Life & Temperatures on Titan

[DataPacRat]

I have a half-formed idea I could use some help firming up: I'm trying to think up some variants of UT's "Ablative Foam". In UT, it provides DR vs burning damage only... but today, we've got the extremely similar spray-on truck bedliner, which arguably adds DR 15 with a 1/16"-thin layer (previous discussion: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=155423 ).

I'm thinking of treating the TL10 versions as what VX1 calls 'applique armor' - depending on the exact formulation, pick a DR, and just spray a coat that thick. 5% heavier and more expensive than building it in from scratch, it reduces any streamlining to fair at best, etc. (Optionally with modest or basic stealth properties thrown in.)

But there are probably issues with that approach that need tweaks or fixes. Anyone want to point out how it could all go terribly wrong? :)


I'm also trying to think of other potential spray-on substances... specifically, ridiculously-efficient spray-on insulation. (As an emergency anti-frostbite measure if something bad happens to someone's suit, vehicle, or the like.) Maybe technobabble about microencapsulated aerogel particles. ... Any suggestions on this one?

[DataPacRat]

New question; how high can a TL10 bioroid be designed to jump, on Titan?

Let's say it's something rabbit-themed, because of course that's what the marketing department would insist on.

The relevant built-in tweaks, from BioTech, would seem to be:
- Burst Reflexes: Basic Speed +1.00 (Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%) [18]
- HT+2 [20]
- DX+2 [20]
... plus bonii to FP, Catfall in case of bad landings, and tweaks to be more rabbity and for living on Titan.
Throw in the biomod Neural Augmentation (Basic Speed +3.00 [60], and we can assume the bioroid has practiced enough to lose Klutz), which appears to also be compatible with the Proteus Nanovirus Nerve Boosters (Basic Speed +1.00 [20]),

When the Burst Reflexes are triggered, that seems to be an overall Basic Speed of 11. Looking at pB350, Titan's gravity is 1/7.25 Earth's, so that'll be our multiplier. Via pB350, it looks like this lady has a standing high jump on Earth of 56" (4'8"), a running high jump on Earth of 112" (9'4"), a standing high jump on Titan of 406" (33'10"), and a running high jump of up to 406+56=462" (38'6").

I'm not quite sure how the rules for extra effort mesh with Burst Reflexes; anyone know how that'd affect those numbers? Have I missed a piece of algebra anywhere?


I'm also trying to figure out how fast she'd run; with an Earthly standing Broad Jump of 19 feet, a Titanian standing Broad Jump of 137.75 feet (45.91 yards), and a Basic Move (with Burst reflexes) of 11, it looks like the option to apply Super Jump's rules (1/5th of 45.91 = 9.18) don't offer any advantage. But I could easily have wrong-footed the math. Any takers? :)

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by DataPacRat

N

The relevant built-in tweaks, from BioTech, would seem to be:
- Burst Reflexes: Basic Speed +1.00 (Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%) [18]
- HT+2 [20]
- DX+2 [20]
... plus bonii to FP, Catfall in case of bad landings, and tweaks to be more rabbity and for living on Titan.

TL 10 allows a +1 to Basic Speed. That's on p.55 with the Nervous System mods.

On p.53 with the Devolutionary mods Semi-Upright can allow for 1/2 level of Enhanced Move. They were probably thinking of something baboon-like but your rabbitoid could sit up on his haunches to use his front limbs as manipulators but bend forward and run on all fours. The Enhanced Move would apply to Running Jumps.

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

TL 10 allows a +1 to Basic Speed. That's on p.55 with the Nervous System mods.

There's always something I miss. :) Alright, that brings us up to Speed & Move 12.

On p.53 with the Devolutionary mods Semi-Upright can allow for 1/2 level of Enhanced Move. They were probably thinking of something baboon-like but your rabbitoid could sit up on his haunches to use his front limbs as manipulators but bend forward and run on all fours. The Enhanced Move would apply to Running Jumps.

I'm not sure it would improve the height or distance jumped, though. Taking a standard run-up can up to double how far the bioroid can jump; while applying Enhanced Move replaces the run-up bonus, and a half-level would only multiply Basic Move by 1.5, which wouldn't even multiply the distances by 1.5.


Alright, so far, it looks like this lady has a standing high jump on Earth of 62" (5'4"), a running high jump on Earth of 124" (10'8") (with a run-up of 31 feet), a standing high jump on Titan of 449" (37'5"), and a running high jump of up to 449+62=511" (42'7").


I think I've managed to thoroughly befuddle myself on what "extra effort" does for a jumper, pB356-7. A PC spends 1 FP, makes a Will roll (or Will-based Jumping skill roll), and if she succeeds, she increases her distance jumped... but how much distance? I can't seem to find anything under Jumping, Different Gravity, or Extra Effort's notes on jumping.

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by DataPacRat

I think I've managed to thoroughly befuddle myself on what "extra effort" does for a jumper, pB356-7. A PC spends 1 FP, makes a Will roll (or Will-based Jumping skill roll), and if she succeeds, she increases her distance jumped... but how much distance? I can't seem to find anything under Jumping, Different Gravity, or Extra Effort's notes on jumping.

Found what I kept overlooking, a paragraph into pB357 - the PC gets to pick how much harder they try, in 5% increments, with -1 to their Will (or Will-based Jumping) roll per 5%.

Latest silly thoughts: If the rabbitoid bioroid is actually a bioshell, then an AI Skill program that would fit into the C7 brain would, if my math is right, provide 32 skill points, cost $800, and provide Attribute+9.
... And now I'm wondering how well such a program would apply to extra effort: Would a Ghost/AI be able to run it, and get to roll against their Will+9 instead of straight Will, thus being able to get a 50% boost to jump-height as easily as they'd be able to get a 5% boost without the assist?


On another note - does GURPS have any advice on the costs of architecture at a high TL? About the only guidelines I remember are for pyramids and temples in one of the Low-Tech supplements, or the mast-height limits in 3e's Vehicles; while I'm wondering more about how feasible/expensive a radio-tower/lighthouse of any given height would be in Titanian gravity.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by DataPacRat

F I'm wondering more about how feasible/expensive a radio-tower/lighthouse of any given height would be in Titanian gravity.

At Transhuman TL 10 the limiting factor is likely to be either avaialble finances or local wind/weather conditions. That dense atmosphere could have problematic weather.

You're the one who decides how much money the builders have which is likely to resolve itself in to enough/not enough.

Otherwise the point where youc an no longer build a carbon nanotube tower is probably after the point where you decided to switch to a beanstalk anyway.

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by DataPacRat

On another note - does GURPS have any advice on the costs of architecture at a high TL?

The best I've found is the mention in Pyramid 34, to apply the Spaceships system, with a couple of very minor tweaks.

I've thrown together a quick design for a city-dome with a population of 120,000, and mixed use; if it holds up to scrutiny, I'll be adjusting the basic design for similar-sized domes with lower population that focus more on agriculture, or industry.

Dome 1 (pop 120k, mixed use):
SM +15, USL: 3M tons, length 700 yards, dST/HP 1,000
- control room for building: halve cost
- TL10, computers TL11; exposed radiators
- Slower Industrial Systems
- Lacks Automation
- Self-Healing: 10 dHP/day, $60B
* Systems, 20:
3: Armor, Steel: dDR 70/70/70, $1.8B
2/3: 2 SM+14 Cargo Holds (capacity 100k tons)
1/3: 1 SM+14 Control Room: C12 computer, Comm/Sensor 13, 40 control stations, 100+1,000 workspaces, $1B
1: Factory (Fabricator): $500M/day, 300+3,000 workspaces, $150B
1: Power Plant, Perpetual Motion Machine, 1 PP: 300+3,000 workspaces, $20B
6: Habitats: 60,000 luxury cabins, 1,800+18,000 workspaces, $18B
3: Habitats (specialized rooms: briefing rooms, establishments, labs, offices & ops centers, hospitals): 60,000 cabins, 900+9,000 workspaces, $9B+
2: Open Spaces (Farms): 400 areas (20 acres), 600 techs, $40M
3: Open Spaces: 600 areas (30 acres), 900 techs, $60M
* Stats:
- Total cost: $259.9B ($2.16M per capita)
- Population: 120,000
- Crew: 37,400 workspaces, 40 control stations, 1500 techs
- HT 15 (13, +1 from factory, +1 from lacks automation)


... One thing I'm still futzing around with is that my estimate for a 2-mile-wide dome is that it contains around 2,010 acres, and it'd need at least 610 acres (actually 1,800 acres, but three floors of them) to have enough agriculture to feed itself. I'm thinking of upping the size to SM+17 or SM+18, but keeping most of the above systems at SM+15, dedicating the extra space to Open Spaces. For SM+17, that'd increase the cost by only $18B (+$1.8B for 18 SM+17 open spaces, +$16.2B for upsizing the armor 2 SMs), which seems quite reasonable, especially for the increase in quality of life with all the walking-around space. If I do that, then I'll probably drop the factory a SM or two, since it won't be directly contributing to HT, which would roughly halve the overall cost.

(I'm also thinking of cheating with a lot of the workspaces, since THS: Broken Dreams mentions a 'humaniform' cybershell only costs $4k plus up to $10k for its computer, which should be able to handle almost all routine maintenance tasks without needing a biological human... :) )


How does the scaling look to you?

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Titan is a cold climate, unsuitable for normal heat systems (extreme is for Antarctica, not Titan). A TL10 smart vacc suit is probably your best bet, though it costs $5,500 with a TL10 flexible helmet. Then again, $5,500 is 11% of starting wealth at TL10 and would likely be considered normal clothing on Titan (coming out of the 80% allocated for assets).

All characters get free basic clothing. This is regardless of whether they have 80% of wealth allocated to a settled lifestyle under the optional 80/20 split for starting wealth.

[DataPacRat]

Anyone have a clue on how deep a borehole could be dug with non-^ TL10?

The current best model of Titan posits a liquid-water ocean about 75 km down, and presumably there'd be at least one exploratory tunnel, if it's feasible. (There don't seem to be any resources worth digging that deep for, that I can find.)

Here on Earth, we made it about 12 km down before the rocks got so hot they became too melty to drill through, but Titan's a lot colder - of course, its surface 'rocks' are actually mostly water-cooled ice.

I thought GURPS: Alpha Centauri's thermal boreholes might have some relevant numbers, but didn't find any; ditto Pulver's article in Pyramid on red mercury.



In case you're curious, here's my current notes on Titan's layers:
- Surface, 150 kPa, 94 K
- 2500-2573 km: Decoupled shell of normal ice (type 1h), somewhere within the bands ~0.15-200 MPa, ~170-270 K
- 2100-2500 km: global subsurface ocean of salty liquid water and ammonia, ?at least 200-500 MPa, ?170 K+
- 1700-2100 km: high-pressure Ice (type VI), ~0.5-2 GPa, ~170-355 K
- 1300-1700km: Hydrous silicate core, ~500-800 K
- 0-1300km: Anhydrous silicate inner core, 900-1275K
- ? 0-500km: iron-rich core

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

All characters get free basic clothing. This is regardless of whether they have 80% of wealth allocated to a settled lifestyle under the optional 80/20 split for starting wealth.

Characters get standard clothing appropriate for their Status for free, they do not get environmental or protective gear for free. Even if it is considered 'normal clothing' for Titan, it is not standard clothing for their TL and their Status. Of course, the GM could decide that everyone gets it for free as part of a social welfare program (it is effectively a 1 CP Signature Gear).