[Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5)

Tzeentch · 03-24-2011, 04:36 PM

START BOX

CTHULHUTECH: A SUMMARY FOR NEW PLAYERS

Cults of dead gods and twisted alien creatures throw themselves at the failing defenses of the New Earth Government. Dark things claw at the edges of perception, seeking entry into our world. The utter end approaches, and the world grows cold. The Aeon War rages on.

The year is 2085; humanity stands with its back to wall against foes that seek their utter annihilation or enslavement. Horrors that have long dwelt in realms apart from the visible world have awoken, and turned their untiring minds to sow death and madness in preparation for the return of their unknowable masters.
The Aeon War

The world is gripped by a three-way genocidal conflict involving the New Earth Government, the alien Migou, and the fiendish cults of the Old Ones. Man yet rules over most of the world, but the light of humanity slowly fades as their enemies grow stronger.

The New Earth Government: The NEG has risen from the ashes of the former disparate world states to control the surviving humans and their Nazzadi allies, a warrior race that has rebelled against their Migou creators. Through force of arms and indomitable will they have held their own against the unspeakable blasphemies that are arrayed against them.
The Migou: Threatened by the flourishing of human intellect and their development of arcanotechnology, the alien Migou attempted to bring their favored slaves and experiments to heel. Using the human genome to create an army of Nazzadi armed with advanced war machines and a fabricated warrior culture, they invaded Earth, beginning what is now known as the First Arcanotech War. After the defection of their servants, the Migou have been forced to intervene personally – conquering many of the cold northern regions of the planet and fighting both the NEG and the minions of their ancient enemies, the Old Ones.
The Old Ones: Loathsome dark gods who seeped down to our world from cold stars in a time before history. Through their insidious agents they seek the make the world more hospitable to their tastes, by spreading corruption, death, and hideous monstrosities. Should their efforts succeed in awakening the most powerful of their kind, such as the dread Cthulhu himself, all life on Earth would perish or be enslaved.
Arcanotechnology and Magic

Magical energy permeates the world, although humanity has been ignorant of it for much of history. This changed with the translation and spread of techniques contained in The Mysteries Within, an arcane tome that laid out the techniques of harnessing eldritch power. Despite the insanity of early pioneers, organizations such as the Ashcroft Foundation discovered how to meld this new knowledge with human rationality in the art of arcanotechnology.

The inexhaustible power produced by these magitech devices revolutionized the world, and mankind quickly began to exploit its potential. Unfortunately, the spread of sorcerous knowledge came without an appreciation of its dangers, and humanities new power encroached on the outposts of formless things better left undisturbed.
END BOX

X. CTHULHUTECH SPACECRAFT
This chapter discusses how CthulhuTech spacecraft can be designed using the GURPS Spaceships rules.

START BOX
CthulhuTech Glossary
The following terms from CthulhuTech are used in this book.
Battlecruiser: Arcanotechnology-powered combat spaceships used by the NEG. Designed to carry a full complement of aircraft and mecha.
Swarm Ships: Massive biomechanical baseships used by the Migou
END BOX

Design Guidelines
These guidelines explain how to use GURPS Spaceships to create spacecraft suitable for the CthulhuTech setting.

Tech Level
The New Earth Government is a TL9^ society with limited artificial intelligence, advanced nanotechnology, and amazing biomedical treatments in common use. Superscience technologies allow for multi-role humanoid mecha, reactionless propulsion, and bioengineered war machines the size of large buildings.

Migou spacecraft are TL10^, with limited availability of TL11^ systems through their own version of arcanotechnology and arcane bioengineering capabilities.

Spacecraft Hulls
NEG spacecraft tend to be quite small, and are usually confined to the atmosphere given the overwhelming power of the Migou fleets currently in orbit. However, the 1,000,000 ton (SM +14) Victory-class battlecruiser (p. 00) is a good example of the kind of vessel that could be built by human forces if they had the time and resources.

Migou spacecraft start at SM +14 and extend up to small planetoids in size.

Spacecraft Systems
Most GURPS Spaceships systems of TL9^ or less are available to NEG spacecraft designs. Exceptions and guidelines are discussed below.

Larger and Smaller Systems: These common design options are described in GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, pp. 4-5.

Unavailable Systems: The following superscience systems are not available: Jump Gate; Magnetic Planetary Drive, Nuclear Saltwater Rockets, Reconfigurable Systems, and Stardrive Engine.

Armor
Nanocomposite armor is available, despite being TL10, due to the settings advanced materials science.

Control Rooms
CthulhuTech AI is extremely limited, so total automation and reduced crew stations are rare. A typical CthulhuTech Limited Artificial Intelligence (LAI) is a Weak Dedicated AI (see GURPS Ultra-Tech, p. 28).

Factory
TL11 nanofactories are available. See CthulhuTech, pp. 108-109 for additional information.

Power Plant, Arcanotechnology
These devices tap power from other realms of existence. They may provide magical Power Points (GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, p. 20) but are not usable as such by CthulhuTech arcanists.

D-Cell (TL9^): Small craft are powered by arcanotech D-Cells ("dimensional energy power cells"). These have the same cost and workspace requirements as MHD Turbines (GURPS Spaceships, p. 20). Each system provides two Power Points for six days before it needs to be recharged by a D-Engine.

D-Engine (TL9^): Full-scale D-Engines ("dimensional engines") are used on most large vehicles, and have completely displaced most other forms of power generation. Each system provides four Power Points indefinintely. It
may be de- rated: each -1 Power Point reduces cost by 25%.

Reactionless Engines
Known as A-Pods ("antigravity pods") in CthulhuTech, these have the same cost and performance as Rotary Reactionless (GURPS Spaceships, p. 24) engines. Cutting-edge designs, and those used by the Migou, are Standard Reactionless. See CthulhuTech, p. 108 for additional information.

These are usually bundled in a single integrated arcanotech system that includes a Contragravity Lifter, Reactionless Engine, and D-Cell

Weapons Batteries
Charge beams and lasers are both lasers, but lasers are usually secondary or tertiary batteries and rapid fire or very rapid fire.

NEG craft use lasers, missile launchers, and the occasional spinal mount plasma beam.

Migou spacecraft are armed with null rays (use disintegrator stats), missile launchers, plasma beams, and improved lasers.

Electromagnetic disruptors GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, p. 19) may be possible, but are not installed on any known NEG or Migou craft.

Design Features
Artificial gravity and gravitic compensators are widely available. Total automation is not generally available.

Regeneration and Self-Healing
Migou spacecraft can be Self-Healing (GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, p. 22)

Design Switches
No design switches are used.

David Johnston2 · 03-24-2011, 05:23 PM

I doubt the Migou have that much of a technological edge, considering how their first wave defected to humanity.

Tzeentch · 03-24-2011, 07:04 PM

-- They suck at arcanotechnology itself (it was this surprise that led them to eradicate humans) but they are very advanced in other areas. Most of their equipment has better stats than the Nazzadi equivalents, so presumably they gave their Zentraedi the knock-off stuff).

-- I'll note that not even sketchy stats have been provided for the warships the Nazzadi used in their invasion of Earth, and the technology of the NEG/Migou seems to vary quite a bit from book-to-book :) The Migou section of Mortal Remains didn't really shed much light on the issue, either.

marvin · 03-24-2011, 07:15 PM

I just got my first 3 CthulhuTech books today from Amazon so I haven't read them through. Looks good so far. I'm not a huge fan of giant Mecha or Cthulhu mythos but something about this peaked my interest. As I said in a different post I might run an Eclipse Phase / Transhuman Space / CthulhuTech crossover campaign but I'm really a hard-scifi guy at heart.

So now I might run a game where the Migou a just advanced aliens that make use of a lot of biotech. Maybe I'll still pit them against the Transhuman Space setting.

Either way this really helpful stuff, thanks Kenneth.

Benjamin

David Johnston2 · 03-24-2011, 07:57 PM

OK, so NEG ships have no armor then. It wouldn't make sense to mount armor that has no protective value.

Tzeentch · 03-24-2011, 08:12 PM

-- For their scale, the warships are armored as well as an APC if that's any indication. I really don't know exactly what some of the weapons in CTech map to in GURPS as they are never described well :)

-- The NEG ship has one weapon at the same scale (major battery in TS I assume): a single plasma cannon. The swarm ship has 3 (2 null cannons, one plasma cannon).

-- Hmm .. the NEG at TL10 might make more sense, and less exemptions.

03-24-2011, 04:36 PM	#1
Tzeentch Join Date: Aug 2004	[Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5) START BOX CTHULHUTECH: A SUMMARY FOR NEW PLAYERS Cults of dead gods and twisted alien creatures throw themselves at the failing defenses of the New Earth Government. Dark things claw at the edges of perception, seeking entry into our world. The utter end approaches, and the world grows cold. The Aeon War rages on. The year is 2085; humanity stands with its back to wall against foes that seek their utter annihilation or enslavement. Horrors that have long dwelt in realms apart from the visible world have awoken, and turned their untiring minds to sow death and madness in preparation for the return of their unknowable masters. The Aeon War The world is gripped by a three-way genocidal conflict involving the New Earth Government, the alien Migou, and the fiendish cults of the Old Ones. Man yet rules over most of the world, but the light of humanity slowly fades as their enemies grow stronger. The New Earth Government: The NEG has risen from the ashes of the former disparate world states to control the surviving humans and their Nazzadi allies, a warrior race that has rebelled against their Migou creators. Through force of arms and indomitable will they have held their own against the unspeakable blasphemies that are arrayed against them. The Migou: Threatened by the flourishing of human intellect and their development of arcanotechnology, the alien Migou attempted to bring their favored slaves and experiments to heel. Using the human genome to create an army of Nazzadi armed with advanced war machines and a fabricated warrior culture, they invaded Earth, beginning what is now known as the First Arcanotech War. After the defection of their servants, the Migou have been forced to intervene personally – conquering many of the cold northern regions of the planet and fighting both the NEG and the minions of their ancient enemies, the Old Ones. The Old Ones: Loathsome dark gods who seeped down to our world from cold stars in a time before history. Through their insidious agents they seek the make the world more hospitable to their tastes, by spreading corruption, death, and hideous monstrosities. Should their efforts succeed in awakening the most powerful of their kind, such as the dread Cthulhu himself, all life on Earth would perish or be enslaved. Arcanotechnology and Magic Magical energy permeates the world, although humanity has been ignorant of it for much of history. This changed with the translation and spread of techniques contained in The Mysteries Within, an arcane tome that laid out the techniques of harnessing eldritch power. Despite the insanity of early pioneers, organizations such as the Ashcroft Foundation discovered how to meld this new knowledge with human rationality in the art of arcanotechnology. The inexhaustible power produced by these magitech devices revolutionized the world, and mankind quickly began to exploit its potential. Unfortunately, the spread of sorcerous knowledge came without an appreciation of its dangers, and humanities new power encroached on the outposts of formless things better left undisturbed. END BOX X. CTHULHUTECH SPACECRAFT This chapter discusses how *CthulhuTech* spacecraft can be designed using the *GURPS Spaceships* rules. START BOX *CthulhuTech* Glossary The following terms from *CthulhuTech* are used in this book. Battlecruiser: Arcanotechnology-powered combat spaceships used by the NEG. Designed to carry a full complement of aircraft and mecha. Swarm Ships: Massive biomechanical baseships used by the Migou END BOX Design Guidelines These guidelines explain how to use *GURPS Spaceships* to create spacecraft suitable for the *CthulhuTech* setting. Tech Level The New Earth Government is a TL9^ society with limited artificial intelligence, advanced nanotechnology, and amazing biomedical treatments in common use. Superscience technologies allow for multi-role humanoid mecha, reactionless propulsion, and bioengineered war machines the size of large buildings. Migou spacecraft are TL10^, with limited availability of TL11^ systems through their own version of arcanotechnology and arcane bioengineering capabilities. Spacecraft Hulls NEG spacecraft tend to be quite small, and are usually confined to the atmosphere given the overwhelming power of the Migou fleets currently in orbit. However, the 1,000,000 ton (SM +14) Victory-class battlecruiser (p. 00) is a good example of the kind of vessel that could be built by human forces if they had the time and resources. Migou spacecraft start at SM +14 and extend up to small planetoids in size. Spacecraft Systems Most *GURPS Spaceships* systems of TL9^ or less are available to NEG spacecraft designs. Exceptions and guidelines are discussed below. Larger and Smaller Systems: These common design options are described in *GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, pp. 4-5. Unavailable Systems:* The following superscience systems are not available: Jump Gate; Magnetic Planetary Drive, Nuclear Saltwater Rockets, Reconfigurable Systems, and Stardrive Engine. Armor Nanocomposite armor is available, despite being TL10, due to the settings advanced materials science. Control Rooms *CthulhuTech* AI is extremely limited, so total automation and reduced crew stations are rare. A typical *CthulhuTech* Limited Artificial Intelligence (LAI) is a Weak Dedicated AI (see *GURPS Ultra-Tech, p. 28). Factory* TL11 nanofactories are available. See *CthulhuTech, pp. 108-109 for additional information. Power Plant, Arcanotechnology* These devices tap power from other realms of existence. They may provide magical Power Points (*GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, p. 20) but are not usable as such by CthulhuTech* arcanists. D-Cell (TL9^): Small craft are powered by arcanotech D-Cells ("dimensional energy power cells"). These have the same cost and workspace requirements as MHD Turbines (*GURPS Spaceships, p. 20). Each system provides two Power Points for six days before it needs to be recharged by a D-Engine. D-Engine* (TL9^): Full-scale D-Engines ("dimensional engines") are used on most large vehicles, and have completely displaced most other forms of power generation. Each system provides four Power Points indefinintely. It may be de- rated: each -1 Power Point reduces cost by 25%. Reactionless Engines Known as A-Pods ("antigravity pods") in *CthulhuTech, these have the same cost and performance as Rotary Reactionless* (*GURPS Spaceships, p. 24) engines. Cutting-edge designs, and those used by the Migou, are Standard Reactionless. See CthulhuTech, p. 108 for additional information. These are usually bundled in a single integrated arcanotech system that includes a Contragravity Lifter, Reactionless Engine, and D-Cell Weapons Batteries* Charge beams and lasers are both lasers, but lasers are usually secondary or tertiary batteries and rapid fire or very rapid fire. NEG craft use lasers, missile launchers, and the occasional spinal mount plasma beam. Migou spacecraft are armed with null rays (use disintegrator stats), missile launchers, plasma beams, and improved lasers. Electromagnetic disruptors *GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, p. 19) may be possible, but are not installed on any known NEG or Migou craft. Design Features* Artificial gravity and gravitic compensators are widely available. Total automation is not generally available. Regeneration and Self-Healing Migou spacecraft can be Self-Healing (GURPS *Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech, p. 22) Design Switches* No design switches are used.

03-24-2011, 05:23 PM	#2
David Johnston2 Join Date: Dec 2007	Re: [Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5) I doubt the Migou have that much of a technological edge, considering how their first wave defected to humanity.

03-24-2011, 07:04 PM	#3
Tzeentch Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: [Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5) -- They suck at arcanotechnology itself (it was this surprise that led them to eradicate humans) but they are very advanced in other areas. Most of their equipment has better stats than the Nazzadi equivalents, so presumably they gave their Zentraedi the knock-off stuff). -- I'll note that not even sketchy stats have been provided for the warships the Nazzadi used in their invasion of Earth, and the technology of the NEG/Migou seems to vary quite a bit from book-to-book :) The Migou section of *Mortal Remains* didn't really shed much light on the issue, either.

03-24-2011, 07:15 PM	#4
marvin Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Cydonia	Re: [Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5) I just got my first 3 CthulhuTech books today from Amazon so I haven't read them through. Looks good so far. I'm not a huge fan of giant Mecha or Cthulhu mythos but something about this peaked my interest. As I said in a different post I might run an Eclipse Phase / Transhuman Space / CthulhuTech crossover campaign but I'm really a hard-scifi guy at heart. So now I might run a game where the Migou a just advanced aliens that make use of a lot of biotech. Maybe I'll still pit them against the Transhuman Space setting. Either way this really helpful stuff, thanks Kenneth. Benjamin

03-24-2011, 07:57 PM	#5
David Johnston2 Join Date: Dec 2007	Re: [Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5) OK, so NEG ships have no armor then. It wouldn't make sense to mount armor that has no protective value.

03-24-2011, 08:12 PM	#6
Tzeentch Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: [Spaceships] CthulhuTech Design Notes (V0.5) -- For their scale, the warships are armored as well as an APC if that's any indication. I really don't know exactly what some of the weapons in CTech map to in GURPS as they are never described well :) -- The NEG ship has one weapon at the same scale (major battery in TS I assume): a single plasma cannon. The swarm ship has 3 (2 null cannons, one plasma cannon). -- Hmm .. the NEG at TL10 might make more sense, and less exemptions.