travellerne

Re: Norse Rune Stone Magic ?

4. What recogmendations can you make for films/books/art(very important yah know)?

The Icelandic Sagas, various translators. (Nice descriptions of magic: So and so was under attack in his house and, "enchanted his cats to guard the door.")

Women in the Viking Age, Judith Jesch. Great treatment of half of Viking society and the society as a whole.

5. Whencan I get it?

Amazon.com can ship them today.

TNE

Re: Campaign Brainstorming: "The New Abbey"

First' date=' instead of Latin, try Esperanto. It has a Latin base, but the words are different enough to throw off the scent...[/quote']

 

Thanks dbsousa! I hadn't thought of that. I'm still going to keep the Latin the Major Tom has suggested (I like it and it will keep the feel of the medieval Christian church) but this is a good way to dilute the Latin influence to let the players know that this isn't exactly a modern or medieval terrestrial based church.

 

Second' date=' I have not heard you suggest that this mathematical proof includes Christ in the equation. Is this a Christian Church? [/quote']

 

The setting is so far in the future that Earth isn't even part of the setting. So, no it's not a Christian church as such. This way I hope to avoid arguments or offense caused by modern religious issues. This shouldn't be a problem as RPG players frequently enjoy fantasy worlds without modern religion in them.

 

I love the concept' date=' but as a player I would have questions. Does this proof of God include properties that God has? Is he omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent? Does he have a plan for us? Does this proof allow us to divine his will? Certainly the Church extols a system of ethics, but do they mathematically follow from the Divine Proof (Sankta Pruvo)? [/quote']

 

Tough questions (but some player will ask them). Here's my current take:

Properties? Yes

Omnipotent? Enough to create a universe, but doesn't step in and stop the PCs from solving their own problems (that wouldn't be fun).

Omniscient, omnipresent? Yes. Infused in the universe so to speak.

Plan/will? No. I think free will is essential in an RPG to let the players explore.

THe Sankta Pruvo shows that several ethics can exist--which one will a PC/NPC choose?

 

Thanks for the input.

TNE

Re: Name for a Future Tech Explosive

C-26!

Re: Generation Ship Campaigns

There was an old science fiction series based on the concept. Starlost ...

Yes, you got it: The Starlost.

TNE

Re: Generation Ship Campaigns

The RPG Metamorphosis Alpha sounds like a good source for you to look at. It's out of print, but a classic.

See:

http://rdushay.home.mindspring.com/Museum/SF/MArevw.html

TNE

Re: Campaign Brainstorming: "The New Abbey"

BUT -- I will point out here that the Spanish Inquisition was more of a political secret police than actually interested in getting heretics. They served the Spanish crown' date=' not the Pope. (Though it made a convenient cop-out for the Spaniards -- "You're in trouble with the Inquisition? Not our problem, go tell the Pope!")[/quote']

 

BUT -- that's exactly the opportunity that these different inquistions will present for game plots. You hit it right on the head. And it's a bit universe with room for Church and non-Church inquistions to add lots of plot complications.

 

Any suggestions on more ideas or, better yet, game system designs (character packages, etc.) are certainly welcome.

 

TNE

Re: Massive Traveller Sale on E-bay

I've got The Traveller Book' date=' The Traveller Adventure, and, I think, High Guard. I heartily recommend The Traveller Adventure if you can get hold of it, it's a great star campaign.[/quote']

 

Hear, hear! The Traveller Adventure was a great product and a good campaign. I think it paired with with The Traveller Book was the high point of Traveller (that and maybe some of the rules improvements in MegaTraveller).

 

TNE

Re: Campaign Brainstorming: "The New Abbey"

Hi Major Tom,

Oh yea, the Latin isn't going to go away. I like what is there so far and I'm going to keep it. I'm thinking about other flavor bits like having the priests wear turbans or having minarets on the cathedrals with a call to prayer each day. Things like that. I just wonder what would make for cool non-Latin touches for a church set 100,000 years in the future.

TNE

Diluting The Latin Influence

Hi All,

I just got back from Kublacon and got some local feedback from Hero players there. One of the things mentioned was that The Church seemed so Latin that it must be the Roman Catholic Church. I would like to dilute the Latin influence to make The Church still seem like a human church but not have too much flavor from one modern church. Frank Herbert did that well in Dune but it's been a long time since I've read it (better start I guess).

Are there any other good sources of futuristic churches out there? Particularly with an Eastern, Islamic or Jewish influence?

I haven't forgotten zippercomics' suggestion of The Calculating God. I still need to order it.

Thanks,

TNE

Re: Campaign Brainstorming: "The New Abbey"

The Rejectionists

 

This group has long been a thorn in the side of the Church, primarily due to

...

So, what do you think of this latest brainstorm?

I'll certainly use them as one of the heresies. I don't know how violent I would make them out to be, but it is a very big universe and different subgroups would take different stands on violence.

TNE

Re: Modern-Day Fantasy

Or even worse yet, those rather interesting .pif (phantasmal image files)...

you know, the ones you wouldn't want your mother to see ( ).

Oh man. I never was good at all those computer acronyms. I thought .pif stood for "pretty intense fantasy" file.

TNE

Re: Modern-Day Fantasy

I knew I was calling it the Infernal Machine or the Accursed Mechanism

for a reason...

Yes, your computer is possessed! For real this time and that's just how it works.

TNE

Re: Modern-Day Fantasy

2. Are there ways that magic and the Internet could intteract? Can you cast spells over the telephone betwork' date=' or even over your cellphone?[/quote']

 

Maybe the internet is magic! Now wouldn't that be fun? Instead of wire and fiber optics cable, the internet is connected by silver/ley lines/fairie strands/rainbows of moving light/etc..

 

TNE

Re: New Sects & Orders

OK, for starters, I think that it would be far more likely that a Jihadist would

become a member of the Vigilia Ecclesiasticus, as it is far likelier that this unit

would be in the front lines of any conflict

Oh, of course! It was a busy night at work and I didn't have my notes or time to review the posts. In short, temporary disorientation.

For all I know, though, there might very well be some seriously bada$$ heretics

running around your campaign universe wreaking havoc...

Hmm. Hadn't really thought of that yet...

For the Kabalists, the only thing that I'd suggest adding to the skill package

would be LS: Symbolic Languages.

Great idea. Thanks!

TNE

Character Development: Packages

I'm starting to design my character packages.

Here's a thought I have for making character design of Church members easy. A character would choose a package defining their order (Cohors, Kabalist, Medicia Rem., Inquisition, etc.). Then they would pick a package that would specify their position/rank (priest, monk, abbot, layperson, bishop, etc.). Sect and culture packages would be optional.

Examples:

A person from the militant culture of Jihadists, who joins the Church's guards as a soldier could choose the Jihadist package (and get some martial skills), be a layperson (as the priests and monks don't join the guards), choose the Cohors package (and get more martial skill, ceremonial armor and the energy pike).

A Thanks Giver who wanted to spent his life studying The Proof but not ministering could pick the Thanks Giver sect package (and get food preparation skills), choose the Monk professional package (with PS's but not many miraculous Powers), and pick the Kabalist order package (with lots of SS, PS and KS).

Suggestions?

TNE

New Sects & Orders

Feedback is appreciated on these ideas.

Lately I'm working on cultures, sects and a few orders to flesh out the universe around the Church. Here's some ideas. What do you think?

Sect: Jihadists - people from this culture/sect believe that the only good way to die is in the service of The Church. They tend to join the Fidei Defensoris and the sect character package has some weapons and demolition skills.

Order: Kabalists - an order of The Church that really focuses on The Proof. The character package for this order is heavy in SS: The Proof, SS: Mathematics, and SS: Science(s).

What do you think?

TNE

Re: Interstellar communications

Using a Faraday Cage to shield a ship's computer wouldn't be viable' date=' because you'd have no way for signals to travel from inside the FC (where the computer is) to the outside (where the people and equipment are). Thus an FC would probably only be viable for cargo, not active/working components/devices.[/quote']

 

Fibers optics and other opto-electric isolation methods would work fine for getting the signals in and out of the Faraday cage.

 

TNE

Re: Needed: Organizations!

Check out the "Campaign Brainstorming: The New Abbey" thread Major Tom has posted some really good ideas for religoius/military groups.

TNE

Re: Needed: Organizations!

The Blaylock Round - a pirate round led by Captain Alfonzo Blaylock. They have bases on a number of uninhabited rocks but suffered a setback when one of their fueling bases was destroyed by independent ships working under a government contract.

TNE

Re: Sleeper Ships

New Dawn

Gentle Awakening

Sleeper Liberation Front...

Or some combination of such.

TNE

The Lost Earth

Another thought that recently came to mind was about the status of Earth in

the campaign. If evidence suggesting the existence of an origin world for the

human race were to emerge somewhere, is it likely that the search for said

world would be the campaign's version of the Quest for the Holy Grail? And

what about the PCs' role in such a search -- would they be trying to find

proof of Earth's existence, or would they be trying to make certain that said

proof is never found?

Hi MT,

So far, I am going with the following handling of Earth in my campaign:

1) Most people including clergy don't care much about it. It would be like the search for Noah's Ark--an important element of the faith but no real effort to find (except for History Channel specials).

2) Some scholarly clergy might devote time to finding it for the sake of history or to build a new cult within the Church.

3) Some clergy, especially those who have profitable cults, might oppose finding Earth as pilgrims might then be diverted from visiting their holy sites. They could respond like the cult of St. Thomas Becket responded to the renewal of the cult of St. Cuthbert in the 12th century: with more advertising. For a more serious plot, a powerful clergyman might succumb to greed and try more violent means to thwart an expedition to find Earth.

Thanks for the great input, MT! As usual, anyone is free to add more or suggest a different view. I'm open to it (and this forum has some really good ideas!).

TNE

The Alien Question & Telepathy

Just had a thought here. On the off chance that aliens are found to exist in

your campaign universe, and that some of them are both inimical to the

Faithful and telepathic to boot, would a case of hostile and unwanted tele-

pathic contact be dealt with in much the same fashion as a case of demonic

possession -- in other words, by means of an exorcism?

Hi Major Tom,

I've thought of this one and my take so far that telepathy is already seen as a blessing by the church. A few of the priests already have it and use it to (allegedly) only good ends.

If the aliens are openly hostile to the Faithful then various armies, including the Church's, would have to respond.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

TNE

Re: Campaign Brainstorming: "The New Abbey"

Do you plan on running a game in this world durring DDCon?

Hi Drakkenkin,

Good to hear from you.

Yes, this is a commitment to run the game at DunDracon in 2005. (A self-imposed deadline is a great motivator.) If they don't put the game on the schedule, I'll run it in open gaming.

K.

Re: Alien War: Chemical Rockets ?!?

I'd say that is a conceptional error- not a big one, easy to correct (if they were very high efficiency fusion rockets with a specific impulse of 1 million seconds, the reaction mass could go down to as low as 125 000 tons or so), but nontheless it should be mentioned.

 

Or am I overlooking something?

I don't know. I can't see how you got your calculations. A back-of-the-envelope calculation I did shows that your fusion example would need about 250% of the ship to be reaction mass for the fusion engines--close to yours. That's assuming the weight of the fuel is calculated using 0.5g.

K.

Update: DunDraCon Premiere

Hi All,

I haven't had as much time to work on this during my recent shift--actually had to do some work.

I'll still have it ready for DunDraCon (http://www.dundracon.com/) for a premiere there.

Cheers,

K.