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Old 01-27-2014, 09:57 PM   #171
warellis
 
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Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

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Each Arthurian Embassy has a set of four communication mirrors, linked to the other Embassies, and to mirrors that travel with Arthur on procession. There is a rotation of scribes stationed with them continuously, just as there are for each of Arthur's prefectural and diocesal capitols, and other important cities; this is one step towards Dungeonpunk that Arthur took before the other Earth's appeared. The mirrors are linked in pairs, which means that you either need lots of mirrors to communicate with lots of places, or you need a central location with someone to move the mirrors around, or relay messages. Naturally, only very important correspondence goes through the mirrors. Other messages either need a courier, or the clacks (currently much less advanced than that version, but it conveys the idea), both of which are fairly expensive, and rather slower than the mirrors - of course, if you're especially wealthy, you can buy your own pair(s) of linked mirrors (need prices for things in the Roman Empire - how much did a nice villa cost in various eras?), to keep up with business interests.
These mirrors, they're the Dungeonpunk equivalent of telephones? The way they're set up sounds similar to how QECs in Mass Effect are set up. Could these possibly be used for FTL communications once Fa-Earth becomes a spacefaring Dungeonpunk civilization?
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Old 01-28-2014, 07:16 AM   #172
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Still thinking about Moon civilizations, and wondering if I should PM a mod to get a poll on the Selenite Biology thread... if they can add polls, here. I'm pretty sure you can add a poll when starting a thread, and I know mods on other forums can edit threads to include polls, but not so sure, here. Wasn't planning on giving Fa-Luna an atmosphere, as that would have been noticed, by now, but any or all of the Earths' Moons could have spirits inhabiting them, possibly whole civilizations of them.
You say Inp-Earth would've noticed an atmosphere on Fa-Luna, but what if there was some sort of "barrier" or illusion that would prevent scrying and, at first, advanced technology like that Inp-Earth has from noticing there's a civilization on Fa-Luna? As in it prevents any noticing there's an atmosphere? And that the "atmosphere" portion is localized on the far side of Fa-Luna. What if this civilization is located on the far side of Fa-Luna so that people from Fa-Earth wouldn't be able to tell where it's located? Now granted, perhaps some people from Fa-Earth would know there's a civilization living on the moon, but they wouldn't know where it's located specifically or much at all about it. I borrowed my ideas from the Touhou article about the Lunarians and their civilization. This civilization was based off of/inspired by the moon civilization mentioned in the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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Old 02-01-2014, 01:48 PM   #173
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Charon remember that "electromagnetic bolter" idea I had? Well I was thinking that since the US military already has the XM25, you could easily get that "electromagnetic bolter" by upgrading the launcher with electromagnets and turning the grenade into gyrocs. One of the advantages the XM25 has compared to standard 40mm grenade launchers is that the 25mm grenades are fired at a much flatter trajectory. It's also more versatile than a 40K bolter in that you can program the grenades to airburst above a target at a specific height or you can have the grenades delay their explosion after initial impact. In fact if Inp-USA can improve on electronics enough, I could see the grenades become guided. Also considering the Senate cut funding to it due to fears about malfunctions, though the Army is still funding it, having power armor could ease fears about malfunctions due to soldiers having more protection. Besides with the help of the new technologies rolling out, I could see the grenade launcher becoming lighter as well. If power armor starts being developed I could see it being used by heavy battlesuited infantry as a main weapon.

There's also the XM307 which would really fit becoming a bolter very well.

Also I think the Barrett XM109 would be useful to convert into an electromagnetic gyrojet weapon. The round it fires also comes in an airburst version now I believe. An M107A1 version of this was shown at a recent gun show.

EDIT: Actually I think that "version" is the XM109.

Since not everyone has an SB account here is the post about the idea:

Quote:
Originally Posted by wellis, post: 12670852, member: 9102
Charon I've been thinking of something: I think it'd be great if Inp-Earth created an electromagnetic bolter. As in it uses electromagnets to throw the gyroc shell out and then the shell's rocket motors ignite. It's an electromagnetic version of a 40K bolter, in that instead of using a cased chemical propellant to throw the gyroc shell out, it uses electromagnets instead.

Are the Selenians' gyrocs in any way similar to what I mentioned?
I feel using some sort of process to "kick" the gyroc rocket out of the barrel, prior to the rocket igniting its own motor, allows not only the gyroc to be more damaging at a closer range, it also saves fuel a bit for the rocket and allows longer ranges. Fuel isn't wasted pushing the rocket out the barrel.

Last edited by warellis; 02-03-2014 at 06:17 AM.
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Old 02-01-2014, 06:12 PM   #174
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I've been thinking of including this idea in the timeline, which is why I wanted warellis to post the above, here. If there's anything wrong with it that neither of us have noticed, please, do let us know. Likewise, does anyone feel like doing a GURPS writeup the EM bolter?

On another note, something I've been thinking about, that ought to be detailed, here (numbers are mostly subject to change, if anyone has a better suggestion):

A fairly recent invention on Stp-Earth, dating mostly from the 1870s (though there were some early prototypes in the late 1860s), is the machine-seed. This device, which depending on the desired end result may be sized anywhere from a coat-button to a workman's lunch-box, is in effect a single-use factory, or in other words, a machine that builds itself.

The machine-seed is activated, and then placed on a pile of appropriate material. Depending on the size and complexity of the item it is designed to produce, and how close the available material is to that item, the machine-seed then works for anywhere from some minutes to several hours, after which the material, plus the seed itself, has been converted into a rifle, or a clank, or a Thalassonautic Scaphander suit (Steam-Tech p26).

The instructions packaged with the machine-seed include a list of all materials needed for the device the seed is designed to 'grow', along with warnings that failure to supply the seed with its requirements must needs void the warranty, as the resulting equipment will very likely not work as well, if at all. Some of the more expensive varieties of machine-seed are capable of improvising with inappropriate building materials, have the ability to smelt metals from ores and/or alloys, or even create new chemicals from simpler substances (or reduce compound to their component elements, and then build new ones), but even these have limits.

In general, it's much cheaper to just buy the resulting machine, than to purchase a machine-seed for it, but when what you can carry with you is strictly limited by mass and volume, as in space travel (or must be both small and hidden, as needed by certain Covert Agents of Her Majesty's Government), the machine-seed is money well spent.

The price is based on the cost of the resulting item, with CF+2 and up (plus the cost of materials, normally purchased in-situ). The size of the resulting item determines the size of the seed, as does the complexity. A seed made to be disguised as a coat-button (SM-11) could be used to produce a rifle with telescopic sight (SM-2 or so), while the largest ones, the size of a lunch-box or attaché case (about SM-4, being generous) could produce a smallish personal vehicle, such as an Armoured Walking-Machine (SM+2). Machine-seeds can be made to operate in groups, with several together building a single device (though the minimum size remains SM-11), in which case the minimum cost factor for a single group is +1.4, rather than +2. This allows even larger items to be built by the same size seed.

The above probably needs revision, but I am very tired, and want to get it posted, since I bothered to type it up.
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Old 02-01-2014, 11:46 PM   #175
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Are you going to post your information on the world lines anytime soon here, the ones with timeline data like current year, great powers, etc.? You know the ones you showed me in PMs in Spacebattles?

And how big is this Armored Walking Machine? Is it a Mini-Mecha or power armor in size? In fact does Stp-Earth have power armor?

EDIT: Speaking of mini-mecha, I could see Inp-Japan possibly militarizing the Kuratas, or possibly selling it to other Inp-Earth nations for military purposes. I wouldn't be surprised if any practical mecha stuff i.e. not Gundam but more like Armored Trooper VOTOMS, would be based off of the Kuratas.

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Old 02-02-2014, 08:08 PM   #176
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Are you going to post your information on the world lines anytime soon here, the ones with timeline data like current year, great powers, etc.? You know the ones you showed me in PMs in Spacebattles?

And how big is this Armored Walking Machine? Is it a Mini-Mecha or power armor in size? In fact does Stp-Earth have power armor?

EDIT: Speaking of mini-mecha, I could see Inp-Japan possibly militarizing the Kuratas, or possibly selling it to other Inp-Earth nations for military purposes. I wouldn't be surprised if any practical mecha stuff i.e. not Gundam but more like Armored Trooper VOTOMS, would be based off of the Kuratas.
Answered on SB.com. When I go there again (probably tomorrow, as there's a sleep issue, and every time I've checked for the last few hours, it's been down), I'll go and copy the answer here, as others reading it here might be interested.

On another note, I've been thinking more about Flash, Dale, et al. These people are Pulp Heroes, and so are around low comic-book power levels. Flash is a good all-around warrior and leader, Aura is a skilled warrior, Dr. Zarkov is a brilliant scientist with probably two or three Talents at high levels, and Dale is the Queen of Social Fu - if you let her speak, you have already lost (she and Zarkov are also a pretty capable fighters and guerrilla leaders in their own right - Dale more than Zarkov, especially as a leader - but that's not where they really shine).

Given the 300 to 400 point level, this is not terribly difficult. I've been thinking that Aura is at a slightly lower point level than her spouses (Dale controls the Court of Mongo better than she, who was born to it), but rather than being intimidated by it, she's proud to have snared the two of them.

The people of the Mongoan capital city, and of the Imperial Court, specifically, still mostly think of the new Emperor pretty much the way the people of Aquilona would have thought of Conan the Cimmerian, when he became their King. Dale, they were expecting to be basically the same, but female, and there was much gossip about how Aura could possible keep up with the savage lusts of two off-world barbarians. The fact that the Empress Dale is such a brilliant speaker still throws people for a loop sometimes, especially when she couldn't possibly have consulted a speechwriter, beforehand. Likewise, the fact that Flash is not an idiot (no surprise to any of the officers or soldiers who once faced him), and that Aura doesn't constantly look exhausted.
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

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Old 02-02-2014, 08:42 PM   #177
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Is there a dark side to Mongo and its society and values?
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Old 02-02-2014, 08:53 PM   #178
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(insert obligatory mumbling about SB probably getting slapped with a frivolous DMCA again.)

I figure it is only a matter of time before someone figures out how to use a universal Turing machine to manifest and or direct a thoughtform. On Fa- and Clp-Earths, this would remain a mathematical curiosity. Stp-Earth could do it, albeit very slowly. Dsp-Earth could do it, but it would take large, expensive computers a while to do so.

Inp-Earth would wind up with supercomputers competing with distributed computing for casting spells, and the supercomputers would probably loose, especially given the existence of things like SETI@home, Fold@home, and Galaxy Zoo (currently Galaxy Zoo IV, as the first three iterations were completely analyzed to exhaustion.) Really, the only question with UTM-casting is how to motivate enough people to participate.
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Old 02-02-2014, 09:02 PM   #179
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Is there a dark side to Mongo and its society and values?
Mongo has several societies with various values, some quite dark. For one thing, the system is very open to abuse (as seen during Ming's reign - I mean, would you reelect someone nicknamed 'the Merciless' due to his actions while in power?), and very resistant to change that would make it harder to abuse. The Corruption level in most areas is on-par with some parts of Eastern Europe in fiction that makes fun of how corrupt Eastern Europe is (OK, not necessarily that bad, but you get the idea) - this was very useful for Flash and Dale while they were on the run, bribery is a tool like any other when you're running a revolution, but is something of an issue now that they're in power.

There's a lot of places where slavery, serfdom, and similar systems are still considered normal, and people get confused if anyone tells them it's wrong. Likewise, while the Capital region treats women as pretty close to equal to men of the same Status and/or Rank, other areas have very different opinions (not always with the men on top, as I was thinking that Dale is technically Queen of the Amazons - possibly by accident, as Pulp Heroes do tend to have Serendipity and Ridiculous Luck).

EDIT: Need to think about samd6's post, will probably reply tomorrow.
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
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Old 02-03-2014, 01:22 AM   #180
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EDIT: Speaking of mini-mecha, I could see Inp-Japan possibly militarizing the Kuratas, or possibly selling it to other Inp-Earth nations for military purposes. I wouldn't be surprised if any practical mecha stuff i.e. not Gundam but more like Armored Trooper VOTOMS, would be based off of the Kuratas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon, post: 13013422, member: 6882
It would sell better off Inp-Earth, as while magic helps, tanks are still more practical for most applications.
Armored Walkers - Stp Earth
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon, post: 13014242, member: 6882
They're used more by explorers than by the military, but are purchased by both, for use in areas that wheeled vehicles have difficulty in. Due to expense, there aren't a lot of them - so, no Walker battalions the way we have tank battalions (EDIT: They're more like an officer's mount, or a road-clearing device).

They tend to be piloted vehicles with a dedicated Analytical Engine to help with manoeuvering. Some also have a true clank-brain, though.
Considering you mentioned in your answer on SB.com that the "Armored Military Walkers" used on Stp-Earth had both military and exploration roles, and considering Dsp-Earth was also experimenting with mecha, why wouldn't Inp-Earth also start experimenting with mecha? I'm not talking about Gundam sized mecha, 18 meters in height, but something like a Scopedog, around 3-4 meters in height. At that size, I think they could be used in terrain that'd be more difficult for tanks or IFVs/APCs to travel in, acting like a one man IFV or scout.

Also I don't see Inp-Japan selling it to the other Earths currently due to how few have been produced, that and I think the bigger market is on Inp-Earth right now due to all the experimenting and testing of ideas previously dismissed as impractical. And honestly doing so might give away tech secrets. Unless they really monkeyed down the walker being sold.

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