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Showing posts from June, 2015

Fused Tech

Barbarians on spaceships! Remember them? My beloved barbarians storming the decks with swords and crossbows! They're getting an upgrade. As any barbarian will tell you arrows and bolts suck next to bullets. They just do. Being barbarians you can't always make the jump to full on assault rifles without a few tech level hiccups along the way. After all if it were that simple every planet would have a TL 15 store. The planet Peraspera in my Icy Shores setting had just this problem. While not up to even 21 century tech standards the locals were able to maintain and even expand an industry producing air crystals, a commodity that was prized in life support systems. This and low offworld funds for importing firearms made it a tempting target for raiders. The charges against several corporations for hiring raiders to encourage the Perasperans to sell their facilities cheap remain unproven. Without a lot of guns the Perasperans decided that they did not have to be impregnable t

Katz and Robot Dogs

Riasi: Walking in high heels is hard for humans. Why do their women do it? Mukh (dogcomm1): <Skrrrrt> At least you’re outside buying magazines and comics and not stuck in a shuttle with Tivk and Nok operating a robot dog. <Skrrrt> Cadet (dogcomm2): <Skrrrt> What about me? <Skrrrt> Mukh (d1): What about you? Cadet (d2): I’m running all the engineering on this robot canine and it isn’t easy. Keeps overheating. I dunno why they decided to use a pile instead of a fuel cell …  Tivk (dogcomm3): My fault. I thought we’d a pile in stock designed by my people. A good one. Cadet (d2): … when’s it my turn to drive? Mukh (d1): You lost your turns. You kept trying to look at Riasi’s legs and … attributes. Riasi: I don’t mind! My attributes are my best feature … oooh chillax boys, local coming across that field. Mukh (d1): Woof! Woof! <Skrrrt> <Skrrrt> Cadet (d2): There’s a button to make it woof dumb ass! Robot Dog: Wo

A Nok in the Dark

Chief: I dunno why the Cat ... Capin ... CAPTAIN! Why the captain order you to foller me around? Nok: Because you wouldn’t see me if I did it. Chief: Nonononoooooo. Though yer right. I mean why does he think you need to follow me aroun’? Nok: I quote, “I’m tired of bailing that ordnance monkey's ass out on every shore leave.” Chief: Ahhhhh there wasn’t anything to worry about this time. That was a perfeckly ... perfectly friendly little night spot. Nok: I’m not the linguist Mukh is but the place was called ‘The Murder Hole.” I believe that is a bad thing.  Chief: Why did ya come alone? The beanpole is no help but Mukh ... Nok: ... That was no place for a lady. Chief: Again? I wisht he’d stop doing that. ‘Screepy. Nok: Heh. Chief: Hey ... you vole people are pretty much built alon ... along similar lines to us ... dolphin people. You got a lady? Some scary little white haired beauty waiting for you at home? Inna ... inna dark? Nok: No.

Scout Variant

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My Scout proceeds slowly. End of the year work blitz is leaving me beat. I did some more streamlining. Added a bump that will become a turret on top and am seeing how the proportions and lines sit with me. It needs a lot of detailing, lights and signage. That will be coming shortly.

Tasks made Dramatic

A central theme of RPGs is that characters will often fail at tasks. For some situations failure is not too terrible. If you can't pick a lock just consider your PGMP-12 a very noisy lock pick. If you have to climb that cliff face and you miss a roll you try again. You were using ropes and pitons and all that survivalist stuff, right? An important consideration is whether a referee allows a character to attempt a task again after failure. Obviously it's a good idea if that failure is going to result in a total party kill or a campaign going off the rails. It's equally obvious that characters need some kind of penalty for failure. Otherwise they'll keep retrying tasks till crack of doom or the pizza runs out. Ct already has a system you can apply to retrying tasks. Swinging a blade in combat is pretty straight forward but it is a task. Each swing however costs you a point of Endurance. When your tank is empty you take a -2. Why not apply the same principle to tasks?

Coffee!

I C.M.O.: Riasi, are you all right in there? Riasi: No. I am not coming out. C.M.O.: ... why? Riasi: This is ... I don’t ... I feel ... exposed! C.M.O.: What? you’re wearing Terran fashions circa 1957. That’s more than you usually have covering you! Riasi: But ... my fur. I’m naked under my clothes! How do you stand it? C.M.O.: Oh for ... it’ll grow back. I have a pill for it. Riasi: Dolphin, you exploded my fur. I am  a little tense. No … I am going to live in the fresher. Leave me alone, Dolphin! C.M.O.: Your fur did not explode. It just fell out … real fast in all directions. Okay fine. Live in there. I’m going to leave you alone. Bye Riasi. Riasis: ... Wait. Dolphin! I’m coming out! C.M.O.: . o 0 (No feline traits my gluteus maximus!) Riasi: Dolphin please bear with me. This is very odd for me. I like humans. I just never thought I’d be one. Or mostly one. C.M.O.: ... Riasi: What is that look? C.M.O.: My gosh, I thought I

Riasi and the Mad Scientist

I Chief: Just you remember sawbones, this ship may belong to the Captain but the hangar is mine! Doc: Please what could go wrong? Chief: You tell me … Knockers. Doc: Hey I got everything put back to normal. Man you swap a few people's genders and they never let you forget, We have a newly designed interface to the Anomalous Xenotech Artifact. Preliminary tests are promising and we restored all the human subjects without a hitch. Chief: … did you try it for size on the aliens yet? Doc: … Not as such. The only one who’d go near the damned thing is Mukh and the AXA didn’t read him right. It thought he was a rottweiler or something and spat him right out. Chief: Sounds about right. Tivk: Doctor, the Cadet has informed me we have reached perihelion. I have run the power leads out the hatch and we are ready to absorb solar plasma … why I couldn’t tell you. Doc: Mukh said that was what the manual for the damned AXA said. Something about it facilitating

Piracy Is a Means, Not an End

Nowub: I don’t understand this … you’ve said I have wronged you and you are treating me to dinner. We are eating … Terrans? Korsa: Throgg’s Neck no man! We are eating Terran cuisine. Have you never had Terran food? Nowub: Like the cheese and the macaroni? Korsa: Throgg no! This is bulgogi.  Nowub: I don’t give a chinch pelt what it is. Are you killing me or letting me go? Korsa: I’m letting you go … with all your body parts and a warning. The mining operation on Testos you robbed is under my protection. I would like you to leave operations under my protection alone. The easiest way to achieve that is for you to leave the sector. Nowub: Leave the … I don’t take orders from you. Korsa: You never know what you can do until your life is on the line. Ah, Thalne-rassa, escort the captain to his ship under adequate guard of course. On the way scan his mind and ascertain whether he will leave the sector or not. Let the gunnery section know his decision.  Thalne

Procurement

Captain: Did you find out what's going on? X.O.: I have preliminary results, sir. Yes, sir. The Marines are outside. Captain: Get them the hell in here then! This is a priority one communique! X.O.: Aye-aye sir! Chief, Jenn, get in here. Captain: Aten-hut! Chief: Sir! Jenn: Sir! Captain: ... Marines. We have a problem. It may make the Slugs and the Big Glowing Head look like kittens play fighting over yarn. It definitely will make us forget about the Warriors and the Enemy fleets. I have one question for you: who in the Hell is Hippolyta and what is she doing aboard this ship?! Chief: ... Jenn: ... Captain: Spill! You first, Marine. Jenn: Sir, Hippolyta is an nickname for High Power Light Tactical Assault Rifle. ... the 'r' is silent. X.O.: High power ... that's a shitty acronym. Chief: Permission to speak sir! Captain: In a minute. So Hippolyta is a rifle? Okay. Now as to this communique ... why is the Procurement Branch sending me a 240 pag