Blood in the Water OOC Thread, Cyberpirates: Chatter here! Options

[Marwynn]

And so it is after breakfast. Bah. Will change, thanks.

[Penta]

You do get them after breakfast. Breakfast is sorta your last moments of freedom before being militarized temporarily.

(This whole sequence is meant to bond y'all and basically take the place of, say, Food Fight amidst a normal runner team. It'll just incorporate more training sequences.(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) If anybody wants karma, they can do illos of the uniform, I can provide a concept. Not a drawing, not a sketch, but a written concept as to what it'd look like.)

[Karoline]

Does it have to be a -good- illustration? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Edit: No really, please provide your description.

[Penta]

Okay, a quick description.

It's a navy blue...Well, if it were one piece you'd call it a jumpsuit, but it isn't - it's two piece (pants and shirt), plus optional protective gloves and black deck shoes. Not recommended for combat, but excellent for day-to-day duties. Made out of something kinda like the fire-resistant qualities of Nomex, but better for tropical climates and sea duty than Nomex (which is really heavy) is IRL. Made to be a few things: Practical; Protective (it does not include armor (because armor would cause you to sink, all other things being equal), but does include fire resistance); maneuverable. Notice that stylish and good-looking aren't among the attributes. That's because...It's not ugly, but it's made for -work-. It's not made for going around in. You would, in the Navy, have other uniforms for that. In your situation, you have your normal clothes.

As you might suspect, there's an ulterior motive in providing you guys the uniforms. The Navy is testing them out for enlisted use. Comments are invited.

[Karoline]

You know, that description reminds me of the vault suits from fallout.

[Marwynn]

I was thinking Enterprise's blue/purple jumpsuits myself. But Vault suits would be tres wiz!

[Karoline]

But Vault suits would be tres wiz!

Which means they are nothing like what the military provides (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Penta]

The Enterprise jumpsuits are actually not unlike what I had in mind.

[Karoline]

The Enterprise jumpsuits are actually not unlike what I had in mind.

Sure, that's what I get for liking dystopia over standard Sci-fi (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[milk ducks]

So Alan's the only non-officer, and others hold multiple positions? I really would have liked for him to be saddled with some kind of responsibility, if only because it's going to get pretty boring for me if he's got nothing to do. Also, I mean I already feel like Al's way out of place in this op, and I can't help but think: if he doesn't bring something specific to the table, why'd they bother bringing him along in the first place?

I'm not bitching or anything, I'm just trying to figure out why he's been passed over; I applied OOC to be a Chief Mate and Gunnery Officer, and just scanning over the character sheets, Al's just as qualified as John; but Budoka got both positions (I think Chief Mate got absorbed by Quartermaster somewhere in there). It's just gonna get boring quick if I've got nothing to write about.

-milk.

[Karoline]

Well, we've got to have -someone- that we can send on a suicide mission without messing up the ship's operations (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[budoka05]

No worries Milk Ducks, thing can easily be reassigned at Rusty's discretion. Also I have a feeling I'll get some intelligence work after all. (Thanks CD!)

[Whizbang]

Gack....I checked yesterday around like 3, and there was nothing. I check again before I went to bed, and it explodes, and now there is more. Will try to play catch up after work today.

[Karoline]

Gack....I checked yesterday around like 3, and there was nothing. I check again before I went to bed, and it explodes, and now there is more. Will try to play catch up after work today.

We all coordinate on IRC to post when you aren't looking (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Penta]

Milk: I tried to give everybody a position. It's only now that you commented that I realize I...forgot to give you anything. Entirely my screwup. In trying to give people positions that fit and do it all fairly quickly, while also dealing with the massive clusterf*** that was yesterday for me IRL, I forgot someone - that someone happened to be you. I assure you, it wasn't intentional.

So if nobody minds, I'm going to edit Rusty's post here, so far as the assignments go?

What might be best is to train two Gunnery Officers - Alan as the Primary one, Budoka's Character-whose-name-I-forget as the Secondary one, with Budoka and Alan both acting jointly as Quartermaster (perhaps splitting the duties somehow). During combat, in any case, there almost *needs* to be backup people - just in case anyone gets wounded, or in case Jane needs an assist in Damage Control - one person, after all, can't do everything when the ship's hit in multiple places.

If anyone has better ideas, please...Tell me. Via PM, via chat, however you want to reach me. I'll listen. I want to be fair to everyone OOCly, but ICly I also want to play to people's strengths.

I'm working on the OOC descriptor of training for each of you - including common stuff you'll all be going through, or perhaps doing as a group.

[Penta]

Okay, now, about that training program.

Basically, it runs by position, though there is a "common core" (which, naturally, you might be waived from if you already know it - they'll just reallocate the time to other training).

Simsense, because it can make a minute contain an hour's class (something mentioned for penal use in the Lone Star sourcebook, if I recall), is used a lot, though live-fire is used (against fake targets) in marksmanship training. The more academic courses are a combination of lecture and simsense. Think of a college class.

Training is highly individualized, or at least customized for you guys.
---

Now, by position:

CO: Rusty basically gets the Mazer Rackham treatment from Capt. Walker. In other words, she's practically his personal student. She is taught a little bit of each of the positions, where possible; enough to get a basic grounding in what everybody else is doing so she knows how to use them efrectively. She's also put through very, very intense simsense scenarios - putting her on the bridge of the Fedallah, "fighting the ship" - commanding it through a boarding action, repelling boarders, a ship-vs-ship fight, controlling damage, sailing through storms, just to name a few. After each scenario, she gets thoroughly debriefed by Captain Walker, and given pointers on her performance. Should she be haughty and proclaim she knows all this already, his reply is cutting: "And where, may I ask, is your last command? Oh, yes. The scrap heap, if I recall."

These scenarios happen at any time of the day or night, including during other classes - they come pretty much out of nowhere.

This will take a fairly massive chunk of your time, roughly 10 hours, not counting the disruptions to your other studies due to 'pop quizes'

XO: Zalermo is also given a crushing workload. He's slammed through an excruciating course of study covering military basics, tactics, leadership, intelligence analysis, maritime law, first aid...In short, a course designed to turn him from a cop/womanizer into a passable imitation of a naval officer. It's not easy, and in 4 days it probably isn't completely possible, but he'd be given a basic grounding in what he needs to know.

Despite the wide range of things covered, most of them will be handled through the individual courses that you will pick out, so expect the XO portion to only take about 5 hours.

Purser: Jane is given a very quick introduction to basic accounting. She's briefed on what the auditors want, basically. Not hard, not long, leaves her a lot of time for other coursework more posting-related. Figure an hour to get acquainted with the software and forms.

And now, by position:

Medical Officer: The medical officer and their assistant is given a crash course on first aid at sea. CPR will be given particular review due to its importance at sea. A large chunk of the rest of the training will be devoded to learning how to deal with the rocking and swaying of the boat when preforming delicate operations, as well as the sort of injuries and illnesses that particularly occur at sea, and a short overview of what sort of medicines you're likely to find in the region. The course will take a total of 4 hours.

Engineering Officer: The engineering officers are given an introduction to the ship from the keel up by Lt. Benitez. Literally. Beyond merely a tour of the ship, they get slammed through an introduction of ship's systems - applying what they already know to the system of systems known as the MY Fedallah. This especially covers damage control. There is an *immense* amount to learn, and a very short amount of time to learn it in. Due to the large amount of practical work required, this course will take 6 hours.

Marine CO: Boarding ops. Underwater ops. Amphibious ops. What isn't known by the selectee here is taught, using simsense and live-fire at fake steel targets. This is possibly the most physically -exerting- course set. This course will take a total of 3 hours.

Thaumaturgical Officer: It's hard to teach magic between traditions (Esteban is an old-school hermetic mage), but Esteban does his best to teach about the thaumaturgical threats of the region of operations - everything from the weirdness of the Bermuda triangle to what's known about Voudun (Voodoo) to what's known and declassified about Aztlaner Blood Magic (GM question: *is* anything known? If not, delete that clause). Mostly lecture, but Esteban is an effective teacher, that said. There are limited things to cover here, and Esteban won't be repeating himself, so have your commlink recording for the two hours of direct lecture and Q&A

Intelligence Officer: A crushing course load. The intelligence officers are taught the basics of intelligence analysis - everything from how to analyze intelligence to presenting the final analysis in writing to briefing the analysis to the CO or higher headquarters. This is a 4-month course crushed into 4 days, and it's hard to strip down any more than they did to get the course to 4 months long. This will eat up a prodigious 8 hours -per day- which will rather severally limit what other instructors you can take advantage of.

Quartermaster: Not long, not hard. A 30-minute class that shows you where the converted cargo area is, the SOP of distributing gear, a crash course in the use of the inventory software, and a short Q&A.

Navigation Officer: This is part advanced math class, part basic map-reading and chart use, part use of "alternative navigation methods". Lots of annoying trigonometry problem sets related to the craft of navigation at sea, both tactical movement (say, intercepting a target) and long-distance movement. Use of the automatic systems is also covered, but there's a huge emphasis here on surviving if the tech breaks (or is damaged or somehow unavailable), including teaching of celestial navigation, using dead-reckoning to navigate, etc, though that is a very small part of the training package. Expect to spend 4 hours memorizing painfully dull things.

Communications Officer: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Comms, But Were Afraid To Ask. Electronic warfare, hacking at sea, satellite comms and radio usage. All are covered in this fairly inclusive 4 hour course.

Note that these courses can be taken by people besides the listed officer for those wanting to provide assistance, just learn about what the job entails, or pick up the relevant skills for your own reasons.
---
Common Curriculum

There's some stuff everybody needs to know. You may not think you need to know it. Your trainers do. Certain characters may be exempt from certain portions of the common curriculum. Maybe they've been through it before, for instance. That just means their time gets allocated to other stuff not in the common curriculum.

Stuff included:

Basic Military Skills: Boot Camp, supremely compressed. How to salute. How to wear the uniform. How to address people. Basic naval knowledge (including knots, always a navy favorite - fortunately they only spend 30 minutes on this!), including vocabulary, is covered. How to simulate a Navy or Marine Corps enlisted person or officer, if nothing else. (I see Rusty and George being exempt from this to greater or lesser degrees. Iago basically gets enough to translate his Army knowledge into Naval knowledge. I'm otherwise willing to entertain exemptions.)3 hours.

Damage Control: Nobody Is Exempt From This. Covered through real life and simsense, this is an introduction to damage control for all systems for everybody. 2 hours.

Marksmanship: If you have automatics and pistols of 3 or better, you don't need this. Otherwise, you go through basic shooting exercises (simsense and live-fire) to train you in shooting with automatic weapons and pistols. 2-3 hours.

Firearm Care: Sea air plays hell with your weaponry if you don't keep it well cared for, this covers the basic things to keep an eye out for in particular while out on the sea. 30 minutes for those with sufficient armorer skill already, 1 hour otherwise.

Intro to the Carib: A basic introduction, taught by Maj. Vaccaro, of politics and geography and such in the Caribbean region. Nobody is exempt. 1 hour.

First Aid: Your average Red Cross CPR/First Aid/AED course (yes, the ship has AEDs available commonly). Nobody is exempt unless they ICly already have this level of knowledge or better (So Karoline and maybe Ears). 1 hour.

Swim test: Not a swimming course. You all know how to do that. This makes SURE you can swim. By throwing you INTO the water (while the boat's stopped) and having you swim to safety. Don't worry, there'll be people around to save you if you start to drown...Maybe. Really, maybe 15 minutes per person. If you start to drown, someone will save you. And don't worry, they'll clear the area of sharks. If you -can't- pass it expect to spend a lot more time being thrown back into the water.

Magic for Mundanes: Everybody but Iago (for obvious reasons) takes this. Magical awareness training - what magic can do, what it can't, tactical uses of magic, etc. 2 hours.

Intro to watchstanding: A basic introduction to watchstanding in your assigned post. 1 hour.

Psychological Wellbeing: A quick overview of how to keep sane when stuck on a ship for weeks or even months at a time. Includes instruction on stress relief, and especially on diffusing hostility between members of the ship, as being stuck on a boat with someone you hate can be horrible for morale. While a seemingly frivolous course, psychology is a stronger weapon to wield than any number of bullets. 2 hours.

Flag recognition: It is important that you know who flies what flag. A fairly quick course, but everyone will be expected to pass the short exam at the end. 30 minutes.
---

Electives:

You don't have to take these courses, but they're available, either live-taught or simsense.
--

SCUBA diving: Basic SCUBA operations. Simsense taught mostly, but with a live dive to cap things off. Meant to get you up to the level of scuba certification in the civilian world. Pass it, you get a SCUBA certification card. 4 hours.

Introduction to UCAS Government: Live-taught in the evening. A poli-sci 101 course for shadowrunners. 2 hours.

Magic for Mundanes +: This course will cover arcana, the only magic skill available to non-awakened characters. It will include things from a basic understanding of what arcana is, to the very basics of what to actually do with it and how. 3 hours.

Meet the Locals: This class covers knowledge of who lives where and some of the basics of those people. Good for getting an idea of who controls what areas, and just how in general to interact with said people. 2 hours

Flura and Fauna: A quick overview of the particular sorts of plants and animals you might encounter both in the surrounding land, and the surrounding water. If you pay close enough attention you just might remember if the purple mushrooms with red spots are good for food, fun, or final prayers. 2 hours

Spanish: You'll have a ton of Spanish vocabulary thrown at you, and a few basic rules on stringing the words together. By the time you've finished this you just might be able to ask where the bathroom is. 3 hours

Portuguese: You'll have a ton of Portuguese vocabulary thrown at you, and a few basic rules on stringing the words together. By the time you've finished this you just might be able to ask where the bathroom is. 3 hours

In-Ship combat tactics: Everything you ever wanted to know about fighting inside or on a ship, ways to use the ship's environment to your advantage, and things you need to be cautious of while fighting in a ship. Also advises on the things you should keep an eye on and out for while infiltrating or fighting on someone else's ship. 2 hours

Drone tactics: Effective use of drones in combat, both against large forces and small. Mostly focused of course on how to make use of various kinds of drones aboard a ship. Positioning and targeting priorities are covered along with program teaks that should be made along with a host of other things. 4 hours.

Sabotage: How to disable an enemy ship from the inside. While not always the simplest of things to manage, if done right it can make things worlds easier. Also covers how to help prevent your own ship being compremised. 2 hours.

Explosive Sabotage: The use of explosives to deal a crippling blow to an enemy ship. Focuses largely on where the most vulnerable and damaging spots on a wide verity of ships are, as well has how to properly place the explosives without blowing yourself up. 3 hours (no practicals, sorry)

Leadership 101: While not everyone can be a leader, it is important to know how to give an order, as well as how to take one. 2 hours

Piloting 101: Despite the autopilot on the ship, it is still sometimes handy to know how to handle it yourself in those delicate situations. 2 hours

Self Defense: This course comes in two parts which can be taken separately. The first part is for defending yourself in melee combat, how to block a blow and throw your own. The second deals with not getting shot. 2 hours each.

Note that you can spend -more- time on any of the courses if you'd like to get a more in-depth review of the info provided in them, but the times posted are the minimums you'll need to devote to get any kind of real benefit from them.
---
General comments:

Academically, every course is like drinking water from a fire-hose and trying not to get the rest of you wet. Very Difficult. On the good side, they're really customized to you and your mission, and the teachers are actually damned effective, especially helped by the fact that the largest classes contain only 9 of you.

Everything's customized...except the simsense. The simsense, while nobody expects it to refer to them by NAME, refers to you as "Midshipman". If asked, and only if asked, Roberts explains: They're tutorsofts currently in Beta testing. Safe and complete, but they haven't yet been proven effective as learning tools. They're designed for the midshipmen of the UCAS Naval Academy at Annapolis, hence why they keep referring to you as Midshipman. Comments are welcome. It's meant to be very effective, ICly, but it's still meant for Middies. None of it is at BTL or even Cal Hots level, but a lot of it can be very intense.

---

Stuff you'll be doing as a group:

Damage Control. You'll be doing a lot of this by simsense, as a group working to drive and fight the ship, repair damage, and generally survive while under fire.

Boarding ops: To the extent they can be practical, they run you through boarding ops in simsense. Everything from the approach through to fighting for control of the enemy ship to egress. Repeatedly.

--
Other stuff:

3 of you (Rusty, Melisandre, Simon) have sleep regulators. Those 3? Expect to be pushed to the limits of those, especially Rusty and Melisandre. They have a lot to teach you, and little time to do it in. Everybody else, figure on 4 hours of sleep a night, maximum. Figure 2 hours a day for food, hygiene, etc etc. The other 18 hours, you're in training of some sort (positional, elective, or common core), for 4 days.

It's meant to be hard, intense training. They're absolutely unapologetic about making you work hard.

Some of it (Basic Military Skills, for instance) may not seem relevant. To your trainers, it all is, and is something they will be insistent upon.

[budoka05]

Thaumaturgical Officer: It's hard to teach magic between traditions (Esteban is an old-school hermetic mage), but Esteban does his best to teach about the thaumaturgical threats of the region of operations - everything from the weirdness of the Bermuda triangle to what's known about Voudun (Voodoo) to what's known and declassified about Aztlaner Blood Magic (GM question: *is* anything known? If not, delete that clause). Mostly lecture, but Esteban is an effective teacher, that said. There are limited things to cover here, and Esteban won't be repeating himself, so have your commlink recording for the two hours of direct lecture and Q&A

Yes, the information about Aztlan Blood Magic is well known. Two sources: from our own very own Dumpshock, there is a discussion occurring in 2056 about the potential danger of Aztlan blood magic. Since then in the game universe, the knowledge about Aztlan blood magic is definitely well know on JackPoint and Shadowland. That information is detailed in the new Corporate Enclaves Source Book. Pretty nasty stuff they do!

Now a quick question about Aztland related: what about Yucatan? Last according to the 2060's, the Yucatan Peninsula was occupied by rebels and were in a tense standoff with Aztlan. Is that still the case?

I will post my Character's information course schedule up shortly.

WAIT, where is the gunnery course?

[Penta]

I'm going to say re the Yucatan that the situation is unchanged since the last time it was noted in SR fluff.

[Marwynn]

That's a lot of stuff! Will read through that a few times.

[Penta]

Karoline helped me put together the course listing and keep my times reasonable.

Obviously, we forgot a course. I shall now rectify that, at the cost of the karma Karoline was *going* to get for helping.
---
Gunnery Officer: Covering everything from basic ballistics to advanced quick-reaction gunnery drills, this simsense and lecture course teaches the basics of gunnery using ship-mounted weapons, and of indirect fire shooting using sensors. 4 hours.
---

Basically, any of these courses give you a head start on linked skills so far as IC justification goes. I figure it's good for anything from skill 1 to skill 3, depending on the course. (As far as what skills are linked? Be reasonable, and we'll talk.)

[budoka05]

John Nobunaga's Schedule

[ Spoiler ]

Time

CODE

Days                4
Hours/day            24
                    96
    
Sleep                24
F,H                    8

Available            64

Courses

CODE

Intelligence    32
QuarterMaster    0.5
    
Electives    
SCUBA                    4
Meet the Locals        2
Floura and Fauna        2
In-ship                2
Sabotage                2
Explosives Sabotage    2
Piloting 101            2
SubTotal                16
Required                15.5
Total                    64

EDIT: after getting the update about the Gunnery, I'll subtract 4 hours from the Intelligence training for the Gunnery.

ANOTHER EDIT: Who's going to be in charge of food? Do one of the char need to volunteer?

[Karoline]

ANOTHER EDIT: Who's going to be in charge of food? Do one of the char need to volunteer?

Our manservant will be in charge of food.

[budoka05]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) Sweet....

[milk ducks]

I need to be honest with you guys; I'm just not having any fun with this game, and I'd like to drop out. I apologize, and I want everyone to know that it's not because of anything they've done or anything like that. I expressed, from a very early stage in this game's development, some real concern that a cyberpirates game wouldn't be up my alley. I voted for a standard Shadowrun-type game, but agreed to give this a shot because of everyone else's enthusiasm. I tried to get into this story, but my character feels out of place, and every step of the way I feel less and less inclined to get on and post. Basically, this game just isn't what I'm looking for.

I understood that we would be operating from under the umbrella-shadow of a major political player (someone capable of issuing letters of marque), but I had convinced myself that we'd be working for some sleazy, mid-level Aztlan or Carib League politician, who used his influence (and a healthy dose of good ol' fashioned blackmail) to push a discreet letter of marque through an already-fairly-corrupted system; not the UCAS proper. I also imagined us on an obsolete, old, rusted out and decommissioned cruiser that was picked up at wholesale; but I pressed on even when I found out it was going to be a tricked out luxury yacht. I'm not saying it's a bad story at all; it just isn't what I'm looking for.

I want to thank everyone, again, for the experience. Hopefully, we'll be able to work together again soon.

Also, I know I had a chance to back out before we went downstairs for breakfast. I didn't take it because I wasn't certain what I wanted to do. Now that I am, I figure the best option to get rid of him is to say that he failed to pass the training; not that he's an idiot or anything, but he's failed psyche exams before, you know what I mean? In all honesty, Alan Brass is not the kind of person you want on an op like this. So maybe it's for the best.

-milk.

[Penta]

Fair enough. Fare well, milk ducks.

Laying out the IC stuff, just for everybody's reference:

I'm taking milk ducks's suggestion for his character. He fails the training. Or, more to the point, doesn't make it -to- the training. The UCAS dug his record out of the clutches of Lone Star, finally, and they didn't like what they saw. He is thus brought before Captain Walker after breakfast, informed of this, escorted off the ship with his stuff, given an injection of Laes to sufficient to assure the erasure of all memory of the meet, and brought to a hotel with a decent amount of money ("compensation for his time"), and contact information for a fixer in the Miami area on his commlink, it being portrayed that he's just another guy who went out clubbing and came out drunk, and is being helped by a good samaritan.

OOCly, I'm serious when I say "No hard feelings". This happens, guys. In the future, however, if you have concerns re the game...Bring them up to me -before- you quit. Whether they be little or big.

Call it ego, call it vanity, but I really hate losing players. It's my one biggest flaw as a GM; I am simultaneously protective of and possessive of my players. When you've RPed as long as I have on MUSH/MOO environments, it becomes natural, but it's still a flaw.