General Pulp/DieselPunk/Occult/Nazi thread.

[veekie]

Heh, Eberron could probably fall under MagicPunk. What with the magitech all over the place.

[BowenSilverclaw]

Heh, it falls under AWESOME, 'nuff said

[Tema69]

Ahrem... Bump. Merry christmas and a happy new year to y'all.

Also, in other news, I'm stealing ideas from everybody at the moment, and I've decided to scale things up a bit. The PCs lull around in their steampunkish setting, while otherwhere, other stuff happens. Makes sense, right, considered the mecha, etc...

So, while lurking around the WotC gleemax forums, I found this:
The New Frontier, by Atanakar: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1122493
I've decided to use this as a general background, something the PCs might never know, but it gives a background nonetheless.

Age 1 • Exploration & Alterations
The first phase of colonization started after the development and perfection of Jump_Spheres between 2081 and 2087. Jump_Spheres, or «JS», were first used to «teleport» to different locations around Earth.

The second generation of JS were developed to teleport in space. The first jump was made to the Moon in 2089. Rocket science industry is abandoned by scientists and governments. Successive jumps are made to Mars and the other planets in the Solar system. By 2095, with the development of more powerful powercores, JS are able to jump as far as Pluto. For the next 50 years all the planets and satellites in the Solar system are colonized. By 2105 human population outside of Earth has reach three million.

During the same period of time bioengineering was perfected to an art form. Thanks to organ regrowth and DNA manipulation Humans now have a life expectancy of 100 to 120 years. It is during this period that five major permanent alterations to the DNA of space faring humans are developed : Polyvision, Polygland Nexus, Biotech Ports, Biocervical Booster and Biorepair Nodes became standard traits of humans travelling in the Solar System and beyond.

In 2112 the first jump outside the Solar system is accomplished with the third generation of Jump_Spheres. This new one kilometer wide JS transports a crew of 25 altered humans and equipment to the Alpha Centauri system.

Age 2 • The Others and the Plague
Between 2112 and 2176 humans explore the Milky Way. They come into contact with 3 benevolent space capable civilizations : The Køalfrans, the D'Jelx and the Oolulits. They also come into contact with 2 pre-space faring civilizations : The «primitive» Maaq~Rens and the «steam age» EwVards. During this period Humans are successful in establishing trading outposts and non-aggression treaties with all the alien governments.

This golden Age of galactic peace lasts until the start of the Powerphage Plague in 2159. Contamination of jump powercores by the interdimensional powerphage parasites prevents usage of jump technology. Researchers from all races fail to find solution to fight off the powerphage plague. Milky Way civilizations slowly regress to pre-space jump levels. Populations are left to fend for themselves across the galaxy. Eventually, the powerphage population dwindles to almost nothing after they have drained all the jump powercores in the galaxy. A century has passed...

Age 3 • The New Frontier
Earth : Campaign begins with characters volunteering for first Human Jump_Sphere activation in a hundred years. Its time to go back to the stars!

Anyhooo... As you might have guessed, the Steampunk setting we use, 4th City, will be located on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. A few years before the Powerphage Plague (saaay, 2155?), an orbital station was established on this planet, and just before the PowerPhage Plague, a colonist expedition was launched. When the Plague arrived in 2159, the expedition was left to fend for itself, and reversed to steamtech. Generations later, no one remembers the original story.
Since 4th City is cut off from the rest of the continent by marshes, mountains, sea and forest, the 4th City inhabitants haven't made contact with the outside world (if you've read the 4th City setting or seen the map, you'll see what I mean - also, the two only exits, controlled by the mercenaries, might just know a little bit more about the outside world than the rest).
I was thinking, inspired by my vacation in Athens, that I'd create an outside world, with somewhat higher tech [see edit at the bottom] than 4th City, based on ancient greece/rome. Decadent politicians, a highly religious clergy, and a powerful warrior caste - oh, and some civilians to populate the area. This outside world has a vague memory of the "real world", and the clergy preaches a slightly changed/censored/religi-fied (that ain't no word...) version of the "facts" to the populace. The clergy eagerly awaits the return of the space-farers who will come to save them from their own ignorance.

Since one of the PCs (the noble one) goal is to explore the marshes, I could arrange some clues in the [mecha] that could lead to the discovery of the outside world.

Since I'm still considering what to do with the mecha there, how about if it was actually part of the original expedition? An explorer-walker (heavily armed for self-defense, of course - we're only humans, after all)?

Compared to the timeline of Atanakar's setting, I'd say the "reconquest of the stars" have been underway for some time now, but they haven't reached the PC's planet (wanting to finish the reconquest of their own star-system first, and then turning towards Alpha Centauri).
Around 2300?

So, what do you think?

PS. I know this is a somewhat unexpected turn of events/setting, but apart from the greek/roman "outside world", it probably won't influence the campaign. I just needed an explanation for the hi-tech stuff.

PPS. And since I'm thinking hi-tech stuff, I'm grabbing some of my old ideas I've posted in a post apoc thread.

A GPS connected to the only working sattelite (I don't know about your apoc, but depending on what kind, sattelites could still be working or not) - if it goes out, you have another adventure based on getting it to work again (going to post-apoc NASA?).

A water-purification machine (portable). Again, depending on the apoc type, it can either be '...nice to have' or 'wow! let's kill 'im and loot it!".

A portable generator with a reeeaaal long battery time. Alternatively, wind-powered, solar-panels, etc...

A high tech survival/escape pod with food, ammo, self-defense weapons, and most importantly: air-conditioning.
(should be vehicle-transportable)

And stealin' from Schizoveen here on gleemax:

- drugs that do the same as potions in dungeons and dragons (to a certain extend)
- certain computer hack with the robotic space civilization for GPS purposes or maybe orbital drop attacks.
- maybe to integrate nanobot technology (from the underwater society*).. this could give a possibility of finding nanobot programing
- holograms
- spine chips that enhance human capabilities**

*related to his setting, irrelevant here.
**could be related to Atanakar's DNA developments/mutations.

Which spurred my inspiration:

About your "orbital drop attacks"... It gave me the idea of using clones in drop pods. Orbital Space Station with clones hibernating in drop pods, until a "we need reinforcements!!!" signal is given. A few moments later, voila, clones at your service. To prevent the PCs (or anyone else, for that matter) from amassing an army, their life-expectancy could be reduced to a few hours at most (due to any fluffy explanation, the clones having exceeded their "best used before [date]" being one of them, or perhaps due to radiation or whatever...).

Of course, as with any hipowered stuff, restrictions would have to be applied - waiting for the orbital station to get in range, or needing to wait until the drop pods have reloaded, etc...

How cool would it have to have orbital bombardment/artillery, but since everything hi-tech has been religi-fied (here I go again with my made-up words), it would've been disguised/decorated as a relic, heavy, ornamented, impractical - and of course, "unobtainable" (*poke poke*).


---That was some update there, huh? I've been writing for half an hour too.

Edit: As for the Tech/Progress Level, it should be really mixed. There are a few things from the original colonists/explorers, but those are mostly considered artifacts or in the possession of very rich people.
Since I'm using ancient greece/rome as a background, the base PL would be around 1 or 2 for the population (bronze/iron age, middle ages), and PL 3 for the richer/educated people. Primitive industry will be feasible, although they will probably rely on the same stuff as 4th City, namely Perrel Seeds (basically, really hot seeds growing on special, big-a*s trees, allowing steam-tech - see the 4th City setting link for more info).

-Steamtech for industry.
-Industrial-made muskets and melee weapons for the army.
-Handmade stuff for the population.
-Exceptional and rare high-tech items, either in private collections or in religious hands - very few people know how to use 'em.
-Original items from the explorers/colonists, often used in wrong/alternative ways (armour made of plastic dishes, etc...)

Edit2: I was also thinking that I'd need a reason for having such a strong martial tradition in the area, so how about a big bad common enemy? Preferably something alien and not too bright without much motivation apart from "kill-eat-sleep", and preferably something that the humans would simply be defending against, because they do not really know how to get rid off.
Creatures native of the planet, or perhaps experiments brought along by the original explorers/colonists?

Edit3: I was also thinking that the entire city centre could be located inside the landing craft (assuming it's a pretty big one) of the explorers. The decadent politicians could be located near the generators of the ship - who could still be working (providing heat), the religious fanatics could be located on and around the bridge (assuming it's the highest point on the ship), the soldiers all around the ship, and the population both inside and outside the ship (and pretty much everywhere else).
The reason why they wouldn't have moved too far away from the ship could be because of a harsh climate? Semi-permanent snow perhaps?




I've just realized that I'm partially doing this to open up a bit for the gaming possibilities of my setting, but also to create a project that we can work on here, on the boards, so I reeeaaaally hope that you guys are feeling up to expanding the steampunk setting here...

[veekie]

Alright, first question on the tech level, is the 'advanced' form still using electricity as a primary form of energy transmission? It'd be interesting if they were using jump technology to use dimensional folding to transfer energy. It'd also explain the utter fall of technology, right past advanced chemistry/electronics, since instead of a graceful failure, society is cut off from their knowledge stores, and books are generally too bulky to transport on a limited space colonisation. All you have left are experts, with no tools. They'd be gone in say, three generations, with anything they committed to text being the equivalent of holy texts, incomprenhensible to most. Imagine a lone textbook of genetics, or advanced chemistry, with the tools and terms it refers to nonexistent.

Now, in that scenario, what would still work would be outdated technology by the standards of the colonist peak, perhaps some internal combustion/nuclear power(both of these are heat based power generation mechanisms and can be adapted to sufficiently strong steam based power) based machines. So the mecha could be a particularly rich colonist's(or heck, some politician's) personal ride, designed for heavy lifting use, modded for combat, and generally kept for recreational/museum use(thus, in good repair when shit happened and it was abandoned). In such a mecha, there would reasonably be regional maps, perhaps even a globe, the worse for the passage of them, but reasonably useful. Toss in an onboard food stash(mostly rotted to dust, but if food preservation techs got better over time, they could find some delicacies preserved down the centuries), a library(in perfect condition, but like the books mentioned above, utterly useless to the PCs without surpporting information). There is some use though, perhaps some scientist(mad of course, is there any other kind) could make use of the preserved knowledge to rediscover lost techs.

Depending on how they got to the outside world(driving a super mecha is drastically different from hoofing it), they'd have one heck of an interesting reception.

For GPS, I'd go one better, a gyroscope based GPS, still functional, but missing it's sister component, a world map/globe, it can only give coordinates(largely useless without a point of reference). Getting the two together is a quest on it's own, as is adapting a map of another age to an ancient device. Treasure map is good(secret armory, some guy's personal vault, lost mecha, a nuke, go nuts).

Water purification...not really such a big deal in a steampunk setting. If you have steam power, basic distillation and even fractional distillation is well within their means. What would be more interesting would be a universal synthesizer, able to produce anything within it's program stocks with enough power and the right elements fed into it. Get one that craps out delicacies/ammo/fuel. Think Star Trek Replicator, except you need to supply the right elements(that is, it can turn most organic matter into any kind of food(whats in it? carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, some trace elements, you have most of that from air alone) with air and power, but if you want to make a lithium battery, you'd need to feed it lithium, and a good bit more power than the battery holds).

A generator eh, how about an atomic battery? Outputs heat, but mildly radioactive from damaged seals(IC, they wouldn't know, but it'd be treated as cursed since peoples hair fall out after prolonged exposure and they die of cancer). It'd be safe to apply if you chuck it into the boiler of a steam powered machine, the metal would deal with most of the stray rads.

A fun alternative is a giant solar power plant, heat based, which uses several acres of mirrored land(as in, it's a giant caldera of silvery stuff) to focus sunlight on the tip of a tower. Again, very nicely compatible with steam based power, and for this, easily enough energy to power an entire city and more. This is very awesome for any steam powered capital. Potential problems, it's raw energy output is so great that the resultant steam power might overcome the material strengths of the pipes used to convey it, and a breach would be one hell of a plot hook. Build the city it powers around the field itself, with the device being treated with a reverence. At night, the excess steam(there will be excess, if the thing is built to supply the power needs of a high tech civ) can be stored in giant underground reservoirs.

Survival pod, see vintage mecha above.

For super drugs, I'm thinking disposable nanites myself, they enhance the user's body until the power supply runs out or they are excreted. Normally this lasts a long time with a wireless power supply, but theres no longer any infrastructure for that, so they die. Hilarity ensues when they find some nanites that have corrupt programming.

Going with the computer hack idea, theres one you could link to the solar power plant above, a space based laser that collects solar energy from a constellation of satellites and beams it down to Centauri Prime, where the mirror array is supposed to redirect it to the generator tower. Now, in peacetime, this is all fine and dandy, but this is a beam with enough energy to power a high tech country. Naturally, if you point it at the wrong spot, anything there would be rendered down to molten bedrock. Then you make the control station a holy relic. Just needs the right passwords, some parts, and you have an ion cannon on demand. Or more power than they know what to do with.

Other than a space laser, spy satellites are generally built to be fairly rugged, I believe, and gaining access to them would be interesting. It'd revolutionise conflict.

Along with that, a wireless nanite power station(which would transmit power to previously dormant nanites), a nanite control center and a nanite manufactory. This has massive plot potential on it's own, and deserves a separate exploration.

Holograms are simple enough, as technologies go, mostly depends on how realistic they are and if 'Solido' technology is in play. Holographic maps are neat.

Grafts now, are difficult to apply in a steamtech level setting, seeing as they require surgical ability to use and maintain, while also needing power supplies and mechanical maintenance. See nanites above. I could see some robotic parts being worshipped though, and if an autosurgery machine is discovered, grafting would be possible.

Orbital bombardment, if going by a 'repurposed peaceful application', you can have simply deorbited satellites, the above orbital laser(multiple beams possible, since the same mirror array that lets it collect solar power can be repurposed to beam anything anywhere), a space elevator with no ground station is simply a mass driver, as is any asteroid mining applications that require a suitable ground station to recieve the 'drop' safely.

Whee, New Year, New Madness.

EDIT: didn't see the edits there, for the martial tradition, escaped genetically engineered beasties sound good. Deer modified for increased muscle mass, accelerated growth and massively increased breeding rate, feeding on a practically weed level infestation of exotic fruit vines(also engineered for rapid growth, extreme endurance and tasty fruit). Now both of these are for relatively benign purposes, as they are delicious.

Then you add the jurassic park touch, revived carnivorous dinosaurs. Velociraptors are a big hit. Throw in some supersized vermin, and you have an infestation of epic proportions, which will invade civilised areas en masse every autumn and winter, when the vines and deer fall short of feeding these. So you have a yearly war against nature, fighting for extremely abundant food resources.

To top it off, an automated robotic manufactory, hooked up to a depleted mine. Robots are still programmed to mine for valuable minerals, and every now and then a few lost ones will try to harvest from people. This also provides the campaign with a sources of rare, highly refined alloys for the ultra wealthy.

Wars could be also fought over relics of the past, especially functional ones, on seasons where the raptors don't strike out.

As for the city, see the power plant thing described above, such a capital would be a veritable utopia compared to the rest of the world.

[Herbert West]

Alright, first question on the tech level, is the 'advanced' form still using electricity as a primary form of energy transmission? It'd be interesting if they were using jump technology to use dimensional folding to transfer energy. It'd also explain the utter fall of technology, right past advanced chemistry/electronics, since instead of a graceful failure, society is cut off from their knowledge stores, and books are generally too bulky to transport on a limited space colonisation. All you have left are experts, with no tools. They'd be gone in say, three generations, with anything they committed to text being the equivalent of holy texts, incomprenhensible to most. Imagine a lone textbook of genetics, or advanced chemistry, with the tools and terms it refers to nonexistent.

I was following a D20 Future campaign a few years back which operated on these princibles. Basically, Humanity is wipped out, new race of Humans. They discover a dictionary sealed in an underground room, which allows them to understand many of the previous technological advances the first Humans made and allows them to advance beyond it. Then the writers of the webzine vanished off the face of the internets. I still wonder where they went.

[Tema69]

Alright, first question on the tech level, is the 'advanced' form still using electricity as a primary form of energy transmission? It'd be interesting if they were using jump technology to use dimensional folding to transfer energy. It'd also explain the utter fall of technology, right past advanced chemistry/electronics, since instead of a graceful failure, society is cut off from their knowledge stores, and books are generally too bulky to transport on a limited space colonisation. All you have left are experts, with no tools. They'd be gone in say, three generations, with anything they committed to text being the equivalent of holy texts, incomprenhensible to most. Imagine a lone textbook of genetics, or advanced chemistry, with the tools and terms it refers to nonexistent.

You mean like, if Earth etc. still uses electricity? Well, reading the setting description, I'd say yes. We could have it be wireless, though? I don't know, electronics etc. isn't my speciality.
You're absolutely right about the fall of technology. Good points.

Now, in that scenario, what would still work would be outdated technology by the standards of the colonist peak, perhaps some internal combustion/nuclear power(both of these are heat based power generation mechanisms and can be adapted to sufficiently strong steam based power) based machines. So the mecha could be a particularly rich colonist's(or heck, some politician's) personal ride, designed for heavy lifting use, modded for combat, and generally kept for recreational/museum use(thus, in good repair when shit happened and it was abandoned). In such a mecha, there would reasonably be regional maps, perhaps even a globe, the worse for the passage of them, but reasonably useful. Toss in an onboard food stash(mostly rotted to dust, but if food preservation techs got better over time, they could find some delicacies preserved down the centuries), a library(in perfect condition, but like the books mentioned above, utterly useless to the PCs without surpporting information). There is some use though, perhaps some scientist(mad of course, is there any other kind) could make use of the preserved knowledge to rediscover lost techs.

Good idea, rich colonist is a good way to go. Abandonned, semi-looted, and then found and revered by the natives [uh oh, we've got ourselves a problem: how can there be natives when everybody comes from a spaceship? ...are they the original inhabitants who happen to look like humans?] who buried it so as not to disturb it. White man arrives, and in his infinite wisdom, decides that whatever monster lurks below, they'd better keep the natives away. They build a fort on top.

Depending on how they got to the outside world(driving a super mecha is drastically different from hoofing it), they'd have one heck of an interesting reception.

Indeed - perhaps the religious guys could think that they are the saviours coming to rescue them?

For GPS, I'd go one better, a gyroscope based GPS, still functional, but missing it's sister component, a world map/globe, it can only give coordinates(largely useless without a point of reference). Getting the two together is a quest on it's own, as is adapting a map of another age to an ancient device. Treasure map is good(secret armory, some guy's personal vault, lost mecha, a nuke, go nuts).

Good idea!

Water purification...not really such a big deal in a steampunk setting. If you have steam power, basic distillation and even fractional distillation is well within their means. What would be more interesting would be a universal synthesizer, able to produce anything within it's program stocks with enough power and the right elements fed into it. Get one that craps out delicacies/ammo/fuel. Think Star Trek Replicator, except you need to supply the right elements(that is, it can turn most organic matter into any kind of food(whats in it? carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, some trace elements, you have most of that from air alone) with air and power, but if you want to make a lithium battery, you'd need to feed it lithium, and a good bit more power than the battery holds).

Sounds interesting. The water purification part was for his campaign, I just copied it over, though - I don't see it being of much use here...
The StarTrek thingy sounds a bit too high-tech for my PCs though - although interesting.

A generator eh, how about an atomic battery? Outputs heat, but mildly radioactive from damaged seals(IC, they wouldn't know, but it'd be treated as cursed since peoples hair fall out after prolonged exposure and they die of cancer). It'd be safe to apply if you chuck it into the boiler of a steam powered machine, the metal would deal with most of the stray rads.

Booya! Remember "300"? The nasty old guys on top of the mountain with the oracle? Replace oracle with atomic battery, and we're good!
That could be an interesting plot. ...they run out of fuel for their mech, and the only known fuel source is the huge atomic batteries (used to power the whole ship), but they are too closely guarded by the politician's guards, and they are waay too big too... BUT, they hear/read of a smaller device... Which has been taken into custody by the clergy - who appoint priests to guard it as a punishment... Kinda like being sent to some boring outpost or whatever... Except here, you get the cancer-curse. Meh...

A fun alternative is a giant solar power plant, heat based, which uses several acres of mirrored land(as in, it's a giant caldera of silvery stuff) to focus sunlight on the tip of a tower. Again, very nicely compatible with steam based power, and for this, easily enough energy to power an entire city and more. This is very awesome for any steam powered capital. Potential problems, it's raw energy output is so great that the resultant steam power might overcome the material strengths of the pipes used to convey it, and a breach would be one hell of a plot hook. Build the city it powers around the field itself, with the device being treated with a reverence. At night, the excess steam(there will be excess, if the thing is built to supply the power needs of a high tech civ) can be stored in giant underground reservoirs.

I'm thinking the roof/top of the landing/space -ship could be solar panels, but I guess the colonists could've brought huge amounts to create just that, a field of solar panels... Interesting...

For super drugs, I'm thinking disposable nanites myself, they enhance the user's body until the power supply runs out or they are excreted. Normally this lasts a long time with a wireless power supply, but theres no longer any infrastructure for that, so they die. Hilarity ensues when they find some nanites that have corrupt programming.

I haven't focused much on nanites during my GM'ing time, but I guess I could take a look - I'm not sure what it is or how it works. But then again, the PCs/population might not either.

Going with the computer hack idea, theres one you could link to the solar power plant above, a space based laser that collects solar energy from a constellation of satellites and beams it down to Centauri Prime, where the mirror array is supposed to redirect it to the generator tower. Now, in peacetime, this is all fine and dandy, but this is a beam with enough energy to power a high tech country. Naturally, if you point it at the wrong spot, anything there would be rendered down to molten bedrock. Then you make the control station a holy relic. Just needs the right passwords, some parts, and you have an ion cannon on demand. Or more power than they know what to do with.

Unfortunately, no matter how cool and james-bond-esque that sounds, I think it's a no-go, too hi-tech/sci-fi with lasers and stuff... As a GM, I unfortunately have to think of my PCs' fancies.

Other than a space laser, spy satellites are generally built to be fairly rugged, I believe, and gaining access to them would be interesting. It'd revolutionise conflict.

Yup, all kinds of orbital stuff would be cool. Gyro-GPS + Sattelite + Orbital Bombardment = a campaign. ...and a WMD...

Along with that, a wireless nanite power station(which would transmit power to previously dormant nanites), a nanite control center and a nanite manufactory. This has massive plot potential on it's own, and deserves a separate exploration.

You mean so the nanites can work indefinetely?

Holograms are simple enough, as technologies go, mostly depends on how realistic they are and if 'Solido' technology is in play. Holographic maps are neat.

...and make for great illusions! I think I'll stick to Star-Wars kinda holograms, if I use 'em.

Grafts now, are difficult to apply in a steamtech level setting, seeing as they require surgical ability to use and maintain, while also needing power supplies and mechanical maintenance. See nanites above. I could see some robotic parts being worshipped though, and if an autosurgery machine is discovered, grafting would be possible.

Well, actually, the 4th City setting already makes use of prosthetics, so that wouldn't be revolutionary.

Orbital bombardment, if going by a 'repurposed peaceful application', you can have simply deorbited satellites, the above orbital laser(multiple beams possible, since the same mirror array that lets it collect solar power can be repurposed to beam anything anywhere), a space elevator with no ground station is simply a mass driver, as is any asteroid mining applications that require a suitable ground station to recieve the 'drop' safely.

As for orbital support, I think I'm gonna go with a military escort explanation. While the expedition is a scientific one, the army always insisted on sending military forces along, in case of emergency - a detachment of clones in hibernation in orbit, along with an orbital artillery thingy.
How about that?

Whee, New Year, New Madness.

I didn't expect less from you.

EDIT: didn't see the edits there, for the martial tradition, escaped genetically engineered beasties sound good. Deer modified for increased muscle mass, accelerated growth and massively increased breeding rate, feeding on a practically weed level infestation of exotic fruit vines(also engineered for rapid growth, extreme endurance and tasty fruit). Now both of these are for relatively benign purposes, as they are delicious.

Then you add the jurassic park touch, revived carnivorous dinosaurs. Velociraptors are a big hit. Throw in some supersized vermin, and you have an infestation of epic proportions, which will invade civilised areas en masse every autumn and winter, when the vines and deer fall short of feeding these. So you have a yearly war against nature, fighting for extremely abundant food resources.

Good man, good man... That's a great idea - although I'm affraid the Jurassic Parc touch is a bit cheesy/rip-off. I'll think about it. Could be cool.

Wars could be also fought over relics of the past, especially functional ones, on seasons where the raptors don't strike out.

As for the city, see the power plant thing described above, such a capital would be a veritable utopia compared to the rest of the world.

Civil war, yea, that'll keep in tone with the roman feel.
Yup, I want the PCs to marvel at the hi-tech compared to 4th City, but still keep in line with the post-apoc feel...

@Herbert_West: Interesting idea.

---

Thanks for replying guys, I'm glad you're interested.

[veekie]

Energy wise, wireless electricity is still neat, and is sufficiently difficult for a 'fallen' civ to tap, or heck, restore. How do you know to restore something you can't even see?

Natives is an easy one, depending on how long it has been since the 'fall' you could have people(the poor largely) with no access to even failing tech, they'd go feral and then eke out a semblence of civilisation from there. The 'civilised' people are largely contigous from the original settlers and would be the upper(now run of the mill citizens or clergy) and middle classes(tech/science workers become clergy, the rest could go either way), who fell more gracefully. Knowledge would become clannish in nature, since it becomes a rare, hoarded commodity. Pass whatever lore you can gather down to your family, and they'd carry the torch onwards. Rivaldries could burn pretty fierce when the Big Man of a town comes from the only 2 families in town who still know how to keep the irrigation working.

As for the laser, think of it not as lasers, but as a giant magnifying glass then. You know the problem about solar power only working in the day? Put enough shaped mirrors in space and that can be worked around. If theres a moon, it'd be the perfect place to plonk the main dish/focal point for the mirrors. Fun thing, while the control center is offline, the focus will wander around, and you'd get sudden night->day effects, or rarer(because focusing the light from a few million independent reflectors into a single point doesn't happen by chance that easily) something gets burned to ashes.

The dinosaurs are but one example of any fast breeding apex predator, anything thats large, carnivorous, and breeds fast will thrive in the otherwise utopian abundance. Like some of the army's pets, or messed with native wildlife.

The solar power plant though, need not work based off electricity/solar panels, just consider how much raw heat one of these babies can attain if you had several acres of solar collectors. For stylistic reasons(also impractically expensive for now), you basically have a giant curved reflector that size, and all the light and heat goes to the center tower.

As for the nanites, yes, if the wireless power supply is restored, and that is in turn hooked up to a mega power plant(see uber solar generator), you have enough power to resurface the planet if you want...given that the nanites retain stable programs.

As for orbital support, I expect no less than space dropped mecha, doing double duty as a kinetic penetrator(imagine a mecha dropped from space landing on something) and then it'd activate for a while, before it runs out of power, breaks down(a few centuries in space without any upkeep can't be good for a machine) or berserks. Pod freaks might be more suitable as dropped support as well, genetic monstrousities bred for war. If somehow, even a single pair remained stable long enough to breed, you'd have a monster infestation on hand as well. They'd generally be engineered to go back into stasis or dissolve into goo after a while, but you know, mutations and accidents happen.

As for orbital artillery, drones harvesting asteroids(using the space based mirror array for power) to process metal into ammo and mech parts sounds good. 20 storey long, 1 inch thick metal pillars, dropped from orbit. Needs nothing that can't be harvested relatively easily from space debris.

EDIT: Ooo, theres some working versions of the solar power plant idea, only smaller.
Something the size if what I mentioned...would probably be able to use liquid iron as the fluid instead of water...

[Tema69]

Natives is an easy one, depending on how long it has been since the 'fall' you could have people(the poor largely) with no access to even failing tech, they'd go feral and then eke out a semblence of civilisation from there. The 'civilised' people are largely contigous from the original settlers and would be the upper(now run of the mill citizens or clergy) and middle classes(tech/science workers become clergy, the rest could go either way), who fell more gracefully. Knowledge would become clannish in nature, since it becomes a rare, hoarded commodity. Pass whatever lore you can gather down to your family, and they'd carry the torch onwards. Rivaldries could burn pretty fierce when the Big Man of a town comes from the only 2 families in town who still know how to keep the irrigation working.

Assuming a few hundred years since both planetfall and civilizationfall, I guess the nomads/natives could be the decendants of explorers of far-flung expeditions who, when the Plague struck, were unable to return to the planetfall ship and survived on very few means. That could be why the natives see the burried mech as something near-divine: it was this that brought their forefathers to this place.

As for the laser, think of it not as lasers, but as a giant magnifying glass then. You know the problem about solar power only working in the day? Put enough shaped mirrors in space and that can be worked around. If theres a moon, it'd be the perfect place to plonk the main dish/focal point for the mirrors. Fun thing, while the control center is offline, the focus will wander around, and you'd get sudden night->day effects, or rarer(because focusing the light from a few million independent reflectors into a single point doesn't happen by chance that easily) something gets burned to ashes.

Ah, big mirrors is something I can explain to the PCs without them whining about too much sci-fi... That's interesting.

The dinosaurs are but one example of any fast breeding apex predator, anything thats large, carnivorous, and breeds fast will thrive in the otherwise utopian abundance. Like some of the army's pets, or messed with native wildlife.

Yup, gotta figure something out here...

The solar power plant though, need not work based off electricity/solar panels, just consider how much raw heat one of these babies can attain if you had several acres of solar collectors. For stylistic reasons(also impractically expensive for now), you basically have a giant curved reflector that size, and all the light and heat goes to the center tower.

Uuuhh. That's awesome! And would fit well with my idea of cold winter/snow type landscape but a powerful sun.

As for orbital support, I expect no less than space dropped mecha, doing double duty as a kinetic penetrator(imagine a mecha dropped from space landing on something) and then it'd activate for a while, before it runs out of power, breaks down(a few centuries in space without any upkeep can't be good for a machine) or berserks. Pod freaks might be more suitable as dropped support as well, genetic monstrousities bred for war. If somehow, even a single pair remained stable long enough to breed, you'd have a monster infestation on hand as well. They'd generally be engineered to go back into stasis or dissolve into goo after a while, but you know, mutations and accidents happen.

Also very good ideas there. The genetic monstrousities are great ideas, but I don't think it fits well with the settings I'm leeching from. How about military versions of the walker that the PCs'll find burried? That way, they could scavenge for guns and whatnot to put on the one they probably grabbed ('cos I think I'll tone down the weaponry on the first one they find - it's a scouting/exploration vehicle now).

As for orbital artillery, drones harvesting asteroids(using the space based mirror array for power) to process metal into ammo and mech parts sounds good. 20 storey long, 1 inch thick metal pillars, dropped from orbit. Needs nothing that can't be harvested relatively easily from space debris.

Orbital strikes with asteroid rocks? Hmmm... I think regular artillery would be more fitting here - it's supposed to represent a military escort support system, not a weapon system supposed to function for the next half millenia using rocks and stuff...

EDIT: Ooo, theres some working versions of the solar power plant idea, only smaller.
Something the size if what I mentioned...would probably be able to use liquid iron as the fluid instead of water...

Awesome, really good finds. Definetely going to use solar power big time in the new city-ship. ...which needs a name btw. Any thoughts?

[veekie]

Orbital strikes with asteroid rocks? Hmmm... I think regular artillery would be more fitting here - it's supposed to represent a military escort support system, not a weapon system supposed to function for the next half millenia using rocks and stuff...

I mean an orbital strike system that restocks itself with asteroids, it just need to hook into a robotic asteroid mining facility, and a nuclear/solar powered manufactory. Obviously, it would be pretty much all thats still functional, as none of the other systems would be good for more than one shot. Chemical propellants are out of the question here(you can fairly reliably mine for space rocks, but any organic derivatives like fuels is hard), so you can have a space based railgun that shoots refined asteroids(they don't look like asteroids anymore when they are fired, having been machined for greater precision during the descent and likely the metal extracted from the ore). Fun part is it's devastating, you don't need anything really when about half a tonne of an iron alloy pillar is dropped from space, it'd hit, crush the target, then violently vaporise from the impact and possibly ignite, depending on what went into the thing's core. Just shape it for maximum terminal velocity(which would mean it's basically an extremely long and thin spike), gravity does the rest. The projectile also can't be reasonably stopped by normal means, since it'd be extremely fast, and the later part of the descent, it's probably a molten spike of metal, meaning deforming it is pretty much pointless. Thats space artillery.

Somewhat less destruction oriented, space dropped mecha can range from massive and heavily armed ones, to smaller deathbots squads(you see the droid army they used in the Star Wars prequels? yeah, pods of deathbots like that, spacedropped) the size of a man, armed to the teeth. If they had teeth. Which they should. Chainsaw teeth.

As for names, not too good with them. Planet name? Is it the first extrasolar colony of mankind(nearest star and all)?

[veekie]

Interesting thought that occured to me, the command codes of the military satellites got made into prayers to one of the many religions revolving around relics. Possibly secret prayers only known to high ranking priests.

[Tema69]

Yea, I guess it could be the first extrasolar planet.

And as for prayer commands, that's a great idea!

[veekie]

"Oh Lord of Destruction, RX-937, Deliver heavenly punishment upon the sinners. We call upon your angels: Red, Charlie, Snow, Fire. Smite the heretics of  4487 4834, 4248 2721. Confirm Launch"

*seconds later, the town at x 4487 4834 y 4248 2721, is struck by a massive impact from above and completely vaporized*

Italics for commands, bold for the password.

So, name the ship the "Scion of Hyperion"? Hyperion=sun god=Sol, a fitting name for the first ship to bring Sol's children to a home away from their cradle.

[Tema69]

That's great, I love it. All that was really needed was "RX937" and "Red, Charlie, Snow, Fire" and the coordinates. I think I'll make it even longer though, it could be fun to have an activation period of several rounds, or so they think - the actual activation takes only a few seconds. If the PCs figure it out, and are willing to risk not saying the prayer, they have an even more potent weapon.

"Scion of Hyperion", that's a good one. Sounds cool and space-ship-like.
How about "Nova Vitae" for the planet? "New Life" could be a fitting callsign for the first planet in another solar system to be colonized?

[veekie]

That's great, I love it. All that was really needed was "RX937" and "Red, Charlie, Snow, Fire" and the coordinates.

And the 'Altar' or 'Holy Symbol of Office', AKA the Satellite Communicator, and powered.

I think I'll make it even longer though, it could be fun to have an activation period of several rounds, or so they think - the actual activation takes only a few seconds. If the PCs figure it out, and are willing to risk not saying the prayer, they have an even more potent weapon.

Exactly, I just whipped that up as a showcase. Some would require manual inputs/rewiring(essentially hotwiring a dual passkey lock) as well, which would mean even more elaborate motions. Best to make this an Altar thing though, or thats a LOT of portable firepower.

"Scion of Hyperion", that's a good one. Sounds cool and space-ship-like.
How about "Nova Vitae" for the planet? "New Life" could be a fitting callsign for the first planet in another solar system to be colonized?

That works, though the scientific name could probably be Centauri Prime( Secundus, Teritius, etc based on it's orbit). Causing some confusion when using old documents due to name conflicts. Alpha Centauri is a binary star system though, which could be interesting if the stars orbit approach maximum proximity to it's companion(it's pretty small for a star, but there would be significant effects, nonetheless).

Side question, Moons, the Earth has an oddity for a moon, since it's pretty big relative to the planet. Hows the Planet's moon quantity and quality? A single large moon? Paired or triplet large moons? A few puny little captured asteroids? A ringlet of minimoons like saturn? Or none at all?

EDIT: Fun facts from wikipedia for the win
Alpha Centauri as it relates to astronomy on a planet in orbit around it.
Seems solar power is a way better deal than I thought, with 2 suns, every 60 years or so, the planet spends a decade with no night.

[Tema69]

Agreed.
...but I like artillery support sooo much. 
I'd love it to be big and clonky (especially with the ornaments etc...), but I definetely want it to be portable/movable (mech-attached, perhaps?).

Good idea with Centauri Prime/Secundus/Tertius, etc...
I had completely forgotten about the twin-star thing of Alpha Centauri. I'll have to remember to incorporate that into our game. Shouldn't be too dificult. And now that I'm reading up on Atanakar's setting, I realized that this planet can't be the first one colonized in Alpha C, since that's old news in the setting - so it's gonna have to be the newest colonized planet, whichever that is. Centauri Tertius is cool. And Scion of Hyperion still works, and it's a cool name.

I don't know about the moons though, anything can be made up AFAIK.

Nice wikistuff. Thank you.

[veekie]

The mecha equivalent of a mobile command center trailer perhaps? A mech as of its own right, maybe a small one for concealability(defunct cloaking devices, lightly armed, fast, defunct, but incredibly powerful sensor arrays), used as the centerpiece of the temple(statue of the god perhaps). The 'Altar' is the cockpit and the antenna. However, it doesn't run of steam and it's existing batteries are toast, it needs to be hooked into a live electrical power supply(big one no less) to operate. The site of the temple itself could have been it's former maintenance dock(with charger, though since that draws from defunct generators and a defunct city grid, it might garner enough power from it's rooftop panels to keep the temple lighted and the powered doors working, with maintenance, only everything is covered with religious gibberish now.

And if it's Tertius, that means there are colonies on Prime and Secundus right? Once radio communications is reinvented(or repaired at least), they can contact each other when they attain proxima.

Something occured to me(though it's probably outside the campaign scope), the PowerPhage Plague sounds like it's but a small chunk of the ecosystem of an extra dimension, which the jump technology makes use of without knowing the contents. What if more sentient inhabitants poke back?

[Tema69]

You are a constant source of inspiration, my friend.

As for the MobileCommandCenterMecha (MCCM), I was thinking that instead of that, it could be an "altar", but originally intended to either be on the bridge of the Scion, or attached to a ForwardObserverMecha (FOM). The FOM might have been lost, or used, or scavenged to pieces, so the PCs could mount it on their own mech instead (I'd like the PCs to keep the same mech, to feel ownership of property instead of jumping from one death-machine to another). Of course, some adventure/campaign is going to have to evolve around getting all that artillery and GPS and all.

As for the planetary communication, yea, contact could be established with the other planets. They could probably tell them "the truth" about what happened, as they probably had already established cities and colonies.

Good points with the PPP - could be cool to have extradimensional beings at some point. That'll have to wait and see if the PCs think the whole space-thing is cool.

[veekie]

Heh, if it's a military mech, it could have override systems for other, larger, civilian mecha and military mecha of the same faction, just need to jack in, sorta like how the current mecha 'combine'. After all, being lightly armed and small, it'd need some assistance, should it come to a fight. Also, the bigger mecha can serve as a generator.

I wonder if theres a mass driver on the planet, an enormous railgun for the purpose of launching spacecraft without using rockets. It'd take an insane amount of electrical power though, and restoring it to working order might be tricky too.

On the other hand, it'd be as easy to spot as hell, the structure would be basically a man made mountain or carved into a mountain.

[Tema69]

What military mech? The one the PCs will acquire?

I don't think Mass Drivers would be developped in this setting, since JumpSpheres is the way to travel. But fun thought nonetheless. How about a JulesVernes-cannon (Journey to the moon or what's-its-name) to reach to other planets once they establish communication with them? That'd be steampunkish.

[veekie]

I meant basically any relic mecha(that is, one with compatible, ancient systems) can be overridden(and hijacked) by the minature, sat uplink mecha. Newer ones based entirely on steamtech aren't subject to that control. This requires a physical connection though, as I expect basic security would be to not have hackable wireless connections and not to mention antennae tend to be the most fragile thing on a mecha.

A steam cannon could be one interesting way to do it. How about this? The old mass driver was a last ditch effort to retain a space presence, but they could no longer attain launch with it. It's more or less assembled, with a maglev rail(so the launchee will be floating and not touching the barrel, making friction a non-issue), but it's original plan for electromagnetic launch no longer works(as the power supplies are gone), and construction stopped, with the barrel complete, but not the launch mechanism.

However, it wouldn't be hard to hook up a steam vent, connected to an extremely large source of steam to fire. Aiming however, requires adjustments of the magnetic fields(as they form the invisible barrel that extend outside the physical one, which again, is quest fuel),

Then a mad scientist took up residence, and the rest is history.