They may all live on a single planet, single space station, several planets, etc. I haven't decided yet, but they all definitely live around this star. Often, they will send out massive excursions into unexplored space, looking for resources to keep the star alive a little longer.

Many react to the knowledge of their eventual demise in different ways. Some believe that life is meant to be lived to it's fullest, and damn the consequences. They often leave civilization and become pirates, who constantly eat, drink, steal, fight, rape, and pretty much do whatever they want. Their a combo of Reavers and a never-ending roman bacchanalia.

Some have turned to religion, hoping that the existence of an afterlife will make their lives, and lives of every living thing that ever existed, meaningful. I wouldn't call them evangelical, but they are certainly devout.

Still others try to progress with a real life, having families, working jobs, paying taxes, etc. They try not to think about their, and their entire civilization's, eventual doom.

Some just stop moving.

A large portion, unable to just wait out their lives wondering when, join the Scavenger Fleet. They do exactly what you think, and roam the known (and occasionally unknown) universe, searching for resources to feed the star.

The greatest ship in the fleet is an immense ship called the Hope. It is the first Generational Ship made in many millenia, as even the vast distances from galaxy to galaxy take only years to traverse. The Hope was built and launched towards the furthest reaches of the universe, with the mission being to fill its holds with materials, enough to keep the star alive for several thousand more years.

I had a similar concept for a story (except the last planet wasn't a refuge so much as holding the last "pure" people that never went to the stars.)

Anyway, purty good so far... You could have a dedicated group of people try to find a way out of this dire predicament. Maybe traversing universes, going back in time, 'ascending' to another form of life, or some other nonsense. Or, heck, you could have them make their own universe. Lots of options for PC's.

Out in the dark void, some creatures still live. Some nuclear reactors, left by races who are now most likely extinct, provide enough heat that new ecosystems will bloom around leaking radiation or residual heat. Eventually, the reactors will fade away, as well, and these ecosystems will starve.

Similar situations can happen on abandoned spaceships. Their reactors keep the lfe-support systems working for billions of years, and they inhabitants of the ships will evolve to fit their new habitat, giving rise to twisted, warped versions of existing species.

Well, what do you think, elegan/tg/entelmen?

>>13497764
I actually thought about that, but I like the inevitable feel of it. It will happen, it's only a matter of time. I think it could get the PC's to think about what would actually matter to them, if the universe were to end.

Though the ability to run it that way would require the right kind of players.

OP, you should seek out and read short story called "Judgment Engine", by Greg Bear.

Also you should consider that by the end of the universe technology will have advanced to such a ridiculous level that it's unlikely living beings will still have corporeal bodies, etc...

>>13497800
So... what would the PC's actually do?

>>13497800
Ugh... Yer not one o' them "grimderp" guys, are yeh?

Anyway, yeah. I don't think nuclear reactors would last BILLIONS of years... Unless you had all races scavenge uranium from supernovas or some shit. Unless you're talking about all galaxies, which you are. So, yeah, maybe billions. Don't forget about the stage of the universe where most matter is in black holes. They had to escape that somehow.

>>13497828
And another story to read would be "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov.

>>13497828
I thought about that after reading The Last Question (an asimov short story), and I think I'll add a subset of people who have loaded their consciousnesses into a computer simulation, similar to the Matrix. Every second for them is stretched into years, so they have more time than anyone else.

But if everyone did it, than, well, what's the point?

>>13497775
well, i like it.

as for living on planet/planets/in space

in my own opinon, i would keep everyone in space.

Perhaps there are interlocking halos of energy collectors and monitoring gear, or maybe the thinnest skeleton of a dyson sphere surrounding the star, projects abandoned for a number of reasons.

And a gas giant or two in system. Rather, the remains of them, massive balls of metallic compounds still radiating a fierce amount of energy, their shrouding and compressing gasses tapped off hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of years ago, millions of years, etc, tapped off and streamed into the star.


seconding the comment that there could be play opportunity for groups looking to break into a younger universe, etc, but i also agree that it might not be best for the setting and is certainly not required if you are looking for a certain dark feeling.
Kinda makes me think of the d&d basic setting, the "thousand points of light" idea, only there is just one point, one last beacon-fire beating back the darkness.

And we are running out of firewood.

It seems like all of civilization would be dedicated to slowing the decay of the star, perhaps by inducing it to a less catastrophic failure mode (into a dwarf star, maybe).

(adding name for ease of conversations)

>>13497840
That's pretty much the stage they are entering at this point.

>>13497870
I like the idea of the ruins of a Dyson sphere and some planets. Excellent places for pirates to live.

this was an idea for a book first, wasn't it op.

its ok, you can admit it.

Holy shit OP I was considering this a few months back hang on

Okay its not exactly what you were looking for but my idea is at roughly the same point in the universe, entropy increasing the last /few/ stars are still burning. The intelligent races are super advanced, and they've built massive energy harvesting systems around every last start. They're trying to get enough energy to either warp to a new universe or create their own (depends how deeply PHYSICS you want, but I'm inclined the creating their own would be more likely). It was more designed to be a story than a campaign though, so I featured stuff like one of the races deciding they don't want to continue, and staying to see the last of their home universe, and the other races waiting around in their new universe for it to be suitable for habitation.

Very cool idea, thought I might share my own, sorry if it doesn't contribute

>>13497980
Actually, one of the threads I shopped this around in was the one about the 30,000 lightyear-long Godship that would go around collecting all the material in the universe into a fleet of Godships, that would all meet in the same place eventually, dump all the matter into one singularity, and cause big bang #2. I could change the Hope to that, for the option of a new universe.

There was an entity with a plan to escape the closure of the universe. He was kind of a dick.

How do you spell trouble?

D
U
R
A
N
D
A
L

Here's another grimderp campaign for you, OP.

The first intergalactic ship, the FALCON PUNCH, sets sail, heading for the nearby Andromeda galaxy, a hefty 2.5 million light years away. Thanks to photon sails, ionic blasters, etc etc, the ship is capable of traveling that distance in 2.5 million years on the nose. However, a mishap. Forty years into the voyage, transmissions stop, and not a peep is heard from the ship ever again...

ON THE SHIP
Okay, so, get this: there was a sabotage! The captain was killed, and the ship, carrying thousands of people, is divided. Tell you what, it wasn't a walk in the park. Since transmissions stopped, and with no link at all with Earth, morale drops, and people degenerate into tribes. Soon, with the ship's systems decaying, the tribes make Earth out to be a heaven, and the various people keep fighting.

You can introduce aliens if you want. Makes for a good story.

>>13498044

marathon was a great game

>>13498096
>Thanks to photon sails, ionic blasters, etc etc, the ship is capable of traveling that distance in 2.5 million years on the nose.

If it is traveling at light speed it has infinite energy and infinite mass. No more universe.

By the time it's reached that point, it's 100% sure there'd be a dyson sphere round that star.

Idea though, maybe it ISN'T the last star left; but they can't detect any of the few others because they all have perfect dyson spheres? That could be one hell of a war as well, plenty of options.

>>13498139
>Implying Andromeda isn't moving toward us. Derp.

You know the horrifying thing about that setting?

You'd be able to SEE other stars. It would drive you fucking insane, cramped around this one dying star, and you can still point your telescope at the sky and see dozens or hundreds more. But they all died long ago.

>>13498155
It isn't. This is a lie of the highest order. It is, in fact, moving west.

>>13498182
Not necessarily... If the star outlived them a bit more, say a million years, it's conceivable that all the other stars died off and had time for that planet to see it.

>>13498155

That is a brilliant save, I commend you.

But anyway, you'd only have to be going a high percentage of lightspeed since 2.5million is pretty imprecise.

>>13498182

Jesus, I didn't even consider that... Its like being in a desert huddled around a tiny pool of muddy water with nothing but desert around you, but you have constant mirages of giant lakes...

>>13498182
Fuck, I never thought of that. That would blow.

Though, if that were the case, you could get crazies who insist that there are other stars out there, look, they're right up there, and try to go to them. And never return.

>>13498216
giant lakes with voluptuous redheaded mermaids.

>>13498198
Notice how I didn't really give a crap on the precision. I called the ship FALCON PUNCH. What does that tell you?

You got the main idea, though. Pretty much post apocalyptic setting on a giant-ass space ship.

>>13498196

What are the odds of one star surviving more than a million years longer than the rest? I'd have thought it would have been shorter.

Say, how did all these civilisations arrive? Did each one move in after their own stars died? There must have been serious wars every time a newcomer arrived: land must a premium and it would be too inefficent to bring your planet with you (energy efficiency being everything at this point).

>>13498242
Well, it was the last one created. Remember, they are trying to keep it alive. And stars live a long ti- I DON'T CARE, NOT MY CAMPAIGN.

>>13498227
Because they were right. They are out there. The universe collapsed a long, long time ago. This system, this one star, was the focal point. By some miracle, it was preserved, accelerated through the eons that followed. There is a new universe now, young and full of life, full of stars.

But no one here believes it. And their ships will never return.

>>13498240

But what's the point of it being intergalactic? You could do that setting anywhere. Being on the way to Andromeda adds nothing.

>>13498242
I figured they all left their own systems after their stars herped derp, then wandered for a while until they found a lit star. Then they stayed there.

I dunno about the wars. Enough of the species might have died during their Battlestar Galactica-style exodus that when they arrived, they were just happy to be alive.

>>13498266
It eliminates the possibility of a rescue ship.
Besides, other galaxies are COOL.

>>13498259

WHAT A TWEEST

But seriously thats actually a neat turnaround. The Hope won't ever return because it found new stars and new life.

Then if you wanted to continue being grim and dark, what happens when these ridiculously advanced species DO arrive in this young universe?

>>13498044
>>13498118

uman!- You must tell L~`~fx~`eela #^ (^*T~~~~~HGFd~>:"}}}{__
brought here by Durandal. He has been rampant for
years~@%&&&HJGPPPPPPP#&34
^`Bernard St~~~
there is a way to delay the~ onset of the second stage,
and he ~sed this to control Durandal an~56*~~`~~~`~`
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I am being a~*ssimilated.

>>13498246

Yeah I guess that's fair enough. I just liked the idea of dead stars in the sky; either is perfectly plausible.

Incidentally, do the civilisations KNOW it's the last star in the universe? Depending on how tech works in this universe for FTL etc. there could be a huge effort to find other stars.

>>13498259
So, the dying star is a remnant of the old universe?

And they can see the new one?

>>13498139
> If it is traveling at light speed it has infinite energy and infinite mass. No more universe.
"We tried to reach for the stars, and we destroyed them. What does that mean to you?"
- BTL Drive, Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, from the Soundtrack for "Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture"

>>13498301
I can tell you one thing, FTL does not work on a "jumping" basis. I hate jumping.

And the Hope does eventually return, hold full of extragalactic space dust. But it returns too late, and the star is a black hole. I may have had the original idea for this setting as a story...

>>13498301
That's for you to decide, Jack. I'm not the king of Sci-fi. If I were, there'd be WAY too much Star Trek and Babylon 5.

Still, you can make it so that the stars are dead. For millions of years it'd be like that.

>>13498302
Yes on both counts.

>>13498333
How... how does that work? Like, the universe is next door to the old one?

>>13498346
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"Hello, sir. I live next door, and I was wondering if you could spare a cup of fusion?"

>>13498302

Depending where they are, could take them a really long fucking time to see the new universe. Sufficiently far out from the big bang, and maybe there would be stars formed and life evolved before the light started reaching them?

I don't really know enough astronomy for this.

>>13498357

*KNOCK KNOCK*

WE NOTICED YOU PUNY INFERIOR RACES ACTUALLY EXISTED. WE WANTED TO SAY HELLO AND TAKE ALL YOUR SHIT. ITS OK BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIGHT AN ENTIRE UNIVERSES WORTH OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPEMENT

>>13498374
At this point, I don't think ANYBODY knows enough astronomy for this...

>>13498327
Your post reminds me of this picture

>>13498346
The entire star system was enclosed in a bubble of space-time while the universe collapsed and re-ignited around it. Various physics shenanigans caused the collapse itself and the billions of years of development that followed to pass instantaneously from the point of reference of that star. Now the bubble is gone, and the universe is new.

But all the new stars line up perfectly as you'd expect them to from the light reaching the "old" system. Why?

It is a mystery.

>>13498390
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"Wow, dick move, Universe."

>>13498357
"Sure! It's all room temperature, though."

>>13498414
There's a simple explanation.

Because science.

>>13498409
>>13498374
Here yah go, chaps. A bit o' science fer yer troubles.
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/radius-of-observable-universe?playlist=Cosmology%20and%20Astronomy

>>13498419
Room temperature fusion?

WHAT A TWEEST

I seriously lol'd at the KNOCK KNOCKs

>>13498423

No, a healthy dose of Voyager brand SCIENCE!!!! will get you through having to explain that

The resonance of the fusion cascade caused a reverse peristalsis of the inverse tachyon field.

>Fragge upcurved
wat

>>13498414
New universe, new rules.

Magic works in the new one, and no races have advanced into space because their science is for shit. Hell, even their magic is kind of meh, not used efficiently at all.

Then science shows up, and exploits the fuck out of magic.

Also, massive super-intelligent space jellyfish.

>>13498470
>The science science caused a science to science the science.

Even if there's no FTL, there's hardy any need for generation ships. A ramscoop ship could circle the known universe in 56 years shiptime.

Of course, it'd take a bit longer for an outside observer.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13497541/

>>13498503
Well, then, I won't make it go EXACTLY that fast.

When it comes to sci-fi: rule of cool supersedes facts.

>>13498503
ramscoop?

>>13498530
It scoops rams.

>>13498530
Hypothetical drive that scoops hydrogen out of the fuckin' nowhere (i.e. MIRACLES) and launches it out of its ass.

>>13498530
Bussard ramjet.

>>13498547
I want to see a drawfag take that idea.

A ship with a snowplow-like scoop driving through a cloud of space rams.

Baaa.

>>13498530

It scoops the very crap out of the universe (floating hydrogen and whatnot) and uses it to accelerate the ship. Because of this (assuming you can accelerate it and decelerate it) it basically has infinite power.

What >>13498503 is forgetting is that his calculation is shiptime. It would be WAY fucking longer universe time

>>13498530
Ramscoops are a lot like ramjets, but with hydrogen fusion reactions instead of jetting. The Bussard-type ramscoop design would use a very strong magnetic field to generate a "funnel" that would collect hydrogen as it travels, which is used as fuel to move the ship. And the movement, in turn, allows the scoops to collect more hydrogen.

>>13498576
What >>13498503 is forgetting is that his calculation is shiptime. It would be WAY fucking longer universe time

>Of course, it'd take a bit longer for an outside observer.

>>13498530

Magnetic fields collect interstellar hydrogen, funnel it into a fusion reactor and blow out the other end. Constant fusion acceleration; gets you as close to 1c as you like, so long as it keeps going.

Does 'interstellar hydrogen' exist in intergalactic space?

>>13498630
Yes. It exists everywhere.

>>13498658

I think OP's setting might be somewhere past "peak hydrogen."