The SI Guidebook

[Alex the Average]

Crossposting this from AH.

I've been working on a guide to various technologies, reforms, concepts, locations of natural resources, etc. that could be used as a shared resource and index for people looking to write an SI, whether that be a reincarnation Isekai or an ASB alternate history timeline, and want to know what they could do. If you have any ideas you want to add just dive a description of what it is, how to implement it, what preexisting resources, infrastructure and knowledge is necessary for it and the long-term implications of it.

 

[Alex the Average]

Online Resources

Here is a list of various online resources that might be useful for anyone writing an SI. If you can think of anything relevant mention it below and I'll add it to the master list and try to keep it up to date.

How to make things
How to Make Everything
Good and Basic
Primitive Technology
Survival School

Mathematical concepts

Social Sciences and History
The Prince

Philosophy and Theology

Military Innovations

Agriculture
Video on the Arab/Islamic Agricultural Revolution

Engineering
Real Engineering
Machine Thinking

Computers
Ternary Computer

Planes and manned flight

Physics

Trains

Ships

Geography and resource deposits

Music

Historical food and cookery
How to make Low-Tech Pemmican

Miscellaneous
List of experiments
Timeline of scientific experiments
Timeline of scientific discoveries
Timeline of historical discoveries
History of Science

 

[Kazuto Morimoto]

So if I say the possibility of implementing a system from another world into the current world the SI has been isekai'd in a way that it would make sense, would that count?

 

[Alex the Average]

Sure.

 

[BBadolato]

I'd be careful with The Prince, it's more a patronage work and relies far too much on a Western European context, through the eyes of just one courtier attempting to get back into one's good graces. It might be nothing more than a book of pithy pretty sayings that mean absolutely nothing. If you want something good for warfare, that does not historical context to go make sense of, your best bet would be Sun Tzu's Art of War It's lessons are simplistic, although the section on fire attacks may or may not be viable. Although depending on what version you bring, it could have other author's commentaries, which do have historical context, but nothing overblown.

Mind you I feel this relies to much on the idea than an SI must be some kind of uptimer or bring and share 'advanced' knowledge with them to share with their 'lessers'. What I would would consider thinking about is, making sure an SI aware of what fictional universe realizes trying to 'fix' the plot can come with some seriously unpredictable repercussions. If I get around to making a SI in Naruto, I'm thinking of freaking out over that, and fearing losing myself in having to be someone else.

 

[staplesdex2]

Here are my posts from AH:


Here's a good website:

www.survivorlibrary.com

This is a good website for survivors of the apocalypse to rebuild civilization instead of just one guy surviving the aftermath. The information here could help any SI if they want to go for the uplift route.

For another source to add to the Guide Book, here's a good picture to have:

 

[veteranMortal]

An SI in which you have all this information - information you would not really have - is, to my mind, something of a cheat?

I don't know how to make Gunpowder, not really - Sulphur, saltpetre and charcoal, right? - so giving a hypothetical SI of myself that knowledge is not a fair reflection of me.

Not to mention that uplift makes for mildly tedious reading, imo.

 

[cranical form]

You might be interested in "How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler" by Ryan North, covers everything you could need to uplift any level of less advanced society to modern levels.

 

[Kazuto Morimoto]

Alright, how about I provide a scenario and let's think of way's on what to do in said situation, ok?

Example: You are an SI in the world of High School DxD after a deity/the universe/Zelretch/Truck-kun etc. sent you there. Luckily however, you've been reincarnated as Issei's brother, the main character, and have somehow been affected by Ddraig's aura by virtue of being his twin (he still has Boosted Gear) and you've read all volumes of the light novel. Unluckily, you don't have a sacred gear or any powers acquired (yet) and you're the current generation's Red Dragon Emperor's brother so getting dragged into the plot cannot be helped. How do you survive in this world without turning into an angsty edgelord?(Seriously a lot of SI's turn into an edgelord most of the time)

There, a sample of a possible SI in the modern world but with the mystical side hidden from the populace and... It runs on ecchi battle harem anime logic, how does one survive?

 

[Mechasaurian]

I dislike the title. Not all SI is about Yankee style technological uplift.

 

[Aleksey A E]

Alright, how about I provide a scenario and let's think of way's on what to do in said situation, ok?

Example: You are an SI in the world of High School DxD after a deity/the universe/Zelretch/Truck-kun etc. sent you there. Luckily however, you've been reincarnated as Issei's brother, the main character, and have somehow been affected by Ddraig's aura by virtue of being his twin (he still has Boosted Gear) and you've read all volumes of the light novel. Unluckily, you don't have a sacred gear or any powers acquired (yet) and you're the current generation's Red Dragon Emperor's brother so getting dragged into the plot cannot be helped. How do you survive in this world without turning into an angsty edgelord?(Seriously a lot of SI's turn into an edgelord most of the time)

There, a sample of a possible SI in the modern world but with the mystical side hidden from the populace and... It runs on ecchi battle harem anime logic, how does one survive?

Click to shrink...

Issei's brother? Survival is quite simple, you need to do nothing and in every possible way ignore any supernatural nonsense. Anyone who wants to kill you your brother will turn into shit and genre conventions literally will not allow Issei to fail your salvation.

 

[Kazuto Morimoto]

Issei's brother? Survival is quite simple, you need to do nothing and in every possible way ignore any supernatural nonsense. Anyone who wants to kill you your brother will turn into shit and genre conventions literally will not allow Issei to fail your salvation.

Click to shrink...

Ha! It's freakin' rare to find someone who Does'nt involve themselves in a supernatural world plot lol

 

[Neal Caffrey]

I will also add that for the purposes of this thread good people to be ISOT should also be discussed.

In my case I will add two people that would be nice to be ISOT in:

Philip Hamilton (Wiki page:Philip Hamilton - Wikipedia) The son of one of the most powerful men in the US at the time, you could take this story in a dozen different ways and most would be quite interesting.

Bernard de Marigny: (Wiki page:Bernard de Marigny - Wikipedia) A more inconventional choice but choke full of potential (I might do a ISOT as him) He was otl probably one of the richest men in the entire world so you could do a lot of different things, influence early US politics, go fight with Napoleon, go be a revolutionary in South America or something entirely different.

 

[Sarthak]

Assuming a SI about 200 years back from now at least, just write down the math you did until high school. You've already increased tech quite a bit with that and it's within the realms of reality of remembering those.

 

[Aussiehawker]

With a SI, I'm wondering. Land reform was one of the key modernising mechanisms needed to spark agriculture development and also ensure that most people weren't completely immiserated serfs. However, in most SIs, the material structure of who owns the land and how it is managed is largely ignored and the focus is mainly just on introducing technical innovations. Which historically when known about, were often ignored or underused because the existing land structure was too complex, or stakeholders didn't want to bother, or they didn't have the capital to invest.

So what model of Land Reform should a SI introduce, for a medieval area? Both if they have some out of context power to leverage it, such as dragons or more modern weaponry. Or if they don't, and are merely a powerful monarch or noble. Without destroying productivity as Soviet Collectives did, but also not creating many of the issues that failed, or overly limited reforms created, with populations still effectively serfs or sharecroppers.