Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3

Author Topic: Incandescence - turn 4 - 4/4 players  (Read 2983 times)

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Incandescence - turn 4 - 4/4 players
« on: May 12, 2023, 09:46:07 pm »

One day, the stars changed.

Not the closest one, of course; Sol still keeps us warm. Our moon Luna is here too. But the planets are all gone. The Sol-Terra-Luna system sits alone.
And the constellations are all different. It's as if Earth is somewhere else entirely. Somewhere new.

These new stars in the sky - their spectra are unfamiliar. As if some medium between us is straining the light.

And that's exactly it. Scientists soon announce that Earth's new home is suffused with a luminiferous ether - some delicate 'fluid' mediating light and the rest of the EM spectrum.

It takes Earth some time to realize that this fluid has some sort of inertia, and that as it mediates light we too can manipulate it. Despite the great setbacks to modern technologies that depended on the former properties of electromagnetic waves, humanity builds great engines to traverse where our fellow planets once danced. The structure of our celestial neighborhood is defined no longer by orbits and Lagrange points, but by invisible currents and maelstroms - and a great eddy bounding the edge of our System.

No one has passed that violent current and seen where the new stars hold sway - but you and your companions are going to try to be the first.

What is this?
This is an RTD game. Players post actions and I determine their results according to the RTD scale (roll a d6 and assign 1 = critical fail, 2 = fail, 3 = partial success, 4 = success, 5 = perfect, 6 = overshoot.)
It is an exploration game. You are all crewmembers aboard the same vessel. Your collective goal is to reach the edge of the eddy around the Solar System and what lies beyond it.
It is not minimalist; this just means no rolling to instantly win or stuff like that.

Please keep in mind that this is pretty much the first game I've run (that has hope of getting anywhere.) That's why there are only 4 players. I am open to advice.

Character creation
For your character I need:
Name: your character's name.
Crew role: one of Navigator, Engineer, Gunner, or Scientist. You get advantage (use higher of two rolls) on actions relevant to your role!
 - Navigators maneuver the craft, directing its course.
 - Engineers manage the etheric engine and conduct repairs.
 - Gunners man the craft's weaponry.
 - Scientists archive observations on the journey, and draw from humanity's current research into the ether.
Multiple players can have the same role. Any unfilled role will have 1 NPC crewmember.

Also, feel free to provide and vote on suggestions for the craft's name!

Players:
Spoiler: Dr. Mia (Egan_BW) (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Dr. Vellan (syvarris) (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: June 03, 2023, 10:52:26 pm by Eschar »
Logged

S1lentWanderer

  • Bay Watcher
  • S1lently Wandering
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence (0/4 players)
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2023, 10:01:28 pm »

Morgan "Miles" Bervick
Engineer


Before the stars changed and everything went mad, Miles was a mechanic at a used car lot not far from Kennedy Space Center. As it turns out, being skilled at getting old clunkers up and running no matter what it takes is a useful skill in this day and age. Not afraid to get his hands dirty fixing what's broken. Percussive maintenance specialist. Friendly to a fault, and with a can-do attitude, this mechanic's never seen a problem he couldn't solve with a crescent wrench, two cans of WD-40, and whatever  sciency doohickeys he's got in his toolbox.
Logged

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence (0/4 players)
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2023, 10:05:53 pm »

Welcome, s1lent.
Logged

BlackPaladin99

  • Bay Watcher
  • The dark Knight of Eternity
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - the stars are gone - (1/4 players)
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2023, 07:18:52 pm »

Belekaran

Gunner
Logged
Gouge out the chainsaw priest's eyes with my thumbs.

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - the stars are gone - (1/4 players)
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2023, 08:30:39 pm »

accepted! now just two more players...
Logged

Egan_BW

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - the stars are gone - (2/4 players, 2 more needed)
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2023, 11:53:22 pm »

Name: Dr. Mia
Role: Scientist
Description: Mia isn't her last name, and she is only a 'doctor' in the loosest sense. She also happens to be the upper half of a human head grafted onto a six legged spider robot. Dr. Mia seeks to test the reaches of human discovery and possibility, and evidently is willing to go to some lengths in the pursuit.
Logged
I would starve tomorrow if I could eat the world today.

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - the stars are gone - (2/4 players, 2 more needed)
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2023, 11:57:08 pm »

welcome dr. mia!
Logged

syvarris

  • Bay Watcher
  • UNICORNPEGASUSKITTEN
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - the stars are gone - (3/4 players, 2 more needed)
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2023, 12:02:24 am »

Name: Dr. Vellan
Role: Scientist (Screw navigating, there's alien can openers to poke!)
Description: A tall and lanky man in his late forties, unremarkable in appearance but notable for his excessively energetic nature, friendliness, and boundless optimism.  He's often described as being akin to a genius puppy.  When reasobable, he's usually seen wearing a labcoat with an impractical number of pockets, most stuffed with various tools and items of interest.

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - the stars are gone - (4/4 players, starting soon!)
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2023, 12:09:32 am »

accepted! and that's our crew.

The lineup:
Engineer Morgan "Miles" Berwick
Gunner Belekaran
Scientist Dr. Mia
Scientist Dr. Vellan

The role of navigator will be filled by an NPC, who I will create momentarily.
We won't be starting tonight, as I have to sleep occasionally.

also feel free to name the vessel! by vote or consensus, if multiple names are proposed.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2023, 12:21:10 am by Eschar »
Logged

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - turn 1 - 4/4 players
« Reply #9 on: May 15, 2023, 01:08:49 am »

Departure.

The Quintessence hangs silent in empty space, suspended a few meters from a mile-long spindle by magnetic clamps. This elegant spindle, orbiting Earth 24/7, is one of many spokes of the Terra Propulsion Complex, one of the earliest etheric spaceports. A lean snowflake of steel, its delicate spokes hold hundreds of etheric craft, all carefully balanced 'below' a corresponding spoke by an intricate magnetic equilibrium. Until it's time to launch. Cryptic confirmations arrive from Traffic Control, the signals caught by an arc of nigh-invisible wire that reaches all the way from the nose to stern of the Quintessence. Efficient antenna are hard to design these days.

The massive coils of the engine start to hum. The ether's effect on different wavelengths of the EM spectrum vary, and Morgan adjusts the coils to emit just the right smattering of frequencies to coax the ambient ether backwards through the coils and coast forward. The humming is simply a side effect as the coils heat and cool, stressing the metal. The magnetic clamps keep the ship in line with the spindle - an error of ten meters, and the vessel could careen into it, wrecking that spoke and its own hull. But this little launch procedure is rote by now, and the vessel eases beside the spindle safely.

You all feel the force pushing you aft as the engine pulls more confidently at the ether and settles into a nice forward motion, but you stay 'standing' by dint of your magnetic boots. As for seeing, you're each manning a periscope at your respective stations, but all there is to see right now is the spindle rushing past, blocking out the strange stars glimmering who knows how far away.

The minutes rush past as the spindle does too and then, finally - you're away! The engine murmurs again as it cools down, radiating fins working overtime to dispense with waste heat. The Quintessence is coasting away from Terra, cast adrift on the invisible sea, bathed in ether and stilted starlight. Star observations mark that your position is in one of the large (very large, your vessel is not even a pinprick compared to it) charted currents near Terra. Gently spiraling outward for a while, this current engenders many invisible eddies, home to a few colonies eking out a living in, well, literally the middle of nowhere.

If carried by the current, those colonies are a few days out. Coasting on this current will eventually bring you to them, as well as a little further out from Earth. They may have rumors about newly-found currents, or the latest tales of pirate encounters. Speeding up the process with the engine will get the craft there sooner, though it risks running into 'whirlpools' along the way. Of course, the engine can also simply accelerate perpendicular to this stream, taking the shorter path towards the Rim and leaving this current.

Sonia Potmend, the navigator, lays out these options to Morgan, Belekaran, Dr. Mia and Dr. Vellan, all gathered at the bridge. The crude flight computer whirrs and clicks as you confer. If some alternate option is picked, it'll be what Sonia uses to chart a new solution.


Players:
Spoiler: Dr. Mia (Egan_BW) (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Dr. Vellan (syvarris) (click to show/hide)
Sonia Potmend (NPC): Navigator
Vessel Status: the Quintessence is idling, producing no thrust but maintaining an EM field so it drifts along the ether.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2023, 02:22:00 am by Eschar »
Logged

S1lentWanderer

  • Bay Watcher
  • S1lently Wandering
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - turn 1 - 4/4 players
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2023, 09:11:07 am »

What, exactly, is our mission? Our goals currently seem a little unclear.
Logged

Eschar

  • Bay Watcher
  • hello
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - turn 1 - 4/4 players
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2023, 09:31:43 am »

Primary objective: safely get past the edge of the 'solar' system. Before anyone else.
Secondary objective: record and study any phenomena encountered on the way.
Tertiary objective: return to confirm your claim.

Visiting the colonies in this current will cost you some time, but could give you information about the navigational situation for later. Heading directly out of this current, meanwhile, is the most direct path pointing towards the edge of the system.
Logged

S1lentWanderer

  • Bay Watcher
  • S1lently Wandering
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - turn 1 - 4/4 players
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2023, 09:44:29 am »

If we need to get there before everybody else, my money's on the "Leaving the known currents and just shooting off in our own direction" option. we're going to need to gun our engines. We already have the supplies we need, and if we take the time to stop, we're just handing somebody else the gold medal. We're not getting paid to play it safe, survival is literally our third priority. If we go out in a blaze of engine-failure induced glory, the company will find somebody to replace us. If we don't, then we return victorious. The Colonies may have valuable intel that will get us on the right track. Let us make haste!

accelerate perpendicular to this stream, taking the shorter path towards the Rim and leaving this current.

Gun the engine into the current. We've many miles to tread yet, best to make as good of time as we can.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2023, 01:28:49 pm by S1lentWanderer »
Logged

syvarris

  • Bay Watcher
  • UNICORNPEGASUSKITTEN
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - turn 1 - 4/4 players
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2023, 10:54:39 am »

I'm not totally sure about that.  The turn states the colonies might have more updated information about currents.  If there's others starting now, or recently, contacting the colonies might be a method to get a leg up.  Buuut, from the narrative, it sounds like we're one of the first.  So yeah.

Beeline to the rim!

Egan_BW

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Incandescence - turn 1 - 4/4 players
« Reply #14 on: May 15, 2023, 11:11:21 am »

Space is big. Really big. We have better odds of being the first to actually investigate stuff other people have found than to actually stumble on something in the middle of nowhere.

Accelerate into the current.
Logged
I would starve tomorrow if I could eat the world today.
Pages: [1] 2 3