Niko_Kaze

Firearms, History, Technology and development

Just an interesting blog that gets into the hows and whys of various firearm technologies.

Happens to all of us, I'm in eternal military training at this point, which kind of leaves me too tired to even think about playing recently. Thought it might save you some work if you can grab the charts wholesale from a different point.

[ooc] so late to the party! [/ooc]

Moderately Successful (unsuccessful?):

Like family -- So the romance didn't work out, but the mother still accepted you. While it's awkward to run into the ex while you are there you still find yourself a welcome "uncle/aunt/nephew/niece/grandkid" in the house.

Just something I've had the good fortune to run into.

Mikael I don't know where you are at on this but have you considered looking at the US military pay scale?

It seems kind of like what you are wanting, in that rank and time in service are the primary drivers for your base pay allowance. Then you have additional allowances for things like Family separation, sustenance, housing, hazard pay, jump pay, et al.

The numbers might be semi close to what you want too (at least on the enlisted end of things).

Maybe something Tombstone-ish?

While its a western it really ties closely to some of the cyberpunk themes and is basically a cops and robbers story.

You can use skill checks to handwave the investigations too. Just let that give him the 'clues' and then let him piece it together.

honestly most criminals are not as sophisticated as we tend to see in cyberpunk. Even the really nasty ones. Generally they just have a new trick.

On a tangent:

I actually really like zombie games because they are one of the few genres that mix the build your base and resources of 4x strategy with the tactical movement and deployment of rpg like survivors.

Xcom was cool that way too. Not too many games like that right now. Though if anyone knew of one that combined that with starships/sci-fi (that didn't take for ever to learn/play) that would be a huge favor.

A good Gorget would be a good idea too with helmet of some flavor, just because stuff gets knocked about a bit and you want eye protection.

Some simple leather spaulders would be a good idea. I would think the major points to cover would be the 'brush off' zones like the arms, shins and collar bone area. Some level of chest pro isn't a bad idea but lets face it, if they are managing to *bite* you in the torso you've already lost for the most part.

Honestly a small area dead man switch suicide vest might be a good idea, both for the "you aren't getting me to turn" factor and the clear out last ditch save your buddy routine. You'd want to be really careful about the size of the boom though.

Of course my whole idea is if the dead are getting back up then I get to throw lightning from my hands because honestly the *dead* moving is just about as likely.

Yeah I saw that and thought, "Crap if you are wearing IBA you just killed yourself if this hits you."

I mean yeah you are likely dead either way, but with a plate on each side? It would go off just inside your chest and be held by the armor... eck.

I usually get along with libertarians (big L or small) and I've been involved in the political party for many years - but there are all too many people who claim to be Libertarians while they're actually clever, amoral, and feel that they're above any law or culture that might interfere with their goals. Two thirds of the con men I've met have proudly claimed to be Libertarians.

 

Libertarianism, like socialism, sounds great on paper and can work in a small group of ethical individuals willing to behave as adults, but breaks down rapidly when it meets human self interest, selfishness, and greed. As a means of "governing" an intentional community or small collective, it could work - but as a way to keep millions of people from destroying each other, the environment, and themselves... not so much.

Meh everyone is socialist -- it's just a matter of to which degree. If we can agree there is any point where there is a service better offered by a government than by a private enterprise, or that the private citizen should supply means towards a public good (indeed even be 'forced' to do so) then we are socialists.

As always it's a matter of what means, to which ends and how much.

EDIT: One thing I've never gotten is the idea that fiat currency is a thing that causes inflation. IF you believe you should *profit* at all then *you* are the cause of inflation -- not the system of barter in place.

You know in theory I get the libertarian idea. If everyone was given equal access and equal information and could equally get in and out of the process and was paid fairly for their work, and nothing bad ever happened it would be a great system.

The problem is every time I meet someone that makes a deal about their belief in such a system they turn out to be like this guy.

First Glance they look alright to me as a frame work.

I saw something recently on close to nano level windmills for electrical output. One of the biggest issues with it was any short of condensation on the mechanism would act as cement and stop it from working.

So while they could theoretically cover a surface with the material liquid was an immediate problem at all times. Regular dust not so much due to the bed of nails principle but a single water drop caused huge issues.

Something like that could end up being a problem here too I think, though I am unsure how at this moment.

Full agreement.

Straycatalyst Matter can be created or destroyed, it just converts/requires an absurd amount of energy -- that's the very principle of a nuclear weapon in fact.

Beyond that for research project starfish prime would be of high interest for this scenario.

Of course -- but as the saying goes "once burned twice shy"

I fully agree with the idea behind what you are trying to do. Getting into a literal arms race in a game is crappy for everyone at the table. GM has trouble maintaining the threat ratio without getting ridiculous, other players feel like they have to push to the same level just to survive and it just becomes a huge mess.

Some thoughts -- stream of conscious style so apologies for that.

1. GM/Player trust. I have seen (as I am sure we all have) times and people that no matter what the player does he's going to get hosed. There isn't much point in not being armored up if you are not going to be allowed to use your intelligence to stay alive. If you take cover and suddenly all the enemies can shoot through that cover without any issues and always seem to hit you are going to enter arms race mode.

2. PC vs. NPC. Lets face it the GM has the world. The player has one character and will have hopefully invested significantly into that character. If such is the case then having a high level of 'random death' as a campaign non-negotiable is going to be a problem. The player will not be able to keep immersion if his characters can't last more than 5 minutes. GM has a million NPCs and the player is more likely to see more crap come his way than the GM is (the average NPC has to last a few encounters at most, the character needs to last the campaign).

3. Campaign type. If you tell me it's going to be an intrigue fest and then you start gunning me down regularly in low end war zone style where doing so doesn't seem to have any consequences for the guys gunning me down we are going to have a problem.

I would suggest in almost every case the way to avoid the 'inevitable' race is to not allow it to be an issue as a gm by talking to the players.

"Look guys I'm looking to keep this in the low key 10mm range (for cyberpunk). Yeah you might see a sawed off shotgun every now and then but I'm not looking at throwing a lot of assault rifles and such at you. So lets stay away from the metal gear and high end armoring okay? Yes you will likely take some damage but it's my intent to have an intense but survivable game. If you approach things smartly I'm not going to jerk you around."

Can go a long way to stopping a problem before it starts.

Of course this isn't a system level solution. However I don't really think there is a system level solution that doesn't involve the gamemaster and players coming to an understanding.

To be fair though what you would like and what you would get and what you would be told about what you are getting are likely to be three completely separate and unrelated things.

Especially in cyberpunk.

yeah i did not get my point across well.

i would suggest that attractiveness could be renamed and redefined more as a pose sort of stat where you are better or worse at putting off the sort of vibe and look you want to.

things like having been in the fields for days on end could give temporary penalties as could injuries.

this stat could apply to acting and what not.

but with more thinking on it i think i would end up simply remaking the coolness stat.

also sorry for the poor editting and lack of correct grammer, my phone does not like forums much.

one of my favorite characters is a merc officer that typically runs the logistics for the group. if they are running a job for his specific company it was the hard limit of what they could use of company resources for the job with at least 80 percent of that having to be returned in good order.

for side jobs it became a modifier on if he could persuade someone in the company to help a guy out.

honestly i have found it a decent skill if you are... player assisting the gamemaster. like if you have several new people and the gm is relying on you to help wrangle them in.

if i recall correctly is there something in the damage rules that getting shot up can hurt your attractiveness?

If so then I think we can allow this to hurt a little bit less and keep it a bit more cosmetic.

Maybe we can change it to an appearance stat were it helps you dictate the 'look' you give at the time. This could be penalized by current events and stuff like personal grooming and affect the stare down rolls and such.

for me it depends on the group, what we are playing, and the purpose of the game.

afterall if it is a bunch of noobs and they simply do not fully understand what the game is about the kiddie gloves are on.

if it is a beer and prezels game then whatever.

if it is pathfinder or dnd again a bit of whatever since getting back is fairly easy.

but honestly even in cyberpunk it is kind of hard to die. if you are the least bit careful it is generally avoidable.

Just to point out how many years of war and only around 5,000 soldiers dead on our side? I know several generals in the past that would have loved to have a mortality rate that low in their wars.

Even the civilian death toll is mercifully low compared to past military actions.

Now without getting too indepth about the reasoning and rationale used to support the initial war, I got to say I think the military has done a bang up job with it over all, even with bad leadership in the beginning.

(please note I'm not attacking the past administration -- it's simply that there was some really bad decisions made leading into and after the start of the war -- like not having enough troops, etc. With the effects those decisions had on what the troops could do the way things are currently turning out is nothing short of amazing.)

I'm sorry the way your name looks... it's just so happy. Like "birthday cake and ^DooMSDaY^! YAY!"

Not that I'm complaining, I like it! Just thought I'd share my thought though.

In a fair fight Gally/Alita would go to attack, the Major would hack her and Gally/Alita would beat herself up for the Major. She pulled that trick on Bato and he never even seen it coming.

I don't know with a large American fan base I think the film could go fine. Besides the fact that the American's frequently play the role of the antagonist doesn't mean they are going to be in every plot in the GitS series (after all political nessecaty has cause some stranger things to happen in the past). Beyond that American presence was small in the GitS series, and first movie (I haven't seen the second one yet).

Honestly Americans are not so egocentric that we cannot watch and enjoy a Movie from another country and enjoy it even if the Americans in it are the bad guys (have you watched some American movies lately? We don't make ourselves the good guys in most of them).

My biggest worry on the idea is the Live Action part, and the fact it probably wouldn't be directly under Kodanshi and Shirow Masamune.