Hey /tg/. I'm writing a setting and need some help justifying

>>49678718
I can't help you for noctuneal preditors, but if it's sci fi, why not set it off world? A thin atmosphere would make it very hard to go outside without a suit on- it would get too cold.

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>>49678744
The premise was that players would operate during the day and retreat from the planet entirely when night time came. Players are equipped with low-end power suits by default that help protect against the brunt of temperature effects. They also enable them to venture during the night time atmosphere but the threat of having their power suit's airtight seal compromised (ex a creature tears it open) and the general nature of night time predators heavily persuade people to get the fuck outta dodge.

Additionally, those who can't afford a power suit just generally can't traverse the night time, making night hours a death sentence to them. That wouldn't necessarily apply to players but it would for NPCs and whatnot.

I'm just kinda brain storming how to somewhat justify an entire atmosphere changing in a few hours

>>49678718
Yes, you could base ecosystem on that. Hell could do both poison and megapredators.

Just make it that there is some gas that floats high in the atmosphere when it's heated by the sun, it undergoes chemical reactions storing the energy; during the night time, it cools down and descends to the surface, megafauna uses it's accumulated high energy density to manage their active phase. They retreat to thermal vents/geysers during the day where the heat and expulsions from the depths maintain the air energetic enough for them to rest and to be able to slap a bitch if something intrudes.

As active as it is, the gas is corrosive as hell, so they need to have special toughened up shelters to even hide in during the night.

This could also open some ways for them, for example they figure out a chemical that could react with the gas, catalysing it into an explosion, freeing the local area for a short while.

How about somthing to do with cracks in the planteary krust letting out gasses (from the core or maybe from noxius cavedwelling things) and the Sun heating up the crust and sealing the cracks just to have them reopen when it cools

What's to stop players from using light with the same wavelength as the planet's day light to render the gas inert?

>>49678932
Well for starters, the sheer amount of light to output would be a challenge.

>>49678784
actually, >>49678744 has a point
make it a world with a distant sun and a very thin atmosphere (yes this is bullshit science)
>days are chill and bright but can sustain life
>nights are space-cold
of course this might pose a lot more environmental problems that you might want to care about, but having to manage heat and heat sources could be a great mechanic (but it means that life can only exist in shielded pockets of warmth)
Poison atmosphere is really too absolutely lethal because even sheltered places can be permeated by it and the smallest breach is a death warrant for everyone

How about the planet is poorly shielded from harmful radiation coming from the sun? Doesn't have an ozone layer. Most animals simply deal with the problem by being nocturnal and burrowing underground or something. The players could have suits that shield them from the radiation.

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>>49678861
>>49678902
>>49678993
Thank you all for suggestions. I do like the cold aspect but as you mentioned, life would crowd around warm areas only

As for poison atmosphere being lethal to humans, that was kind of the point mechanically, but in-game it'd be kind of hard to believe humans would want to colonize a planet like that. Smaller settlements with atmospheric domes would be possible but not on a city wide level.

I'm considering stating that the mothership's warp drive equivalent is out of fuel and requires an extremely rare ore to power it. That way humanity is encouraged to explore the planet and warp somewhere that isn't as hostile for a more permanent home

>>49678932
Technology isn't that advanced. Only high end R&D companies implement energy based weaponry; mostly everyone is still using good ol fashion bullets.

>but how did humans warp drive to this solar system?

Uh, hand wave. The tech was on on Earth but couldnt be brought with them. Yeah.

>>49678993
THey still can have airtight shelters with airlocks. They come from space, after all.

Can have filtered pumps getting some oxygen from the outside to complement the recyclers.

And if there's a leak, it's not like it'll replace all air inside instantly. It'll start small (unless it's a megabeast bursting through a wall), an sensors could detect it before it becomes life threatening, sounding the alarm, everybody gets the gas masks and so on - it's a tense situation, but not rocks fall.

>>49678994
>tfw you post and a response was posted right as you posted

I like the radiation idea as well. That would be a great alternative or addition

>>49678718

1. A nocturnal drop in temperature. When you are facing the sun its all a-ok, but when the planet isn't facing the sun... oh my goodness does it get cold.

2. Spores or algae or something. The sunlight makes them inert, at night they become toxic.

What kind of sci fi world you thinking here? A developed one or an undeveloped one?

>>49679032
You can still work with >>49678932 just realise that there are limits.

The neutralization reaction is not instant. There are still shadows.

Sure, inside of the shelter, they can have it going 100% of the time, eliminating any gas that leaks in. (Sleep? put some blinds on, son.)
But it won't be perfect outside.

If they bring in a lamp, the poison will still be pouring and mixing in from the outside. It would only give a small circle of security. (Sure there will be a wider area with lessened concentration, but shit's still dangerous, and a strong wind can bring in a real nasty cloud. Only really close to the source you can be sure it will be neutralised before it gets to the group.)

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>>49679056
Undeveloped. Players would be colonizing or at least exploring an untouched alien planet with technology on the lower side

>>49679060
I like this idea too. It gives me a final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles vibe with everyone huddles around the chalice. It helps that FFCC is one of my favorite games of all time as well

So here are the ideas so far in a nice little list I can save for later
>thin atmosphere that becomes cold as dog turds at night
>toxic gases seep from plants or cracks in the earth that are rendered inert by light
>massive radiation during the day that power suits negate and deters nocturnal predators
>toxic spores that becomes inert during the day

Thanks for the ideas anons. It's about 5AM here so I'm hitting the hay, but feel free to use the thread for any other world building questions anyone has

>>49678994
I've been trying to think of how primary producers deal with it and the best i've come up with is the planet has a, very shallow ocean that covers a very large area. This ocean I dunno, 6 inches deep, and that protects aquatic organisms plants and probably small fish and stuff too.

I'm concerned that it wouldn't produce enough vegetation to sustain large amounts of large terrestrial life that could threaten players.

>>49679060
Oh and of course the lamp can only be moved very slowly, otherwise you'll plunge into not yet neutralised poison.

>>49679119
Glad you're liking it!

>>49678718

Guys are kind of tackling it wrong.

If the predators come out at night, it's because they're hunting. They're hunting because there is prey.

The plants release pollen that is poisonous to terrestrial lifeforms, causes anaphylactic shock in higher order mammals, hominids, whatever works. Both the predators and prey spread the pollen because the star the planet orbits either has a stronger than normal emission of radiation, or the planet's atmosphere and magnetic field are weak as crap.

The latter also allows you to give some creepy-ass aurora mood lighting at night. Was that flicker of shadow the auroras shifting, or was it something sneaking up on you as your eyes and nose run, your throat starts to swell shut as you're trying to reach shelter...

>>49679466
so are the predators and prey immune to the pollen?

>>49678718
The atmosphere contains vast quantities of an incredibly poisonous gas with an extremely low heat coefficient. When the sun comes out during the day the clouds of gas rapidly warm up, reduce in density, and ascend to the upper atmosphere. When they cool again at night they descend, and the sorry cycle repeats.

>>49678718
Solar wind hitting the magnetosphere produces weird ionizing effects. Daylight contains enough energy to stimulate chemical reactions in the atmosphere that neutralize these ions but on the nightside these charged particles are not neutralised. The moving charges produce a field that disrupts human high tech. Shielding outside of large, permanent structures is unreliable at best. Spaceships in low earth orbits also affected by a field that is essentially being produced by half a planet. Technically slightly less than half the planet as the atmosphere hit by light will extend beyond the daylight terminator on the planet's surface.

Or, these ions are breathed in by plants and animals, affecting biochemistry making all hostile. native flora and fauna otherwise unaffected but reactive species (chemical species not biological) attack humans lethally as well as much human made equipment.

Or the ions make everything electrically charged and substantial electrical discharges result as atmosphere circulates locally in small cells. Repeated em pulses of large lightning strikes play havoc with electrical equipment. On smaller scale some plants and animals use ionic energy as weapon. Random discharges are common near surface and energetic enough to be lethal. Daylight leads to a sort of photochemical reaction and spectacular lightning storms occur at dawn which neutralises charge imbalance.

I've just read down thread and seen this:
>>49678784
>I'm just kinda brain storming how to somewhat justify an entire atmosphere changing in a few hours
In my one-tracked idea, the whole atmosphere doesn't change. Only the small section of atmosphere near the daylight terminator changes at any instant.

If you want to use all the concepts you could also have the players explore a small solar system or a cluster of planets. Maybe they're looking for the best one to terraform or maybe they found the best ones already but they need materials from the others. So you could use both the cold and poison mechanics.

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>>49678718

>>49678718
Sunlight denatures the poison. UV illumination towers are able to purify small sections. It's too widespread to make night time completely safe.