 April 11, 2012 - 8:43am | How do you use the winds in your games? Are there low-tech planets and rely on wind power for energy and/or travel? Here's a mesmerizing visual; |
 April 11, 2012 - 11:05am | Wind power does not need to be low tech. If a new colony knew there were steady winds on planet they could have brought some with them and have them up and running fairly quickly, say a week to have the first one up with connecting cables for power supply and then keep putting up more as the colony expands. This could be a good first step until large scale power supply systems such as nuclear plants or dams or even large scale turbine plants. Cool map too. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 April 12, 2012 - 1:35am | Sounds like my Sim City 2000 game strategy. Wind power is cheap and easy to set up. Tech level would give a more efficient ratio of wind to electricity the better it is. So any tech level should be based on who is supplying the equipment. |
 April 12, 2012 - 6:17am | Sounds like my Sim City 2000 game strategy. Wind power is cheap and easy to set up. Tech level would give a more efficient ratio of wind to electricity the better it is. So any tech level should be based on who is supplying the equipment. I smell an optional equipment expansion here: tech levels and equipment ratings- equipment would be rated in effeciency (in energy usage), reliability, bulkiness/weight, stamina, I miss anything? Hand in hand with this would be a PC "crafting" system allowing a PC to invent a more effecient version of a standard equipment item and sell the patent. The Artist PSA in the SFman already has a "crafting" system. This of course only works with long running campaigns and give a player something for his PC to do during the Months of non adventuring time between major adventures. Though perhaps the whole issue of the "meanwhile back at the ranch" portion of the game ought to be explored so that its not just about crafting. If a PC concept makes it unlikely that the character would do the craft and inventive stuff then there should be similar rules that allow that character to be doing his thing during these periods of non adventuring with similar results in benefits as what the artists skills can give. For example- PC has the Spy PSA so he spends time and money inbetween the adventures developing contacts and making a network of contacts or setting up a false identity- this would be his crafting. Piloting PSA character picks up a classic vehicle that is a junker and decides to rebuild it, he invest time and money like the artist and rolls for how well he's restored said vehicle- hes focused on the engine so the roll would be for top speed performance as to whether it meets the vehicle's original specs or exceeds them. Technicitan spends his time working on a new design for power belts to miniaturize their power cells and pack in more for the same weight making his prototype have a % more in SEU then the standard power belt. or perhaps he was focused on just reducing its weight for the same power. He of course can sell the patent for cash and build his own for himself and his team after this. Basically it gives players a chance to build an advantage for a long running PC, but its a player directed advantage and there is a bit of risk in it as it may not pan out exactly as they hope. Equally a player says I dont want to risk a die roll here so since my character concept is a survivalist I'll simply compute income for this time period, figure out the total and pay the rent on a storage space for a year and stock it with supplies off the equipment list. EDIT: Level of crafting: Level 1: generally only provides a monetary benefit- like what is seen in the Artist PSA rule. This level of crafting does not change the setting. This is some risk of loss of time and money at this level but generally it does suceed. Technitian does not invent anything Frontier shattering just comes up with small minor pattent that some company is willing to pay for- he gets some quick cash. Level 2: This level of crafting is looking for specific advantage and can change the setting, ie inventing a laser rifle that does more damage then the original or a power generator that requires less maintenance cost to operate. These sorts of things create a fundamental change in the setting that is different then an extra 5000 credits in a character's pocket. This level of crafting should require more investment and carry greater risk of loss. Another level of crafting (I dont want to call it lvl 3 as that would break the progression I just set up but in this level a character can purchase a vehicle or piece of equipment at a very low percentage of its purchase price and it becomes his project. The percentage he purchased it at becomes the % that its at before it work again and or right. By investing time and money he increases the %. Character without technician skill can be working on a hovercar (hes taking his time and using a manual) but the character with the appropriate skill actually works faster and or has better results. I suppose this could be called Rebuild its straight forward and you know the end result and can predict when you'll get to the end result. Except here the advantage is that the character gets to trade time for money (though a certain ammount of money will go into this). Akin to Rebuild is the modification- a specific modification unique to one particular item (will not generate a pattent) but for an investment of time and money a technician has modified a specific item of equipment for a small advantage. there probably should be a maximum number of modifications. An example would be modifying a pistol to reduce the initiative modifier by one point for when its holstered and a character must draw it in the first round of combat. This would also apply to say sighting in the weapon so well that you gain a slight bump in the range bands but rifle doesn't exceed max range. similar stuff for other equipment- modifying an item so that its .5 kg lighter. etc. This should be fairly stratigh forward and be the kind of things a group of PCs would do if they were the Magnificent Core Four who are going to defend the farming outpost from the maurading space bandits but had 3-4 days to prepare. Finally jury rigged equipment would be a possibility as well- vehicle motor shot (technician failed his skill roll and the motor is unfixable) so the PC jury rigs a sail and gets the vehicle moving again across the salt flats. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
