indy523

Ah I see, no problem. I will get that next pay period or so. PS: Your description really does not point out they are for that program. Just labels them CP. I probably would have bought that first! Thanks, Indy

Hello, I bought the Ground Vehicles and the Air Vehicles Character Packs (thinking they would be PDFs) and I downloaded the files fine (I think?) They appear ot be .HDC files for the most part. I cannot open the files. Googling the files it says I need to download something called HD Tach which is evidently a hard drive management reporting software?!? Anyways it says you need this program to open the files but every site that will let you download it appears to be either unsecure or weird looking. I tried going directly to the developer Simpli Software Inc. but their website appears defunct. How do you expect people that buy this product to read the files? Is there somewhere safe that you can recommend that I go to get freeware that will read the files? What format are these files in? Please help me out with this. I don't want a refund, I would rather know how to access the files. I just recently purchased them from you guys. Thanks, Indy

First off swords are effectively used in combat today. What we call a combat knife is a blade that can extend 20" long in the more sizeable category. There was a good you tube video on close combat in WWI that explained why the bayonets were shortened and knives, clubs and truncheons were used. It was because people stayed in trenches for protection and the longer blades and rifles and even to extent hand guns were liabilities in close combat. We tend to think of the term sword as the long sword of medieval knights but the Roman Army one of the most effective tactical combat units of the ancient ages uses the Gladius, a sword with a 24" blade at most that was not really that much bigger than some larger combat knives you can buy at an army/navy surplus store. The reality is that the "sword" will always be a useful weapon because no matter how technologically superior we get close combat will always be a reality. If you think about it. looking at the Iraq war technology has increased the percentage of close combat. The jihadi's used IED devices and snipers but when it came to clearing them out the battle ended up in an urban setting going from house to house. Sure the marines developed tactical methods of grouping soldiers to clear the area but the fighting would definitely involve close combat because the enemy used surprise. In the future the melee weapon could very well become a reality as new armor is developed. In Dune the personal force shield was so effective that fighting was done hand to hand with the combatants having to practice the "slow knife" as only by moving slower than the velocity that affected the shield could you get through it. Even with new armor such as Kevlar, riot shields etc. The best way may be the huge weight of a club or axe or the puncturing point of a sword pushed through the Kevlar. Certainly the materials of the weapon can be more resilient, sharper (see the monofilament blades of William Golding's cyberpunk novels) have technological advantages like chain saw blades, diamond tipped edges, vibro blades that vibrate back and forth causing cutting forces before adding pressure etc. The greater the ability to dress a soldier in protective armor that lessons potential for damage or to allow the solider to maneuver without being attacked (such as potentially the metal boot assembly I saw developed that extended the legs with flexible rods that allowed greatly increased speed or smoke screens etc.) the more that close combat becomes a reality because the fact is even if you cannot pierce someone's armor you can always hurt them by crushing them with weighty objects such as a hammer. Just my 2 cents.

This was just an idea I came up with. The Drones fly among themselves. They can't move with the character attached because they have to concentrate on hovering to stay aloft. This was done just to mirror how swinging works. Flight on a hoverboard is controlled and has a built in safety feature. If I dispel the Flight of a character while in flight, they do not crash, they safely land whereever they are. This is done to keep people using dispels to autokill flying characters for game balance. Swinging has no such safety built in. You dispel swinging mid swing and the character hits the ground hard. There a safety net to flight, not to swinging. What you are forgetting as well is swinging is based on lines. These can be attacked. A character could fly through them grabbing them. Even with the go through physical barriers advantage the site being attached can be attacked. Villian can target the side of the building the swingline is attached to and the swinger starts to fall. They can try and attach elsewhere but that is probably a Dex roll or attack roll or something to save in time. I see this as worse than gliding in many respects. All the advantage does is allow the swinging to happen where there are not normal hand holds by allowing the character to create them. PS: if the drones themselves could move with the character attached then this would be flight but that is not what I wanted.

The robots would be Focuses in the way I am envisioning this but honestly one does not need to destroy the focus. Swinging fails if a villain takes out the area of the tree where your line is tied or destroys the building or even moves the line. Unless of course you buy the advantage that lets it go through physical barriers. Even in the other scenario where the special effect is energy whips (that character would buy the not affected by barrier advantage) practically any energy blast could disrupt the line not to mention magnetic based TK and maybe TK in general by some argument, this means the character has to save himself with an attack roll against another object or point in time (Dex roll, abort to an attack roll to hit with the line (defensive in this case but that might break the rule). Swinging itself is inherently more risky hence the reduced cost 1 pt for 2m. I would not rule this as any less risky. It is just swinging with an advantage. Comparing it to flight swinging is less practical than gliding yet gliding costs the same. I don't see this version as equaling flight so +1/2A seems reasonable. Makes the cost of this 2m for 1.5 points. Gliding is 2m for 1 pts and flight 2m for 2 pts. But I don't know.

Flight is controlled. This would not be.

Hello Everyone, I am thinking of an advantage for the swinging power. Essentially the power requires an anchor point above the character for him to latch onto in order to work. Therefore, in a treeless flat Savanna or Prairie Swinging does not work. This is simply a function of how the power works. So, what if you have a character that used force energy in whiplike cords (so that the power could be bought with the advantage of not being affected by barriers, etc.) that the character could also make attached to points in the sky through magnetic force. The energy coils can latch onto the points and thus swing the character. Alternatively, you could have a character with swinglines attached to their wrists which can latch onto objects normally buy also has let us say two or three flying robot drones to which the character can latch onto a well. The drones can hover in air allowing the character to swing. The weight of the character being such that they can only move when not supporting the character, etc. The net game effect of this advantage is that a character can indeed swing on a flat plane with no higher vantage points to attach the swingline because they can make their own. This is not flight because the character still has to swing, can't just attach the line and fly the drone or the magnetic field and if the power is dispelled they fall normally and are not safely lowered as in flight. {If I remember that right about the flight power}. I guess I can call it "Able to Create Anchor Points" and make it a +1/2 Advantage. That seems right but I was wondering if others thought it should be higher or lower. Cheers Indy

So I have a character I am giving a set of spells. They exist as ectoplasmic matrixes in the ethereal plane. In my world the ethereal prime is a duplicate of the material prime real world with carbon ethereal versions of every object in the material. Sentient creatures have souls that are tethered to their bodies which while alive can't be moved from that place. Animals and objects however through great psychic disturbances from ghosts, powerful spells however can meaning that in the ethereal astral constructs can exist that do not have exact carbon copy duplicates in the material. Any rate these spells are bought with the limitation restrainable at the -1/4L. They exist in the ethereal but are affected by magic, anything bought as affects desolid at the -1/2L level or Affects Desolic Spirits only. It is not as easy as grabbing wings of a winged person to stop their flight as it takes certain powers or magic spells and preparation but it can be turned off or removed so it meets the lower level restrainable. It also has the limitation physical manifestation meaning it has a real from in the ethereal with PowD and MD which are the PD and ED version on the etherial plane and ego that represents body so it can be attacked by ethereal creatures or anyone with spells that can affect that plane which is Affects Desolid Spirit +1/4A and does EGO +1/4A which converts BOD damage to Ego damage for the ethereal plane. This allows me to have a mind control spell that has a real presence on the ethereal plane bought transdimensional and indirect (if it needs it but I assume not as the ethereal prime has a mirror point for every point in the real material prime.). As such I buy the power with charges, since this is a Djinni I am buying it for their are three charges because Djinni. This power is called the Rubric of Charms. Essentially it is a mind control that is bought can only make a character switch sides a -1/2L. It can't just make a target betray his principles there has to be another group opposed and the mind control makes them betray the other side. The Djinn has Telepathy that he can use to "speak" his command. So as an example you can't make someone betray his boss as the boss has no enemy that is another side. You could make someone say is an activist in a Pro Life group betray his group to a Pro Choice group because that is two sides. The rule is two definitively groups opposed to each other. So you could make a spy betray America to the Soviets in the cold war but not really to Russia today as there are more than one side. Up to the GM but this is how the power works. So the mind control is bought long lasting so that the ego roll to break out does not degrade over time. The way I want this to work is that while the effect for a charge is affecting a single person whether for one minute or one year the charge is used up and cannot be recovered even though normally the charge could be recovered once the mind control is used as it is instant with a lingering effect. Is this a limitation or is this how one should view recoverable charges for a power that has a lingering affect like mind control or change environment it bought to last longer. Or is this a 0L limitation anyways.?

The idea I am going for is a kind of astral projection. The character is a high cost super villain. The idea is that instead of leaving his body behind his soul walks out into the ethereal prime which is defined as adjacent everywhere to the material world. So I think he has a concentration limitation making his real body at 1/2 DCV as he focuses on the perception point instead of being completely removed as the power would work as an astral body for a player character. The perception point moves out at the rate his soul can walk and when the power ends his soul pops back to his body. I am considering a mega scale version of the power as well that requires a separation that leave his body lifeless once he is outside that 14 km upper range for the other power or something but I have not worked that out. The idea is the villain has clairsentience and mind scan. The mind scan is limited to a LOS link to the Clairsentience perception point. He can only affect minds he can see from that point as if he were walking which allows the villain to control people or mental blast from the ether. I have some ideas for limitations that allow mental attacks to come back to affect him when the mind scan is active. The whole idea is a villain so versed in astral projection he can walk away from his body without leaving him unaware or helpless although limited by 1/2 DCV for concentration (for his real body) and fly around the ethereal plane within a few kilometers of his body which is why the x32 range. He can use mind scan to target any minds that his clairsentience perception can see are there to attack with mental powers as per mind scan rules. Thus the villain can do more than spying. As it is a spirit based occult superhero game the characters in the party should have powers that can find him. Once the villain's body is located he is weaker against physical and energy attacks so the idea is the party has to deal with his super astral form to find where he is and case his underground fortress at the end of the adventure. I know it is complicated but the limitations and advantages are not just being thrown there. I am trying to develop a defined power, just one that takes some modifications in order to work.

Oh come on you guys forgot the best one.... The escaped gladiator slave Spartacus! SPARTACUS!! SSPPAARRTTAACCUUSS!!!!

I left out the fact that I was buying this power as dimensional related group of dimensions (material or our plane, the prime ethereal plane which is a psychic mirror of the real, and deep ethereal and astral which are essentially pathways to outside the prime. I posted a discussion of this to define a power I was asking about before. So with this the cost is 45. Dimensional is not an adder but listed as a power modifier. This is why I think it adds to the range of the clairsentience power. I am writing this up for a villain type character. It is a form of astral projection. The power has a sensor that can move that represents the character using it's spirit sense. In the ethereal plane it creates a replica of the character as an image that moves with the character. This is the reason the sensor always starts from where the character using the power is located i.e. no range. The issue is that players may not wish to buy the power as I have defined it as it is quite expensive. The images are linked to the clairsentience (always at the sensor point) but having to buy them out to the range of the clairsentience power is what drives the cost up. I am finding that using the rules limit somewhat in this case but I guess creating a psychic body that can walk 14 km away from your body and project a psychic version of yourself even in a spiritual based occult campaign should not be easy. This character buys the limitation as Concentration 1/2 DC meaning that he can react in the real world and still notes what goes on around his body. A PC could buy this power as Concentration 0 DCV and unaware of surroundings to make it cheaper in real points. The issue is that it still costs a great deal of endurance. I imagine I could make this easier on players by placing in my game psychic talismans they can buy. This would be one use End Batteries they can use while they psychic project that only feed the ability to walk the soul out. NOTE: I am OK with the power being 14 km and not anywhere through mind scan or something in this case because I view the ethereal plane as similar to the real material one. One walks through it all the time even if you can't see it and if one can transverse the dimension to affect it even walk outside into the realm of pure spirit not attached to the real material plane but it still takes effort. I could I guess allow PC's to take megascale for this to move out to where ever they wanted but I don't think I would allow the mobile perception point to move at megascale rates on its own. I would require a focus. Also megascale would be defined as unsafe. If your range is say 14 km as above and you end the power abruptly your soul pops back into your body. If you are outside that normal scale 14km however using megascale then you have to get back to wihin 14km before you end the power or you risk losing your body and becoming a disembodied spirt. Your body ends up in a coma and you have to make it back within a certain time limit or you die. Any rate this is what I want the power for.

I understand that you have to restart the power. That is my point. The idea is that the sensor must always start from where he is physically located and then can move out to where the range of the clairsentience ends. That is the limitation. That is a good point that no range may mean it can't move out of 0m but I don't see it that way. The No Range limitation means that it can only be placed at no range i.e. the point the person initiates the power. The mobile sensor allows the character to move it which is 96m a phase because the speed is bought up from 12. Thus it takes 150 phases to get to the end of the range which is the power's limitation. I think you are reading the limitation to literally. I don't think a 0L limitation is fair in this case. The limitation is actually hindering the character as designed. Essentially this is a form of Astral Projecting as I am writing the splat part of the power. He has senses but his spirit has to walk them.

Here is a weird take but I am not sure how to cost the limitations. I have a Clairsentience bought for Normal sight, normal hearing and smell. The character spends 90 points total for the power but 25 of that is for x32 range. It also includes a mobile perception point for 5 and x8 movement speed for 20. I assume the mobile is added to base so range is 65 *10 x32 or 20.8km (20800m). The sensor point moves at 12 x 8 or 96m meaning it takes 216&2/3 phases to get from his starting point to the end of his range. No Range is a -1/2L however the sensor can move to the entire range it just takes a long time and dismissing the sensor means it starts again where he is and must move to the new location. This is not a -0L. I am splitting the difference to make it a -1/4L but am not sure how this is ruled. Also minor point but I assume the adder is added to the base for range but I could not find anything for or against so I don't know. If it is removed from the base power then the total range out will be 45 x 10 x 32 or 14.4 km and walking the sensor to the end of the range of the clairsentience would take 150 phases. If that matters. Does this make sense or is there another way this should be done.

Also if I remember correctly this kind of a cap is a limitation on how you can control the points in the pool i.e. what kind of powers you kind purchase. The book example is limiting to specific special effects buy I think full 60 points of control only for attack powers counts as this so the limitation is only on the control. Let us be generous and give this a -1/2L for sake of argument (I wouldn't but whatever). So this is 60/(1.5) or 40 points for the pool which is still 100 RP. Not so sure it would be worth it. I think a better choice would be to have the VPP still cast spells. The character can learn spells from a book and change them daily by memorizing the spell giving a -1/4L on the control. They can research new spells which could take days (-1/2L to months -1L on the control but this is only to add a spell to his book and a Power roll -1/2L on control but this is just to add spells to a book so make the total lim -1/4L to -1/2L). Probably only worth -1/4L because while all of those are very limiting it only hampers the invention of new spells added to the list. With a Power roll and time spells found could be more easily incorporated. The -1/4L reflects the overall minor inconvenience of this. The Major limitation would be the set total number of spells that character knows for his VPP. Each one a different slot if you will that can picked for the day. IF this is say 4 at character creation then this is a -1L very limited class of powers. It represents that at one time the character can only know four spells or powers, to change and add more he has to lose a spell. Overtime with EP the character can add slots or spells that can be known and as he does the limitation drops from -1L to -3/4L to -1/2L then -1/4L and might actually become an advantage given the character is now an archmage with dozens to hundreds of spells at his disposal. Part of this could be defining point limitations for spells of certain types such as attacks or even blasts or fire powers etc. This could be controlled by how many points the character purchases in a KS: for that type of magic. Say KS: Fire Magic at 11- (2 points) gives 10 points limitation. Each +1 to the KS: in question adds ten points to the total allowed 20, 30 etc. to a total of 60 points for the control at say 8 points KS: Fire Magic 11- base plus +6 to the roll costs 8 points and makes the roll 17-. I would say these would be better ways to control what is in the pool and the character can alter the level in game with experience by raising the Power skill, raising the knowledge skills and buying down the -1L on the pool to add to total spells known or even buying up as an advantage in game and it can reflect the study and roleplaying in the game. Plus if it is a fantasy game the character is motivated to search for and trade for spell books to justify raising their power levels.

I don't see it that way. Essentially the reason for the uncontrolled VPP is that every devout worshipper has the ability to call on their god for help and maybe they will get it. This would be a -2L uncontrolled, player or NPC has no control over it. Add a few more limitations like an RSR to even get the deity's attention and limitations on where and when it can asked such as only in a church or never on the lands dedicated to an enemy deity etc. and the power does not have to cost a lot of points at all. Essentially the GM could include this as part of the everyman skills. It is not there to empower the players but to drive plot points so if the players understand this then it should be fine. Essentially just before a TPK every player should be calling out to their deity for assistance and this gives the GM an out not to end the campaign or not! Every player wishing to play a cleric can buy certain powers that always work which are based on their deity. There could even be a package of divine magic the cleric has to buy to be a chosen one of their god. So maybe a MP with Healing, Blessings (Aid, temp combat levels or even temporary Luck), Cleansing the ability to consecrate land or drive out evil demons possessing people) etc. The player could then add one or two more powers to the MP as well. It is based on prayer so may a PRE based RSR to activate it, etc. GM could give bonuses or penalties to this role based on how well they follow their faith, etc. This would be the base powers. For the VPP however the chosen one can up the level of the points in the pool and control. The uncontrolled -2L can be bought down to a -1L where the power can be activated by the player but the effect is unknown. The player could even lessen it to say a -1/2L and deem that to mean that they can decide the type of effect ahead of time too i.e. blast the enemies or change environment to call rain etc. These should always have a Pow skill to activate. This gives the GM some control over what happens. So long as the effect benefits the player in some way he can get creative and move story plot along. It becomes a tool. The player if they are smart will be happy for the random effect as it gives them an ability to affect a situation even when out of resources. The GM can explain to the player, the less you use it or the more you use it for the benefit of others such as lay people, the poor, the sick etc. the more likely you are to get good continuous results. The more you use it as a combat tool the less likely for it to remain useful. Essentially the limitations on the VPP give the player access to powers above their pay grade. That comes at a price. Overuse it and they might use up their god's favor in them. Also it allows the player to play a holy man. If they encounter a leper and only have basic healing they could heal damage but not the affliction. With this they can have a discussion with the leper and if they are deemed worthy call on their deity who then heals the leper. The chosen one then gets more followers because they are known as a miracle worker. Explain to the player this is the point of the uncontrolled VPP and I think they will go along with it. Plus a good GM can always ask the player first what is it you want and then decide on a course of action that is a compromise. So long as the player understands the point of this extra power and it is limited to the point that they are not dropping too much RP into it this could work and good players will learn to make use of it. PS: I say Chosen One because most priests are probably glorified clerks or salesman for the religion. Their actual ability to perform miracles or do magic is probably non existent. The Chosen One is the person the god grants powers too because they have a high faith (or are a PC with the points to buy it). This can be an ordained Priest or a lay person, it would depend on the god and the faith. The way I see it so long as the base powers they can always do are useful and the player can rely on them then they will see the VPP as just flavor but flavor that could save them if they need it.

So in an attempt to define a technique where someone grabs and individual and then shoves him backward Grabbing Push Grab Opponent (3 pts) -1 OCV (-1 pt) -1 DCV (-1 pt) exert +10 STR to Grab (2 pts) + 10 STR to Shove (2 pts) Total Cost of Maneuver 5 pts This is using two exerts Shove and Grab and the Grab Opponent Maneuver all non exclusive bases. By the book in putting together the items this is allowed as Shove is just an exert. I can't find anything that would allow or disallow combining this. Is there a rule I am missing?

2. Lies or half-truths which are determined to be intentionally communicated on your part will not be tolerated. You present the facts. If you're not sure of the facts, then you don't post. If you want to post something that you saw and agree with, you will want to make sure you do your due diligence and research it first to ensure that you are not passing along lies and/or half-truths which happen to be in line with your political view. You expect a discussion of Politics without Lies. Geez you are a weird one aren't you 3. Attacking of other forum members is subject to immediate banning. Don't like what someone has to say? Great! Post a factually accurate counter point to their argument and make your case. Discuss the topic, not the poster. But Ad Hominem makes up at least 90% of all political arguments ever made. They did a study somewhere I am sure..... 4. This thread is meant to be a place where ADULTS can have a SANE, RATIONAL discussion of politics. Posts which are viewed to be in violation of this concept will not be tolerated. No offense but what you have just put forth is the entire reason that the first amendment was adopted by the continental congress. Whom do you expect gets to define SANE and RATIONAL and ADULT. This is the fallacy of Plato's Republic and why every Utopian Socialist movement going back to Robespierre in the French Revolution ends in genocide of some sort. In electing a class of elite political rulers trained in politics and morality to censor and control society they stand heavily on the third leg of the Cressey's fraud triangle RATIONALIZATION to justify whatever they want as moral. One cannot have a true discussion of politics with rules allowing those in power to edit or silence others no matter what the reason. That only opens a window for the clever and deceitful to reclassify anything they disagree with as hate speech and silence their opposition.

Giant Steam engines, Aeronaught Gyrocopters, Zeppelins air craft carriers, men in three piece suits and women in old style long dresses where a scandal is showing too much ankle. What makes for a good Steam Punk Game and what rules capture the Zeitgeist of the books and stories of the genre. I read a book that explained why you could have some modern advances but still be Steam Punk. Essentially you accepted that physics as understood in the 19th century were real. Space was not empty but filled with a medium called the Ether and that is how gravity and light propagated. What we called atoms are not protons and neutrons orbited by electrons. Instead Atoms are based on knot theory. Essentially the Ether gnarls up and twists and forms strings and knots in it fabric and these knotted areas of space are what creates atoms. Each atom on the periodic table had a set of twists and loops that represented matter. The Ether was also the medium for the spiritual occult of that time as it represented the Ethereal plane. In 19th century physics old school black gun powder works however the modern smokeless powder based on nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin and other more powerful explosives do not work. The substances if the exist are inert. This also means that dynamite of which nitroglycerin is a key component does not work either. Petroleum exists and can be burned but it can't be refined into gasoline or diesel. The best substances to use for fuel would be natural gas (methane (CH4) and alcohol but they would burn very quickly. These would be used for explosive weapons and to give the energy needed for aeronaughts and gyrocopters to fly. Due to the differences in physics of this world from ours engines based on alcohol or natural gas would tend to break down more quickly than steam power thus the reason it did not replace the steam engine. What would be the types of weapons and rules that one would apply for a Steam Punk game. It would not just be converting to a Victorian era science but the Occultism of the 19th century as well.

Although it is partially SciFi I would say Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon are good examples. Both the 1930's versions they were based on and the remakes.

I think that in Fantasy Hero one has the option to step away from the paradigms of D&D and handle things differently. Clerics or Divine magic might be one of them. First off one would not have to be a cleric or ordained priest of God or a god depending on your game to cast divine spells. Spells that heal or control the undead or drive out demons or many of the things we associate with a Priest could be learned and cast by anyone. The spells themselves would be relatively easy to learn as opposed to a mage's spell. To create magic a mage has to invent it, learn the formula, collect the correct materials, place them in the right order, speak the power words in the correct cadence etc. All of this requires intelligence and maybe a strong internal will to control the magic (EGO or PRE in Hero system). Divine magic and spells would work differently. The formula might exist but it would not be something that was invented or thought out. Instead it would be essentially a prayer. Their might be formula and materials but they would not necessarily have a correct order measured out scientifically. Instead they require a person who is devout, who is calling upon the magic for a holy purpose and might not even be asking for a defined effect, The divine caster might utter a prayer for guidance in handling their enemy. This might be a bonus number of skill levels usable for a set time or an aid to STR or some similar effect but it might also be a storm slowing the enemy down or the cleric given a bonus to a Persuasion skill at the right time if they attempt to sue for a truce. The cleric or saint or devout lay person may not know what the effect will be. In this regard much of "divine magic" would be a Variable power pool with a limitation no conscious control at the -1 level. You can call for it but you have no control over what it will be. This would mean that maybe there are only a few actual spells a "cleric" could learn and cast by praying for it and the rest is based on a plea to the deity with required skill rolls etc. You could even state that every devout person has a faith pool at a minimum level that is difficult to get to work but can do anything the DM requires when needed. Players who want some control over it could be more devout and thus buy off limitations or gain a Faith Power Skill to get better at controlling it and maybe one or two effects they can use without need for rolls as they see fit so long as they follow a psychological limitation to keep the faith and not go against their god or GOD.

The first question you have to ask is what do civilians do especially for work anywhere. With Replicator technology manufacturing is probably cerebral engineering jobs only. So there are no wage slaves in meaningless nine to five clock punching jobs. Service type jobs like waiters, hostesses, concierges in hotels etc. only exist to give that sentient being touch to the ambience of the place. Maybe there is a high demand for that, people to wait on you hand and foot but probably only in tourist areas or fancy restaurants etc. So maybe there are a lot of these in the future, depends on the overall economy. Star Trek always shows us the educated elite class, never the huddled masses of Star Fleet. So who knows. One could assume that the majority of people in the Federation have no job and are on a type of welfare but I think that would not work IRL. Many of the ghettos and slums in the US that have high crime and murder rates are not so because the people are poor and can't feed themselves. Really it is because the US Welfare system punishes people on it who try and save and get out by dropping them from the roles and fining them. This leads to the only way to advance in life is to do something under the table and illegal. These neighborhoods in the 1920's were arguably poorer than in current year but their children had higher literacy rates and many more of them advanced out of poverty. Because of this I got to think that for the Federation to be the moneyless Utopia they proclaim it is that the majority of people do have jobs and work if only for the self satisfaction and confidence is gives people. If not then those hoods they don't show in Star trek would be crime ridden hell holes. Another possibility is that everyone is an artist now. People write poetry, write about other people on blogs doing reporting, have their version of You Tube channels, write short stories, paint and draw and those without any talent would of course become critics telling everyone else what is good and what is not. This area of society could expand to where there were many jobs in this field because why not. It gives people something to do, gives them a sense of self worth and since energy is free and anything you want you can make out of a replicator then this would be the one area of society that humans and sentients would be able to dominate over machines. The other possibility is that Star Fleet is heavily regulated and there are bureaucrats everywhere who are controlling aspects of society and so you need millions of investigators, clerks and enforcers to keep everyone straight on the rules. This would seem counter to the Zeitgeist of the Star Fleet Universe but maybe in the future they invented the impossible, a bureaucrat that actually can help people. Once you figure this all out then you can more easily answer the question Who is on the Star Ship? Is everyone a budding artist, well you can do that anywhere so why not a Starship. Maybe for some that gives them inspiration.

Anything electronic can be hacked. There is a spy device developed by the CIA called a Van Ek device I think. Essentially what it is, is a very sensitive device to pick up local radio waves and has an effective range of a few miles. Take the spinning hard disk of a computer. It has a completely unique system of magnetic dots over it that are spinning quickly. This creates a unique magnetic signature that is released into space as radio waves. The Van Ek device can pick up this signature and decipher it to track a computer. As the computer is used one has to create electronic signals by depressing the keyboard or moving the mouse. That signal creates an electrical impulse that is sent along the wires inside of it. Either through a hard line to the computer or to the part of the keyboard that translates the signal to bluetooth. The receiver in the computer then has to translate the blue tooth an d send it along wires to the CPU. Likewise a signal is sent from the CPU to the monitor the computer is using. These devices also create faint but unique and changing radio signatures that can be picked up by equipment sensitive to it. The programming in the Van ek system can then translate those signals to code and the input output signal of the computer can be deciphered and a signal recreated real time that mirrors the keyboard commands typed letter by letter, the mouse strokes moved as they happened and the video and audio that were produced by the monitor. So, technically if the computer is offline you cannot read what is in the files but you can recreate every command and every output that the computer received and produced essentially hacking an unhackable computer not connected to the internet. Even if you go old school and use wires for I/O and not bluetooth. Rumor is that this device was used in Columbia when the CIA was hunting for Pablo Escabar. They had at the time encryption that could not be hacked or decoded because it used a key way to long for even supercomputers of the day. What the Cartel did not know is that did not matter because they could see the video screens, hear the audio and had a keylogger transcript of everything they typed and the mouse moves. Anything digital can be hacked! It is just a matter of how great a length one will go to in order to do it.

Awesome! Here are some more: Speed of Causality: A better way to express the speed of light. This term indicates that there is a speed limit to how fast one event at a location can cause an effect at another and the limitation is the speed of light. This term is superior because it acknowledges that light (photons) travel at the speed of causality because they are massless. In the theory of relativity time is a dimension just like the three dimensions of space. When one moves in the spatial dimension time moves slower for them than it does for someone who is not moving relativistic to them. It can now no longer move in time at the same rate as a relative motionless object because in order to move in the spatial dimensions it must sacrifice some of its ability to move in time. This is why for a photon, moving at c, time is effectively stopped. The photon can travel millennia to cross the galaxy but for the photon it arrives at its destination and leaves at the same time. This is because the photon moves at the speed of causality in three dimensions meaning it has no speed left to move in the time dimension. This is also why moving objects seem to travel slower in time. They are moving in three dimensional space which means they have less movement to go in three dimensions. Think of a graph. Plotting a line for something moving the same in each of two dimensions means that it travels longer across the 45 degree arc to get to that same place vertically or horizontally. Sorry Relativity is Mind bending and not easy to explain!

I know it is not 5e but I think if you want to do a Star Trek game you may need the 6e APG2 book. Why? Because they have all the Time Control and Time Warp powers mapped out including super fast speed and time travel.

Maybe in the Shadow run world but IRL there is nothing that cannot be hacked. Just ask the guys at BitCoin! Happened to them a few years back albeit the processor handling transfers was compromised and not the algorithm.