Stuff and things.

[Manus Celer Dei]

Resources for the next rpg. Set in the same universe but with no existing storylines. This post will be updated as more information becomes available. Submissions and ideas welcome.

 

So far so good.

 

[update] I've finished most of the other resources (Starships: General, Starships: Known ship classes, Economics, History of the Alliance, History of the Kingdom, History of the Imperium) but because its nearing the end of semester and I have exams, I won't be able to go home and post them for another few weeks. Also, one I'm done with these files I'm going to start a registration thread, where participants can register their characters.

Weapons_and_Defences.txt

[Greased_Lightning]

No same characters or what?

[Manus Celer Dei]

You can use the same character, but starting again from scratch.

[Tipme]

i try....but forum rpg's are too hard for me to follow

ill stick with D&D

[Aileron]

D & D usually suxors. Either A) you play a fighter, which requires no strategy whatsoever or you play a mage, where you get your -*BAD WORD*- kicked five ways from Sunday. (That's why I usually play a druid/fighter combo, but.) Some editions have good mage spells, which can make the mage a very good choice if you play smart, but most of the time spells just don't have the mus-*BAD WORD*- to be usefull.

 

Speaking of D&D, I'm kinda working on a Neverwinter Nights module. Its a humerous module, so if there is anything odd or funny about the D&D world that you think would be funny, please run it by me.

 

Ok, back to the topic...

 

How about this weapon idea?

 

Z-Space weapons:

 

Ever since Z-space technology was created, scientists have been trying to build a Z-space weapon. The general concept of which is either a bomb or missile that is fired into Z-space and warps directly inside the target over a riculously long range. It is a terrifying concept, the idea of detonating a bomb inside an enemy ship's reactor from accross the galaxy. Although there has been much research into the concept, it has never really worked.

 

One method is to fire bombs directly into Z-space with a pre-set fuse determining where to appear and detonate. However, this type of weapon requires a huge planetary base. However, the real problem is that since the bombs are piloted by a dumb fuse and that Z-space travel is impossible around gravity wells, the range of the weapon is limited by nearby obstacles. While this is usually still very long range, it is not long enough to justify the cost and the devotion of an entire planet to the weapon.

 

The other attempted method was a Z-space missle, programmed to pilot through space the same way a ship does, by exiting Z-space every so often to make piloting corrections and to go around gravity wells. However, the problem with this is that the missle can be intercepted just like a ship, and really isn't any more effective than sending a fighter to the task.

 

Still, a few weapon scientists are still trying to think of a practical implimentation of this type of weapon, and all four of the major empires have programs devoted to the subject.

 

 

Well, good thing about the new characters. I'm thinking something along the lines of Intergalactic pirate rather than intergalactic terrorist.

[Arianax]

So far everything seemed to have a scientific basis, like the rail gun type thingys, so whats the concept of z space?

[Aileron]

Well, if you can use Z-space systems to warp a ship across large distances, why shouldn't you try to do the same thing to some kind of balistic weapon?

 

Basically, instead of firing a Z-space weapon, you warp it around to the target.

[Guest Ari]

no i mean, how does Z space work, is it just going really fast or doing some funky stuff.

[Manus Celer Dei]

ZTT (Zero Tau Transit) drives on starships don't actually propell starships through space, but instead "fold" space in the affected area, creating a section of "null space" which co-exists with all possible destination points simultaneously.

 

ZTT Generators require a great deal of energy to operate, and the vast majority of ships will need to power down all non-essential systems (like weapons or sub-light drives) in order to funnel the prodigious power requirements of this technology. The exact power requirements for such technology hinge on several factors which need to be balanced to minimise risk of power cascade when attempting a jump. Power cascades in ZTT generators are a very quick way for a ship to die.

 

Starship M!@#$%^&*: the larger the starship, the more power is required to generate a large enough field. (of course larger ships also have stronger reactors, so it kinda balances)

 

Gravitic Stress: the presence of a gravity well introduces more and more stress on a ZTT generator as the gravity effect increases, automatic stabilisation measures can compensate up to a point, but these measures also require a great deal of power.

 

Jump Distance: Destination points further away require much more complex field adjustments, which must be made while the generator is active and thus, draining power. While blind jumps are possible, if the ship attempts to jump and the field is not properly set for the destination area, the vessel will most probably be ripped apart like wet newspaper as it re-emerges into normal space.

 

ZTT drives have a current maximum effective range of 4 light years as the field generators cannot as yet be adjusted any finer with current technology.

[The Maurauder]

Hmm seems rather complicated, but i also believe it would be cool to require an image of your ship, even if its just a basic bmp, so we know what we are talking about, and a schematics list. Any special effects of a weapon/item would be listed after a -.An Example:

 

Guns: 1 Lv.3-rapid fire

Bombs: 1 Lv.2-EMP

Sub-Light Engines: 1 Fusion drive

Warp Engines: Limited range warp thruster (rocket)

Armor: Medium-99.7% Reflectivity

Shields: Light

Special Equpment: None

Specials: None

 

Shematics and ship images would pe posted on a thread seperate from the RPG, and pinned.

[Arianax]

Images sound cool, could we do funky things to them like

 

Custom ithkul terrier with weird--*BAD WORD*- cloaker:

 

 

Obviously more technical language

[Manus Celer Dei]

Hmm seems rather complicated, but i also believe it would be cool to require an image of your ship, even if its just a basic bmp, so we know what we are talking about, and a schematics list. Any special effects of a weapon/item would be listed after a -.An Example:

 

Guns: 1 Lv.3-rapid fire

Bombs: 1 Lv.2-EMP

Sub-Light Engines: 1 Fusion drive

Warp Engines: Limited range warp thruster (rocket) 

Armor: Medium-99.7% Reflectivity

Shields: Light

Special Equpment: None

Specials: None

 

Shematics and ship images would pe posted on a thread seperate from the RPG, and pinned.

While your idea is not without merit, requiring people to post images of their ships will probably cut down participation somewhat for those with less imagery skillz0r.

 

As to posting ship statistics, this would be a good idea to add to the registration thread for those who want to join, when I create it anyway.

 

 

Just to point out something I might not have made very clear earlier in the game thread: the 17th Parallel RPG has nothing to do with SS apart from the name, posting ship stats that state things like L3 guns will be meaningless in context of the resource files (okay I know I have only posted one so far), far better would be to state that your fighter/interceptor has 4 heavy spinal mounted blasters or fusion cannons.

 

Another note: there will be a BIG difference between heavy mounted fighter weapons, and heavy mounted capital ship weapons. Somewhere along the lines of heavy cap weapons being the same size as the fighter itself.

 

Example-

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/desktoppics/Thunderforge(800x600).jpg

 

Weapons: 4x spinal mounted heavy Blast beams, 2x turreted Barrage missile launchers, 2x quad fusion cannon turrets (point defence).

[Aileron]

Well, then mayhaps we should scrap the whole thing and add standard Subspace style stats. Just as an example

 

L3 1 x Guns reload 100 ms

L1 EMP prox bomb with 20 shrap reload 500 ms

1200 nrg

Steath

X radar and Anti-warp

3 repels and a portal

 

Capital ships can have bigger versions of the same weapons. For example, allow them to carry L4-10 bombs.

 

I dunno, this would probably be too constrictive.

 

Well, a basic addition would be any item that exists in Subspace can be put on a ship, with exception to super and shields. Another follow-through would include miniature versions that are carried.

 

I dunno if that picture idea is such a good one. It doesn't really require creativity as much as being able to find a cool pic online.

[Manus Celer Dei]

Thread updated.

 

Yes I know its coming along very slowly, I've been busy.

[Aileron]

And I kinda think I'm speaking for everyone now...no skin wearing freaks. (I kinda thought addind a Silence of the Lambs element would make my character more evil...though it ended up killing the thread. Sorry. I'll just try a simple pirate captain this time)

[Emblazon]

Is it just my opinion, or did this entire portion of our forum become completely pointless?

[Aileron]

well, you don't understand this forum's life cycle. It is usually VERY active for a few months, then dies for a few months, then is revived again.

 

You are just happening to come in during one of the inactive cycles.

 

 

Seriously though, it would be great if we could work out some kind of sub-arena and find some way for it to intermingle with this.