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Old 01-23-2022, 04:50 PM   #21
johndallman
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Default Re: Vacc Suits

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
For small leaks, sealant kits are widely available, provided by neighborhood associations (a cross between a condo association and a town government). (Question: What skill would be used for that sort of damage control? The sealant kits would be designed to be simple to use, with skill bonuses, but there ought to be some basic skill requirement.)
It's part of Housekeeping for this setting, I think. Just as putting out a stove-top fire is for Earth 2022.
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Old 01-23-2022, 04:57 PM   #22
whswhs
 
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This is what Farmer suggested and you agreed was plausible, with the understanding that "shipboard life" in this context implies "living in a habitat."
I see that the definition does include "space base." I don't quite think of a settlement on the surface of a planet as a "space base"—the phrase brings to mind orbital stations—but I do see that it's relevantly similar. On the other hand, in a community of 50,000 people, or even a neighborhood of 8000, I don't quite see 1500-2000 adult males all having the skill package you describe.

In PP, the corporate government encourages the formation of neighborhood watches, and their members will be trained in the relevant skills. But nonmembers will have Spacer at the default of IQ-4. And then the emergency gear will be set up to provide instructions to a user who needs them, which add 50% to the cost and provide +5 to effective skill (raising it effectively to IQ+1). That provides for immigrants who haven't been trained in the relevant skills for living in outer space.

I have to grant that Crewman is a better fit than what I thought of, which was Urban Survival.
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Old 01-23-2022, 05:43 PM   #23
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Default Re: Vacc Suits

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On the other hand, in a community of 50,000 people, or even a neighborhood of 8000, I don't quite see 1500-2000 adult males all having the skill package you describe.
The relevant question is, what are the chances of being the only competent person (adult male, if that's how your setting defines things) in an airtight compartment when an accident occurs?

If there are blocks (of housing, work, shopping, etc.) with airtight doors between them, there only need to be a few competent responders in each at any given time. If every family dwelling unit can be individually sealed, every competent person will necessarily be familiar with the procedures.

Space (including the surface of Mars) is an inherently lethal environment. Taking a 5-week orientation course (possibly spread over several years, say in secondary school) is a small price to pay for the added assurance that whoever is present at an event isn't going to make things worse for everyone else.

On the other hand, from a RAW standpoint you could say that all most people get is familiarization (~ 8 hours), and they are expected to react at a default (IQ-4). This is similar to the way that Driving is handled for ordinary civilians on Earth.
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Old 01-23-2022, 06:02 PM   #24
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On the other hand, from a RAW standpoint you could say that all most people get is familiarization (~ 8 hours), and they are expected to react at a default (IQ-4). This is similar to the way that Driving is handled for ordinary civilians on Earth.
That's a good call. If you want some "formal" level for anyone (be it everyone or just a set of "local first responders" go with a variation of crewman. Those who should have it higher can, otherwise 1 point becomes the minimum requirement for qualification. Everyone else take it as a familiarisation on the default, with pluses for having clear signs and easy to use equipment - this reflects the larger scope of people covered. Then again, some cultures have national service, and some have mandatory driver ed., and some have almost universal learning of CPR and water environment life saving, so it's not unreasonable to think that all inhabitants have direct training in a related skill. It's given over numerous years at school, or over an intense official course for newcomers.
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Old 01-23-2022, 06:37 PM   #25
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That's a good call. If you want some "formal" level for anyone (be it everyone or just a set of "local first responders" go with a variation of crewman. Those who should have it higher can, otherwise 1 point becomes the minimum requirement for qualification. Everyone else take it as a familiarisation on the default, with pluses for having clear signs and easy to use equipment - this reflects the larger scope of people covered. Then again, some cultures have national service, and some have mandatory driver ed., and some have almost universal learning of CPR and water environment life saving, so it's not unreasonable to think that all inhabitants have direct training in a related skill. It's given over numerous years at school, or over an intense official course for newcomers.
There are very likely Martian settlements that work that way. But the Brazilian Empire is CR 1 overall, and even Pavonis Portal is only CR 2. They don't have conscription or compulsory schooling.

Employees of the corporation that governs the city could plausibly be required to undergo the sort of training you describe. But a substantial majority of citizens are not corporate employees.

The basic familiarization routine is a good idea; I can use that as a scene in an early session. But I think it's provided not by the city government but by the neighborhood associations of the several spokes of the wheel, as part of the moving-in process.
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Old 01-23-2022, 08:24 PM   #26
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The basic familiarization routine is a good idea; I can use that as a scene in an early session. But I think it's provided not by the city government but by the neighborhood associations of the several spokes of the wheel, as part of the moving-in process.
I like that take on it. Makes sense.

No compulsory schooling is interesting, particularly in a higher tech environment. Seems like a lot of things that would be needed in terms of general knowledge would be well underpinned by at least some basic requirement to attend school. Even without compulsion, surely most of them attend to some point, even if they're corporate academies?
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Old 01-23-2022, 09:20 PM   #27
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No compulsory schooling is interesting, particularly in a higher tech environment. Seems like a lot of things that would be needed in terms of general knowledge would be well underpinned by at least some basic requirement to attend school. Even without compulsion, surely most of them attend to some point, even if they're corporate academies?
It's more complicated than that.

* The Brazilian Empire is floridly capitalistic, with massive inequalities of rich and poor, and the moral doctrine that envy of others' wealth is a sin. There's no redistributive taxation (though various religious bodies sponsor charities, and most people are religious). So there are still people available to be hired as servants, and the rich or even the prosperous are more comfortable with conspicuous consumption than in our society, and are willing to employ servants.

* Still, most parents do want their children educated.

* Much education is provided by what we would call private schools: corporate schools run by the city government for the benefit of its employees (but open to nonemployees who can pay the fees), religious schools, schools for the socially aspirational, technically oriented schools. There are also less formal schools, such as the capoeira academies, which may do their teaching in the streets.

* However, there are also a lot of online educational resources. Poor parents may just subscribe to a recorded course with automatic tests; better off ones may also pay for access to an advisor.

* There are people who give private lessons.

* The wealthy hire governesses and tutors, who give their kids one on one education.

* In the empire on Earth, there are universities, but Pavonis Portal is too small to have one, and more focused on commerce than on scholarship. Kids who want a scholarly education may go to Harmonia for a few years at one of their universities.

* Literacy isn't universal but is close to it, around 90-95%.

* Relatively few jobs have formal certification by taking examinations. Rather more have apprenticeships. Still more work on the basis that "if you can demonstrate the ability to repair a computer, then you're a computer tech." People acquire work dossiers online that their prospective employers can review.

This will probably come up in play. Sakura is from Aoteara, which is a province of the Japanese Empire, and though it's relatively freegoing by Japanese standards, she still had a very formal education. Her husband and her sisters-in-law had tutors and freedom to study things that interested them. Her youngest sister-in-law (an NPC) is going to a Muslim family for lessons on playing the lute, for example.
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Old 01-23-2022, 10:50 PM   #28
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Interesting and good stuff!
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Old 01-23-2022, 11:14 PM   #29
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Interesting and good stuff!
Thank you! This setting isn't intended as a utopia, but as a heterotopia, a place with different customs and assumptions than ours. (To repeat the Bernard Shaw quotation Heinlein used at the start of Glory Road, "He is a barbarian, and thinks the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.") It does engage my libertarian sympathies, but at the same time it has a lower CR than I would want to live under—which is different from a lot of settings, making it interesting for me, and which offers lots of room for people to have adventures.
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Old 01-24-2022, 07:16 AM   #30
dcarson
 
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Default Re: Vacc Suits

I can also see rescue balls that you curl up in and zip shut in case of emergency and wait for rescue. The city needs life support distribution anyway so having access points to connect suits to for recharge like cities have fire hydrants could also make sense.

I also agree with Housekeeping at a minus for sealing leaks, it does cover basic handyman activities.
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