IMPORTANT INFORMATION
SWEF chat server is: freedom.il.us.starchat.net
Players: Register your name and post a reply in
"Freaky Fringes" before posting to your game forums
The SWEF Manual is ready for distribution.
Game Manuals are the responsibility of the respective Game Masters.
SWEF GAME SITE LINKS
SWEF. NET
SWEF Wiki
|
Page: 1 2
RickSWEF
Strangest of the Strange
Global user
Posts: 754
Karma: 3 (+3/-0)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Prisons and the like....
I know we discussed this Tuesday night in chat. I just wanted to put in a bit of what was discussed and add a little extra to consider.
It was said that maybe prisoners could be used as labor in the shipyards.
Not a totally bad idea, but maybe the labor force would be limited to those prisoners who committed non-violent crimes?
The rest could be sent to some penal colony or prison dome (as in Escape from NY or Escape from LA styles). Perhaps these colonies or domes could be in the asteroid field, or maybe on some of the many larger rocks that inhabit Saturn's rings (these "rocks" run from dust size to mountain size).
Just some ideas.
---
I'm CRAZY!!!!
Rick
SWEF Forum Manager
fm@swef.net
|
|
8/Dec/04, 9:37 pm
|
Send Email to RickSWEF
Send PM to RickSWEF
ICQ
Blog
|
Randy1012
"I aim to misbehave."
Global user
Posts: 39
Karma: 2 (+3/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Geography
I was talking to Ron about the prisoners/eventual pirates idea a bit last night and suggested that maybe the penal colony in question could be located on a moon orbiting Jupiter, since that seems to be a relatively sparsely-populated planet. Maybe all the nations in the world (except maybe the Shogunate, or Dai-Nippon which I think sounds cooler  ) export their worst criminals to a certain Jovian moon--Britain to Ganymede, Germany to Io, Russia to Callisto, Italy to Europa, etc. That might make the future prisoners' rebellion an even more pressing matter, as it could spread to all the prison-moons of Jupiter and pretty much make any sort of expedition beyond the Asteroid Belt a nuisance, with the pirates around Jupiter and the Americans around Saturn...
|
|
9/Dec/04, 12:19 am
|
Send Email to Randy1012
Send PM to Randy1012
ICQ
|
RonSWEF
Overly Evil Overlord
Global user
Posts: 111
Karma: -1 (+0/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
"Magic" & Merfolk
Okay, Rick, I looked your ideas over, thought about it, and now I'm inflicting my opinion on everyone. For starters, I think I'd better clarify something. There's a reason I'm aiming this game toward being "Age of Sail" in space, I've noticed a trend in science fiction (particularly Star Trek) to fix every week's problem with (insert name of nifty gadget here). It goesn't matter if it's a local plague, an exploding star, or the Borg, all you gotta do is decide which piece of tech to use and jury-rig it until ta-da, problem solved. Whoop-de-do, I'm so glad I came, aren't you?
"Magic" (or in this case high technology) has its place in games, but oft times it's all too easy to let it overshadow the players. That's one of the things that happened in Rogue's Galaxy for a while, the players gained an ally whose 'magic' was so great that there were few real challenges left and even if there were, it was easier to let Aeris the SuperNanoLifeform handle everything. That kind of thing tends to make for games that people don't want to play.
So when I started coming up with Winds of Aether, I found myself liking the idea of making a space opera setting with a relatively low tech base. Because ships are driven by a particle wind, we don't need fusion engines, reactor cores, or other things that tend to explode spectacularly. Using cannons and pistols gives the feeling of danger while not having to worry about "so how exactly do you dodge a weapon that kills at the speed of light?" Metal swords can still carve a man like a roast, but kill fewer trainees than lightsabers.
Does this mean I'm against big tech? No, I just want it rare and mysterious. I want people to be more than a little nervous when a steel-hulled Mercurial ship crosses our path. I want a machinegun to be a super-weapon. But most importantly, I want our heroes to win through courage and cleverness rather than just having better toys.
Anyway, I'm not grouching at anyone, I just wanted to get my vision across so everyone knows what ballpark I'm wanting to play in. Also, I wanted to over-explain why I'm not gonna use 'force-bubbles filled with water' for Venusian ships. Adding force fields to a universe where there is more or less no high-energy technology would be a major imbalance.
I will say this, though. The Mercurials can do some surprising things with metal, and there is a *lot* more to aether than anyone knows. Perhaps there is an extinct civilization that once harnessed it like electricity. But there's no point in letting the players see it until they're ready to be impressed. 
---
"Define interesting."
"Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"
|
|
9/Dec/04, 9:29 pm
|
Send Email to RonSWEF
Send PM to RonSWEF
|
RonSWEF
Overly Evil Overlord
Global user
Posts: 111
Karma: -1 (+0/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
And Now, Merfolk
Heres what I'm looking at for the Venusai, aka the merfolk. I like Rick's description, flexible fish-like tails with humanoid (but scaled and not quite human) torsos. They are primarily aquatic but can survive out of the water for days at a time providing they are kept in very humid conditions. Their scales run a wide gamut of colors and patterns, though their eyes are dark and mostly pupil. This is an adaptation to the diffuse and often dark light conditions underwater, bright light makes them extremely uncomfortable.
The really notable feature of their species are their voices. Their vocal chords are capable of producing sounds all across the harmonic range and even many pitched too high or low for humans to hear. Their language communicates as much in subharmonics as spoken word, which has made it nearly impossible for humans to speak or understand it. Most interesting, however, is the effect their voices have on humans and other living creatures. Unless they specificly suppress the subharmonics in their speech, just listening to a Venusai voice results in relaxation and even mild euphoria. Even more unnerving, certain types of crystals found at the bottom of the Venusian oceans can have a resonating effect on the voice's subharmonics, amplifying both their range and their effects greatly. A thus-amplified Venusai can reduce a human subject to a state of mindless bliss and complete openness to suggestion. This state of suggestability is similar to hypnosis in that no suggestion can force a person to do anything they truly don't want to do, but this can still leave a lot of leeway.
It must be understood that very few people off of Venus know about this effect. The Venusai do not use these amplifying crystals very often and they are very discrete about it. They are not interested in taking over the solar system or warping everyone's minds, and it's incredibly rare to see a Venusa off of the planet (there have been a few here and there who have consented to guest-starring in operas, but it's a rare treat at best). As far as humanity is concerned, the Venusai are very pleasant people who prefer to stay home and mind their own busienss.
Venus itself is a water planet, covered by shimmering seas of blue and green. Tectonic activity has made for a wide variety of ocean depths, and while there is no 'dry land' as such, the floating cities built by human colonists are anchored to underwater mountains to keep them from drifting. The human population of Venus is a mixed variety of Terrans though the first and foremost settlers were Italian. The Venusai permit them to remain as long as they don't allow their cities to grow too large or pollute the oceans. In fact, the floating cities have become a major source of revenue as many wealthy Terrans like to vacation in Neo Venezia or Ravenna. The human settlers split the profits with the Venusai (who spend their share on refined materials that are not available on Venus), but still make enough to maintain a general air of opulence. The so-called government of Venus is an ally(but not a client state) of the British Empire, but for the most part it functions only to reduce immigration. Permission to settle on Venus is incredibly rare, and visitors are ejected from the planet after thirty days. Venus maintains a navy (with vessels purchased from Terran shipbuilders), but only to enforce their immigration policy.
---
"Define interesting."
"Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"
|
|
9/Dec/04, 10:20 pm
|
Send Email to RonSWEF
Send PM to RonSWEF
|
RonSWEF
Overly Evil Overlord
Global user
Posts: 111
Karma: -1 (+0/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Prisoners and Pirates
Okay, here's my thoughts about Jupiter and prison colonies.
Jupiter is a good place for a penal colony, but making the whole 'archipelago' a prison would be excessive. Your average Jovian moon is a pretty big rock, you could build a big enough prison for the whole system's offenders just on one planetoid.
However, if the rest of the moons are considered 'frontier territory', ripe for settling, then that would make the prison even more dangerous. If they overthrow the jailers and set up a pirate port, they could threaten the colonies in region as well as the Asteroid Clusters and perhaps even Nipponese shipping.
So how about this:
The Rock of Sinope is the British Empire's most notorious prison. Only murderers and other violent criminals get sent to Sinope, most lesser offenders are sentenced to the shipyards of Luna Brittanica or minor prisons on Terra instead. All prisoners on Sinope are there for life, and considering that their primary occupation is mining the planetoid for copper and tin, most life sentences don't last more than a few years. There is little native food or water on Sinope, therefore supplies must be shipped in regularly. The guards and wardens of Sinope are backed up by a full batallion of Royal Marines, and the REF keeps a cruiser within one day's sail of the prison at all times.
Any thoughts?
---
"Define interesting."
"Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"
|
|
9/Dec/04, 10:51 pm
|
Send Email to RonSWEF
Send PM to RonSWEF
|
RickSWEF
Strangest of the Strange
Global user
Posts: 754
Karma: 3 (+3/-0)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Ideas
Very good to all of that.
As I said in my posts, my ideas could be thrown out or taken as wished. I'm not at all upset that the technology thing wasn't part of the vision for the game. I understand and agree with the decisions.
At least I got some more ideas to come from it. 
I like the prison ideas too. Though I think Saturn may have been a better choice, Jupiter should work just as well.
Now, if there are Marines at the prison, why would there be a need for regular guards? A warden I can understand, to run the administrative part of the operation, but the guards would be of little value when a Marine could possibly do an even better job.
Just a question I have.
---
I'm CRAZY!!!!
Rick
SWEF Forum Manager
fm@swef.net
|
|
10/Dec/04, 9:20 am
|
Send Email to RickSWEF
Send PM to RickSWEF
ICQ
Blog
|
RonSWEF
Overly Evil Overlord
Global user
Posts: 111
Karma: -1 (+0/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Geography
Well, you have a point, though a couple other things come to mind. If you have a garrison of troops on hand, if a need arises in the Jovian region then they can be deployed a lot faster than they could from Terra, and the guards could keep the peace while they're away. Logistically speaking, it would make sene for the Empire to have marine garrisons deployed around the system, and Sinope would be a logical choice.
Besides, if a prison break does happen, it would be more entertaining to have someone have lured the marines away first.
As for putting it in Saturn, you really don't want to put a maximum-security prison where the Americans can get to it. ::grin::
---
"Define interesting."
"Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"
|
|
10/Dec/04, 2:02 pm
|
Send Email to RonSWEF
Send PM to RonSWEF
|
RonSWEF
Overly Evil Overlord
Global user
Posts: 111
Karma: -1 (+0/-1)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Geography
The way I'm thinking, Neptune and Pluto are something akin to terra incognita. They haven't been thoroughly explored yet, so there could be anything out there. Feel free to come up with something for that area. Also, I'm pondering a race of bat-like creatures to be native to Saturn and living with the Americans...
---
"Define interesting."
"Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"
|
|
11/Dec/04, 9:37 pm
|
Send Email to RonSWEF
Send PM to RonSWEF
|
Add a reply
Page: 1 2
Link to us
- Blogs
- Hall of Honour
- Chat
|
You are not logged in (login)
Board's time is: 27/Nov/09, 1:22 am
|
|
|
|
LATEST NEWS
"SWEF.NET Website Updated!"
The website for SWEF was recently updated with new game information.
Please take some time to look it over.
"GAMES!"
We now have some exciting games in our line-up. See the forums and Wiki for details.
"Game Rooms!"
Check out the website for a listing of game rooms and server addresses.
|
