Mike replied to me: > Come what may, crap shoot basically? > > > > * '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.
The problem: if a society has the wealth, time and resources to build an evacuation worldship, why can't they send faster scouts ahead and pick a system with plenty resources and no competition? Usually mining will be easier than stealing ... Possible explanations: A long sublight flight, accelerating until the margin of delta-V precludes any course change. It might be possible to send scouts ahead, with less payload and more reaction mass, but it won't be possible to act on the information. Or worlds with a compatible biosphere are rare, and taking it by force is the only chance. Not the locust scenario, more like murdering for a second chance. Or there is FTL technology, completely outclassing STL, but it channels ships into certain routes. The traveller hex map and fuel requirements, or jumpline drives. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
