09-27-2019, 10:54 AM | #41 |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
I think what the GM needs to do is design the control interface and allow them to figure out what is wrong from the error messages.
Don't make it just winken-blinken-und-der-flashing-lights. Have actual text turn up. The next problem is finding someone who can read that language or at least a multi-lingual manual. "'When the sprurtzmakker is infobulated the Ping-sensor will flash bright Tongspitzen-fruit colour.' Does that look like Tongspitzen fruit to you?"
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09-27-2019, 01:47 PM | #42 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
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09-27-2019, 08:04 PM | #43 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
dOne thing that the GM could remember is to make sure at least something is comprehensible to the PCs. DS9 Civil Defense was one of the better ones but one problem is that most of what they were doing was just having a lot of superhacking and justified it by fancy words.
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09-27-2019, 08:19 PM | #44 |
Join Date: May 2009
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
I love that crazy technobabble! You should watch the video after it.It's pretty funny too. Thanks for posting it.
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09-27-2019, 10:50 PM | #45 | |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Republic of Texas; FOS
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
Quote:
Other systems might also use NH4OH, a strong base (liquid), and lots of its reactions put off ammonia gas. Ammonia gas goes from irritating to deadly depending on density, mildly noxious air would make a good “dangerous over time, but not immediately deadly” device. The damage or effects vary, so you can dial it either way as the crisis continues and needs more or less pressure on the PCs. A very nasty acid to encounter is dilute (1-50%) HF. (Hydrofluoric Acid). Used for etching glass, or silicon chips, and probably has some uses on a ultra tech ship. No smell, looks and feels like water. It doesn’t burn when it gets on your skin. If you breathe mild concentrations of the odorless vapor, you’ll get nauseous (but may not know the source). If it gets on your skin, and you ignore it (like water or sweat), you’ll start feeling pain a few hours later. That’s the calcium in the bones decaying. Treated quickly, it can be countered by giving a stronger source of calcium for the HF to react with. Untreated, the extra calcium in the blood leads pretty quickly from the intense pain stage to cardiac arrest ...anyway typing this, I realize you probably don’t want to inflict real-life HF dangers on PCs. The stuff is very much a “hey that’s not fair” substance that doesn’t make a for a fun plot or challenge. The good news is that the 5 gallon jug of water successfully put out the fire. The bad news is that it wasn’t water. And you die. No, I haven’t used HF in-game yet.
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09-27-2019, 11:26 PM | #46 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
Chemical batteries seem unlikely past TL8, as they have low energy density. Capacitors, especially 1+ farad capacitors with 10,000+ volts per metric ton of hyperdrive, would seem more likely. Of course, that much energy is quite dangerous.
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09-28-2019, 12:32 AM | #47 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
Quote:
Not that it matters here. Any system capable of powering energy weapons is going to have one or more exciting failure modes, it's just a question of which. |
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09-28-2019, 12:48 AM | #48 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
I tend to assume that that power cells at TL 10+ involve superconductor loops for energy storage. Of course that might involve refrigerant.
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09-28-2019, 01:41 AM | #49 | |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
Quote:
"I am my system administrator." "Error 252..."
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09-28-2019, 07:57 AM | #50 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: How to Depict a Broken FTL Drive (and other Superscience)
What if whatever damaged the drive also damaged the systems diagnostic?
"Error 17956-A-154. Error XYJ-X-008" "That means a mutiny and we're under water?! The A.I. is borked."
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