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Aberrant: Trans-Dimensional Explorations - SuperGeek Enterprises: Exploration


BlueNinja

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I love Cybergeneration actually! Its a great self contained game and I know exactly what you are talking about. I suppose I can deal if you are sticking with those themes. The only problem is MC lets you turn into a lightning man or human torch or that sort of thing which is a seperate idea from nano-bodies...

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I agree that energy forms don't fit the nanite explanation, but before the Shapeshift his only methods of transport would have been a flying air form or Transmit with an electric form. However, we all know, and intellectually so does Nathan, that the nanites don't exist. They are just a mental crutch to explain and define/limit how his access to quantum energies have altered him and the abilities he has gained.

Nathan's areas of research were nanotechnology and mimetics (duplicating the properties of natural materials - e.g. spider silk).

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For the Shifting, he is a complete novice, only one dot and that probably turned up in the stresses of the last two weeks. Most of the time this guy is a M-Int lab rat (Engineering and Science Prodigy), but his world has quite literally changed, and he has to as well.

I'd see it going one of two ways (at least until he is a lot more skilled), one is full animal forms with only relevant abilities but linked to a material change - Steel Grizzley etc. Or bodypart changes with ability gained - tiger claws, bat ears, hawk wings, all at the same time either in whatever material form he is currently in or a matte black of the carbon cased nanites.

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I agree that energy forms don't fit the nanite explanation, but before the Shapeshift his only methods of transport would have been a flying air form or Transmit with an electric form. However, we all know, and intellectually so does Nathan, that the nanites don't exist. They are just a mental crutch to explain and define/limit how his access to quantum energies have altered him and the abilities he has gained.

Nathan's areas of research were nanotechnology and mimetics (duplicating the properties of natural materials - e.g. spider silk).

Ive been sort of arguing this in another thread but you aren't entirely correct...The nanites can exist. Bodymods and other such things included novas are capable of the entire diversity of comic genre staples. Alot of people get so hung up on the quantum basis for the effects that they sometimes forget that those effects can take on any form one can imagine. In Aberrant belief is power.

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Oh yeah and things like Steel Grizzley's are the sort of thing Esteban would do (though I haven't had the reason to do so ICly yet having stuck mostly with more mundane disguises). However I also see shapeshifting as more than some peoples limited ideas of "animal or form mimicry." To me and to Esteban, Shapeshifting is really a sort of molecular manipulation/control limited to ones own form/molecules/etc.

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If you think it necessary I'm happy to discuss this and you ideas/plans for Estiban by PM or Email to reach an agreement. Perhaps it would turn out better for me by putting limits on some of his powers and making them cheaper? ::devil

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If you think it necessary I'm happy to discuss this and you ideas/plans for Estiban by PM or Email to reach an agreement. Perhaps it would turn out better for me by putting limits on some of his powers and making them cheaper? ::devil

Sure, but give me a bit. I know I owe you another email for Trin as well. Have plans with the lady tonight.

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I agree I could see Estiban doing a Steel Grizzley as well. My point is that until Nathan gets to say 3 dots or more his own thought processes and past experience are likely to limit him to one of these two paths. This is in contrast to Estiban who frequently chooses the outer form of a normal hawk, but with lots of un-hawklike extra senses and abilities. On one memorable occassion (The cave one perhaps?), he spent the night in the form of a UFO in orbit about the alternate Earth. Both of these are things I don't envision Nathan doing.

For those that haven't seen CyberGen(erartion) [-Yep good little game, ran part of the campaign for a while] here is a brief description of the character types.

Tinman - arms and legs replaced with nanites, so can change there shape, typically to melee weapon forms, tool forms, tendrils/tentacles, sheets, that sort of thing. Also increased STR, and able to extrude a nanite based armour over their whole body.

Alchemist - nanite supply in the bones of their forearms (from memory), these are capable of the equivalent of the Alteration, Shape and Destruction techniques of the Molecular Manipulaiton power, although slower and probably lower mass limits.

These two form the rough basis for the current version of Nathan, that is then expanded into the planned outline from earlier posts.

Other types:

Howler - nanite replaced ears and throat/tongue - able to create/reproduce any sound they hear, ultra and subsonic communication, sonar and a sonic attack. With another nanite based module in their body/brain they are also able to pickup and transmit radio signals etc.

Wizard - rewired brains and nervous system gives them effectively a computer in their heads and wireless broadband - in Aberrant powers it's Cyberkinesis - but limited to things with a computer processor of some kind and transmission, so they can talk to each other effectively as well as to the Net/computers. Hyped nervous system as byproduct of keeping up conversations at computer speeds.

???? - Empaths and telepaths, but only for reading people and limited to line of sight. Also have a slightly hyped nervous system and a touch range electric shock attack (bashing/stun damage).

Bolter - Ranged attack guy - basically a wire based taser built into their forearms (each arm), but can fire around corners/obstacles with training. Can do stunning/bashing or Lethal damage with it or the same sort of thing by touch, and has a hyped nervous system as well.

Scout - nanite reservoirs in all four limbs coming to the surface in their palms/soles. Probes of various sophistication can be extruded/created from these, with a choice of senses (mainly mundane level), and motive forms (I think flying might be possible), but all have a thin wire link back to the scout. Scout gets the senses back from the probes, so they can be sent out of LOS. Probes can also be any shape, although limited in size and can have their shape changed while sent out. Possible similar power would be homunculus small form, but with it having shapeshift and a mental link back to the Origin character.

As you may guess from the length of this post, the wife has gone to bed, so I get to post from the computer for a change today. Sorry about the mulitple short posts earlier!

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Yeah, the Howler and Scout were introduced in two of the three campaign books, Media Front and Eco Front respectively. The third book, Virtual Front, gave more info on the Net and Wizards.

One oddity of the game for those who haven't seen it, is that these nanite conversions of people spread across the world like an unstoppable plague, but only changes children. So all the PC's are between 6 and 16! ::ohmy

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Is 21,600 mph correct for Brandt? Seems awfully fast - in fact isn't it about Earth's escape velocity? ::jaw

Check of my maths:

100miles in ~16 seconds = ~6 miles per second

3600 seconds in an hour gives 21,600 mph

6 miles/second (~10km/s) is also at the upper end of the velocity of the detonation wave in explosives. The fastest rifle round I know of pulls just under 1km/s, the HK G11, most pistol rounds are more like 400m/s, or 25 times slower than Brandt is claiming here. ::unsure

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Is 21,600 mph correct for Brandt? Seems awfully fast - in fact isn't it about Earth's escape velocity? ::jaw

Check of my maths:

100miles in ~16 seconds = ~6 miles per second

3600 seconds in an hour gives 21,600 mph

6 miles/second (~10km/s) is also at the upper end of the velocity of the detonation wave in explosives. The fastest rifle round I know of pulls just under 1km/s, the HK G11, most pistol rounds are more like 400m/s, or 25 times slower than Brandt is claiming here. ::unsure

I just corrected it, after I read your post. I thought the ship was forty kilometers away, instead of a hundred miles away.

Brandt's top speed, without maxing, is just about Mach 7. Please tell me if 2.5 minutes for 100 miles is correct.

Still more than fast enough to outrun bullets and fighter jets, even in the Abberant universe. :)

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40km in ~16s

150km/minute = ~94mph

so only about 1minute (plus a few seconds) for 100miles.

That's 9,000km/h, but I'm not sure what combination of Hyperrunning and Enhanced Movement would give you that? Care to enlighten me?

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40km in ~16s

150km/minute = ~94mph

so only about 1minute (plus a few seconds) for 100miles.

That's 9,000km/h, but I'm not sure what combination of Hyperrunning and Enhanced Movement would give you that? Care to enlighten me?

I may have screwed up my original calculations, you're welcome to double-check them.

Well, Mach 7 in kph is about 8500 kph, by the online converter I'm using, so that's close.

Since I don't imagine it's a huge secret by this point in the game...Brandt has M-Dex 5, plus Enhanced Movement, plus Hyperrunning 3.

I think I originally figured his in-combat speed...but I'm not sure.

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Ok, according to Google Mach 7 is 2.38 km/s, which makes it about 8,600km/h.

2.38km/s is 1km every 0.420s = 420 millisec.

Human reactions for seeing something and hitting a button can be around the 120-150ms region, which would leave the ships systems 250ms to track/predict and fire on you - probably well within it's capabilities?

In fact it is more likely to be a totally automated system, designed to fire at anything over a significant size (10kg/20cm dia) moving at greater than 100km/h. In which case 400ms is going to be plenty of time to detect/track and fire on you, especially with an area effect weapon which will allow more leeway in the accuracy of the calculations.

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Ok, according to Google Mach 7 is 2.38 km/s, which makes it about 8,600km/h.

2.38km/s is 1km every 0.420s = 420 millisec.

Human reactions for seeing something and hitting a button can be around the 120-150ms region, which would leave the ships systems 250ms to track/predict and fire on you - probably well within it's capabilities?

In fact it is more likely to be a totally automated system, designed to fire at anything over a significant size (10kg/20cm dia) moving at greater than 100km/h. In which case 400ms is going to be plenty of time to detect/track and fire on you, especially with an area effect weapon which will allow more leeway in the accuracy of the calculations.

::sad Gee, thanks.

However, I'm not sure how well that fits within this particular context. First, I imagine that reaction time to hit a button is based on actively searching for a target beforehand, i.e. already primed with hand over the button. You're also making assumptions on their sensory tech, which may be designed to track objects in the sky(other spacecraft), than objects on the ground(human-sized targets moving ridiculously fast).

Secondly, we also have to consider the in-game rules aspect of it. Hyperrunning gives bonuses to avoid being hit while moving full-tilt, and there are also rules for outpacing area attacks.

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Right. But computer targeting even now in our RL is designed to hit fast moving targets. We can only assume the aliens are signifigantly more advanced...

Agreed, which is why Brandt considers it a serious risk...perhaps too serious for our resident warpers. Brandt himself has more than a few options for getting the hell out of the way, quickly.

As for computer targeting IRL...what weapon systems and fast moving targets are you referring to? Anti-aircraft missiles, for example, are designed to get close(but not directly hit) much larger and slower moving targets than Brandt.

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Yep, it is a serious risk, but as you say for a variety of game reasons he probably has a much better chance than if we went pure science with extrapolations for their, at least, tens of thousands of years of potential development since the last war.

You mentioned that their targeting may be set more for space/air targets, yep that true, but this is also the race that is coming down and wiping planets/colonies out, so they must have a fairly decent ground targeting capability.

However, his risk is still greater than the warpers, since they have at least half decent photos of the target area (even if it is external to the ship) and we are told that there is a 'safe zone' for several hundred yards about the downed ship that the highguard ship doesn't fire into.

So in all, Brandt could run the risk, and could well get through ok, given whatever modifiers there are, but it would be safer for anyone else to travel by warp. Especially as you now have 3 warpers available (Mask, Zhengial, and Patricia Knowles), while until you arrived back here the resident military/Empowered had none available.

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Sorry for the delay on that guys. I wanted to put some thought into this one and review/reread the chapter... and between Taxes and Work I was pretty slammed.

RE: The BFG

I know something even quicker than Brandt. We open a warp gate 50 k from the ship and fire through it. No need to run away, just close the gate. We could attack these guys from the other side of the Earth.

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Sorry for the delay on that guys. I wanted to put some thought into this one and review/reread the chapter... and between Taxes and Work I was pretty slammed.

RE: The BFG

I know something even quicker than Brandt. We open a warp gate 50 k from the ship and fire through it. No need to run away, just close the gate. We could attack these guys from the other side of the Earth.

If only someone thought of that earlier... ::rolleyes

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Sorry for the delay on that guys. I wanted to put some thought into this one and review/reread the chapter... and between Taxes and Work I was pretty slammed.

RE: The BFG

I know something even quicker than Brandt. We open a warp gate 50 k from the ship and fire through it. No need to run away, just close the gate. We could attack these guys from the other side of the Earth.

Technically I don't think you can fire through a warp. Things have to pass through with "volition." However we could just stick the gun barrel through and fire that way! ::biggrin

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Hey nice trailer Alex!

It was funny how you staged it (or offstaged it). Made me wonder whether we are actors portraying Novas in a TV show or if we are actually Novas actually going to other dimensions but its then being filmed as a TV show. ::blink ::wacko And here all this time I thought we were real novas working for a real company! ::laugh

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Well ICly I am playing it straight. I don't feel the need to break the fourth wall in this game! As far as I am concerned Esteban is *not* an actor on a TV show and he is in fact working for a real Michal with real stakes and there are *not* cameramen following him around everywhere.

OOCly and with the trailers though I am fine with it. Fudge the reality of it.

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So lets run through the plan...

Open warp, blast Carribean ship.

Open Second Warp ASAP, blast highguard ship.

Open third warp inside downed ship, board ship.

Wreak Havoc and/or capture Meklar.

Open escape Warp, detonate methane atmosphere of ship, cause big boom.

Return home safely, inform Michal of results of prototype.

Sound good?

Oh yeah, and btw Anon, you're Avvie is broken...

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So lets run through the plan...

...

Open escape Warp, detonate methane atmosphere of ship, cause big boom.

Return home safely, inform Michal of results of prototype.

Sound good?

One problem with detonating the Methane/Ammonia atmosphere, is just that, it doesn't sound like there is much free Oxygen around for the Methane to burn in/with. Looking at the reactions (online data, since my chemistry was never as good as my physics, and is 20+years ago now), it looks like Nathan and/or Mask will need to Change/Create a load of liquid Oxygen on board the ship, along with some explosives on a short timer, for when we leave.

Need a 5-15% Methane to Oxygen ratio for the mixture to be explosive on it's own. I thought perhaps Changing some walls/bulkhead to liquid Oxygen might help things along... ::biggrin

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We can always get explosives and/or a detonator or anything else we need back at SGE. Oh yeah and a good idea might be to wait until we can open the gate agin before attacking in case we need to *really* retreat...

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So lets run through the plan...

OK.

Open warp, blast Carribean ship.

And then recover any fallen pieces if we can, and wait for the BFG to recover.

Open Second Warp ASAP, blast highguard ship.

This is unlikely to take it out entirely.

We will probably have to hit it two or three times.

Unresolved is whether we want to wait to board the fallen one.

Open third warp inside downed ship, board ship.

Agreed.

Wreak Havoc and/or capture Meklar.

I don't mind this here, but no way do we bring living Meklar back home. Ideally we'd examine them here.

Open escape Warp, detonate methane atmosphere of ship, cause big boom.

To complicated. Just use the BFG on it, or next to it, or even just keep raiding it.

Return home safely, inform Michal of results of prototype.

We might bring home any gear we find, assuming we're sure it doesn't have a "phone home" switch.

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