xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:

>     Japan may also remind me of the Vilani...

Indeed. I use my very limited understanding of Edo-period Japan as one of my models for Vilani society (an other is the Indian caste system, about which I know equally little). Both societies are very conservative both culturally and technologically. I mix this well with a lot of environmentalism: people want to live in some sort of decent balance with the planet (whatever that means). Of course, there's a lot of variation, but I like this as the mainstream. Of course, this is the canvas on which adventures are set, so it may not be explored too deeply. However, any manufacturer will have a very hard time introducing a new model *anything*... Anything that isn't "space-rated" (whatever that means) is next to impossible to sell, and if it doesn't have a stellar rating from Consumer Reports (Which? in the UK, unsure about elsewhere), then it's a really tough sell. IMTU the Shugilii have taken over this role, test things to the point of fanaticism, and people believe them. 100-year reliability ratings for equipment are the norm.

In my fevered imagination, this runs straight into:

Jeffrey Schwartz wrote:

> So... Any ideas on what Vilani folks say when the situation requires it?

Well, IMTU, firstly I avoid all religion-based curses. I justify this by positing that the Vilani have seen thousands of religions come and go over the millenia, and not one of them has created enough value to survive, especially after the Vilani worked out how to externally stimulate the brain to induce feelings either of total religious fervour, or the exact opposite. (IRL humans worked out how to do this a few years back.) This was also partially done to avoid offending a couple of players who do have religious leanings. As hinted at above, the Shugilii are one of the very few organizations which *have* demonstrated value over the years.

"Stars" has replaced "God", so "Stars above" is an equivalent of current-day "Good God!".

Various four-letter words are still in vogue. I also use "smeg" (because I'm a Red Dwarf fan); "crot" (stolen from a Robert Silverberg novel, I think), "Gordon Bennett" (to express surprise) and "spof".

"Spof" is originally an acronym - Single Point Of Failure. IMTO the Vilani are *so* conservative that a lot of stuff has a whole backup system built in. E.G. a grav-car will have two separate grav drives - the smaller one is used only for emergencies, and for parking. A spof device (e.g. a grav-harness) will be avoided if at all possibly by any sane person.

There are lots of variations of these - smeg-on-a-bicycle; smeg-a-roni; crot-a-doodle-doo; and so on.

Anyway, hope this is useful or entertaining to someone out there.

Jonathan