Building Trauma Team using GURPS ULTRATECH

[hal]

Originally Posted by sjard

The only groups that don't want TTI to get there first are the competitors in setting who try to beat them to the site. Which is probably intended to lead to adventure opportunity.

Well, the competitors are always waiting to poach customers and hopefully get ahead in the game. I'm sure too, that once one competitor impedes the SLA of TT and a corporate executive doesn't get what was paid for, someone in going to have a series of cross-hairs on them from a legal standpoint.

Only thing worse than a gonk with a gun? A lawyer with a Summons.

[hal]

Interesting question was asked privately:

What happens if a TT service member is out of service area? In other words, an executive goes to Aspen to go skiing?

That would imply that areas where the wealthy congregate for amusement or what have you, will likely have a TT headquarters providing service.

It also implies that if a character enters an "out of service" area, their contract becomes inactive for the duration.

Thoughts?

[hal]

Originally Posted by sjard

Keep in mind, that part was written in something like 1989. I haven't looked yet, but I'd imagine with the updating RED got alongside 2077, it could very well be a software item in your bio-monitor that sends out a signal on the net if your vitals drop.

Edit: From the CPRED core book, "The Agent even monitors your body signs if you ask; if you're wounded, it can scan your body and call the Trauma Team if you link it to a Biomonitor." The Agent being the "Self-Adaptive AI (not a true AI)" that comes with every equivalent of the 2047 equivalent of a cell phone.

Later in that book, it also states that it can detect when your HP is at half level or when you've taken a critical hit (any roll on the damage dice that comes up a 6).

So, that implies a bio monitor that is active and scanning for actual body condition.

Now all I have to do is figure out what is a decent radio range for the device. I plan on creating a specific TT bio-monitor for use with the campaign.

[mlangsdorf]

Trauma Team presumably conditions its service agreements on your membership level. Trauma Team Black membership gets you a good faith attempt at a pickup within 10 minutes if you're injured within 15 miles of a TT service center. Trauma Team Executive Platinum Plus membership gets you an orbital re-entry vehicle standing by whenever you are more than 500 miles away from a TT service center and a guarantee that there will be a medtech dealing with your injuries in 6 minutes from receipt of emergency signal.

Your contract with TT doesn't go inactive, but TT doesn't make the same guarantees when you're in the middle of Yukon Territory.

As far as the range of the TT monitor's radio, if you agree that the mega-corps have an obligation to pass TT signals through their own internal networks[1], then you only need enough radio to reach the local network provider. Call if a few miles. TT might also seed the airspace with solar powered, lighter than air, relay drones that hang out about a mile up and provide coverage for their radios.

[1] This implies that TT has a counter-hacker team that goes around and aggressively murders any netrunner who tries to hijack/borrow/cloak themselves with TT's network symbols, which might be an interesting idea for a campaign.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by hal

It occurs to me that unless people can link a given "signal" with a given person, especially if the signals are encrypted, that even if people can track someone by their GPS locator signal, it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Is it?

What's a "gps locator signal"?

The satelites in the GPS network send out coded signals so someone equipped with a GPS _receiver_ can get a bead on those signals and determine their own location.

Then that smart Agent program can send that location to TT. It doesn't need to be running a continuous beacon. That's superfluous when it already sent its' location accurate to a meter or less.

That "homing beacon" (which you will find in UT) is a fairly cinematic piece of tech. Perhaps something like those webs of lasers that have to be bypassed with Acrobatics skill. Nobody actually builds those in the Real world.

[hal]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

What's a "gps locator signal"?

The satelites in the GPS network send out coded signals so someone equipped with a GPS _receiver_ can get a bead on those signals and determine their own location.

Then that smart Agent program can send that location to TT. It doesn't need to be running a continuous beacon. That's superfluous when it already sent its' location accurate to a meter or less.

That "homing beacon" (which you will find in UT) is a fairly cinematic piece of tech. Perhaps something like those webs of lasers that have to be bypassed with Acrobatics skill. Nobody actually builds those in the Real world.

Here is what I'm thinking - in explanation to the "what GPS signal".

Each of the people who have a contract with TT will have their own Bio-monitor or Card that can act as a signal to the TT units. The person's location can change over time, especially if he's running after being wounded. TT will need to be able to get real time information on where their contract pickup is located.

This requires a radio to transmit as well as a receiver to know where the person is (GPS locator).

In signal dead areas, the GPS won't work. That means for the TT to home in on the signal, they will have to be able to detect it, then make a bee-line for it.

Two different means of finding the person. I have to look up just what amount of range any given device in ULTRATECH has.

[hal]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

Trauma Team presumably conditions its service agreements on your membership level. Trauma Team Black membership gets you a good faith attempt at a pickup within 10 minutes if you're injured within 15 miles of a TT service center. Trauma Team Executive Platinum Plus membership gets you an orbital re-entry vehicle standing by whenever you are more than 500 miles away from a TT service center and a guarantee that there will be a medtech dealing with your injuries in 6 minutes from receipt of emergency signal.

Your contract with TT doesn't go inactive, but TT doesn't make the same guarantees when you're in the middle of Yukon Territory.

As far as the range of the TT monitor's radio, if you agree that the mega-corps have an obligation to pass TT signals through their own internal networks[1], then you only need enough radio to reach the local network provider. Call if a few miles. TT might also seed the airspace with solar powered, lighter than air, relay drones that hang out about a mile up and provide coverage for their radios.

[1] This implies that TT has a counter-hacker team that goes around and aggressively murders any netrunner who tries to hijack/borrow/cloak themselves with TT's network symbols, which might be an interesting idea for a campaign.

Well, maybe not MURDERS the hacker, but certainly works to make life difficult for them. :)

I know I'm at the limits of my useful wakefulness period and am tired, but it looks as though the rules for the radios in ULTRATECH aren't what I remember from ULTRATECH CLASSIC or GURPS VEHICLES 2nd edition.

will work on this after I get some more sleep.

[sjard]

Originally Posted by hal

Now all I have to do is figure out what is a decent radio range for the device. I plan on creating a specific TT bio-monitor for use with the campaign.

Probably just long enough to connect to the equivalent of a cell tower, so 0.25-1 mile would make sense.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by hal

So in theory, the device could be manually engaged. Problem is, if the card is misplaced or removed (stolen?) - the service holder is in deep Kimchi.

The "card" could be built into armor or clothing, hence harder to remove. Sort of the ultratech version of "Break Glass In Case of Emergency."

Such a card is also likely to have built-in biometric features, such as fingerprint or DNA identification. If you misplace the card, the built-in RFID chip links to your smart phone (or equivalent) GPS functions to lead you to it.

Since the biometric features are keyed to the owner, the best a thief can do is "brick" it, making theft unprofitable.

The card might also just be one way to contact TT; calling an emergency number might allow a card holder to be identified by various biometrics (e.g. retina or fingerprint and/or security questions.

If the owner is wearing a biomonitor, TT services act like TL8 burglar alarms. Anything that triggers the biomonitor sends a signal to TT, either via the monitor itself or via a link to some other communication device.

[mlangsdorf]

Originally Posted by hal

Well, maybe not MURDERS the hacker, but certainly works to make life difficult for them. :)

Again, the idea that Trauma Team is neutral to all corporations and can be trusted to use their privileges only for their intended purposes is essential to Trauma Team's business plans. If Smartz thinks that Trauma Team is allowing netrunners to use TT's access to attack Smartz systems, then Smartz cancels TT's access. When DMA execs have heart attacks on Smartz's property, TT doesn't get the signal and has to pay for the dead execs, plus is loses DMA's business and access to DMA's property. It doesn't take many corps pulling contracts from TT before TT can't perform its own premium service. Then it stops making the big money and goes back to be a run-of-the-mill contract ambulance service.

So Trauma Team spends a fair bit of money on enforcing the neutrality of its brand and preventing the hijacking off its signals and symbols. It's Cyberpunk; murder seems like a completely warranted response.