Going Orbital, Shadow running . .. In. . . SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE! Options

[ggodo]

My party has just signed on with S-K after shaking hands with the dragon himself. After re-reading the blurb in the SR4A and seeing that S-K is big in space, how does I make a shadowrun in space without dropping them on the Mars colony and recreating Waters of Mars? I know almost nothing about this aspect of the history, no idea who's after what and can't even remember who owns the colony right now. What could Lofwyr need an armed team to do in space?

[Fortinbras]

Wake of the Comet has some good stuff.

[Medicineman]

how does I make a shadowrun in space without dropping them on the Mars colony and recreating Waters of Mars?
Orbital Stations !
They're also building a Space Lift .Estimated completion 2074 (Almanach ! )

with a silent Dance in Space
Medicineman

[Rasumichin]

Target : Wastelands had some bits on orbital stations.
S-K is operating two major habitats right now : a factory called Himmelsschmiede ("sky forge") in lower orbit and a lunar mining outpost called Fernsicht ("farsight"), which is located near the polar ice caps (yes, the text uses the plural, but i guess they mean the south pole).
These would be likely starting points for S-K-conducted runs in space.
These are only the major ones, of course. They have a big presence on the moon, lots of mining sites connected by drone convois travelling to and from Fernsicht.
It's a safe bet that they also operate a vast number of satelites, including orbital weapons platforms.

Ares and whatever Fuchi is called in this edition also have a presence on the moon if you're looking for antagonists.

If you want to cull some ideas from other game lines, i'd suggest taking a look at Eclipse Phase. Tech level is higher than in SR, but you'd still get lots of inspiration for a campaign set in space habitats across the solar system, and you can get the pdf for free online as it is distributed under the creative commons license.

[Stahlseele]

Doesn't Ares have one Deep Space Habitat on one of the Lagrange Points?

[Rasumichin]

Doesn't Ares have one Deep Space Habitat on one of the Lagrange Points?

Yes, they are among the AAAs with the biggest space presence. Hardly surprising for a corp that bought NASA.
But if going to Mars isn't an option for the group, going to L5 may not be an option either, so i stuck with designations closer to Earth, and specifically the S-K run habitats.

[longbowrocks]

No warning on this thread, so I guess I'm allowed to read it. I'm pretty much out of interesting powergaming ideas until I read up on mages.

Satellites are in space. The strongest weapons in the books are satellite launched. Maybe someone stole a THOR missile?

[ggodo]

Yes, they are among the AAAs with the biggest space presence. Hardly surprising for a corp that bought NASA.
But if going to Mars isn't an option for the group, going to L5 may not be an option either, so i stuck with designations closer to Earth, and specifically the S-K run habitats.

It's not that it's not an option, it's just that my only idea was to rip off an episode of Dr. Who. I'
ll poke around a bit in those other books, see what I can come up with. What is the tech level Space-wise? I know that magic's not too functional because that relies on lfe to support a manasphere, What else is going on out there?

[Manunancy]

One problem with running in space is that it's an extremely tightly controled environment : both the price tags and the hazards that are part and parcel of operating up there means tight security. There's also the slight issue that if things go down the tubes, there's a distinct lack of ways out. Whithout a spacecraft of one sort or another (or a rover on mars or luna) you're stuck.

And of course most spacecrafts are flimsy contraption without any sort of furtivity or jamming, making them sitting ducks for any spaceborne weapon platform. Not exactly what you'd want as your only way out.

Also keep in mind that guns and space installation don't get along that well. An armed party on a space stations is more likely to get killed in a depressurization accident than to achieve it's objectives (unles it's random mayhem and destruction).

[Stahlseele]

No warning on this thread, so I guess I'm allowed to read it. I'm pretty much out of interesting powergaming ideas until I read up on mages.

Satellites are in space. The strongest weapons in the books are satellite launched. Maybe someone stole a THOR missile?

Thor does not use missles, but Tungsten Telephone Poles.

[longbowrocks]

Don't worry. He goes easy on us.

[ Spoiler ]

Now that I've said that, I should probably stop holding religiously to being a glass cannon and buy some armor.

[longbowrocks]

Thor does not use missles, but Tungsten Telephone Poles.

Is this a Norse mythology joke?
You say THOR like it's a weapons system, but IIRC, a THOR is an item that you can buy for the low low cost of converting all of several dozen characters' build points into NuYen.
Pretty sure the THOR is a missile to, but I only actually remember the stats.

[ggodo]

Don't worry. He goes easy on us.

[ Spoiler ]

Now that I've said that, I should probably stop holding religiously to being a glass cannon and buy some armor.

YOU DON'T HAVE ARMOR!? What were you rolling to soak with at the truck fight?

[longbowrocks]

MY HUGE BODY.
But seriously, I meant that I bought the chameleon armor when I'm not a stealthy character at all. I could definitely increase my armor by a ton if I just invest a bit in it.
I mean, if I'm going to be a sammie, I might as well give up on my ideals and do it right.

[ggodo]

ok, well, good luck?

[Makki]

although it's the worst of all Bond movies, maybe you wanna watch Moonraker? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Or Austin Powers 2, which is the parody version of the same topic.
Villain in a space station.
Let's get creative. An evil mastermind Technomancer (Is there anything about Resonance in space?) successfully disguised as a S-K space employee and then took over one of the mining colonies. He has lots of Free Sprites assistants and all the drones on the moon are now under his control. The team has to guard two S-K scientists and take down the uber villain.

[Rasumichin]

What is the tech level Space-wise? I know that magic's not too functional because that relies on lfe to support a manasphere, What else is going on out there?

It's about on the same level as in Neuromancer.
There's tons of orbitals, regular shuttle flights, established lunar habitats, but little travel beyond the moon. Most orbitals are cramped, relatively primitive constructions, but they at least provide artifical gravity and in a very few cases even an artificial manasphere (still a mana ebb, but with less negative BGC than the usual -8).
Of course, there's also space resorts and the Zürich-Orbital up there, so some places offer a little more luxury.

If runs involve matrix operations on the moon or beyond, signal lag becomes a significant factor. A hacker operating from Earth would have to live with a 1-second delay.
Resonance should work normally, but wifi coverage may be a problem.
Adepts and mages are obviously screwed in most places, while the combat types would have to deal with the hazard of hull breaches if they use certain types of ammunition, coupled with the problem of getting weapons up there in the first place, so unarmed combat specialists would be at an advantage.

[Stahlseele]

Is this a Norse mythology joke?
You say THOR like it's a weapons system, but IIRC, a THOR is an item that you can buy for the low low cost of converting all of several dozen characters' build points into NuYen.
Pretty sure the THOR is a missile to, but I only actually remember the stats.

Both actually.
No, it's not a missle. Not as far as i remember at least.
The THOR Projectile is a solid Tungsten(carbide?) Rod that gets hurtled down towards earth and uses only kinetic energy to do damage.
It's a Mass Driver weapon. Basically, an orbital Gauss-Cannon that accellerates the pole into the earths gravity and then lets gravity do the rest of the work.

[Bigity]

Both actually.
No, it's not a missle. Not as far as i remember at least.
The THOR Projectile is a solid Tungsten(carbide?) Rod that gets hurtled down towards earth and uses only kinetic energy to do damage.
It's a Mass Driver weapon. Basically, an orbital Gauss-Cannon that accellerates the pole into the earths gravity and then lets gravity do the rest of the work.

I thought the preferred space weapon was cows?

[Mäx]

Is this a Norse mythology joke?
You say THOR like it's a weapons system, but IIRC, a THOR is an item that you can buy for the low low cost of converting all of several dozen characters' build points into NuYen.
Pretty sure the THOR is a missile to, but I only actually remember the stats.

Here's an explanation of what a THOR weapon satellite is.
And no it's not really a missile, even thought the entry in WAR calls it a THOR-missile.

[ggodo]

although it's the worst of all Bond movies, maybe you wanna watch Moonraker? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Or Austin Powers 2, which is the parody version of the same topic.
Villain in a space station.
Let's get creative. An evil mastermind Technomancer (Is there anything about Resonance in space?) successfully disguised as a S-K space employee and then took over one of the mining colonies. He has lots of Free Sprites assistants and all the drones on the moon are now under his control. The team has to guard two S-K scientists and take down the uber villain.

I like this plan, Dissonant Technomancer setting up a sprite haven on the moon? Bring it on!

Here's an explanation of what a THOR weapon satellite is.
And no it's not really a missile, even thought the entry in WAR calls it a THOR-missile.

I thought I'd already explained this to him. Huh, oh well.

[Stahlseele]

I thought the preferred space weapon was cows?

Bovine Bombardment should only be used for Exterminatus Levels of Desctruction.

[Mäx]

I thought I'd already explained this to him. Huh, oh well.

Not on this thread, can't really know what you have explained to him IRL (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Bigity]

Bovine Bombardment should only be used for Exterminatus Levels of Desctruction.

It's the only way to be sure.

[longbowrocks]

Here's an explanation of what a THOR weapon satellite is.
And no it's not really a missile, even thought the entry in WAR calls it a THOR-missile.

Yes, I heard about these back when I used to watch tv. This was a bit of a mix up; you're right that its a non-nuclear weapon, but I was also confused as to what you meant by "THOR weapon satellite"/THOR system. The THOR is actually the rod itself, which is launched from an Aesir Satellite.