Xavier Onassiss

Same here. I even got them on a CD with a bunch of free pdf books, and haven't started them yet. Don't care for the co-author.

Just finished Shadow of Freedom by David Weber. The plot continues to thicken as the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Solarian League edge closer to open warfare. But are they being manipulated (again)? The latest installment in this series has far too many characters and some atrocious editing -- typical for an Honorverse novel. It also has lots of action, intrigue, and snappy dialogue, which make it a good read if you can get over the aforementioned hang-ups. For me, this series is a guilty pleasure, and I just keep plowing thru them regardless.

Take a look at some of today's "prank" religions, like Discordianism, Pastafarianism, Bokononism, or the Church of Sub-Genius. Then mash it up with a so-called "real" religion and see what happens....

Five hours of emergency repairs today because the new guy working this weekend couldn't be bothered to do his job. Five hours of mud, oil, saltwater, melted electrical parts, charred wires, rusted fittings, bad lighting, heavy lifting, scrounging for spares, sore all over, and most of all I'm bloody annoyed. Tomorrow, paperwork....

Another possibility: if you lift the tree out of the ground "roots and all" then you're just adding a number of hexes of soil/dirt/etc. to the mass of the tree you're lifting. A lot of it will fall off after the first hit (or two), but you get the idea. Alternately, if you're breaking off all the roots, just give the root system as a whole the same DEF & BODY as the tree it's attached to for simplicity. (Roots are tough!) So that's another possible route, pardon the pun. I don't have my books handy, or I'd finish both of these up and come up with some hard numbers. I'll just leave the rest for anyone who's interested....

Sometimes I throw out a name that hints at the setting's background history, like "Second Pact of Epsilon Fornicis IV, Reformed." Which hints at a number of questions: What's so important about Epsilon Fornacis? What happened to the First Pact? (Did something go Horribly Wrong?) And why was it necessary to "reform" the Second Pact? Of course every one of these events could give rise to dissident factions; those who were betrayed when the First Pact went Horribly Wrong and still hold a grudge... others who felt they got a raw deal at Epsilon Fornacis when the Second Pact was forged... and those who always thought the Reformation (whatever the heck that means) was a bad idea all along. Okay, that's a silly example, but you get the idea.

He's the Kwisatz Haderach.

Are you looking for a name to call the government, or the volume of space that it rules? The word Imperium has been used interchangeably to refer to either one, or both at once, but it's an important distinction. They might have different names.

The daily earworm:

This is awesome, keep going.

Some things simply MUST be seen to be believed. What I don't understand is why so many of said things come from Japan. Anyway, here's another one....

Sounds like Telepaths would also have their own Guild. Am I correct? As for how to carve up the galaxy, I'd suggest limiting the entry/exit points for hyperspace to a few select star systems, and make those the focal points of each fiefdom. They're either the result of a rare natural phenomenon (such as the wormhole junctions in the Honor Harrington series) or they're relics of a vanished civilization, whether human or alien.

This is vaguely similar to how it works in Charles Stross' Laundry Files series. Or maybe that's exactly how it works, but saying so too loudly will get you hauled off.....

Compared to most published floor plans, yes it is. OTOH, it's quite a bit smaller than the space colonies in the videos above. And it should be pointed out that those are small-ish examples of torus habitats. They come in different sizes: (Edited to fix broken image link)

Apparently it's at right angles to both 1 and i. I know, real helpful, right?

Here's a short video of a rotating space colony similar to the old "stanford torus" design: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=190wLjrlcx4 Here's another one, more faithful to the original: Obviously, doing a map or a "floor plan" of something this large isn't entirely practical....

Good call, AlHazred.

Using engine thrust for gravity is only temporary. Most civilian spacecraft can sustain 1/3rd normal gravity for about 200 hours. (They're equipped with advanced torch drives.) Higher gravity cuts the duration proportionally: full normal gravity is only sustainable for about 66 hours. Of course, that means the ship is accelerating at a similar rate, and burning a lot of fuel! They'll also have to turn around and decelerate halfway to their destination. Most spacecraft don't bother with continuous acceleration/deceleration unless they really need gravity for some reason. If they have spacesick passengers due to zero-G it's easier and cheaper to hand out the dramamine. For spin gravity, spacecraft of SIZE 15 and up can be designed to spin at 3 RPM (revolutions per minute) or less. A spin radius of 30 meters at 3 RPM will also give you 1/3rd normal gravity, which is enough for most people, and still tolerable for zero-G types. A lot of passengers will find 3 RPM too fast and they'll get sick. Then you're back to dramamine again. (or some other drug) Larger spacecraft/stations can simulate decent gravity without spinning so fast. Once you get down to 1 RPM, most people will be comfortable enough. To calculate the gravity at different sizes and spin rates, go here: http://www.artificial-gravity.com/sw/SpinCalc/ Hope this helps.

If I post this in the "Changing Tastes" thread, the pitchforks and torches are gonna come out, so here it is.... Warning: profanity ahead.

It's all in the interest of science. Of course.

My day has officially been made. It's Kate Upton. In a bikini. In zero gravity. Link might be just a little bit NSFW: http://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/models/kate-upton/zero-g-photos/5 Sports Illustrated apparently rented out NASA's famous "vomit comet" plane to do a photo shoot in zero gravity with Kate Upton for their upcoming swimsuit issue. The results look like she's trying out for the next version of Barbarella....

Does anyone still have a link to that "Hero System In Two Pages" pdf? I seem to have lost track of it when we moved to the new forum. However, I think Claire would find it helpful.

Um... yes. Next question.

If you're gonna do a science fiction setting, I'd strongly recommend picking up Star Hero. Even if you go with gurps, Star Hero will be a useful resource. The reverse is also true; I've found gurps Space useful even though I don't play gurps. And the planetology info in gurps Traveller's First In (the Imperial Scout Service book) is second to none. (Also, you might want to go check out all the awesome SF settings from Blackwyrm Games.)

Just one before I'm out the door., from somewhere on deviantart...