Meme Hacker (Transhuman Space to d20)

[Achan hiArusa]

Memetics is a too powerful to just be a skill in the d20 system, and I have not bought the Toxic Memes sourcebook, so does anyone have ideas for a Memetic class features for Meme Hacker advanced class? I have a wide variety of d20 sourcebooks, so I am going to pull class features from the Bard, the Gleeman (from Wheel of Time), and the Righteous Zealot (from Dragonlance). I just need a few suggestions.

Sincerely,




Sammy Grimes

 

[Unseelie]

Memetics is a too powerful to just be a skill in the d20 system, and I have not bought the Toxic Memes sourcebook, so does anyone have ideas for a Memetic class features for Meme Hacker advanced class? I have a wide variety of d20 sourcebooks, so I am going to pull class features from the Bard, the Gleeman (from Wheel of Time), and the Righteous Zealot (from Dragonlance). I just need a few suggestions.

Off topic reply, but for an idea of where they get some of their inspiration for memes and what a worst case scenario could be like, check out some of John Barnes' books, like Kaleidoscope Century, Orbital Resonance, Cradle and The Sky So Big and Black.

Resuna and One True are scary... though it's shaping up that things can get better.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Barnes

At any rate, Unseelie, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you for your book recommendations. I read Orbital Resonance in a single four hour sitting (with a break for a shower), getting nothing done that night. I hadn't devoured a novel like that since Virtual Light. I would put his characterizations up with Heinlein (Melpomene is every bit as deep a character as Friday, which is my favorite Heinlein novel, and she didn't even have to kill people).

Oh, btw the title is "Candle." I blew some money on that and Kaleidoscope Century (I am so used to buying Roleplaying books and Manga, so I had forgotten how cheap novels are). Didn't find a copy of The Sky So Big and Black

 

[Unseelie]

At any rate, Unseelie, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you for your book recommendations. I read Orbital Resonance in a single four hour sitting (with a break for a shower), getting nothing done that night. I hadn't devoured a novel like that since Virtual Light. I would put his characterizations up with Heinlein (Melpomene is every bit as deep a character as Friday, which is my favorite Heinlein novel, and she didn't even have to kill people).

Oh, btw the title is "Candle." I blew some money on that and Kaleidoscope Century (I am so used to buying Roleplaying books and Manga, so I had forgotten how cheap novels are). Didn't find a copy of The Sky So Big and Black

Sorry, didn't have them in front of me so I got the title wrong on Candle. If you care about reading them in order, it's Kaleidoscope Century, Orbital Resonance, Candle, The Sky So Big and Black. I've found that it doesn't really matter too much what order they're read in, but I think you're best off reading Candle before The Sky....

Sky, by the way, deals with a decendant/relative of Melpomene. It just came out in paperback in the last month or so.

I would also recommend Mother of Storms... good book. Much more entertaining than Heavy Weather although they deal with similar subjects. It's not part of the "Resuna-verse" though...

 

[JPL]

Memetics could be a new skill, or a new application of old skills, or a feat, or even a prestige class.

Howzabout this:

Memetics is either a seperate skill [Knowledge: Memetics], or falls under the existing skill of K: behavioral science.

Memetic engineering, like surgery, is at a -4 unless you have the proper feat [Memetic Engineering].

Then you'd need to trick out an advanced class [or more likely a prestige class] which required the Memetics feat, plus X number of ranks in certain skills [candidates include Diplomacy, Bluff, K: Memetics and/or K: Behavioral Science, Sense Motive, Gather Information, etc.]. Only members of the memetic engineer class could get into the REALLY hardcore memehacks.

Is Toxic Memes out yet? I absolutely loved the playtest files.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Toxic Memes

It still says its in Playtest on the book's page, but it isn't on the Pyramid In Playtest page. Since I don't have a subscription to Pyramid I wasn't able to look at the playtest files. What can I expect?

Unseelie: I have to hold off on the next two books as I have work to do (I have to figure out the durability of microorganisms in space and look at future exoplanet viewing programs).

 

[JPL]

It still says its in Playtest on the book's page, but it isn't on the Pyramid In Playtest page. Since I don't have a subscription to Pyramid I wasn't able to look at the playtest files. What can I expect?

It's really great stuff. I haven't even read or played THS, but Toxic Memes has me interested.

The history of memetics; major ideas floating around in the year 2100, from religious movements to popular footwear; using memetics in-game; etc.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Arrggh

JPL you are a horrible tease It'll probably be the second THS book I buy (after the core book). I have all this '90s TSR stuff about the near future and my Trinity core book and I can't do anything with them. My player's like near future, but all they want to do is play Shadowrun. I have Kromosome and Bughunters (for Amazing Engine), the Alternity Books (Players and GMs guide and Hardware), the Trinity Assortment Pack B (Corebook, Tech book, and the small chap books on Psi Laws, etc), and Buck Rogers XXVc (with all the planet books they put out), and I've been dying to put them together into a single world (or ahem, solar system) along with Transhuman Space. I want a solar system so changed from modern day that if the awakening had happened as in Shadowrun, nobody would notice. Anyway all my players are about 10 years younger than I am and they don't quite feel the connection with the Cyberpunk genre that I do (yes, I grew up in the '80s) nor have they read any Gibson or other cyberpunk writers (they just read fantasy novels), so I am not sure how they would react to such a future.

 

[JPL]

Ever read about ribofunk?

www.streettech.com/bcp/BCPgraf/Manifestos/Ribofunk.html

I like seeing a future setting without warp drive or aliens or psionics or the other conventions of space opera. It's different.

 

[Tzeentch]

Memetics could be a new skill, or a new application of old skills, or a feat, or even a prestige class.

Howzabout this:

Memetics is either a seperate skill [Knowledge: Memetics], or falls under the existing skill of K: behavioral science.

Memetic engineering, like surgery, is at a -4 unless you have the proper feat [Memetic Engineering].

-- Memetics is a cross-disciplinary school of knowledge and would probably be best served as Knowledge: Memetics or even Profession: Memetics. It should probably qualify for skill synergy with a number of skills such as Bluff, Diplomacy and Sense Motive. You use the skill itself to craft new memes (probably want to wait until Toxic Memes comes out with the "memecrafting" rules you can adapt).
-- I would say that crafting memes (as in, the 'thought virus' carefully engineered and planned type) is not possible without memetics. Untrained memetics is the realm of Bluff, Diplomacy, etc.
-- Also keep in mind that in TS memetics is NOT mind control. It works in large populations and is not targeted at individuals. It does not cause your head to explode if you hear a memetically crafted joke or force a noble Paladin to change alignment (Memecrafter: "The Dark Side is more powerful then the Light Side!" Goody Goody: "D'oh! You're so right! The pieces all fall into place! Let's go kill some Jawas!"). It's a more scientific and substantial development of advertising, psychology and cultural anthropology. Some fiction takes the idea of memetics and makes them linguistic weapons.