Yansuf

Re: No idea how to model this... Actually, as I think about it, your idea is better than mine was. Duplication, 4 duplicates, each the same point level but different powers.

Re: Plot Seed: Six Places to Nuke When You’re Serious While many of these are great ideas for a comic book plot, I must say most of the posters seem to have a VERY exagerated view of the effects of a one megaton bomb. A low altitude airburst has negligible EMP; yes, there is EMP, but the area effected tend to be smaller than the area effected by major blast damge. Only high altitude bursts give EMP over vast areas. Nuking a power plant to increase radioactive contamination is basically a waste of time; the fallout from the ground level bomb detonation FAR exceeds the contribution from the waste stored at the plant. The ground level detonation will cause over a million tons of fallout, a few tons of nuclear waste doesn't really mean much with that. A giant quake on the San Andreas fault will not sink CA, it moves the southern portion northwest. In a few million years southwestern CA will be an island off the coast of Oregon, it will not be below the sea. If I were a supervillian trying to create maximum chaos, my target list would be (not in any particular order): Moscow Paris Karachi New Delhi Beijing Mecca Russia and France would definately launch nuclear retaliation, probably without waiting to ensure that they got their targets right! If I could get hold of material from the US to make the bombs, they nuke the US, the US retaliates, massive devastation in Europe, Siberia and North America. Even if I cannot get US material, there is a chance Russia will shoot at the US by reflex. If not, they will blow up somebody (or several somebodies) and create a lot of disorder. Anyway, the fact that nowhere in the US was hit might help convince the Russians that the US was behind it all. Who the French will attack is unknown, but if it appears to be a terrorist attack they will probably retaliate against Iran or Muslims in general. India and Pakistan will probably retaliate against each other, almost by reflex, without waiting for any investigation of who was really behind it. The attack on Beijing cause the PRC to attack someone, again with the US untouched it probably would believe America did it. After all, their villian list would be the US, Russia, and India. The latter two were attacked, America wasn't. Elementary (even if wrong.) Hitting Mecca will obviously enrage all muslims. The only problem from the villian's point of view is unless Russia can be persuaded it was the US that attacked it, no other potential enemy of America has enough nukes and intercontinental delivery systems to devastate North America. If the PRC could be persuaded to launch everything they have at the US (before the US hits them, because they really do not have a "second strike" capability) they could do a lot of damage, but again, that would require making them think that the US was behind the attack on them. That is why no target in the US were on the list.

Re: No idea how to model this... Multi Form seems the way to go.

Re: human level game.... Quite a bit of modern armor can be worn under normal clothing without being obvious. The heavier armor worn by soldiers and SWAT teams is one thing, but a vest that will stop most handgun rounds today (unless they have special Armor Piecing ammo) can be as light as 4#, and worn as an undershirt. Next time you see a picture of the president (or VP) with their secret service detail, see if you can spot the armor. Almost all (if not all) the guards are wearing armor, but it is not visible under their suits.

Re: Character: Joe Friday Interesting write up. I do have a few comments. The original Dragnet was in the early 1950's; at that time it is almost a given that Joe was a veteran of WWII. I would think that his weapons' familiarity should be common small arms. He might have a disadvantage "No sense of humor". Cncealment skill might be appropriate, not for his hiding things, but for finding them. He always found the evidence no matter how it was hidden. Combat driving is a common skill among police officers.

Re: Planets not orbiting stars The original book (from the early 1930's) is much better than the movie. There was also a sequel "After Worlds Collide."

Re: Stupid firearms question

Re: [storytime] Birth of RAVEN Interesting Idea. Of course I expect that backstabbing would occur, even with Menton at the helm. But still a very worthy idea for a major villianous agency. BTW, I always thought that the original RAVEN was partly inspired by THRUSH, from "The Man from Uncle."

Re: Plot Seed: Six Places to Nuke When You’re Serious I believe that you are thinking of the movie "Independence Day."

Re: Plot Seed: Six Places to Nuke When You’re Serious Sorry to tread on your bubble, but from the point of view of serious health consequences, a high altitude nuke burst is negligible. Fallout is the material vaporized by the fireball and made radioactive, "falling out" of the cloud as it turns solid. A surface burst can vaporize millions of tons of earth, etc.; a high altitude burst only vaporizes the bomb itself, at most one ton or so. Insignificant radioactive effects. The "initial pulse" of radiation (x-rays and neutrons) is quickly stopped by air, over a mile or so away it is generally harmless. A high altitude detonation will have little effect on the ground, except for EMP. The EMP effect could be major, depending on the location and height of the detonation. But that's a seperate matter.

Re: Zero-G Martial Arts Help I must disagree with most of what has been posted here. Strikes CAN be used in zero-g (or more accurately freefall), but there are limitations. For example, if you grab someone, you can now strike him, using your grip to prevent reaction from seperating you. A knee strike while you hold on with your arms is practical. In game terms, give it "must follow grab" and there you are. A head butt could be used the same way. (I wouldn't make them seperate manuevers in game.) Similarly, a backwards elbow strike against someone who has grabbed you from behind is feasible, if his grip doesn't hold you together, you have escaped his grab. There are many other possiblities. On the other hand, many joint locks will be dificult to apply effectively; they often require applying pressure that you will not be able to without an external support. For example, an arm bar will not work very well (if at all) in freefall. A hammerlock may, if you can apply it with one arm while you hold him with the other. And remember, Newton's third law applies to holds too. As you apply your aikido (or jui-jitsu) wrist lock, instead of breaking his wrist, his body rotates one way, while you rotate the other! Choke holds and nerve-locks (although the latter are very difficult to use in practice) will work. Bearhugs and leg scissors will work, but the person held can strike the attacker effectively if his arms are free. Major strikes, like kicks, can be used if you are willing to break contact from the reaction. In "Tripanetary" a fight in freefall is discribed in which the skilled man did that sort of thing. it requires skill to set it up so the the reaction sends you in the direction that you want of course.

Re: Dealing with Anachronism I am reasonably certain glove boxes predate WWII, by quite a bit. They were (and are) used to handle things that must be kept in inert atmospheres, like lithium.

Re: Pulp Sci-Fi Resources for Star Hero You might check this site out. http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/

Do the limitations "Bulky" and "Immobile" still apply? I cannot find them in 5ER.

Re: Future Sci-Fi What we now call "technothrillers", which are usually novels about hypothetical future wars, were once considered science fiction. I still do.

Re: Twisted character idea... Wow!

Re: Free Will

Re: Battlestations Interesting. Please report on how it is once you've played it.

Re: Imperial Ground Equipment True, but that is set before TOS.

Re: US Military .45 Pistols Actually, as of the late 1970's, that was the reason that in the US Army, Cpt and above only were (officially) issued sidearms. I knew on field grade officer who had no problem with that, he said: " if it gets to the point where it is more important for me to shoot than direct others, I should have a good choice of weapons lieing around to choose from." As a Cpt on manuevers I only carried a pistol, but if we had gone into actual combat I would have drawn an M16 or M203 from the arms room.

Re: WWYD: The Perfect Partner (potentially controversial) Potentially controversial? Ya think?

Re: Myths about the Middle Ages Interesting. But remember, just because someone wrote a book doesn't make what was written true. There are lots of myths about the medievil and ancient times. As an SCAer I've read quite a bit on them. Just want to caution that a lot of incorrect information is written, and these new books may or may not be correct.

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

Re: Imperial Ground Equipment Yes, in STTOS they did show spacesuits a number of times. (I consider the movies with the original cast still OS.) I do not recall the use of spacesuits in TNG or DS9. Anyone who can cite some?

Re: US Military .45 Pistols Regarding the "wound method" for pistols, it is less a function of letting blood out than damage to specific tissue. To get a combat kill (as oppossed to he dies hours later in the hospital) you need to hit something that causes immediate effect. Hitting a major artery can do it, but that tends to be haphazard. The goal is to hit the head/brain or the heart/lungs. Hitting the spine also works, but that is a very difficult target. The "Hatcher Report" from the early 20th century which backed using a .45 round did make the statment that bullet placement was the most important thing. Regarding "tumbling" of 5.56 mm rifle rounds, tests conducted by the US Army found that it happened VERY rarely, it was largely a "military urban legand." These tests were reported in several forums, I saw them in Infantry Magazine, but we are talking of a quarter of a century ago. I cannot give a citation. Regarding the "what are other NATO nations doing" question, as far as I know (and I still read Infantry Magazine regularly) most (if not all) are keeping the 9x19mm for their standard. There is one other advantage to the .45 vs the 9mm. The .45 is a subsonic round, so that when used with a good suppressor it is silent. When the CIA and SEALs used a special silenced pistol in Viet Nam (called the "hush puppy") they used special, subsonic ammo. In WWII, standard .45 ammo was used.