Litvyak

Re: Dark Champions

I understand we are not to expect a 6E version of Dark Champions etc. any time soon, but for the record I am very keen to see it. Guaranteed buy!

 

Anyone else?

I'd absolutely buy a 6E version of Dark Champions (or Danger International if there was an issue with Cryptic and Dark Champions).

Re: YACttTOR (Yet Another Challenge to the Theory of Relativity): Space-Time no More

Well' date=' I was under the impression that according to Special Relativity, time is [b']not[/b] absolute for all observers. The speed of light is.

Special Relativity basically says that perception of time isn't absolute for all observers. The question is whether is that perception is reality, or just an optical illusion. If you believe that perception is reality, then there's all kinds of causality issues with FTL travel. If you believe that perception is an optical illusion than there's no more causality issues with FTL travel than with supersonic travel.

Which is correct? Who knows... I'm just a gamer and sci-fi enthusiast, so I use whatever theory fits the effects I want from a setting.

Re: YACttTOR (Yet Another Challenge to the Theory of Relativity): Space-Time no More

http://sheol.org/throopw/tachyon-pistols.html

http://www.theculture.org/rich/sharpblue/archives/000089.html

I haven't read the second link yet, but I'm familiar with the Tachyon Pistols argument. When you apply the theory that time dilation is an optical illusion and time is absolute for all observers, there are no real causality issues, though there might be perceived ones.

Re: YACttTOR (Yet Another Challenge to the Theory of Relativity): Space-Time no More

But if you emit light back toward Earth from a point on your outbound leg' date=' then it is possible that the light thus emitted will arrive on Earth before the emission of the light created when your FTL trip began. If your FTL launcher was triggered by a photocell, then it could easily be that you have a gross causality violation, that the light emitted after the FTL probe was launched caused the launch itself, i.e., that the cause of an event lies later in time than the event itself.[/quote']

 

I'm not following... if you emit light back towards Earth it will travel at the speed of light and I'm not seeing how it's possible for it arrive before you left. This is of course based on the theory that time dilation and time travel are an optical illusion created by rapid movement through space and that time is actually absolute for all observers.

Re: YACttTOR (Yet Another Challenge to the Theory of Relativity): Space-Time no More

FTL = time travel is because if you perceive events backwards than since your reference point is as valid as anyone else's, you are effectively going backwards in time.

Perception does not automatically equal time travel. Imagine moving away from the Earth at a speed faster than light, if you look behind you will perceive time back on Earth as moving in reverse. Is this because you're actually travelling back in time, or simply because you're outrunning the light from Earth and seeing older and older images? In the latter case your relationship in time relative to the Earth hasn't actually changed, but it would appear that it has.

Re: A general question? What about Shields?

I thought the Renegade Legion shields were rated 1 - 9' date=' each representing the amount of time the shield was "on". And that in-game mechanics were that for each attack against a shielded target, you roll a d10, and if the number is less than or equal to the shield's rating the shot hit the shild for no effect. There are no "10" shields as that would be on all the time.[/quote']

 

Interceptor and Centurion are 1d10 roll under to hit. A "1" is automatic hit, a "10" is automatic miss and the Base To Hit number is determined by range. The Shield Factor (equal to the Shield Rating divided by 10) is subtracted from the Base To Hit (along with any other appropriate modifiers). Shield Factors go up to 14 in both games.

 

But DCV with maybe an Activation Roll would model that for non-AoE attacks. To make it all attacks might take somehting like Desolidification, or maybe just scads of Force Field.

 

That's a good point. I hadn't considered AoE attacks, and DCV based shields would be useless against them. Desolidification sounds like an interesting way to get a similiar effect without the AoE issues, though.

Re: A general question? What about Shields?

I have all of the old Renegade Legion games by FASA sitting on my shelf. In that setting shields are extremely effective, but consume tremendous amounts of power. To keep power consumption reasonable they are flickered on and off like a strobe. The more powerful the shield generator the more often the shield is on. The game effect of this is that the target's shields applied a negative modifier to the attacker's hit roll.

So, borrowing this (uncharacteristically for FASA) simple mechanic, I propose using DCV for shields. DCV bought for this purpose would likely need the Uncontrolled advantage and the Uses Endurance limitation, along with possible limitations for partial coverage if you wanted independent facings, or to limit the weapon types it works against.

I admit I'm new to the Hero System, so I don't know if I'm missing some reason why this wouldn't work.

Re: US Military .45 Pistols

As far as I'm aware the information in American Rifleman is out of date. The regular Army supposedly backed out of this in March, and it's now purely a SOCOM project, again, scaled back to just 50,000 units. This was coincidently around the same time the M9 passed the latest rounds of military tests and delivered 34,000 new pistols to the military. The M9 and M9A1 will likely be around for some time to come.