malek77

Bad news guys - I don't know how I can run this game atm, I'm too busy to even reliably post for the games I'm in. ie: 2 week dry spell. At the end of it, I hope to be regularly online and able to post...

Sorry about this. If things go live again, I'll contact all those who are interested by PM.

Thanks for your interest, and sorry about testing your patience...

Australia's resident wierd-as tv station SBS likes putting on really strange movies...they range from 'softcore euro-porn with vague political basis' (booooring) to Pavel Vladomirovich's "Planet of Storms" - a Russian SciFi from 1961 about a Soviet mission to Venus.

Spectacularly retro, delightfully Russian and all strange. The standout aspect is the absolutely BRILLIANT special effects for their time...Pavel pioneered many of the techniques that became essential to hollywood movies a decade later (the hovercar in 'Planet of Storms' used the same cantilevered crane concept to levitate as Skywalkers speeder...meaning no cables, no wires, and minimal dodgy effects. There's also the brilliant undersea scene...)

And John the Robot in it has to be seen to be believed - the articulation in the legs and arms totally outdoes anything for the next 20years...

They also had 'Bronx Warriors' a while ago, a Spanish yank-sploitation flick about bikie gangs in a lawless future bronx. In Spanish. The plot was the daughter of a wealthy gun runner ran away from home to the Bronx, curiously unaware of the 99% likelihood of being raped and murdered, and for the sake of the movie, scored the 1% in the form of the 80's rocker haired, leather bound (strangled, even) fetishy bike gang leader who fell in love with our helpless heroine, who then went on a series of what can only be described as dungeon bashes against scruffy 'cave-men', Clockwork orange knockoffs and the evil gun runner's mercenary henchman...sadly that was the night our VCR died in protest at my attempt to record it. (there was even a sequel - 'Escape from the Bronx', based on guess what 'classic'?)

There's another Russian SF flick I've heard of called Aelita - its from 1922, b&w, probably silent (heavens, imagine the Cyrillic titling) and its about a Soviet engineer on mars, falling for a Martian girl and getting involved in a revolution to bring an end to the despotic monarchy currently gripping Mars in its vile capitalist fist.

You could tell the girl was an alien by the immense amount of radiation shielding pretending to be eyeshadow on her eyelids and her Constructivist fashion hat.

I must see it.

Someday...

...anyone heard of it?

Ehehe - none of the above. The Real World is just interfering w/ my Real Life here.

I actually spent Valentines day trying out ACPA rules for the first time...and discovering that you don't use grenades on nearby targets.

I also seem to have just lost my job by simply not being called in. Meh.

Regardless, gawd, I'm feeling such an idiot. I'm tempted to delete everything I've said and rewrite. Now you've mentioned the shotgun thing...dammit...

The story on Law, Order and Weapons on Kiritimati is that the cops don't like you having anything you can mess them up with. 'Big Guns' like Assault rifles or SAW's are easy to get but impossible to use unless you're suicidal.

Armour is available but rarely used. Kiri is HOT HOT HOT (its only 20k's north of the equator), and stocking up on armour also attracts police attention because it allows you to mess them up...

ie:very light armour, if any.

Kiri' is a small place, they don't have room for gaols full of crims. Either you'll get hammered with a massive fine, expelled from the island or cornered into a fight with the police that you will lose.

Appropriate weapons are pistols, knives and light SMG's.

There are some sectors of the community who wave over-accessorised hunting rifles around and get shot for their stupidity.

Self Defence is an accepted legality, home defence more so. This is because the island is heavily surveilled, and normally there's some proof floating around to prevent people going crazy.

Which means I think I should move the damage limit up to 5D6 (shotguns, light AR's, hunting rifles)?

Stress on personal combat...

Bear in mind the character is a professional Militech soldier.

An average person - and thus opponent - generally has Stats of 6/7 and skills at 3.

Now I think of it, the basic Militech Combat Soldier write up in Firestorm:Shockwave (p82) would be a good basis...

CS 5, Awareness 4, Atheletics 4, Driving 2, Endurance 1, Expert:Soldier 3, First Aid 3, H/gun 5, Hvy Weapons 3, Rifle 4, Stealth 2, SMG 5, Survival 4, Wrestling 4.

Hmm...

Now I come to the question plaguing me these last few days - if I create a Stats system for very high statistics - the character sheets will be fairly dull 8's and 9's, and the characters will be able to do anything well.

If I create a low stats system and emphasize strong skills, I force specialisation but encourage dangerous vulnerability and some wierd characters (a kung fu master with ref of 6, for instance). Meh...

While I'm so confused...suggestions?

Man...I must be out of practice.

Ok. *deeeeep breath*...

Character Creation

These kids have to kick serious butt. I want 3 focus's for each character - Combat, Sub Combat and 'Weird Character Developing Skill'.

Stat Minimums

INT, REF, BOD and COOL of 6.

Skill Mask

(You have these skills to start, the other points you get you are free to spend boosting these skills or starting others. Also note that I consider '3' to be the default skill level for a competent person, so a 3+ Driver is a good one on the road, a professional chauffer about 5.)

Sub Tactics +4

Awareness/Notice +6

Navigation +4

Pilot : Small Submersibles +4

Sonar Tech +4

Sub Tech +3

Swimming +3

Underwater Survival +4

Underwater weapons +4

Underwater Heavy Weapons +4

Story Minimums

- Life Story should include some non-covert surface combat. (Security Guard, Cop, Soldier)

- 4 years training with Militech is essential (either as a Training provider for a Navy, Corporation or for Militech's mercenary forces.)

- Some other interest than blowing things up, and not strictly practical. Warrior automatons are cool, but they're painful to play when in a social situation: skills that will allow you to chat amicably, dress well or play hard when 'On Leave' must be included.

Points to Spend!

Stats - You can spend another 35 points in any way you wish on stats. We'll be using Max Metal and Stormfront rules - so having 'Luck' may help you survive being shot by heavy weapons and having a decent EMP for the 'On Leave' sections might help not get you mugged.

Skills - You have 44 points in them already, how many more do you need? You get another 30. You can boost the existing skill mask, or buy new skills.

Story - Your illustrious career with Militech's private Security Troops gives you a wage of e1,000 a week. You have e20,000 to spend on your kit, and its assumed you either live cheaply by sleeping in a Militech barracks (which has entry-curfew restrictions) or have your own flat (in which Militech has installed some 'security equipment' for the safety of their personnel), which costs 400per month.

You are always on call, and need to inform your CO if its likely you cannot respond in 30 minutes.

Your week is 4 days of 12 hour Rapid Response shifts, a 5th of Training, and the last 2 are 'Personal Development Time'. (Your CO will be really happy if you do something good for your mental health with this time. They eschew the use of EMP:3 nutcases at the Pacific Proving Grounds for people they'd like to live for 6 months in a submarine with.)

Gear - Get a mobile phone. They're only 50 dollars for a mini-pc/PDA/camera/phone linkup. The Base will provide you with a bare bones one to keep in contact. And track you - you can and will be tracked with these phones by Base Security.

On Kiri', in legal terms there is no real distinction between single shot and fully auto weapons (full auto is too common). The issue is damage. Legal weapons are 3D6 and less. More than that, and it needs to relate to your line of work (sub pilot doesn't count), and once you have a licence you can carry it concealed.

Using it will get the police involved immediately - the place is too well surveilled and there are too many people around.

Illegal gear is easy to get, but hard to keep. They are watching.

Cyber - Augmenting cyberware - things that add to your senses, generally, are fully implanted and are normal cost.

Replacements (metal ears, cyber-arms) will need to be waterproofed, and this costs 300% of their original cost.

Base security doesn't like built in cameras or weapons wandering around, so they'll check you for cyber. Things that enhance your combat powers are good - like boosters, IR vision or pressure safe lungs.

HL is assumed to be average of the roll (D6 = 5.5), and you'd better not go past EMP:4. Psychology of submarine crews is important, they don't want loonies.

Heheh - yeahhh...I've noticed that. I don't give a damn about the AFL, or Holden VS Ford (much), but I've got a thing about Militech/Arasaka.

But I'm sure you can survive just a little more of it for another game?

(of course, you could always act as a spy if you wanted...of course, you'd need to PM me abt the idea... )

Now, regarding Character Development : this is going to be a pretty powerful, cinematic kinda game. I will be determining the points system soon, and I will be creating a 'character mask' - which will basically be a list of minimum points in various stats and skills that you must have to qualify for the job of FighterSub pilot. Make that will have, you'll get them to start. Other details later...stay tuned...

LifePath : - To qualify as a FighterSub pilot protecting a well secured Military Weapon Design & Test facility is going to take some serious dedication and skill. (this place has an Area 51 reputation by those not-in-the-know).

1) Your LifeStory is going to need some kind of Official Combat history (Soldier, Submariner, NCPD street cop). Covert experience isn't great, because its hard to prove. Waving 3 purple hearts around from experience in Desert Storm 3 : Revenge of Saddam! will be good.

2) Learning to pilot a sub is one thing. A FighterSub, at an important installation, on 24/7 scramble, is another altogether. 4 years official training with/by/in Militech for the job is going to consume a chunk of your lifepath.

3) This is gonna be cinematic, think of something else your character would like to have a proficiency in. Perhaps a hardcore biker, super-hacker nerd, or Japanese flower arrangement. It will be important, whatever it is.

Check this RAND corp' thing out...

...and spookier...

Erm...has anyone heard of this before? Any more information?

(I'm off to read throughSpace Weapons/Earth Wars, and look out for anything else I can find...the original website all this came from was fas.org, in the Space Weapons category. Yegods I never knew this existed...)

http://www.rafael.co.il/

Anti-sub warfare toys...

http://www.fas.org/spp/eprint/snf03222.htm

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/es310/SNR_PROP/snr_prop.htm

Two unnaturally interesting pages about Sonar wave propagation and an explanation of convergence zones...

>>AquaPunk>>

The Coastguard and Submarine threads have revealed that we all know far too much about submarine and surface warfare...would you like to translate that into a game?

I have in mind a unit of OTEC 'Shark' FighterSub Pilots operating out of the sub-aquatic Militech base under Kiritimati (my game island/city ).

Like Marine/pilots they would be expected to conduct operations both in the water and as troops on land...and obviously, soap opera's can always be arranged to keep things interesting...

I would be thinking in terms of 2-4 players, designed as Militech Subjocks with combat and research related skills, and a Sub-Commander with tactic skills.

The game would be combat intensive and make use of Max Metal rules, and it'd help to have Firestorm : Stormfront for the ocean war gadgets.

Netrunning is possible, I have my own modified (simplified! Honestly!!) rules if you wanted that.

The Plot would relate to mysterious 'invasions' of Militech's aquatic proving grounds around Kiri', and finding out who's behind it...anyone interested?

I dont s'pose I'd be any good for the part...?

 Whoa...that's crazy...

I'd heard of plans to put SAM's in the conning tower, but attacking aircraft w/ torpedo's...that's fantastic...

No, sorry - I think it was from a Science magazine series called 'Quest' from the late 80's, early 90's...

(and it seems that with all these responses on Submarine stuff, an AquaPunk game might be good idea...yes?)

Ever heard of the Hedgehog system? Developed to protect convoys from the US to the UK in WWII.

Imagine what looks like a rack of RPG-7's on a traversing/elevating mount...only bigger.

When sonar pinged a sub, they'd fire off a heap of them and they'd 'saturate' an area underwater with explosives.

Acoustic Hammer - imagine the worlds biggest sub woofer in the end of a cone. Its meant to make a spiky shockwave that will crack a sub and force it to surface.

Torpedoes - I'm sure you've heard of torpedo boats? Sure, they were for anti-ship use, but there's no reason some smart and advanced torp' in 2020 couldn't dive after a detected submarine.

For finding the sub, sound sig's were ok a few years back, but design has got extremely advanced and generally submarines are silent...though, this would relate to military subs. Private ones mightn't be anywhere near as well baffled...but of course, active homing works too - so you'd not only have to be baffled but stealthed...

MAD - Magnetic Anomaly Detectors. They detect a big lump of gravitational field distorting metal beneath you, giving you a point to start working on. Max Metal points out that they are fantastic for detecting railguns because of the electromagnetic 'spike' caused by the weapon firing. Well...I'd imagine 2020 subs would often be battery powered and maybe use those Caterpillar engines...surely a powerful source of EM? (The Cat' engines aren't from construction equipment - they use magnetic forces to draw the water through the engine and use it as reaction mass).

There's also heat trail - a sub pushing through water produces heat, and satellites can see their trails. One could imagine sensitive airborne thermographs doing the same.

On the topic of submarines - cavitation as a submarine is generally your enemy. Its caused by turbulence or water flow of such a speed that it creates bubbles...which create that rumbling popping sound underwater.

There is some idea I heard of for super-cavitating torpedo's...the idea being a jet of gas is fired forward of the torpedo, lessening the friction of the water around it as the 'body' slips through the bubble - theoretically allowing such silly things as breaking Mach1 underwater. (Imagine an aquatic sonic boom! Yegods...)

It would be as noisy as a rocket at liftoff, X10 given water's density, leave a HUGE bubble trail, but it would be hell fast and probably jam anything trying to see past it...subaquatic 'smoke', perhaps?

For catching your smuggler-sub...one could imagine the police authorities being aware of its route or destination. You could literally net it. It doesn't even have to be a particularly impressive net structurally...wire cable should be sufficient.

I don't know how effective EMP is underwater, but that might work too. It would certainly upset the occupants.

Magnetic grapple line - like the wire guided torpedo, but with some way of sticking to the targeted hull and reeling it in.

Thoughts?

Argh! The shame...

38.095238095238095% nerd blood flows through your veins.

It was all those damned AD&D questions, I couldn't possibly answer...

(Though, my recognition of some of the questions has alarmed me...like knowing the Zeroth Law instantly or quibbling that the Millenium Falcon is a correllian corvette and I don't remember Utopia Planetia ever getting mentioned...)

Article on Who's Winning the War on Terrorism.

http://www.strategypage.com/....ang.htm

...and a link to an amazing MPK5 just cos it was there and its amazing...

http://hkpro.com/image/mp5kengraved.jpg

*Shock!*

I just realised, if coffee production were ended, the staple food of the worlds graphic designers and programmers would cease, and thousands of nerds would die of withdrawals...

...this thread soooo needs to be an Edgerunner article...

Some stuff I've learnt.

Improv : I think the trick to rapid improvisation is total familiarity with the situation. I have a 'game city' (Kiri) I'm developing, because I've invented it all myself, I 'own' it all - and can at a moments notice explain anything...how you get this familiarity is up to you, but it helps no end.

I know you're creative enough...

Grunt 64's : How I do NPC's. Imagine a character type (Street gonk, barman, corporate) and assume they have Statistics of 6 and Skills of 4. This gives them a base of 10, and therefore its easy to roll for success. Deciding what skills they have is purely up to GM imagination.

Obviously - 64's are Joe Averages, 75's are professionals, and 99's are world class monsters...

Splatter, torture and hound 'em : But never kill 'em.*

A dead character lets the Player 'get out' of whatever situation they've dug for themselves. A seriously wounded character is a whole lot more interesting...that and killing a character can damage the players little personality.

*well, try and avoid it. It can be handy sometimes, though.

Morality : Check with your players how far they could go. Often this won't matter - RPGers are generally a depraved lot, but I know there are some things I'd never include in a game for 'social harmony'...like explicit sex. Extreme mega violence is ok, but that reproductive stuff tends to cause trouble (particularly with frustrated teen nerds. DO NOT go there).

There's also the point that pushing this 'edge' a bit can get the players more involved - perhaps splitting the group into those who think body-banking is a good idea and those who'll now kill their comrades to stop it...

And Have fun! Its the rules. Its why we're here.

Yup - and the suggestions for patrol Catalina's and Osprey's are brilliant, I shall definitely employ them.

Cargo carriers with popup miniguns, cannons and plenty of light missiles, (guided missiles are common in my worldview, if such things as micro-missiles are possible!) possibly even fighter subs.

Oh yes, the pirates have submarines - a private Sub' is available now, i'm sure large drug cartels in the 2020's could afford them...even 20c surplus or home-made death traps are possible. (There was actually a thing a while ago about a Cartel literally building its own double pressure hulled sub!!)

Um. The nearest Nation is Kiribati - and it'd be Kiri' doing the protecting. Other than that, the America's are the closest major powers, but aren't very friendly, despite the trade between them and Kiri'. (Kiri is a tax/data-haven, and a source of criminals and 'Corporate Interference')

In Corporate terms - the legalities of the existence of Kiri' as a state mean its owned by Corporations. It has a large Militech aquatech research facility built underground...the Gov't has a deal with Militech allowing them to 'experiment' in return for a defence.

Kiri's biggest defence is the financial chaos it could cause for anyone attacking it...in my history line, it is quite important and represents the first Corporate moves to get away from paranoid government restriction and intervention.

Coast Guard Missions :

The obvious ones - SAR, Firefighting, Law enforcement, safety(nuking pirates, relocating dangerous rafter 'growths'), Enviro-monitoring definitely. (The island's surface area is 40% bigger in 2020 today, due to a BT developing GM'd coral - Silicoral - and its growth has to be controlled)

Warfare - yes, now you mention it, you could think of the KCG as a Navy doing coastguard, so they'd be pretty heavily armed.

Yess! Perfect...

Um, the reasoning for the AV pad was for rapid rescue and carrying some air support out to 'Heavy' Police stings on the high seas. What's the USCG ship that has 2 pads?

The KCG needs YOU!

I know there's a bunch of ex-Coasties on this site, so I thought I might ask your advice.

I am (still) developing a game city - its on an Island called Kiritimati (Kiri', or the DRK for short) and the city smothers the entire island. Encrusting the western coast are thousands of makeshift raft structures, Kiri' is a major shipping hub with the north of the island almost entirely devoted to docks, as well as hosting (offshore) one of the worlds largest floating arcologies and numerous 'Deep Sea Docks' that are built like oil rigs but are just cargo platforms and refueling stations for big ships.

Kiri itself is near the equator, and experiences strong westward currents and tropical weather.

Now - they need a coastguard. One that can kick some serious butt.

They need to be able to chase and 'neutralise' heavily armed pirates, support rescue/gunship AV's at sea, perform hostile boarding actions, slow trafficking, keep the rafts from growing out too far and rescue the victims of numerous crashes and disasters.

The island itself is 40km's long and about 30k's wide (in 2020...its grown since today!)...meaning roughly 140km's of coast to defend, and a whole lotta surrounding ocean to watch...how many ships do you think would be necessary, given CP levels of illegal activity?

The Coasties on Kiri' are the least corrupt and hardest hitting force after the Army proper, and are given a large slice of the budget...

If it would amuse you - any suggestions for what would make an ideal ship that could do the above? How would you arm it? Crew requirements?

CP telly series - Dark Angel? I just can't get into it though - its too nice. And its desperately short of metal.

Would anyone agree Cowboy Bebop is Cyberpunk? It's sci-fi and western styled...but its got such a Noir and 'modern' feel too it seems punk. Jet has a cyberarm, Ed's a hacker, there's lots of wierd science going on...

(Malek has just bought his Bebop box set...)

Other stuff...I've just watched 'Last Exile' - a 'Cloud Age' anime with lots've flying steam powered battleships, old style artillery, funky flying machines called 'vanships' that look like a cross between a 30's racing bugatti and a steam train ...and a Napoleonic look on top of it too! Way cool...

Star Trek CP? Hell no...Cyberpunk thrashes Star Trek's tech level. Trek can't even replace Geordi's eyes properly...and their weapons are CRAP...their rifle thingies are atrocious, and then there's those wrist-snapping veggie dicers the Klingons thrash around with, or the fantastic '2.5km' range on their ship weapons...gaw...

*totters on soapbox, decides to climb down...*

Muahah! So I'm not the only one with Cyberpunk games infested with 'Coffee Dealers'...

Eh? Seriously? You got any evidence or links?

Perhaps we'll genetically engineer coffee so it finally tastes like it smells. I was SOOOO disappointed when i first tasted it.

And doesn't anyone else think that nuking coca plants would be a bad thing - for the following reasons :

>Destroying the one effective income of a vast number of Sth.Americans, who would then be angry.

>It would force said Drug Lords into other profit making industries (such as plain old smuggling or prostitution)...or even into investing in such things as the FARC or Shining Path?

>THUS - lots (like, even more than now) of angry Sth.Americans in well funded revolutionary groups, all railing at their Northern Neighbour? And probably w/ a whole heap of stoned eco-warrior and media support...

...I don't think the drug war is a lost cause, I just dunno if starting WWIII is the best way to end it...

I WANT ONE!!

(There wouldn't be a cat or Starling safe...)

Honestly, I don't know if there is a plugin for PP that'd do it. If there was, you'd have to install it where-ever you were giving your demo too...

The only advice I can think of is to do it in html and make the window fullscreen (press F11 if ur in iexplore).

There's a tiff between the Java and MS people. MS doesn't want to include Java support in its operating systems, and Sun thinks thats a bit ridiculous...

GET OFFLINE NOW!

If its still happening while you're offline, its possibly a software/hardware problem, but otherwise...it might be one of those backdoor trojan things...

Hah! Yeah right - 'male aggression'. The idea that guys are worse than gals because of hormones is wishful thinking...when women go bad they are freaking evil and your average meatheaded guy doesn't stand a chance against them...say 'human aggression' and I'll certainly concede it needs to be controlled, but please - its not just male.

(pet peeve there. This thread has reminded me of numerous incidents in the past and got me thinking that while the Aussie dollar is so high against the greenback, Hanns' offer might be a good deal...)

But seriously. 'Criminal' thinking I don't understand - idiots who take their ex-gf and child 'hostage' and then start mouthing off at the police...wanting revenge, wanting to 'teach someone' a lesson I can understand - but from a tactical point of view, it is insanely stupid.

You'd know the police, once they got wind of the incident, will completely outgun, outnumber and surround you, your victim is either going to escape or die (in neither case 'learning' what you wanted to 'teach')...and for your effort you are going to completely screw the rest of your life.

Are criminals really that stupid? I've heard of being blinded by rage but surely they couldn't be having visions of succeeding?

(hehe - anyone noticed that 'Cyberpunk' in this thread has become synonomous with 'Criminal'? )