Tornado

Right, but isn't lifting power in gravity also determined by the force you can bring to bear? I mean, if I lift a car over my head, I have to apply more force to it than gravity is already. Right? Okay, thinking about it again, the damage is probably related to the force from deceleration, which is not necessarily 1:1 correlated to the force from acceleration. Is that correct? If so, what is the maximum reasonable relationship?

Is the idea of a character who can lift a lot but can't punch super hard sensible? It seems like to lift something requires you to apply a level of force greater than that of gravity (i.e. 9.8 m/s^2 * its mass in kg), which is a very substantial. So in order to lift a 2000 kg object, you need to apply at least (preferably substantially more, if you want to do it in any reasonable amount of time) 19,600 newtons of force to it. The human fist has a surface area of ~110 cm^2, according to some googling. Even assuming you can only apply half that force per hand, that's about 130 psi or 2,000 lbs of force. For comparison, the hardest punches the best boxers can manage are around ~1000 lbs of force. The amount of damage becomes more ridiculous the more you can lift. Am I not understanding something? I want a character who can lift a tank but not necessarily kill someone in a single punch. Is this even physically plausible? Yes, yes, it's an RPG not real life, but I need to know.

Re: The (possible) dearth of habitable terrestrial worlds explained!

Re: The (possible) dearth of habitable terrestrial worlds explained! The wheel isn't truly random, though. The Eudaemons created a roulette predictor that managed an average 44% percent profit on every dollar in the 1970s.

Re: The (possible) dearth of habitable terrestrial worlds explained!

Re: Sentients native to low-gravity worlds operating on "normal" gravity worlds? Yeah, it's an aquatic species, the gravity on Titan is .14g (this moon's gravity is .16g). Is neutral buoyancy going to mean they can operate in any environment as long as they're still suspended in the appropriate density of liquid? It seems like there would be other problems.

How does this work out? I have a species that's native to depths of about 20km on a moon quite similar to Titan. If they wanted to interact with humans and other species native to more Earthlike environments, would there be any way for them to do so personally? Some sort of suit could easily compensate for the pressure, temperature, and their aquatic nature, but is there any way to deal with the gravity? The only thing I can think of that works would be telecommuting from LEO, which kind of reduces the amount you can threaten such a character.

Re: Personal Companion Bots. and a months long voyage....

Re: Personal Companion Bots. and a months long voyage.... I find this rather unlikely. Dehumanization of humans is hardly a healthy practice, and I don't imagine that the dehumanization of sexbots capable of appearing to be human for all intents and purposes would be much healthier.

Re: Personal Companion Bots. and a months long voyage.... Sexbots reflect some bizarre mésalliance between futurism and regressivism. It simultaneously involves technologies far in advance of the present (effective simulation of most every element of personhood) and the most backwards idea of how relationships should work (cook, clean, give me a blowjob).

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice Nah, though at this point reputation is a little silly! I've got a five digit rep, I guess because of compound interest (???). Huh. I didn't realize you could cram languages. Might have to add that. Ah well, doesn't really matter. I think its like a 1 point difference, maybe? I'm not sure I even did the calculation correctly in the first place. In other news: * Adjusted speeds of spacecraft (from 10 m/s^2 to 1 m/s^2) * Added Transhuman entry on species page. * Added Organizations page, which currently includes the structure of the IEU (to be filled out some, with more suborganizations), as well as a basic idea of what its members and the public think of it.

Suppose we have a quite advanced civilization that has managed to get a decent clip going with genetic engineering and social science. They've been going over the human genome for decades, comparing and contrasting to animal genes, etc. They've isolated and uncovered various human mental peculiarities in terms of genetics. They've got an excellent understanding of in utero effects and childrearing. They carefully tailor a specific, homegrown individual's genetic code and youth to predispose them towards a specific activity, say, assassination. Legally, this individual is an adult, capable of making all their own decisions. They don't have to do their job if they don't want to. They completely understand that they were specifically created and tailored for this purpose. But, in 99% of all cases, they will do their job until they die or are retired. Is this a form of slavery? Legally, it obviously isn't - the individual has given informed consent - but morally?

Re: Near-human genetics

Re: I need cheap(-ish) liftoff. Okay, I should probably clarify: the 900 metric ton mass is the space craft's "final stage." Its delta v is for moving between planets (it has a high efficiency D-T fusion drive), not for reaching orbit. A "normal" launch (with SRBs, railguns, or whatever else excess mass) is used to actually get to orbit, and its mass in this stage can be as large as necessary. Recalculating some numbers based on a noticed economic problem, I'm turning the calculation into: total cost $550M for two liftoffs, one lifting 900 mt, the other lifting 150 mt.

Re: I need cheap(-ish) liftoff. It's definitely not a one-off, there's "plenty" of Earth-to-space movement. I don't think the main problem with getting into space is actual fuel requirements. The fuel supply for a single SRB is about 80 metric tons of aluminum (http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/srb.html), which costs about $200,000. Significant to us, but compared to the cost of one SRB ($60M), very little.

I need a piece of technology that can provide sufficient thrust to move a spacecraft with mass of 900,000 kg (this includes everything for the spacecraft itself) into orbit at a per use cost of less than $280M. Preferably much less. Industrial tech is significantly (but not exponentially) better than modern industrial technology. I would prefer methods with actually quantified volumes of cash involved. Any recommendations?

Re: Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator Shouldn't the Throw be 22 points? I mean, it's telekinetic strength, right? So it has a base cost of 60 points, not 40.

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice It's non-persistent' date=' so if the Libid goes to sleep (or is knocked unconscious) it won't work. Applying Concentrate (Throughout) to a Persistent power seems... wrong, though I'm not sure it's actually [i']illegal[/i].

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice Yep. The setting is intended to be more "colonial" (e.g. Firefly) than "frontiersman" (e.g. Star Trek). You exist within society, to one degree or another, not outside it. You may be on the fringes but you're still within the bubble. Etachi sacrifice is the primary method, since diseases that can leap from Etachi to Mazkai are very common. Accidents and combat fatalities are also used. It used to involve it, but then the IEU clamped down on it (some Etachi were basically killing themselves prematurely to be consumed in the funerary right). Nowadays the funeral is largely reproduced but without the actual consumption. The "meat" is cut up and the pieces are burned instead of eaten.

Re: Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator Yeah, I have no idea how visible Telekinesis is "supposed" to be. But looking at it from a gameplay perspective, is anyone going to not figure out you're using the gravity gun to manipulate the object? You are less than 15 meters away, pointing a glowing (and, IIRC, humming) piece of equipment at a floating thing.

Re: Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator Under "Edged Object Throw" you have it as "Must Have Blunt Object". Telekinesis is already sufficiently Indirect to represent the Gravity Gun. Do you need to buy Invisible Power Effects for Telekinesis? I mean, people can see the thing you're moving, and the gravity gun glows. Also, did you intend for the Gravity Gun to be able to work on more than one thing at a time, and after you are knocked unconscious (it doesn't do that in HL2)? Because that's what Uncontrolled does. e: Also, maybe want to put a limitation on the Burst, to represent that you can't use it while holding an object in the field.

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice The IEU has done this, more-or-less. Simpler, more automated (its purpose being more to detect unlicensed obstructions), and the IEU has a sufficiently large active fleet of patrol craft and combat craft to ruin anyone's day. Interstellar coordination of Warke Drive use by the IEU. Yes! However, they are all unoccupied. Well, they haven't mapped the entire network out, but everything that a person can access was explored by probes first. The probes do all the exploration, both because it's rather efficient (cheaper than sending people, anyways), and because it prevents a repeat of the Ozto Conflict (i.e. civilians discover a planet full of aliens, their eyes do that cartoon thing where they turn into little dollar signs, and they screw up an entire planet and start a war as a consequence).

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice They do not move otherwise. You could set up a minefield or picket of vessels and turrets to guard them, definitely. Four. Yes. Fairly easy. A Warke Point creates a slight infrared distortion that can be detected. Most spacecraft just use maps, though, since all systems have been explored by probes. True enough. I pumped up the Libid sleep cycle disad to "Frequently." Well, I'd assume that undomesticated Etachi tend to be more sexually successful due to operating outside of the norms of Etachi relations (i.e. careful breeding) too.

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice Sorry if this response is a bit laconic, it's been eaten twice by Windows Auto Update restarting my computer. What's the evolutionary purpose of sociopathy? Similar thing. It's basically a screw-up in the Etachi's brain where all his domesticated bits don't work right. Completely incompatible. Rarely, similar to human cannibalism. Etachi are far more common, and easier to get your hands on even if you don't have your own.

Re: Campaign Setting: Age of Avarice Literally can't believe I didn't write this down on the site (until now), but it's basically biological. Etachi-related biology is a bit sketchy, so it might be genetic or it might be some in-utero effect, but they're just born that way.