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[Radio Controlled]

Well, an additional problem I might see is that enemies start using their equipment smarter and better (which I can be in favor of in principle) but without the same limitations a player has. I mean, does pw even keep track of enemy mind points the way a player's is? Can they also run out? Can an enemy amper also completely flub his amp usage/roll and cause bad shit for his team?

Because more realism is nice, but that opens a further can of worms. The can of realism worms. For example, realistically speaking, guns should be better for any sort of draw-out firefight because you can keep shooting as long as you can keep slapping in mags, while ampers are more limited. But then in practice most fights only last a couple turns at most, meaning the ampers can often use their power and then rest up, letting their 'ammo' refuel for free (while con people bleed tokens with every shot fired, except when it's a generator-fueled laser. That also isn't realistic, why the hell would you make your soldiers pay their ammo? Or their weapons in general?).

And why wouldn't an organisation like ARM have a ton of sods/stevebots/other robots in the field to 'soak up' damage and do the grunt work, while the player chars are the actual specialists who do the things a sod can't? Because that would mean letting npc's (and whoever is commanding them) do a lot of the playing and out-ruling certain playstyles (why be a gunslinger when sods can sling guns so much better 90% of the time?) But, that would also help defend against spess magic, on the grounds that spess magic is tiring and only gives a few shots while a mass of robobodies with cloned brains in them are cheap.


Also, we could always have the enemy fight smarter and not introduce magic detectors. Really amp up (so sorry) the difficulty! One doesn't necessarily comes tied with the other. If we can get the anti-magic pollen to work, that might form a cost-effective way to defend against basic spess magics targeting your insides (while a big ball of amp-flame being lobbed at you comes from the outside, and so wouldn't be stopped by the pollen).

_{(Or just have enemy ampers go for the efficient kill shot, but not permakill instantly, in the idea that then your enemy will be bogged down trying to evac the tempdead and you further limit his operational strength. Actual tactics by the enemy!)}

[Hapah]

Well, if we're just spitballing here, I'll throw in my two cents.

The basic idea: My idea is to not have a sensor or implant as the direct implementation, but instead let Ampers detect Amp usage as an innate sort of ability with the possibility of responding to that sense or signal. Implants or sensors could be added on to increase the precision or strength of the signal, so to speak, or maybe give non-Amp users the option of detecting the stuff even if they can't directly respond in any way (no idea if anyone would spend the token on it). Make Amp attacks that don't have line-of-sight [EDIT: or an "Amp Signal" to lock onto] either unreliable, expensive on the mind, or both. The same sort of system could likely be extended to manips in some form.

The (intended) results: Space Magic Weapons become less of an "I Win" attack against conventional weapon users, and would tone down the pre-emptive "I'm killing you from half a mile away behind 30 meters of concrete because I saw you on a camera" possibilities. It also allows retaliation...if one of our Amy Guys used his space magic, and Bunker Guy sensed it and started attacking Amp Guy, Amp Guy and Amp Guy's Amp Friends could then sense Bunker Guy's amp usage and fight/target/push back that way. The scenario is a little cluttered but I hope you could see what I'm driving at.

The disclaimers: I'm not certain how dodging amp or manipulator attacks does work now, or would actually work under any new system (and I have no idea if anyone else knows). This is just a rough idea. I love Con weapons and have no plans to use either Manips or Amps in the foreseeable future.

And finally, a reminder to maintain your chill composure.

[piecewise]

Body mods has been updated a bit.

[Egan_BW]

What enterprising adventurer wouldn't want to have Lootsense?

[renegadelobster]

That visceral council one sounds oddly interesting. Dunno why. The fulgurus organ and the slightly psychic cyst I could see being used in ER.

[Unholy_Pariah]

can I get lootsense installed in a braincase?

[Egan_BW]

Hmm. Would the visceral council work along with any of the other implanted organs on the list? Would they have different or strange personalities?
Will your Liver yell at you if you drink too much?

[piecewise]

can I get lootsense installed in a braincase?

I don't know if any of these will make it into ER. once I populate the list enough I'll hand it over to the council and ask them which ones they think won't be completely broken. But loot sense seems fairly acceptable. Especially since it lets me lure you into traps.

Hmm. Would the visceral council work along with any of the other implanted organs on the list? Would they have different or strange personalities?
Will your Liver yell at you if you drink too much?

Who can say? Maybe your liver will be a "Feel the burn" type who pushes you to take more drugs so it can get all nice and swollen.

[Yoink]

I'll take ten.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Only once the next mission starts.

ANY DAY NOW!

Incidentally, anyone hear from Sean? Is he around and active lately? On IRC maybe? Cause the longer we wait for mission start, the more 'incidents' that can happen to the guys supposed to be going. Before long the entire mission team will be dead before they arrived! That'd be something, pre-mission TPK.

This is it. If Anton goes stasis-dementia-AWOL as well... It is terrifying to consider.

Last online september 21, last post... september 10.

Mostly asking because, if he is indeed spirited away, it might not be a bad idea for someone to take over his mission prep so people can actually begin playing the mission and such. Waiting for long amounts of time leads to players dropping, for one, and leaves room for... shenanigans.

I mean, I don't wanna take his mission 'away' from him, but I also kinda don't wanna see it take so long to take off half the team goes braindead. PW has mentioned in the past he likes to keep on-ship faffing about to a minimum, for one, and to have people of actually doing stuff asap.

I've sort of lost focus on ER lately, due to various stuff elsewhere. Like sleep, or lack thereof.

I'm going to need to review the list of people... remaining...
Would still like to have Lyra there, but no idea how to approach that right now. Guess we'll have to hope we don't need a mass-amper.

Also, I'm starting to feel that Hephaestus is a waste of our and the GM's time lately. Artifact research would have gotten done regardless of what we're doing, PW wouldn't have had to come up with anything for the various tests, we'd just get ready gear and tech. Defending the place is a far-off concern still, and that would have been handled just as well by GM fiat. People in the Tinker thread do a lot more tinkering than Heph can because their thread is updated more often, and Heph doesn't get much in the way of advantages since prototyping went out the window, and Tinker people get the same benefits as the Heph players in regards to sales. Sure, we might be able to tinker with bigger stuff, or more complicated stuff like Anton was doing, but everything else, the research and the production orders, it just feels like people are just doing work. I get enough of that elsewhere.

I'm thinking I'll NPC Anton if he survives this mission, and get a new character back on the Sword for some regular old action. I don't see Anton doing anything besides working on his Reality Engine after the project's succeeded, and regular tinkering has really rather lost in charm on Heph. By the time you've gone through the hoops and cleared a design for something interesting with the Council, likely as not some new thing has been found that makes old things obsolete or non-competitive, and you have to either keep changing the design, or abandon it in favor of taking the new shortcut. I think I'd rather have fun shooting space monsters in the face than keep wading through that bog. Anton is a technician with a vision, not a researcher. He's old-fashioned, obsolete himself in a way. He won't fit in with ARM's new doctrine, and his Reality Engine is going to be work so slow I may as well just check back on it every mission cycle and give PW new ideas on what to do with it.

Raiding eldritch deathtraps is really rather more appealing as far as gameplay goes.

[Lenglon]

@ Lyra - just go ahead and invite her, RC and I are failing to cordinate, and it's not worth the hassle and potential fallout. I'll just ignore the issues she's had and move along with the game.

[Radio Controlled]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Only once the next mission starts.

ANY DAY NOW!

Incidentally, anyone hear from Sean? Is he around and active lately? On IRC maybe? Cause the longer we wait for mission start, the more 'incidents' that can happen to the guys supposed to be going. Before long the entire mission team will be dead before they arrived! That'd be something, pre-mission TPK.

This is it. If Anton goes stasis-dementia-AWOL as well... It is terrifying to consider.

Last online september 21, last post... september 10.

Mostly asking because, if he is indeed spirited away, it might not be a bad idea for someone to take over his mission prep so people can actually begin playing the mission and such. Waiting for long amounts of time leads to players dropping, for one, and leaves room for... shenanigans.

I mean, I don't wanna take his mission 'away' from him, but I also kinda don't wanna see it take so long to take off half the team goes braindead. PW has mentioned in the past he likes to keep on-ship faffing about to a minimum, for one, and to have people of actually doing stuff asap.

I've sort of lost focus on ER lately, due to various stuff elsewhere. Like sleep, or lack thereof.

I'm going to need to review the list of people... remaining...
Would still like to have Lyra there, but no idea how to approach that right now. Guess we'll have to hope we don't need a mass-amper.

Also, I'm starting to feel that Hephaestus is a waste of our and the GM's time lately. Artifact research would have gotten done regardless of what we're doing, PW wouldn't have had to come up with anything for the various tests, we'd just get ready gear and tech. Defending the place is a far-off concern still, and that would have been handled just as well by GM fiat. People in the Tinker thread do a lot more tinkering than Heph can because their thread is updated more often, and Heph doesn't get much in the way of advantages since prototyping went out the window, and Tinker people get the same benefits as the Heph players in regards to sales. Sure, we might be able to tinker with bigger stuff, or more complicated stuff like Anton was doing, but everything else, the research and the production orders, it just feels like people are just doing work. I get enough of that elsewhere.

I'm thinking I'll NPC Anton if he survives this mission, and get a new character back on the Sword for some regular old action. I don't see Anton doing anything besides working on his Reality Engine after the project's succeeded, and regular tinkering has really rather lost in charm on Heph. By the time you've gone through the hoops and cleared a design for something interesting with the Council, likely as not some new thing has been found that makes old things obsolete or non-competitive, and you have to either keep changing the design, or abandon it in favor of taking the new shortcut. I think I'd rather have fun shooting space monsters in the face than keep wading through that bog. Anton is a technician with a vision, not a researcher. He's old-fashioned, obsolete himself in a way. He won't fit in with ARM's new doctrine, and his Reality Engine is going to be work so slow I may as well just check back on it every mission cycle and give PW new ideas on what to do with it.

Raiding eldritch deathtraps is really rather more appealing as far as gameplay goes.

Two things:
1) have you considered staying with your current char, but just have him 'take a break' from Hep work and coming to the Sword? Him going on the next mission on Hep is the perfect IC excuse for him having gotten the taste of field work again. And then, if you ever wanna return to Hep do to stuff, it'll be much easier.

2) Did you see pw's other post?

Ok, assuming Sean doesn't come back before tomorrow, I'm letting miya take his spot and organize the mission, at least until he gets back.
I don't wanna keep 15 people waiting while sean might be completely preoccupied and unable to show up for any amount of time.

If yes, do you want to keep organizing the mission completely yourself, or would you like me to do it/help out a bit? Either is fine by me, whatever gets things going again the fastest.

[Nikitian]

@Sean Mirrsen Welcome back!
Unfortunately, I can relate to much of what you're saying. It might or might not be general ER tiredness speaking in me, though.

Fortunately, I'm not that tired of Heph work specifically yet. I'll take it up and oversee the new appointments if you still want to leave Hephaestus or go NPC with the current character. Find a way that works the best for you, and good luck. 

@Lenglon
That explanation in Tinker thread finally made sense. I'm sorry for not seeing it for what it is earlier.

The big problem is, I don't think we've had any dedicated scout characters or mission roles, so that's what fumbling. However, the idea as it is is quite sound, so I think it can be incorporated in teams structure the next time you are invited for a mission. Can't speak for RC or Caellath, of course, but if I'm ever to command another mission again and you volunteer for it, I promise to use you in your primary role, rather than "makeshift mainline amper".

[Sean Mirrsen]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Only once the next mission starts.

ANY DAY NOW!

Incidentally, anyone hear from Sean? Is he around and active lately? On IRC maybe? Cause the longer we wait for mission start, the more 'incidents' that can happen to the guys supposed to be going. Before long the entire mission team will be dead before they arrived! That'd be something, pre-mission TPK.

This is it. If Anton goes stasis-dementia-AWOL as well... It is terrifying to consider.

Last online september 21, last post... september 10.

Mostly asking because, if he is indeed spirited away, it might not be a bad idea for someone to take over his mission prep so people can actually begin playing the mission and such. Waiting for long amounts of time leads to players dropping, for one, and leaves room for... shenanigans.

I mean, I don't wanna take his mission 'away' from him, but I also kinda don't wanna see it take so long to take off half the team goes braindead. PW has mentioned in the past he likes to keep on-ship faffing about to a minimum, for one, and to have people of actually doing stuff asap.

I've sort of lost focus on ER lately, due to various stuff elsewhere. Like sleep, or lack thereof.

I'm going to need to review the list of people... remaining...
Would still like to have Lyra there, but no idea how to approach that right now. Guess we'll have to hope we don't need a mass-amper.

Also, I'm starting to feel that Hephaestus is a waste of our and the GM's time lately. Artifact research would have gotten done regardless of what we're doing, PW wouldn't have had to come up with anything for the various tests, we'd just get ready gear and tech. Defending the place is a far-off concern still, and that would have been handled just as well by GM fiat. People in the Tinker thread do a lot more tinkering than Heph can because their thread is updated more often, and Heph doesn't get much in the way of advantages since prototyping went out the window, and Tinker people get the same benefits as the Heph players in regards to sales. Sure, we might be able to tinker with bigger stuff, or more complicated stuff like Anton was doing, but everything else, the research and the production orders, it just feels like people are just doing work. I get enough of that elsewhere.

I'm thinking I'll NPC Anton if he survives this mission, and get a new character back on the Sword for some regular old action. I don't see Anton doing anything besides working on his Reality Engine after the project's succeeded, and regular tinkering has really rather lost in charm on Heph. By the time you've gone through the hoops and cleared a design for something interesting with the Council, likely as not some new thing has been found that makes old things obsolete or non-competitive, and you have to either keep changing the design, or abandon it in favor of taking the new shortcut. I think I'd rather have fun shooting space monsters in the face than keep wading through that bog. Anton is a technician with a vision, not a researcher. He's old-fashioned, obsolete himself in a way. He won't fit in with ARM's new doctrine, and his Reality Engine is going to be work so slow I may as well just check back on it every mission cycle and give PW new ideas on what to do with it.

Raiding eldritch deathtraps is really rather more appealing as far as gameplay goes.

Two things:
1) have you considered staying with your current char, but just have him 'take a break' from Hep work and coming to the Sword? Him going on the next mission on Hep is the perfect IC excuse for him having gotten the taste of field work again. And then, if you ever wanna return to Hep do to stuff, it'll be much easier.

2) Did you see pw's other post?

Ok, assuming Sean doesn't come back before tomorrow, I'm letting miya take his spot and organize the mission, at least until he gets back.
I don't wanna keep 15 people waiting while sean might be completely preoccupied and unable to show up for any amount of time.

If yes, do you want to keep organizing the mission completely yourself, or would you like me to do it/help out a bit? Either is fine by me, whatever gets things going again the fastest.

I'll take a stab at it right now and see if I can manage a post to round up the necessary people, and send Lyra a message.

Also, one thing I keep wondering about is whether the Sword lands on Heph, or stays in orbit, or what. Does Anton appear in the briefing room himself, or does he wait for everyone to come down to the forward operation base, such as it is?

I'm going to compile a post as though he's still on Heph, looking through volunteer files as the Sword approaches. Has the Wiki list on M24 volunteers been updated with the aftermath of the Doomy Arms of Doom incident?

[Comrade P.]

Has the Wiki list on M24 volunteers been updated with the aftermath of the Doomy Arms of Doom incident?

It is not. Yet.
I hope my new char will get approved in time so I could jump on M24.