Midas

Re: Astrophysics question

 

Originally Posted by Midas

OK, isn't there a tremendous red shift in this event?

Yes. In effect, the photon pays a price in energy to crawl out of the gravity well. That energy loss results in a change of the photon's frequency/wavelength to lower frequencies/longer wavelengths, which is a red shift. It doesn't take a black hole to get that, BTW; any/all gravity sources cause such a thing. In principle, that includes even the photon itself. And if you think about that too hard, you'll hurt your brain and start raving about quantum gravity.

Why not? I have a tendency to rave anyway.

In this size gravity well, wouldn't the energy drop take the -"vision" for want of a better word- quickly into infrared and sub infrared?

What I'm thinking of is the vision of "glittery" black holes. Without stuff eventually seeming to cross the event horizon, you wouldn't have a "black" hole, you'd have a disco ball; showing every object that fell in appearing on the surface of the event horizon.

Yeah, because the analogy I used breaks down there. And to get a better one takes someone who's taken more general relativity than I have, which is to say, any at all.

'sOK. It's been bugging me for years, I can wait a few more.

Special Relativity I had no problem with:

1) Only applies to near lightspeed math

&

2) No matter what you do the answer is "=c" or "=c {squared}".

Never quite got general relativity though, couldn't quite wrap my mind around the concept.

Midas

Re: Astrophysics question

Actually' date=' according to Einstein, the answer is because it is [b']impossible[/b]

 

(I added "for" to your reply, is that what you meant to say?)

 

OK, thanks.

 

Could you translate Uncle Albert to layman's terms? As a side note, I presume we are talking about "in a vacuum," since photons do slow down appreciably in other mediums.

 

See, I'm looking at the tau formula, which requires anything with a mass greater than zero (no matter how infantesmally greater) to require an infinite amount of energy to reach light speed. From that, either photons are travelling less than lightspeed, or they have no mass/energy -and can't run photovoltaic cells, much less persuade the optic nerve to send signals to the brain.

 

Midas

Re: Democratic Republics in Fantasy Worlds?

Interesting thread. As I interpret the original question(in light of the responses to the OP), "How can a Democratic society develop in a medieval or standard fantasy setting?" Close?

The Swiss seem to be an answer to that. I don't know much European history, but I do know that the question "How could a bunch of farmers destroy an army of knights?" Was asked by thinkers of the time. Had it been just a one time fluke, Switzerland would have fallen in the next campaign season, right?

Midas

Re: Astrophysics question

That's sort of the idea. There isn't a paradox. It's the result of the photons that reach you from the fall-in event having themselves to crawl out from the edge of the hole. This isn't the right picture, but it's convenient to think that the closer the photons from the falling-in are to the event horizon when they start out, the longer it takes them to spiral their way out of the deep gravity well of the black hole. It just takes a while to get the signals from the very edge of the black hole; for the thing that's falling in, the experience is over very, very quickly.

OK, I've had a question about this for years, and another that just occured to me (and maybe the answer). Isn't there a tremendous red shift in this event?

And second, where do the photons "come from." While the McGuffin fell into the gravity pit, from an outside observer's POV, the McGuffin is still hovering on the event horizon. How does the light energy continue to broadcast?

Hope I'm making sense with the question, Cancer's post doesn't *quite* answer it.

Midas

Who is still trying to figure out how an energy packet -light- can travel at the speed of light)

Re: Post-Apoc Adventures

Try looking for Morrow Project stuff. MP was a more gritty "realistic" work than say Gamma World. The background plot was that someone from the PA future travelled back in time to recruit Viet Nam vets, mercenaries, do gooder's etc, and set them up in cryogenic vaults. When they awake, they have a Damnation Alley Mobile and a mission to restore civilization.

Midas

Re: Matriarchial Societies

I think if it were perfected, human cloning could lead to a matriarchal society. Since women would no longer need men to reproduce, men would become superfluous, and would only survive for as long as women allowed them to survive.

 

Which, of course, is not to suggest that allowing men to die out completely is a good idea.

Men will not be obsolete as long as there is furniture to be moved, things stored on high shelves, or bugs to squish.

Midas

Re: Golden Age Superheroes as Pulp Heroes

but if you focus on Eel O'Brien trying to make up for his misspent life...

My Name is Eel?

Most of Batman's villains are also talented normals, even Rhas Al Ghul is more of a pulp villain than a supervillain. The only off the cuff character in the Bat stable that would be hard to do would be Poisen Ivy. A fanatic Greeny with a few character driven gadgets/talents (poisen kiss, immunity to poisen) would work. Be a bit harder for some of her more "mystic" powers, though.

Iron Man could be retroed, but his suit would have to be modified for pulpyness. It would look more like Titanium Man's armor, I suspect. Care would have to be taken for PC's not to make "Professor Klankenhissen" jokes.

Just had a bothersome idea. Didn't Tony Stark loan out his suit to a black friend/employee a few years back? How would a black super react in the pulp era?

Suppose that for every lynching, seven Klansmen were found the next day hanging from lamp posts on main street?

Would lynchings become rarer, or would a full blown helter skelter race war break out?

Even a non powered hero like Bats could (and has) clean the clocks of a hoard of talented normals. Give Storm nothing but a small "wind powers" multipower, and then tick her off , for example. And her origin is almost sterling pulp: Lost Tribe Jungle Goddess, brought back from deep Africa...

Midas

Re: CHAMPIONS REVISED -- If We Do It, What Would You Like To See?

Cut back the lawyerese.

5th ed is a huge improvement in layout, editing, and rules coherence. However, the writing would make Jim Dunnigan green with envy.

Whatever you can say about the early editions of Champions, they were readable without that "textbook" MEGO effect.

2cents from the hoard of,

Midas

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

I've recently finished the third Sookie Stackhouse book and am halfway through the fourth.

It's like Anita Blake, but with more plot and less sex ;-p

Fair bit of racism though - it was somewhat amazing to me that is was still a current issue in the background of the setting.

That the one in Lousy Anna? Yep, still a lot of racial avoidence in the Old South. Not so much institutionalized, but a lot of "would you let *your* kids play with one of them?" Stuff.

I just finished Echoes of the Well of Souls. Finally getting around to reading the second Well series. Was...unimpressed. Continuety suffered, characters forgot things they had known earlier in the book (not as in plot point forgetting, but as in "Last chapter I knew this person's background, now I am wondering what their secret is" kind of forgetting.

Lots of exposition for the reader, where some character reads a travel guide to the protagonists/readers. Chalker is a good enough writer not to have to do that.

Also, the usual Chalker themes pop up: Slavery, transgenderism, you know.

Chalker is a good writer, and the story was gripping, but I still felt he's told better stories.

Midas

Re: Beam vs. Walls and Entangles

I always thought it was misnamed: Beam to me implies a kind of very short continous advantage, which can be used for sweeps, aiming the bounce etc. I call it "Pulse" rather than "Beam." A pulse is a small discrete packet. While a pulse attack must go only where it is pointed (as opposed to aimed), cannot sweep, always does the same dice of effect, etc.

I always took the limitation to mean that the character *couldn't* use it to do Captain America & Shield tricks, no matter how many CSLs the characters had. While without the limitation, it *could* be done, but requires CSLs to be effective.

Midas

Re: COM - What does it mean?

Well' date=' not necessarily, but remember that 70 STR costs twice as much as 70 COM. And 70 EGO costs four times as much![/quote']

 

Thought about that, but the way I interpret the various costs is by general usefulness. If strength is the baseline (1pt) characteristic, then EGO is twice as useful, and DEX is three times as useful. And COM is only half so. So they should all have the same effect: A 14d6 punch, mental blast, or PRE attack variant (as Oddhat suggested) would be roughly the same effect.

 

In the right situation, a devastating smile can do more damage than a terrific punch.

 

Back to my earlier post, what I am looking at is the problem a GM has with that kind of stat. Being that COM is area effect and always on (within limits), it operates something like Unluck. > How often does the local FLGS empty out, and drooling fanboys follow her helplessly as she goes down the street? Don't even think about what happens when she visits Frat House Row.

 

My questions are: How often should the GM make game effect use of the stat? And, what would the effects of having someone like that in the vacinity?

 

Midas

Re: COM - What does it mean?

Re a character with a COM of 70.

She would have a 23- Complimentary Skill Roll based on COM that she could use with interaction skills at the GM's option. So' date=' if she had Persuasion 11-, and she was trying to persuade in a friendly manner where the GM thought her looks would be a factor, she'd be very likely to get what she wanted.[/quote']

 

Well, yeah, the mechanics are easy enough. The problem is that COM has a sort of always on limitation built in. Would she be the opposite of a convicted pedophile --banned from within 800 yards of a nursing home because of all the heart failures she induces, just walking into a room?

 

Could she walk down Castro Street and smile at every man she sees; and the next day there be not a single gay man in San Francisco?

 

Something of a hyperbole, but really, considering what a 70 STR or EGO can do, is that too far to go with a 70 COM?

 

Midas

Re: COM - What does it mean?

slightly different topic.

In the superheroic genre, there is no NCM, and several stats have no maximum except for campaign limits. You can have a 70 STR, or 70 DEX, even 70 INT or EGO, GM permitting.

In the Strikeforce campaign book, there is an "everybody's kid sister" character with a COM of 70. Granted, we're talking about second or third edition here, but...

I can't even visualize a COM of 70, I doubt that any comic book artist in history could draw her. But that aside, what would the game effects of that kind of COM be?

Midas

Re: Fantasy Travel Question

Does 20-25 miles per day for humans and 50-60 miles per day for horses in relatively normal travel conditions sound unreasonable? Seems roughly okay to me, but I'm curious to know what further discussion reveals.

Well, If I recall my early California history correctly, the reason the Missions were spaced 30 miles apart was because a travelling friar -presumably on foot, with a pack burro- could leave one mission in the morning and arrive at the next by that evening. So yeah, that sounds about right.

You also need to figure in size of the party. The larger the group the more time it takes for something to get done. For a modern example, one car can travel 100 mph down a freeway. One million cars can do about ten mph, if they are lucky.

Midas

Re: Fantasy Travel Question

For shorter distances...you could travel much farther.

Y'know, in context that honestly makes sense.

Midas

Re: Fantasy Travel Question

So I"m reading the Fantasy Hero travel table on page 333' date=' and it's telling me that riding a mount is no faster than walking on foot. Travel values for walking and running (slow, and fast) are equal between the two modes. Now aside from the clear distinction in carrying capacity, doesn't it seem just obvious that horses will take you farther faster than if you're just on foot? Is there a rationale here I"m not getting?[/quote']

 

As I understand it, a marching horse can't forage, so you either have to carry grain in saddle bags (one day's worth space wise?), depend on a packhorse/mule/ox, or travel one day and feed, water, and rest the horse the next.

 

So yeah, as long as you can trade horses, you can go faster, but if you are travelling for distance, you won't make much more time.

 

Just my guess,

Midas

Re: Imperialize it!

Gilligan's Planet

(Yes I know it was a Sat Morn spinnoff)

 

The six PC's and their indestructable robot are stranded on a garden planet. Every attemt to get away or contact help is accidently foiled by the robot. (which is why he is indestructable).

 

For a grittier feel, feel free to introduce a string of "evil" numbers, The Others, etc.

 

Midas

Based on Midas's suggestion...

 

Lost: A crash strands the surviving passengers of Stellar Flight 815 on a seemingly deserted planet, forcing the group of strangers to work together to stay alive. However, their survival is threatened by mysterious entities including white-furred ursoid beasts, an unseen creature that roams the jungles surrounding the crash site, and the planet's malevolent inhabitants known as the "Others."

Thanks.

For a cornier effort, try this: When said Unseen Creature Roaming the Jungle is nearby, the robot will wave its arms and alert everyone within five kilometers of "DANGER! DANGER!" (Beware of animated vegitable-men! )

Midas

(Yes I know the request was for non SF, but I couldn't resist)

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

 

Too bad. I’m going to sing anyway. This is my cross-genre nightmare for you all.

 

The Mouse Trainer’s Child

(To the tune of Horse Tamer’s Daughter)

 

I don't know Horse Tamer's Daughter, but it scans pretty well to Lemon Tree. Similar tune?

Midas

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

Nickolas Van Ring.

The Polysotechnic League would never have collapsed if not for the meddling of a couple of hairy footed midgets...

Near Darkover: a band of vampires tries to survive on Cottman IV.

Night of the Living Iguana: A band of teenagers must take refuge in a deserted house when their kegger is interrupted by reanimated giant iguanas.

Midas

Re: Traveller=Pulp Hero+Star Hero

I don't know who Norton is. I just think Classic Traveller is cool.

I haven't read any of those Norton books but for me Mote in the Gods Eye by Niven, the Rama series, the Ringworld series and the Foundation series kinda sum up Traveller inspirational SF.

 

Mike

http://www.andre-norton.org/index.html

Wrote mostly juvenile science fiction, and a somewhat more mature fantasy series. In the last few years of her life, she co wrote in depth sequels to her earlier work, with younger co authors.

She is another author who found one story and repeated it several times. In this case: Marginallized adolescent (either smaller, plainer, or too smart for his or her own good, or all three) lives crappy life until getting a chance to go off planet where protagonist discovers place in life, and happyness. If you like that plot line you'll like Norton, which explains why she was popular with teenage geeks and nerds.

Yep, the Mote stories are very in the spirit of Traveller. Don't think Niven's STL stories work, though. Could never finish the Foundation series, Asimov bored me. Rama? That was STL too, or at least the first two were, never bothered with the third.

Midas

Re: Imperialize it!

Gilligan's Planet

(Yes I know it was a Sat Morn spinnoff)

The six PC's and their indestructable robot are stranded on a garden planet. Every attemt to get away or contact help is accidently foiled by the robot. (which is why he is indestructable).

For a grittier feel, feel free to introduce a string of "evil" numbers, The Others, etc.

Midas

Re: Questions about my Castle Dracula

Nice effect, however you do it.

You could stack Cumulative on it.

 

However, this is pretty much a plot device. I'm not sure I would bother even building it. Just include the effects.

Or buy it as an odd type of Change Environment.

Or just use Transform.

(Ducking and running for cover)

Midas

Re: Best ever Reason to NOT be a superVillian!!

Some darn fool always gets the idea into his head that the villains should form a super syndicate or "Legion of Duck Doom" or some such idiocy, and it *never* works.

*****

Whenever your daughter goes into her rebellious phase, she always betrays you to whatever hero she thinks daddy will find most galling. Once I could deal with, but the monthly basis thing...

Midas

Re: Traveller=Pulp Hero+Star Hero

[Q

In looking over my Classic Traveller sourcebooks, it gives me a pulpish sort of sci-fi feel.

 

Has anyone else noticed this?

Yep, I always thought Space 1889 was kind of Traveller, the Prequel. The "You're on the frontier, in an exotic locale even for the frontier, and there is a fortune to be made, if you can avoid everybody else willing to kill for it" was a strong theme in both settings.

Traveller was mostly based on the 1950s science fiction of Andre Norton although she had rayguns.

I don't think so.

 

I suggest you talk to one of Traveller's creators (Loren Wiseman is the most accessible) before you start making statements like that.

I always got a Norton vibe out of Traveller; Free Traders, people existing on the margin, Forerunner ruins...very Nortonesque, even if she wasn't an original influence.

Midas

Re: Best superhero titles of the 70's

Threadjack

They killed off Jean Grey in the early '70s and I stopped reading Marvel. Has anything happened since then?

 

(I don't think I was into collecting anything in the 70's. I vaguely remember scrounging up old Vampirellas...)

 

Midas

Jean Grey died in 1980.

 

You may be exaggerating.

Try this one:

http://www.marveldatabase.com/Uncanny_X-Men_101

Yes, that was '76, and she immediatly came back as Phoenix according to the Database. IIRC, back when they all wore yellow and black, and before these fakes from around the world took over, Marvel killed her off at least once.

I would say the Marvel Db has incorporated the Xmen Retcons, so there are inconsistancies with what I was reading back in the '60s. OTOH, we're really strolling down memory lane here. This was way back in the days before comics were collectables.

Midas