Questions tagged [modern]
For questions that take place in a similar set of circumstances to today's Earth. If the story is not set on the actual Earth, additional tags are recommended to provide context for what aspect of the world is "modern". For example, consider adding "technology" "firearms," "weapons," or "transportation."
52
questions
-2
votes
1
answer
74
views
Futuristic fusion of university campus with desi cultural heritage preserved [closed]
So my idea is to redesign my university campus in a more modern and futuristic setting. But the aim is to keep the original cultural feel to it. For reference the campus is pretty old say 50-60 years ...
4
votes
2
answers
130
views
How can a modern-day nomadic culture preserve its lifestyle? [closed]
In modern times, how can this ancient clan, bound by religious duty to visit 12 holy sites across Asia each year, and once serving as messengers between kingdoms but no longer doing so, confront the ...
13
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What would a school that tried to minimize deaths at all costs look like?
In this society there is a regular apocalypse event that can cause 80% casualties among the human race. This happens once every 20 years. While this is survivable, it's not survivable if it happens ...
13
votes
9
answers
4k
views
Would a freeze ray be effective against modern military vehicles?
Similar to my previous thread. In my setting, wizards from a pre-industrial fantasy world come to real life. One of these wizards is a cryomancer recruited by the US military and tries out his talents ...
1
vote
2
answers
96
views
Can one get some partial ammo compatibility or tooling simplification by developing a few weapons of caliber ~80mm together?
For a few weapons there is something akin to sweet spot around caliber ~80mm:
Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle (rifled)
81 mm mortar (smoothbore)
FIM-92 Stinger (72 mm) / 9K38 Igla (72 mm) (...
5
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How useful would were-creatures be for military applications?
If a modern military acquired the means to grant some soldiers the ability to transform into a bipedal were-creature, what kind of military applications/roles would they be best suited for?
Abilities
...
1
vote
2
answers
367
views
How should I design a cheap, shipping container class nuclear warhead? [closed]
Requirements:
cheap (so rather not Pu-239 but U-235)
easy and cheap to store for years with near zero maintenance (so no tritium and at most little plutonium, as admixture of Pu-240 would be source ...
3
votes
2
answers
90
views
Is it possible for turbojet to share parts with turbopropeller or turbocharger?
The situation is the following:
there is slowly rebuilt postapo world
there is knowledge of "ancient" turbojet engine (including books and possibly even some parts left, though mostly from ...
7
votes
4
answers
291
views
Medical issue that would render someone unconscious, is fully recoverable if aid comes in time, but lethal if delayed much longer
This should be a pretty easy one for you all. I need to render someone unconscious, and unable to be woken, in a story. I need it to be due to an unexpected medical issue, I don't care rather that ...
1
vote
3
answers
340
views
What are limitations of using the same vehicle to carry both SAM and rocket artillery?
Theoretically it should be feasible - one end up with a tracked or wheeled vehicle with rockets strapped to top of it and it shouldn't be a big deal whether they are designed to hit land/sea or air ...
1
vote
4
answers
400
views
Should a fast shooting tankette bother with using APFSDS against frontal armor of main battle tank? [closed]
I'm thinking about something loosely resemble RDF/LT:
So the whole idea is a vehicle much lighter than a main battle tank, with gun of caliber 75 mm but able to shoot six rounds in very short ...
16
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How would I go about naming a fictional country located on Earth?
I'm having quite a bit of trouble naming a fictional country I've created. So far, I've created its history, inhabitants, laws, government, etc. and I have simply used "the country" as a ...
9
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Detecting offworlders with cameras
There is an Earthlike planet inhabited by Earthlike lifeforms including beings that are human for all practical purposes. The primary visible human civilisation is roughly equivalent in technology to ...
15
votes
16
answers
3k
views
Why are firearms not useful against fantasy creatures? [closed]
I am building a world where the modern day has collided with fantasy, and I want a situation where firearms are useful against humans and technology, but not against magic and fantastical creatures. I ...
4
votes
10
answers
332
views
What strategy could nanites adopt to protect someone's brain from damage while repairing the heart?
The main character of the story was created by nanites/(micro technology). Because of this trillions of nanites are in her body making her memory more efficient, reasoning skills sharper, and healing ...
26
votes
15
answers
4k
views
What would cause horse-riding cavalry to return?
Basically, what would cause an army to go back to riding creatures in cavalry, as opposed to armored vehicles.
The mounts can be armored, but they have to be what you'd normally think of as creatures;...
7
votes
10
answers
570
views
How would a house security/protection work in a society full of shapeshifters?
My story has a country/society made up of mostly shapeshifters. How shapeshifting works is that once someone turns 21 they are allowed the gift of shapeshifting through an advance technology. They can'...
9
votes
6
answers
952
views
A variable-ammo post-apocalyptic projectile-weapon
Needlessly long names aside, how would this weapon work?
Made from scratch with junk scavenged from a 21st century world, post nuclear apocalypse. Assume nothing was specifically preserved, only the ...
3
votes
5
answers
230
views
What roles would the hierachy of a private army play in defending a town's sovereignty?
I have a town where a small private army of about 100 men (breakdown below) looks after its defense and is consulted on any major decisions concerning the town by other local groups that reside in the ...
14
votes
5
answers
508
views
How to protect against a disease that spreads by thought?
Let's imagine we have a disease. Call it the "Thought Plague". It has all the symptoms of a normal disease; in fact, let's use COVID as our symptoms baseline. However, this disease has an... ...
28
votes
22
answers
6k
views
What would cause city walls to return?
Essentially, what would, in a modern (21st century) society, cause city walls to return?
I don't necessarily mean stone walls; steel, titanium, and aluminum walls are perfectly acceptable.
This ...
15
votes
18
answers
4k
views
Why would a more technologically advanced society continue to build many buildings out of stone rather than glass and metal?
Architecture in the Western world used stone as the primary building material until the late 19th century.
Modern architecture uses much more glass and metal in construction compared to the ...
1
vote
3
answers
107
views
employer association-union govt efficient and democratic?
This is for a modern isekai (other world) story, not necessarily scifi as its not focused on technology.
Definitions:
Union--organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals, ...
2
votes
4
answers
456
views
Equipment, logistics and resupply of a team detecting hidden explosives in a warzone area?
I have a team (size can vary depending the answer to this question) that makes ends meet by sneaking through a warzone area and trying to detect a large amount of explosives hidden in for example a ...
5
votes
2
answers
413
views
I want to simulate Purchase Power Parity in my own universe, how can I do that?
I am currently working on a modern fantasy world, in which I am working on gdp and statistics for, I'm having a issue simulating PPP for each of the nations, and I can't find any good articles on it. ...
3
votes
3
answers
521
views
How could a vampire acquire specifically human blood without killing anyone?
I've seen a similar question posted here, but my vampires require specifically human blood. Anything other than human blood or water is disgusting and indigestible to them. Some more notes:
Drinking ...
2
votes
2
answers
153
views
ATGMs firing smaller missiles to trick active protection system, could it work?
I have a military that needs to get around tanks Active Protection System. (APS). The idea is to have a anti-tank guided missile fire smaller missiles when the big missile gets close to a target. So ...
3
votes
6
answers
1k
views
What could justify large amounts of troops that can move entirely by helicopter & organically have the means to do so?
What could justify large amounts of troops that can move entirely by helicopter & organically have the means to do so? This nation has saudi levels of m o n e y (in proportion with their military'...
6
votes
2
answers
673
views
What kinds of (effective) melee weapon could only be made with modern technology? [closed]
What kinds of (effective) melee weapon could only be made with modern technology? While we could make melee weapons with more modern technology, all we have are advancements in metallurgy applied to ...
15
votes
13
answers
6k
views
Why would the first manned Mars mission have a huge crew?
In 1948, Wernher von Braun wrote The Mars Project, in which he outlined a scientific expedition to Mars involving 70 crew members who would stay for around a year before returning to Earth. Since then,...
2
votes
5
answers
576
views
Plausibility of tank-borne infantry in a world with very short sight ranges and rare, awful radios
This question takes place in the same setting as that of this post (tl;dr: the world is bathed in thick magic fog, the naked eye can't see past a hundred meters, an M4's effective range is 50 meters, ...
2
votes
2
answers
298
views
World war-tier weaponry and lackluster electronics in a world with severely compressed effective ranges - how does tactical doctrine change? [closed]
The setting: Every relevant part of the world is bathed in a thick, soupy, magic juice fog (visibility hovers around a hundred meters on most days). Among other effects, it makes firearms extremely ...
6
votes
10
answers
448
views
Best way to hunt (a) Bigfoot with multi-million dollar resources?
A multimillionaire is going to hunt for Bigfoot in North America (let's just assume confined to USA). Capture preferred, kill acceptable. What would be the most sensible way to do it (highest success ...
4
votes
3
answers
163
views
Why would humans fight a planet full of monsters? [closed]
So in my world a portal suddenly opened on a field. The portal leads to a planet full of monsters. Why would the people in my world attack and defeat the evil planet. What resources would there have ...
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to keep secret societies with super technology from taking over the world?
There are a lot of fictional settings that have some sort of elite peacekeeping organization that is tasked with keeping people safe or keeping things "normal" and are frequently depicted as ...
2
votes
3
answers
274
views
Is it possible for a group of supernatural beings attempt to declare an independent, sovereign state from within the U.S [closed]
I had previously asked this question about how the U.S. military would deal with a secessionist uprising from an organized coalition of werewolves, when I realized I hadn't thought very much about the ...
7
votes
6
answers
1k
views
What would be the best city in the U.S./Canada to live in for a supernatural being trying to exist undetected from humanity?
I am wondering if there are any specific cities on the North American continent (not considering Mexico for the moment being, for reasons detailed below) that supernatural beings trying to live hidden ...
4
votes
2
answers
268
views
The best type of reconnaissance for modern dragons?
My dergs: About the size of a large draft horse, 12-meter wingspan, human intelligence, able to talk in human languages.
Scales are very tough, but an armor-piercing round from an M2 Springfield bolt-...
1
vote
1
answer
225
views
How could dragons and gryphons reduce their hitbox?
So, the thing is that this world (let's call it World A) is shared between several sapient races, some smaller (kobolds), some bigger (dragons, gryphons, minotaurs, centaurs) than humans. Storywise, ...
3
votes
0
answers
74
views
How could you legally obtain all the documents you need in modern English society? [duplicate]
My hero, who is pronouncing his name as Gee-yohm, is blinked into existence in Mary's home in England in 2018. His dress and appearance (T-tunic and leggings) are well-worn medieval European. He doesn'...
14
votes
14
answers
5k
views
What is the realistic approach for a person from modern age to build a modern weapon factory in the Bronze Age?
I often read a light novel that tells a story about a person who is transferred from their high tech modern society Earth to a fantasy land. These persons often have some expertise in modern science ...
-1
votes
2
answers
199
views
Using magic to replicate modern technology [closed]
In a fantasy world that operates with magic, can wizards and mages use their abilities to replicate modern technology? For example either a flashlight or a modern aircraft? How would they accomplish ...
1
vote
1
answer
98
views
Justification for placing an army of supersoldiers under the control of an unstable psychic commander? [closed]
Armchair Chem is your cookie-cutter evil corporation in one of my settings. They're primarily focused on military tech and behind the curtains, unethical experiments.
Their latest project was ...
2
votes
1
answer
84
views
How do modern cults with a following manage their logistics? [closed]
I am trying to implement a cult in my world and it will be a forefront however I have been unable to find how cults do things. (My research has only led me to how to avoid cults and how to leave them ...
0
votes
2
answers
95
views
How would people survive anti-gravity curse? [closed]
Set in the modern day, a meteor lands in the pacific ocean and a green flash of light soon sweep across the globe. All of a sudden every human being alive or dying are experiencing a gravitational ...
0
votes
4
answers
255
views
Alternatives to a modern world that uses unemployed as a resource [closed]
In a human, modern, developed, technological world, the benefits of modernism begin to deliver bad results. It takes a huge force to concentrate in large cities, housing is unaffordable, jobs have ...
12
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How would one create an effective basketball and soccer ball in medieval Europe?
I have a character that travels back in time, from present-day USA, to medieval Europe - specifically, year 1272, present-day UK.
Say in this scenario, they really enjoyed those sports in modern USA ...
1
vote
1
answer
205
views
Why aren't cutebolds the dominant race in a setting with firearms? [closed]
So, cutebolds are small (85 cm tall) humanoid creatures, covered in fine (usually gray) scales with a theorized taxonomical connection to dragons, which shows in their long lifespans. They breed ...
2
votes
1
answer
261
views
how would a Black-Mesa-like research complex fare after 500 years of abandonment [closed]
So, take Black Mesa from Half Life. What would it look like after 500 years of abandonment? (assuming the events of half life have not occured) For this scenarios there are no looters or humans ...
-4
votes
3
answers
178
views
Essentials for life in the modern era [closed]
What would someone in a modern city need for life? They do not have a house, and live in a place with only a bedroom and bathroom, like a dorm room style thing. They are limited to one carry on ...