 May 16, 2011 - 2:51pm | Well, I had a game the other day and neutered the enemy forces by accident. I was unsure about how far a normal person (dralasites and yazirians included) would be able to see in varying environments like forests and savannahs and walked close enough that the characters destroyed the forces far too easily. Maybe a table on average sight lines in varying environments? Secondly, I need thoughts on the relative strength of strike teams (this came up in the same game). Say the characters attack a convoy and the convoy gets out a distress call to a neighboring base. Should the strike teams be overwhelmingly larger than the party in order to push them onto the defensive, or merely large enough to give them second thoughts? My players are ridiculously trigger-happy and I'm tired of them blowing up my elaborately arranged ambushes, so I'd like to kick them down a notch without too serious consequences. (side note: they are irrationally afraid of flying vehicles, i.e. helicopters. Too many vid games?) Finally, I noticed (again, same game) that the vehicle damage tables only deal with vehicles in motion. Also, they seem to result, in anything greater than three rifle shots, to blow up incredibly easy. Maybe a tougher vehicle damage table? I know it's a lot to ask but I'm swamped with end of the year projects, otherwise I would do these myself and share the results. Thanks for the help! |
May 23, 2011 - 6:17pm | Several articles covering power armor appeard in the Star Frontiersman. |
 May 24, 2011 - 5:38am | Oh yeah, exoskeletons (and power armor) are a real good example, of how reality can surpass fiction more quickly the literature keeps pace... wow. there are threads here: http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/4014 http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/3139 http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/2526 and a few things in the SFman and other sites around the net... including information on how the real technology has developed well ahead of expectations. So, I am sure you can imagine, that with real-world tech surpassing old-school sci-fi genre expectations, that this could have a lot of crossed-up expectations of what would be acceptable. 5kg/11lb is fairly light (depending on the material used) and suggests an intent to be a minimal 'frame-suit' much lighter in appearance than the quite nice example provided by Lockheed as the HULC. This system is about as close equivalent unpacked as I can find (though heavier at 24 kg), it provides users with the ability to carry loads of up to (partially dependent on the ability of the wearer) 200 lbs (aproximately 60kg lifting assist, plus another 90kg operator-independent-load-bearing-capacity in a backpack...), and sprint up to 10 miles per hour in short bursts. Operation time is around 1 hour at minimal strain, but can carry a 72hr extended mission power pack (unspecified weight). Whats more it can do all this without suffering extra fatigue on the operator, these average operational limits are based on the engineering limitations alone. HAL-5, which was recently introduced, weighs only 10 kg and has the battery and computer strapped around the waist of the wearer, but is much more bulky unpacked than the HULC. The Hal systems are equipped with “autonomous control systems” which, in effect, can be considered 'artificial reflex responses", and a VR-like “voluntary control system" to interface with the operators desires. This special arrangement, plus it's extra bulk, and lower weight, allow it to perform some remarkable feats of strength, speed, and reflex, that the HULC isn't designd to accomplish, but at a low operational time of around 3 hrs from a fairly sizeable battery pack (and potentially some skill and familiarity required to operate safely, and not exceed the operators ability, being a primarily power-assist focused power-suit). The HULC is simplistic, and likely easy to find in a variety of uses from exploration and sportsman civilian use, to basic military and security duty. I believe a few people have mentioned (off the record) concerns after having 'test-driven' the HAL systems, that support an often overlooked warning about any exoskeleton or power-armor. It is far easier to exceed the operational limitations of the OPERATOR, than it is the machine, and thus cause permanent damage to the pilot, especially under combat-conditions. And even the HULC is typically quick-release dropped, once a mission area has been reached, to avoid added complications in a high-risk environment. Have you ever seen a power-suit eat it's operator alive, simply because he panicked over a snake or spider in his camp, and telegraphed confused commands faster than the built-in safety-systems could process the proper reflex-limitation adjustments? In combat, fear is your friend, technology is your friend, together they can become biter enemies, with you caught in the cross-fire. Oh humans!!  We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
May 24, 2011 - 11:35am | Another system I made you might find useful; Refer to: Sample characters and Stats for NPC |
May 24, 2011 - 1:54pm | @w00t nice! indeed very useful. In addition to the HULC and Hal there is also the... The Power Loader http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSo6C_gE4w8&feature=related SARCOS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4J69EEpu4&feature=grec_index ReWalk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LmtN1KEguA Rex http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGw5DYngHTo and Honda has a number of: Bodyweight Support Systems http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWvxA4jvbc and Walking Assist Devices http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aRUraY9sw8 Further Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton Earliest fiction example: Lensman series Power Armor. (1937) Probably the best Star Frontiers examples I can think of... though to me none of these are perfect for SF unmodified: Elementals (Battletech); MJOLNIR (Halo); Gorrila (Starship Troopers); many of the basic and simple styled exoskeletons and power armors of the Interlock System... I am rather fond of the NG-EX10 Gladius L.E.B.A. (Rifts:Mercs). Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
May 24, 2011 - 3:36pm | Thanks to all, my own vision of the suit was more of a skeletal-like motor-assisted-joint system instead of the suit idea like the Halo suit. I'll probably make up my own in order to fit in with my grand scheme and blend of rules (i tend to pick and choose) |
May 24, 2011 - 6:39pm | Thanks to all, my own vision of the suit was more of a skeletal-like motor-assisted-joint system instead of the suit idea like the Halo suit. I'll probably make up my own in order to fit in with my grand scheme and blend of rules (i tend to pick and choose) Like we all do. :-) I personally like the idea of a suit that fits snug to the skin with a mmuscle-like mesh of durafabric. I use the Utility Gauntlets from SFman 15 in my suits as well. |
May 25, 2011 - 6:54am | @Belaris don't loose that image, at the low end that is all they really are... so your vision wasn't necessarily incorrect, just perhaps a little out of focus.  Most of the real-world examples cited show that view.It's a common misunderstanding that persists that powered-'exoskeleton', powered-'armor', and powered-'suits' are not all built on the same architecture and technology, when in reality they are effectively all the same thing. The terms are interchangeable due to severe overlap, and often misrepresented in fiction, further blurring definement. Fiction also commonly focuses on the combat-application of the technology in wholly unrealistic ways, when it is much more likely that the next thousand years will not see but the bare minimal of use in direct-conflict (close-quarters or ranged) situations. The technology is designed for, and will likely remain relegated to, the use of prosthesis replacement, load-bearing assists, and endurance minimization, and won't be considered more effective than an 'unsuited infantry' in direct-combat, for a several centuries. @w00t do you mean nano-muscle suits? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbVpkJctrQI I like these to some degree, and it is the logical conclusion to the overall technology, but I feel they may be a bit over-the-top for the Star Frontiers genre. What I would expect to come of an early Type-II society's technology (like perhaps the Sathar), and not the prevailing early Type-I of the Frontier Worlds. I would reserve such technology to the level of near-artifact bleeding-edge frontier technology status, full of engineering problems and uncertainty flaws, that put operators at risk, or reduce their effectiveness to less than an exoskeleton; and to the level of full-artifact advanced unfathomable xeno-tech, simply beyond the scope of current science. Using another RIFTS example, I might 'port over a Naruni-Camo-Power-Suit for the Sathar, but no Frontier technician would have a clue how it works, or where to start studying such an artifact, and it would take generations before a working effective NON-functional prototype could be replicated, using far lesser technology than the original design was built by; then generations more before a plucky-retro-tech version becomes available to the bleeding-edge technology of the Frontier. In simplicity, sure, availability common in another thousand years. I simply wouldn't want to add these to the typical Dragon's Hoard in a Star Frontiers game, "power armor" designs are already a casual push beyond the SF feel for me, and I wouldn't want to see them show up as a common item outside of the military armory. I would prefer instead, a "powered-exoskeleton" being the standard-yet-somewhat-costly exploration sportsman or out-black frontiersman field-kit item, on the open civilian market; the "power-armored star-knight" elite units, bring a prestige (and suspicion) element, depending on who is wearing them, being considered military and para-military, or at least high-profile corporate, equipment; and "nano-muscle power-suits" being beyond the casual reach of even the elites, and high-tech organizations, too expensive and difficult to acquire to risk on just any mission. repeated: So, I am sure you can imagine, that with real-world tech surpassing old-school sci-fi genre expectations, that this could have a lot of crossed-up expectations of what would be acceptable. [ed. or worthy of genre cool-points...] But that is just my take on the Star Frontier genre feel, beyond that, yeah... we all pick and choose. I tend to adapt the Interlock System for Exoskeletons and MetalGear (Cyberpunk 2020), with some limited Power Armors and very basic Walkers, mostly Quads and Caterpillars, (Roadstriker II and Maximum Metal), but I have had a few SF conversions to those rules in the past, when multi-system-conversions were easy to find all over the net. I revived some data from some old files where I had a similar discussion: Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
