Life in Space vs. Down There: Tennin vs. humans, adaptation and equipment . . .

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

So, I'm playing an Earth-native character in a campaign where visiting Earth is strictly optional within the context of the main plot. So I might as well take a close look upon the adaptations that are relevant. But, while on-topic, I figured I might as well explore the issues of adaptation in both directions. So, here goes:

First, 'mag boots'. Yes, I know that real astronauts don't use those because magnets can cause all sorts of trouble. However, surely THS has a good way of producing a gadget that is effectively Clinging (only below 0.2G)? I know some bioroid designs have the trait, but what about the gadget? I haven't seen it listed in the books (maybe I missed it). Should it provide any benefits aside from being able to walk in freefall? Particularly in terms of DX modifiers / Freefall rolls?

Second, G-Experience. The station we live on has rotary gravity ranging from negligible to Lunar. Caine, being used to Terran gravity, had to buy G-Experience (Lunar) as one of the first things upon adapting. -2 DX in Lunar gravity is unpleasant, but not game-changing for someone not relying on /DX skills. Still, I find it somewhat unpleasant that one can only halve the penalty for non-native gravity. Am I missing some way of maintaining full 'fluency' with two (or more) gravity fields?

Third, minor point: the ease of going up. Space Adaptation Syndrome is kinda bad, but you can get better after a few rolls. I suspect the intent was to make the Freefall roll HT-based instead of DX-based for purposes of adaptation. Also, being a bioroid/bioshell, lalala, No Bone Degeneration in Zero G. Except that it's kinda a waste of a point, since proper drugs can achieve the same effect, and are likely subsumed into CoL (IIRC they're cheap).

Fourth: the difficulty of going down. We have a Tennin. Tennin have a native gravity of 0G as a 0-point Feature. For that, they get to never roll for SAS, even after spending time in the well. On the downside, in Earth gravity they get -5 DX (-2 with G-Experience), -2 IQ, -2 HT & FP. Sounds brutal in exchange for what they get from their 0-point feature.

Fifth: Tennin and spacecraft. I just looked up how the two interact. Tennin have a native gravity of zero, and so they consider anything starting at ¼G and up to be High Acceleration, requiring a HT roll against FP loss and/or blackout. That neat HEDM shuttle they gave us? A small step of 2G at full thrust, not even requiring a roll from a human; for a Tennin, a big leap of HT-6. On a Chemical Rocket, they'd be slightly worse off, but at least the human would need to make a HT+0 roll too. Again, brutal.

Overall, I get the impression that Tennin as written are more of a project for the wide-eyed idealists than for pragmatic spacers. Or to be more precise, they're perfectly practical as long as you stick to the dark void and never engage in high-G manoeuvring.

Comments? Thoughts? Additions?
Thanks in advance!

[Phil Masters]

Yeah, I fudged that, mostly because I think that GURPS fluffs the treatment of gravity a bit.

It should be possible for a character to be fully comfortable in more than one gravity field, simply because that's the sort of thing that fictional heroes manage. (Note - I don't know how realistic this is, and I don't really care very much; I merely think that it's the kind of thing that is routine among cool but not grossly cinematic characters.) But as written, GURPS only lets you reduce the penalties, not eliminate them. It's as if you could never eliminate your foreign accent in another language, or get rid of cultural unfamiliarity penalties.

So I just said that the 1-point advantage made characters 100% familiar with the alternative gravity level, rather than partially. Though in practical terms, in that campaign, I could simply have ruled that the characters could and had re-tuned their gravity familiarity, making Mars level their "native" gravity for the duration of the campaign; if they suddenly found themselves in a 1-Earth-gravity field, they could reasonably have taken penalties for a few hours while they re-acclimatised.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

First, 'mag boots'. Yes, I know that real astronauts don't use those because magnets can cause all sorts of trouble. However, surely THS has a good way of producing a gadget that is effectively Clinging (only below 0.2G)? I know some bioroid designs have the trait, but what about the gadget? I haven't seen it listed in the books (maybe I missed it). Should it provide any benefits aside from being able to walk in freefall? Particularly in terms of DX modifiers / Freefall rolls?

Finally found the boots rules (TS54, TS56), turns out THS has them after all. -1 Move without the Vacc-Suit skill, normal Move otherwise. And thankfully using them does not require a Freefall roll.

[Flyndaran]

I once made a thread about such gravity issues, and no one commented. :(

I figured that it should be separate (dis)advantages for what your body is built for and what your DX is used to.
No human will really be ready for 2 g no matter how long they stay there, so while DX will eventually adapt, the rest never will.
The other side is that I think humans living in low gravity will still have a much easier time training for nearer earth like gravity than a true native evolved individual of the low gravity environment.

I thought +/- 1 point per 0.1 above/below 1.0 g. Dx native gravity is free with +1 point per extra specific experience.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Finally found the boots rules (TS54, TS56), turns out THS has them after all. -1 Move without the Vacc-Suit skill, normal Move otherwise. And thankfully using them does not require a Freefall roll.

I doubt anyone will freefall would use them. They would likely consider them silly crutches for tourists from "wells".

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I doubt anyone will freefall would use them. They would likely consider them silly crutches for tourists from "wells".

Given that the risk of failing a Free-Fall roll is nasty, and that not everyone with Freefall necessarily has it at 16, I think that's an overstatement. Then again, our Tennin characters tend to float around a lot, so even if they have them, they don't seem to be using them under routine circumstances.

(Also, for a good feel of mixing Freefall and mag boots, check out Dead Space. And DS2 if you want to have personal thrusters in the mix.)