Dale A. Ward
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Posts posted by Dale A. Ward
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Re: Planet Template
Planet Name:Classification:
System Data: [number of moons, and placement within the planet structure]
Gravity:
Day And Year: [length of each]
Atmosphere: [percentages of major gases]
Hydrosphere: [percentage of surface]
Meterological Overview:
Sentient Species: [native; populated planets with no native sentients say "none"]
ATRI Rating:
Government:
Affiliation:
Resources:
Places Of Note:
Ship Facilities:
I'm trying to write up a planet for the online game I'm playing, run by Nolgroth... and I was wondering if anyone could provide some clarification on some of these terms.
Specifically, I'm wondering what "classification" and "affiliation" refer to and what options are available. The others are pretty obvious.
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Re: Making colonization attractive?
Very true... and the really large ones may actually control governments. However, they are doing so in secrecy. I predict that there will come a time when they no longer feel the need for such secrecy.
Welcome to the United States of Phillips Petroleum... a wholly owned subsidiary of OPEC.
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Re: Making colonization attractive?
I wish I found this funny....What makes you think it was supposed to be...?
And it'll be a corporation, because governments can't make and keep long term commitments anymore, not with the cutthroat way the political landscape shifts.I foresee a future where corporations ARE governments... we're not too far off now!
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Re: Star Hero versions of Fantasy Hero races?
In Babylon-5' date=' Minbari are close to an elf-equivalent for that setting.[/quote']Damn... beat me to the punch!
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Re: Alignment Issues
Second' date=' do you really think the statement you reference above somehow enjoys inherent superiority to "He wouldn't do that, he has a Code againts Killing"? The fact that Hero makes psychological issues more granular in no way changes the fact that people interpret them in different ways. The primary advantage enjoyed by Hero is that "Will not kill" is considerably less subjective than "Good". Many people on opposite sides of any given issue (eg. the death penalty; abortion) would not necessarily agree that one side is "good" and the other "evil", and none, I suspect, would agree that their view is "evil". They could certainly agree that one side possesses a psychological limitation the other does not.[/quote']The difference between the two is that HERO allows you to decide the particulars of how you preceive your "alignment" rather than having a whole bill of goods foisted upon you whether you agree with them or not.
If you wish, you can have a terribly evil despot that, nevertheless, refuses to kill his subjects. His reasons for acting in this manner are his own... don't push it or you may find out what his alternative is.
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Re: Bizarre Spell Ideas
Less socially acceptable versions use things like Mucus Golems' date=' self-aware semi-coherent flatulence collections, Disease Demons, etc.Hey?!? When did you meet my father?
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Re: Making colonization attractive?
unfortunately, this is the scenario that I keep finding myself nodding at and going "yep, that's the future I expect"Colonists will be identified by the serial number on the ID card they have clipped to their Microsoft coveralls.
No no... I'm fairly certain that the Microsoft ID number will be branded on their foreheads or their right hands.
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Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???
~malicious grin~
Give me an average tribe of kobolds and I'll make sure they dine well on any party of up to six 250-300 pt. PCs.
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Re: Bizarre Spell Ideas
I was just thinking of an even weirder version of limited healing.A set of steak knives.
Actually - cutting blades from two-handed size down to scalpel size.
Each blade will heal a wound of a blade one size larger - but in doing so creates a wound.
You end up going through all the cutlery down to the smallest to heal someone.
~eyes the instruments of healing suspiciously~
Ummm... no thanks... I'll just bleed.
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Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???
Speaking as a person who has played orcs (not half-orcs, but full-blooded orcs) as PCs, I would like to voice my dissent with this entire premise.
Orcs are no more inherently evil than humans are inherently good. The same can be said for practically any creature with average intelligence. In fact, in one of my older game worlds, I had entire cities populated primarily by highly civilized and benevolent orcs.
I'll admit that most of them are not aesthetically appealing to the eye, but is ugliness an excuse to kill someone?!?
Won't someone please give the orcs an even chance?
P.S.- I gotta read Grunts! one of these days.
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Re: Spaceship/Starship Volume
As a rule of thumb (not super precise but close enough for game terms)' date=' an area 1 hex across, one hex, deep, and 2 hexes high is one displacement ton. In statting out a ship SH advises that about half of the volume for any given ship is usable interior space, with the rest being taken up by bulkheads, cabling, and equipage. By usable space it refers to passageways, empty compartment space, and cargo space. So here is your Naval trivia question for the day. What is the difference between [i']Equipage[/i] and Equipment, and how do you reflect this in Hero terms. I will post the answer a couple of hours (I know the answer, I am just seeing who else knows)...I may be wrong, but isn't Equipage the expendable supplies carried aboard ship... like food and fuel? I think it's something like that.
Anyway, Wolfie... you and Shadowcat's answers gave me all I needed to know. My thanks to you two... and to everyone else that added their two cents.
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Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...
Captain thinks for a couple of seconds' date=' then orders: "Shoot anybody on that ship who is wearing a silly hat!"[/quote']In my neck o' th' woods, ya don't have t' be on a ship... jus' walkin' down th' street in a silly hat is just cause.
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Re: Spaceship/Starship Volume
~shrugs~
Okay... so I was wrong. Probably too early on a Sunday for folks to be reading these forums anyway.
I'll keep checking.
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Re: Daily Art Findings
While this pic shows great potential, it is severely lacking in a sense of the dramatic. The man's posture and body language are saying "Excuse me... did someone lose an axe and a sword?"
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Hi, Gang!
I know this has been discussed before, but I can't remember what conclusions we came to nor where the thread went... so I'm bringing it up again.
I'm getting ready to sit down with all of my 2D & 3D drawing software and hardware and create a starship design... complete with deckplans and a nice 3/4 view. I want the ship to be scaled properly in all three dimensions, so I need to know the third dimensional measurements of a hex in SH.
If a single hex holds 1 ton of cargo, how far is it from the floor to the ceiling? This one measurement will tell me all I need to know.
I'm betting I'll have the correct answer within 15 minutes of submitting this message... you people are just that good.
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Re: Making colonization attractive?
The word "bad" is highly subjective. In the situation you have described, I don't think anything could make colonization attractive... to anyone!
On the other hand, if you're a man with a large family, working in a dirty factory, making subsistence wages and just barely making ends meet, you might easily be tempted to pack your family aboard a colonization ship if the prospects include fresh air, a parcel of land to call your own, and a modest amount of starting equipment. Even if the conditions for this include that 50% of your produce from the first 5 years belong to the owners of the colony ship, you'll probably go for it with a glad heart.
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Re: Making colonization attractive?
Colonization has always been a case of people looking for a better life than what they left behind. If you've got a cushy life here, why go there?
On the other hand, if you can't get what you want here, maybe there is your best bet.
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Re: Bizarre Spell Ideas
Oy Gevalt!
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Re: Ships of the Dark Ages and Medieval Period
I just watched a History Channel show about contemporary machines and devices and their ancient ancestors. One of the segments was about modern cargo ships and their ancient Greek forerunners.
They mentioned a ship named "Syracusea" that was supposedly an amazing vessel designed by Archimedes for the king of Syracuse. It was hailed as the largest cargo ship of its day, being 5 times as long as the ships it was replacing, and could carry enough grain to feed the entire city of Athens for a year.
I've tried googling it, but got nothing. Someone else may have better luck.
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Re: "Mundane" Magic Items
I'd personally rule that Universal Translator has no ability to translate what amounts to a magical language (otherwise' date=' it'd permit people to read, understand, and consequently cast spells from spell books without hinderence)[/quote']I wouldn't hesitate to allow UT to translate a magical language. Just because you can read a spell from a book doesn't imply that you can call up or control the thaumaturgic energy required to cast said spell.
On the other hand, items like scrolls and rune stones usually have the energy bound within them... batteries included, so to speak. Therefore, they could be used by anyone capable of reading the mystic symbols. Fortunately, they're usually one-shot items.
On the scifi side of things, just because you can read binary code doesn't mean you can program a computer. I have used UT as a complementary skill for someone attempting to use or reprogram an unfamiliar computer system, but they still need Computer Programming.
Bottom line... UT does exactly what you say it does. Nothing more... nothing less.
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Re: [Cosmology] The ur-Stone. (Thoughts wanted.)
Very cool. Everything ties so nicely together.I'd rep you if I could.
Consider it taken care of, Captain.
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Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...
(Combat scene. Cataclysm hits Sparrow with Claws, does BODY)Sparrow: "Ow! Hug the lizard!" (Moves over to Saurin and gets healed.)
(Cataclysm hits Steelwasp with claws, does BODY)
Steelwasp: "Ow! Hugging the lizard!" (Flies over to get healed by Saurin.)
(Cataclysm hits Saurin, does BODY)
Saurin: "Ow! Hug the lizard!" (beat) "Oh, wait, sorry. Forgot." (stands still and regenerates)
I can't wait to see the quotes when someone uses a Drain on Saurin.
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Re: Making a Swarm Effective
You guys are missing the point about swarms. When you see someone attacked by a swarm of creatures, what is it that they ALWAYS do first?
They run... wildly and haphazardly, usually with their heads down and their arms flapping in the air.
It seems obvious that swarms have a very powerful PRE attack... one that causes the victim to damage himself by tripping or running headfirst into a tree (or worse).
The actual physical damage that a swarm can do to you is usually quite small, unless you happen to have a vulnerability to their particular attack (i.e. an allergy to bee venom). It's the fear element that is the real danger. That's why nobody ever thinks of a huge number of butterflies as a swarm... they're just not scary enough.
You wanna make your swarms an effective attack... provide plenty of sharp, pointy obstacles to dodge while running from them!
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Re: Future submarine warfare?
Also, the main reason subs were invented was for the stealth factor. Very few commercial vessels require stealth, and the few that do are armed and armored enough to qualify as military vessels.
Dyson Sphere (shell) - Dysonica Anyone?
in Star Hero
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Re: Dyson Sphere (shell) - Dysonica Anyone?