Starting a Game, Online even. Options

[FrankTrollman]

Guns do have oxidizers in them generally. Explosions, after all, are fires which burn in a confined space. The reason guns don't fire underwater is because water is nigh incompressable and the result is that the explosion ends up getting forced back and crushing the gun.

In low gravity, minimal atmosphere areas, guns function fine - but the holder of said gun is often thrown off their feet.

The gyrojet solves both problems by giving a graduated acceleration so that the water can get out of the way and the equal and opposite reaction doesn't throw you off your feet.

-Frank

[Scope_47]

[Narse]

I agree with Scope_47, my interpretation was that anything significantly different should be an Exotic Weapon. They give some good examples of in the skill description, things like flamethrowers and lasers are obviously Exotic. This is why my character is planing on taking Exotic Ranged Weapon (Chemical Sprayer), because he has experience aiming one of them.

Edit: ah, yes I forgot that the recoil of a normal weapon would be a problem in Zero G (uncharacteristic of me, but I suppose I thought that they wouldn't work in a vacuum, not sure why I had that idea...)

[kzt]

No, gunpowder/smokeless powder/denatured HE all have the oxidizer mixed or chemically bound to the fuel. Explosives and guns will work just fine in space or vacuum, or zero-G. Eventually the lubricants might evaporate or sublimate, causing malfunctions or jams, but they will function fine until then.

The reason you don't want to use them in zero-G is that the recoil really sucks, as it will have greatly magnified effects. Unless you are well braced against something it's going to start you moving and probably spinning. Gyrojets, being rockets, have essentially no recoil.

Mars is lower gravity, but 38% is still enough that firing a pistol isn't going to bounce you off the ceiling 20 feet down the corridor. It might in zero-G. Ok, it would probably take a few minutes to slowly float there, but it could eventually do that.

[Whipstitch]

Yeah, I kinda figured that this campaign may be one of the very few places where goofy crap like the magnetization system and foot anchors could actually see some use.

[Cthulhudreams]

Yeah Mars should be fine for guns. Zero-G would be bad if you tried to bust out a machine gun or something though I imagine.

[Scope_47]

I can however see a desperate space-marine using his trusty ares alpha as a propulsion system LOL.

As for the magnetic thing, remember that most materials are non-ferrous (as the item's description points out).

I find it more likely however that gecko-tape soles will be on the standard-issue shoes/boots for space-work (not necessarily on planet though). Its relatively cheap, and doesn't need to worry about ferrousness of metal. Plus, in a research setting it would be annoying to have to keep recalibrating equipment due to dozens of random magnetic fields walking around.

However, the Gastric Neurostimulator is good because nausea is a big problem with gravity changes and wierd spinny rooms in space stations. It even says in the description it is favored by space-workers. (though personally, if it were real, I'd have one just because I'm a motion-sickness poster-child.)

BTW... one day I so want to see someone with a jackhammer cyberarm just because its so cool :)

[WeaverMount]

I was interested in playing an Ork Rigger with extremely high knowledges, languages, and a good social net work.
Couple questions:
1) Are we settled on the Mars setting? It's starting to feel like it.
2) What dice pool sizes are people envisioning for their core skills?
3) I was really interested in taking the Learning Stimulus (110 Aug). Frank, do you care to stat a Learning Stimulus that works under your advancement rules, or should I just let it slide? I'd pitch something but I'm not even sure what a conversion would look like give the transition to a linear cost.

[Whipstitch]

My mage looks like he'll have a lot of dice with Illusion and Manipulation spells and will be good to above average in most other magical tasks. In all honesty though, I probably wouldn't have bothered with that many dice if it weren't for the fact that I'm taking a dozen spells at chargen. A ridiculous amount, to be sure, but hey, what can I say, I'm indecisive, and I can name at least 14 spells I really like off the top of my head at any given moment. He's not finalized though and Frank could always give him the boot, I suppose. 8)

[Scope_47]

I really like the idea for the Mars setting, but if we were to switch to another one it wouldn't be the end of the world or anything - I could tweak my char's backstory fairly easily.

My character is pretty much finalized (there are a few last-minute tweaks I'd like to make if Frank will let me though :)) My core skills (social) are around 11 to 14 dice with a couple of knowledge skills at 7 to 9 (In a research station, she'll probably most of the time feel like the dumbest person in the room LOL). There are a couple of skills 14+, but IC for her job description those are secondary skills (which happen to just be really easy to pump up with equipment).

Her Human Resources position basically means that she has to take care of all the small town BS that comes up when you cram fifty people in a tin can with little outside contact for months or years at a time - kinda like a small town community oriented sheriff (Think Sheriff Carter from Eureka - a show on Sci Fi channel).

<EDIT: I can't smell, err, spell tonight. +le sigh+>

[Whipstitch]

I'm building my character in such a manner that I think it could work for either setting, basically. Owning a few staples of your own that don't necessarily appear on the company ledger never hurt anyone, after all.

[Cthulhudreams]

I'm struggling with my character, I set out to build a technomancer, but am having difficulties with developing a cohesive skillset. Can so far work either game, though I'd probably have to retool equipment if I'm not expecting to be able to pick up alot of stuff on site.

I'll post what I have later for feedback.


Also

Question for Frank Just a point of clarification, implant cyberware still reduces a technomancers resonance?

[FrankTrollman]

[kzt]

Character has 10-11 dice in running a fusion reactor and in plasma physics (or building laser fusion bombs . . ) but only 9 dice in electronics and hacking stuff. I intend to have a decent set of programs and commlinks. Right now he has 8 dice (plus smartlink) for guns. He's also a darn good industrial mechanic and can probably eventually design and build (assuming nobody better is doing it) about anything that needs to be built using the machine shop or the base industrial nanoforge. He's also got pretty good skill in operating in mars atmosphere (mars survival) and fixing various awful things that could happen to the base.

He;s also a mediocre mage, with an assortment of spells mostly useful for things like fixing large holes in the side of the base and minimal defense/utility.

[Scope_47]

Did we ever decide what chat program we are going to use? The only one I have installed right now is AIM and YIM (only have it connected when I need to), but I don't mind installing other ones. My yahoo name is Jacqualine47 and my AIM name is jackendavoxgsf

@Frank: Since our characters all work at the same facility and thereby should reasonably know of each other, should we go ahead and post PC descriptions and 'what is common knowledge' here so that during the game people will have this thread as an easy 'who is who' reference?

- Scope

[FrankTrollman]

Psych Report
by Zdenka Ondráková

Remote and hostile, the surface of Mars is bad for the psychological health of workers. The following have been determined to be key points that threaten the wellness of mission staff, as well as steps which are being taken to counteract these influences:

• Limited opportunities for human contact: Social activities are encouraged amongst mission staff. Games, trid nights, and scheduled meal times have been introduced to facilitate
• Non-standard daily cycle: While the Mars day length is actually closer to the metahuman internal day approximations than that of Earth, the fact that a Martian-based clock falls farther and farther behind that of the Earth day has shown to exacerbate “cabin feverâ€? among mission staff. For this reason, Earth time at UTC (GMT + 10) is used exclusively. Lights inside the base are cut to 2/3 normal from 19:00 to 22:00 and from 2:00 to 6:00. Lights are cut to 1/3 normal between 22:00 and 2:00.
• Hostility of outside environment: While the short periods of the surface being warm enough for ice to melt are not something which can be directly addressed by the psychological staff, virtual weather has been provided in background, overwrite, and BTL formats to cosmonauts.

Mission Critical Staff (10/11)

Dr. Viktor Wollstonecraft
Position: Biothaumaturgical Researcher
Origin: Bern, Switzerland
Profile: Viktor is distinctly prejudiced against metahumans, a group which he considers to include humans. His transhumanism and low-moderate corporate loyalty mark him as a suicide and treachery risk. Dr. Wollstonecraft is extremely reluctant to actually finish projects, preferring to begin new research. Dr. Wollstonecraft has requested a pet of some kind on each resupply and has grown bored with it each time.

Dr. Michael Praetorius
Position: Thaumaturgical Researcher
Origin: Venice, Italian Confederation
Profile: Dr. Praetorius is mildly addicted to a list of chemicals long enough that he has lost count. He is essentially always in withdrawal from something. Most of the time he is also under the influence of one or more chemicals.

Dr. Boris Dellenov
Position: Facility Administrator
Origin: Moscow, Russia
Profile: Classified.

Dr. Yamato Kochi
Position: Cultural Anthropologist
Origin: Edo, Nippon Empire
Profile: Dr. Yamato is severely autistic and incapable of interacting with other metahumans on an empathetic or emotional level. Dr. Yamato is hyper analytical with respect to metahuman interaction and keeps track of an extremely detailed and elaborate “point system� of his own devising.

Dr. Vladimir Kurchek
Position: Archeology Researcher
Origin: Grozny, Russia
Profile: Dr. Kurchek has social anxiety disorder, a condition for which he refuses treatment. He is also noticeably discomfited by loud noises or direct physical contact.

Dr. Ayanami Yui
Position: Thaumaturgical Researcher
Origin: Tokyo, Empire of Nippon
Profile: Dr. Ayanami is obsessed with a massive war she believes will inevitably occur and spends most of her time making elaborate plans to “win,� something she has said would be worth any price. Also she believes that proper use of magic can render metahumans immortal.

Dr. Neela Amirthakaii
Position: Chief Linguist
Origin: Chennai, Tamil Nadu (Elf)
Profile: Dr. Amirthakaii is borderline flat affect disorder, and she has reported having suicidal thoughts “very frequently.� She also cuts herself and is largely to be kept away from sharp objects when alone.

Dr. Kauravya Saikia
Position: Thaumaturgical Antiquarian
Origin: Wokha, Nagaland
Profile: Dr. Saikia has almost no respect for metahuman life, and is openly contemptuous of the rules which govern society. A staunch proponent of the headhunting activities of the Naga people, Dr. Saikia himself has four life beads and is considered a threat to co-workers.

Dr. Victoriya Kuchma
Position:
Qualifications:
Origin: Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Profile: Dr. Kuchma has an inflammatory disease of her bones which causes excruciating pain. She is addicted to a cocktail of painkillers, and presses the button on her auto injector thirty to forty times a day.

Dr. Ljubomir Nemanjić
Position: Virtuakinetic Researcher
Origin: Smiljan, Croatia
Profile: Dr. Nemanjić considers himself to be friends with the base AI and has little time for contact with metahumans of any kind. He mutters to himself about the effects of various lesser known rays.

Technical Staff (15/20)

Taro Sato
Position: Director of Technical Operations
Origin: Handa, Empire of Nippon
Profile: Taro is convinced that he is capable of replicating the effects of a biological sleep regulator by willpower alone. Competency tests have proved this conceit to be unwarranted, but so far Taro has rationalized contrary information as being atypical.

Dr. Henry Adams
Position: Medic
Origin: Suffolk, United Kingdom
Profile: Filled with replacement cyberware from numerous injuries received during his time as a CrashCart combat medic, Dr. Adams goes by a number of nicknames such as “Captain� and “Patch� in reference to his single glowing cybernetic eye. His forced jollity wears thin on him more and more frequently.

Dr. Joy Kellogg
Position: Medic
Origin: Sherbrooke , Quebec (Changeling)
Profile: While the actual SURGE effects on Dr. Kellogg are quite modest and she can trivially pass for an unchanged human, the fact she has lost all of her birthmarks and asymmetric qualities has left her feeling distinct from herself, with a crushing desire to conform coupled with a deep and angry resentment to declare her own individuality.

Dr. Wen Xia
Position: Medic
Origin: Guyuan, Shannxi (Elf)
Profile: Dr. Wen is a surgery addict. She has confided that she really wants to conduct unnecessary implant surgery on other people.

Kira Smith
Position: Fusion Technician
Origin: Las Vegas, Pueblo Corporate Council
Profile: Kira has been conditioned by an abusive family to accept virtually any behavior from others as “normal� and is virtually incapable of direct confrontation, even while being sexually tormented. She signed on for space work as much to get away from others as anything.

Takeda Akio
Position: Lead Reactor Engineer
Origin: Osaka, Nippon Empire
Profile:

Takeda Machi
Position: Reactor TS
Origin: Osaka, Nippon Empire
Profile: Machi is alternately pleased and insulted that his younger brother Takeda was promoted above him.

Jack Chapman
Position: Matrix Security
Origin: Rapid City, Sioux Tribal Territory
Profile: Jack feels compelled to fulfill the ethnic stereotypes of both his Sioux and Navajo lineage, which has driven him to excel at the cerebral pursuits of Matrix manipulation and the aggressively visceral pursuits of

Captain Jason Calhoun
Position: Matrix Security
Origin: Montgomery, Confederation of American States (Elf)
Profile: Jason is a former political radical. With his alienation from his former political agenda has come a growing despair and pervasive apathy which is beginning to affect his work.

Ilya Zelezny
Position: Machine Operator
Origin: Sukhumi, Georgia (Ork)
Profile: Ilya is directly uncomfortable being an ork and is in passive denial about his non-human subspecies.

Jacob Shark
Position: Machine Operator
Origin: Arctic Transport Administrative Region, Trans-Polar Aleut
Profile: Jacob is a show-off who is desperate for the attention and approval of his peers.

Gilbert Belfast
Position: Air Filtration Engineer
Origin: New York, UCAS
Profile: Gilbert is a hopeless and persistent romantic. While he is actually quite shy, he nonetheless is frequently making elaborate relationship plans with people who in reality barely know him. Gilbert has a gambling habit.

Michelle Wan
Position: Water Filtration Engineer
Origin: Changsha, Hunan
Profile: Michelle collects and breeds fish. She is in hard denial that other metahumans don't find fish as interesting as she does, and will obsessively turn conversations to her fish collection when she is uncomfortable, which is often.

Mark Apfelman
Position: Diagnostic Technician
Origin: Europort, United Provinces of the Netherlands
Profile: Mark has a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, an ailment for which he was specifically recruited given his position.

Kelly Hernandez
Position: Communications Operator
Origin: Yautepec, Aztlan
Profile: Kelly hates all organic life.

Support Staff (9/20)

Zdenka Ondráková
Position: Psych Chaplain
Origin: Příbor, Czech Republic
Profile: Feeling Fine.

Elizabeta Katenin
Position: Cook
Origin: Kernerovo, Russian Federation
Profile: Elizabeta is an attention seeker and atavist.

Colonel Sarah O'Sullivan
Position: Human Resources
Origin: Dublin, Tir na nOg (Elf)
Profile: Colonel O'Sullivan was injured severely in a now-classified incident where a friend lost her life. As a result, Colonel O'Sullivan has been outfitted with the skin of another person, and reacts badly to mirrored surfaces and verbal descriptions of her appearance.

Sergeant Isaac Karloff
Position: Security
Origin: St. Petersburg, Russia (Dwarf)
Profile: Addicted to jazz. Gambles heavily. Isaac has a particularly cavalier attitude to his own continued existence, which he justifies with a litany of depressing Russian poetry.

Sergeant Takamura Hoshi
Position: Security
Origin: Tokyo, Nippon Empire (Ork)
Profile: Hoshi is somewhat prejudiced against humans and people from the Nippon Empire, a position which he himself agrees is unreasonable. This has led to him being somewhat patronizing in his attempts to deal with either group.

Sergeant Leila Ortmeyer
Position: Security
Origin: Essen, AGS (Troll)
Profile: Leila complains of claustrophobia. As is normal for her subspecies, outdoor areas are important to her. The requisite time spent inside on the Mars mission wears heavily on her.

Sergeant Ghenadie Heines
Position: Security
Origin: Bucharest, Allied Counties of Romania
Profile: Ghenadie is addicted to the attentions of vampires, a habit he is unlikely to long survive indulging. He has but to space in part because he realizes that his survival depends upon moving to a place where vampires cannot go.

Julia Gilmore
Position: Janitor
Origin: Salem, Tir Tairngire (Elf)
Profile: Julia holds unpopular political and economic ideas, which motivate her to speak out against management.

Takenaka Juichi
Position: Janitor
Origin: Seattle, UCAS (Dwarf)
Profile: Juichi is extremely motivated to impress his superiors and is exaggeratedly helpful to the point of provoking disbelief and paranoia among management.

[Scope_47]

+Applause+

Very impressive... makes me want to load up SPSS and plug the data in to get demographic charts LOL

How much of the Psych Report is available In Character?

[FrankTrollman]

[Whipstitch]

I've got 5Â¥ that says the shrink is probably the single most batshit insane person on the station. I mean, after all, she thinks she's fine.

[Scope_47]

Nah, Put 5 :nuyen: on Dr. Dellenov to win.

But who cares if someone is crazy so long as they continue to function as productive members of society, right?

[Whipstitch]

Nah, I figure he's just equal parts ambitious and incompetent, which really is just as dangerous, especially in a station filled with crazy people. :)

Ah, by the way, if we can commute taking skill groups does that mean we can take specializations at any time as well?

This post has been edited by Whipstitch: Dec 1 2007, 08:43 PM

[WeaverMount]

I created a PBwiki for the game ( http://mars2070.pbwiki.com/ ). I think it will be god resource. I'm willing to format and maintain it myself if people will post characters etc on the wiki or on DS.

Also. I remember talk of Franks matrix rules getting turned into a PDF. Did that happen?

[Scope_47]

Nice Resource, but the 'NPC Roster' is a bit of a misnomer since some PCs are on said roster.

For the PCs shadowdocs you could do dosiers sorted by security clearance - IE: some hacker on Jackpoint decided to get info on the mission for dreks and giggles (my vote is for Puck, but then again I just always liked the 'hated but too useful to kill' types in fiction :))... basically each player post their own dosier, and then for fun others could edit into it shadow comments.

The thing to keep in mind though is that said shadowdocs would be OOC info (unless your character had the security clearance to look at personel documents) and therefore not that useful.

An alternative would be to just have it be non-shadowdoc paragraphs just saying what is common knowledge on the station, how the character looks/acts, and what their office/workspace/quarters look like. I guess you could put it into the form of some random guy's e-mails home or e-journal/blog - but that would be stretching it.

Anyway, that's just my two cents.
- Scope

<EDIT: Hey Weavermount, you should probably give us the wiki password if you want us to add stuff to it :)>

[Whipstitch]

...God, I keep having to fight the urge to try grandfathering in a technician named Lister.

[WeaverMount]

password is sr4sr4, sorry about that

Thanks for the heads up on some of the people in the psych report being PCs. Once/If I have a little more content to work with I/we can arrange it better

There are any number was to get the basic info about you character across IC, and we don't have to use the same method -verity is nice.