Most Popular
1500 questions
43
votes
18 answers
How do you defeat a time-stopping Dark Lord?
Gentlemen, I am sure you all know why I have gathered you here today.
As we all know, the Dark Lord who has appeared on the borders of our beloved realm of Average Magical Medieval Setting commands his legions of demons and trolls with an iron grip…
Some Guy
- 688
- 6
- 17
43
votes
16 answers
What kind of supernatural powers don't break the masquerade?
I'm designing a world a of supernatural beings loosely based on Christianity/Judaism as described in Naming the forces of the Purgatory? who visit Earth without humans being aware of them.
They consists of angels & souls with three different…
Dante
- 705
- 7
- 11
43
votes
29 answers
Why would a crash landed generation fall back to the stone age?
Background
In the mid 22nd century, a super plague has killed 99% of human life, many survivors are killed in the ensuing riots and fighting. The few billionaires that are hiding in their bunkers have over many years of violence, built a generation…
TrEs-2b
- 56,200
- 37
- 215
- 437
43
votes
3 answers
For designing a vocal language for an intelligent species, how to decide on phonemes?
When you are designing a language for a species that uses vocal communication, one of the early decisions you need to make is that of which phonemes can be used.
How does one determine what phonemes can be used? Or more directly, assuming that we…
user
- 28,950
- 16
- 108
- 217
43
votes
8 answers
How do I determine the value of a currency?
I am building my fantasy world from the ground up. In particular, for the races that use a coin-based currency, how do I figure out what it is worth?
Say we have the basic copper/silver/gold pieces each being 1/10th of the next value. Should I…
Kalcipher23
- 828
- 7
- 12
43
votes
20 answers
Why would super-advanced aliens go undercover as humans?
A common sight in science fiction is that aliens pretend to be human (For example in Third Rock from the Sun). Obviously if the aliens are advanced enough to disguise themselves as another species, there are much easier, simpler and less…
TrEs-2b
- 56,200
- 37
- 215
- 437
43
votes
8 answers
Would armour made of spider silk work?
Would it be possible to use spider silk for armour, instead of metal?
I am not worried about how to obtain the silk. I know that spiders are not domesticable and that they are too aggressive to each others so that they cannot be lumped together like…
Luís Henrique
- 3,255
- 2
- 11
- 30
43
votes
14 answers
How would one destroy a black hole?
Science-Fiction has tools to destroy anything: atoms, molecules, DNA, cellular organisms, multicellular organisms, buildings, streets, cities, countries, continents, planets, and even stars. Some extreme settings even have tools to destroy entire…
Nzall
- 8,439
- 3
- 32
- 73
43
votes
4 answers
Is there a scientifically sound faster-than-light travel system for a spaceship?
Recurringly in Sci-Fi spaceships manage to make it to lightspeed and above. Is there a scientifically plausible explanation of such capacity? How does it impact the spaceship's design and its passengers lives?
Sheraff
- 12,440
- 8
- 51
- 84
43
votes
14 answers
Society expectations to Work for your living
Many people set who they are and others by what jobs they do, how they make their living. As more and more jobs are being taken over by computers and robots there are 'fewer' jobs for others. Yet we still expect them to work. Currently there…
bowlturner
- 49,161
- 5
- 104
- 238
43
votes
11 answers
What happens to a human who receives more information than the brain can process?
Often in films and television shows when a person's brain is 'injected' with more information than it can handle, they suffer from immense pain.
What would actually happen if you did supply a human brain with too much information? Would it act like…
Beta Decay
- 2,213
- 3
- 17
- 32
43
votes
6 answers
Medieval politics with fantasy races
So it occurred to me while developing the political landscape for my world, that throwing fantasy races into the mix in an absolute monarchy/feudal system and pretending they just fit right in may in fact have some problems.
What I am attempting to…
James
- 32,862
- 14
- 112
- 201
43
votes
12 answers
A person from medieval times comes into our time. What would he notice first?
A medieval person (say from around 1000 AD, and from a rural village) walks through the forest, and through some unspecified mechanism suddenly turns out to be in our time. He is still far away from any settlement or road, and there are currently no…
celtschk
- 31,444
- 13
- 91
- 152
43
votes
5 answers
Could a humanesque creature derive all its nutrients from drinking blood?
Vampires are a very common creature in various fantasy stories, they drink blood and often human food poisons them. Forgetting for the time being the additional rumours/fiction such as sunlight, crosses and immortality could such a being sustain…
Liath
- 18,600
- 11
- 96
- 135
43
votes
13 answers
How to fight a kitty army?
Let's imagine an alien life form attacking Earth.
Their technology and their number do not overtake very much human ones, but they have a very powerful weapon: when a human looks right at one of them, he/she finds it so cute that he/she loses their…
Aracthor
- 1,547
- 11
- 29