I'll start with the premise here since that seems a good idea. Here's how everything is going to work. Also most of this is shamelessly copied and pasted from Sean's files. Pretty much all credit goes to Sean Mirrsen here for the initial idea and framework, though I've added a couple things of my own.
You are a team of (roughly) six individuals that do all the work aboard a small, privately owned spaceship, a Protsvetanie class space-whaler that's somehow both pretty large and incredibly cramped, like an inverted Tardis. It's structured a little like a submarine, and is designed for hunting and processing the various horrors of deep space, colloquially referred to as "Space Whales", that reportedly make surprisingly good sushi. Most basic functions of the ship can be performed by a somewhat dumb AI and its complement of robots, should the working crew not want to do work besides tell the ship where to go and what to shoot. Space Whales are always in season, and can be hunted with abandon, seeing as there doesn't seem to be an end to the things. The crew happily obliges, making money in the best way known space has to offer. This game is a series of encounters with randomly generated beasts. Players make hypothetical money by stuffing the holds with processed space whale... let's say meat, because nobody really knows whether it's actually meat. Whales will have an estimated danger rating, which multiplies the value of the processed meat - rarer meat is more expensive. Money can be used to purchase upgrades for the ship, but will mostly be used to repair torn-away sections of hull and replace lost systems and murdered crewmembers.
Players in the waitlist aren't cycled in normally. Instead, the crew will be able to hire new crewmembers to replace any lost ones. The more money they spend on hiring a crewmember, the more points will that crewmember's player have to distribute between his skills and stats.
In the event of a TPK, the remains of the ship are assumed to have been found, hauled into the dock and left for purchase by anyone - anyone being the next six players in the waitlist, who essentially start from scratch, plus whatever bells and whistles survived from the previous owners.
The ship is roughly split into six component sections. Fore/Aft, Port/Starboard, Dorsal/Ventral.
Each section is sort of layered.
Top layer is the hull. This is what takes the first damage, should the ship be attacked.
Right under that - or on that, rather - are weapons. A sufficiently good hit can take a weapon off.
Further below are Systems. Each section has its own. In order of importance, they are Control, Propulsion, Sensors, Communications, Processing, Storage. By location, Fore is Processing, Aft is Propulsion, Port is Communications, Starboard is Sensors, Dorsal is Control, Ventral is Storage. A little like a submarine.
Underneath it all is Structure, one for each. It's the network of endosteel beams and corridors that actually holds stuff together, so damage to this is kinda bad.
Each system has a value, which doubles as both its health and effectiveness, following Progressive rules. Generally, if something is damaged, anything short of a Perfect Success will degrade the value. On an Epic Fail or an Overshot, a lower system can also take damage.
The ship you start with is actually a little underdeveloped, with room to improve, and you have money to spare. It has six systems. They are Control, Propulsion, Communications, Sensors, Processing, and Storage.
- Control is the AI that runs the ship whenever you can't be assed to, like fending off a horde of betentacled glowing monstrosities.
- Propulsion is what moves you in space, evading, chasing, or tearing free from the aforementioned betentacled monstrosities.
- Sensors is what finds you some space whales randomly floating around the universe. The better the sensor, the better the whales it detects - and the less chance of reporting a betentacled monstrosity as small fry. The value is simultaneously responsible for the maximum danger rating you can detect, and the accuracy of the detection of said rating.
- Communications is what allows you to call for help, either to tow an exceptionally big carcass, or bail your sorry ass out of a pinch. You can also get whale extermination requests
- Processing is what grinds betentacled monstrosities into sellable meat. The better, the higher quality meat it can process. Higher values lessen the chance of meat quality degrading while being processed, and may yield higher quality product than the raw material.
- Storage defines your hold's size, no fancy rolls here. Just multiply by 100. Used both for meat and for extra stuff, such as piloted armor and fancy fighters.
Now, here I finally explain how the hell this whole thing happens and what you'll actually do.
- First step to hunting a whale is finding it - this requires using the Scanner with a Tech skill, and interpreting its output with Intelligence. You automatically go there, and either do or don't find the thing.
- Once you spot it, you generally want to kill or incapacitate it, and drag it into the grinder of your Processing unit - using reel harpoons and ship harpoon guns.
- All successful weapons fire will cause some damage, degrading the amount of whale you can actually process. Hand weapons usually aren't excessively powerful, but ship weapons usually tear or vaporize large chunks off the whale.
- Most whales come with secret abilities or vulnerabilities. Using Scanners and just Intelligence on them is a good way to find those, but trying to use good old reasoning works too.
- There may be goodies hidden in whales. Be careful about the shooting, and hope for a good Processing roll to gain them.
You all start in Standard Suits, that offer no protection except against space. You don't really have to worry about suffocation unless your helmet is broken, but being depressurized is no pleasant thing, and you'll need to return to the ship quickly. Standard Suits also have a sort of an RCS system for puttering around the ship in zero-G, so you don't need to worry about being thrown off the deck too much - though it does take Piloting checks to do anything beyond puttering around, and they don't work in atmosphere or in any meaningful amount of gravity.
Harpoons and Harpoon Rifles naturally come with cable as strong as their rating, allowing you to either reel the whale to the ship, or yourself to the whale. A Harpoon Rifle can be reloaded with Harpoons, should its own harpoon break off and be lost.
Once you take care of the whale one way or another - or lose it, or give up - you can either return to port and sell the meat off, or keep scanning for more whales until your hold is filled.
If you're bored on the ship while people do whatever, you can devise practice bouts or exercises - succeeding enough in these will raise your stats and skills, though slowly. Hand weapons have no ammo to waste, repairs take no materials, medicine... well, be creative.
(hint: Reeling in is a Tech+Value roll)
Now, for your introduction, again shameless copied from the original. I liked it far too much to let it go.
The year is... gods, you can't even remember what year it is after last night. Thirty... something. Or forty... blast it. Must've been a hell of an occasion to have drunk so much.. blargh.
You vaguely recall celebrating an event, something you and five of your friends have been planning and saving money for since two years ago. You force yourself to your feet and look around. Five more bodies, in similar states of hung over, litter the floor around you amidst numerous bottles, broken furniture, and combat gear. You try to find a mirror to look at yourself, but there is none. Come to think of it, the room looks strange. You don't remember renting an apartment with great big plasma conduits built into the walls. Slowly you stagger out through the nearest door frame, and blunder through a long corridor, finding yourself in a room. A room with a downright unhealthy amount of press able buttons, arrayed under several very much large screens, each showing nothing but the starry blackness of space. An electronic-sounding voice speaks out from nowhere in particular.
"This automated control unit welcomes its newly registered owners. There is one message pending.
The port authorities of Deneb Kaitos would like to remind that you still need to receive and sign transference papers, as well as your license. Simply hopping aboard, shooting compression lasers into the air and shouting, quote, "HAW YE MATEYS LET 'ER RIP!", end quote, does not comply with standard port departure and license assignment procedures. They would like to see you, your crew, and your ship, back in port at your earliest convenience, or else they will, quote, "blow ya sorry ass out of orbit an' tow ya carcass back themselves", end quote.
This automated control unit recommends its newly registered owners to comply with above request. Coordinates for Deneb Kaitos Whaling Port laid in."
You blink.
"Oh."
Welcome, everyone, to the Space Whaling Adventure RTD.
To enlist into the crew, get thee self to the wait list, and hope the players buy a new crew member.
This game uses Progressive RTD rules for rolls, which means your stat or skill value determines the size of the die rolled for it, rather than the bonus applied to a standard die.
[1]: Epic Fail
[2]: EF, Fail
[3]: EF, F, Half Success
[4]: EF, F, HS, Success
[5]: EF, F, HS, S, Overshot
[6]: EF, F, HS, S, Perfect Success, OS
[7] and above: EF, F, HS, S,.., S, PS, OS
<SHOPPING - DENEB KAITOS PORT>
(costs are in Creds Per Point, every point increases value (VAL)) 1u is 1 unit of storage taken up by a single copy of that item.
If a weapon uses ammunition, you can safely assume that ammunition affects the results you get with said weapon.
New items can be added on request if they seem reasonable.
Personal Weapons:
Harpoon(10cpp): Melee range, AGI to hit, STR+VAL damage
Harpoon Reel Rifle(50cpp): Short range, WEAP to hit, STR+VAL damage
Compression Laser(100cpp): Medium range, WEAP to hit, WEAP+VAL damage
Explosive Pack(25cpp): Short range. WEAP to hit(hit here is getting the pack in position), VAL damage Extremely powerful for the price. Explosive Packs are somewhat adhesive, and so will stick to targets. Each Pack can be remotely detonated separately or as a group. Detonation is a TECH roll.
Armor: All suits are slightly more effective in vacuum than the default suit you start with.
Power Suit(100cpp): Adds VAL to STR
Jetpack Suit(100cpp): Adds VAL to AGI
Combat Suit(100cpp): Adds VAL to TOU
Equipment
Medkit(25cpp): Single-use, adds VAL to MEDI
Omnitool(25cpp): Single-use, adds VAL to TECH
Sealant Pack(10cpp): Single-use, adds VAL to TECH. Analogous to duct tape. Doesn't actually repair damage or fix wounds, but is good for getting things working again if the damage isn't too severe. Great for fixing torn suits to make them vacuum safe, at least temporarily.
Ship Weapons
Harpoon Launcher Mount(100cpp): Medium Range, PILO to hit, VALx2 damage
Harpoon Launcher Turret(200cpp): Medium Range, WEAP to hit, VALx2 damage
Compression Laser Mount(200cpp): Long Range, PILO to hit, VALx3 damage
Compression Laser Turret(400cpp): Long Range, WEAP to hit, VALx3 damage
Missile Rack(200cpp): Long Range, TECH to hit, VALx4 damage
Ram Blade Mount(500cpp): Melee Range, PILO to hit, PROPxVAL damage (PROP is ship Propulsion system)
Railgun Mount(500cpp): Extremely Long Range, TECH to hit, VALx8 damage
Gauss Cannon Mount(200cpp): Medium Range, PILO to hit, VALx3 damage
Gauss Cannon Turret(400cpp): Medium Range, WEAP to hit, VALx3 damage
Devastator Missile Mount(2000 credits(This item has a flat cost, and cannot be upgraded)): Long Range, TECH to hit. Can only be launched by pilot. Guided. Massive firepower, but only one use.
Close in weapons system (or CIWS) (500cpp): A weapon automatically fired by the ship's control system, mainly to destroy incoming projectiles. Fairly short range, but the AI can be ordered to shoot certain targets. Uses Gauss rounds.
Ship Weapon Ammo
Kinetic Harpoon(1u)(10cpp): Standard Damage
Explosive Harpoon(1u)(20cpp): VALx2 Extra Damage if stuck in target
Tranquilizer Harpoon(1u)(20cpp): Higher VAL means higher chance to Tranquilize. There's a limit to how much one harpoon can do though.
Guided Missile Pack(5u)(100cpp): Standard Damage
Tranquilizer Missile Pack(5u)(150cpp): Higher VAL means higher chance to Tranquilize. There's a limit to how much one missile pack can do though.
Heat Missile Pack(5u)(150cpp) Lights targets on fire. Usually more damage, but that means less usable meat.
Multi Missile Pack((VALx1.5)u)(150cpp): Standard Damage, but allows continuous fire without reloading. VAL shots. Val damage.
Multi Heat Missile Pack(VALx1.5)u)(200cpp): VAL shots. VAL damage.
Multi Tranquilizer Missile Pack(VALx1.5)u)(200cpp): VAL shots. Higher VAL means higher chance to Tranquilize. There's a limit to how much one missile pack can do though.
Railgun ammo(10u)(100cpp): Standard Damage
Tranquilizer Railgun ammo(10u)(200cpp): Higher VAL means higher chance to Tranquilize. There's a limit to how much one railgun shot can do though.
Gauss rounds(3u)(50cpp): Standard ammunition for Gauss Cannons.
Tranquilizer Gauss rounds(3u)(100cpp): You know the drill by now.
Ship Upgrades
(cost is based on VAL of existing system, upgrades increase level by 1)
Hull: VALx150cpp
Processing: VALx150cpp
Propulsion: VALx150cpp
Sensors: VALx100cpp
Communications: VALx100cpp
Control: VALx150cpp
Storage: VALx10cpp (Storage capacity is VALx100)
Dedicated Tracking System: VALx100 Automatically keeps the suits of all crew members synced together, so that they can be located at all times. VAL determines accuracy. VAL of 6 or above allows for wireless audio communication. This upgrade will be attached to the ship's control unit. Damage to that unit could destroy this upgrade.
Ship Equipment
Jackbot(10u)(200cpp): Universal NPC bot under AI control. All skills equal to VAL.
Gunbot(10u)(200cpp): Specialized NPC bot under AI control. WEAP skill equals double VAL. Other skills removed.
Flybot(10u)(200cpp): Specialized NPC bot under AI control. PILO skill equals double VAL. Other skills removed.
Techbot(10u)(200cpp): Specialized NPC bot under AI control. TECH skill equals double VAL. Other skills removed.
Medbot(10u)(200cpp): Specialized NPC bot under AI control. MEDI skill equals double VAL. Other skills removed.
VAL is item value, in points.
STR, AGI, TOU, INT are player stats.
WEAP, PILO, TECH, MEDI are player skills.
CONT, PROP, COMM, SCAN, PROC, STOR, HULL are ship system values.
Purchases Explained:
Since this is the Progressive system, most things you can buy have a "value". A value determines, simultaneously, the sturdiness of the item, and its performance.
Say, you buy a Compression Laser, for 1000c. It has a Value of 10. If you fire it at something, and hit, the damage roll will be your Weapons skill added to this value, 10. So if your Weapons skill is 10, the result will be between 1 and 20.
Feel free to pool money to buy things. You have 6000 total, or 1000 per player.
Ship weapons may seem cheap for their power, but they have a big drawback, since you need to collect whale meat, not blow it into bite-sized charred chunks spread throughout the known space. Hand weapons do negligible collateral damage in comparison.
Statuses:
Ship class: "Protsvetanie" Medium Whaler
Ship name: Hyperious Interstellar Border Occurrence Peequod Pod
Hull/Structure:
Fore: 7/7
Aft: 7/7
Port: 7/7
Starboard: 7/7
Dorsal: 7/7
Ventral: 7/7
Processing System: 8/8
Propulsion System: 8/8
Communications System: 8/8
Sensors System: 9/9
Control System: 8/8
Dedicated Tracking System: 6/6
Storage Bay: 693/900 units free.
Weapon status:
Kinetic Harpoon Turret-8 (Fore): 8/8
Ram Blade Mount-1 (Fore): 1/1
Railgun Mount-2 (Dorsal): 2/2
Compression Laser Turret-1 (Ventral) 1/1
CIWS-1: 1/1
Storage:
Jackbot-5(10u) x2
Kinetic Harpoon-8(1u) x 70
Explosive Harpoon-1(1u) x10
Tranquilizer Harpoon-1(1u) x 10
Railgun ammo-1(10u) x 4
Tranquilizer Railgun ammo-1(10u) x3
Gauss rounds-1(3u) x9
Player: Ozarck
Name: Techni Caliope Shunal
Appearance: Adult and Human. Male.
Health: Perfectly Fine.
Credits: 0
Stats:
Strength:6+2
Agility:7
Toughness:9
Intelligence:10
Skills:
Weaponry:11
Piloting: 0
Technical skill:11
Medical skill: 0
Inventory:
Battle Suit-2 (Currently worn)
Jet pack Suit-3
Compression laser-1
Compression laser-1
Player: AkumaKasai
Name: Anna Lyudmila Petrov
Appearance: An adult woman. Shortish, athletic in appearance, looks vaguely Caucasian.
Health: Perfectly Fine.
Credits: 0
Stats:
Strength: 6
Agility: 9
Toughness: 10
Intelligence: 7
Skills:
Weaponry: 11
Piloting: 0
Technical skill: 11
Medical skill: 0
Inventory:
Standard Suit
Player: Coolrune206
Name: Edward Tivrusky
Appearance: Male human adult. Edward has brown hair, which is neatly tucked. His kind blue eyes do an excellent job at hiding the insanity inside of him.
Health: Perfectly Fine.
Credits: 0
Stats:
Strength: 7
Agility: 8+3
Toughness: 8
Intelligence: 8
Skills:
Weaponry: 11
Piloting: 0
Technical skill: 6
Medical skill: 6
Inventory:
Jetpack Suit-3
Harpoon Reel Rifle-3
Kinetic Harpoon-8 x5
Sealant Pack-1 x5
Explosive pack-4 x6
Gunbot-4 Named Frank, strapped to Edward's back. Frank is holding a Kinetic Harpoon-8.
Player: crazyabe
Name: Dr. Alexander Violant
Appearance: Adult and Human. Male.
Health: Perfectly Fine.
Credits: 0
Stats:
Strength: 6+5
Agility: 6
Toughness: 6
Intelligence: 15
Skills: (Distribute 20 points)
Weaponry: 15
Piloting: 0
Technical skill: 0
Medical skill: 6
Inventory:
Power Axe-10(Probably better than your harpoon for some tasks. I'd ask you not to cut off your team mates legs but I doubt I can stop you.)
Power Suit-5
Kinetic Harpoon-20
Kinetic Harpoon-1 x4
Harpoon Reel Rifle-5
Length of Cloth
Player: The Moonlit Shadow
Name: Telyor
Appearance: Adult and human.
Health: Perfectly Fine.
Credits: 0
Stats:
Strength:4+3
Agility:20
Toughness:6
Intelligence:4
Skills:
Weaponry:15
Piloting:0
Technical skill:7
Medical skill:0
Inventory:
Power Suit-3
Sealant Pack-5 x1
Kinetic Harpoon-8
Kinetic Harpoon-10 (In use)
Player: AzyWng
Name: Andel Dieter
Appearance: A light-skinned male with brown hair and brown eyes. About early 20s age, pretty tall.
Health: Perfectly Fine.
Credits: 115
Stats:
Strength: 9
Agility: 7
Toughness: 7
Intelligence: 9
Skills:
Weaponry: 6
Piloting: 6
Technical skill: 6
Medical skill: 5
Inventory:
Standard Suit
Kinetic Harpoon-1
Kinetic Harpoon-8(In use)
Compression Laser-2
Wait list:
Whisperling
The Ensorceler
Dustin Hache
Xantalos
lawastooshort
DoctorMcTaalik
heydude6
Author
Topic: Space Whaling RTD Adventure: Revival - Cancelled (Read 33445 times)