03-22-2016, 11:45 AM | #51 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
TV was a lot more family-friendly in those days. You could still see things like sexual innuendo and in some cases fanservice. But they were played down. Families in dom coms were usually fairly conventional though they tended to have an eccentricity as a gimmick to make them run.
Detective shows were more likely to focus on the PI rather then the force. Also forensic dramas were unknown.
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03-22-2016, 12:42 PM | #52 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Background for Clayborn Allen (mill owner) and Courtney Allen (preppie son)
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Again, totally not a car person. I genuinely have no clue whether the benefit of a more powerful engine oughweighs (pun not intended) the presumable disadvantage of a larger and heavier chassis when it comes to the sort of off-road winter driving that 'Jeep' guys in Iceland sometimes do for fun and profit. You know, driving on glaciers, crossing rivers and slowly chugging through waist+ high snow on their broad huge wheels with chains attached.
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03-22-2016, 12:50 PM | #53 | |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Background for Clayborn Allen (mill owner) and Courtney Allen (preppie son)
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In the 80s, Ford had a "compact" pickup truck called the Ranger, smaller than an F-150. |
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03-22-2016, 01:26 PM | #54 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Denver, CO
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Re: Background for Clayborn Allen (mill owner) and Courtney Allen (preppie son)
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They all have sufficient power to deal with all but the very worst conditions, but the smaller frame will have some advantages. the F-150 will have a tighter turning radius allowing it to traverse more difficult trails. The F-350 has double tires on both sides of the rear axle (called "dualies"). This creates a "floating" effect on snow which makes traction very difficult. In all cases, for snow performance in a pickup, the owner will pack the back of the truck bed with 30-100lbs of sand bags for the winter. This helps to counteract the "floating" effect of having a very light back end. |
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03-22-2016, 01:27 PM | #55 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Background on SA Maria Lucia Estevez (FBI computer supergeek from privileged family)
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Her mother's family is old money in California, land owners from before it was part of the US. Their fortune is now dwarved by Estevez's military contractor pile, but even without any additions, would have been quite enough for limosines to school, ponies for fifth birthdays and effectively unlimited access to geek toys. In game terms, the character has Filthy Rich in her own right, just to represent her parents constantly preemptively buying her anything they think might make her life easier, help with her studies (or that 'FBI fad') and, in her father's case, make up for never seeing her enough. If she wanted to actually ask her parents for money or stuff, she also has Patron. Quote:
What would she have used in terms of OS and 'Internet' while working summers and school breaks as a computer programming and general tech geek intern/technician (between early 1983 and 1985) for the Las Angeles office of the FBI and later as a programmer/designer at ViCAP at Quantico (1986 to mid-1988)? The character is meant to be one of the unsung tech geeks behind the creation of the ViCAP and the digital technology revolution at the FBI. She's an off-the-scale genius who grew up in a household that was at the forefront of early digital computer technology and she was a superstar student of Computer Science at Stanford. In GURPS game terms, she has IQ 14* and between 4-8 points per skill in a variety of computer and related skills, including Computer Operations [skill 16], Computer Programming [skill 15], Electronics Operation (Media) [skill 14], Expert Skill (Computer Security) [skill 13], Mathematics (Computer Science) [skill 15], Mathematics (Statistics) [skill 14] and Research [skill 15]. She's not the best in the US at any one field, but she's damn good at anything to do with programming or using computers. Granted, all of that is background, not so much relevant for this adventure. On the other hand, my three players include a software engineer, a computer scientist and a first-year student of programming and computer science.** I expect they'd welcome background and characterisation in the form of geeky equipment for her to carry and be familiar with. And if it turns out that Special Agent Estevez can actually use her 80s computer skills and equipment to contribute materially to the adventure, well, that would be an unexpected, but nice, bonus. *Plenty of Disadvantages that bring her effective IQ in social terms down to human average or so, but those are not relevant to her technical skills. **Unfortunately, the player playing Special Agent Estevez, uber FBI tech geek, is the one who has a degree in Japanese and is just on his first year of computer study.
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Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 03-22-2016 at 06:46 PM. |
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03-22-2016, 01:35 PM | #56 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Background for Clayborn Allen (mill owner) and Courtney Allen (preppie son)
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Would it make a difference if you wanted to be able to fit four people in it? I know modern Ford F-150s can have decent space in the back, but what about the 80s models? Do the F-250s have more passenger space or is the same?
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03-22-2016, 01:41 PM | #57 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
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The .300 Weatherby Magnum probably has Damage and Range between the .300 Win Mag and the .300 Remington Ultra Magnum, which neatly slots it in at 9d pi. The .300 Win Mag has Range 1,600/6,600 listed on p. HT119, but unfortunately, the .300 Remington Ultra Magnum is just listed as a caliber option with Dmg, no Range listing, on p. HT118. Would the .300 Weatherby Magnum in a typical loading have more or less 1/2D and Max Range than the .300 Win Mag in whatever loading was used as the basis for the GURPS stats of the German-adopted Accuracy International AWM-F in .300 Win Mag?
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03-22-2016, 01:51 PM | #58 | |||||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
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Unfortunately, the writer didn't mention what they were smuggling and in which direction, once Prohibition ended and before the cigarette smuggling bonanza of the 90s.
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03-22-2016, 01:55 PM | #59 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MO, U.S.A.
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Re: Background for Clayborn Allen (mill owner) and Courtney Allen (preppie son)
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Interestingly enough, I have a 1991 F250 with a 7.5L V8 2 wheel drive that is the last year the 1986 model was built before a major redesign. It is the worst vehicle I have ever driven on ice and snow.
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03-22-2016, 01:59 PM | #60 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Denver, CO
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Re: Background for Clayborn Allen (mill owner) and Courtney Allen (preppie son)
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Cabs on the F-150 and F-250 were identical. To seat 4, you'd need the SuperCab version of either, and the extra two people would be quite squashed. There were bench seat and jump seat options depending upon which dimension you wanted to squish. The bench seat had tight legroom, and was uncomfortable for anybody over the age of 10. The jump seats faced the middle of the truck and were uncomfortable for anybody even slightly overweight or broad of shoulder. This also extended the length of the whole vehicle causing a minor compromise in the off-road capability, but not a major problem. For 4 comfortable seats, you had a few options, none of them pick-up trucks. Jeeps (CJ-5 through CJ-8) were very easy to customize, with nice seats being easily available. Access to them required a little bit of contortion, but nothing beyond what the average person could handle. Once seated, anybody under 6' tall was fine, but taller folk would hit the ceiling. The Toyota Land Cruiser was similar, but a little harder to customize. The Chevy Blazer (early SUV) would seat 4 quite comfortably, but they were all 2-door requiring a little bit of squeezing to access the seats. This was less of a problem than with the Jeep or Land Cruiser, but still annoying. The Blazer didn't have much in the way of luxury options, and didn't have much of an aftermarket upgrade community. The engine upgrade in 1988 was substantial, and made the vehicle much more capable all around. The AMC Eagle was the only actually off-road capable 4-door vehicle I know of at the time. With some factory options, it was quite luxurious. Last edited by khorboth; 03-22-2016 at 02:10 PM. |
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1980s, high-tech, monster hunters |
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