Mailanka's Musings -- GURPS Content Post

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

A minor detail, but you could argue that Han Solo was using a handheld scanner on Hoth when he went out looking for Luke Skywalker. Certainly, he was holding something about the size of a lunchbox with antennas on it
http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/ga...oat_stillC.jpg

Also, droids were often equipped with scanners of some kind. R2D2 certainly had one, and likely the probe droid on Hoth did as well.

Luke

Hmmm, that's true, and it's likely the same sort of multi-scanner you see on vehicles. Why a handheld scanner works like that in Empire Strikes Back while in A New Hope they need a giant, heavy thing to scan the ship, I don't know. My only fear of adding smaller-scale scanners is that they'll evoke Star Trek more than Star Wars, but perhaps the sort of adventures players have will make a difference (there are more ways in which Star Wars and Star Trek are similar)

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Hmmm, that's true, and it's likely the same sort of multi-scanner you see on vehicles. Why a handheld scanner works like that in Empire Strikes Back while in A New Hope they need a giant, heavy thing to scan the ship, I don't know.

I'd rationalize it by saying that Han's using a simple scanner that'll pick up body warmth or life signs in an area that's quite cold and largely devoid of life signs - it doesn't need to be hugely accurate to pick up Luke's signature. The stormtrooper scanning the Falcon, on the other hand, are searching for deliberately hidden "stuff" on a ship that may, perhaps, have shielded smuggling compartments and is in any case made of scan-resistant material just because it's a spaceship. The large scanner might also be the most convenient one in the docking bay, since they may have planned that bay to be the one receiving ships tractored in and needing to be thoroughly searched.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

I'd rationalize it by saying that Han's using a simple scanner that'll pick up body warmth or life signs in an area that's quite cold and largely devoid of life signs - it doesn't need to be hugely accurate to pick up Luke's signature. The stormtrooper scanning the Falcon, on the other hand, are searching for deliberately hidden "stuff" on a ship that may, perhaps, have shielded smuggling compartments and is in any case made of scan-resistant material just because it's a spaceship. The large scanner might also be the most convenient one in the docking bay, since they may have planned that bay to be the one receiving ships tractored in and needing to be thoroughly searched.

Also quite possibly the crate in the original movie wasn't a scanner, but a bunch of smaller sensors that had to be placed around the ship.

[Mailanka]

Happy GURPS Day! I've got double trouble for you!

First, I have a state of the Blog post, which explains why things have been slower than I'd like, where I'm going to go from here, and announces when and how you can access my Orphan of the Stars political gameplay document!


Second, I have a wrap-up for the Patreon Tech Week: Explosives revisited. If your a patron, check it out!

[Mailanka]

This week I'm taking a break from Psi-Wars (to give myself time to get the Alliance in order), so as an outtake, I'm showing you the notes to the work someone commissioned: Orphan of the Stars, a political space opera inspired by Dune.

Today, I have "Iteration 1" available, a sweeping look at the setting based on the notes given to me by my client, including a roadmap for where my work would go.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

This week I'm taking a break from Psi-Wars (to give myself time to get the Alliance in order), so as an outtake, I'm showing you the notes to the work someone commissioned: Orphan of the Stars, a political space opera inspired by Dune.

Today, I have "Iteration 1" available, a sweeping look at the setting based on the notes given to me by my client, including a roadmap for where my work would go.

I noticed that you could go with a motif of "12" through the game. You have twelve original survivors, the worlds number "perhaps a dozen", and you have pretty close to 12 proposed occupational templates.

Luke

[Seraphim]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Orphan of the Stars

This is extremely interesting!

[Mailanka]

Note, and I just emphasize this for clarity for everyone: this isn't my setting, but my client's setting. I'm just writing the mechanics. So if you think it sounds super cool, thank him!

Okay

Today, in Orphan of the Stars, a meditation on politics, which began as a proposal for how I'd like to go forward and several possible directions to take the system (He chose for "MAXIMUM DETAIL!"), but it might be useful to those of you who are shaping your own thoughts on politics.

[Mailanka]

Today, for Orphan of the Stars, I dig deep into GURPS City Stats as a way of representing detailed planetary infrastructure.

[ericthered]

These are really good musings.

Of course, they come out three months after I start a game where the PC's run a city!

I think these articles are something Gurps really needs: how to run a game based on running a polity.

I'm interested in how you're going to track support among different groups of people: Its something I'm really struggling with!