wilphe

It's really easy to out-think an enemy when their best plan is:

       "Lets put our cavalry in front of our own guns and then ride straight over our own infantry in a frontal attack on a prepared postion"

       That's the c15 equivalent of:

              "Does this plan involve climbing out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy?"

PS:

I recall seeing a thread in the archives on the "which supplements do you consider essential" topic; I can't remember which forum it was in thuw.

The datascreen is CP3801; ISBN 0 937 279 14 5.

Its probably been out of print for years; I am probably one of the few people on the planet who would even remotely consider paying money for it. I only bought it to round out my collection being a purist/completist type person. Sure it looks cool, but you're probably better off knocking one up yourself and spending your money elsewhere.

     I found mine on E-Bay, btw; where just about all the suplements seem to turn up sooner or later - even the long out of print early ones (Rockerboy; Solo of Fortune; When Gravity Fails; Hardwired; Near Orbit). You can still order a restricted selection through the R-Tal website, mostly the late ones: Pac Rim; SOF2; Eurosource Plus, etc.

      Of pre-published adventures you're most likely to get hold of the two published by R-Tal themselves rather than under licence to Atlas or Janus:

         "Eurotour" is a series of European adventures based around a rock tour of Europe.

         "Tales from the Folorn Hope" is a collection of combat orientated (ie:Solo) adventures, themed around a solo bar in Night City.

Noveltech Ltd.

Never heard of them.

WTF?

I belive most Earthquake deaths are of the "something very heavy fell on you" or the "tsunami washes you away" variety. On top of a grassy hill is about as safe as you can get from either. 'course if the whole state slips into the sea you're screwed anyway, but if the medium one happens I know where I'd rather be...

I'm not dissing this, its a really cool idea, but...

Bendy and light?

Seen that footage of the Tacoma Straits Bridge?

Seen the Millenium FootBridge in London?

A good corporate hook is for one to fail. These people are operating at the limits of Tech. Then have a multi-way legal battle between Vertrain, the owners of the two builidngs it connected, the City Planning office, the dead relatives class action suit and anybody else involved (even more fun if it connected, oh, say, Arasaka and Militech offices). Thefts of evidence, bribery, intimidation and assasination of witnesses, Netrunners altering the records. Fun galore. And get to see if somone's sabotaged them in the first place.

Yeah,

      umm,

             I meant to say that way round.

Honest.

Ok, some sort of warhammer seems a good idea, suggested stats:

        Mel   -1  2d6+1   50eb

                     Any soft armour is SPx1/4.

                     Hard armour is SPx1/2

 This is for a one handed version

 Two handed version:

         Mel  -2  4d6      80eb

                      Soft SPx1/4

                      Hard SPx1/2

Make it a Gatling?

As the barrells are relatively light anyway, shouldn't add too much mass.

That would also cut down on barrell heating.

Question:

       The projectiles are 1x30mm; how is the propellant arranged and what is the overall size of the cartridge? Probably wouldn't be able to fit all that many in (unless you use ETE, Liquid Propellant or make it a railgun (last too hi-tech probably?

Kill joy answer:

                You want to put 100 flechettes into a group really quickly?

                 Just buy an auto-shotgun and load it w/ flechette rounds; not as concealable; but simpler and not as specialized. And you'd have probs using it in space, so adapt it.

Damn right, could not have put it better myself.

Essentially we are dealing with an historical view of the future (and present); when we get to 2020 it will seem even quainter (I hope).

Yep, its nice and its futuristic.

Downer:

   Buildings are designed to sway, especially tall ones that catch a lot of wind, especially ones in earthquake zones. Linking skyscrapers together is going to be a major, repeat, major, undertaking; even a small difference in height and construction will mean radically different movement. And you're not catching me visiting Tokyo, or LA, or San Francisco if there is an entire transport net above my head if the Big One hits.

Its not been like that I, oh, decades, I think it was the 20s that most European nations went off the Gold Standard. Paper money basically works on confidence.

      I do know of a few places where money is backed by tangible assets: Argentina (pre-crisis) had enough dollars to buy back their entire stock of pesos. The Scottish banks that issue sterling bank notes have to have them backed 1:1 by Bank of England notes; the Falklands have to have thiers backed £1:£1.10. I would imagine that all the territories that issue sterling denominated notes have similar requirements (last time I counted there were about 13 or 15 territories and banks that issued sterling notes).

     Of course what backs the Bank of England? England itself basically (and those whining Celtic plebs). Anything is only worth what people will pay for it.

        The Euro is not worth crap because no-one has any faith in the ECB (quite rightly IMO). The dollar is strong because people have faith in Alan Greenspan (too much IMHO) and a desire for dollar assets. Why do they want dollar assets? The price keeps going up. Why does the price keep going up? Because people keep buying them.

       Althogh central banks have a license to print money they tend not to as it tends to cause more problems than it solves; as they set interest rates they also control credit creation, after a fashion.

      Corporate scrip is also fun; Araska or EBM scrip would be almost as good as cash. Why? Neither of them are going down soon. Mustang Arms scrip would be less useful, fewer people would be interested.

Ok,

   from SOF 1:

          There is the "Knopfler & Konig 2x power laser reflex scope" as mounted on the Fabrica de Armes M-2012.

      This uses a range finder to find the range to the target (duh), or strictly speaking what you are aiming at. It then corrects for bullet drop and adjusts the aim-point so that you aim onto the target.

         The "Nikon Cyberoptic Triangulation unit" COT, is seriously chill. However SOF1 is a first edition supplement (and I've just obtained a first edition book, so I'm not fully familiar with it). However in second edition terms it requires an Interface plug and Cyberoptics (I would imagine preferably two). It works by comparing what the sight sees and what the eyes see, so it benefits most if you hold it away from your eyes.

          At base you "see" a reticule where the gun is pointing, you can also have a split screen where the top half is the eyes view and the bottom is the guns you aim by bringing the two together. Even better, you can make the whole view that of the scope, this means you use the gun as an eye in your hand; you can see and aim behind you and round corners - but you don't get the accuracy bonus.

   The Nikon COT is $4,000. Wt6oz. +3 accuracy (yes +3)

     I've never used on in a game as neither the GM nor myself had SOF1 at the time, but I would really want one now.

If you really want some fun you could take a blastick:

        Four bore shotgun shell on the end of stick, with a trigger at the end you hold, used by divers to kill sharks.

    Hell of a lot more practical than a Hyper-Hammer.

Disclaimer:

The following ramblings are unfettered by any practical experience:

          I believe I am correct in saying that modern fencing techniques and weapons evolved just as people stopped wearing armour. As swordmanship became fencing, Kendo became Kenjutsu; actually killing people became less important than style, sport and technique.

       Given that most people in 2020 will be wearing armour this means that anybody formally trained will be using weapons and technqiues grossly unsuited to the task. Sure you can go to Japan and learn where to attack lamellar armour to best effect, but they won't teach you the weak points of metal gear or an armourjack.

       It would probably need a new martial artist (Mushashi/Bruce Lee type) to create a new style of swordsmanship, based on the fact that:

            1) Your opponent is wearing armour.

            2) He probably isn't carrying a sword himself.

        Weapons would also have to evolve, becoming heavier and more medieval to get through armour.

To answer the original question:

      There was some coverage of Chtullupunk in one of the Interfaces. I think it was one of the early ones, but until I get my hands on a copy I can't confirm that.

From a economic &  political, rather than technological viewpoint, we are not even close.

      The '90s proved to be very good for the US; consistent growth (dot.coms bubbles notwithstanding) and a budget surplus (which they are now getting rid of). Europe has spent far too much money on pork and effort on horse-trading to even come close to super-power status. Japan has spent the 90s in stagnation and is now dangerously close to a deflationary spiral and unsustainable debt burden.

      The US is not going to collapse any time soon, despite that being a staple of any Dark Future.

Well, blood makes Black Pudding, which is a stereotypically northern English thing (though you get it in other parts of Europe as well). You eat it for breakfast.

The Scottish thing is Haggis, that is sheeps Heart, Lungs and other bits chopped up really fine along with oatmeal and then boiled in its stomach. It is very nice.

Generally I like them. Though I agree Petrochem would be a problem as their power is CHOOH2, which you get from growing grain; but not even Petrochem and Con-Ag need every peice of ruual land in the US. I belive IRL a lot of land used for ranching is actually leased from the Federal Govt, so unless some corp has bought it (and there is likely to be other, better, land around) it should still be availible.

It is interesting to note that this lifestyle is very much an artificial one in the US; horses only being reintroduced 500 years ago. I imagine that in the Eurasian steppelands (Mongolia etc) there are still people even in 2020 leading the same sort of lives they have for millenia.

From a personal point of view I would extrapolate from current trends:

      With smaller households and non-existant/non-traditional families more and more people will end up eating prepared foods. Fewer and fewer women spend all day cooking for thier familes and that trend would accelerate. Having only one wage earner in a family is likely to be a status symbol. People who would otherwise have the aptitude/inclination to cook will be less likely to learn in childhood as there will be no-on to teach them.

      Fresh raw ingredients are not so much the luxury; unless unpolluted farmland is at a real premium. Having the time and skill to prepare it yourself (or to pay/support somebody else to) is the real luxury. Lack of demand would then of course push the price up, but its a demand thing not a supply thing.

    How would you desribe your RL food in CP terms?

    I would go for upper-range pre-pack for myself.

    I hope no-one is eating kibble IRL.

At the really basic level the guts of banking is this, they do other stuff as well but this is the core bit:

        One set of customers deposit money with you, repayable on demand, or fairly quickly. You then lend this to another set of customers, repayable over longer periods. You make your money by charging more to lend it than you do to depositers. You have to keep enough assets in liquid form (cash, etc) to be able to meet your likely obligations and cover your risks (eg:Default), which I believe is known as Capital Adequacy. If most of your money is lent out on 30 year loans and all your depositers want their money now you have a problem; a run on the bank, you might have the money - you just don't have it right now.

     Capital Adequacy is only understood by hi-powered banking and regulatory nerds (which I'm not, I just read the financial press) and I'm not sure if they really do. Its currently set under something currently called the Basel Agreement (I think its an Agreement, but its definatly Basel) which is currently being reworked. The central bank also sets Capital Adequacy rules (which might be more or less strict than Basel) and in return guarantees depositers their money, sometimes subject to limits.

     How does this work in CP terms?

a) Face banks etc are unregulated, deposits are not insured and they are not subject to capital adequacy rules. This gives them a competitive edge, it also makes them more vulnerable to a run. Never mind the fact the people who run them can simply take your money and disappear.

What does your face bank do with the money it? Working capital for another business perhaps? A mundane bank would lend it to other people, this would suggest that cred/loansharks and face bankers are the same people seen from two different directions. Hmm, a face-bank might occupy much the same position in a Mafia or Triad that an ordinary bank would in a corporate group. I don't think it would be something you do in its own right.

I think it is Herodotus about Scythian women having their right breasts burnt with a hot iron at birth so that they could swing a sword in later life (bummer if you grow up left-handed). I can see someone doing something similar so a female PC could carry one of these in a shoulder rig without arousing suspicion.

Correction, its the Sarmatians and I can't find it Herodotus, must be somebody else's story.

On a related issue, that;s why I'm leary of the low HC for the nano-optical upgrade. Its hardwired in and you can't turn it off, you will never be able to look at the world in a normal way again: Friends, Lovers and Family will all look totally different, so will your surrondings. If that isn't going to alienate you from humanity, what will?

Normal optics are more invasive, but should be less far reaching in thier side effects as they could and IMHO should be turn offable.

I believe it is suppossed to be a cavalry weapon (anybody with better Civil War knowledge than me please disagree), hence size was not a design issue. It's also probably got an enormous trigger pull to move that big heavy cylinder round and hence poor accuracy (and a penalty to snapshot?). I think you might have difficulty getting a ROF of 2 out of it.

     Its probably not very practical as a weapon, despite being cool, a Stein & Wasserman Tristar would do much the same job without so many of the drawbacks. Mind you that's ST. Ii is my understanding that you have to be a total moron to design a revolver that's ST, it requires inventing things to go wrong.

No I like it. BASIL likes it too, but not for the same reasons.

KILL!KILL!

Quiet!

I will let Basil my Munchkin sub-personality answer that question.

       NO I WOULD ETE THE WHOLE THING!!!!

       OH!Oh!OH!

       EVEN BETTER

              MAKE A REPLICA LeMAT BORG GUN!

             NINE .666 ETE ROUNDS REVOLVING ROUND ONE ETE 4ga SHOTGUN SHELL!!!!!

            OH!

            9 AT 12d6-1

            1 AT 12d6 SHOT.

That's it back in your box.

NO! BASIL NO WANT TO GO.

Down boy down.

NIOOOOOOO!

Hmm, Sorry; Does anybody know a good exorcist?

Well the song you are thinking about, even though it is not the answer to the question is:

     "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas, inspired by the TV series, which made it to number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. I do not know where it got to in Finland.

   Oh, oo-oh, oh.

   Dididididi,dee,dee.

   Oh, oh, oh,oh.

   Dadaadadada.

   Oh, Oh, Oh Oh.

   Dididididii, de ,de.

   Oh, Oh, oh, oh,

    DADADADADADA.

    Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting.

    Those guys were fast as Lightning.

     In fact is was a little bit frightning.

     'Coz they fought with expert timing.

     They were funky Chinamen,

      From Funky Chinatown.

     They were {} them up,

      They were [] them down,

       Its an ancient chinese art,

       and everybdoy knew their part.

      With a {},

      and a kicking to the {},

I can make a plausible guess as to the {}, but's it not clear.