LordDemon

Well, I spent past year in Military service. I guess I learned things about myself, and people in general. Right now I sort of lack a direction... I have stuff to do, but I´m not so sure I´m gonna get them done, and I don´t know if I want to do them. Because, if I get everything done, what will I do after that?

But the past, as far as I can remember, the year was good.

Richard bangs the pod wall, trying to be heard, while using other set of hands to use whatever controls are inside...

For true matrix parody, search "computerboy".

IT´s quite long (about an hour), but damn funny...

Richard awakens in the small tube. Disoriented, nauseous, and dizzy.

"Ouch."

Few shakes of a head don´t do much to improve the situation.

"Everyone, I don´t know what happened, I think the OTV got hit or something, I´m running the diagnostics now, and check the air pressure, it may be... Hey where´s my comm unit??"

Richard tries to figure out what has happened, where he is and what he should do. As his eyes focus from the blur, he recognices the place.

"Cryopods. I must be inside the ship.

Richard searches inside the pod for a emergency opening system...

Richard picks up a space suit for himself (one that was designed to him specificly), and puts it on.

ooc: Sorry for delays, and I´m afraid they might go on. I´m starting my service in finnish army tomorrow, and I don´t know how I will be online in the future...patience please...

I think the complexity of rules and regulations should be inversely related to the frequency of their use:

The rules you will use al the time, like shooting and hitting in general combat game should be easy, memorizable, and fast.

The ones you use more seldom (and usually not while gaming, but during preparations) like designing guns, vehicles or corporations can be as complex as you like, or can handle. You generally have plenty of time to deal with them.

Also, this makes some munchkinism only reach design levels, as it´s more easy to refuse it when no-one has done it yet, and it´s just "on paper".

Of course, "common sense in case to case" is the best rule.

Few ideas, haven´t thought these through, but here´s the brainstorming.

First of all, how about losing 1 point of humanity/kill?

This should be something that could be gotten back, if you visit a therapist (I think a 1point/week would be reasonable to avoid cops going prycho, but still affect your "I use a minigun at crowded mall"friends.) After all killing ´does have it´s downsides. This should run them to EMP 0 soon, so they go psycho. (of course, they might say it´s not so bad, and keep playing. This is up to your GM.)

Of course, one thing is getting your characters to get a big reputation from shooting by-passers without warning.

As a result:

a) they get no work at all, fixers are afraid they get shot when they go hire these guys.

when ever they walk the street, everyone rushes to safety, locks the doors, and so on. Everyone who has to talk to them, is really nervous, and jumpy. Any fast moves will cause them to scream, duck, pull out a gun and shoot or run away.

c) When it comes to that, security calls for backup as soon as they see your friends, and follows them VERY carefully.

And, the final brainstorm. Move them to the worse parts of slum. (or let the area around them get even worse.) No-one has money, ammo, food, clothes, nothing. They won´t win anything, and make sure there is no way out. What´s the point of random killings, if there aren´t any loot to begin with, and your average victim falls dead from one punch, since they suffer from malnutrition, no health care and impossible living conditions.

What´s the type of the finnish wheeled APC/transport? It´s called "Pasi", but I´m not sure about a type name(google was helpful with pasi+apc search though, maybe it´s Sisu XA-185). It would offer a wheeled version...

"Don´t think of it as being overpowered. Think of it as having a wide selection of targets."

And I guess my latest siggy fits here...

I couldn´t open the Exel sheet. Do others have the same problem?

For changing the rules, how about making armor take space?

That way, perhaps about 50% of tank space would be armor, similating thick walls, compared to same size unarmored vehicle. This would also remove armoring vehicles as it "only costs money" (munchkin approach).

Of course someone would say that armor could alway be built on the outside of the basic hull, instead of inwards from the frames, but that would result a larger vehicle(more SDP=more space=more cost).

This would limit armor to military use, as civilian cars etc. would more likely have no armor, and a bit more space for leisure equipment.

And while I´m rambling about the subject, I´d think tanks would be a bit out of date by 2020. Slow, heavy, clumsy. Due to developement in missiles, you could equip a large car (a jeep/hummer) with HATGM, and get about the same firepower a lot cheaper. A dozen missile cars would kill one tank, and be a lot cheaper too...

Helicopters, AV, and planes in general won´t be cheap, but would beat the tank in speed, and wouldn´t be vulnerable to mines (well, a magnetic detonator, launching a grenade up, and detonating it in midair might damage a low flying chopper/AV, if the detonation was fast enough, but that´s just the engineer talking, so ignore it). Air units are propably also less vulnerable to Ambush, due to their speed, and freedom of movement. Not to mention tanks in urban warfare in general.

Also The use of common sense is allowed. That would help a lot.

Correct me if I´m wrong, but I don´t think it´s possible to destroy a modern tank with a 12.7mm gatling (even if you hit with all the rounds.)

But check the MM rules for multiple ammo weapons, and multiple hits.

While Max Metal is out of date, and old, it still fills it´s job for the game.

What´s the point of playing a soldier, if you sit in a automated tank, and only need to push one button every time the sensors show an enemy, and the tank will shoot it to pieces itself? It might not be realistic, but I think the "old" way is better for gaming.

Some new electronics might be handy, or updating the old ones.

After all, wasn´t US goverment through an economical collapse during 1990 in the game history? That would reduce the military funding from the goverment. That would cut out latest high tech gadgets. Of course there are still corporations, and EU/Asia. But corps have other use for their money then military research (and even in military they have different goals.). EU countries and Asia are different, but I guess most games concentrate in US. Besides, it´s good to have something "in the stock" that can shoot the players ultra munchkin tank to pieces.

I just bought it lately, but I think the combat is a bit flawed.

If I remember it correctly, it says that armor is subtracted from PEN, and if the result stays positive you subtract Body, add D10, and look for the result from the chart.

The idea is, that the bigger the gun, the worse damage.

Also, the bigger the armor, and hull, the harder it´s to damage vehicle.

Only one problem.

If, according to this rule, you shoot M-11 MBT (normal tank)

with 3cm railgun (heaviest direct cannon) in the back armor, (only 50% protection from armor)

You get pen 22 - Armor 11/2 - Body 18.

You get to roll with -1 or -2 (can´t remember rounding rule for this)

So you get a result from -1 to 9, depending from your roll.

I think 9 is catastrofic damage, the biggest one possible.

How ever, the scenario (shooting a MBT, with a heavy (heaviest?) AT weapon in the back side, should in my opinion result more severe damage more likely.

Simply way around this, is that IF PEN > Armor, you add it again, then subtract body. (1 pen for armor, 1 pen for hull)

I haven´t tested this, so it might be too much. Variables of this rule would be adding Pen/2, for less damage, or adding Penetration ONLY for HEAT of HE ammo (to demostrate the capability to demolish target, intead of passing through it.)

My two cents. Anyone got a change?

Having listened Danielle´s plan Richard thinks for it a while, weighting pros and cons.

"That MIGHT work, but I think it would be extremely dangerous. We would have to be REALLY close to a comet, moving near light velocities. Also, as this ship isn´t actually a speeder, the manouvering might prove inpossible. Then there are the matters of recovering the ice, and the amounts required. And after separating the oxygen and hydrogen, the mix is explosive, so we would need a way to store the hydrogen somehow, to avoid explosion. Let´s check if this is possible at all, I can go check the manouvering bits, and do some calculations on the amount of ice needed. Can you check for ways to separate hydrogen? Do we have any way´s to compress it?"  

ooc: These are the problems I see with the idea. Are there others? And do I try to figure these out myself, or will Thumper help out with the amount of ice needed?

Richard finishes the dull grey, porridge like substance on the plate, and puts down the spoon.

"Considering our mechanical problems, and this food, I think management messed things up. We seem to have French engineering, and german cooks. Other way round would have been better. Do you want some? I warn you that it looks a lot better then it tastes. But if you are hungry enough, I guess it goes."

"Well, if I´m not needed, I think I go see if I can get something to eat and drink. Anyne else want something?"

Don´t forget Wardrobe&Style, and personal grooming. Dance might come useful too...

Athletics for some tricks.

To mention few...

And don´t forget to buy a white tiger for aid.

Richard looks a bit surprised, as the metal monster doesn´t crash through the door. He takes a careful peek from the doorway, before entering the workshop. He seems pretty puzzled.

"Ok... Can someone tell me what just happened?"

Richard ducks, trying to avoid the metallic insect rushing towards him. He also tries to trun around quickly in ground, incase he needs to take another evasion after PAL is throught the door.

How far can they shoot? They have to see the shell (at least in radar), or some how detect it to be able to target it.

Also, could missiles be coated with some sort of "armor", highly reflective surface capable of absorbing lot of heat. Kinda a mirror in the nose sort of thing?

My rambling, I have a feeling this might be long, but try to keep up with me, ok?

The boosters don´t necessarily fit to  those profiles. Let´s think this scenario

Your average gang in the territory. They propably party, drink and maybe smash places. Add mugging people on street, and occational theft/burglary/looting in absense of the police force. Local population wouldn´t really match them. If they would, there wouldn´tbe any gangs left today, as normal people (including their parents) had interfered and broken them up. In reality the gang is too "big" and "strong", and being in the gang has some sort of respect, or fear from locals. Police is underpowered to deal with it, security services and corps don´t care, as long as they stay in combat areas, and local population is too scared to do anything.  So, the gang stays.

Humans have a "pack mentality" (or so they claim). Belonging to a group gives one a feeling of strenght and power. Also, it allows for the traditional "us/them" division, that wount leave you (as a member of a gang) on the outside. In otherwords, the chances that you are alone agains many are smaller. I guess this is why gangs, groups, organizations, countries and larger groups (EU), exist in larger scale . It´s all about "us" and "them". For a unsecure teen, in the lone world of 2020 a gang is a welcomed option. Feeling of belonging to something greater is always welcomed. Now, the pack just needs a leader. Leaders can be chosen three ways: Strongest, smartest, or most popular.

Strongest-ruler, Dictatorship sort of thing, or "honorable macho fight", is based pretty much of individual strenght. It may be seen as primitive, or macho, but it in this case the strongest individual is on top calling the shots. Brutality is the key here. This sort of gang propably does what the leader wants, untill someone takes his/her place, and then it all begins again. Some rituals, rules or etiquette might be applied, to maintain a civilized picture. (Like no guns, no backstabbing, formal duals to solve differeces etc.)

Example of this sort would be a gangboss, who tells the gang what to do, and when someone says "no" beats the crap out of them and tells the others to either follow him, or get their asses kicked too. Leaders benefits here are fame, and a group of people who do what (s)he wants.

Smartest-ruler, perhaps in a shadow goverment sort of way, someone telling what to do, and having strings to pull to make others to do it. The idea is to gain personally from the gang, without the gang knowing it. Bribing, indimidation, blackmailing and other sneakiness is used to get hte leader to where he wants to be. The leader might not necessarily be a ganger, but an outsider, who acts through a middleman, (propably the gang boss). This is the general fixer/corporate idea, where gang is "hired" to do the dirty work. Of course, a techie might also become an outside leader of a gang, as maintenance is best left to professionals. On the other hand, boss might not even tell the gang they are working for him, just try to steer them towards his enemies with guns drawn.

Example would be a fixer, who deals with a gang a lot, and gets them their necessities (guns/ammo, drugs, cyber).

Fixer could simply offer to sell gangs loot for 40% of the prize to himself. Most gangers might not think that as a high prize. After all, if you loot a electronics store, how do you dispose 200 DVD-players, without connections? Door-to-door sales? Leaders benefits would be cash for the loot, and deniability. He isn´t expected to hang out with the gang all the time. So if the gang gets shot in a police raid, the leader just gets a new one.

Most popular leader is either democratically chosen, or has charisma to be a leader. This has it´s benefits, as well as it´s penalties: Leader is propably accepted by most of the gangers, and admired. This keeps him/her safe from internal sruggle better then a corner bully. Of course, if he loses the respect of the group, he will have trouble. But people who are willing to die for something, are usually inspired by their leaders, not forced to the job. This is one possible view to fake gangs. When they all idolize same person, it´s easy to know what they want, so anyone with some knowledge of human nature and the idols ideals, will be able to command them as wanted. Example leader is a fakeganger, who has a a gang of 40 Osama Bin Laden-wannabes, and claims to them that Militech is the satan, and all who die in holy war against militech get to heaven with 70 virgins. The leader has his benefits. He has fame, and people in his/her disposal.

My two cents, anyone got a change?

"Thank god."

Richard opens the hangar door, and rushes towards the workshop.

"Perfect...JUST PERFECT..."

Richard takes the Intercom, and sends message to all speakers in ship.

"This is Richard. Give me status report from workshop. I don´t want to blast open a sealed door to hangar when we are already low on oxygen just because someone forgot the mic on and suffers from entomophobia."

He waits for answer, and tries to get a picture of what´s going on in Workshop.

ooc: Sorry about the delay, the school network was re-routed. It took them a week to hook the router.  

Richard attemps to cancel the failsafe mode, or reroute the door controls so that he (and Andrew) can reach workshop. Also, he checks if he can access to any sort of surveillance footage from the area.

Richard checks the system, to see witch console is activated (IE. where are they)

Then he jumps out, and heads for workshop.