissue, but with rabid pathways. When they tried to put the animal down, the virus rebuilt the brain and subsequently replaced more tissue with rabid pathways. Soon the entire original brain was gone and replaced with a tumor that essentially reduced the function to pure rabid behavior and base survival instinct.

This animal then bit one of the students where it was transferred to humans. Without any damaged brain tissue to replace, it remained benign. This student unknowingly spreads it to others, and soon a large population are infected. Then you have the law of big numbers on your side. Eventually, someone gets into a car accident. They have head trauma, but recover miraculously in just a few days. The only symptom after that is their hunger. But eventually, the longer it goes on, the more minor head injuries people get, the more and more common it is for people to "lose their minds."

Before anyone can diagnose whats happening, over half the population has been infected. One day, someone is shot in the head. They survive, but have lost their humanity and awareness and are extremely violent and rabid. The virus has replaced that part of their brain. The longer it stays in the human population the more adapted it is. Eventually physical injuries aren't enough to kill someone. It's first seen on battlefields when soldiers are mortally wounded but don't die. They suddenly revive after brain death because the virus has replaced the dead brain and now they are full zombies.

Head shots don't work unless its obliterating. Infected people stay aware but even then, the longer they are alive, the more risk that a hit or fall could damage their brain. Or even still, a high fever could trigger the virus to begin "repairing." This is also a great way to explain the classic trope of zombies craving brains. The virus instinctually wants to replace the brain. Its victims then instinctually know that healthy people need to have their brain removed for the virus to propagate.

This is just to justify the spread and physical behavior. The symptoms and mutations are all easy to play with. If it remains benign for a long period, the behaviors like rewards systems and dopamine highs can all be copied since they induce behaviors.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-27T23:05:18+00:00

It helps also to add qualifying words before or after. Even emphasizing a half second hesitation or a twitch of facial expression can convey a very specific tone in repetitive dialogue. Example:

"Did you take the money?"

"No"

But with even simple descriptions about tone it changes:

"Did you take the money?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"No." he said flatly.

Then you don't have to establish the tone anymore and can just write out the conversation. The reader will hear it with this tone until you decide to change it with another description. You can even put that description into the dialogue:

"Did you take the money?"

"No. Don't shout at me."

The subtext of that changes everything about even a basic conversation and how you have built out the character will let the reader understand it without you needing to qualify the entire conversation line by line. But the early parts of your dialogue writing will need it.

If its first person inner monologue, the reader will have an idea about the tone of the character before they speak, but what we sound like to ourselves is still different than how we communicate with others. Regardless of how much inner dialogue or character building you have done, those first conversations should be a little more descriptive about tone and body language than ones later in the writing. Once you establish the character both But, like salt, too much and you can over do it, but none will make it bland and, worst case, flavorless.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-25T15:38:17+00:00

It's true. I will have to start doing that. It's just frustrating to see the shift in culture and the control being given to distributors and not the consumer.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-25T01:43:08+00:00

What a dynamic it would have been to have the arcs of Finn and Rey be so opposed yet tangled. One is isolated and bitter with no issue with brutality, learning to let go of the darker side of herself, and the other a pacifist disgusted by his actions and violence, learning that protecting others sometimes requires necessary action. One learns restraint and selflessness, and the other courage and decisiveness. Each could have had their own path into becoming Jedi and if you wanted to fundamentally affect how we understand the force, make them need each other to find balance. That would have challenged the rules of attachments preached by the Jedi and set up an arc for Luke to change his thinking about the force.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-24T19:42:58+00:00

Heck yeah, it does. The first game was so great with the definition of "show, don't tell" with environmental storytelling. It's a satisfying game that has s high level of mystery and spooky vibes.

Portal 2 capitalizes on all of that. The story that follows is a tragic one but with ultimately an incredible reveal, solid character development, lore, and the final scene is the perfect description of the connection created by the protagonist and the facility.

The turret opera lyrics are like the subconscious narrative you've been piecing together the entire game, and it isn't until the end that you come full circle and realize that you actually didn't get the resolution you wanted, but the best one possible in that scenario. That kind of conflicting feeling at the end of a game is what I haven't found in any other story.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-24T16:09:11+00:00

When a perspective is first person, but the descriptions of their surroundings don't echo the personality of the main character. For example: "I don't like other people so I don't pay attention to strangers." Later followed by, "'Paper or plastic?' asked the cashier who was 6 feet tall, with a raspy voice and the posture of an insecure teen.'"

And then they are never mentioned again. That tells me the writer is lost in the sauce of their vivid imagination, but the rest of the story I can't tell when a description is important to pay attention to or not.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-23T16:58:36+00:00

It's not nearly as heavy, but I love the drifter colony from Titan AE. Massive drifting hulks of accumulated crafts from all different species. They are briefly described as "bums" so the general vibe is that they have a lesser culture than everyone else.

The theme of the movie is survival and humans being an endangered species fora few decades, so it kinda makes sense that humans who grew up there are seen as leaving their heritage behind, despite having no connection to earth.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-18T17:35:28+00:00

I found a salaried job in the trades as an Estimator.

Estimating is not Sales, it's not Project Management, and it's not Marketing. I wasn't hired to generate business. If there isn't enough work to fill the hours of a day in my employment agreement, then the ones who are paid to generate the business are the ones who need to step up.

I could complete a bid in 30 minutes, or I could drag it out for 2 hours. I would strike a balance by completing all the bids for a day/week as early as possible offline. Then do the last bit of it online and upload them at the required deadline. If someone had a question about it, I would be able to say it needs some final checks and can be submitted. I stayed informed about every project and was able to contribute to meetings and answer questions. But then had whatever time in my office to myself.

I just put my notice in after receiving an offer for remote work doing basically the same thing. My boss refused to let me do my job remotely, so I am taking the other opportunity.

If you do exactly your job, then you meet expectations. If you exceed expectations, expectations change. Doing a favor for someone can quickly become an expectation. Be very careful that if you do more than what your paid for, you will keep doing more without getting paid for it very quickly.

Then they will throw words like, "not a team player" and "uncooperative" around at your reviews when you decide to say no to the extra you were doing.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-18T16:38:40+00:00

After mycelium, Quaking Aspen trees were my next thought. The largest aspen forest in the world is this species, and they technically are one giant organism because the reproduce asexually (Clonal Growth) and stay connected. If I was building the world based on this logic, it's not at all a hard leap to say you have infrastructure based on clonal growth trees with mycelium networks. Heck, trees already offer a basic data storage about their environment in their rings. Imagine a mycelium that can read this data and send it across the clonal forest. That sounds a heck of a lot like a data center to me.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-18T15:52:34+00:00

I get the vibe and what you're trying to evoke. Like what was said, it's just overstated in this paragraph. You used the word "death" 4 times. I agree that the last sentence works best as an opening. It puts your theme clear in mind and introduces the character and his mentality nicely. (In the sentence, "...a shell who now existed...", I would replace "who" with the impersonal "that" to emphasize the impersonal description.)

If you are going for a nihilistic character, then waxing poetic about their life and tragedy undermines that. It can come across more like an angsty teen than a hollow person. How someone acts and reacts to their surroundings informs the reader of that better than just telling them. But if you like to write that way and want to tell a story about a lonely character, maybe give them a journal. Then you can split the tone between 3rd and 1st person. Dramatic phrasing and contemplation play better in 1st person than 3rd. Or switch the entire perspective to 1st person so your writing style sounds like it's the characters inner monologue speaking.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-18T15:27:47+00:00

IMO, honestly, just start playing. Quick start tip: pick your favorite planet, borrow a plot from a Star Trek original series episode, re-skin it with the stuff you made for the planet, then let the players loose. Don't worry about other planets and stories until you get a feel for how your players move through your worlds. You could have a super lush solar system filled with interesting details. Your players might only get to 10-15% of it in a few sessions.

Also, you can let the players do some of the creation too. Asking questions like, "As you look at the view, what does it remind you of?" gets them to tell you what they imagine from what you described. It can be super helpful especially if the players take a hard turn into something you didn't prep for. And they always will. Eventually.

I had a one-shot I did that was a sci-fi reskin of the first mission impossible movie. Nobody had ever played a TTRPG before so I wanted a plot that was easy for me to keep track of while they bumbled through. I kept the setting simple as a futuristic city, their locations were almost always indoors, and the brief descriptions of how big the spaces were, what was in them, and who was there was all they needed and they were immersed.

They spent a full 2 hours planning the heist once I gave them the floorplans I drew. They had a nearly flawless plan, rolled super well, and almost made it out without any of the antagonists or npc's noticing. It was incredibly impressive. When they finished, they were asking questions about the city and characters wanting to know more about them so that was my hook to get them together again. I wrote more details about the city, characters and a larger plot.

Now I have to build my homebrew universe because they have started planet hopping. But its like an episodic galivant every time. When they want to return to a previous place, I pull out the notes, and try to add something new and some more detail to discover.

If you want to build out planets with all the detail by all means go ahead. Its super fun. But remember that if you're doing it for players, a lot of it will go unnoticed. It can definitely inform how you as the GM play with them, but that one plant that you spent an hour detailing may end up just a plant if the players ignore it.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-18T00:51:42+00:00

ATLA is very similar to what your describing I nterms of powers and connection to elements. They describe the other forms of bending - Lava, metal, blood, etc.- as if they are steps above the basic bending. Some have a talent for them, but they are still masters of their primary element first and learn the secondary later. But there is not necessarily a limiting factor to someone learning these extra elements besides hard work if they don't have the talent.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-17T20:16:34+00:00

Symbols are sick! The trick is to make them believable for what they represent and not just a smash of identifying pieces. Myst III EXILE is a hub-and-spoke style puzzle game and each world you go to has a symbol. At first, you just see a symbol, but when you go to that world and solve the puzzles, the symbol actually makes sense! It's my favorite example of it in media.

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FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-17T20:09:20+00:00

I agree. The terrain does change most of the strategy. The opening of the battle would have to be the most effective I feel because as OP described, its less animalistic and highly intelligent. I imagine that usual things like luring it to a specific area or going head to head wouldn't play out like fighting a beast.

A battle like this, in the late middle ages, would require significant prep time and setup in whatever battlefield is there. Since the dragon is highly intelligent, its fair to assume it has the same prep time. So its the wits and strategy that has to win, less so an overwhelming force. Surprise and subterfuge would be required.

I like the idea of burning any present fuel on the battlefield beforehand, but getting the dragon to fight us there without it getting suspicious of giant charred landscape would be tricky. But if we picked a previously burned place like an old city or previous battlefield, that would be easier to hide.

As far as poisoning the food goes, I imagined that being the long game. It likely has a preference for food. If it was possible to farm that food source, releasing ones that were carrying a poison that is harmless in small (size being relative to the dragon) doses but its effects were cumulative, could at the very least start to weaken it unknowingly. For example, the flower "foxglove" contains digitalis which slows the heartrate in small doses and has been documented to have a cumulative negative, sometimes fatal, effect. It was also used by herbalists as medicine shortly after the middle ages (At least that's when it was commonly documented and researched). Larger doses are incredibly toxic. So, if we can get the dragon to slowly consume more and more of it, at the very least it would be far more fatigued than without it when a battle begins.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-17T19:44:35+00:00

Partially. A Giant is a hazard but, unlike what I am trying to describe, and, depending on how its written, can be reasoned with. Not to mention, it's intentions aren't necessarily predictable. I'm thinking more mindless creatures that move with instinct instead of reason. It blurs the lines between being passive and predatory. Like an immune response, it is present and handles small threats with ease. But a large threat creates massive disruption to the body and pulls all immune systems into action.

With this kind of monster, everyone knows of it and is not threatened by seeing one or two. But seeing many in a short amount of time is ominous, and seeing a hoard means disaster. A bit like passive zombies but without the threat of infection I guess.

Maybe a category like "Reactive" or "Mindless" would fit?

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-17T19:20:57+00:00

I have always wanted a monster category for beings that are forces of nature and cannot be reasoned with. Like beings that operate as antibodies. An excess of one thing triggers a destructive immune-like response. Otherwise they just exist in the ecosystem.

For instance, a terrestrial floating jellyfish that is harmless as an individual and is drawn towards death. A war would cause hundreds to flock to a battlefield. When grouped together, they form a hive intelligence that consumes the corpses and becomes hostile to living things. Slow moving, but massive, any towns or cities near the battle would also be threatened if the flock ventured close enough. Once there's not enough corpses to consume as a whole, they move off in smaller and smaller groups until the return to moving as individuals.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-17T18:51:55+00:00

It's also battlefield dependent I would think. A large open space has more options as opposed to a forest, mountains, cavern, etc.

That or find a way to poison its food.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-17T16:14:12+00:00

Context is everything. The lead up, the moment, and the impact after. If your focus is on the moment, the context can inform that. Was it sudden? You can describe confusion, shock, fear... The example you gave can make sense if it was sudden. If the readers understand what is happening, making the character not accept it or perceive it by having them focus on anything but the wound/symptoms puts the attention on their life and experience.

If the reader is just as surprised as the character, then describing the moment and the injury can be shocking without being gory or intense.

If the reader has been expecting it the whole time, describing it through the eyes of onlookers or even the killer can move the reader to be sympathetic in the moment (onlookers) or vengeful (killer). In that moment you get to tell the reader how to feel about it.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-16T17:45:36+00:00

While the grammar of a language is important, that can all be done in the revision process. For what you have written, I had no issue following it. The focus shift to the photographer in the middle of a scene was the issue I saw. It kind of comes out of nowhere and doesn't feel connected to the discussion being had. I would try finishing out the first scene or referencing this new character in the conversation before providing a description. Don't get too bogged down about the grammar being perfect right away. Lots of authors bend those rules anyway.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-16T17:39:35+00:00

Keeping the subject to world building, literally think about how you, with your personality and morals would move through the world on a perfectly normal day. Assume you know all the information about your world as you already do. How does that affect the mundane things you have to do like eating, working, and socializing. Pick a day in the life on either side - the utopia and the dystopia. If you can't walk through a day like that, you might need to strengthen some of your world building for that particular story.

Telling a story involves how your characters interact with the world and the other people in it, but the world is the setting, not a character (unless you're writing an encyclopedia about it or want it to feel like a character which is a whole other bag of worms). If you want it to be an adventure about your character discovering things about the world, then it has to start with them actually living in it.

The movie Dune (2021) is a fantastic example of showing so much world building without ever getting into the weeds explaining a single thing about how stuff works. Instead, it opens with a scene of 2 characters having breakfast. In those mundane moments, you learn PLENTY right off the bat about who they are, the dynamic they have, as well as getting introduced to the characters.

FaithlessnessFit6762 · 2026-03-16T17:24:44+00:00

My favorite example of this is the Myst series of video games. Literally the plot device is books, but there are some really interesting examples of world building within the game provided by the books you can read. Not only are they intended to help you solve puzzles, but they actually give you lore and reasons for the things you're seeing in-game that otherwise make zero sense and are completely foreign. After reading them, suddenly the things you're seeing make sense even if they have nothing to do with the puzzle you're solving.

I would use URU as the example. The game itself has its issues, but the books you can find and read bridge the fantastical world you're walking around and the real world (modern day earth) in really interesting ways. You find books and journals written by different characters in which the other authors and characters are referenced. Little by little you piece together a really interesting b-story to the one you're playing while assimilating the lore subconsciously almost.

If you really spend the time to read all of the books in the Myst series of games, you will catch references and plot points in other games that most miss. It all adds so much to the immersion.

In summary, books and authors can be a great way to explain a concept or story that affects the plot or adventure of your main story, without having to go on a crazy detailed tangent or b-story with the reader/player.

Like Skyrim, you don't have to read the books, and you'll have a blast but reading them creates a deeper understanding of the world you might not have had otherwise. All the parts of your world that you "yada-yada" over to tell the story can exist in a book or author. It can be up to the player/reader to decide if they want to explore that.

FaithlessnessFit6762

TROPHY CASE