Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

[Confusion]

Hey all,

 

Our current campaign has us on Mars some 100 years after terraforming has begun. Which gives us a semi breathable atmosphere, however most folks still live in domes etc..

 

So.. being player characters and all, we just can't leave well enough alone. We have seen some thing on the surface that we want to look at.

 

Being Marines, and not a slouch with a wrench we are re-commisioning an old vehicle (read, pulling out of the junk pile.)

 

What we are envisioning is some sort of long term science/exploration vehicle. However, we are going to pull any of the science equipment if it's still around. Something akin to the Antartic Vehicle from the Pulp Forum.

 

 

So, basically this is what I have come up with,

http://www.sweetconfusion.net/misc/Mars_Truck.html

Thoughts, suggestions, gross oversights?

[Sundog]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Two things:

 

First, there doesn't seem to be any life-support for the crew. Even if you've got a breathable atmosphere, it's still gonna get seriously cold at night. And if this was an early exploration vehicle, we're talking full-on atmosphere and radiation protection.

 

Second, you need a Laser-Com system to bounce signals off satellites. Mars has no ionosphere to bounce radio off of - radio will be line-of-sight only.

 

I'd personally make it tracked rather than balloon wheels. But either would probably do the job.

[Confusion]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Two things:

 

First, there doesn't seem to be any life-support for the crew. Even if you've got a breathable atmosphere, it's still gonna get seriously cold at night. And if this was an early exploration vehicle, we're talking full-on atmosphere and radiation protection.

 

Second, you need a Laser-Com system to bounce signals off satellites. Mars has no ionosphere to bounce radio off of - radio will be line-of-sight only.

 

I'd personally make it tracked rather than balloon wheels. But either would probably do the job.

 

Fifth Power Down "There is a Fridge over there, the bunks fold down.:" I was bouncing in and out of used car salesman speak for some of the names. I did forget about the radiation bit.

 

I went with balloon wheels for a reason, there are several bodies of water in this version of Mars, one of them has a large fish that is not supposed to be there. That is one of the things we want to look at.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

I think the internal lights need either Self Only or No Range (I don't have my copy of TUV with me so I can't look it up). And I think the basic Ground Movement could use some extra NCM. Otherwise I think it looks great.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

1. I consider internal lights and standard headlights/running lights part of every vehicle and dont charge for them.

 

2. I agree that your going to need a lasercomm to bounce off the sattelites

 

3. how does the emergency hop work? you could use stretching to simulate being able to clear obstacles, this could include a variable suspension or just changing tire pressures

 

4. Is this vehicle operating far from support, or tied to a logistics chain etc?

I would probably add a basic tool kit

 

5. Does the vehicle carry any data recording gear?

 

6. a couple of small RPV's might be a good idea, depending on the capabilities of the tech your playing with

[Confusion]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Ok, I'm heading to a meeting, so I'll update the vehicle itself when I return.

 

But, in order.

1) True it's an 'every vehicle' item. I added them merely for completeness sake.

 

2) Lasercomm.. I'll add it.

 

3) I was originally thinking hydraulics, but the little I have looked into it leads me to believe this is not the right choice. I also though pnuematics to pull the suspension, but that could lead to more trouble. I'll have to think about that one a little bit more.

 

4) It is operating far from support, but to date we have not scrounged enough stuff to make a proper machine shop. So basically it's a portable toolkit, which is not reflected on the vehicle sheet. The Paramedics bonus

is based on an infirmary which I only have about half the pieces for so far.

 

5) Not much more than maybe a 'flight recorder' and whatever personal computers we have.

 

6) There may have been RPV's in this vehicle past. But as originally stated, we pulled this thing out of the junk pile and got it running again.

 

thanks.

[Confusion]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Ok, I have updated the vehicle. I'm not totally sold on the laser comm, as I have seen it written up as a mind link as well. I'm not to sure what the better option is really.

 

Replaced the leaping with stretching, which either way strikes me as amusing.

 

I also added the machine shop, for when we do get all the bits.

 

Gave the life support a one month duration. I also added a battery.

 

I think the Panic Button/Emergency Beacon needs some work... but I'm stumped.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

I treat laser/maser etc type comms as mind link since they are a tight beam instead of general broadcast

[DEFCON Clown]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Well I don't think a Flash vs Radio is the way to do it. I'd go with Images vs Radio, only to produce a single Image (S.O.S. [Current Location] S.O.S.). I'd also have its charge last a whole lot longer, a week at least.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Well I don't think a Flash vs Radio is the way to do it. I'd go with Images vs Radio' date=' only to produce a single Image (S.O.S. [Current Location'] S.O.S.).

This is correct. I'd been thrown off previously by the given name, but an emergency beacon should be done with Radio Group Images. The Radio Group Flash would just "blind" all radios in the vicinity.

[Confusion]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

For some reason, my instinct was to use Flash, I have no idea why. Flash = Noticeable, I suppose. Shrug. I fixed it, and update the web page.

[Basil]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Re. you're pontoon wheels: why can't it move backwards??

 

Re. the LS-eating: I think you have to divide the "one month" by the number of people to find out how long it's actually good for. I don't have my books handy, so I might be wrong.

 

Re. "Mars is farther away from the Sun.. Power loses about half of its effectiveness (-1)". Does this mean it's actually a 6 END, 6 REC? Or just how is it affected?

 

Re. the two END Batteries: does "Only Works In Daylight (-1/4)" mean the Reserve is unavailable at night? Or does it mean the Recovery only works at night. If the latter, the Limitation should only be taken on the Recovery cost.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

one idea would be to use a waterjet system to help its water speed, this would also explain why it cant move backwards, your steering jets dont have a 360 radius

[Confusion]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

The entire concept of the vehicle moving on water is really a side effect of having massive air filled wheels. In much the same way a Monster Truck can 'drive' over water. It is not really designed for it, however it can do it. It's not pretty, it's not graceful, it's merely possible.

 

Good Question about the food.. I too would assume 30 man days worth of supplies (now that I have actually thought about it) With 5 people, that would only last 6 days. I may have to rethink that one.

 

Mars is farther away from the Sun.. A tricky one.. Based on The Ultimate Vehicles (or Maybe Star Hero, both books are with a friend at the moment) entry on Solar Panels a 12/12 Solar Panel is 'standard'. Both the book, and my job, tell me that they are not as effective the further away you are from the sun. The book mentions half as effective on Mars so that is the option I went with. So, yes it is 6/6. There are a slew of similar limitations based on distance from the sun, since this particular big ugly truck is on Mars, I only bothered to add that limitation. I suppose for completeness sake, I could note all of them.

 

The only usable in daylight is based on the fact that well, it's solar powered. I agree that the limitation should only be on the recovery, but HeroDesigner does not print the limitations (or advantages) on REC with and END Reserve, so I put them on the Reserve itself so it would show up.

[Basil]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

The entire concept of the vehicle moving on water is really a side effect of having massive air filled wheels. In much the same way a Monster Truck can 'drive' over water. It is not really designed for it' date=' however it can do it. It's not pretty, it's not graceful, it's merely possible.[/quote']

I guess I'm not clear. I'm asking why it can't "swim" backwards. Unless the truck doesn't have a reverse gear, it should "swim" as well backwards as forwards. Yeah, that's not saying much, but it should, AIUI, be possible.

 

Mars is farther away from the Sun.. A tricky one.. Based on The Ultimate Vehicles (or Maybe Star Hero' date=' both books are with a friend at the moment) entry on Solar Panels a 12/12 Solar Panel is 'standard'. Both the book, and my job, tell me that they are not as effective the further away you are from the sun. The book mentions half as effective on Mars so that is the option I went with. So, yes it is 6/6. There are a slew of similar limitations based on distance from the sun, since this particular big ugly truck is on Mars, I only bothered to add that limitation. I suppose for completeness sake, I could note all of them.[/quote']

Unless you're truck spends some of its time nearer the Sun than Mars, it's better handled as SOP, rather than a Limitation. I'd buy a smaller END Reserve & REC (say, 6/6), and not put on the Lim. Simplify the write up, and it comes to the same cost.

 

The only usable in daylight is based on the fact that well' date=' it's solar powered. I agree that the limitation should only be on the recovery, but HeroDesigner does not print the limitations (or advantages) on REC with and END Reserve, so I put them on the Reserve itself so it would show up.[/quote']

Well then, bugger HeroDesigner if it gets things WRONG. Do it by hand, like I do.

 

Well, actually, I do it by spreadsheet. Built the sheet myself, so I know it works.

[Guest Major Tom]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

A couple of "must-haves" for any Mars Ground Exploration Vehicle:

 

1. Inertial Compass: Because Mars has no magnetic field, normal

magnetic compasses would be useless for purposes of navigating the Martian

terrain, since there is no magnetic North or South Pole. Therefore, an Inertial

Compass is an absolute necessity.

 

2. GPS Location System: Assuming that the people who establish-

ed the terraforming project on Mars in your campaign saw fit to place networks

of both weather and communication satellites in orbit around the planet, a GPS

Location System would come in handy for getting around on Mars' surface, esp-

ecially when used in conjunction with #1 above.

 

 

Major Tom

[Vanguard]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

The only usable in daylight is based on the fact that well, it's solar powered. I agree that the limitation should only be on the recovery, but HeroDesigner does not print the limitations (or advantages) on REC with and END Reserve, so I put them on the Reserve itself so it would show up.

 

Actually, Hero Designer does print the Limitations on the REC but only if they are different then the ones on the Reserver itself. What it does is list out the Reserve/Rec and then below that gives you the limitations on the Reserve and then the Limitations on the REC.

 

Like this:

 

24 Fusion Reactor: Endurance Reserve (175 END, 45 REC) Reserve: Only Powers Electrical Device (-1/4); REC: When Docked with a Battlestar or C.R.V. (-2), Slow Recovery 5 Minutes (-1), Only Powers Electrical Device (-1/4)

[Confusion]

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle.

 

Ok, hopefully the final update.

 

 

nyway, we used the truck last week. My monitor blew, so I have not been updating.

 

As I said before, we are Marines, and we were given 30 days leave. So we decided to circumnavigate Mars itself.

 

Things we learned:

1. 
   The Captain should not bring his girlfriend on an extended trip when the rest of the group are Marines. Poor Girl, I hope she recovers.
   
2. 
   A Winch would have been nice, we kept to smooth terrain, because well we did not have one. It's been added.
   
3. 
   More Speed would be nice, for some people... it was added but I don't think it is really needed.
   
4. 
   The Ability to drive during the Martian Night. Solved through creative application of alien power storage that we are probably commiting all sorts of crimes by using.
   
5. 
   Always carry a gun, or at least some loud speakers... At one point during our trek we encountered basically buffalo. (Genetic Engineering gone right for the most part) Anyway, we were in a big truck 'invading' their territory.. so the decided to do all sorts of crazy things to us. We only had Gauss Weaponry and one Laser Rifle, neither of which make the kind of noise we needed to scare off a herd of buffalo. The PA was added as a Multipower 'This one goes to 11' represents my characters very poor skill with a guitar.