Regarding mechanics of PBP, in the game I am moderating, it is going well for me to make a lot of the rolls for the players, like saves, attacks of opportunity, etc., with the rolls visible so players know what was rolled. It speeds things up a lot and lets results happen quickly instead of waiting for several posting cycles to get saves and such worked out.
As for losing posts, "Alt-A, Alt-C" is your friend. Always do it before previewing or posting. If the post crashes, you can paste what you saved into at the next posting opportunity and not lose anything. I've spent well over an hour on a complicated update, and have never lost anything major. But I also do it even when I just have a line or two to post.
As for the science fiction/fantasy elements, so far, I'm enjoying the adventure, while still looking forward to things settling down with some adventures that involve either melee combat or the SF equivalent of a dungeon crawl.
Things feel right now like when you go to see an SF space opera type film with no idea what the plot is and after a calm enough opening, all hell breaks loose and you are learning who are the good guys and the bad guys through the dramatic events on screen. Sooner or later, things need to calm down and the plot can begin to have clear goals for the main characters and reasonable ways for them to achieve them. At present, I'm not sure if the GM has a destination in mind or if things are being made up as we go along. Doesn't matter much so long as we don't find ourselves in some impossible situation with no good way to advance.
I'm a physicist, but I recognize the value of things like inertial dampers and artificial gravity to keep the real world physics of mechanics from dominating the plot. That said, I sometimes find it annoying when in the middle of a good space opera story, some fundamental rule of physics is ignored, such as in the 2nd Star Trek movie with the new cast where the ship has lost power and artificial gravity and it begins to be pulled toward the earth. Suddenly everyone begins falling across the decks as if the people were being pulled by gravity at a greater acceleration than the ship, a big no-no according to Mr. Newton.
Right now, we are in a mix of psionics and some level of space opera hocus pocus science. Not sure what to expect. Not particularly concerned yet about that.
Woot!
As for losing posts, "Alt-A, Alt-C" is your friend.
I think you meant Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C?
I am shocked, absolutely shocked, by the amount of good rolls I'm getting. I believe that the RNG generator gods, in their infinite malicious will, hath decided to give me your rolls in order to induce disagreements among us.
First, I hope that my sense of humor wasn't too off putting. I just thought it'd be funny, and it could have turned out much worse for Brooke. (I used the list randomizer from Random.org to see how bad it was going to be.)
Second. I picked out a different avatar for Brooke. This one fits how she looks a bit better.
Third. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am.
Although humorous in its own right, I think I'm confused.
Brooke is Blackjack. She has a pretty sophisticated voice modulation software package installed in the helmet of her armor that she's set to make her sound like a young man, which along with the armor doing a pretty good job of obfuscating her figure makes most people think Blackjack is a man, which suits Brooke just fine.
To keep up the charade, Brooke has been hiding in her cabin while not in her armor, and only comes out while wearing it. She's been keeping up the charade because it's a lot harder to find a young woman when you are looking for a young man, and she doesn't want the kids to know and blab. The morning of the sixth day, there was glitch in the systems that happened while Brooke was changing. The violent lurch from the RCS going haywire sent her tumbling through a malfunctioning door right as she was putting her jeans on. The door closed and locked and Brooke can't unlock it.
I actually had a list of what states of dress Brooke could be in when the mishap happened. Randomizing the list put the result of her wearing her shirt and holding her jeans at the top, so that was what I used. She could have been tossed out in just her underwear if that had been the top result, which would have lead to a rather more sitcomish situation.
I hope that helps clear things up.
I knew that they were the same person...but there is a post as Brooke then as Blackjack to Rix... that's where I'm confused. are they happening at the same time or is the Blackjack post set back a bit?
Oh, oops.
Sorry about that.
That post is indeed set back in time. It happens right after she asks about, which I assume is right after we escape the Gauntlet. I hope it's okay that I've been playing the kids and their caretakers a bit. ^^;
That's fine, I just needed the clarification
So, all of you GURPS vets, I'd like to know which would be better for a folk hero to have, a group of contacts or a group of allies? I've been thinking about it and my plan right now is to save up for the advantage and just handwave why she hasn't taken advantage of them before she uses them. I don't want to out shine everyone else, or take over the game with Brooke, so I figured I would ask all of you to see what we can come up with.
The other thing I wanted to bring up was an idea I had. What if we got the Turing's replacement or even a second ship by luring some pirates and taking it from them? I'd also like try getting Nedora back at some point, but that more for you guys to decide than me (seeing I play both characters. :* )
Thoughts? Ideas?
Considering Brooke is a Folk Hero, she'd need Folk, salt of the Belt, blue collars, all that. Contacts are more of a person with a narrow skillset, so I'd advice getting groups of Allies, with 25% or 50% (less likely) of our XP. Maybe there is a modifier that those are people you don't know, but they know you, I don't know.
I might be grabbing an alternate identity myself at a later date, if the whole 'Voice of Luna' thing catches up as the refugees spread the word.
Bringer, how does a pirate attack work at this TL (I'd assume this is something we'd all know)?
Do they shoot out the engines so you can't run away, then dock and board? Or do they just blow the ship up and scavenge what's left in their space suits? Or something else?
You'd be better off with ally group. Make them low response to start out. As your fame grows, you can increase the likelihood they will be able to help in the future. Ally group is also a good way to have an NPC crew that fills out generic slots.
You might also consider having a couple of ally groups. A small one that is very reliable (and costs more); and a larger, less reliable group.
Don't forget to start considering buying reputation as that will affect your interactions. You might consider a small group, high reaction for ally groups, and then a larger group, lower valued reputation for the general public.
Hey guys.
Fret not, for I have been reading.
Just got myself a new shiny job and reorganizing pre-existing job due to that so things have been hectic. I will post Arrival of the Turing at Ceres next and also cover post inquiries and notes such as the comms and what have you.
Till then, enjoy the night.
So, I found what may be a pretty good soundtrack for this game here.
Hope you guys enjoy. :)
As for the ally thing. I should have included it in the original build. I did some math and it's simply going to take too long to get that. Given that, and the fact that Blackjack's support network is more informal and based on the reputation as a hero for those that the government doesn't bother themselves with. It's my fault for not thinking things through, so I'll just live with it.
Which brings me to something that I've been thinking about. I never meant to get Nedora written out of the story like that, and I'd really like to get her back. I've also been playing through a few scenes between her and Brooke in my head, and the banter between them would be pretty funny once Nedora gets a little snarky. If you guys are cool with it, and the GM is okay with having one person play two characters, I think I have a plan to get her back. I'm asking as a player to other players because I think that at least two of the PCs would jump at the chance to rescue her.
Also, anyone know what happened to APRL's player?
Excellent music. I am interested to listen to the whole thing. So far, I've only had time to listen to the first track.
As for Nedora and Brook, I'm cool with whatever others want to do.
Sorry guys! Got bogged down,t hen was intimidated by massive wall of posts. Catching up now.
Brooke/Nedora - as a player I have no problems with it, but Terra's turned into something of a "realist", and would probably point out the flaws and potential risks to any rescue plan. Not that she doesn't want Nedora back, but she wouldn't back any plan that didn't have a decent chance of success. Sorry, that's just the way she's turned out...
I found this picture. Though that our ship looks somewhat familiar, though a lot more battered now!
Cooooooool. That's from Star Citizen isn't it?
I've got two plans, one requires some trickery and the other is more of a shell game.
In both plans, we trick some pirates into docking with us and taking a ship or three for ourselves. One will be our new ride while the Turing and any other ships we manage to nab are used in our nefarious schemes.
Plan 1 has Dr. Rix cooking some organics and stuff up that will hopefully make it look like we got turned to vapor when the bounty hunters tried to board. We haul the Turing to the Gauntlet and board under the cover of claiming the bounty and seeing if there's more work. This is when we have any other ships we captured attack the Gauntlet, hopefully creating enough confusion for us to find Nedora and get her out. When we go to leave, we blow the Turing's reactor, which will hopefully forestall any pursuit or attempts to blow us out of space since that would take attention away from trying to keep the ship from getting any more gutted. Alternatively, we can load the Turing with something called a Cabasa Howitzer. This is basically a shaped nuclear charge. We orient the nukes so that they launch spears of nuclear fire at as many vitals as we can manage, focusing on the bridge, the reactor, and the engines. In either case, we're setting a nuke off in the Gauntlet's hangar.
Plan 2 uses the Turing and any extra ships we acquire as kamikazes. We move as much armor as we can to the front of the ships and then try to ambush the Gauntlet when it's in a low orbit around an asteroid or something. The ships ram the Gauntlet at high speed, aiming for the bridge, engines, and reactor. Our ship docks in the confusion and we rush in, nab Nedora, and bug out. I'd like to leave behind a present to cover out escape. Maybe a wanted Pirate Lord rigged with nuclear hand grenades?
In either case, we also need to nab a Hyperspace Navigator so we can get the heck out of Sol because after this stunt, Baron Silus is going to want us alive so he can torture us for the next few decades while he thinks of a fitting punishment for our crimes. Unfortunately for the navigator, I think they'll be stuck as part of the crew since helping us even under duress is not going to go over well with the Baron.
Okay,
I'll be posting tomorrow morning/afternoon. I think that's enough tom-foolery from you guys :P
Life is hectic at the moment, so I apologize for the slow going. it'll be like this for a bit. Ill do my best however.
...we trick some pirates into docking with us and taking a ship or three for ourselves...
Terra has a problem with the very first step of your plan, which involves beating pirates at their own game. Our ship has only steel "shields", one non-pointable somewhat high-power gun, and one pointable, much lower-power gun. I'd imagine pirates would be *much* better armed and armored, so a ship-to-ship combat would likely be disastrous for us.
I would also imagine (altho I'm waiting on Bringer to confirm this) that pirates would shoot out the primary engines of their target, so that it can't fly away as they dock (because docking while flying sounds impossible). So allowing them to dock means losing our primary engines.
Then, there's the question of numbers. We are 6 people (none of whom are *great* in combat), how many pirates are there on a typical ship? A dozen? Two dozen? Probably well-armed and well-armored, and good at shooting from years of practice. What're the odds that we could take them *all* down before they take us down?
While *I* understand that in pulpy sci-fi, fortune (i.e., the GM) favors the brave (and the foolish), Terra sees the first step in your plan as a non-starter.
Of course, Nedora has had lots of experience with pirates, which Bringer could fill her in on, and if all my assumptions are false, then Terra could probably be convinced...
From a storytelling perspective we are in what's called "the belly of the beast." We have a nearly disabled ship that was not that capable when it was undamaged. We are wanted in a big way with bounties on our heads that only give a modest bonus for bringing us in alive rather than dead. We have little money and we're on a distant base full of pirates. Just staying alive will require major effort. The idea of rescuing Nedra from this point is unrealistic, even by pulp fiction standards. As the saying goes, "When you're up to your a** in alligators, it's hard to remember that your original goal was to drain the swamp."
Now if the author GM wants to give us a chance at a rescue, there are many things that could happen to make that possible. But most of those things are outside of our control. I say we focus on survival and if we get to a place where a rescue can be planned, we cross that expanse of deep space when we come to it.
I agree with the previous statement. We're not really in a position to get Nedora(especially now, sorry!) but if we can disable their ships somehow and manage to get away without combat, that'd be grand.
However, if push comes to shove, we have Jack, who'd be at his best punching people in the closed quarters of a ship, Terra isn't a combat slouch, as far as I can see, too.
Jean and Blackjack are wearing the heaviest armour available, and we also have the three soldiers, who I do imagine as being significantly more skilled and better armed than the pirates. So, all in all, when we also toss in Gilligan, we're pretty well off in combat, even though we're not all that specialised for it, and that's excluding all the dirty tricks we can pull off.
All in all, we're definitely outnumbered, but outgunned we are probably not. At the very least, we don't really want them to get that weird thingamagig that we nicked off the Squire.
Yeah, you're right. Barring being lucky enough to catch them during a transfer we really don't have a shot yet.
Posting tonight :P
I'm back! Still gotta spend some CP, but I guess I'll wait until we resolve things. Honestly not sure which direction I should be building this character in.
EDIT: Hmm. I could fabricate basically any special but not super rare weapons the prisoners want, though maybe that's not a great idea.
Woo! you're back!
Posting tomorrow Night.
I was waiting on Terra.
Ill post in the morning regardless.
<.<
I beg forgiveness. I got man-hammered with the late night workings.
I will attempt a solid 'plot point' posting tomorrow >.>
Sorry about the delays guys, I'm in the process of moving, this may be the pace for a bit.
Completely understandable. Don't worry too much about me, I'm still here.
That said, oooooooh boy, I'm not sure how we're going to get this one done. A false flag operation might work, or we could try sneaking aboard a Terran ship heading out that way, but I don't think the Turing is going to be able to get out there and survive.
Orrrrr I could just fabricate a new robot parrot body and lean in.
Time to add some dramatic tension... (or just bargain for our tank)
Dramatic tension. We didn't request a berth under the name Turing.
On the plus side, APRIL does bring up a good point.
OOops. Maybe retcon that to take out the name of the ship?
Eh, I'd leave it in there. I don't think this will get us all killed out of hand.
Oops! May have just started a duel. >.>
Also, APRIL's going to set her fabricators to start printing a robot parrot. I'll follow up when I crunch the numbers on fabrication time and XP expenditure.
Yup, but don't worry, Brooke isn't the kind of person to stay mad for long.
Also, we still gotta figure out what to do with these kids.
GM, would Brooke know if her family's fuel depot is close by, relatively speaking?
I suggest we all starting to shout "Jack!" in Roman gladiatorial way.
I'll post something tonight when I'm on my computer, but Jean's punch has just a little more impact than that of an angry kitten.
And here I was thinking poor old Jack was not going to fit with all the others..lol
Ooh yes. Chi isn't tech, sounds good!
I wonder who will be the Turing's Champion...
I'd like to see what Terra can do with her psychokinesis. It might win us some respect if we best them in a novel way or even if we lose but fight in a way they don't expect.
Whatever the result, Rix will be there to patch people up afterward.
This situation reminds me of a great SF story by Ben Bova called The Dueling Machine. Rules are the same as classic duels, except the duel is fought in a Virtual Reality dueling machine which is supposed to allow duels to be conducted safely. Whoever receives the challenge gets to choose not only the weapons but the environment. The wrinkle is that someone figures out a way to use the machine to kill an opponent not just in the VR but in RL as well. So a young space marine is called on to duel with the culprit and try to figure out how he is doing it. The final duel takes place on an asteroid with very little gravity, so they have to wear space suits with magnetic soles to hold them to the planet.
I won't spoil the ending but it is a very interesting battle.
If you can keep 'em on stasis, I can grow replacement organs!
APRIL's dueling strategy would probably be to cheat as much as possible, since she's been learning all sorts of fun things about neutral morality. Gotta say, I'm really digging the pirate angle.
I suggest Jean doesn't take part in any physical tournaments, unless they're in any way related to curling on the floor in the foetal pose. Both Terra and Jack seem like a good choice, though, I don't think I can chip in to who's the better choice.
As for the exploration, it's whether or not we prefer to remain in hiding in the Inner System, or go out to the place where nobody's ever returned from. If the latter, we should at least try and find a way to be undetectable, or reduce our detectability. If the former, I think that we should see what our plan is, other than hiding and living out the rest of our lives as simple hab-farmers somewhere.
I think Jack's the best choice here; Wild Talent means he can temporarily learn how to use any weapon he might be forced to use, for at least one good shot.