#scifi currency

[tlaquetzqui]

In my SF future history, the UN has given way to the Alliance of Nations. It retains a lot of UN organs (the UN retains a lot of League of Nations ones), including the IMF. In my future it issues a currency, called the “right”, short for Alliance Drawing Right, derived from the IMF Special Drawing Right of our day. Since the government issuing it is the “AN”, and it’s the currency used by everyone, its symbol is the one used in logic for “for all”: ∀. (I think it was adopted partly in a situation analogous to the creation of the Allied Military Currency and Military Payment Certificates after World War Two: the AN having arisen to replace the UN for similar reasons to the UN replacing the League, namely a big fuckoff war the previous organization didn’t prevent.)

My main aliens, on the other hand, use what is technically a representative currency, like the gold standard, but based on an abstraction: the price of enough of an idealized animal fat (they’re obligate carnivores) to supply their metabolism with a given amount of energy. A hundredth of a Planck energy is about the daily calorie intake of a predator in the jaguar-to-tiger size range, like the aliens. (Unlike most Planck units, the energy one is huge: about 2 gigajoules, because the others are so small and there’s division involved.) I’m still trying to figure out what they call it, though—might just be the “energy, dietary”, and they just measure it in actual energy-units.

I think the aliens using, basically, calories-worth of lard, as a currency standard, grew out of similar causes to the aforementioned Allied Military Currency and Military Payment Certificates, but less catastrophic. Something like, people near the forts of the various empires accepted military ration points as legal tender, so those became a standard medium of exchange, eventually spreading over their world like the Spanish dollar. Obviously, of course, you aren’t originally measuring that directly in calories, but in volumes of fat—like how the productivity of a daimyō’s domain in feudal and shogunate Japan was assessed in units of koku (about 180 liters), generally considered the rice required to feed a person for a year.

[simulamortem]

IS ANYTHING REAL ?

Yes. Lots of things are real. Like that time you drowned because no one heard you banging against the ice. Or when that bomb went off and you learned what it felt like when your eyeballs melted in their sockets. Or the time you refused to beg for your life, even as the knife plunged into your chest, and you heard the sound of your own skin tearing, and the blade scraping against the bone inside you.

HITMEN DON’T DIE PEACEFULLY IN THEIR SLEEP.

18+ / indie / mutuals only REVENANT from APEX LEGENDS

[grayrazor]

This isn't a videogame thing. It's not even a TTRPG thing. These are standard speculative fiction rules that were set in the 1930s and people have just followed them without question ever since.

i'm guessing at some point someone in charge must've been like "if there's swords in the game then the currency is gold. if there's spaceships the currency is credits. if you do otherwise i will kill you"

[drearybay]

How’s the currency situation? Do different systems and planets have different currencies, or is there an overarching currency for the sake of trade and business dealings? I have to know if I have to convert all my money…

So glad you asked, anon! The Vellian empire where we are located uses Vellian Credits across all of the systems it controls, but there are many other intersystem civilizations that all use separate currencies. The farther you get from the core, the more isolated government becomes, at points having separate bodies governing small solitary systems. These societies all use their own currencies, and there are a lot of them, so make sure you do your research. However, Vellian credits are usually accepted even in foreign markets, as recent breakthroughs in secure financial technology mean that they can be easily converted. Most major systems will accept any form of currency officially recognized by the Dreary Bay Union of Systems, which is a suprasystemic organization that all systems and worlds have a voice in. The full list is extensive, and can be found on the DBUS signal page. Converting credits yourself to the local standard would most likely save time and effort, especially in outer rim systems, as they are less likely to have access to the cluster wide FTL signal web. Hope this helps, and happy travelling!

[sprintingowl]

Pay What You Want TTRPG Bundle II

From June 12 2024 to July 10 2024 the PWYWII Bundle is running!

It's got titles from across the indie space, covering fantasy, scifi, horror, fencing, snails, mechs, tower defense, fishing, geese, and more!

And it's all available at any price you'd like (please currency only we cannot accept auguries, tamed spirits, or orbital laser timeshares.)

There's 78 TTRPGs total, including my tactical merchant action rpg Leadbellies. Grab them all at the link below.

[amethystsoda]

What is time princess about? I've been seeing it on the Play store but I have no idea if to download it

hello anon! I'd be glad to give you an overview and some tips for starting out! :D

Time Princess is what happens when all your childhood dreams of getting transported into a book come true.

At heart, the game is a set of continual isekai stories, transporting you to different "books" with the help of a magic desk and giving you "create your own adventure" options to see how the story plays out.

Your fairy companion Isabelle helps you learn the ropes, and you have to go through one mandatory book (a Marie Antoinette themed story) to get access to your room and the larger bookstore

(I'll put the rest under a read more bc it'll get long)

For each chapter you complete, you earn 1-3 tickets. With these tickets, you can unlock new books! The more you play, the more you earn towards new stories.

The game currency works on a coins and diamonds system--you don't NEED to purchase anything to play (though it may make the game a bit easier in some areas)

You get free stamina to access books and crafting materials every 11 hours and the Time Princess discord server has codes pretty frequently for diamonds, tickets, etc.

I personally splurge for the Fashion Booster every 2 months because I know it helps support the game and the artists! I try not to use real money on the random outfits unless I REALLY want one bc it can get addictive.

One of my favorite parts of the game is that, as you play, you unlock "album" art (full color illustrations that tie into the story!!)

One other thing I love is that the game is very targeted towards Bisexuals, as there are TONS of queer wlw story lines (though because of the games' popularity overseas and censorship, often gets called "best friends" etc)

Another fun part is the variety of stories!!!! There's art history!! There's stuff based on old fairy tales like Swan Lake. There's fantasy stories like The Apothecary. There's a Pirate story!!! There's Chinese, Japanese, and Korean stories. There's a western cowboy story! There's futuristic scifi!!! There's a victorian flavored horror story!!!

Most, if not all, of the stories are with adult characters and have adult storylines!! (the books will also give you a content warning before downloading)

On top of the stories, there's plenty of other fun aspects--mini games, fashion challenges, checking in with your companions every day to earn crafting materials, joining a society, playing events, and just playing dress up with your outfits and taking pics for fun.

The discord community is great too, and there's often interview nights with some of the book authors and giveaways of materials and prizes (I actually ended up winning a plushie Lafayette one time!)

The discord server also has game guides and walkthroughs for everything!

Everyone who plays the game gets really into the stories and characters, so even though the tumblr presence of fans may be smaller, you have an immediate bond with the other players!!!

They've also done some really cool collabs with museums like The Louvre and the Flamenco museum. You get to earn clothes from famous paintings or historical ones during that event period!

Finally, don't forget to save your big clothing crafting for Saturdays! You get double the materials!!

[icantspellthings]

Why is science fiction currency always credits like credit just makes me think of credit cards and then credit scores which is so not the sexy scifi adventure I want. Can't we use something else like idk the intergalatic space currency is E-dollars i dont fucking know man, Martian Yuans or something, Terran Rupees, Moon Pesos Idfk man there should be more than just one currency! And it shouldn't be credits because that is boring

[ghostofadragon]

i do intend to clean this chart up/add more detail but i've been doing a lot of really repetitive art projects lately and it's going to be a while before i have it in me to line/color this many dragons, so i'm posting this as it is for posterity.

dragon species in sun of alcoritrés, my analog-scifi dragonrider oc universe! SoA dragons are quasi-sentient aliens who had their own developed cultures before humans crash-landed a generation ship on their planet and were forced to stay there indefinitely. the story takes place about 3000 years after the crash. dragons barter and sell their own unhatched eggs as fair currency, which is why specific 'breeds' can be cultivated without immense psychological fallout to any party involved.

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Watching the news is depressing as all hell today so finding a book to escap into is an absolute privilege (a literal privilege in many cases, as I know the politics doesn't exactly effect me, but it is scary nonetheless).

I hope these books give you a break from the world or help you learn a little more about it or make you want a little more of that world into this one (in Crown Of The Prayer Shy they have a currency called Pebs, where you get paid in the good things you do for others and you can then use them to pay them forward, I like this idea).

here are my favourite books of the month.

Prayer of The Crown Shy (Monk & Robot #2) by Becky Chambers - I would read a telephone book if it was written by this author. Becky Chambers for me has a way of being able to tell travel stories and create incredibly alive characters that just ooze from the page as you read. I adore their way of writing and I just look forward to more of it. If you have not read their work and enjoy scifi, I highly recommend it.

The Remarried Empress Vol. 1 by Sumpul - a Korean Manwha, this graphic novel maybe isn't five stars to everyone, but I loved it. The fantastical elements, the court intrigue and the subtle hints of a romance in it's foundation stage and laid down here to perfection. This book arrived into my life at a time when I was not enjoying anything I was reading and I just was so greateful for it when I found it looking for another book. Shoutout to Rosina who gifted this to me, way too long ago.

Art Firsts by Nick Trend - I am new at trying to learn about art and all of that stuff, but this book is an excellent introduction place for someone just getting into art and wanting to learn more about different styles and periods. Discussing the first of things found in art the author really gives a rounded picture of art whether that be classical or modern and gives you a starting point for where to go next (for me it was reading books about stolen art apparently!).

The Book Of Doors by Gareth Brown - a much hyped book from some I know, The Book Of Doors is a fantastic read. A portal fantasy about a young woman gifted a book that can take her anywhere she wants to and the danger this can place her in, The Book Of Doors is an escapade of literature tnat just makes for perfect reading and listening (I highly recommend the audiobook). I would say though that the bad guy in this is not a great guy, so bar warned of slurs and abusive language in here.

(I also loved We Do Not Part by Han Kang, which is reviewed on my blog).

What have you been reading this month? What have you loved? What did you hate, I'd love to hear from you!

Thank you!

Vee xo.

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: post- and transhumanism

AKA: cyborgs, uploaded minds, and humans otherwise altered by technology.

I have previously written a rec list for books featuring robots and artificial intelligences, but ended up excluding various titles for not quite fitting the theme. Hence, this list, which focuses more on the step from human into something else, commonly with themes of what it means to be human.

Previous book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books, portal fantasies, robots and artificial intelligences

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with an * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi*

Place this one in the category of ‘accept that you’re gonna be confused as hell and just let the world wash over you’. The singularity has come and gone and humans can now easily upload, download and copy themselves into new bodies, not all of them human and not always willingly. Consciousnesses and time has become something close to currency. Follows a murder mystery on Mars.

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace duology) by Erin Bow*

Young Adult. Featuring a dystopian future in which an AI forcibly keeps world peace by holding the children of world leaders hostage. If anyone attempts to start a war, their child will be executed. Greta is one of these children, kept in a school with others like her. But things start to change one day when a new, less obedient hostage arrives. A unique, slowburn take on the YA dystopian craze, also featuring a bisexual love triangle.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles) by Mary E. Pearson

Young Adult set in a near future. Jenna wakes from a year long coma after an accident, and something is wrong. Is this really her life? Are her memories her own? Exactly what happened a year ago, and what did her parents do to get her back?

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky*

Millenia and generation spanning scifi. After the collapse of an empire, a planet once part of a project to uplift other species to sentience is left to develop on its own, resulting not in the intelligent monkeys once intended but in sentient giant spiders. Millenia later, what remains of humanity arrives looking for a new home, only to be met by the artificial remains of the ancient woman who once led the uplift project - and she is not willing to let them on her planet.

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi*

In an enviromentally fraught future, the Nigerian civil war has flared back up, utilizing cybernetics and mechs to enhance its soldiers. Two sisters, by bond if not by blood, are separated and end up on differing sides of the struggle. Brutal and dark, with themes of dehumanization of soldiers through cybernetics that turn them into weapons, and the effect and trauma this has on them.

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey

1969 classic. Features a future in which children born too weak to survive are put into and raised in mechanical bodies. Helva, one of these children, grows up to be put in charge of her own space ship, from which she works to fulfill various missions out in space, missions which she quickly comes to learn are much more dangerous than she could've imagined.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) Marissa Meyer*

Young Adult fairy tale retelling. Cinder, a cyborg with a mysterious past she can't remember, lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters in New Beijing as a deadly plague ravages the world and a race of Lunar people threaten war against the entire planet. As Cinder becomes entwined with the young prince Kai, she is pulled more and more into dangerous politics that see her as less than human due to her cybernetics, yet need her to save them.

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds

Six million years in the future, humanity has spread across the entire Milky Way galaxy. Purslane and Campion are both clones of the same woman, sent into the galaxy millions of years ago to explore along with almost a thousand clones like them. Every 200 000 years they all meet to compare memories and experiences. But this time Purslane and Campion arrive late - and discover that a secret millions of years in the making has lead to an extinction level attack against their kind. Now they must find out the truth before their line is completely wiped out. Absolutely wild world-building, featuring various kinds of posthumans (among which the clones are, shockingly, the most similar to people of our time).

Nexus (Nexus trilogy) by Ramez Naam

In a near future, a nano-drug is developed that can link human minds together, having the potential to change humanity forever. As different factions fight over it - some wanting to control it, other to eradicate it, and many to exploit it - a scientist who's caught improving the drug is thrust into a world of danger and international espionage.

Skinned (Cold Awakening trilogy) by Robin Wasserman

Young Adult. Rich girl Lia Kahn had the perfect life - until she died and was brought back by having her memories downloaded into a mechanical body. Despite having her life back, Lia also finds her life changed, as people fear her and treat her differently. Worse; she herself isn't sure if she's still really Lia, or whether she's even a person at all anymore.

Blindsight (Firefall duology)by Peter Watts*

Vampires and aliens and questions of the nature of consciousnesses, oh my. A ship is sent to investigate the sudden appearance of an alien vessel at the edge of the solar system, but the crew, a group of various level of transhumanism, isn't prepared for the horrors awaiting them. No, seriously, this book will fuck you up, highly recommend if you’re okay with a lot of techno babble and existential horror.

Mortal Enginges (Mortal Engines quartet) by Philip Reeve*

Young Adult. On a barely survivable Earth humanity has taken to living on great wandering cities, hunting each other across the plains for resources. Tom lives in London, but when he intervenes to stop a murder, he falls off the city alongside a strange and hostile girl on the hunt for revenge. Together they set out to catch up to the city, but are chased by a murderous machine like being set on stopping them. Trans/posthumanism isn't the main theme of the book, but it continues to grow in importance throughout the series.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

Meru by S.B. Divya

A human and a posthuman, called an alloy, venture together into space to explore a newly discovered, earth-like planet, testing the future of the relationship between their peoples on the way.

WE by John Dickinson

Humanity has become a hive mind, constantly connected. When Paul is sent on a one-way mission to a frozen moon, he must disconnect from the rest of humanity, for the first time seeing what it has truly become.

Accelerando by Charles Stross

In a time in which the artificial and the posthuman is more and more outpacing the human, something strange enters the solar system and starts dismantling its planets.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

[joviantwelve]

absolutely hate that bitcoin is a go-to currency for like, scifi/cyberpunk-aesthetic settings now. can we go back to generic "credits" please I actually prefer those

[the-scourge-of-the-underworld]

Elevator Pitch

Space Y2K, a scifi far-flung retrofuture adventure film featuring pirates, FTL travel, and dyson spheres

A thousand years ago, on y2k, the sun erupted and destroyed all technological infrastructure. Now, in the Millennium Age, a galactic superpower has risen in exchange for technology and energy. Fuel is currency, knowledge is power, and Captain Tesla Major has both. But can they take on the greedy Power Authority, backed by the deadly Edison Arms Corps? It'll take courage, luck, and a lot of theft. This is the future of Space Y2K.

[cfrick]

Another horny game review, this one's fairly popular (comparatively): Hardcoded. I've only played the demo so far, but I love it. Mostly spoiler-free? + fanart at the end

That's right, another queer scifi robot fuckin game. I'm a simple creature.

The worldbuilding on this one is pretty incredible, lots of little bonus things to read if you're into that stuff like I am. The story is you're a super hightech android that's escaped from a scifi suburbia to this independent city where you get picked up by a bunch of queer people. Also there's a thing going around making everyone super horny? Cyberpunk 2077 wishes it was this cool. Art is lovely too, it's all in this fitting pixel art style, with lots of animations, including sex scenes, and extra pics you can find on the in-game computer. I always forget to check it!

The demo has TONS of content on it's own, an unbelievable amount for a free game. I wanna say at least 9? people to romance, and they're almost all trans. There's a witchy character and a cyborg mechanic and a cute hacker and a robot with big tits and many more. Plus lots of minor characters you can also have sex with. Just lots of sex all around. Walk around and explore, you'll find all sorts of little scenes.

I guess as far as gameplay, it's not quite a visual novel cause it's mostly these open world sections. And so much customization. I've spent the majority of my time with this game just working up coupons (the currency) and checking shops for more cute clothes and furniture. Shops update daily, so be sure to check, plus there's some unique events on Fridays you don't wanna miss. My secondary quest is finding all the sex toys, they have their own display shelf in the room so like, I gotta collect em all.

My main tip if you want to play this game yourself, make sure you run your mouse over every openworld section like its a point-and-click adventure. I missed two whole areas of the game for the first few hours because I didn't realize those were clickable spots on the map. Not to mention the whole clothing shop i missed! Could've been buying even more clothes that whole time!

Also, if you want more cute clothes, you can find some lil cheatcodes on the wiki, put those in for secret clothes.

Ok thanks for reading my porn game review, here's a fanart :]

Can u believe it my favorite romance option is the other robot wow huh how unexpected of me

[nettlewildfairy]

ok so the credits and gold post I reblogged earlier is funny but for the curious there is like a real reason it works like that.

The real reason scifi tends to go with credits as the currency and fantasy goes with gold, especially in games is because of cognitive load, or in more common vernacular, gimme points.

I.e. people have a limited amount of memory space to learn new words at once, or they will start to have a less fun experience. This number isnt static and varies person to person but generally in a sci-fi or fantasy scenario the writer or game designer has a bunch of things they want you to learn, the names of places and people and countries and spaceships and enemy factions and what the magic system is or how laser guns and robots work here and every one of those takes a little bit of mental energy to absorb. If a book throws an entire page of words you don’t understand at you at once it’s like reading a brand new language with no context clues, that’s not great.

And games put a lot of the cognitive load points into learning new mechanics to solve puzzles and hinting at things the player can do for plots and quest lines, battle tactics for which cool sci-fi gun to use, etc.

and unless the game is medieval a currency trading sim or space currency stock trading sim it’s unlikely to be a major part of the gameplay. At that point is it worth using your limited gimme points on inventing a new word for currency that will require tutorials and in game dialogue and context to explain or teach? Probably not.

(That said someone please make a medieval currency trading sim, it sounds like it would rule)

[improbable-implosions]

Like I mention in the show notes this time, I've been really enjoying the more modern books we're showing off on the podcast. Honestly, I'd really love to work out some way to feature more short story collections that aren't public domain, or at the very least, more specific modern short stories. I read a lot of them, after all, and there's been a good few that've really stuck with me.

For example, I've been looking for one who's title didn't quite stick with me. Thankfully, two stories from the same collection spring to mind, but I'll talk about the one I'm looking for most, first.

It's set in a society where time is used as currency, which opens with a scene of a group of street buskers doing some performance art, wherein they set their internal clocks to tick down simultaneously, such that the mob they were standing in instead causes them to fall, spelling out MEMENTO MORI in a town square. I have a faint impression of them describing the time bank as a series of analog babbage-engine style computers extending down and down for what feels like forever, but I'm not quite so sure of that as I am of the memento mori scene.

The second story, in this same black-covered scifi collection, swings a bit more horriffic, as a young woman struggles against the thrall of a claude glass, each time she stares, finding herself more and more strongly compelled to never look at anything else. There's a particularly vivid passage of her describing how a lizard that wandered into the house looks after staring into the claude glass, her perception of color forced into eye-popping contrast in comparison to life as it was before.

As for other details, I can tell you it's probably one of those "year's best scifi" collections, likely from sometime in the 90s, as it was being weeded from the school library in 2015ish. I have a faint impression of the cover having a ringed planet on it, and it was a standard-sized paperback on pretty cheap, well-yellowed paper. If you've got any guesses, feel free to reach out!

On a similar note, if you've got a story you feel is a good fit for paper cuts, I'd be happy to consider it. Doesn't even necessarily have to be something published, either, but I've found the show is solid cross-promotion for the tales within!

[steldomo]

Just realized it’s fantasy specifically but steldomo is scifi fantasy so

Idk what the currency is but it’s not gold

Don’t have that

Probably have that idk. I know I’ve tried thinking about how long days should be on a spaceship but I don’t think I figured it out

Don’t have that

The lightning elementals’ planet is constantly stormy because duh. The air elementals planet has green skies if that counts

Actually don’t know if I have that shockingly. Moons aren’t all that consequential imo, and most of the story isn’t spent on a physical planet

Don’t have that (also shocking)

Don’t have that

Don’t have that

I had an idea that a species of blind aliens would have live flowers in their jewelry so the beauty is their scent instead of color or design

Idk haven’t thought about it

Idk haven’t thought about it

Don’t have that

Aspects are the spirits of stars, which don’t have sexes and don’t reproduce sexually kinda. Of course their spirits don’t have sexes either, and therefore no genders. While writing this I thought of a gender system based on spectral class but idk if I’m smart or progressive enough to handle that

Don’t have that

Kinda have that…? My design for hades is humanoid, but has no legs or face and is made of rutile shards

Haven’t thought of pets

The existence of hard light/force fields that can be invisible is prevalent but the plot would be perfectly fine without it

I’ve had the idea of aspects communicating telepathically with who they’re orbiting, but idk if I still have that or not. I’m pretty sure they can psychically tug on/nudge their orbit partners tho

Digital files, but that’s cheating since it’s not fantasy

Species that can’t speak the same as us, like the mermaid dolphin dudes, use sign language for interspecies communication

Don’t have that

Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.