Sources For Ideas

New tech ideas can come from a variety of sources.

Other Games

Other games already have wellthought out and extensive item lists which can usually be converted into your game system with just a little number crunching. For example, in Traveller, the Imperium was mentioned to have genetics technology advanced enough to create uplifted races, but seemed to have used the capability for little else. Looking to 2300 however, one can find numerous genetically engineered inventions (Pentapod products) that can easily be transferred into a Traveller campaign as filler technology.

Movies and Television

Visual media can be a great idea source. Films and TV shows have the advantage of showing the viewers the devices in actual use, as well as addressing their capabilities and visual appearance. Think of the tricorders and communicators from Star Trek, or the power loader and the motion detectors from Aliens.

Fiction

Another fertile source for ideas, though most stories and novels tend to focus on breakthroughs because of their dramatic effects and gloss over more mundane equipment.

Stasis fields, mentioned earlier, come from two sources: Ringworld, by Larry N iven and Marooned in Realtime, by Vemor Vinge.

Comic Books

A very over- looked source, comic books are rife with examples of offbeat equipment. For example, the glue-gun used by the Marvel Super Heroes villain the Trapster can be the basis for a liquid concrete sprayer. Also, comics also have a lot of great gimmickry that can be used as artifacts. Remember the Ultimate Nullifier from Marvel's Fantastic Four?

The Real World

The very best source for refinement and fillet ideas. Peruse magazines such as Discover, Scientific American, and Popular Mechanics, and TV shows like Nova and Beyond 2000 to see the most recent developments in science and technology. Often what you'll find there will be more bizarre than anything listed in any RPG. Morph Plastic, mentioned earlier, has a real-life analog (which I learned about from an old Omni article): Nitinol, a titanium-something "morph alloy" developed back in the 1960's. It can be deformed and hold one form when it's room temperature, then transform back into its original shape when its temperature drops below freezing.

Using Innovations

To introduce most refinements and fillers, all the referee usually has to do is announce the availability of the new tech at a pre-arranged point in the campaign. From then on, it is assumed that the innovation will be readily available to the PCs from the appropriate source (department store, medical supplier, etc.).

However, sometimes the PCs might be able to learn of a refinement before it becomes publicly available and get in on the ground floor, so to speak. Their contacts in a corporation might sneak them out prototype designs, or they could work for a special operations force that has access to such devices years before they go public. Adventures can be centered around corporate espionage to get the competition's designs for a profitable new refinement, or the PCs could be hired to field-test new equipment.

Artifacts should always be the major feature in the scenario they are introduced in, as an obstacle to overcome, a treasure to find, or a prize to be won. A perilous race between the party and the bad guys to reach the Ancient site rumored to contain the most powerful weapon in the galaxy is the example of such an adventure. Once the artifact is in the PCs' possession, every thief, terrorist and rabid collector will besiege them to get the weapon for themselves.

Breakthroughs, because of their far-reaching repercussions, deserve an entire mini-campaign when introduced. The PCs may stumble across an escaped chimpanzee uplift and are hunted by government agents for months for taking the creature in, The party may struggle for a long time before they either rescue the other neo-chimps and/or expose the government for its illegal experiments, Of course, the true complications won't come until afterward, when the rescued neo-chimps try to integrate themselves into human society.

Closing Thoughts

With a little moderation and forethought, innovations can be a great way for breathing fresh life into stagnant game campaigns. They can keep your game world dynamic and surprising for both yourself and your players.

New and Improved Going Beyond Your Game's Given Technology

Introduction and Basic Principles
Innovation Types
Sources for Ideas and Using Innovations