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Post by necris on Mar 13, 2007 11:46:41 GMT
Now something that have been mentioned are the state of the ocean and the "safety" of it.
So here we go 1st up "The Rasp"
++Medical Report++ ++Filed by Doctor Dominic Lenson++ ++Subject Matter - "The Rasp" ++
From my early research into the planetary affliction known as "The Rasp" I have come to discover that this is a affliction of the lungs, which shows the symptoms of degrading respiratory ability and if untreated can lead to lung failure and collapse.
The common signs of "the Rasp" are as follows on order of severity 1. Strong painful cough 2. Development of a harsh grating to the voice, this is where the condition gets it's name the vocal cords are irreversibly damaged 3. Prolonged loss of voice 4. Difficulty breathing following sporadic coughing fits 6. Development of a wheezing hacking cough that also produces blood 7. 1st stage respiratory failure shown by a vast reduction in lung capacity 8. 2nd stage respiratory failure, the collapsing of either one or both lungs 9 Death
It has been discovered that the cause of "The Rasp" is directly related to the conditions that the outer hull habitats of the Hive Bergs are subjected too, these being the dwellings for the poorest inhabitants has caused the widespread affliction amongst the poor.
It has also been noted that many Naval service men have also been known to suffer form from "The Rasp" though the PDF higher command supports the treatment of all service men and women where as the poor are unable to afford proper treatment often resorting to living difficult lives on respirators.
++
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Mar 13, 2007 15:20:59 GMT
hmm... I could see this being used to form an adapted version of PO's Obliterator Virus progresion... perhaps the the initial catching of "the Rasp" it would be something roughly along the lines of - THIS HAS BEEN ABANDONNED HALF-FINISHED FOR NOWgive intial thoughts, later/tomorow i will tidy up and complete this rule set suggestion. The Rasp:At the end of each game situated in the unprotected "surface-side" areas of Hive-Bergs (or, at GM's discretion, other places such as a ships decks), a toughness test must be taken by every character (exception for sealed helms such as those of Space Marines or GMs discretion), - -2% for every turn spent 'in the field'
- -1% for every action spent running (increased breath rate)
- -1% for every miscellaneous 'strenuous' action, at GMs discretion
- Normal bonuses for having worn a rebreather/filtration plugs/etc are included.
- Doses of Detox have no effect.
- +15% if the character has recently recieved a single dose of Naval Detox
- +25% if the character has recieved regular doses of Naval Detox throughout the campaign
Each time this test is failed after a battle in these potentially hazerdous conditions the character moves on a stage of severity of their condition. Stage 1:Nothing major yet, but the character starts to develope and on-off bad cough. Stage 2:The cough has become more serious, and action rolls of a 1 mean the character breaks into a loud coughing fit, often at the most inappropriate of times. If the character is holding an item in each hand when the fit occurs, a willpower test must be passed or the character will drop one of the items (determined randomly) as they support themselves/ Stage 3:As Stage 2, plus the character suffers a permanent modifier of -5 Toughness as The Rasp saps them of energy. (At GMs discretion abilities such as Stealth may be lost due to the danger of coughing fits) Stage 4:As Stage 3, plus the character suffers a permanent modifier of -5 Toughness and -5 Strength. Stage 5:As Stage 4, plus the character suffers a permanent modifier of -5 Toughness and -5 Strength. Stage 6:The character requires daily doses of Naval Detox conjoined with a cocktail of other drugs just to maintain steady breathing - often poorer sufferers at this stage will have died or be permanently hospitalised unless they can get access to the best equipment and drugs. The character suffers -10 Toughness, -10 strength and -1 Speed. Each speaking action counts as double the normal number of actions. Naval Detox:This is the colloquiall name given to the regular injections ocean-going and berg-based PDF forces recieve throughout their career. This detox is easily available to the rich to purchase and is given free-of-charge to those PDF members who will need it
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Post by thenephew on Mar 14, 2007 17:51:20 GMT
Sounds great - and a nice way to keep PDF turnover high, leading to a population used to hard work, strict timetabling, and able to defend the home/'berg/planet if necessary. I think it is a little too easy to catch, though that depends on how many encounters happen outside.
It might work better if at the start of each campaign, each character is give (toughness x 2) points, his Resistance Total, and loses them as per your modifier table.
A person spends: 10 turns on the table, 5 actions running, A further three climbing a chain to reach the ticking bomb, 3 actions sprinting away because he screwed up the disarming, Is shot in the chest by Deck Guards mistaking him for the bomber.
He loses: (10x2 + 5x1 + 3x1 + 3x2 + Damage taken) = 34 points from his resistance total.
However, after the battle, he uses a dose of Naval Detox, taking him (Treatment Effect/3) points closer to his original score. This means he has lost only 29 points. If he had taken it first, he would be proof against (Treatment Effect) points worth of damage, but would also gain the full Treatment Effect bonus to the incoming test.
Now, after Detoxes, suitable Regeneration effects etc., a 'toughness' test is taken using the current resistance point total. The test then works exactly like it does for Vedile's mechanics.
Resistance Total points are cumulative over the campaign, or indeed just 'for the character' - if they ever re-visit the world, they are still 34 points down. This is included for other respiratory tract infections, inflamations and assorted damage. It is at this point a character logbook is handy. Resistance Total points are healed at a rate of (T/20) per week/month/between each game, provided the character is inside, with medical assistance, adequate food and water, and is not suffering from other complications (as in huge bleeding holes in his gut).
Even with (T x 2) points, the toxin would kill the average Hivedweller in days - it is just too deadly. It needs reduced modifiers so that living out there was possible, but heavy excercise a very bad idea.
I added in sprint there, because it seemed reasonable to make it a bad idea. The adding in Damage taken is only for being shot in the chest - where the lungs are, see? And I need someone to come up with a better mechanic for detoxing, especially after the event.
Important Notes: You can never, ever, go over your Resistance Total by using just drugs. Bionic lungs will do it, as will extensive surgery if you consult your GM, but the toughness test is representing resistance to damage, NOT pain, so the effects are unmitigated by any toughness increasing drugs you may be on. If, however, your character goes through an event likely to increase toughness in a relevant way (like experiments by a Magos of the Biologis school), then his original RT is changed, and his current raised by the same amount as his Total was.
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Mar 23, 2007 16:08:12 GMT
Idea!!
The Rasp is only ever caught when in proximity to a producing hiveberg, as it is an unpreventable side effect of the initial distilling process - as such a cloud of sorts follows in the hivebergs wake and clings around its waterline areas.
This ensures it stays a disease/condition that needs regular checks for the hiveberg based navys, and the pirates assaulting the smaller bergs will be at just as much risk, even if they are only exposed for a short time.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 23, 2007 16:20:28 GMT
Brainwave indeed - I like this. This prevents those without high-spec medical facilities (traders, pirates etc.) dying unpleasantly all the time, while still making it a porblem for a large portion of the population.
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Mar 23, 2007 16:43:50 GMT
and yet not a problem at all when alone on the open water, or for the big trading ships, as they only come in contact with the gas(??) when actually making deliveries/pick-ups with the hivebergs.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 23, 2007 22:41:09 GMT
He clipped on his hood, tightening the respitator's straps. The same ritual he had performed a hunderd times before, he checked the lining of his robe, the seal of his mask. There would be no vapours entering his lungs. The gangplank clanked home, the ambient light melting from orange to green, the airlock cycling to let him and his hover-pallet glide down the ramp. He stood in the vapour, feeling sweat trickle down the back of his neck, where he couldn't reach it beneath his hood.There was nothing but the drifting clouds and the strangely muffled sounds of the ship crunching against the side of the Hive's docking port. Remembering the last guy, he hadn't even known him but he'd heard, the last guy who had vanished on a dock drop off like this.He'd just never come back in. The Hive had never found hime either. Shapes were moving to his left. Turning, his hand came to flutter over the crowbar lying atop the boxes - motor bearings or some such - that were hardly worth dying for. Then a nod to the dock hands, similarly clad in robes and masks, a flicker of fingers signalling thanks and confirmaton of payment. The clouds blew between them as he watched the two 'bergers melt away into the mist, then they were gone. The boat was silent after the exchange, everyone always unsettled by the necessary silence, the silencing clouds and the surreal nature of the whole affair. He would not get the short straw next time.
I like the image of the traders, with almost ritualistic precision, donning their robes and rebreathers to ready for a drop off on a 'berg. The exchange is done in near silence, speach being impractical through the gear, before both parties depart to their respective off duty positions. The vapour could take the form of roiling clouds of noxious gas, masking the whole scene in a spooky twighlight, no matter the hour. This is all the more spooky due to the relatively clear seas that thr Bounty usually has, with the Hivebergs roaming the seas foating, apparently, on clouds of lethally toxic exhaust.
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Mar 25, 2007 23:12:50 GMT
#Open> File> View> Ref.23/591/gamma/720 This image, taken from the prow of the Free Trader Ship Coreus (ref.23/591/gamma/45), depicts the poisoness smog cloud which surronds ancient Ogenberg and all other high-production bergs. The archve states that the origional photographer used the image in an exhibition with the photo given the title "Time to draw straws again". This is most likely a reference to the common method of choosing which crewmember will don the required protective clothing to be safe in the smog clouds as they sign off the delivery and check everything is in order with payment.
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Post by Doug on Mar 26, 2007 5:02:32 GMT
I think the picture works...sort of. It's a nice idea, certainly. I think it might perhaps look better though if the smoketrailed upwards, getting thinner as it went up, so you could really only just see the hive...
If that's possible, that is.
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mohauk
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Post by mohauk on Mar 26, 2007 14:26:52 GMT
And perhaps an ever so slightly less vibrant colour-more grey less green, to get a sort of beigish smog cloud, perhaps?
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Mar 26, 2007 15:26:09 GMT
Doable, yes, but for now lets leave it at that just to get the image across. Whilst i agree the smog bank should reach slightly higher up, and that the colour is probably a bit vibrant, the stronger colour was easier to work with against the mixed greys of the hiveberg, but for a final piece much more work would be put into it.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 26, 2007 15:41:14 GMT
Likey. That is pretty much what I had pictured - the point about contrast, needing vibrant colours is a perfectly acceptable excuse. Looks like a nice strong sea gale too, which is pretty much what I would have expected - makes sunlight a mark of seniority and prosperity, rather than just a plain rarity too. Nice touch having it part of a report too.
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Mar 26, 2007 16:11:22 GMT
By the way everyone, those green splats on the hiveberg are basically massive greenhouses with the combined task of providing a small percentage of the hives food needs and also being an idillic parkland for top-siders to go and relax. They all have specially coated and reinforced armourglass canopies, so no trubble with solar flares and also allows "exotic" off-world planets to be grown.
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Post by necris on Apr 17, 2007 14:51:55 GMT
Hmmm I can see those parks as being very much private owned bits of land that the general public have to pay to get into
a bit like theme parks
paying for the luxury of clean air and peace and quiet
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vendile
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Post by vendile on Apr 17, 2007 23:03:25 GMT
nice idea that actually... but perhaps mearly a price to ensure they are kept highly maintained, rather than admission cost to line to pockets of a businessman.
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