Several ideas: * 'World Ships' large enough to sustain a civilization pretty much forever. Planets serve as a source of raw materials (by trade, by force, or by mining lifeless worlds -- why borrow trouble on Earth if Mars is there for the taking), or as interesting waypoints.
Iain M. Banks Culture GSVs and Rocks come to my mind. * 'World Ships' to evacuate a civilization, but without enough size to run indefinitely. When it arrives at the destination, the refugees will have to take a new world, come what may. I haven't read Footfall by Niven and Pournelle in some years, but it might qualify. * 'World Ships' to bring enough resources to conquer a planet, which will be quite an army. Unlike the first examples they bring just the soldiers, not the entire civilization, and it might not be a do-or-die mission. Turtledove's Lizards, for example. * Ships large enough to bring a significant amount of resources home. The difference to the previous examples is the smaller crew -- friendly ports at both ends mean there are no techs or colonists. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
