Sundog

Re: Superpowered Worlds I don't agree with you as far as steam goes. While a ton-carrying slave team could drag as much as an early loco, the ability of the steam engine to work ALL DAY would make it worth developing. Which brings me to the main point: Slavery. Slavery started to die out on earth with the development of the horse collar; with one of those a horse becomes more economical to keep than a man. Simply, a human and a horse require roughly the same costs to keep working and healthy, and prior to the horse collar, a human was more useful, being self-motivating. However, with a horse collar to strain against, a horse can do much more work than a human and keep it up for longer. So, economically, it became more sensible to keep a horse than a slave. Slavery died out slowly, save in certain specialist fields - such as cotton picking, which only a human could do. However, if your prospective species can carry a ton apiece, such a cultural shift might not occur until well into the high industrial period, perhaps equivalent to our 1950s. Slavery might well have been a part of the general culture for so long that no major abolitionist movement ever got off the ground. So there's one huge cultural difference, and one any 21st century hero is going to have a major problem with: institutionalized slavery.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Lowdown - Boz Scaggs

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Oy, that's my line... Las Palabras de Amor - Queen

Re: Lost World Map

Re: A Universe to call my own Some really great ideas there. Repped.

Re: WWYCD: The True Champion has Arrived! Terminus just doesn't have the raw power needed to beat this guy. Trawler might have a chance, but even then I figure we'd have to "Plan B" the Champion (ie everybody DOGPILE!)

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young) - Queen

Re: Re-Imaged Hero(ines) Ooh, that was a good one! Here's my take: Jean Champlain spun on one leg, eyes closed and squinting with concentration. His right hand darted beneath his upraised left leg, and released. The shining silver knife spun once, end over end, before embedding in the very centre of the target. Jean opened his eyes, and considered the shot he'd just made, before deciding, regretfully, not to use it in tonight's show. He just wasn't sure enough of the movements yet; a few more week's practice before it went into the repertoire. He was shaken from his reverie by upraised voices. One was the circus manager, Michael Therault, and another Bob Thorn, the circus strongman. That was bad; Bob was a massive and powerful man, but not anyone's fighter, he was too slow and too good natured for that. The other two voices belonged to a pair of rough looking men in cheap suits. Even as Jean stepped out into the open space near the manager's trailer, one of the men gripped Michael's shirt front and raised a fist. Jean didn't hesitate. Michael was an old man; a punch could cause him real harm. A slim steel blade appeared between the ruffian's ring and middle fingers, the point jutting out the back of his hand. The thug dropped Michael, and both men withdrew, eyeing with panic the razored knives Jean held in each hand. Michael explained. The two men had been representatives of the local mob, wanting a cut of the circus' takings. But the circus wasn't doing so well, and Michael had nothng to give them. "Now, they will be back. What if they go after the animals, or one of the girls?" Jean had seen it happen before, a circus run out of business by thuggery and vandalism. Michael and his people had taken the young Quebecois in when his old circus folded due to just such attacks; he would not allow it to happen to these good people. "Do not worry, Michel. I will talk to their boss, make a deal." ________________________________________________________________ The room was a shambles. Bodies were everywhere, many with silver blades embedded in parts of their anatomy, though Jean estimated that none of the wounds were fatal. They had not been expecting ranged weapons that ignored their vaunted kevlar vests, or that could be thrown around corners, nor had they expected his skills with Savate. The mob boss was pinned against his noticeboard with a pair of cleavers through his armani jacket. "So, do I have to repeat myself?" "NO! We leave the Therault Circus alone, you leave us alone! I can live with that!" Jean reckoned his victim's terror was real enough, and plucked the cleavers back out, allowing the man to slide to the floor. Jean's silver and blue costume had a place for every possible kind of blade, and they slid back into place just as easily, as he moved around the room, retrieving each knife in turn, then walked out the front door, leaving only groans and blubbering behind him, and smiled beneath the harlequin's mask he wore at the sound of police sirens. Somehow, he figured the mobsters wouldn't be able to get rid of all their incriminating evidence, not in the shape they were in. As he walked home, Jean suddenly noted a scuffle in the darkness of an alley. Moving silently, he approached, and found two men accosting a pretty young woman. The would-be rapists suddenly found knives sprouting from their limbs, carefully placed to immobilize the victim. The young lady, almost as stunned, nevertheless had the presence of mind to ask her rescuer: "Wait! Who are you?" The silver and blue figure glanced back and smiled. "Why, you can call me Blade, Mademoiselle." Then he was gone into the night.

Re: HP Lovecraft movies Thanks, I'll need to track that down. What's it's ISBN?

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Love the One You're With - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Dreams of the Inspired - Eberron Soundtrack

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Various quotes from today's games: Weldun's: Miss Chaos: "Oh dear, aliens walking the streets." Avatar (an Alien): "Yeah, so what's the problem?" Trawler: "Compared to Disruption Soldiers, I'll take Martians." OOC: Miss C's player: "There's a damp spot on one of the printouts." Terminus's player: "Out, damp spot?" 3's player: "At least you don't have to sleep in it." From my game: "I knock up the demon for 6 inches."

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? I can't go for That (No Can Do) - Hall and Oats

Re: Map of Mongo redux Ditto ditto. Ditto Rep.

Re: Space Pirates? I love Ice Pirates personally. But a close analysis shows the problems of space piracy. Not hi-jacking - that pretty much involves getting a team aboard a ship in dock, I'm talking the old find, board and take style piracy. Intercepting a ship in space isn't easy. Hell, finding one that doesn't want to be found is hard! And any sort of "Jump" FTL drive would make it futile, unless you can somehow jam their jumping capability. The only realistic depiction of space piracy I've ever found s in the David Weber Honorverse. And there you have a very specific technological, physical and economic/political environment to support it's continued existence.

Re: Future submarine warfare? One thing about subs - while detection of them may become easier in the near future, they may also become the only survivable warships. I seriously doubt any modern surface ship could survive a THOR javelin.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? A Little less Conversation - Elvis Presley (the Re-Mix)

Re: Little Help - Ground Exploration Vehicle. Two things: First, there doesn't seem to be any life-support for the crew. Even if you've got a breathable atmosphere, it's still gonna get seriously cold at night. And if this was an early exploration vehicle, we're talking full-on atmosphere and radiation protection. Second, you need a Laser-Com system to bounce signals off satellites. Mars has no ionosphere to bounce radio off of - radio will be line-of-sight only. I'd personally make it tracked rather than balloon wheels. But either would probably do the job.

Re: WWYCD? "You are on a path..." I noted this one on your LiveJournal, Dhroz, so I already knew the answers, but these answers are for Terminus, not me. The Path "It's a concrete flagstone path, winding through a lightly wooded estate. Every now and then there's a small building like a gazebo or a toolshed, but mostly it's wildland. The air is cool and speaks of rain to come." I see this as being the kind of environment Kex grew up in, in northern England. It's the first environment he ever experienced. The Cup "It's a simple plastic beaker, smooth and unadorned. It's cheap and does the job." Knowledge creates things, makes things, like a cup, or Kex himself. The Key "It's a magnetic strip key-card, red and white, with the EDSO symbol on one side. It opens the door to the crisis room in the basement of the manor." Wisdom is largely the application of knowledge, and it should be applied in appropriate ways. The Bear "I wait. If the bear moves on and goes about it's business, good. If it attacks me, I kill it." Adversity doesn't necessarily need to be dealt with; it can solve itself. But if you must deal with it, do so head on. The Clearing "The trees end and there's just a flat, dusty oval of soil and sand. On one side, someone has started putting down some paving and marked out a building foundation." Life is a pointless and worthless thing on it's own. It's what you do with it that matters. Fallen Trees "I check in case this is an ambush. If it isn't, I just vault them and continue on my way." Obstacles may harbour danger - but if not, they aren't worth worrying about. Haul ass and bypass! The Water "It's a canal, deep and wide and full of swift moving water. I drink deeply of the sweet water to slake my thirst." Kex is a highly sexual being, but he prefers relationships with length and depth. The Fork "To the village." Kex was made to serve humans, and quite enjoys being among people.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? The Edge of Heaven - Wham

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? The Dead Heart - Midnight Oil

Re: HP Lovecraft movies Elder Things, not the Great Race. It could easily be argued that Who Goes There? (An excellent read, btw) was at the least inspired by At the Mountains of Madness.

Re: Future submarine warfare? Yes and no. Modern torps are wire-guided for a certain distance; inside that range (about 1km as of 1993, but could be more now) the torp is literally being steered by the sub's weapons officer, who could indeed cause it to jink around such an obstacle. Once they break wire, they're governed by homing systems not dissimilar to modern homing missiles. This is one reason why sub-launched torps are more dangerous than air-dropped or ship-launched torpedoes; both such rely purely on the homing capability of the warshot itself. The other reason is size - most ship and air-launched torps are smaller, less capable and more short legged. They rely upon being fired from closer in, which can often be arranged with such things as sonobuoys and a willingness to use active pinging. In addition, breaking a sub's pressure hull isn't so difficult, so a smaller warhead is needed than is required to, say, break the back of a cruiser.

Re: Soliciting Ideas - I might suggest taking a leaf from Jim Shooter: once you've beaten up on and defeated the plans of a whole bunch of people, those people are all going to have something in common - you. So, unless your team is a "take no prisoners" type, you'll have a lot of bad guys in prison, with a real hate-on for the PC's. Now, if somebody ELSE who doesn't like them should start breaking them out and incoroporating them into an anti-PC force..?

Re: Life Support: Longevity? My character Terminus has no extended lifespan; his creators definitely didn't want his type to be immortal on top of all of his other advantages!