Inu

Re: US Military .45 Pistols

Re: US Military .45 Pistols As well as the points already made, keep in mind that the impact in that case was over the space of the buttstock. In the case of a shot that hits armour, the impact is spread out over the whole armour. So it's (from what I've heard) more like being hit by a really high-velocity pillow. Might take your wind out if you're not expecting it, but it's more likely to just throw your aim off... or spook you out and make you find cover.

Re: Battletech Mecha First Loves, Favourites, and just plain silly. The robotech designs were the classics. Yes, I'd have to agree that the Veritech was my first love. Nothing drew me to it like that one did. It DEMANDED that I pilot it. My favorite mech was probably the Battlemaster, like others. Good combination of abilities, particularly with the upgraded technology. Actually, in the 3025 tech, I always found it a tad lacking. Was never a huge fan of PPCs -- too much heat and not enough damage increased from large lasers to really bother with the extra tonnage, if I remember right (though it's been ages since I looked at the rules, I might be misremembering it). Odd: the obsession with AC-5s that heavier mechs had. I dont' know about you, but using hte official maps, I never ended up playing at ranges that allowed those things to matter. I guess it was more my play style, though. I was one of those 'get in close and blaze away' players, so I favoured medium lasers. Nothin' but medium lasers! Unless, of course, we were buying forces with money. Then it was vehicles all the way. Nothing gives you bang for your buck like tanks.

Re: Why are robots always immortal? There is an exception to Heisenberg, of course: if you can observe without interacting, you indeed can overcome the uncertainty principle. Such would require superpowers or supertech that is far beyond what we can reasonably imagine, but that's not to say it's utterly impossible. Even Hawking leaves open the possibility of this, although he doesn't give it much chance of happening. Though yes, having such a device would likely make the setting a very, very high tech setting indeed.

Re: Why are robots always immortal? Yah. It worked in The Culture, because they were pretty much post-human. Reference the protagonist's critiques of The Culture in Consider Phlebas. These fleshy human things were, in many ways, quaint and outdated.

Re: Why are robots always immortal? Apply the idea of 'my grandfather's axe' to the human animal. If I copy my brain to a computer, shortly before death... do I still die? Am I dead, with a copy running around thinking it's me, or am I still alive? Are there two mes, one alive and one dead, or is there only one me (alive) or one me (dead)? Personally, I feel that if a copy of me survives I'm still dead. The copy is not me. From another person's perspective, I may still be alive. Or perhaps only a part of me is alive. That's up to them. But me, I'll be in the ground as wormfood. Transplanting the brain as AA suggests is a completely different story, of course.

Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible?

Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible?

Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible?

Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? And remember that the best parodies are also great examples of the genre they're parodying. Take Galaxy Quest: remove the comedy elements, and you're left with a great Trek story. So it should be with all parodies.

Re: Dyson Spheres

Re: Final Fantasy: Academy Nice. I'm a big fan of the FFVIII Gardens and the like. If it's meant to be FF-style, I'd suggest that the packages there are what PCs get, with NPCs often getting lesser packages. So maybe only 30-35 points is required to pass each package (ending up at around 250 points), while the A-grade students (such as the PCs) get up to that 350 points. It also gives a good range for graduates of the school. So... can I play? I'll pay for plane tickets out here, if you agree to immigrate!

Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

Re: Battlestar galactica pistols. As stated above, simply because the firearms (and tech in general) have the look and feel of modern weapons, doesn't necessarily mean they are. I've heard RDM variously quoted as talking about the construction and feel of weapons, but haven't heard him definitively state 'the weapons on the show have only the capabilities and technology level of modern firearms.' If it were the case, I'd find that disappointing, considering the far-future tech we see in other areas. It would be a standout area. Besides, the large-calibre explosive rounds are far beyond modern tech, so that's one instance in firearms where scifi enters the arena... it would be extremely odd if it were the only item of high tech present there. Therefore, even if it looks and feels like a modern weapon, it may well be something else entirely. The sound, to my ears, isn't anything like a gunpowder explosion from a modern weapon (except in movies). It sounded far more like an energy weapon, and it wasn't until we saw evidence otherwise in the series that I was convinced they WERE projectile weapons. With their nature as projectiles canon now, the nature of the projetiles and propellant is still up for grabs. If we're looking at small rounds, they may well be long and dense, patterned after the FN pistol/submachinegun rounds (5.7x28mm, designed to penetrate and tumble). As I said before, I'm not trying to say what the series DOES use, just positing other options. I'm sorry if I came across as dismissive, but I'm trying to keep the discussion open instead of closing off lines of enquiry simply by over-referencing modern munitions. Modern vests seem to be able to defeat rifle rounds, and there are ones in production (just not general issue) that can stop 7.62mmAP rounds. Furthermore, the kind of combat we see the marines getting into is far different to open-field army combat. In the tight corridors of a Battlestar, I can see that bullets will be the primary threat they face (just like a SWAT team). In that environment, if the vest I wear is useless against bullets, I may prefer to keep my agility. However, if the vest will even slow down bullets (turning a lethal hit into a disabling one that can be treated), I'm gonna wear that vest, thanks. As you say, it's my **** out there, and I'd rather come home alive. If wearing the vest increases my survivability, I wear it. If it decreases it... it'll be hard to let the vest go, but it'd be the best way. Yah, I love the RCS and similar systems. But neither of us is under the illusion that such hand-waves in the direction of hard sci fi transform Vipers into realistic weapons platforms. I find them a lot more fun than realistic weapons platforms, however, in a character-centric series. I guess the difference is what 'reasonably conventional' means as regards personal weaponry. I see high-density, explosive-packed rounds launched by ECT or other form of projectile as being not too far-future... thus, more or less conventional. At least, not particularly scifi (and a lot 'harder' than the Vipers themselves). It would fit the look and feel of real firearms, while giving a significant extra edge to the gunman. I like the idea, but I can see why others would want to work with purely modern weaponry. I just like to keep the options open.

Re: Battlestar galactica pistols.

Re: Battlestar galactica pistols. Comparing calibres with today's technology is useless. They're using different metals, different explosives, different projectile method... I'd assume that the 4mm projectiles are designed to penetrate, then explode, thus creating a much bigger wound cavity than would normally be created by a 4mm projectile, giving far greater takedown capability than a non-explosive round, while taking a huge clip capacity (since hitting someone multiple times is generally better than hitting them once, no matter what size bullet you're using). I can see this as an extremely viable round. The explosive charge could be set to go off a split-second after penetrating, thus making them equally effective against armoured and non-armoured targets. I'd wager they aren't good at penetrating all armours (if vests were useless, I can't see that soldiers would bother slowing themselves down with the heavy vests they're shown with in the series). This would indicate that centurions could easily be made to withstand the shots, though ones that heavily armoured might be slower (or require more servos to move them quickly, making them more expensive to manufacture -- excellent special forces, but with weaker models for general comat). And when it comes down to it, despite its hard sci fi image, BSG is space opera. There is no hard sci fi reason for dogfighting Vipers, but it looks great, so we get that. I'm content with coming up with vaguely plausible ideas where necessary to supplement the areas that have solid explanations.

Re: Wwcyfd?

Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon

Re: So how does evil worship? Also keep in mind how much communication there is between the god and his worshippers. If there's a lot of communication, there's little to no doubt about dogma. Head priest goes 'Hey, big guy, is this what you mean by this passage in your book?' and the big guy goes 'no, you stupid, you got it wrong. THIS is what I mean' and lo, a schism is averted. If there's not much communication, you may end up with a situation similar to the real world, where you can have a dozen different religions all worshipping the same god... and desperately trying to wipe each other out. Also, dont' get too hung up in churches based around a single god. That's a valid model, but another valid model is that the 'church' is dedicated to all the gods. "We are the church of . We offer worship to all the gods, and we believe that Althor is the chief god and that we should worship in these particular ways." "Well, that's too bad. We're the church of . We believe that Althor was beaten and chained by Hyrod, and so Hyrod is our chief god and the pantheon should be worshipped in another way. Therefore, we should go to war." The former could be stated to be the 'church of Althor', but it'd be very different from a church in another nation, where Althor is also the chief god, but rules simultaneously to Hyrod. And suddenly, you have churches with national character, instead of the continent-wide temples to each god you have in Forgotten Realms.

Re: Wwcyfd?

Re: Weapon of war vs. Weapon of terror *cackles* YEah, the metal feet stomping was odd. They never used that particular sound during fights, only when multiple Jaffa were marching in sync. Nice! I still think more Jaffa should have thrown their symbiotes at the good guys.

Re: Wwcyfd? And Face/Off, which I personally count as one of my favorite films ever. Has a goofy premise (though less goofy after last year's face transplant) but once you're past that, it's golden.

Re: Weapon of war vs. Weapon of terror Ya, the Jaffa got mookified. They also started having all this stuff about the intense Jaffa training, particularly hand to hand martial arts. But we NEVER saw bad guy Jaffa do that, only good guy Jaffa! (And rarely in actual combat, just in training. Kinda like X-Men Danger room sequences.)

Re: Final Fantasy HERO: Limit Breaks Yah, the characters in Advent Children are truly superhuman. Gauging superhuman-ness in the FF games is difficult, as while characters get vastly more powerful as the game progresses, so does their opposition (as in most CRPGs). And Cross-slash has nothing on Omnislash, which hits the enemy 16 times. The earlier limit breaks are far simpler: deadly blow (or similar construct, if you don't use that talent) could simulate effects such as Braver or Climhazzard. Others simply apply an area-effect (with or without lower damage) to standard attacks, other advantages (Tifa's Beat rush could just be autofire) or allow unique powers (Red XIII can heal or give positive status effects via limit breaks, for instance). 'Slots' or equivalent could be a variable power pool with no conscious control at -1 (choose when it happens, but not what happens). (For fun while watching the film, try to spot all the characters performing their limit breaks. Some of them don't do any (or not that I could spot... though Vincent definitely doesn't do any, which disappointed me), but most of them do a number. Cloud does all of his attacks throughout the film.) As for how it works, the end reserve sounds good. It gives a level of control, but still restricting the powers. Take care they don't end up so expensive that no-one bothers with them, however. If that ends up being the case, consider giving characters a certain budget that can only be spent on limit breaks. Or if everyone's meant to have similarly-powerful limit breaks, treat it like an equipment pool (everyone gets same points, spent as they will). That construct also allows for versatility in changing limit breaks FF7-style (where you chose what kind of limits you'd perform between battles, and during the battle you'd be stuck with them). What magic system are you considering? NES-style class-based abilities, 7-style materia, 8-style junctioning, 9-style class/equipment combo, or 10-style choose-your-own-powerset? Or something else. HERO would probably lend itself more easily to a fairly freeform system similarly to 10 (in that people buy their powers according to concept). Then again, some kind of multiforming might be interesting, depending on the rationale for magic/special abilities.

Re: Irksome players It's tied in with what I'm talking about, I think. They can't be in a submissive position. They can't handle people being dominant over them. They must always have a trick up their sleeves, and being captured is worse than dying. I've known some very solid, very cool people who have been like that. It mystifies me. Getting good characterisation, good roleplay... then they mouth off at the elven king who has caught them trespassing on his lands. I'm just sitting there going 'what? where did this come from?'