Quote:
Originally Posted by rust
While I think the replicators would be an interesting idea, I would not like to
have anything of that kind in my setting, because it would very much reduce
(if not eliminate entirely) the need for interstellar trade - and with it a clas-
sic science fiction adventure source.
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True, but remember, our own earth is self-sustaining, and many people on this planet would love to be able to explore the cosmos in a starship. I think the PCs will get into interesting situations just because they feel the need to have to do interstellar travel just for exploration (which I think is very much lacking in modern SF). And a trade of ideas and new technology will always be there regardless if a solar system is self-sustaining or not. This is why I had my replicators not be copy machines. They can only replicate raw material, the expertise and such for new inventions will come from outside of the solar system--or on other colonies. So most solar systems or colonies are not going to want to be too cut off from the outside. There will always be a trade in intellectual property.
Maybe the word 'replicate' is the wrong word to use. It would be more like a mining operation except it's recreating basic elements and their combinations from what's being thrown off from a sun. It would simply be mixing and matching atoms and molecules from solar radiation.