I. EFFECTS OF THE WAVE
The current view of the Wave's Effects, as of August 30, 2022:
Post event analysis produces the following curve fit (see note 1)
Wave Effects on Population of Firena, circa 644 (Imperial)
Insanity 1. Percentage of total population rendered permanently insane.
Insanity 2. Percentage of surviving population rendered permanently insane.
General Note. Psionic Potential decreases linearly with age. Psi in psionically trained individuals generally does not decrease: their results most likely resemble Life Stages 0 or 1.
Total Mortality (average 50% overall). Includes expected collateral effect deaths from the failure of society in general over the course of the decade following the Wave (includes Directly Induced Wave Mortality).
[1] For any individual, generate personal Psionic Potential with 2D+3 minus age in Life Stages. Roll 2D: if 8 or less, the individual escapes Death; roll 2D again: if 8 or less, the individual escapes permanent Insanity.
II. CONCLUSIONS
#5 is why Wave-hopping is dangerous but a valid tactic for the desperate, and potentially lucrative for the scavenger.
This is just me thinking, but #5 sounds like the way to expand the "wilds" from Hard Times to much of Charted Space.
III. HOW DO YOU SURVIVE?
So how do you survive the Wave? You can sit on the world and hope for the best -- which is a gamble, but you actually have a chance of surviving. Comparable to the chance of surviving (three?) low berth trips.
Otherwise, people will move themselves in many different ways. The Wave moves slowly and with extreme predictability, so you can budget and plan your move based on your current needs. Moreover, you only need to move out of its way for the remainder of your life. Remember, the OTU axioms include a fairly normal lifespan, though significantly healthier than today. At any rate, in typical cases, your children will probably move themselves when the time is right.
In short, the flight from the Wave is actually many flights of small groups of people in relatively short distances, and within the empire as much as possible, potentially over centuries.
This flight might even be extended to the edge of the Orion Arm, one generation at a time, a dozen or two parsecs at a time, leading the Wave by a few decades. All the while, a percentage jump back over into the remains of Charted Space and establish themselves there -- probably more over time do this than continually run, since at some point a few hundred years on you run out of civilization.
Condottiere made this concise and helpful comment:
It just might work on some Law Level C+ worlds. You'd need unrestricted invasion of privacy at least. It would also have a chance with a dictator-based Government (A+). The high-population worlds are more likely to be dictatorially ruled, so this bodes well for a dystopian colonization.
The current view of the Wave's Effects, as of August 30, 2022:
Post event analysis produces the following curve fit (see note 1)
Wave Effects on Population of Firena, circa 644 (Imperial)
| Life Stage | Years | Mortality | Insanity 1 | Insanity 2 | Total Mortality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 Infant | 0-1 | 86% | 13% | 96% | 90% |
| 1 Child | 2-9 | 72% | 20% | 73% | 80% |
| 2 Teen | 10-17 | 61% | 24% | 63% | 70% |
| 3 YA | 18-25 | 40% | 25% | 43% | 60% |
| 4 Adult | 26-33 | 27% | 21% | 29% | 50% |
| 5 Peak | 34-41 | 15% | 15% | 18% | 40% |
| 6 Midlife | 42-49 | 8% | 9% | 9% | 30% |
| 7 Senior | 50-57 | 3% | 3% | 3% | 20% |
| 8 Elder | 58-65 | nil | nil | nil | 10% |
| 9 Retirement | 66-74 | nil | nil | nil | 10% |
Insanity 1. Percentage of total population rendered permanently insane.
Insanity 2. Percentage of surviving population rendered permanently insane.
General Note. Psionic Potential decreases linearly with age. Psi in psionically trained individuals generally does not decrease: their results most likely resemble Life Stages 0 or 1.
Total Mortality (average 50% overall). Includes expected collateral effect deaths from the failure of society in general over the course of the decade following the Wave (includes Directly Induced Wave Mortality).
[1] For any individual, generate personal Psionic Potential with 2D+3 minus age in Life Stages. Roll 2D: if 8 or less, the individual escapes Death; roll 2D again: if 8 or less, the individual escapes permanent Insanity.
II. CONCLUSIONS
- The Wave awakens latent psionic strength, potentially in everyone, but more effectively in younger survivors.
- The Wave effectively re-rolls psionic strength, without penalty, in trained psions. A trained psion could increase his or her PSI.
- Mortality, insanity, and psionic power are not correlated.
- The odds of a PC to survive the Wave with his sanity is about 50%.
- Society fails in general in the decade after the Wave passes through a system, and half its population dies.
#5 is why Wave-hopping is dangerous but a valid tactic for the desperate, and potentially lucrative for the scavenger.
This is just me thinking, but #5 sounds like the way to expand the "wilds" from Hard Times to much of Charted Space.
III. HOW DO YOU SURVIVE?
So how do you survive the Wave? You can sit on the world and hope for the best -- which is a gamble, but you actually have a chance of surviving. Comparable to the chance of surviving (three?) low berth trips.
Otherwise, people will move themselves in many different ways. The Wave moves slowly and with extreme predictability, so you can budget and plan your move based on your current needs. Moreover, you only need to move out of its way for the remainder of your life. Remember, the OTU axioms include a fairly normal lifespan, though significantly healthier than today. At any rate, in typical cases, your children will probably move themselves when the time is right.
In short, the flight from the Wave is actually many flights of small groups of people in relatively short distances, and within the empire as much as possible, potentially over centuries.
This flight might even be extended to the edge of the Orion Arm, one generation at a time, a dozen or two parsecs at a time, leading the Wave by a few decades. All the while, a percentage jump back over into the remains of Charted Space and establish themselves there -- probably more over time do this than continually run, since at some point a few hundred years on you run out of civilization.
Condottiere made this concise and helpful comment:
Wave hopping has been proposed before, and the numbers don't work out. Except in one probable use case:
It just might work on some Law Level C+ worlds. You'd need unrestricted invasion of privacy at least. It would also have a chance with a dictator-based Government (A+). The high-population worlds are more likely to be dictatorially ruled, so this bodes well for a dystopian colonization.
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