06-18-2023, 08:52 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Underwater colonization…how?
I want to build tunnels and domes etc for an underwater “hexcrawl”.
Does gurps have anything for something like this or will I have to hack something myself? |
06-18-2023, 01:52 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: May 2022
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
Quote:
Do you mean like a "Sealab" kind of structure? What tech level? From tech level 9 onward it should be technically possible to have a Bioshock style city built on the seafloor. Gurps ultra tech should have pretty much everything you need. It includes a variety of underwater vehicles, and pressurized/armored space suits would work fine under water, depending on the depth and pressure. There are also game mechanics for pressure sickness - probably a little unrealistically lenient in terms of being survivable but this is an RPG after all. It also has fun stuff like man portable sonar to spot threats. The main thing you'd want to decide early on is how fragile the structure they are exploring is, and if random weapons fire has a chance of causing structural failure. If this is very far under water then any walls strong enough to enter the water pressure should hold up to normal gunfire, but armor piercing bullets might penetrate or crack it. The main danger would be explosives. What would your players be fighting down there? Undersea mutants/sea monsters? Pirates/terrorists? Corporate security forces? Automated defenses? |
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06-19-2023, 07:46 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
Yeah TL9 sounds about right.
The worst thing with gurps with me is where do I start. But UT sounds good and what I need. The PCs biggest threat would be sea monsters/bugs, etc. Totally forgot about bioshock… |
06-19-2023, 07:54 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
Checking my copy of GURPS Atlantis (a 3/e supplement), I see that it has about 27 pages on doing things in submarine environments, including material on vehicles, structures, and combat. You might like to take a look.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
06-19-2023, 10:44 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: New York City
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
For 4e rules on underwater activity check out pyr.3-26 underwater adventures.
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06-19-2023, 11:54 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
If you're inside not-Rapture, the fact that you're on the seafloor barely matters unless the hab is at ambient pressure and you're applying realistic biological effects for high pressure.
(Ambient vs. controlled pressure might be an interesting question. High pressure is kinda hard on surface-dweller physiology, but maintaining the pressure differential is also hard and makes it significantly harder to do anything outside.)
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
06-19-2023, 02:10 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: New England
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
Transhuman Space: Under Pressure has some useful info for undersea adventures.
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06-19-2023, 05:46 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
The actual best place for underwater cities is just below the surface. Deep enough to be safe from storms but not so deep as to require astronomically high building costs because of high pressure. Cities floating with neutral buoyancy near the surface, with a few recreational areas at the surface, would be the most likely sort of sea city to get built.
By the way, I once read a Sci Fi story with a two mile wide geodesic sphere being built underwater. Once completed, it would be filled with air and be able to float in Earth's atmosphere. I forget most of the details, but it would make an incredible encounter.
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo |
06-19-2023, 09:52 PM | #9 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
TL9 is probably the first that it could be anything approaching a "colony".
As early as TL7, it might be possible to have something like an underwater equivalent to an Antarctic outpost or some of the early space stations - a small facility, housing a handful of people, highly dependent on outside supply. The question is why you would want to (at TL7, the answer is probably "Mr. President, we must not allow an underwater colony gap.").
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
06-20-2023, 12:55 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Underwater colonization…how?
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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