Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - OOC: Discussions

[Krul]

Here's a place for Out of Character Chat..

[Toby Lupin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurso

The nearby town just southwest of our meeting location. Just fyi, and Darrik will be sharing the pertinent details with you all.

[Courier]

PM to Quantum Fire

[Quantum Fire]

Replied

[Courier]

Coolness. Do you want Warren to use Invisible Castle or something to make a warp roll and/or Navigation rolls (which is what I assume we use to find planets).

[Toby Lupin]

QF: We're ready to move on in Testing Waters.

[LydaLynn]

RL has gotten . . . not good. My mind isn't going to be up to focusing for at least a couple days. My apologies, but please feel free to keep playing - I'll catch back up when I can.

[Krul]

No worries lynn, thanks for letting us know.. and about to post in Testing Waters

[Quantum Fire]

Ok, replied.. as long as everyone is willing to jump forward, my next post in that thread will be the meeting with Sophia... so this is the last chance to take any actions before that point.

[Quantum Fire]

Will post next in testing waters on friday.

[Karren Gaunt]

Nice post, Courier. Really gonna have to get inside Cora's head one of these posts, show where she shunts her mega perception when not focussing on stuff.

[Courier]

Thank you kindly. Warren seriously needs mega-wits... pity it's out of theme.

[Quantum Fire]

agreed, good posts.. everyone.. also, you all have some xp now.. check your sheets.. *winks* try not to spend it all in one place

As to being out of theme, that doesn't mean you can't develop it, just that it costs more.. which, I admit, does tend to discourage such, when there is other stuff that's cool you can get cheaper.

Will post what you find Warren once everyone else has posted their own reactions back on earth.

[SalmonMax]

Hm...how does "baseline" experience get spent as opposed to "nova?" I guess Nova can only be spent on nova-related powers and similar? Baseline can only be spent on non-nova stuff?

[Quantum Fire]

Correct

[Krul]

I believe I've given everyone a chance to respond by now.. time to move things forward...

Warren, made some rolls, I know what the shape of the system is now..so I'll start there

[Courier]

Can I have Warren just warp back to the enclave room he started from?

[Krul]

Yes.. I'm wondering though when some of the others will post.

[SalmonMax]

Alex is waiting on Warren...unless I missed someone else trying to talk to her...hmm...doublecheck time...

[Krul]

I'm not just talking your thread, actually.

[LydaLynn]

I'm quasi back - still don't have my own computer set up - so I have limited access at the moment - but life is settling somewhat and I'll be stopping in and responding as I'm able from now on.

[Courier]

Question: Does Traveler have Warp and/or Teleport?

I'm wondering if I should/could have Warren take credit for transporting Cora in "[Flashback] Lost and Found"

[Quantum Fire]

Teleport, but he has enough Attunement to have brought Cora.

[Karren Gaunt]

Iniative time in Testing the Waters, Krul?

[Quantum Fire]

Yes... I'll make a thread for that

[Krul]

Also, please post all rolls in the combat thread for the time being.

[Courier]

Question for the ST: Does Elemental Mastery/Anima include the ability to sense your substance?

We have multiple examples of the other suite powers doing that (Magnetic Mastery, Temporal, Molecular, etc) but EM/MA doesn't come out and state that you can.

[Courier]

I'll be out for most of the weekend.

Any objections to moving [CoQF] Building Plans forward two hours to let Warren recharge?

[Toby Lupin]

Depending on the time frame in comparison with Testing, I might.

[Quantum Fire]

Originally Posted By: Courier

Question for the ST: Does Elemental Mastery/Anima include the ability to sense your substance?

We have multiple examples of the other suite powers doing that (Magnetic Mastery, Temporal, Molecular, etc) but EM/MA doesn't come out and state that you can.

If it makes sense to do so.. yes.. of course, detect air is sort of pointless.. on earth at least.

[Krul]

Coraline is one angry girl, but I can't really blame her.

[Quantum Fire]

Awesome post, Max.. +1 bonus to Standard xp..

Actually, folks, everyone has had some XP added and updated in the last few days, under your sheets

[SalmonMax]

Roffle. Alex is such a bitch in this game. I find it slightly hilarious.

She has a softer side too, I promise. She just feels like she's under a lot of pressure.

I've a question regarding exp.

There's three categories, Standard Baseline and Nova. Are each of those separate? Or is Standard a kind of "Total XP" that represents the added sum of Baseline and Nova exp?

[Quantum Fire]

All three are separate, Nova xp can only be spent on Nova traits, Baseline XP on baseline traits, and Standard xp on anything, but Standard XP can be mixed with baseline or Nova xp for more points.

[SalmonMax]

Okay...seems like Gen will be trying to rush production of this sub after all.

What kind of mechanics do you want to use to represent the designing of such a large and complex device?

Then, with the design complete, Alex will be manifesting the sub in modules...each representing as big a 'piece' as she can manage in a single shot. She can then make them permanent (costing her WP), which effectively removes the need for manufacturing facilities or raw materials. Once the modules have all been manifested, she can go through, locking them together with her molecular shaping power so they're as good as one piece.

This is actually how submarines are built, interestingly enough. Their hulls are built in separate sections, then connected together in the final phase of construction. So that works.

I'll have to work out the size and mass of the sub, then work out what mass she can reliably manifest with her pool so we can work out how many hull sections there are...

-----

Argh, okay, juices flowing on this right now for some reason.

Did some looking online, and I think what I've decided to do is have Alex start with a tried and true hull design; the Soviet Typhoon class submarine, which is the biggest submarine ever built. It actually consists of two complete pressure hulls (basically two submarine-equivalents) side by side within the body, with a third smaller pressure hull on top under the tower. All of this real estate means that there's actually some SPACE inside for crew and comforts. It also gives the Typhoon the capacity to stay submerged for 3 months or more at a time. The redundant pressure hulls make it unusually safe in wartime, and the large size of the sub make it quieter than most.

And that's just the basic hull design from the 1980's. To those characteristics we add all the latest in technology...and by latest I of course mean latest that Alex has come up with, which is substantially better than conventional technology (barring other nova-level improvements made by then).

The two old, clunky Soviet-era nuclear fission reactors are replaced by shiny new Thorium reactors. Necessary because all the goodies will have a substantially larger power requirement. Thorium reactors are still based on nuclear fission, but thorium fuel is less dangerous and easier to come by than enriched uranium, is more efficient (producing much less waste material), and cannot melt down.

Then we just upgrade the sub to incorporate advanced information handling technology. Computers and automation reduce crew requirements. Periscope is replaced by a telescoping sensor cluster that feeds to screens in the control room. Sonar equipment is augmented with advanced blue-green tuned ladar to enhance positioning and rangefinding. Because this is not a ballistic missile sub, the space normally used for launchers and magazines can be used for workshop/laboratory/and other discretionary purposes. A floodable dock with a fast supercavitating submarine to leave the mothership is possible, if perhaps not entirely necessary...

Defenses include sonar-absorptive outer hull plating, quiet pump-jet drives (earlier concepts for 'caterpillar drive' have been scrapped due to excessive size, cooling requirements and power draw), and the afore-mentioned multiple redundant pressure hull design. Attacking is done with advanced supercavitating torpedoes which, because of the design, can easily be converted into above-surface missiles as well. And, of course, it'll be crewed almost entirely by novas which gives it more firepower than some nations.

[Toby Lupin]

Sorry for being lazy and not posting. I will get Darrik back into action.

[Quantum Fire]

Max - if you have any special inventions you want to add to the sub, message me with them, and I'll let you know if they are ok.. mostly I'd expect they will be... I'm about to add a thread for just that work.

[Karren Gaunt]

If you could maybe post in Testing the Waters with Aunt Serenity, Krull, maybe we could work towards making a thread for the next day or so and the 'okay. what now?' to follow, the other players consenting. Perhaps?

Rollicking game so far.

[SalmonMax]

So far, the "inventions" I have in mind are just refinements of technology that already exists, but is in testing and/or research stages right now. Molten-salt thorium reactors exist, for example, but they're still getting the kinks worked out. The advancements in aquanautics and electronics I'm envisioning are mostly stolen off the wiki page for the newest submarine the US is using in its fleet.

The only systems that I can think of offhand that aren't just "completed" real modern day research, or applications of already-existing SOTA military hardware are the following:

1) Advanced hull materials. This isn't really high tech as much as impractical for a real world design. We know how to grow very strong steel and aluminum alloys in zero-G...but we've no way to do it in bulk, cheaply. Alex can create it with the altered atomic and molecular structure quite easily. This hull material still would not resist a direct torpedo hit...but it enables substantially longer dive depths, and more resistance to overpressure from near misses and depth charges.

2) Blue-green laser optics. I need to research this a bit more, but the theory goes that you can have a laser with a tuneable output wavelength set to a color that water interferes with the least (which comes out to a bluish-greenish shade usually), and actually get enough range out of it to be useful while submerged. Functionally it would be similar to active sonar, but it would be capable of much higher resolutions, and completely undetectable to other submarines. The downside is that its range would still be a lot less than a high power sonar system. But because it updates so fast, it could be used to traverse undersea geography safely (like the trench in Hunt for Red October...they would have been able to image the walls, and adjust course in real time).

3) Supercavitation drives. The main sub doesn't use this because it's WAY too big. However the smaller sub that it carries, and its torpedoes, can use this. It's basically a system that uses a rocket engine, venting a tiny fraction of the exhaust gas out the front. At high speeds, the gas is 'flattened out' by the water pressure to form an envelope that surrounds the whole submarine. Because only the control surfaces are still in contact with water, the vehicle's drag is dramatically reduced, and very high speeds (for a watercraft) can be achieved. This is real technology, but has only been used on torpedoes before. Supercavitation for an actual submarine, even a small one, has not yet been accomplished (though there are plans in progress).

[Quantum Fire]

Actually, there are a number of technologies that could benefit from 0G that we haven't really made use of today. I must point out, with Warren around, you could always pick out a location in the solar system for 0G work, and he could open a warp out there.