Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

[RPJesus]

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

 

RPJesus, "zero point energy" is the idea, from quantum mechanics, that matter/energy is being constantly created and destroyed, on a time scale of attoseconds, from "empty space"; this is mostly in the form of matter-antimatter pairs, though the hypothesis requires "anti-energy" to be formed, to cancel out the energy interacting matter-antimatter pairs would produce. Note, that at this time scale, it does not effect the universe, not even on the atomic level. However, goes the speculation, if there were some way to separate out the antimatter, and keep it, you could interact it with regular matter at macroscopic time-scales. Even more theoretically, if you could neutralize the "anti-energy", the energy would be there for your use. However, no-one can even speculate on how to do either, so the whole idea is pretty much useless.

 

 

Except for Steven Hawkings using it to theorize radiating black holes.

I apoloqize for my absence Gents, I have work and a long standing campaign that required much of my attention. BASIL the great.....

ZPower Corporation was founded to become a global leader in providing viable fuel-less and pollution-free energy alternatives that can deliver electrical, mechanical and thermal power. ZPower is developing several technologies which collect and convert energy from a previously untapped source, sometimes referred to as Zero Point Energy (ZPE).

 

In essence, the key is the conversion of electromagnetic radiation energy to electrical energy, and more specifically the conversion of an extremely high frequency bandwidth of the electromagnetic spectrum (beyond Gamma Rays) known as the zero point spectrum.

 

Zero Point Energy -- vibrational energy that molecules retain even at the absolute zero of temperature. Temperature in physics has been found to be a measure of the intensity of random molecular motion, and it might be expected that, as temperature is reduced to absolute zero, all motion ceases and molecules come to rest. In fact, however, the motion corresponding to Zero Point Energy never vanishes.Zero Point Energy results from principles of quantum mechanics, the physics of subatomic phenomena. Should the molecules ever come completely to rest, their component atoms would be precisely located and would simultaneously have precisely specified velocities, namely, of value zero. But it is an axiom of quantum mechanics that no object can ever have precise values of position and velocity simultaneously; thus molecules can never come completely to rest.

Physicists recognize that we are immersed in an energetic field. The existence of the zero point electromagnetic energy was discovered in 1958 by the Dutch physicist M. J. Sparnaay. Mr Sparnaay continued the experiments carried out by Hendrick B. G. Casimir in 1948 which showed the existence of a force between two uncharged plates which arose from electromagnetic energy surrounding the plates in a vacuum.

 

Mr Sparnaay discovered that the forces acting on the plates arose from not only thermal energy (heat) but also from another type of radiation now known as classical electromagnetic zero point energy. Mr Sparnaay determined that not only did the zero point electromagnetic energy exist in a vacuum but also that it persisted even at a temperature of absolute zero. This term Zero Point Energy (ZPE) has been based on the concept that even if matter were cooled down to absolute zero (minus 273^oC), in terms of its temperature, this energy field still remains.

 

Meaning Zero point energy is a relative term in reference to many types of energy and not just anti-matter. It also supplies ample hope that a horse can be more than a horse given a push in a direction that actually pans out.

 

Once again I do apologize for the tardiness of my reply, but without adequate time to check my sources I would make myself an even big A** than I am.

RPJ

[RPJesus]

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

 

Just to put in my unwanted two cents. I've never had players that really cared enough to make the build systems worth the work in most sci fi systems. As was mentioned' date=' the ships were props. They worked because they needed to work other wise the characters would be stuck on one planet. "Why can't a fighter sized craft has a displacer drive?" The answer "because in this setting they're too big to fit on one" was an acceptable answer. I don't think sci fi technology has to definitely map to what we know today to be acceptable for gaming.[/quote']

NEXUS,

I agree.....but if your bored and have nothing better to do it's a nice time suck for the book worm in some of us.

RPJ

[Dauntless]

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

 

I've said before that one of the problems with the Hero System is that it uses what I call a Descriptive system to model all things. A Descriptive system simply asks, "what are the qualities and attributes of a system so that I can describe its affects?". Basically, you look at the end result of a product, and then reverse engineer it to figure out the quantification of its attributes. The advantage of a Descriptive system is that it can model just about anything you can imagine. The disadvantage is that it quite often doesn't jibe with reality very well.

 

On the other hand, you can have a Procedural system. A Procedural system starts by having parts or attributes and rules that deal with how (and if) these facets interact with each other. From this, you join the parts together according to the rules and you end up with a finished object that has abilities according to the various parts. The advantage to this system is that you can model the attributes very closely to reality and have a very realistic system. The disadvantage is that these facets are very contextually based (say for example technological) which means that it is difficult to model a wide-ranging set of things (and when I mean things, I mean physical objects or characters).

 

For example, suppose I create a character that has the skill WS:Heavy Weapons (which allows him to use military heavy weapons like anti-tank guided missles). And yet, the player does not want the character to have either a military background or a terrorist background. How is this possible? It is possible in the Hero System because you simply have a Descriptive system ("I want a character that can use heavy weapons"). And the rules allow for such a creation, although the GM may raise his eyes at such a loophole. So if the GM doesn't care or doesn't catch this, it could lead to problems. This ultimately means more babysitting for the GM to do.

 

On the other hand, you could have a Procedural system that limits what a character can learn based on his education, social class, career or cultural background. Similarly, in a procedural system, instead of creating a gun by first asking, "How much damage do I want it to do?", you instead have to think of many factors; "How big is the gun? What is the mass and diameter of the bullet? How long is the barrel? What kind of action system does it use?".

 

A Descriptive system is good for games which span genres or genres which can't really be modeled on "reality" (superheroes or fantasy for example). However, the universality of such a system is also its weakness in games that require more of a realistic or gritty edge. Personally, I don't use the Hero System for realistic and gritty games. I think it's for this reason that neither of the campaign settings have attempted to explain starship technology in great detail...simply because trying to model the technology may wind up with the anomalies like you mention. It's the price a system has to pay for being universal.

 

Although I've never tried to build a starship with the rules system, maybe you might want to take a look at BTRC's CORPS VDS. As a warning, you must have a calculator and preferably a spreadsheet to really use it. This will only allow you to create the vessel though. If you want weapons, take a look at their other product, Guns! Guns! Guns!

[Heroman]

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

 

Actually, Dauntless, I like it that the Hero System is a "Descriptive System". Given that it is a core book it needs to me IMHO as to not perform any constraints other than relative power (xd6 dmg cost this much, x PD costs this much). By not tying itself down, it acts fluidily in any environment.

As far as the example of a guy wanting WS: Heavy Weapons, it is not the Hero System's place to prevent him. It is not even Star Hero's place. It is the responsibility of Terrain Empire, Star Wars, Star Trek, or whatever actual campaign book to lay out those constraints. It is only at that level where you would map the apsects of that 'reality' to the game system, defining the allowances and limitations.

The Hero System is the descriptive approach, your conceptual game setting is the procedural approach and the campaign book (well I guess Sourcebook since that is what it says TE is) describes how the two meet. From this approach, I believe the big issue is the degree to which the merging of these is performed, that it is at too vauge a level.

TE as it stands It is pretty much made for only using pre-packaged ships or alot of ad hoc GM decision making due to the loose joining instead of rules based on reality (is that gun to big for the ship? How much fuel can I lose if someone hits a fuel tank, how much room is taken up by the fuel, etc, how encumbering is my armor?). In addition the loose connection can lead to errors for the super reality focused (such as not being able to carry enough fuel to provide the burn identified by the ship specs), but that is a price paid for getting a book out on a schedule. They had to choose a level of coupling and they chose a rather loose level, indeed treating vehicles and such more as props.

 

The level taken, to me, is inadequate given the genre compared even to their other books. TE is Heroic, plain and simple, but they lack things as simple as DEF and Mass for even personal equipment, things present even in the Fantasy Hero genre book (I do not have any FH campaign books to know if they have it there too). Being a heroic level, stuff like that is important.

There definately seems to be a bit of a disjoint even between genre books.

I do not understand why so much work was put into universe generation in the main SH book (as compared terse information on town generation for FH) then a total lack of detail about stuff PCs actually interact with in the TE book. Really, there are a fair number of universe generating designs out there already which are not coupled to any game system, as opposed to the ommited details and deck plans which are tightly tied to TE. I would rather have seen a general ship construction section in SH or a TE specific one in TE; that would have been of much greater value.

 

Now from the TE perspective, I do believe lack of deckplans is a fault, moreso than the lack of other heroic-level friendly stuff. I use Traveller plans, alot of activity being on ship or station (why play a SciFi game just to go dungeoning?) mainly since I began my game before 5th and SH due to their availability but guess what; I am not running TE. I can't since my ships don't match up well and ships are a major component for me. This is not like swapping out hand weapons or personal equipment; I see SH being about starships and bases and such. It is TE's responsibility to define those for it's campaign but it pretty well fails to do so except at the most generic level. It definately should for a few key ships, along with bases (at least common sections) even if the size of objects is not 100% accurate (since there is no measure of size for ship components). A sourcebook is not just about the rules; it is the setting.

 

-hm

[SSJ Archon]

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

 

Zero Point Energy -- vibrational energy that molecules retain even at the absolute zero of temperature. Temperature in physics has been found to be a measure of the intensity of random molecular motion, and it might be expected that, as temperature is reduced to absolute zero, all motion ceases and molecules come to rest. In fact, however, the motion corresponding to Zero Point Energy never vanishes.Zero Point Energy results from principles of quantum mechanics, the physics of subatomic phenomena. Should the molecules ever come completely to rest, their component atoms would be precisely located and would simultaneously have precisely specified velocities, namely, of value zero. But it is an axiom of quantum mechanics that no object can ever have precise values of position and velocity simultaneously; thus molecules can never come completely to rest.

Physicists recognize that we are immersed in an energetic field. The existence of the zero point electromagnetic energy was discovered in 1958 by the Dutch physicist M. J. Sparnaay. Mr Sparnaay continued the experiments carried out by Hendrick B. G. Casimir in 1948 which showed the existence of a force between two uncharged plates which arose from electromagnetic energy surrounding the plates in a vacuum.

 

Mr Sparnaay discovered that the forces acting on the plates arose from not only thermal energy (heat) but also from another type of radiation now known as classical electromagnetic zero point energy. Mr Sparnaay determined that not only did the zero point electromagnetic energy exist in a vacuum but also that it persisted even at a temperature of absolute zero. This term Zero Point Energy (ZPE) has been based on the concept that even if matter were cooled down to absolute zero (minus 273^oC), in terms of its temperature, this energy field still remains.

 

Meaning Zero point energy is a relative term in reference to many types of energy and not just anti-matter. It also supplies ample hope that a horse can be more than a horse given a push in a direction that actually pans out.

 

Once again I do apologize for the tardiness of my reply, but without adequate time to check my sources I would make myself an even big A** than I am.

RPJ

 

First you say that its not possible to acheive Absolute Zero (Which is true), then you say Sparnaay checked at absolute zero? I'm sure you mean close to absolute zero. (As a note, if the plates were approximately 400 Lightyears in diameter, and you were able to keep them at a distance close to the Planck length, and were able to over come gravity, you could make a universe. Discover actually ran an article on this recently, and it did a very good job of putting in laymans terms.)

 

Either way,

 

Both groups here are right. Tech is mere props and background. But that also makes the genre. What would be nice is not a default system, but some example systems. Like Maybe:

A=Thrust

B=Mass

C=ATRI

D=Tech Constant ex Fusion Engine = 9, Antimatter = 11 (Maybe the ATRI at which it becomes avalible)

E=Fuel

 

(EB(C/10)^(-1)-A^2)/((EB(C/10)^(-1)-A^2)+D^(-1))=1

 

Just add units, and pressed-o (I don't know if this one works, I just wrote what seemed logical to me.)

[RPJesus]

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't.

 

Once again I find myself the fixed figure in the age of scorn. You have a spotlight on my inaccuracies....fair enough, but my inability to nail it down constitently with a bold and definite declaration is clearly tied to the hypothetical nature of the actual science. These statements started off in an effort to shed some light to the fact that the direction science is going right now is not necessarily the direction it'll be going 20 or 200 years from now. The conversation was limited in scope due to narrow perspective and over analyzation but the critical mind. Everyone was looking to have cold hard fact before they could suspend their disbelief and just go with an idea. Science fiction is attractive to lots of fans based off of the fact that we don't know everything and one day we as a society will know more and live at a higher level as a society. I don't care about the game conventions and making it as realistic as possible. I argued the point just to point out that there is so much more that we don't know than what we do know and as soon as something comes out we overanalyze it and murder the creative Id that inspired the work. I'm all for science and research, but not at the expense of the fantasy aspect of roleplaying.

RPJ