I can maybe convince the AI to let it free, if I use my 1/week "superpower", and given enough aids.
Ok, There is one other level of crazy... As far as I know, if the big ship ejects the little ship, it is still on the same vector as the big ship... out of the system. It will need to launch AND fire it's own thrusters to get somewhere we can rendezvous with it.
MDT, please let us know if I am misunderstanding the situation.
I think we will need to get the little ship communicating with our ship, or load a program into it, to get it to come back... if it has fuel.
Maybe we can get the AI to connect our ship to that ship's computer? This is kind of a hail Mary maneuver.
My vote is that
Holt should head to the little ship get on and try and pilot it out.
Its the big prize, there could be dum dum derr someone in cold sleep.
But also its own Nav computer data banks.
:)
I here by name out find the good ship "Macguffin"
@Ziirkaa: Correct. The Shuttle would still have the accumulated speed of the 'mothership'. However, considering our shuttle managed to match its speed and (hopefully) be able to return home, the Macguffin should hopefully be able to put itself into a salvageable trajectory.
Hopefully :D
Ziirkaa is correct, and Ceres is correct for telling him so.
If the ship has fuel, it could do the same sort of braking/manuevering that the Dawn does to return. This would require someone onboard to pilot it. This means someone with a pilot skill. I believe the only other pilot is Gomez. He's only currently rated for atmospheric craft, so he'd have a -4 penalty, but his 13 minus 4 is better than anyone elses chances, save Ceres. But then someone also has to pilot the Dawn. So it really comes down to whether it would be better to send Ceres to the new ship, and leave Gomez to pilot the Dawn, or vice versa.
The Dawn's course has already been pre-plotted, so it's pilot is mostly doing a baby sitting job and responding to emergencies, so that's the easier one.
So ceres is the best pilot for the new ship, right?
What would it take to identify the craft? Is it likely to be jump capable based on exterior features?
...hey man, just don't ask me to navigate the thing. Just like, tell me where to go.
I did use to bullseye swamp rats in my Mikosha back home...
Another hurdle will be supplies - and how irradiated the Macguffin is. It's going to be a struggle to bring food and water to it, and breathable air unless that happened to be on-board already. And even if we manage to get those things there, it *really* needs to be pilotable without a suit. Otherwise our pilot will simply thirst/starve to death...
Did we bring a towing cable :P?
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Or just nudge into some sort of useful stable orbit, maybe?
"There comes a time in every campaign baldric when the supreme sacrifice is called for, you baldric are that supreme sacrifice. Now off you pop, there's a good lad"
Blackadder
I would think that towing the thing would mean that we might not have enough fuel to get back to the station. We're pushing it as it is.
If it has its own fuel supply, could we pre-program autopilot data like we have for our own ship? Or if it has its own fuel, could we snatch some of it for our ship for the towing?
If we have the supplies, would it be possible to save fuel by just going slower to get back home? Honestly, if we get the math right, we could just kind of nudge it in the right direction, get home ourselves, and then wait the extra few weeks (or months) for its momentum to deliver it to us.
I mean, even if we can just cancel its momentum we could always go home, refuel, and then come back and get it.
It is possible the macguffen has a low berth. That could solve the supplies issue for the pilot. Put the ship on course then take a nap.
If we can get the ship pretty close, there is a second tug at the station.
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Just go over to the SS Macguffin and investigate.
Brainstorm and make decisions when we have more information.
If memory serves, we have only time for one more visit to the ship. If we are taking the macguffen, that is a one way trip for a potential pilot.
We need to at least try to communicate with the docking bay log, or the ship, and find out of the ship is functional/fueled. I don't want to risk someone's life needlessly, particularly or captain and best pilot... but that could knock out all the systems and make the way more difficult...
P.S. This is awesome.
Just go over to the SS Macguffin and investigate.
Brainstorm and make decisions when we have more information.
2ed'ed
If memory serves, we have only time for one more visit to the ship. If we are taking the macguffen, that is a one way trip for a potential pilot.
Nope GM said 2 more trips and to get the SS Macguffin takes only 10 mins now. Low breath is a nice +, but who ever go's can get back in time.
Forget the computer for now its at -7 and evey time we use it the ship gets more unstable, also having one Roll -7 computer roll say ya/na for SS Macguffin sucks as game event so lets not go there.Holt should go back and once there they can see of the ship is.
1: Working
2: There is a way out for it.
3: State of the craft v life support and fuel
Then if its yes/yes/yes Holt can come back and switch with Gómez [or other if need be] and go back.
with more info then we can act right now there is more game going in here than in game.
God bless the SS Macguffin and all who sail in her.
Discussion thread is for discussion. :) I'm assuming all the discussion is what occurs during the 30 minute down-scrub for Holt's suit.
Just go over to the Forget the computer for now its at -7 and evey time we use it the ship gets more unstable, also having one Roll -7 computer roll say ya/na for SS Macguffin sucks as game event so lets not go there.
Who said anything about rolling :) Like I said, I have a superpower.
now your talking
Who said anything about rolling :) Like I said, I have a superpower.Just go over to the Forget the computer for now its at -7 and evey time we use it the ship gets more unstable, also having one Roll -7 computer roll say ya/na for SS Macguffin sucks as game event so lets not go there.
If you're talking about the Dumb Luck feat, you still have to roll.
The once a week thing is not an auto-20. It says that if you succeed you can turn it into a critical success. Now, a critical success is not defined anywhere, but the skills section defines an incredible success as DC + 20.
Ok, so, as the GM, to keep things on target, I see the following options per this thread :
1) Send Holt to investigate the ship in the boat bay.
2) Send Ceres to investigate the ship in the boat bay.
3) Send Holt to investigate the derelict's hold.
4) Attempt to have the derelict's computer eject the ship in the boat bay.
5) Go off the board and choose 'Other Phantom Option B'.
For 1, 2, or 3, just say the word.
For 4, be aware that if the ship is ejected, it will continue along the same trajectory as the derelict, slowly tumbling away from it. There's nothing in the vacuum to slow it down, so it'll just keep heading out system.
For 5, you have to define Phantom Option B, or else you may find yourself in a courier ship who's self destruct has been activated (Phantom Option A).
If you're talking about the Dumb Luck feat, you still have to roll.
The once a week thing is not an auto-20. It says that if you succeed you can turn it into a critical success. Now, a critical success is not defined anywhere, but the skills section defines an incredible success as DC + 20.
Blah blah blah... you and your "rules" and "reading comprehension"
(...right, missed that)
I like option 2 - that way if we have additional challenges in getting the boat, we might have time to deal with them.
2. Everything else is gravy.
I'm off to bed, but if 2 still seems to be the general consensus when I check in tomorrow, I'll get a post up asap.
Including a crash course in 'Space Shuttle Flying' for Fernán : )
I'm good for any of the first 3, and it isn't like Ceres couldn't fix what she ran into also.
2 seems best, then we may need to help her with 4
Ill also have the 28 and 11
Chicken chow-main and egg fried rice
I'm about to go on vacation. I will post as much as I can; with luck I will be enjoying myself too much to look at my phone and lament the spotty internet connection. I should be back online Aug 4.
MDT, how much time do we have?
Ceres suggestions:
- You should do a quick assessment of the SS Macguffin: flightworthy, fuel, life support, food, radiation scrubber to get out of the hard suit, and ability to open the garage door
Then we can figure out what to do with the time remaining:
A Do you leave and dock with the Dawn?
B Do we explore more saving your departure for the last minutes?
It would be great to salvage the hard suits to do more exploration if we can. Although it won't be Vathan going in the suit that smells like corpse without a fight...
I think we need to pre-flight and launch the shuttle as soon as possible. We need to make sure that the Macguffin is clear of the ship while we still have time to problem solve the launch as a team. I think Ceres needs to check fuel-state and provision state as soon as possible so that we have time to fix it, or get her out and back to us with a marginal chance of survival.
Then as soon as she is clear, We should try to set up a radio, laser or mason com link and download anything we can from the computers while we are en route back to the planet... or at least for as long as we can. Prioritize the downloaded files based on ease of download rather than importance to us. Since we don't know what we can get, and know that complicated inquiries cause breakdown, it's better to get as much data as possible and sift through it later.
It seems as we got inside without a hitch.
List of priorities:
1) Check shuttle atmosphere - greatly affects the lenght Ceres can work before heading back.
2) Run diagnostics on shuttle - if it doesn't work, we can still try to dig information from it.
3) Check if the shuttle can actually leave - well, if it can't: see 2.
4) Check shuttle stores and supplies (food, water and air). The first two might be contaminated, but hopefully not the last.
5) Haul extra hardsuits back 'home'. If we are in luck, they are not damaged/irradiated enough that we can scrub them and use. <- Exceptionally risky in my opinion - since we are not 100% on why they died. Might be radioactive burst, might be the space plague (Okay, one of those seems more likely ^^). On the other hand, this is an adventure game : )
Thoughts/did I miss anything?
1) Time limit is not the suit's canned air. It's got 4 hours of air, it's the radiation levels. Given the radiation in the smaller ship is 0, time inside the ship doesn't count toward the limit, so she's got 12 minutes. She is contaminating the ship to some extent.
I think you better identify yourself. Tell the computer that you found so and so dead and all hands are dead.
I would save a hack attempt if that fails.
GM PSI scenes use I take it is now moot
Given the circumstances, Vathan's idea seems most 'honest'. Perhaps it will work. I'm off to eat lunch, but I'll go with that plan when I get back.
Hopefully Ceres won't get disintegrated for her troubles. :)
No, Annara, I put your sense in a previous post, assuming you used it. (See my previous post about intact bodies prior to Ceres being inside).
The ship seems willing, now let's see if she is able.
Next course of action?
Shall we try and retrieve the hardsuits back to our ship?
Or shall Ceres head out immediately and see if she can get the hangar bay open ? Opening them early will cause radiation to seep in, but on the other hand - we will have plenty of time to get them to actually open, if they prove resistant.
And hopefully we can recover some intell from the data banks - but I rather not mess around too much with the shuttle before we can haul it back safely.
How much time do we have before the Dawn must disengage?
Check the garage door opener for the Lightbearer.
Does the Lightbearer have capabilities to store the bodies to salvage the hard suits?
How much time does Ceres and others with hard suits to loot engineering, CDC, and the hold? How much travel time to each, so we can optimize options.
One Hour, forty five minutes to disengage deadline.
Travel time to engineering from Dawn 8 minutes.
Travel time to CDC from Dawn 12 minutes.
Travel time to Hold from Dawn 15 minutes.
CDC and Hold times assume shortest route is unblocked. Finding alternate routes would take more time.
Ceres to do:
Check the garage door opener for the Lightbearer.
Does the Lightbearer have capabilities to store the bodies to salvage the hard suits?
If we undoc the new ship we can doc later in space yes
Away from the radiation
The two ships aren't really set up for docking to other ships in space. There are transfer tubes that can be set up, however, as long as the ships can match vector and thrust and get within 200 meters.
Alternately, people with zero-G training and vacsuit training can scoot between ships up to several kilometers apart.
So I'm going with
1) Door.
2) Suits.
I'm still a bit worried about accessing the other humans, 500 years is plenty of time for strains to diverge. On the other hand, everything but the toughest bacteria was probably wiped out by the sterilizing radiation : )
Current plan:
*Ceres goes to airlock (of lightbringer)
*Ceres scrubs her suit there if possible
*Ceres ditches the two dead in hardsuits
*Ceres brings the hardsuits back to main craft
*One last venture into the wreck before liftoff ?
I'll execute it tonight.
Another crewman or two might be handy, so the two leaving in the new suits would probably go to the lightbringer in the end.
Since we have more then 1 suit we can ferry people in the hardsuits towards the wrecks airlock and have them switch to ship suits. This takes time and might end up with people stranded. On the other hand, more people gets to play.
Thoughts ?
You can scrub your suit in the Lightbringer.
Carrying the hard-suits to the Dawn will expose them to radiation, although only 10 minutes worth, so they'll have time, you're not sure how much, they're much more advanced than the one Ceres has. It might even out the loss of the 10 minutes, or they might be fine. You won't know until you use them.
However, removing the people from the suits is going to be a time consuming job for one person. Ceres could, alternately, carry them both back. With the gravity nearly out on the main ship, it's not that hard. And she'd have help removing the bodies. Plus the doctor would have some bodies to autopsy on the trip back.
If Ceres takes the hardsuits back after scrubbing Ceres's suit, then you'd have enough time for one more excursion with 3 people before the Dawn has to leave.
Something Ceres, as a pilot, would know, is that the Lightbringer is at nearly full fuel, which means it could likely make a longer trip back. So, if the 3 hardsuited people stayed after the Dawn left, they could likely get an hour or two of more exploration in. The downside is, of course, that if anything goes wrong, they are stranded and dead.
That sounds like a great place, so who will be the lucky 3 to face death or success.
Any volunteers : )?
ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
sorry asleep hehe
The doctor would be the best of the Dawn with the dead bodies. Ceres is best on the lightbearer for the piloting. Both are navy, so both can be commanders.
There's Holt, Fernan, Vathan & Annara. We probably need a passable pilot on the Dawn, in order to land safely. What support does ceres need on the Lightbearer. The AI seems pretty good.
What's everyone's pilot and technical skills? Are those what's used on the ship?
Vathan has +8 Pilot and +3 T/Computers, T/Comm, and T/Sensors. I'm sure there are better.
cheers
dock with space station.