Xavier Onassiss

I just might have a use for this....

What I liked best about B5:

http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/b5quotes.html

So, I got an idea. Oh wait, no I don't.

And now, sauteed chinchillas!

Awesome recap.

I especially enjoyed your comments in italics; they sound similar to thoughts I have when running a game, only with less profanity.

One thing I should make note of: this is the first group of PCs I have seen to give up the location of the Blind Spot. Most groups consider the location of an off-grid bar unknown to the authorities to be an asset they can use in the future. And they've used it very well, in my experience. Your PCs, on the other hand, have lead the head of Special Projects directly to the place.

That's likely to have some... interesting reprecussions.

Thanks for posting this; it was highly entertaining. Sounds a little bit like my campaign: the PCs always had the same back-up plan. When in doubt, take over the ship!

At this time, I haven't done any official starship deck plans. Which ship class do the PC's have?

In the near future I expect to have some floor plans (by a professional artist!) for the Gravity Model independent merchant and possibly the Man of War fleet intruder. Both of those are small ships in the Size 10-12 range.

Some general guidelines: Terracide starships use an "engines down" configuration, with the decks stacked vertically above the engines, so they can simulate gravity using engine thrust. (And so that high levels of thrust don't slam everyone into the walls.)

In general, spaces tend to be cramped: two hexes per crew member is a good minimum, although most ships will have more than that.

Anything that doesn't need life support will not have it: cargo, fuel, docking bays.

Areas that need to be secure will be on their own separate decks: flight controls (the bridge), hibernation units, weaponry, engine room.

Well, there aren't any "rubber science" artificial gravity generators like in those SyFy shows; the only way to simulate gravity in space is with spin gravity. Generally speaking, any spacecraft with Size of 15 or greater can be given a rotating hull when it's built. This is a one-time decision; it's extremely difficult to retro-fit a spin-hull onto a spacecraft after it's built. It's either designed to rotate or it's not.

Most spin-hulls on Terracide spacecraft won't be spun up to a full G, to reduce stress on the hull. One third of a G is enough for most purposes and it's a good compromise for everyone -- it keeps the "baseline" humans oriented and doesn't fatigue the Aquila types (and other low-G types) nearly as much. Also on smaller craft, higher G-levels require a spin rate over 3rpm, which is disorienting for almost everyone. (Hence the Size 15 requirement.)

Also worth noting: most spacecraft without spin hulls have enough fuel to boost at one-third of a G for a couple weeks if needed. It's usually considered a waste of fuel, but if they really want to simulate gravity that way (or if they're just in a hurry!) they can do it.

More information on spin hulls here: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/artificialgrav.php

Online spin-gravity calculator here: http://www.artificial-gravity.com/sw/SpinCalc/SpinCalc.htm

It's all 'gators down there.

Condolences to all: Marcus, Lemming, Gewing. I've lost loved ones to both dementia and cancer; fast or slow, it always hurts.

The flu has come around here, as well. I thought I might have to take Kate to the clinic today, but she seems to be doing better. We both took the day off to recover. Last January was horrible for both of us -- I burned up every sick day I had for the entire year before the month was out. After resolving NOT to do that again, I started the year off by taking a sick day on 2014's very first workday. Back to work tomorrow, out in the snow with a cold; probably Saturday as well to make up for some missed hours.

And the floodwaters will still be up through the weekend. For some ungodly reason, the best oilfields around here are in the *&^%$#@! flood plains... this happens every winter. Bleah.

Sounds intriguing enough that I wish I could sign up to play! Hope you and your players have fun, and please keep me posted on how it goes, if possible.

As promised, here's a revised version of the map which more closed matches the description of Marathon Free Station in the book.

Thanks, BlueCloud2k2.

I took a bit of inspiration from gurps: Transhuman Space and assumed that lots of different types of space habitats would be in use. A number of them are in systems with active flare stars, so asteroid habitats make a lot of sense for those cases; they've got tons of built-in shielding. Not much of a view, though. Not everyone wants to travel across light-years of space just to hide in a cave; so in many systems O'Neill type colonies are also quite popular.

The most *desirable* apartments are those on the inner walls, overlooking the parks and the lake, for obvious reasons. The other walls overlook agricultural fields, but they all have ample room for living spaces.

The Warrens are basically "off the map." Many of the tunnels down there have been hollowed out without authorization, or even any real plan, and nobody has a complete map of them. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of miles of tunnels in the Warrens, and an unknown population living there.

Edited to add: I think I've confused the issue by using the term "outer wall" differently on the map and in the book. I'm at work now and don't have a copy of Terracide with me. However, I'm pretty sure that in the book "outer wall" referred to walls on either side of the agricultural caverns, not the outer (space-side) surface of the asteroid. That wouldn't be a safe place to put living quarters!

I'll edit the map after work Wednesday. My bad.

(Sorry, but Awesome Gamer Girl wasn't feeling well tonight; had to go and look in on her.)

I'm okay with having them be space cops or bounty hunters; I don't know if they'll want to do that in the long term. The Firefly route sounds like the best way to keep them together. Not all the players are fans of the show, so I won't mention the name.

 

The invasion theme could work, but it will be tricky setting it on Mars or the Moon. They could form the resistance movement.

That's pretty much what happened in happened in my campaign. The PCs were involved in the resistance from the beginning, and did a great job of organizing it all, until the new government rolled in and "dropped the hammer." They had enough advance warning to evacuate about a third of the colonists, along with most of the resistance leaders and the entire defense squadron. They returned after the war (which was Act II of the campaign) to take the colony back, in a series of games which resembled the "Scouring of the Shire" as they found several members of the defeated Junta hiding out there, and up to no good.

One option for having colonists "not step off of the planet" could be previously undiscovered Mega-Fauna that live underground.

 

 

Another option: the colony gets invaded. This theme occurred repeatedly in my last Star Hero campaign. And I've got several convention adventures which take place on space colonies in occupied territory. All of the action is confined to the colony; no space travel necessary. It doesn't even have to be a "military" campaign as such. A lot of the aforementioned adventures involve espionage, bounty hunters, and other civilian activities.

Sheffield must be the Florida of the UK.

 

I wonder what would have happened if someone has squeezed the handle on the extinguisher.

It would have invalidated the inspection sticker.

Having an Arnold Rimmer moment, there, Lawnmower Boy?

OK, here's a (very) rough, quick and dirty sketch. Keep in mind this is a one-quarter cut-away, not the whole thing -- there's a thumbnail in the lower left showing which quarter you're looking at here. The other three quarters are just like this, but mirror images of it. If some details differ from the text, don't worry; this is the correct layout. If you have any further questions or need more details, let me know. (Not sure if the "plasma tube" was mentioned in the book, but I realized a light source was needed inside the habitat!)

Getting started on that map tonight. Don't know if I'll get it done all in one go or not.

I'd like to hear more about your Terracide campaign sometime, Theros.

Not the best thing I ever wrote, but this is what happened Christmas two years ago in my Terracide campaign. I'm referring to both real time and game time: the game session ran just after Christmas 2011, and the events in game took place on Christmas day, 2311.

 

Dinner at the Admiral's Table: 359-2311 (Christmas Day at Winter Palace, LP-656 38 system)

 

Ekaterina Petrova, newly appointed Admiral of the Defense Squadron for Omicron Free Station, stood at the head the long table, regarding the odd assortment of guests seated before her. Never one to be easily impressed, she nevertheless had to pause for a moment. Her days as an outlaw were over thanks to these people, who had come here from at least a dozen star systems. They came from Omicron; they came from Glass House. There were Captains from 61 Cygni and Epsilon Eridani, colonists from Tau Ceti and Epsilon Indi. Talitha Borealis came from the system of the same name, almost 50 light years away. A few of her guests acknowledged no home at all. And finally, there were survivors of the Terracide, whose continued perserverance after the death of their world slightly unnerved most of the others. The time had come to take back Omicron, and Ekaterina Petrova was going to help them do it. Or just get a lot of people killed in the attempt. But we will not receive another opportunity like this.

Petrova realized everyone was looking at her, expecting her to say something. She needed a moment to gather her thoughts. "I want to thank you all for coming here, and I should begin by reminding everyone why we are here; for every human being still alive in these dark times, the light of Sol once shone on a hundred. I'd like to ask for a moment of silence now, for all of them." Petrova found she could barely speak as the words caught in her throat. A brief glance around the room told her the others felt the same; the Terracide was best not contemplated for too long. There were no words, no feelings, no actions... no meaningful way to respond to such absolute atrocity. Silence only made it worse. "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis."

The spell broke, and Petrova realized that once again, all eyes were on her. "For many years I dreamed of returning to civilization, to wage a war of revenge on those who sent me and my crew into exile. But we waited. Wars are not begun out of spite, or hatred. For a civilized society, war is the last resort of defense, and we had no right to defend anyone... until now.

All of you, gathered here tonight, represent the last people still free from the military government which has taken power in the core of Terran Space over the last four months. Freedom... that was only a word to most of us when we took our oaths and joined the Colonial Reserves. The people we protected did not know the meaning of the word, and neither did we. The Ridpath Junta, which rules in the name of safety and security but provides neither, still does not know its meaning... but they soon will.

By calling on the Constantine's crew to defend Omicron, you have given us hope... of serving proudly as soldiers once again, rather than dying in obscurity as outlaws. For us, there is no honor greater than this... to return to active duty once again, and fight in the defense of a proud, civilized people who value our service, who will remember what we do in their name. I say again, there is no honor greater than this.

And so tonight, we honor you. She raised her immense stein. Omicron Free Station!"

...and thus began the Omicron Station Rebellion. It was doomed from the beginning, but it wasn't futile; the rebels of Omicron set the Ridpath Junta back long enough to insure their eventual defeat in the Kruger 60 cluster.

There's gonna be a Savage Worlds edition early in 2014.

However, I try not to make a habit of advertising products for other game systems on the Hero forums.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it.

I'm currently working on the next edition of Terracide; hip-deep in converting all the starships to another game system and adding about a dozen new ones. So it'll probably be later, during the weekend. My previous attempts at creating such a map using computer graphics were a disaster -- I don't have the background for that sort of thing. So I'm going to try drawing it by hand instead.

Note to self: next edition needs map of Marathon Free Station!

Yes! I'd be glad to help you out with that, Theros.

And feel free to post any other questions you have on this forum.

When do you need it?

Warning: thread necromancy in progress. It's alive!

I was reminded of this thread when I ran across the following image on FB, and just had to share....

Good luck on the DIY car surgery, Cancer.