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Message no. 1
From: Bull <chaos@*****.COM>
Subject: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 01:03:06 -0500
Ok... Here's a few things for you tech-heads out there to chew on and help
me out some...:]

As some of you know, Bull's retiring to the Carribean, and becoming a
"pirate", with him, Johnny, and the family living on a boat. Because the
area around there is so Pirate intensive and all that, I want to design a
few serious defenses... One of those includes really doing up the boat,
but the other is to design several drones to operate underwater...

Now... How do I do this? I can;t really find what sort of power cource
should/could be used in something designed to run underwater, though I
figured the chassis would be the Mini-Sub. Here's what I'm looking to
design...

1) The Driller Drone. This is basically modeled after the Ork Drilla
Killa from the Games Workshop "Man O' War" game, though smaller. It would
be, at most 3 feet long, with it being a cylinad body, and a large cone
shaped drill on the front. Basically it would be a one shot use item, and
it's only real use is to put holes into the hulls of other ships...

Now... What do I do for the drill head? And what do I use for a power
source? The only thing I could fiund that would make a good and logical
power plant would be the electrical, though I want more speed. Maybe I'm
missing something, since R2 doesn;t really cover underwater drones...

2) The second drone is a little more involved. It's based on the
Sharkticons from the Transformers movies... They're great for swimming
underwater and ripping large chunks out of hulls and other underwater
things with their teeth, and would also work alright on land, chomping
metahumans into little chunky bits. There were also some sort of
underwater critter on the New Johnny Quest cartoon that is similar to these
things... They're about 4 feet tall, maybe a little smaller.

Same as above... How do you design the "Special" modifiers (the jaws on
this), and how do you design the power plant? Also, what do you need to do
special to build a drone to operate under water?

Anyways, thanks...:] Just wondering, since I really want to create these
little buggers...;]

Bull
--
Bull, aka Steven Ratkovich, aka Rak, aka Chaos, aka a lot of others! :]

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Specialization is for insects."
-- Robert Heinlein, "The Notebooks of Lazurus Long"
Message no. 2
From: Lehlan Decker <decker@****.FSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 08:19:53 -0500
Bull writes:
> Ok... Here's a few things for you tech-heads out there to chew on and help
> me out some...:]
>
> As some of you know, Bull's retiring to the Carribean, and becoming a
> "pirate", with him, Johnny, and the family living on a boat. Because the
> area around there is so Pirate intensive and all that, I want to design a
> few serious defenses... One of those includes really doing up the boat,
> but the other is to design several drones to operate underwater...
>
> Now... How do I do this? I can;t really find what sort of power cource
> should/could be used in something designed to run underwater, though I
> figured the chassis would be the Mini-Sub. Here's what I'm looking to
> design...
>
> 1) The Driller Drone. This is basically modeled after the Ork Drilla
> Killa from the Games Workshop "Man O' War" game, though smaller. It would
> be, at most 3 feet long, with it being a cylinad body, and a large cone
> shaped drill on the front. Basically it would be a one shot use item, and
> it's only real use is to put holes into the hulls of other ships...
>
> Now... What do I do for the drill head? And what do I use for a power
> source? The only thing I could fiund that would make a good and logical
> power plant would be the electrical, though I want more speed. Maybe I'm
> missing something, since R2 doesn;t really cover underwater drones...
>
> 2) The second drone is a little more involved. It's based on the
> Sharkticons from the Transformers movies... They're great for swimming
> underwater and ripping large chunks out of hulls and other underwater
> things with their teeth, and would also work alright on land, chomping
> metahumans into little chunky bits. There were also some sort of
> underwater critter on the New Johnny Quest cartoon that is similar to these
> things... They're about 4 feet tall, maybe a little smaller.
>
> Same as above... How do you design the "Special" modifiers (the jaws on
> this), and how do you design the power plant? Also, what do you need to do
> special to build a drone to operate under water?
>
> Anyways, thanks...:] Just wondering, since I really want to create these
> little buggers...;]
>
Hmm..if you really want to figure it out, look at today ROV's.
Basically you have to deal with a couple of things.
Water Tight and Pressure Resistant. (You gain 1 atm every 33 feet).
Look at the mod for Enviro-seal(Did that carry over to R2, I don't
have my books at work :)). The other problem would be radio
signals. Alot of ROV's these days (the small ones), work on
cables run from the surface. Cyberpirates might cover some of this
stuff for you. Hmm..Speed would be different as well. Water is
much denser then air.....(I forget the factor, but I can figure
it out, after all it weighs what 64 lbs per cubic foot).
Hmm....Might be time to write FASAMike and ask :)
Hopefully this will be cleared up in CyberPirates. I've
been trying to figure out a good set of underwater rules for awhile
so I'm impatiently waiting. :)

P.S. Good pirates defenses. Chains that rise up and block a cove.
Natural or Unnatural reefs. Hmmm...A bonded Storm Spirit.
Anchored spells might work good as well (Chaotic World on an
outer bouy marker or somesuch).
Have fun.


--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Lehlan Decker 644-4534 Systems Development
decker@****.fsu.edu http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~decker
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The nice thing about standards,is there are so many to choose from.
Message no. 3
From: Rune Fostervoll <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 14:02:00 GMT
Bull wrote:
>One of those includes really doing up the boat,
>but the other is to design several drones to operate underwater...
Why not program them as robots? Reduce/negate the problems with underwater
communication.

>Now... How do I do this? I can;t really find what sort of power cource
>should/could be used in something designed to run underwater, though I
>figured the chassis would be the Mini-Sub. Here's what I'm looking to
>design...
I'd say electrical only. (Unless you wanted to go nuclear, which I doubt.).

>*SNIP* Ork Drilla Killa, how to drill holes in ships?
I've always had success with 20-30 kilos of C-12 :)

>*snip* amphibious Shark drones.

>Same as above... How do you design the "Special" modifiers (the jaws on
>this), and how do you design the power plant? Also, what do you need to do
>special to build a drone to operate under water?
Electrical power plant, environmental seal, at least 1 pt of armor, and life
support for however long you plan to be underwater for (body) number of
people ('life support' for drone systems, not people) ought to simulate it
nicely.

--
Rune Fostervoll, runefo@***.uio.no
----------------------------------
ADVICE, n. The smallest current coin.
-Ambrose Bierce
Message no. 4
From: Mike Elkins <MikeE@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 11:07:22 -0500
>1) The Driller Drone. This is basically modeled after the Ork Drilla
>Killa from the Games Workshop "Man O' War" game, though smaller.

I may be on a different wavelength than you, but how about a shaped
charge of plastic explosives? I think that would cut through a hull much
faster than even a dicoted drill, especially if you are going to try and use
this against a moving boat. Of couse, I've just described a rather boring
torpedo...

Actually, since underwater movement is slow, how about a small
hydrofoil drone, with a SMG or even LMG as its "everyday" weapon,
plus one big honking shaped charge in the nose for special occasions.
Make it so maneuverable and fast that you can ram warships moving at
flank speed.

For intercepting torpedos, you can't beat water elementals. On a similar
note, underwater drone + sea spirit movement + concealment powers
might prove to be more of a surprise than I first thought...

That reminds me, now that I have Rigger2, I should figure out the design
of my "Machine Gun Dog" drone...

Double-Domed Mike
Message no. 5
From: "Leszek Karlik, aka Mike" <trrkt@*****.ONET.PL>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 19:17:53 +0000
On 14 Nov 97, Mike Elkins disseminated foul capitalist propaganda by
writing:


<snippo>
> For intercepting torpedos, you can't beat water elementals. On a
> similar note, underwater drone + sea spirit movement + concealment
> powers might prove to be more of a surprise than I first thought...

Well, the concealment power is not such a biggie for a drone. I mean,
it adds Essence (rounded down) to the Perception #TN to spot the
drone. Well, last time I checked, drones had no essence... ;p

(We found this out the hard way when we were planning on using a
Concealment power to sneak in somewhere. The chromed-to-the-gills
samurai had, luckily, an Improved Invisibility spell cast on him,
too...)


Leszek Karlik, aka Mike - trrkt@*****.onet.pl; http://www.wlkp.top.pl/~bear/mike; FIAWOL
FL/GN Leszek/Raptor II/ISD Vanguard, (SS) (PC) (ISM) {IWATS-IIC} JH(Sith)/House Scholae
Palatinae
If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower.
Message no. 6
From: Mike Elkins <MikeE@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 13:40:13 -0500
>Well, the concealment power is not such a biggie for a drone. I mean, it
>adds Essence (rounded down) to the Perception #TN to spot the
>drone. Well, last time I checked, drones had no essence... ;p

I ran for the BBB when I read your message, and re-read the section on
concealment twice. The first time I agreed with you, the second I
realized it was confusing but not ambiguous: the essence refered to is
the essence of the critter using the power, in other words, the spirit's
force, not the drones' essence.

Double-Domed Mike
Message no. 7
From: Jonathan Hurley <jhurley1@************.EDU>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 19:53:27 -0500
Leszek Karlik, aka Mike[SMTP:trrkt@*****.ONET.PL] wrote:
> On 14 Nov 97, Mike Elkins disseminated foul capitalist propaganda by
> writing:
>
>
> <snippo>
> > For intercepting torpedos, you can't beat water elementals. On a
> > similar note, underwater drone + sea spirit movement + concealment
> > powers might prove to be more of a surprise than I first thought...
>
> Well, the concealment power is not such a biggie for a drone. I mean,
> it adds Essence (rounded down) to the Perception #TN to spot the
> drone. Well, last time I checked, drones had no essence... ;p
>
> (We found this out the hard way when we were planning on using a
> Concealment power to sneak in somewhere. The chromed-to-the-gills
> samurai had, luckily, an Improved Invisibility spell cast on him,
> too...)

It adds the CONCEALER'S essence. (Force, for most spirits...)
--
Quicksilver rides again
--------------
Those who would give up a little freedom for security
deserve neither freedom nor security
-Benjamin Franklin
Yeah, I have Attention Deficit Dis - Hey, look at that butterfly!
Jonathan Hurley (mailto:jhurley1@************.edu)
Message no. 8
From: Czar Eggbert <czregbrt@*********.EDU>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 03:05:27 -0600
On Fri, 14 Nov 1997, Leszek Karlik, aka Mike wrote:
>
> Well, the concealment power is not such a biggie for a drone. I mean,
> it adds Essence (rounded down) to the Perception #TN to spot the
> drone. Well, last time I checked, drones had no essence... ;p
>
I always read this as adding the Spirits Essence Rating to the
target #... This would make sence because otherwise you get the same
target Number wether you summon a force 1 oe a force 100.

Czar

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czar Eggbert
Ruler, Dark Side of the Moon.
homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/5648
mailto:czregbrt@*********.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Reality!? Is that some new game?"
-MDF
"I'll need morphine, lots of it, and a pistol."
-The English Patient
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 9
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 11:50:17 +0100
Leszek Karlik, aka Mike said on 19:17/14 Nov 97...

> Well, the concealment power is not such a biggie for a drone. I mean,
> it adds Essence (rounded down) to the Perception #TN to spot the
> drone. Well, last time I checked, drones had no essence... ;p

Then you were interpreting the rules not quite right... Drones have no
Essence, but they don't need any -- in critter powers, the Essence that
matters is that of the _user_ of the power, not the _recipient_. For
example, a Force 4 nature spirit has an Essence of 4 (i.e. its Force), so
it would add +2 to TNs to spot the drone when using its Concealment power
on the drone.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
So what if we're making a scene now?
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
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Message no. 10
From: "Leszek Karlik, aka Mike" <trrkt@*****.ONET.PL>
Subject: Re: Bull's Building Drones
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 12:43:55 +0000
On 14 Nov 97, Mike Elkins disseminated foul capitalist propaganda by
writing:

> >Well, the concealment power is not such a biggie for a drone. I mean, it
> >adds Essence (rounded down) to the Perception #TN to spot the
> >drone. Well, last time I checked, drones had no essence... ;p

> I ran for the BBB when I read your message, and re-read the section
> on concealment twice. The first time I agreed with you, the second
> I realized it was confusing but not ambiguous: the essence refered
> to is the essence of the critter using the power, in other words,
> the spirit's force, not the drones' essence.

Oh, damn. Well, I'll have something in my sleeve to surprise our GM
when we'll be trying to sneak the street sam in some defended
installation...

Amazing, what you can find on the list... ;>


Leszek Karlik, aka Mike - trrkt@*****.onet.pl; http://www.wlkp.top.pl/~bear/mike; FIAWOL
FL/GN Leszek/Raptor II/ISD Vanguard, (SS) (PC) (ISM) {IWATS-IIC} JH(Sith)/House Scholae
Palatinae
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. But what the hell, it's home. - Merlin

Further Reading

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