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Message no. 1
From: Danyel N Woods <9604801@********.AC.NZ>
Subject: Greetings, earthlings!
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 12:50:40 +1200
<Michael Buffer>
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, _we return to the RUUMMBBLE!_"
</Michael Buffer>

Well, with my (mostly boring) holiday over, I throw myself back into the
fray, pausing only long enough to reload my Carp .45 and prep a
fire-extinguisher...

Here's a question for (mostly) idle curiosity's sake. One of my fellow
gamers is a rabid Star Trek and Babylon 5 fan, and asked what would
happen if a Horror Marked, or a spirit (or other entity) possessed, a
collective conciousness like, say, the Borg? Would the
Marking/possessing entity have control over that single individual, or
the entire Collective from which it comes (ignoring the Queen)?

Personally, I think it's one Mark = one individual (the change of
mindset and loyalty separates them from the Collective), but the player
made the case that if you're trying to control such a collective
conciousness, all the individual drones would be considered one being
(alldrones = one mind).
This basically boils down to the mechanics of magic against Borg: does
each drone resist magic with its own Body/WIllpower/Essence/whatever
(the drone is the individual), or does the whole Collective pool its
resistance dice (the Collective is one individual)? (Come to think of
it, this might represent their adaptive qualities against physical
attacks: the first victim uses their own attributes, the next uses the
whole Collective's pooled might). Of course, such a race of
heavily-cybered beings would have pitiful Essence ratings, meaning that
they cannot 'adapt' to resist magic (since they have no way of using it
to shield themselves).
(Note that I have _*NO*_ intention of actually inflicting Borg on my
regular campaign - I might use them with expendable PCs in an alternate
world - so this is mostly for the sake of discussion.)

Opinions on any part/all of this?

And on this sci-fi bent - for something a little more off the wall:
insect spirits exist mainly in astral space, usually manifesting only
when they want to wreck stuff , yes? In Babylon Five, the Shadows
usually lurk in hyperspace, entering 'real' space only to wreck stuff
(or communicate with servitors and minions). _Hmm_... Hyperspace ==
astral space ? Jump-gate/jump-point == astral gateway? Bugs with real
smarts and technology, anyone?
(*This* I might use as a one-shot or repeat in my regular campaign.)

Danyel Woods - 9604801@********.ac.nz
'Resistance is futile!'
Message no. 2
From: Robert Watkins <robert.watkins@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Greetings, earthlings!
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 11:01:17 +1000
Daynel N Woods writes:
> Personally, I think it's one Mark = one individual (the change of
> mindset and loyalty separates them from the Collective), but the player
> made the case that if you're trying to control such a collective
> conciousness, all the individual drones would be considered one being
> (alldrones = one mind).

The Borg are not a true collective. The individual still exists in the Borg,
just heavily reduced, so I would have to go for one Mark = one individual.
Of course, if the individual was the Borg leader, that would give you
effective control over the whole Collective, but Marking a Borg soldier
wouldn't do much for the Horror.

--
Duct tape is like the Force: There's a Light side, a Dark side, and it binds
the Universe together.
Robert Watkins -- robert.watkins@******.com
Message no. 3
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Greetings, earthlings!
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 13:05:33 -0400
At 12:50 PM 7/21/98 +1200, you wrote:
><Michael Buffer>
>"And now, ladies and gentlemen, _we return to the RUUMMBBLE!_"
></Michael Buffer>

You know how much money that guy gets just to say that line? And he
seriously gets the chicks...

>Here's a question for (mostly) idle curiosity's sake. One of my fellow
>gamers is a rabid Star Trek and Babylon 5 fan, and asked what would
>happen if a Horror Marked, or a spirit (or other entity) possessed, a
>collective conciousness like, say, the Borg? Would the
>Marking/possessing entity have control over that single individual, or
>the entire Collective from which it comes (ignoring the Queen)?

It would depend on the nature of a Horror mark and the nature of the
collective hive mind of the Borg. It is possible that it would only affect
a single Borg, but it could have a taint or some sort of effect on the
entire Collective. I don't think we know enough about either the Horrors
or the Borg to be able to say. Go with what feels best and what works best
for the potential story.

>And on this sci-fi bent - for something a little more off the wall:
>insect spirits exist mainly in astral space, usually manifesting only
>when they want to wreck stuff , yes? In Babylon Five, the Shadows
>usually lurk in hyperspace, entering 'real' space only to wreck stuff
>(or communicate with servitors and minions). _Hmm_... Hyperspace ==
>astral space ? Jump-gate/jump-point == astral gateway? Bugs with real
>smarts and technology, anyone?

I caught this the first time a Shadow was revealed, a few years back. The
Shadows, to me, are identical to smart Invae, and not just on looks alone.
I don't think it's a huge stretch.

>(*This* I might use as a one-shot or repeat in my regular campaign.)

I'm curious to know if and how this works out for you. I've got my own
dark machinations in the background going, but I'd like to see what you do
and maybe use it in my own game.

Erik J.


http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/dungeon/480/index.html
The Reality Check for a Fictional World
Message no. 4
From: Adam L <runeweaver@********.NET>
Subject: Re: Greetings, earthlings!
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 15:54:27 -0400
>Here's a question for (mostly) idle curiosity's sake. One of my fellow
>gamers is a rabid Star Trek and Babylon 5 fan, and asked what would
>happen if a Horror Marked, or a spirit (or other entity) possessed, a
>collective conciousness like, say, the Borg? Would the
>Marking/possessing entity have control over that single individual, or
>the entire Collective from which it comes (ignoring the Queen)?

<SNIP various ideas>

IMO, I'd say that a being possessed of a collective mind would be
invulnerable to mind control/seizing or that the controling being would
have to roll versus the entire collective mind to wrest control of the
being. (Note that this is about the same thing) Now if such a being could
be seperated from it's collective it would be an entirely different
situation, I would even rule that the being would have a penalty to defend
it's individual mind from the attack due to it's dependance on the
hive-mind (or whatever) for mental strength and support. Interesting concept.
-Drrakn (Adam L)

Further Reading

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Thwap!