Ok so you are going to be one of the last survivors of the Human race...

[Doctor Amadeus]

I'm not up on the correct use of some terms, so my apologies. Since for some reason I'm having to do the picking, that would be bungee and five people who identify as female. Why? Not so bungee can live a Hugh Hefner fantasy. I've simply spent the last 20 years in an environment where more than 80% of the people I worked with fit that description and that's what I'm comfortable with.

For me, I'm seeing "last survivor of the Human race" as a scenario where we're forced to flee Earth and start over, rather than post apocalypse survival on earth. For unknown reasons that probably involved various world leaders getting blind drunk and realizing that they'd left teacher off of the lists, bungee's next adventure isn't going to be quite where he expected. That's why I'm working with the assumption that we'll have the necessary technology and support to set off with a load of fertilized embryos, we're volunteers (bungee is nursing a horrible hangover and keeps repeating "I did *what* when I got drunk last time?), and we're there as caretakers to start a mission that might make me feel like GM-ing Metamorphosis Alpha again.

Making a case for the most desirable of the groups isn't that hard, but what about the ones nobody has voted for so far -- groups 3 and 4?

Group 4 is the roughest one for me to make a case for.

Serial Killer: Let's take this one first. Depending on how we define serial killer, that's probable a set up for mission failure and a reason to reject that group. A possible exception would be non-psychopathic killers motivated by wealth or politics. Example: Idoia Lopez Riano, Maria Jimenez, or Jeanette van Nessen. A psychopath cannot really be treated, but women like I mentioned in the example might be someone who could be worked with. Not an optimal pick, but that's why they're in the basket.

Physicist: OK, if we're on a mission into space it would be good to have someone who understands what's going on. Not a hard sell.

Palm Reader: Almost as much of a problem as the serial killer for me, but if the serial killer is there in case the group needs a blunt weapon, I suppose a real flimflam artist could serve to keep the future generations able to recognize and address the darker sides of society. A true believer though? Can I have another assassin instead?

Trucker: Well, somebody has to drive this bus! If I'm going to be on board when they fire us into space, it has to be a pretty fire and forget process. Still, a trucker would have physical and mental skills that could transfer to things like mechanical and logistical checks.

Banker: If we're starting the Human race over, some form of economic system is likely to crop up even if it just starts as trading favors. Someone drawn from a central bank might be useful in developing that system. Given my general opinion of bankers, I might prefer a third assassin or a second flimflam artist though.

Group 3 has some problems, but if we reject group 4 I have an idea for how we can get rid of a banker, a palm reader, and a serial killer.

Soldier: Nothing said I can't pick an Armed Service doctor! As I mentioned in my first post, I'd want an MD and and MD with a military background wouldn't be a bad thing. <bungee goes and rewatches M*A*S*H> Well, probably not too bad.

Film Director: A great film director can coax good performances out of difficult situations. This sounds like a mission that could benefit from that kind of skill and ability to organize things.

Priest: Cannibals get hungry. I'm agnostic and wouldn't choose religion as something I want to export to the next iteration of humanity, but the basket says "Priest". Without diving into the banned topic pool any deeper, I'm going with Daoist steering as close to the philosophical as I can and avoiding those most heavily influenced by things like feng shui.

Social Media Influencer: Not something I see as an especially strong skill set, but they can work a camera audience and probably do it in a way that differs from a film director. In my scenario, we would have been shipped off with libraries of recorded lessons, works of art and all that -- but a social media influencer might have the skills to get the growing children (from the fertilized embryos) interested in canned lessons that are unlikely to make sense to them. Imagine growing up as kids in space, if you think kids have a tough time understanding why they learn things in class today ...

Cannibal: While there are cannibals among modern cultures they are generally an abnormality and I'd regard them as the same kind of problem a psychopath would present. For something more practical, the Asmat tribe may still practice cannibalism and a member would have a variety of primitive survival skills. As a skill set, that sounds great, but as a practical matter language and culture would become obstacles even quicker than diet.

Side speculation: Since I'm looking at this as a space ship fired off to a new world, what if we were there as constructs like Dix in Neuromancer? Several of my quibbles, such as the problem with the cannibal, or even the psychopathic serial killer, might change if we were constructs living in a virtual reality to carry with the next wave of Humanity as kind of a zoo exhibit for the future -- who were they, how did they think, why are we here? I could see that as a Metamorphosis Alpha setting, and in that case perhaps group 3 and 4 would be interesting.

@Doctor Amadeus Thanks! Not trying to hijack your thread, just trying to throw some thoughts out there.

By all means these are never My threads, I always hope for participation and thought, so thank you. My hope is that people make threads with the purpose of always sharing. No thread would be worth it without sharing


Now that is a break down, lots of brain food.

Since you highlighted the Pros and what not of selections you didn't pick. I'll try to compliment the other way, why the selections I and everyone else did pick have problems.


I'll go with the group I picked as the best first.

Group 2: Has a Farmer, Computer Programmer, Business Man, Actor, and a Rapist.

Farmer: First off I did my best NOT to be too specific as to what kind of Actor or Doctor for example, but with the Doctor I maid an exception so that at least you'd have an idea of what areas he had. I tried not to pick any because say in the case of the Farmer, I almost thought this was TOO OP at first, however the pitfalls with a farmer or this scenario is again we don't KNOW what kind of farmer this is, we also don't know to his skill set aide from him being a worker. It's very possible he has some other major weakness as we all do.

Computer Programmer: As has been pointed out Computer programmer is a specific skill set, it does NOT lend that this individuals has ANY other kind of bankable skill per say.

Business Man: What kind of business is there going to be with only 5 people one of whom is a said rapist.

Actor: Honestly could be the strongest of the group if everyone else is a dud because at least this individual can introduce elements of inspiration and fun. Actors are just adults that play pretend for a living, which could also mean trouble socially.

The Rapist There could be more than 1


As for Group 2

Group 1: Has a Medical Doctor, Supermodel, Clown, Walmart Cashier, and Drug Addict.


Medical Doctor: Probably the biggest advantage on the surface, but with there only being 5 people we would never know how good the Doctor is, and being the smartest person in the room, doesn't always lend to the greatest outcomes we know nothing else about this individual. Power corrupts...

Supermodel: No promise as to what kind of model, but I would say over all mostly, the most useless from a survivalist stand point, What they may have in terms of genetics and looks might be lost as the weakest link in the chain, and depending on the imagined makeup, plenty of wars and fights have been fought over vanity.

Clown: They are EVIL... Alright fine Clown has no other specific skill set outside of being a performer, which likely means their inspiration comes from amusing others, with 5 people will likely drag the others down.

Walmart Cashier: Wide eyed entry level worker, ability to take direction the problem is, without much direction or leadership, they aren't likely to be self starting very much.

Drug Addict: Drugs are fun, drugs are addictive, Drug addicts are also sad and depressing, and in addition to not being possibly very motivated, their bad habits drugs or not can be contagious.


Bottom line I think there can be advantages and disadvantages for any of the groups.

[shadowmouse]

Bottom line I think there can be advantages and disadvantages for any of the groups.

Agreed. Thanks for the long breakout!

Interesting to see different perspectives. You kept the scenario open ended in the OP, but it looks like you are looking at things as a situation where the people are essentially random and the skills baskets are there to give us something to work with. I looked at the groups and approached it as a scenario where we're trying to put together our best shot at human survival, but our options were channeled into certain groupings by circumstances.

[Doctor Amadeus]

@bungeebungee

I think what is interesting is if you apply the kind of scenarios to say space exploration, or colonization or even survival, when it comes to the reality I don't think it's as simple as movies make it out to be.

I think the first astronauts had to be our best and brightest, or colonizers had to be hardy.

The truth is obviously it would take a lot more people to reboot the human race, but I think considering the details requires a lot more consideration than it seems.

Thinking along the Oregon Trail mindset LOL

[shadowmouse]

I think the first astronauts had to be our best and brightest, or colonizers had to be hardy.

Aha! Seems like the time to mention that apparently NASA and I think alike on the medical doctor:

The purpose of the Artemis program is to build a sustainable infrastructure on the moon that can be used in preparation for Mars exploration. NASA plans to send the next man and first woman to the moon by 2024.

Kim was born and raised in Los Angeles to Korean-American immigrants. His parents were South Korean immigrants who came to the U.S. in the early 1980s to provide their children with a better life.

As a Navy Seal, Kim served as a Special Operations Combat Medic, sniper, navigator and point man on more than 100 combat operations during two deployments to the Middle East.

Kim went on to earn his degree in mathematics at the University of San Diego and a doctorate of medicine from Harvard Medical School. When he got the call about his astronaut candidacy in 2017, he was a resident physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/artemis...ut-2020-01-14/



Nobody let CmdrShep2154 know though!