Stardust Revival (OOC and sign up)

[jep'ray]

Ok, here we go! The sign up thread and ooc for the sci-fi Rpt...now some people have said we got abit too much background information to digest properly. I will post all the current fluff that I have, but you don’t have to read any of it if you don’t want to…it will be here waiting as reference material as we start missions, I will post in here which system will be involved…so hopefully it wont be overwhelming…this is also to aid in your character creation…so feel free to use any planet as your home planet or make one up and we can include it into the fluff pile…

Main systems

Hegemony of Sol: Inner system / core planets: They are easily the most powerful and largest group of planets and hold center stage to all other factions. They meddle in other governments to parlay peace and further their own agendas.
A large standing fleet and patrol force.

…Update…

Sol System
Terra: Population 6 Billion
The human home-world still has by far the largest population though military and political power has mostly moved to the Halo. Because of possible environmental damage from heat put into the atmosphere, no civilian traffic is allowed to lift off for space from the surface or drop through the atmosphere with aro-braking. Non military goods are shipped by space elevator through the Halo

Earth Halo: Population 500 million
Earth Halo started as a few orbiting colonies and manufacturing centers that continually built up as excess asteroidal material sent to Earth orbit was converted into more and more habitats and factories. The construction of the two space elevators gave cheap access to the largest known market in the universe which further fueled the Halo's growth. Currently the Halo contains 40% of the entire human manufacturing output with the ability to scale up 50% more with short notice. The people of the Halo have the highest standard of living, not counting the Rocks and System Vehicles.

Luna: Population 50,000
Settled early as a waypoint to Mars, Luna never grew as quickly as expected. Currently the Lunar colonies mine and refine materials that are sent to the Halo via mass driver to supplement the constant stream of rocks pushed from the asteroid belt. Powerful weapon emplacements are on the moon able to prevent any attack from any direction not exactly opposite the Earth from Luna.

Asteroid Belt: Population 1.3 million (?)
Sparsely populated region, most activity involves prospecting rocks and readying them for flight to the Halo.

Mars: Population 5 million
Vast underground cities house the millions who call Mars home. The Martian government acts as a separate entity from the rest of the system but when dealing with outsiders will be solidly with the main government.

Venus: Population 700,000
Currently Venus is undergoing Terraforming. A large dust cloud was placed between Venus and the sun and gigantic machines are trapping greenhouse gasses to bring the worlds temperature down. A small moon named Pearl was created in Venus' orbit and is being used as a base for the Terraforming operation.

Jupiter (and moons): Population 200,000
Jupiter is the primary manufacturing center for cryogenic Helium 3 fuel used as reactor fuel in most space ships and planet based power plants in the Sol System.

Saturn: Population (Classified)
Saturn is the primary staging point and base for the Terran based military.

Others: Population 3 million collectively
Bases and colonies around the rest of the planets and in inter planetary space. Does not include the vagrant people of the independent mobile habitats.


The Corporation: It is the company that owns this space, cutting out a group of systems close in to the Sol controlled space, they are the business that no longer wished to play politics and wanted free reign to do as they pleased. The technology here is second to none, but the good life is only for those who rank high in the corporate ladder.
Some Corp. Security ships can equal a Sol battle cruiser…only a security force…a force that should not be ignored…

…Update…

Corporate
Star: Asgard -Slightly larger than Sol

Muspelheim -Closest planet to Asgard. Rocky body, 3 asteroid moons.

Midgard: Population 1.3 Billion
Corporate Homeworld. Slightly further from sun than the Earth is so average temperature is lower. One year is 412.7 days, day is 31 hours long. Surface is 61% ocean.
The first easily Terraformable world discovered, Midgard already had a native life consisting of simple plants and ocean animals. Atmosphere is breathable but unpleasant due to high concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and other trace elements currently being removed. Weather patterns heavily affected by terraforming and heat pumped into it by surface/space traffic.
Population is rapidly growing through several methods including monetary incentives for large families, cloning and state run child rearing institutions. Construction of the first Space Elevator is scheduled to begin within 30 years.

Midgard Halo: Population 30,000
Still in the early stages, the hub of Asgard manufacturing is nowhere near the impressiveness of Earth's Halo, consisting of a mere two dozen habitats and manufacturing centers.

Svartálfaheimr: Population 15,000
An ice desert world that is a third smaller than Mars. Domed colonies.

Asteroid Belt: Population 10,000
At the earliest point in colonisation the asteroid belt was the primary manufacturing center for the system. Currently resources are being relocated to the Halo.

Niflheimr: Population (Classified)
A mars-like world slightly larger than Svartalfaheimr that is currently used as the primary military staging area for the Corperate sector.

Jötunheimr: Population 50,000
A jovian gas giant with stations set up to collect and refine Helium 3 for space ship fuel and power generation.


Organization: Corporate Armed Reactionary Force
When the Second Space War only ended with Sol's intervention and threat to begin sterilizing bombardments of key rebel colonies, the Corporation realized that the larger force will not always win a war.
As was part of the agreement, Sol withdrew and allowed Corp to occupy its rebellious colonies. The ground troops of the time were untrained and not prepared to deal with hidden rebel cells that continued to commit terrorist acts after the peace was declared. In response the government began a program of training and equipping a large professional force to fight its wars on the ground and inside colonies to subdue the enemy without massive losses of enemy civilian lives.
As time passed, CARF's mandate expanded to anti-piracy actions as the Third Colonial Collapse created a large number of desperate but armed people who turned to piracy to survive.

Event: Colonial Collapse
The establishment of a colony without the backing of a major government's resource base is risky but potentially hugely profitable. Occasionally such ventures fail as either the Terraforming does not take resulting in dying worlds or the infrastructure breaks leaving the project unable to continue when the investors back away.
As it is simply not practical to evacuate planetary or system populations, the people left behind such events are forced to get on as best as they can. Sometimes this results in the locals commandeering space craft and taking to piracy.
Even this is not enough to keep the end away forever though, without a stable planetary ecosystem to act as a backup to closed artificial ecosystems there is eventually a total meltdown and finally death for all that remain.


The Kingdom: a group of planets first founded by slow ships from old earth, they are ruled by royalty, as their old land of Great Britain was once ruled. Also occupying a space close to the Hegemony of Sol, they are opposite the Corp controlled space, and have a much larger area, but are sparsely populated… Very high quality crews, but old and aging ships, they do miracles with what little they have. Only a hand full of the latest ship designs…more on them later

[jep'ray]

Penance Colony: a Cult led by a direct descendent of the great prophet Jedia Brown. Who set off in a hijacked freighter with those who believed as he did…Penance is the only habitable planet in a binary system filled with gas giants, its placed somewhere between the outer rim and kingdom…the colony and the planet that it is on has become there church, and no one else wants even one of them on there planets, so it is normally guarded by several different system ships to make sure they don’t get loose…these people are a backwards kind of nuts. Fanatics to the end, they believe that Armageddon is long over due, and work hard to make things right.

…Update…

Penance Colony : one of the earliest settlements out towards the outer rim of known space, the colony was originally a scientific research station on a barren rock simply called Echo 201. An experiment in terraforming it was where the main template for turning lifeless worlds into living habitats. Of course the Sol government never disclosed the real reason for place such an important research center so far out of the way. The planet was rich in alien artifacts that helped advance the study and use of hard terraforming by at least 50years. The small colony was starting to grow, but other fates awaited its future.

Back in the heart of Sol, on the mother planet of earth a rogue religious faction was gaining strength. They spun a tail of Armageddon and penance for all the sins that man made. Their first leader, the prophet Jedia Brown was a man known by many. He had worked in some of the highest reaches government when something suddenly changed his own personal world. The left his post, and took on the name of Prophet and started to reveal closely guarded state secrets in his rants from the pulpit. He knew something that the others have yet to be told of at the time. The fact that artifacts had been found on more than a few planets, as the Government on Sol expanded. That the latest and greatest technology, he thought, was due to things found and not simply human ingenuity.

The Government was at first slow to react to this threat, as he amassed a huge following in a short period of time. When they were finally ready to quiet the Prophet it was too late, his group was mobile and militant. They were causing some trouble here and there but the noose was closing in on them all, as more military might was brought down on them. Jedia’s only option was to flea earth. They took command of a long distance supply ship and headed off to deep space, his destination was Echo 201. On earth his whereabouts were unknown till it was too late. The person they had been watching was a fake. They had no clue where he would go…

Echo 201 had no clue what fate had befallen it, as the supply ship popped into real space and headed inbound for the research lab. The lone cruiser the held orbit was bored with its time watching the stars go by, they just went into routine logged the IFF of the ship. Then the slightly nervous looking supply captain asked for a face to face meeting with the cruisers captain. Which he approved on, any change in pace was welcome. The shuttle landed in the hanger and docked but the meeting never happened. The Aux power core from the supply ship that was in the cargo space of the shuttle and it went critical and exploded with the power of a sun inside the massive Sol cruiser. They had no time to signal for help before turning into stardust. The ship then made planet fall.

The followers of the prophet out numbered the research colony ten to one, and soon had control. Not all was as they had wished, the lab was in the middle of closing down, the main artifacts had been moved and they terraforming was now known to work and already starting on other worlds. It took months for word of the attack on Echo 201 to reach earth and by then, he was now so far out of the public’s eye that they really didn’t care what he did anymore.
The Prophet now had command of his planet but no the artifacts he wanted, but he did have a good sized colony habitat. There they would fester and grow, as they turned the defense turrets on any ships sent in to rescue any scientist left living.

Over the next 30 years nothing was heard of from Echo 201, when a new scourge moved across the outer rim and heading in towards Sol. A Fleet of ships, unknown in design had started to take out colony domes. The only word that they broadcast before attacking was Penance.

According to the Prophet, Armageddon had already come and gone. When the humans could no longer look to themselves for salvation but to alien artifacts. Armageddon had come and gone as it was up to them to right this wrong. It was up to the Prophet and his followers to remind everyone of Armageddon…

They left death and destruction in there wake. The ships they used were crude, and almost barbaric in its weaponry. Holding on to a bomb pumped X-ray laser in its forward hull, they would ignite a nuclear warhead inside the lead lined armored housing in the nose. The bomb pumped X-ray laser was as fatal to its own crew as it was to the ships that it tore into. Any weakness in that blast chamber was fatal to the ship firing. They went deep into the Sol controlled space, but the prophets own weapon had turned against him as his flagship suffered a fatal misfire. The assault on Sol had faltered, and the Sol units could finally group up and take them down as they fled back to their home on Echo 201.

Pushed back to the planet, its fleet lost they were Quarantined for the known future. The colony had since changed its name to Penance colony and they await their second prophet and a chance to complete there view of the universe after Armageddon...

System:Mjolnir Confederacy.

Mjolnir: population: 4.5 billion
The largest planet, from which the system gets its name is 73% water. The inhabitants are notoriously tall and strong. Their average height is between 6 foot 5 and 6 foot 7. When they were able to enter space, they began the conquest of the two other planets.
Mjolnirs are pagans in belief, worshiping the same gods as the Norsemen of Scandanavia. After conquering the planets they began capitalizing on the two planets and are large suppliers of lumber from Loki, water, and precious metals used in ship building from Scorvia. Mjolnir pirates are known by the same calling as the Norsemen from earth: Vikings. They raid and pillage other systems, but little is done about it by the Mjolnir government which operates as a democracy. The raiding and pillaging brings revenue to the planet and stimulates the economy.
The people themselves are known for their height and strength, but also for their strategies in war and the mighty Mjolnir fleet. But they have made treaties in recent decades and formed alliances. Once these alliances are made the pirates begin to leave allied systems alone. They are new members to the GCC.
Scorvia: population: 3.3 billion
The Mjolnir conquered the Scorvians who are now under the rule of the Mjolnirs. Hundreds of rebellions have been attempted, but the smaller and weaker Scorvians are always beaten down by the Mjolnirs and their superior tactics.
The Scorvians are smaller than most Sol System residents. They are known for being quick, but weak in stand up fights, but have incredible aim. Scorvian men are often brought in to the Mjolnir army as snipers, cavalry, and scouts. The relations between the two are still rough, but becoming stronger as the years progress.
Loki: population: 345 million
A jungle planet renamed after the Mjolnir god of trickery and mischief. It is the Confederacy's largest exporter of timber products and precious minerals mined from its vast mine systems. The population is made up of workers sent from the home planet, as Scorvians are too small to be any use in the lumber and mining industry, and Scorvian dealers who determine value of goods.

summary: The Mjolnir Confederacy is on good terms with all members of the GCC. Other systems are attacked by small Viking raiding parties. Although the Government does not stop them, Vikings are not a state sponsored group. Are generally friendly to outsiders.

The Nefaritti System

A mostly femme run set of colonies, willing to work with the Confederancy, but stubborn to blend completely with them. Contains a massive yellow star.

Ra ( Mercury like planet.)- Named After the Egyptian God of the sun, before inhabiting the planet, the colontist built something like a sun screen between the sun and the planet. Has two moons, Amun and Atum.

Nephthys ( Like Venus/Earth, hot, but livable.) Swamp planet, with some of the richest diferity of flora, funa, and dieases. Most people avoid it for last bit. One moon, Baal.


Naunet- ( Earth like.) Earth Size planet, but with much more of its surface is covered with water. One moon Geb.

Nut- ( Jupitar/Saturn, aka big ass gas planet with rings.) Planet consists of deadly gases, but has several obriting stations, and six moons, Imhotep, Seker, Set, Khepry, Ptah and Menthu. This planet houses the main areas of not only the sciences, but the arts.


Republic of Out Rim worlds:
A gaggle of planets too far out for sol to even care about, these hard working folk are the farmers for all, as it is their only export. They occupy the far outer reaches of human space, strange things have been happening in the back water areas, strange sightings, and goings on…they have militia fleet, a mish mash of classes and weapons fits…it is barely up to repelling pirates…let alone fights that break out between planets and homesteads.

[jep'ray]

Others

Rock: No Fixed Abode
Population: 12,000
One of the first rocks made, constructed by hollowing a large asteroid with nuclear charges while spinning it. NFA started with the designation Rock 004 and was used as a base for asteroid mining in the Sol system. After the mining and refining process was entirely moved to the Halo Rock 004 was temporarily abandoned.
A later expedition rediscovered it twenty years later and began refurbishment as a habitat. A century later a new concept of mobile habitats was tested with Rock 004, now called Paradise Rock.
Yet later a jump drive was added and a larger manufacturing center was added on. At a point years after this a dispute with the Sol government caused Paradise Rock to declare itself independent and it left the Sol System and was renamed No Fixed Abode.
Despite having reconciled its differences with the Sol government the NFA has not returned to the Sol system in over 1000 years. Instead it wanders randomly among the other systems.
The population of the NFA is currently 12,000 and like nearly every other independent Rock or System Vehicle the standard of living on board is the highest known.

The Zen: Alien Race
Beginning nearly two million years ago the Zen began to explore and study the galaxy. In that time they had charted every jump point and had examined every world of interest but they never colonized or altered worlds.
The main interest in the Zen's explorations was to find other space-faring life but their period was one lacking in such, with only remains of space civilizations and primitives with potential.
One million years ago a star's collapse was predicted and would erase the jump points connecting the Zen homeworld with the rest of the galaxy. A decision was reached to pull back to their world and wait rather than moving the population or even the star system to a more convenient location. With 10,000 years lead time they easily accomplished this goal while leaving as much as they could of the galaxy unmarked by their passing. By the time the jump points vanished, the entire race had gone into a hibernation while machines watched and listened for outside activity.
Human explorations caught the attention of the machines which awakened a small portion of the Zen race, mostly researchers and scientists, who decided to contact these new interesting people. The closest star with jump point access to the Zen world was nearly 25 light years from their world, which meant a 50 year lag time in communications. None the less greetings and exchanges of information happened.
Currently the Zen are embarking on a project to create a new star 1 light year from thier own to create a new jump point into human space, a project expected to take over a thousand years. Slow ships sent from the Zen world are expected to reach human space within three hundred years.

While impressive, Zen technology is not so advanced that it is impossible to understand... leading human researchers to conclude that the current point of human technology is at the low end of the highest point with no substantial breakthroughs possible. Refinement of current tech is possible but due to problems with communication with the Zen, no useful help has arrived from that area.
Nearly all ancient alien artifacts in the galaxy are Zen in origin but due to the passing of time are nearly useless unless exceptional chance has preserved examples of such unusually well.

Organization: Galactic Civilization Committee
Effectively the United Nations in space. All medium to major powers have representatives, including an honorary position for the alien race known as the Zen. The GCC was formed in response to the discussion on what do do about Penance Colony following the short war.
The Committee has no actual legal power but meetings are generally used to arrange treaties and discuss grievances. Official meetings are held every two years on board the Rock, No Fixed Abode which makes a stop at a predetermined system for the event.





We are going to need a crew to man the Last Exile, a Stardust class transport on its merry adventures across the cosmos…standard rules for your template, 5 skill points. We will need certain posts filled to help make the ship fly…we have a Captain, as Rookie has been pushed…um I meant stepped forward to take command…we will need a Navigator, Engineer, Communications, Security, fighter pilots…any posts not filled will get an NPC unless someone cares to run two toon’s in this…if you can keep track of them…so in here we can talk more about the missions currently undertaken and post your characters…if you have new ideals or fluff please feel free to visit the sci-fi RPT planning commission for everything else come here…otherwise…lets have some fun…

[$tormin]

Skill List (incomplete)

Combat:
Demolitions (1pt): Allows the safe handling and mixing of unstable chemical or magical ingredients into controlled explosives, rockets, grenades and bombs. Includes some structural knowledge to assist with placement and detonation. Anyone can carry and throw grenades or bombs, but the safety issues keep most from doing so.

Weapon Focus (specific): Improved skill with weapon of choice. When wielding this weapon, the user is able to strike with more speed and power than someone who is not focused in its use. The wielder can also defend more effectively as well, improving the user's ability to defend against similar attacks. They are also more difficult to disarm. Prereq.: Weapon Skill (specific).

Ranged, Common (1 pt) Trained in the use of the settings common ranged weapons such as bows and spears for some settings, small firearms in more modern settings and hand lasers in futuristic periods. ((All Settings))

Ranged, Exotic (1 pt) Trained in the use of a specific uncommon weapon or crew serviced weapon. This includes non period weapons such as bows in modern time settings. Crew serviced weapons require at least one operator to have skill in the weapon type provided there has been time to give basic instruction to the other people assisting. ((All Settings))

Armored Combat (1 pt) Trained in the use of armor in combat. ((All Settings))

Non Combat:
Speechcraft (1 pt) You are more persuasive when speaking to others. Whether you wish to trick them into believing something, convince them to do something for you or wiggle a bit of information from an otherwise reticent individual. ((All Settings))

Animal Handling (1 pt): Able to deal with out of control, untrained or poorly trained animals. Allows training of non-magical animals within reason. Some animals are inherently untrainable. ((Nearly All Settings))

Jack of Trades (2 pt): Can pick 3 Tier 1 skills with a 1 point cost and perform them to a slightly lesser ability than another who paid full price. ((Nearly All Settings))

Clockwork Engineering 1 (1 pt): Allows the repair, design and construction of simple clockwork or steampunk vehicles or creations. Higher skill allows more complex workings. ((Steampunk or Fantasy Settings))

Strength (1 pt): Greatly increased physical strength and durability. Able to take stronger hits without being disabled as well as be far more formidable in physical combat. ((All Settings))

Acrobatics (1 pt): Highly trained levels of agility. Useful for dodging blows, climbing walls, leaping between moving objects or anything else that a very agile person would be good at. ((All Settings))

Stealth (1 pt): Increased ability to use ones surroundings to avoid detection. ((All Settings))

Roguery (1 pt): Pickpocketing, shoplifting, breaking into houses or disabling an unaware person without undue harm. Also good for trap setting/springing and getting through locks. Stealth is not a requirement and must be purchased separately if wanted. ((All Settings))

Wealth (1 pt): Greater ability to earn money or far better than normal starting money and equipment. ((All Settings))

Photographic Memory (1pt): Can perfectly recall nearly anything that this person has seen. In game mechanics terms, the player can PM the game master about a specific detail not mentioned in a scene long after that event happened. For example, the player can recall whether or not a particular book not noticed before was visible in the library that an earlier meeting took place in. ((All Settings))

Languages (1pt): Gained ability to speak one or more languages in addition to the base languages set by the game master. Game master can set a limit to how many extra languages each purchase of this ability gives and whether or not it allows reading/writing. ((All Settings))

Profession (1 pt+): Skills related to a specific job that are not covered by specific abilities. Game Master reserves the right to increase the cost of any profession based on difficulty and range of abilities gained with the skill. ((All Settings))

[$tormin]

Yushev Kruznetsov
Birthplace: No Fixed Abode
Citizenship: No Fixed Abode, Sol
Skills:
Communications Specialist
Scanner Specialist
Acrobatics: Greatly increased skill and comfort in zero gravity.
Martial Arts: Hand to hand combat and dirty fighting
Wealth: Good at making money.

Bio:
Repentance Nfa Kruznetsov Januar Ohfor Yushev, born a Rock Dweller but has lately gotten bored and decided to take a sabbatical to check out life among other peoples. Learning starship operations he left the No Fixed Abode and went to the Sol system to hire on with an independent shipper.
Yushev gained his skills in zero gravity martial arts as a hobby and though he is good, he has never won any serious competitions. Despite this he is far more capable than most in zero gravity situations.
As a going away gift from the rest of his community, Yushev was given his own personal intership craft, little more than a three person pod. Like all other Rock dweller ships this craft has a non serious name, Repairs Respectfully Required, and an apparently insane computer.


I can take scanner/comm

[Rookie]

When is the complete skill list going to be up and where at? I'd like to get a complete view of available skills before i pick.

[jep'ray]

ok, am working on an updated list to suit the sci-fi thread...

[$tormin]

Feel free to make up some skills if they are not already covered. I will add accepted ones to the list.

[Soria]

Once I think of character, I'll join...Mind you, the character creation looks complicated to my cold rattled brain.

[$tormin]

It is exactly the same as the Steampunk rpt's char creation.

[jep'ray]

lol...i'm almost done with a more detailed list...just a few add ons...

[jep'ray]

if anyone can add to this please do...

Combat:

Demolitions (1pt): Allows the safe handling and mixing of unstable chemical or magical ingredients into controlled explosives, rockets, grenades and bombs. Includes some structural knowledge to assist with placement and detonation. Anyone can carry and throw grenades or bombs, but the safety issues keep most from doing so.

Weapon Focus (specific): Improved skill with weapon of choice. When wielding this weapon, the user is able to strike with more speed and power than someone who is not focused in its use. The wielder can also defend more effectively as well, improving the user's ability to defend against similar attacks. They are also more difficult to disarm. Prereq.: Weapon Skill (specific).

Ranged, Common (1 pt) Trained in the use of the settings common ranged weapons such as bows and spears for some settings, small firearms in more modern settings and hand lasers in futuristic periods. ((All Settings))

Ranged, Exotic (1 pt) Trained in the use of a specific uncommon weapon or crew serviced weapon. This includes non period weapons such as bows in modern time settings. Crew serviced weapons require at least one operator to have skill in the weapon type provided there has been time to give basic instruction to the other people assisting. ((All Settings))

Armored Combat (1 pt): Trained in the use of armor in combat. ((All Settings))

Powered armor / power loader operations (1 pt): trained in the use of powered exoskeleton suits, for loading and offloading operations and of powered armor suits…

Turret operations (1 pt): Trained in the use of defense and offensive weaponry in remotely operated turrets.

Ship operations: knowledge of piloting. Everyone can pilot a ship..um..well…anyone can pilot it well enough to avoid that planet way over there…or spin mostly out of control…but with proper training, you can pull a loop or Immelman turn in even something as big as a corvette class starship…or dive into an asteroid field in a freighter and avoid all the floating rocks. Level one makes you a proficient pilot, 2nd level and you are an Ace pilot, top of the class fighter jock. 3rd level makes you’re a flying god…a freak of nature that can fly a heavy fighter through key hole and not scratch the paint…if you’re a flying god why the hell are you piloting our flying rust bucket the Last Exile…

Fighter operations/Small craft piloting(1 pt):: training in the operation and abilities of light to middle class fighter craft and small to medium shuttle craft…and tactics in fighter combat…

Bomber/Heavy fighter/Heavy shuttle piloting(1 pt):: training in the operation and abilities of bomber or heavy fighter craft and its multiple systems. Also in the operation of heavy lift shuttles…heavy fighter and bomber tactics. these ships have a much higher mass and normaly multiple power plants and weapon systems…different enough, that with out proper training it would prove dangerous to operate…

Freighter/large ship piloting(1 pt):: training in the operation and abilities of freighter craft including the fine operation multi-ton, multi-engine ships

Ship operations:

Communication specialist: ability to scan the airwaves and find what your looking for. Including hacking if needed…

Cargo specialist: knowledge of all rules and regulations in cargo handling, Loading, including the best places to hide contraband. You also know the ships ins and out almost as well as the engineer. You also know what will and will not fit on to the ship…

Radar specialist: a whiz in reading radar and ladar well, any scanning system at hand…you can tell what the blinking red dots are doing to the single blue dot…wait aren’t we the blue dot?...

Engineering specialist: well you’re an engineer…go fix the ship…its always falling apart…


Non Combat:

Hacker (1pt) the ability to breaking into and past most any electronic defense or lock.

Speechcraft (1 pt) You are more persuasive when speaking to others. Whether you wish to trick them into believing something, convince them to do something for you or wiggle a bit of information from an otherwise reticent individual. ((All Settings))

Jack of Trades (2 pt): Can pick 3 Tier 1 skills with a 1 point cost and perform them to a slightly lesser ability than another who paid full price. ((Nearly All Settings))

Strength (1 pt): Greatly increased physical strength and durability. Able to take stronger hits without being disabled as well as being far more formidable in physical combat. ((All Settings))

Acrobatics (1 pt): Highly trained levels of agility. Useful for dodging blows, climbing walls, leaping between moving objects or anything else that a very agile person would be good at. ((All Settings))

Stealth (1 pt): Increased ability to use ones surroundings to avoid detection. ((All Settings))

Roguery (1 pt): Pickpocketing, shoplifting, breaking into houses or disabling an unaware person without undue harm. Also good for trap setting/springing and getting through locks. Stealth is not a requirement and must be purchased separately if wanted. ((All Settings))

Wealth (1 pt): Greater ability to earn money or far better than normal starting money and equipment. ((All Settings))



Photographic Memory (1pt): Can perfectly recall nearly anything that this person has seen. In game mechanics terms, the player can PM the game master about a specific detail not mentioned in a scene long after that event happened. For example, the player can recall whether or not a particular book not noticed before was visible in the library that an earlier meeting took place in. ((All Settings))

Languages (1pt): Gained ability to speak one or more languages in addition to the base languages set by the game master. Game master can set a limit to how many extra languages each purchase of this ability gives and whether or not it allows reading/writing. ((All Settings))

Profession (1 pt+): Skills related to a specific job that are not covered by specific abilities. Game Master reserves the right to increase the cost of any profession based on difficulty and range of abilities gained with the skill. ((All Settings))

[$tormin]

Modified my char for the new skills.

[jep'ray]

cool...np...will have my charater and a few npcs tommorow me thinks...

[$tormin]

Leadership (1pt): Inspire and command your allies and cower your foes. ((All Settings))

[Soria]

Emily Wiles.
Birthplace: Luna
Citizenship: Luna

Skills:
Gunner
'Stealth' specialist.
Stealth: Fairly good at sneaking about unheard.
Roguery/security: Good at picking locks and getting into place, but also good at keeping people out.
Turret
Pilot.

Born on Luna to a mining family where you either mined or married a miner and made more miners, Emily decided to rebel. Emily was a bizzare mixture of sweetness and minor felony, learning young how to use a blaster, pilot stolen ships and pick locks. Has opted out of the gang mentality and moved on to become a crew member for hire.


Feel free to put her where you will. :D

[jep'ray]

well looks like you got room for 2 more skills...wanna add hacking and maybe fighter pilot or lvl2 turret...and basicly operate the few turrets the ship has like they are an extention of you...$tormin what do you think?

[$tormin]

Well, so far we have two freebooters with no respect for authority whatsoever. :D
Maybe instead of grabbing more turret skill, should grab some piloting skill and be the pilot since it wouldn't be so often that we need someone to shoot guns that a small ship operating on the edge of solvency would spring the extra buck for a better gunner.


I have decided on my characters quirk by the way. He is going to be the type of person that almost seems offended by gravity. He quarters in the zero-grav section of the ship and is just as likely to talk to someone while standing on the ceiling as anything in sections where gravity is not straight down (such as cargo areas. Stick extra cargo on the walls and roof for more storage without impeding accessibility)

[jep'ray]

lol, you bunk in the cargo bay or ship hanger...lol, nice...im drawing up a small 3man car thingy...and im making my charater roughly around David Lister from Red Dwarf...hehe...just more...um mature than his actual charater...i think...

[$tormin]

im drawing up a small 3man car thingy...


If you mean R^3 then base it off the space pods from 2001 movie. Just a small pod with thrusters on it.

[Soria]

Edited Emily's thinger. Her quirk is she's a sweetheart, most people don't realize she's a thief until they go for their wallet.

[Rookie]

Ok here's my shot. Personally I think the profession should be a freebie. It can be assumed that the person has received training in their profession, and doesn't need to spend a skill point on their profession when it could be better spent. But pending the ultimate decision, here is my try.

Captain James Harlequin
Birthplace: Terra
Citizenship: Mjolnir
Skills:
Leadership
Ship Operations (2pts)
Ranged Common: Pistol
Weapons Focus: Pistol

Background: A tall, dark haired man of medium build, James entered space at a young age and eventually made his home on Mjolnir, where he established residency and learned about the ways of ships from the Mjolnirs. He is a battle hardened veteran and is currently the captain of the Last Exile.

[$tormin]

I intended profession to be for stuff like "Sanitation Engineer" or "Office Drone" where there would be little need to spell out the skill set needed for those duties but they would be needed for making non specialist characters like we make.

For example, I might make a Zombies: Survive the Night quick RPT and limit everyone to 3 skills and one of them must be mundane profession to prevent people from being "kung fu ninja with rocket launcher and a tank" in a much lower powered RPT setting.

[Rookie]

Alrighty, fixed my skills. Thanks for the clarification.

[$tormin]

So an ex military captain and so far 3 crewmembers who are insane and or lacking in respect for authority!
You are gonna need that leadership! :D

[jep'ray]

lol wait till you see mine...has anyone seen the BBC tv show Red dwarf? cause im basicly making David Lister...

[$tormin]

lol wait till you see mine...has anyone seen the BBC tv show Red dwarf? cause im basicly making David Lister...


Which is why I included insane ;P
Lister is not someone you would actually want near...anything.

[jep'ray]

David Lister
Birthplace: unknown
Citizenship: Kingdom
Skill:
Jack of all trades-
Stealth: he’s kinda stealthy if the git could stop laughing long enough to pull his pranks-
roguery: learning to pick pockets at an early age, it helps bring in some spending money accessing locked cargo holds? No problem-
languages: surprisingly good at picking up different languages…he knows how to insult you in at least 5 different tongues…and not all his translations are always correct…
Ranged weapons Common: Pistols
Powered loader operations: can handle exo-loader suit and in a pinch powered armor…
Cargo specialist: knows the ins and outs on smuggling…I meant shipping cargo…and the rules and regulations needed to be bypassed…

Bio:
David Lister, birth date is unknown as he was found in a cardboard box outside a pub on one of the moons in the kingdom system…escaping the foster home that tried to raise him, he lived on the streets of new London. Stealing and sneaking at every chance he got, he was later caught and given an option of either jail or service to kingdom in the navy. As jail would cramp his style, he opted for service, where they taught him to use a gun and operate a power loader, on board a kingdom cargo ship Red Dwarf. His five years in service were nothing but demerits for the condtion of his person and his bunk space, too many counts of being drunk on duty, and Gambling on duty. He was dishonorably discharged and left off on the next planet with what he carried on his back and a credit chip for his time minus brig time…he has since jumped from ship to ship looking for the right kind of crew. He signed on to the Last Exile when the captain caught him trying to steal his wallet…also, is obsessed with curries and beer and has a bit of a cockney accent…he wont steel from fellow shipmates…unless they had it coming to them…

[$tormin]

I don't want to be on the same ship as that guy :|
The condition of the bunk is bad enough, during high grav maneuvering anything not properly stowed is a deadly projectile. Drunk on duty where you depend on everyone to not screw up and kill everyone onboard? Lister is the sort of person who would break the alarms if the high co2 level warning was interrupting his attempts at guitar playing...

[jep'ray]

lol, but surly no one would be crazy enough to bunk in the cargo hold...and if he cant find a drink how can he be drunk?

[Rookie]

Might as well rename this RPT "Ship of Fools" :D

Interesting cast of characters so far.

[$tormin]

We do need more though. Jep should draw up himself a sig banner advertising this RPT ;)

Hrm, guess since it's the second I should get the steampunk rpt going again too. This is while I am expecting to ding realm rank 7 killing the goldfarmers in Passages of Conflict tonight. Goodbye Firbolg Silver Hand and hello Firbolg Thunderer over my head for my enemies to see!

Edit: I might also get some boring stuff done here, I am thinking docking procedure. Something we would go through a lot. Angle of approach to the dock so that the ship won't impact anything important if power is lost or the debris cloud would fly safely by if the ship has to be toasted by the defenses. Probably going to have procedure include turning weapon control over to the station at 1 light minute or further as well.

[Soria]

:: muffled:: GET OFF ME YOU DAMN RAT! I am on a Quest for the Emporer!


Erm.. take your time guys. :D

[$tormin]

I am not a giant rat, I am a half giant!
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7424/sshot039na4.jpg

[jep'ray]

$tormin your thinking to hard again...its all automatic...their problem solved! lol the computer handles final link up, hatches automaticly link, and hatches that are not connected will stay locked...weapon systems will be monitored by the station, and targeting systems will stay off or severe actions will be handed to any ship that choses to power up their targeting/tracking systems...just pop up into local space and link up with the area control, and dive in and dock, everything is automatic and bobs your uncle , and were in the station cantina...

[$tormin]

But...automatic is no fun :<
You're right though. I was overthinking it.

[Gumblackwood]

I've thought of a name and a character flaw, I'll fill in skills with what we need later, still haven't read everything.

Dwyde Flonking
Citizenship: The Kingdom
Skills:
Acrobatics
Engineering Specialist
Pilot (Medium and Freight)
Luck

Dwyde's about as British hooligan as you can get. He's got a lot of tattoos, most of which he doesn't remember getting, including a dragon snaking around his bald head. Kingdom freight ships are fair clunkers and don't require nor do they truly support a great number of people aboard, so Dwyde is capable as both a pilot and as a ship's engineer. He's been known for some pretty spectacular maneuvers driving old freight ships for the Kingdom, as well as some unbelievable engineering patch jobs that have saved several ships. He doesn't like most of the technology of most new ships, but he's capable of learning most of it. Dwyde is only capable of most of his skillful achievements if he's fall-off-the-chair drunk, otherwise he's only mediocre.

[jep'ray]

hey thats my character:P .... wait, is kingdom a system of nothing but drunks? lol fine, it would be intresting to see some one who is only truly awake when their drunk, vs Lister whos useless unless hes playing pool when drunk...so captain, been hiring only the best of the worst i see...lol

[Soria]

I'm starting to wonder if Em is going to be the only one sober.


Besides, they have attitude problems, but they seem like a talented bunch.

[Gumblackwood]

I was going to make a proper chap who was all about the rules, but then I realized he'd probably bunk with Lister, get killed in the first five minutes, then come back as a hologram.

[jep'ray]

damn, how did you get a copy of the first story...lol

[$tormin]

I'm starting to wonder if Em is going to be the only one sober.


Besides, they have attitude problems, but they seem like a talented bunch.



My guy doesn't drink. Rock dwellers are not a puritanical bunch but every one of them has the importance of being aware pushed into them at all times since they live in a completely artificial habitat where if something goes wrong it can get really bad.
And hangovers in free fall are BAD.

[$tormin]

Edit: Was posted in wrong thread. Sorry.

[Rookie]

are you just trying to make an obstacle for us to navigate around because docking is autonomous and we shouldn't have it that easy?

[$tormin]

are you just trying to make an obstacle for us to navigate around because docking is autonomous and we shouldn't have it that easy?


No, it was intended for the planning thread but I put it here by mistake. Correcting it now.


And it's purpose is to potentially make the moons of Jupiter habitable. Adding an artificial microstar would be a huge boon to the outer solar system.


Edit: Also, it didn't say that the project was done or even properly started. In terms of the game it would be a draw on shipping resources resulting in greater need for independent transport. The same as the Venus Terraforming project.

[Shayd]

This is starting to look pretty good. I had a chance to see a few of the Firefly episodes and Serenity. I wish that it hadn't been cancelled. Something about the Old west in space seemed interesting. Oh well. Maybe I can redeem myself for going AWOL on the Da'vinci thread.

[jep'ray]

come on in, we have space for more bodies, most key spots are filled but feel free to back up one or more positions...i think we still need a gunman...

[Gumblackwood]

and a radar specialist I think. Gunning and radar would be a good combination I think.

Also, edited Dwyde some more. He's still got room for another skill, right?

[jep'ray]

yup 1 left for dwyde

[$tormin]

Oh well. Maybe I can redeem myself for going AWOL on the Da'vinci thread.


You are still welcome back there. I can PM you a short version of what you missed.

[jep'ray]

some NPC fun...you'll all see them soon...

Mr. Vinnie Longstock
Birthplace: Geneva, Earth
Citizenship: Sol

Skill:

Speech craft (2pt): he could make believe that walking out into space without a suit is perfectly safe, or sign a nice FFSS&L loan paper. He’ll even mention the fine print, located in a micro dot on friendly, but you’ll forget about looking at it. In fact, he’s sure you’ll forget about it all together…

Hacker(1pt): he knows the ways into and out of most secure computer systems

Profession (1pt): Informant: Vinnie has his fingers in a little of everything…if theres anything you need, Vinnie knows how to get it, for a price

Languages (1pt): Vinnie knows many languages to ensure proper business

Vinnie the top agent for FFSS&L, with top loans numbers and prompt payments, he has the backing of the company and his personal muscle, Ivan. What’s Mr. Vinnie like? You ask? No one really knows, how does he know all he knows? Also unknown, but after you talk to him…why question things you don’t need to know about…

and

Ivan Tolovle
Birthplace: Russian sector, moon colony
Citizenship: Sol

Skill:

Jack of all trades (2pt): Debt collector…
Brawler: Skilled in the timeless arts of knocking heads and busting
Kneecaps
Intimidation: Ivan is big, but for some reason he always seems bigger, and he breaths fire from his mouth…honest…that’s what he looks like when he’s calm…
Ranged combat: he knows more that which end is the business end…

Strength (1pt): Ivan is strong as an Ox…about as smart as one too…

Stealth (1pt): he’s very quiet for such a large man

Weapon focus (1pt): Baseball bat: the tool of all Debt collectors since its invention, Ivan has turned the skill of beating one with a bat into an art form…

Ivan is the Muscle of the lead Debt collector for “Family Friendly Starship Saving and Loan” make no mistake this man has the personally that rivals a block of granite, a man of few words, and vicious actions. He has never failed in securing payment to FFSS&L he is the right hand man to Mr. Vinnie…

[Rookie]

OK, so the crew has never gone into space together before right? so would this be the first time they've met the captain?

[jep'ray]

pretty much, they all know the captain, as he hired them all...although it would help if his butt was in the pub right about now...

[Rookie]

he is silly!

I had a bit of an unpredicted hiatus if you get my meaning. But i am back so its good now. Imagine my surprise when i found out we'd started and there were already 10 posts.

[jep'ray]

yeah funny what happens to a group of people waiting in a pub with nothing to do but drink it...lol the crew is really gonna need help geting back to the ship at this point. drunk as we are...anyways Welcome back... Captain on deck!

[$tormin]

I will have you note that I have not actually finished my first drink!

[Rookie]

isn't the ship not scheduled to be finished for a few days?

[$tormin]

Yeah, jep said a few days but wasn't specific.

[Shayd]

Anyone else having issues getting into the site?

[jep'ray]

yeah a few days, its almost finished...these collectors are just really good at what they do or in a rush to deliver something...and no problems for me shayd

[Gumblackwood]

I've been having some problems Shayd, but I'm persistent.

[$tormin]

I have occasionally been getting very slow loading or this page is unavailable. I try again in a few minutes and it works fine so I guess it's just heavy traffic.

[Shayd]

Had a few questions... does piloting skill include the operation of weapon systems on that ship?

So if I had Fighter pilot lvl 3... would I be able to shoot as well... or am I just going to be able to fly circles around people and miss them when I cant find the trigger?

Just wondering
Shayd

[jep'ray]

if your a fighter pilot then yes you know that silly lookiung red button on the control stick fires the gunz...if your piloting the shuttle you can try to hit the red button but it doesnt have one...but i think you should maybe stop around lvl 2 and spend a point in something else...a lvl3 pilot means your the ace's ace...the top 10% of the Sol fighter pilots...if your a fighter ace you get that with kills in battle...which means shooting...lvl1 is a trained pilot, your completed basic training and have alot of hours behind the stick, lvl2 ace...a few thousand hours behind the stick and better fighter tactics, some fancy flying, smarter than the average bear...lvl3 the ace's ace, you were born to fly, its second nature to you, the fighter is more an extension of your body rather than a ship you pilot...and of course whey are you flying with a crew of a tramp freighter when you could be making the bucks flying for a planet defense force or as a merc...

remember we are a freighter first...run not gun, to get to our destination...just cause its a heavly armed freighter that carries its own escort fighter...doesnt mean we are gonna start all out battles in space...but your call, lets see what you come up with and we'll roll from there...

[Rookie]

So whats the situation with the loan arrangement?

[Gramorn Soulaxe39]

isnt midgard from final fantasy 7? and muspelheim is from something too isnt it? lol thats awesome i freaking love ff7. this looks pretty nice

[$tormin]

They are from Norse myth.

[$tormin]

So whats the situation with the loan arrangement?


I'm guessing they own the mortgage on the ship. Reasonable terms would give enough time to start earning money before having to make payments though, the mob wouldn't want to break your legs and take a just repaired piece of equipment away. All they would gain from money spent would be the ship which they could have done easier themselves.

[jep'ray]

yeah, basicly...and you do jobs that help them, along with turning a profit. free labor and their money back...sounds like something the mob would do doesnt it?...Stormin stop thinking so hard...geez man go hit a rubics cube or something, anyways hows that rendering going?

[$tormin]

anyways hows that rendering going?


My guild has been monopolizing my time from pretty much after I finish eating dinner after work to the time I have to crash for the night when I am not out doing non computery stuff. Haven't even loaded up 3ds in about a week.

[jep'ray]

damn your starting to sound like me...lol but my work has my time till i can hit the sac...i have soo many drawings i need to upload into the comp, and soo little time...lol...been busy crafting? when i was heavy into Swg that all i did...craft for like 3-4years, i made credits hand over fist in that game, enough to help bank roll the guild to go off and kill rebels...ahh the good old days...

[$tormin]

Eww crafting :<
Nah, pvp with some killing chinese gold farmers thrown in for laughs. The guild got a bit too big and now if you are not on when the group starts up you are not assured of a having a spot.

[Gumblackwood]

Honestly, it did take Soria mentioning a doctor for me to think of the sick idea.

[Soria]

Pssst Gum, wrong thread.

[Gumblackwood]

Whatever, you're all probably reading both anyway.

[$tormin]

Yushev's cell phone is a marvel of technology that hasn't really advanced as far as one would figure it would have. In addition to being able to store half a years worth of video/audio the phone will serve as a link to most modern computer systems with public communications access. Three video display modes, a small screen built into the device, a projector and a roll out screen of video plastic that ends up being about the size of a page of printer paper.
A set of micro beads are stored inside a small latch on the device which can be stuck onto the fingertips and after a quick setting will act as a keyboard of any size one wishes when using the tiny number pad or a stylus and touch screen would be too annoying and vocal dictation not practical.
The brain inside the thing is good enough for simple translation in real time.
The whole device is a very nice shade of metallic blue and about the size of current larger cell phones.


Btw. not one of the technologies used in this are anything that haven't been developed today. They have just been downsized to fit into a single portable device.

[jep'ray]

nice...the rest of us much poorer folks make due with data terminals...or a simple comm's head set or mic...for intra ship comms, wall units are installed...in each room and airlock...remember stormin, the tech your charater takes as normal is far beyond what the outer settlers will ever see, and is rare enough around sol and kingdom to turn heads in taverns and pubs everywhere...its not something us less fortunate people have access to...if someone wants it they just might take it...keep it low key...:P

[$tormin]

I'm pretty sure that the future version of the Cell Phone will still exist. Public comms would be rather rare on stations since it would be cheaper to just have communications receivers. When you come to a new place you sync your phone so you can use the local network (for a small fee of course)

[jep'ray]

basic comm units are a regular thing yes...but yours has all the bells and whistles...its far ahead of what normal people use as a cell phone...and things like Spacestations are always over built...it will have public comms built in, only beacuse someone during planning said it would fit and got a nice bonus after the station construction from that comm company...

[Rookie]

It's like a supa-secret gov'ment cellular MIND CONTROL phone that supposedly does not exist.

[jep'ray]

lol no it just has alot of features that other units do have, all in a sleek little case, vs. carrying al the seperate units...but shrinking the tech into a cell phone cost money...and knowhow...people have varying levels of tech on any planet or halo station...a simple comm is normaly enough for comm's amywhere really...nothing flashy its just a phone that ties into the nearest network to patch calls in and out. everyone has one...to one degree or another.... its just that $tormin's unit does everything and some...its top of the hightech tree...so not everyone can afford one, its like walking into the slums waving around a Rolex and looking at the time...your just asking for trouble...

[$tormin]

Well since I have Wealth as an ability I get fancy expensive stuff. Like cool phones and a private shuttle ;P

[Rookie]

So is there a first mate, or do we want/need to assign one? I'd like to have a little more interaction than the bad-arse commander who tries to crash the party.

[$tormin]

You will have to pick one I guess.

[Rookie]

Volunteers?

edit: Mission details for me, jep?

[$tormin]

Pick lister!


Or just go with the least insane person on the ship, probably soria's

[jep'ray]

the captain has his data packet...we'll see how it plays from here...

[Rookie]

yay! space!

[jep'ray]

in space no one can hear you fart...but the crew will know...o yes the crew will know...

[Gumblackwood]

I think I've thought of Dwyde's remaining skill:

Aim (1pt)

Like weapon focus or sharpshooting skills, this skill provides precision to action. It is a general skill not reflecting any specialized training, only giving a slight boost to weapon or other applicable skills. The player is more skilled than most in precision games like darts or pool. In throwing or swinging at things, the player is more likely to hit the target than others, especially in situations where others are likely to miss.

Sound good?

[jep'ray]

sounds fine to me, np... there will be a target range set up behind the moon, old space junk with beacons on them, have fun...im only gonna have a computer after work for a bit, my labtop is having issues...and i dont have enough money to throw at the problem to fix it just yet...but i'll update after work...party on

[TheSavageHamster]

you guys still recruiting?

i've been looking for some RPG outlet and just finished reading through all the fluff you guys got together. really awesome stuff!

i'll read through the game aswell, if you guys have any room PM me, ill get a concept going just in case :)

[$tormin]

Signups are usually always open for any ongoing RPT. Feel free to post your character and Jep will probably work you in.


Edit: Content point. For our ships engines, remember John's Law of spaceship propulsion (http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3a.html#johnslaw)
Jon's Law for SF authors is closely related to Niven's Kzinti Lesson. It states: "Any interesting space drive is a weapon of mass destruction. It only matters how long you want to wait for maximum damage." It goes on to say: "Interesting is equal to 'whatever keeps the readers from getting bored'".

[TheSavageHamster]

oh nice.

fair warning though, im a serious noob. this will be the first time i've actively participated in an RPT. plenty of lurking though... :)

oh - character incoming. just gotta go over the skillz.

Bam! here I be:

Toki "Rob Cruso" Haegl
Birthplace: Mjolnir
Citizenship: Confederacy

Skills: Pilot, Survivalist.
Weapon skill: Combat knife
Fighter/ Small craft pilot (2)
Heavy fighter/ Shuttle (1)
Strength (1)


Toki is a paragon of Viking excellance. A gifted pilot, Toki was picked up by the Mjolnir government appointed Prospection Cooperative, the main authority of space exploration for the Confederacy.

During his tour with the Confederate 112th Airborne, Toki was sent on a solitary survey mission to a planet near the outer rim. The planet was in the final stages of terraforming, but it's vast jungles were being kept unpopulated by the Confederacy, which was using the planet as an agricultural experiment. All the systems on the planet were fully automated, and Toki's job consisted of a basic systems and progress report. Due to a freak accident with the mainframe of his Valkyrie, the craft could not make contact with the surface. Blasted out of the sky by the automated defenses as it was being dragged down the gravity well, Toki managed to fire the escape pod at the last moment.

Toki spent the next several years trekking through the dense jungles until he finally reached the terraforming platforms and made contact with the Confederacy, which had though him long dead.

The time away from humanity has changed Toki, and he has spent the several monthes after his release from the hospital drifting across the galaxy as a pilot for hire, trying to find new meaning to his life.





whew. wordy. hope im not breaking any ruls here O.o I basically see him as a sort of spacey dude. awesome in the cockpit but very standoffish, and some borderline barbaric attitude due to his time in the wild. which also lends to him keeping in shape. and never too far from his knife.

oh yeah, Toki blew most of his insurance compensation on an epic electric guitar (or equivalent). I simply assume anyone from Mjolnir has a knack for Metal :P

**Edit again - cut the CARF out as per recommendation

[Soria]

Can't be any worse then me... creating character that deal with stuff I have no clue about. >_<

[$tormin]

It's not that difficult. Here is a good page to reference for our type of space ship.
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3i.html

[Soria]

Math hurt brain...

I'm an English student for a reason you know.

[TheSavageHamster]

Math hurt brain...

I'm an English student for a reason you know.


dude, double that. Illustrator extraordinaire here... 1+1= brainfreeze :P

[Soria]

Lets just pilot the machines and let the other tell us if we're doing it wrong.

[TheSavageHamster]

deal :D

[$tormin]

Mjolnir Confederacy and Corperation are seperate governments/interstellar nations. You couldn't be flying for both of them unless it was some officer exchange program, and then they wouldn't use such a person to check out anything they wanted to keep hidden.
Maybe just keep it Mjolnir, you flew for their military and it was their planet rather than being in the CARF.

[TheSavageHamster]

Sure. I just thought he had more chances of going on something like that in a military organization.

I can re-write though, cut the CARF part out :)

[$tormin]

Mjolnir would have its own military. Just because something hasn't been mentioned doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
CARF is not even the corperations main military arm, but being the anti-piracy/insurgency branch it would be the one most likely to be dealt with by us for example.

[TheSavageHamster]

edited

[$tormin]

Looks great. Now just have to wait for Jep's approval, and he is on limited time with his laptop down.

[TheSavageHamster]

sweet, cant wait

[jep'ray]

and my big rubber stamp says APPROVED...now where do we stick him? i know...i will PM you your marching orders...a real raider pilot huh? cool...gonna have to work again on those fighter picks...

[TheSavageHamster]

here's how much of a dork i am -

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii268/thesavagehamster/tokicopy.jpg

i'll get others done when i get to know the characters a bit more...

[Soria]

Swweeet!

[jep'ray]

rofl, nice place to put that Awol bag....very nice, he will fit right into the the misfits of the Last Exile...and i got the labtop up and running and guess what...my Main computers hard drive kicked the bucket last night...what the hell, is that thing with woody's computer spreading or something? so now i have to drag the old back up backup comp till i get this one fixed...argg

[$tormin]

OFC the ship has detected the incoming craft but due to the high traffic volume in this particular space it's not noteworthy until it either gets closer so it's obviously on an intercept course or it communicates.

[jep'ray]

yeah, could be normal traffic, just coincidence...but it will hit lunar orbit almost on top of the exile...like an accidental intercept...or something along those lines...

[$tormin]

Just because someone merges into your lane on a highway doesn't mean it's an interception. Using the moon for slingshot to add velocity without spending fuel would be a common maneuver, the destination could also include landing on the moon itself or going to one of the many lunar orbiting stations.
Deviating from an official flight plan or making an unplanned interception course could result in the military getting involved since a craft with multi gravity acceleration is a weapon of mass destruction on its own. Crashing into a planet at interplanetary speeds wouldn't leave a skid mark, it would be like blowing up a nuke bigger than most we have today. Crashing into another ship at the same speeds would cause a huge explosion, a blast of radiation that could threaten unprotected habitations and shotgun extremely dangerous shrapnel.

[Soria]

Hehehe Sorry TSH, it seems I'm making Emily hate Toki's guts...

[TheSavageHamster]

haha!

naw its ok. I figure Toki isn't the most adorable person... especially with first impressions.

I'm trying to work out something with the way he talks. Figure growing up with predominantly Mjolnir born would mean he speaks a different dialect originally, meaning he gets certaing grammer rules wrong... or sometimes uses the wrong word (like "Lobster Muffin" instead of "Crab Cake").

If its too annoying i can quit it tho.

[$tormin]

The reason Yushev's pods AI doesn't like the captain is because it's AI is a veteran of the 4th space war and it was killed in action (recovered later and put into a new vessel but it's still bitter)
Yes, 700 years is a long time to hold a grudge.

[TheSavageHamster]

Ooh, can I play with it? :D

[$tormin]

How exactly would one play with a 7,000kg transport pod? O.o

[TheSavageHamster]

turn off the artificial G and set up a volleyball net? :P

[TheSavageHamster]

Hey guys, i thought it'd be fun to do little character sketches like the one i did for Toki for all the characters. so if you're interested PM me or answer here with a physical description with a little more details... and maybe stuff you want me to point out i'd do them in the same sort of style, with notes around them and whatnot... and this time i'll use a font :P

so yeah, go for it.

oh, i can't promise how fast i can get em done but first step would definetly be descriptions.

[jep'ray]

note the Stardust class vessel we are flying around in has a twin rail gun mount on the upper hull, next to the bridge in a turret, left side of the hull opposite the bridge, it also mounts 3 point defense turrets, one twin barrel in a ball turret facing rear and two single barrel ball turrets just forward of the engines on the upper hull surface...the point defence turrets are just for that defense, but a good enough gunner can use it to make neat peice of swisscheese out of a near by hull with continuious fire...the down side that it kills the life of the weapon...rails are always pointed forwards unless you want to move it around...its right arc is limited due to the bridge geting in the way, it can turn almost completely around to the left, since the barrels are mounted to the right side of the turret...i'd show you all but my computer took a crap and im not gonna load more sofeware to this dinky laptop...

the medium fighter is over engined..kinda like our ship, with a decent ion cannon and medium plasma repeaters...it also holds alot of small to medium range missiles...they are expensive..no test firing of weapons that needs reloads...

ok you guys play around in the test range...do not target the frigate:P

[Gumblackwood]

Hey guys, i thought it'd be fun to do little character sketches like the one i did for Toki for all the characters. so if you're interested PM me or answer here with a physical description with a little more details... and maybe stuff you want me to point out i'd do them in the same sort of style, with notes around them and whatnot... and this time i'll use a font :P

so yeah, go for it.

oh, i can't promise how fast i can get em done but first step would definetly be descriptions.

Let's see, I'm good with descriptions. I may have to find a photo of my friend Piers for the face and the dragon tattoo.

Dwyde Flonking

Tall, thin, caucasian, though it can be hard to tell he's thin and caucasian due to thick clothing and grime that's gotten deep into his skin. His friends growing up nicknamed him "Mop" for his stature and really awful haircuts, but at some point he's gone to shaving his head completely. Probably has something to do with the elaborate red dragon tattoo he's got there. He keeps clean a lot better than Lister, but years of working in engine rooms have left him with almost permanent skin discoloration. Has tattoos on many other parts of his body, but keeps them covered mostly as many of them are badly done or embarassing.

Almost always seen wearing a worn and patched leather jacket and heavily grease-stained cargo pants. Wears printed t-shirts under the jacket, tucked in for safety, usually for the New Thames football club or various broken up rock groups. Keeps various work goggles handy and usually fills the cargo pants with tools when working rather than using a tool belt.

[jep'ray]

o yeah, for the most part the defence turrets are all automatic, since the speeds of most munititions are lightspeed fast, only a computer can keep up with it, but when the action is slower feel free to manualy control the turrets, i have a turret control room in the ship with 4 seats incase all the turrets need to be operated, otherwise its just needs one person to control /direct the main railgun turret...its point and click anyone can use it, but a properly trained turret operator can turn the enemy wreakage into a work of burning art...(yeah i know $tormin, fire can't burn in space without oxygen...:P)

[$tormin]

o yeah, for the most part the defence turrets are all automatic, since the speeds of most munititions are lightspeed fast, only a computer can keep up with it


Indeed, for space combat any aiming would have to be computer controlled since it would be like trying to snipe the thin edge of a dime at 4 kilometers and the dime is moving and shooting back. Human reflexes are way too slow and aiming would be far to inaccurate.

[Rookie]

dudes...lame mans terms. everything you guys have said is going way over my head. could you explain it in a way that won't require some background knowledge of realistic sci-fi?

and what am i supposed to do... :'(

[$tormin]

Ever try to play a dos flight sim game without moslow in windowed mode? Everything moves way too fast and is way too small for you to hit. That's how space combat is.

Edit: Heh, calced it out. If our max acceleration is 70 meters a second per second then after one minute of acceleration we would be going fast enough to circle the Earth in about 25 minutes or go from Earth to Moon in 27ish hours at max distance.

[jep'ray]

good lord $tormin, too much information...make it easy to understand man...and to rookiee, your captain, so captain things...take the ship in and have some target practice with the rail gun and test the defence turrets..when you guys are done head back for the halo...and test the fighter craft...send them out...

[$tormin]

60 miles an hour is about 26 meters a second. So if our ship can do 70 meters a second per second acceleration we can do 0-60mph in a third of a second. Since in space there are few forces slowing you down, when you stop your engines you will keep going the speed you stopped at.
The value for the acceleration is given in meters a second per second. That means every second the ship is going that much faster.

(btw my math sucks so I might be off on these numbers)

[TheSavageHamster]

Toki decided to take the initiative and head up to the bridge.

So, hows she handling?

[$tormin]

Who's the gunner anyways?

[Soria]

Seems Emily is... damnit I forgot about that...

[TheSavageHamster]

oh crap. didnt een realize i posted in the wrong thread... *slaphead*

[Gumblackwood]

Better than posting in the wrong RPT entirely *whistles innocently*

[jep'ray]

the star gates needed to move ships between stars have to be placed away from a systems sun..the gravity well from a sun is a bad thing to have next to a stargate...so in order to test or just jump to another system requires that the ship move out of the curret solar system...that can take weeks...Soo i am installing transfer gates for smaller ships...like ours...it is placed outside the orbit of all planets that are inhabited...one zip to a transfer gate and boom your now outside the system near the main stargate and from there to anywhere....the larger bulk haulers mass too much and are too large to use the transfer gates...the Exile it perfect size to use it...ok so no weeks of blah transit time to the stupid dtargate...just a zip past the moon and dive into the transfer gate...remember folks the speed you enter a gate will carry to the other side...

[$tormin]

Found this on youtube, it's pretty fitting for this. How one would eat honey and crackers in space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxDUSibU3SI

And drinking Tea with chopsticks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7obLT4s2-HA&NR=1

[$tormin]

I'm working on a map for the galaxy, this is pretty much the style it will be done in. Unbroken black lines is a stable jump point, broken black lines is an unstable one (meaning that the jump point only exists part of the time).
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2633/spacemapbh2.jpg

[jep'ray]

yeah, that will work...also not all systems will have the smaller trasfer gates...they are hidiously expensive, figure only corp and kingdom should have them, outrim definately wont...others might i just have to get a better feel for it...

[Rookie]

sorry for lack of activity, my free time has been shot down this whole week, but i return again, only to be leaving for portland next wednesday for the FIRST Robotics competition.

[jep'ray]

Bastard! i wish we had robotics comps when i was still in school, i could have kicked some butt...good luck with that...we'll just see how far things get before you leave...

[Gumblackwood]

Made a bit of an assumption in my last post in that, due to physics, ship computers almost never go full burn as there's bound to be a balance issue. The boosters do add to the maximum power of the engines and thus allow the computer to increase the actual speed, but they're small and run out rather quickly. We'll use at least a third of their total mass in this maneuver.

I was also thinking about ship gun control. While I know computers are best to control trajectory, rate of fire and such, humans are still probably necessary for tactical control in most situations (our friendly pod has its own tactical control in an AI personality). Human interface probably involves things like "concentrate fire here" or "attack this target, ignore that one", using simple algorithms and eye movement sensing to track the human's target, and there's likely a complete or nearly complete manual control for when sensors are inoperational or unable to detect certain objects.

[$tormin]

That's pretty much how I've been working with gun control. Scanners works on figuring out which targets are real (getting past decoys and spoofers) and setting the battle-screens to be strongest where they are needed (to prematurely detonate any missiles point defense doesn't knock out for example)

[jep'ray]

yup, thats the ideal...hey you wanna give the pod a gun and throw it at the fighter? maybe we should ask if it wants to volunteer?

[$tormin]

It's died* twice already, the AI is not about to throw itself away again for no reason.



*Once it ejected a copy of its "mind state" and the second it was restored from a backup copy.

[jep'ray]

lol darn...lol guess you guys will just have to out run the tail...

[$tormin]

Well maybe we could run to whatever defenses there are that would be in place for the jump into the most important system in human space.

[jep'ray]

the main defenses are out in the border regions of Sol space...surely no one would be brazen enough to try an attack on one of the main inner system gates...so a frigate is enough...just to keep things civil...

[$tormin]

I thought we were at the jump point to another system, aka the place bad people come through to attack the glorious awesomeness that is the Sol System!


So... we gate to another gate that gates to a set of gates that gate us to another star system where we gate to the gate that gates us to the inner system gate?


Here is a less complex method.
Diagram (http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jumpsystemqs3.jpg)
Since you want gates to eliminate transit time for us and have stated that only lower mass ships can use it, larger ships have to direct line it at super high speeds jumping without slowing or stopping to save fuel.

Jump points are natural formations, a distortion in space that is invisible but can be easily found with the proper scanners. They are well outside the star system and act as two way instant travel between specific star systems.

Example of a journey from Sol to Alpha Centauri (not an actual jump point). Leave Earth, gate to the jump point instantly where a larger ship would take a week to get there. Get to the point itself and activate the ships jump drive (sometimes after paying a fee to use the point) and you are in Alpha Centauri. If you want to go in system, gate or directly travel. If you want to jump to the next system you gate or travel to another jump point in the system (since the one you are at will take you back to Sol).

[Rookie]

(as posted in Steampunk RPT OOC)

ok, im back and not entirely ready to resume yet. I've had a hectic couple of weeks and im only now starting to pull things back together. RPT is not quite on the top of my priority list right now. I'll catch up later.

[jep'ray]

ok, i've been busy as all heck and our captain is Awol...will get it back on track as soon as i get me in-laws out of my place...