Terrorform Beta OOC thread

[Harlequin]

Well well well... what have we here?

[Harlequin]

Ok I'm refining the main story a bit and I think I've got it all sorted out the way I want it, man I've got some shite that's gonna mess you guys up... much fun will be had.

As soon as everyone's characters are done we can start, any suggestions on the backstory for how you all know each other and how you want to enter the town?

The train makes trips there fairly regularly but you could also drive or fly... or walk if you were feeling brave.

Anyway just let me know what you want to do so I can accommodate.

[Harlequin]

I'm still here... as soon as the characters are done we can start. Maybe I'm impatient but I prefer to call it gross enthusiasm.

I'm up to 23 pages on the spacecraft section, I've been working out all the different weapons. So far I've included Cannons, Gauss Cannons, Plasma Cannons, Lasers, EMP emitters, Missiles and Mines.

Does anyone have any idea what kind of ship they'd like to use? Just general info like do you want an old warship or a fast cargo vessel?
One of the designs I had in mind was this one, the Slimline Medium Transport. I need to get the stats done on it and it'll most likely get some weapons but it's a decent vessel.



Anything you need just let me know, I'm happy to help.

[Espatier]

I guess that we will use that, then.

[Harlequin]

...So alone.

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[Harlequin]

Just to be clear, not all Mutants are the same. The term 'Mutant' is just generally applied to Terran Humant Mutants that have developed there over the centuries.
You could be a regular Human and get a bunch of whacky mutations and be called a Mutant but you still wouldn't be a 'True Mutant'.

There are various adaptions among Terran mutants from various clans and areas, some are tribal with the whole fun spartan killing the weak and the strongest of the group is their leader and others that hang around the poles of the planet where it can be dark for months (like the poles on Earth where it's dark for months then daylight for months) would probably be more nocturnal... but neither will deviate from the base Mutant template.


A 'Cyborg' is the brain of a living creature inside a robotic suit or some other kind of vessel, could be a cyborg cat or dog or whatever. You could be a human with cybernetic legs and be called a Cyborg or even greater in scope like a cyborg spaceship or building but a 'True Cyborg' like the ones described in the text is your basic bipedal humanoid cyborg.
You can be a Cyborg and get stronger cybernetic/robotic legs attached that let you run faster or lift more weight but that would be an addition to the base Cyborg template.

There are quite a few cyborgs in Delta Trianguli although most are just limb replacements for people that stand on land-mines or get a hand caught in something... like teeth.
So you can vary cyborgs quite a lot, the text is more simply put in game terms as "for these advantages you take this level adjustment".

[Espatier]

I think that you might wish to consider making this a book with stories as well.

[Harlequin]

I was writing it into a script with events with the hopes of it getting turned into a short animated series... but now that script is being turned back into a game for you guys.

...I have made things... things to toy with your mind... your mind!

Seriously though when I put horror into the game genre I meant it... you know where it says 'This game will definitely have mature and disturbing themes'?

...it will.

[Espatier]

and that my friend.... is a good thing!

[Razorburn]

Thanks for pointing me here Harlequin.

The amount of technological realism included in the game is admirable. You mentioned the batteries being one potential item that is far-fetched. However, considering how tech gets smaller and better all the time, I don't imagine that being a huge issue in the distant future. The Cyberpunk 2020 RPG even includes nuclear batteries, for instance.

That brings me to another point. I'm glad you corrected my understanding of the cyborgs in your setting. I've been used to most games requiring humanity loss when replacing the organic parts with cybernetics, so I had incorrectly assumed it was the case here.

I'm leaning toward a mutant character at the moment, but I'll keep you posted. Will probably try to build the character, then submit for your review before finalizing the backstory.

If you're still taking requests for the team's ship, my stealthy merc character concept would probably favor a blockade-runner style ship. I assume you know the concept, but it is one that eschews heavy armor & weaponry in favor of great speed.

[Harlequin]

Da comrade...

After a few hundred years of warfare there are a lot of ship designs, including custom built items.
Before the 'second war' (Since there was never any declaration of war nor any actual cessation of hostilities technically it's just the one extended battle) with the Synths New Martian ships were all heavily dependent on electrical and robotic systems and included a lot of automatic controls, missiles etc. but afterward when the Synths started using electromagnetic weaponry a lot of their ships especially military ones began favoring mechanical systems... clockwork devices and direct human control.
Modern New Martian designs have much larger crews to operate them and forgo missiles for heavy armour and cannons, older civilian ships such as bulk transports and interplanetary freighters may have more electrical systems.

Think of them like a 1950's naval vessel, they have radar and sonar sure but if you knock them out they'll still run fine on good old coal fuel pistons.

Synth ships are technologically superior, they can be flown by one person or remotely if needed, use more advanced fusion reactors that give higher outputs, are equipped with EMP emitters, missiles, lasers etc. Crews are mainly maintenance and damage control teams, pilots, infantry, etc. but they don't have as many ships as the New Martians.

A lot of fun stuff happens in space, weapons can be problematic not just for recoil but for overheating. The point that space is cold (1 degree over kelvin) doesn't factor into there being nothing in the vacuum for heat to transfer into, in an atmosphere you at least have air to cool a gun.
Inertia from ship maneuvers will be fun to play with... human body can handle 2-3G for a while but beyond that is dangerous and then there's the ridiculous amounts that can crush you into the floor.
Movement though would be surprisingly easy, since you're inside a pressurized area on a ship you could in theory swim to move about by displacing the air but I can't find any actual information on it.

Sunburn... lots and lots of sunburn if you get exposed to Delta Trianguli A without and protection... blindness... good fun.

Being hit by unsecured objects... I'm pretty sure I ranted about all this stuff in the texts.


They do make a lot of fun roleplaying opportunities, for example most Mutants are very uncomfortable in Zero G since they're used to a high gravity environment.
A cyborg could probably cook a hot meal using their hands to stir a boiling pot without getting damaged.
Zero gravity showers and toilets are awesome... bathe in a tube and poop with a vacuum cleaner on your 'arse'.
Magnetic boots for if you want to walk, should have an easy access switch to turn them on and off quickly and adjust the strength of the magnetism.

A lot of bow & arrow style weapons will work better in space since there's no gravity to affect the projectile and usually no recoil, firing a high powered gun can move you around a tiny amount but not a lot... if you went firing a chaingun or flamethrower though you're gonna go flying in one direction or another.
Guns will fire without an atmosphere... because F%*& Whedon there's enough oxygen sealed inside a bullet casing to set off the explosive.

Throwing a spear or grenade in a spaceship would be cool... worse if the grenade bounces back towards you.

Air recycling usually gets rid of most dust and airborne particles, it's like having a vacuum on the floor and a fan on the ceiling. The air gets pushed down into the vacuum and sucked away to be filtered so you don't get dirt and sand in your eyes just be moving about, it will also push you very gently towards to floor in case you get stuck (assuming it's working properly).

You're unlikely to hit an asteroid... if you do your pilot sucks.

You wont swell up and explode if you're exposed to hard vacuum... a tiny hole in the wall wont suck you through it and juice you like in Aliens (it'll hurt if you stick yourself in there though), it'll be more like having a really strong vacuum cleaner running.
If exposed to space you can survive for a few minutes, just like you can survive for a few minutes without air but it'll suck on your eyes, ears, lungs etc. and hurt... like a lot of hurt.

All ships have vulnerable points, engines, bridges, airlocks etc generally have weaker armour.

Ion Drives are more efficient on fuel consumption but require large amount of power, Thrusters use more fuel but give out more power and an Ion Drive wont function in an atmosphere.
You can run a modern Ion drive on pretty much anything, Argon and Xenon gases work well but you can just as easily use hydrogen.

I haven't reworked any of the current ship specs for all the new data... or finished writing down all the new data.


A suggestion to cope with high power batteries was to use chemicals that mix together and produce large amounts of power for a short amount of time (sometimes only a few seconds) and use them like bullets for handheld energy weapons, but I'll stick to high density batteries... they're cooler.

Valkyries use biological applications, like an electric eel's shock to power a Gauss cannon.
Technically none of the weapons in the game are 'Gauss' guns... they're electromagnetic linear accelerators.
They are also very different to rail guns which require an huge load of power but provide much greater force (depending on the design).


I still suggest mutant, Giles has several robots with him already... granted they're different to cyborgs but they probably still look and act like people.

As I said before you can always get a cyborg body built and a doctor to transplant you into it... maybe have Giles build the body?


In any case... hope you like prostitutes and killing things.

[Espatier]

I would be willing to anything for a small but yet... nominal fee

Giles W. Xavier, ESQ, the III

[Harlequin]

*Cough* ...'small'.

Do you have any idea how much these things cost?

[Espatier]

no... how much?

[Harlequin]

In game monies about $2 million... in real life? Experimental-theoretical only.

[Espatier]

2 million wowsers!

[Harlequin]

Two million New Martian dollars is about right to get you the body and people to put your brain in the body.

[Razorburn]

Harlequin, I am in the process of building the character and have a few questions:

How do you break down skill specializations in Guns and Melee Weapons? With melee for example, would "Bladed weapons" cover swords and knives or do they need to be separate?

I'm noticing a difference between prices of commodities vs prices of individual items. I'm guessing this is intentional to represent buying in bulk?

There are a few items of gear not listed. Please list costs or enable access to additional documents for purchase of the following:
Canteen
Gasmask
Geiger counter
Hunting knife (+stats)
(Terran) camouflage combat fatigues
Boots
Sunglasses
Helmet
Ghillie suit
Standard guns (+stats)
Flint & Steel

[Harlequin]

Geiger counter will be expensive, depending on the type.

If you get a geiger counter that only detects the presence of radiation they're pretty cheap, the big ones that detect the type and amount are expensive. They can range from a couple hundred to several thousand dollars, say about $1000 for a reliable one multiplied by the cost for electronic devices on Terra it'd be $3000... assuming you bought it there.
Most mutants develop a sense for radiation as a mutation (Radiation Sensitivity, $2000 mutation).

Gas-masks can also be expensive... but you may not need one. About $200 or $300.

Hunting knife is pretty much the same as a combat knife, it does d4 Wound damage. A good knife is about $100 so about $50 on Terra.

Clothes, boots, sunglasses, Ghillie suit, flint, helmet etc. probably total up to about $200 or $300... if it's a steel helmet it'd be half price on Terra.

Firearms are on page 65 of the cortex book... they don't list prices though. If there's a particular gun you want find the price online and use that... with the commodity modifier.
A lot of what can be called 'firearms' like pneumatic and biological weapons aren't firearms, for example a Spring Bolter is pretty much a spring in a pipe with a winch that fires a 10x200mm steel bolt.
If you bought a thousand machine guns on New Mars for 0.5x the price and sold them on Terra for 3x the price you'd make a good profit but that's for firearms in general, so when you look up the price of a gun on the internet take that price and use the commodity multiplier on it. I found a Steyr Aug model for $2300, so on New Mars it'd be $1150 and on Terra $6900.

You might talk the seller into giving you a discount for bulk purchase but a bulk purchase on New Mars is probably going into the tens to hundreds of thousands and millions of units, taking a contract to only buy guns from a certain supplier/manufacturer would probably get you a discount.

Assuming you can fit a thousand of them in your cargo bay and fly them to Terra you can open up shop somewhere and sell straight out of your ship or sell to a retailer, retailer might not give you a full 3x the price and if there's competition you almost certainly wont get the full 3x... but it'll come close.

So spend $1,150,000 ish on a thousand automatic rifles, fly them to Terra, sell them for $6,900,000 ish, , profit.


Bladed Weapons covers pretty much everything sharp and pointy, swords, knives, bayonets... you know how to make stabby cut slash hack kill people maneuvers with stuff.
Other specialties of Melee Weapons include blunt weapons, pole arms, chains... some kind of special exotic weapon like a spiked chain or sai. Shields fall under Melee Weapons for things like bashing and blocking, blocking generally uses your skill with whatever you're blocking with (unarmed, guns etc.).

Gun specializations go into things like Pistols, Rifles, Machine Guns (Lmgs/Hmgs), Energy Weapons, Biological weapons, Shotguns.
Guns are fairly straight forward, point and shoot.

Grenades, explosives, cannons etc usually go in the Ranged Weapons or Heavy Weapons skills.

If you were using a bolter you could use your Guns skill with it and make Pneumatic Weapons a specialty of Guns, assuming those pneumatic weapons were gun-like... a pneumatic hammer or fist wouldn't be able to use Guns.
A biological weapon that acts like a rifle can be used with the rifle skill, Bean Bags are thrown like grenades... annoying squishy grenades that roll around indiscriminately looking for any nearby life form.

Hope that helps.

[Harlequin]

Goddamnit manual navigation is a bitch... explaining how to do it is even more of a bitch.

Gotta use trigonometry to triangulate your position, then the destination's position, then the distance, then how far the destination will move by the time you get there and repeat until you get a close approximation.

The explanation is becoming a book unto itself.