The Stargate

[WistfulD]

Good idea.   I'd go with Drain (body) standard effect, instead, and give it more dice.   Each D6 killing (NND DB AoE) is what, 75 points?  Each D6 of Drain (body) AoE would only be 20.  Being only ~1/4 the price makes up for going against the point value of the Body stat instead of the stat itself, and more.   And being a Drain, it goes against Power Defense, which will effectively be NND/DB to most things anyway.

 

Still, shouldn't be worth a lot since the woosh is predictable and easily avoidable.

 

RKA 1D6 (15 base points) Area of Effect (8m cone; + 1/4), AVAD(NND; +1), Does Body (+1) (48.75 Active Points); No Range (-1/2) = 32.5 Real Points/Die

 

Drain Body 1D6 (10 base points) Area of Effect (8m cone; + 1/4) (12.5 Active Points); No Range (-1/2) = 8.3 Real Points/Die

 

So more than 3x as expensive, slightly modified by linked, whether it costs END, etc., but why the RKA would be cheaper as AVAD (power defense; +1/2), which is more comparable. My question is: why not just make it straight up damage (resisted by rPD/rED)? Then it's a straight up 12.5/die for RKA and 8.3/die for Drain Body. 

[Cassandra]

You might want to link Universal Translator to the Stargate.  It seems to allow people from different planets to talk to one another.

[sinanju]

You might want to link Universal Translator to the Stargate.  It seems to allow people from different planets to talk to one another.

Eh, that's an artifact of trying to produce a weekly tv show. Spending half of every episode engaged in pantomime or struggling with pigeon English (or Egyptian or whatever) would get old real fast, and take up valuable story time. Note that in the original movie they did, in fact, need Daniel Jackson to translate for them. It's really a question of how you want to spend your limited show/game time. A PC who knows a lot of ancient languages could be fun to play and an important part of the game. Or you could handwave the issue and go with the universal translator effect.

 

As for the kawoosh--I wouldn't stat it out. I'd make GM Fiat. Anything engulfed by the kawoosh is vaporized. End of story. We never saw anything that could withstand it (the iris prevented it from forming in the first place, according to canon.)

[Tasha]

Eh, that's an artifact of trying to produce a weekly tv show. Spending half of every episode engaged in pantomime or struggling with pigeon English (or Egyptian or whatever) would get old real fast, and take up valuable story time. Note that in the original movie they did, in fact, need Daniel Jackson to translate for them. It's really a question of how you want to spend your limited show/game time. A PC who knows a lot of ancient languages could be fun to play and an important part of the game. Or you could handwave the issue and go with the universal translator effect.

 

As for the kawoosh--I wouldn't stat it out. I'd make GM Fiat. Anything engulfed by the kawoosh is vaporized. End of story. We never saw anything that could withstand it (the iris prevented it from forming in the first place, according to canon.)

We played in a Stargate game where the GM decided that we needed to spend time to figure out the languages. That lasted about 4-5 sessions, eventually magically everyone we encountered spoke English. Because dealing with those languages started to not be real fun.

[sinanju]

We played in a Stargate game where the GM decided that we needed to spend time to figure out the languages. That lasted about 4-5 sessions, eventually magically everyone we encountered spoke English. Because dealing with those languages started to not be real fun.

 

Yeah, there are tropes that are tropes for a reason. The "Universal Translator" (however it is supposed to work in a given work of fiction or campaign) is really there because the difficulties inherent in constantly dealing with new languages are a pain in the butt.

 

Same with artificial gravity on spaceships. You _can_ make a movie in which zero-g is the default (Gravity, for instance), but when you're filming a movie (and especially a weekly tv show), it's way easier to just say "we have artificial gravity" and go with it. (And a running joke in my gaming group, whatever the campaign, is "Artificial Gravity is, hands down, THE most reliable technology we possess. The engines can crap out, life support can shut down, the lights can go out...but the artificial gravity never fails.")

[cbullard]

I know I'm late to the party, but I have a couple of observations re: the stargate as portrayed in the Stargate movie and TV shows.
 

Known capabilities/limitations:

• Open a wormhole to transport personnel or small fighter craft to another stargate anywhere in the galaxy (100,000 light-year diameter).
• Can only open wormholes to other stargates
• Can only keep the wormhole open for 33 minutes
• Ejects a horizontal plume upon establishing the wormhole.  This plume can be prevented from forming by a solid barrier or force field at the event horizon, but if it forms, everything caught in the plume is destroyed.
• From watching the first activation sequence in the movie, it takes approximately 1:30 to dial the gate, for the wormhole to open, and for the plume to clear.  In SG-1 “Children of the Gods” (season 1 episode 1) it is approximately 1:05 from the time one of the guards hears a rumbling sound until the incoming wormhole is formed.
• In the movie, it took 25 seconds from the time the probe entered the event horizon until the tracker stopped moving.  Location (Abydos) was described as “somewhere in the Kalium galaxy” and “on the far side of the known universe” but this was later changed in the series to place it in the Milky Way galaxy.  In “Children of the Gods” it took approximately 12 seconds for the box of tissues Jack tossed through to reach that version of Abydos.  However, subjective time for those traveling appears to be instantaneous, as evidenced by those diving through one gate and still emerging in the same dive from the other gate.
• Stargate wiki says a Jumper is a 4.7m diameter x 8m long cylinder, and can carry 20 people.  This is a Size 6 vehicle: 4 hex length x 2 hex width, 6.4 tons = 5805 kg + 2000 kg for people = 7805 kg.
• In the movie and early episodes of the SG-1 series, those emerging from the gate were covered in frost.  In the Pilot episode Carter explains that the freezing is due to the momentary compression of your atoms needed during your reconstruction on the other side.  “By the time you get to the other side you’re frozen stiff, like you’ve just been through a blizzard, naked.”

 

 

Let’s look at these in order, in terms of Hero System powers and capabilities.

• Open a wormhole to transport personnel or small fighter craft to another stargate anywhere in the galaxy (100,000 light-year diameter).

Teleport 1”, Megascale, 1” = 100,000 light years, can be scaled down to 1” = 1km.  Continuous (+1), Usable on Other (+1/4), Gate (-1/2), Two-dimensional (-1/4), OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Area of Effect (Radius) x4 Radius (4” Radius defined down to 3” Radius, +1 1/2), Requires A Skill Roll (KS: Stargates, -1/2), Gestures (Dialing the coordinates of the destination gate, -1/4)

 

• Can only open wormholes to other stargates

Can only teleport to fixed locations: other stargates (-1)

 

• Can only keep the wormhole open for 33 minutes

1 continuing charge lasting 1 Hour, defined down to 33 minutes (-1/4)

 

• Ejects a horizontal plume upon establishing the wormhole.  This plume can be prevented from forming by a solid barrier or force field at the event horizon, but if it forms, everything caught in the plume is destroyed.

Major Side Effect, 5d6 RKA in an 8m line directly in front of the gate, upon activation. (-1/2)

 

• From watching the first activation sequence in the movie, it takes approximately 1:30 to dial the gate, for the wormhole to open, and for the plume to clear.  In SG-1 “Children of the Gods” (season 1 episode 1) it is approximately 1:05 from the time one of the guards hears a rumbling sound until the incoming wormhole is formed.

Extra time, 1 minute, only to activate (-3/4)

 

• In the movie and early episodes of the SG-1 series, those emerging from the gate were covered in frost.  In the Pilot episode Carter explains that the freezing is due to the momentary compression of your atoms needed during your reconstruction on the other side.  “By the time you get to the other side you’re frozen stiff, like you’ve just been through a blizzard, naked.”

 

“Momentary compression” and the freezing effect sounds like the process involves Shrinking for the relativistic instant during which they are traveling through the wormhole.

 

Compound Power: Shrinking, 5 levels (62 AP), Instant (-1/2), Usable On Other (+1/4), Linked to Teleportation: lesser power can only be used when the character uses greater Power at full value (-3/4), Focus: OAF, Bulky (-1 1/2), Minor Side Effect, travelers take 1d6 cold damage.  Side effect only affects the recipients of the benefits of the power, Occurs automatically whenever power is used.  (-0).  Real Cost: 33.  0.0625m tall, 0.031 kg mass

 

 

• Stargate wiki says a Jumper is a 4.7m diameter x 8m long cylinder, and can carry 20 people.  This is a Size 6 vehicle: 4 hex length x 2 hex width, 6.4 tons = 5805 kg + 2000 kg for people = 7805 kg.

 

This means we need to step up the teleportation effect from 100 kg to 7805 kg.  Fortunately, our Shrinking has already taken care of that by reducing the mass to 1/32768 of the original.  That means our gate can now transport 3,276,800 kg

 

So our final Stargate looks something like this:

Compound Power, Teleportation and Shrinking
Total Active Points: 79, Real Cost: 19, END: 6

 

Teleportation 1”, Usable On Other (+1/4), Continuous (+1), Area Of Effect (4” Radius defined down to 3” Radius; +1 1/2), Two-Dimensional (-1/4), MegaScale (1”=100,000 light years; + 4 3/4), Can Be Scaled Down 1” = 1km (+1/4), OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Fixed Locations: Can Only Teleport To Other Stargates (-1), Extra Time (1 Minute, Only to Activate, -3/4), Requires A Skill Roll (KS:Stargates -1/2), Gate (Power loses about a third of its effectiveness, -1/2), Major Side Effect, 5d6 RKA in an 8m line directly in front of the gate upon activation, Side Effect only affects the environment near the character, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used, -1/2), Gestures (Dialing the coordinates of the destination gate, -1/4), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Hour (defined down to 33 minutes) (-1/4)
Active Points: 17

Real Cost: 3

 

Shrinking x5 (0.0625m tall, 0.0031 kg mass), Usable On Other (+1/4), OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Linked (Teleportation; Lesser Power can only be used when character uses greater Power at full value; -3/4), Instant (-1/2), Side Effects (Travelers take 1d6 cold damage, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used, Side Effect only affects the recipient of the benefits of the Power, +0)

Active Points: 62

Real Cost: 16

[archer]

And a note on the Pegasus puddlejumper vs the one Goa'uld glider which went through the gate: the glider was only a two-person ship which was quite a bit smaller in mass that the 20 person puddlejumper.

 

So it's still possible that the Pegasus gates have a higher mass limit than the Milky Way gates.

 

 

 

[Jhamin]

On 1/15/2021 at 5:23 PM, archer said:

So it's still possible that the Pegasus gates have a higher mass limit than the Milky Way gates.

 

I don't think we ever saw any evidence that there is *any* mass limit to the gates.  One of Carter's more infamous tricks was blowing up a Star by reducing it's mass and causing it to go SuperNova.  She did this by connecting a Gate that was falling into a star to another gate that was next too a Black hole.  The Black hole pulled enough mass through the wormhole to affect the interaction between a Star's mass and it's internal atomic reactions.  This was with Milky Way gates

 

They didn't go into the math, but I'm betting its more than x128 the mass of a human.  Mass limits are a Hero System thing and don't appear to have any correlation in the Stargate franchise.  As far as I can tell, if it can physically fit through a gate it will travel through the wormhole.

[Ninja-Bear]

So in other words, if it fits it ships!

[Ragitsu]

On 1/14/2021 at 9:09 AM, cbullard said:

I know I'm late to the party, but I have a couple of observations re: the stargate as portrayed in the Stargate movie and TV shows.
 

Known capabilities/limitations:

• Can only keep the wormhole open for 33 minutes

 

 

Thirty-eight minutes, actually .

 

https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Thirty-Eight_Minutes

 

  

On 1/1/2015 at 12:07 PM, sinanju said:

 

Well, it's all rubber science so it's not like either of us can marshall compelling arguments. I just think that, esthetically, I prefer the idea of a stargate as a doorway you walk thru rather than as a disintegrator/reintegrator. That seems like an unnecessary step.

 

Agreed. I always thought of the Stargate as a space-folder as opposed to a matter assembler.

[cbullard]

3 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

 

Thirty-eight minutes, actually .

 

https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Thirty-Eight_Minutes

 

You're correct, thank you!

[Jhamin]

20 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

Agreed. I always thought of the Stargate as a space-folder as opposed to a matter assembler.

 

They are a bit inconsistent on that front.  Or at least its more complex than we usually think of it as being. There was an episode where Teal'c was caught mid-transport and got stuck "in the buffer" and they had a limited time to get him out and couldn't let anyone else use the gate lest they overwrite him.  They made it sound like he had arrived but not materialized and was stuck in the gate ring somehow until they tricked the gate into forming an event horizon without a wormhold behind it to reintegrate him.  So the gates apparently disassemble you, space fold you, then reassemble you.

This isn't how they talked about the gate working anywhere else, but it *was* the main plot of a 5th season episode so it is as canon as it gets.  It also follows the visuals we get when we follow someones POV through the gate so maybe?