| From: | John E Pederson <lobo1@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Solar Flares and EMP |
| Date: | Tue, 2 Jun 1998 16:55:31 -0500 |
writes:
>>You're right, I doubt that a solar flare *could* do something like what
>>I'm describing here. BUT this is a roleplaying game and if I say it
can
>>happen, then it happens. Besides, who's to say that there isn't some
>>magical group somewhere that decided to put a little "umf" behind the
>>flare's effects. At any rate, my actual original idea behind this was
to
>>come up with some way to recreate the crash of '29 in the world of
205X.
GM mandate notwithstanding, it does help if you've got a nice foundation
in case those pesky players get to causing problems:) You might be able
to have fun with this: seems that we're in for some really nasty sunspot
activity starting the turn of the century here. The 'Solar Max' -- a
culmination of the sun's 11-year cycle of sunspot activity -- could
likely cause severe havoc with communications equipment, especially
satellites, for two or three years starting in the year 2000. Since the
sunspots are on cycle that runs about every 11 years, there should be a
Solar Max around 255-2057. It's likely that most equipment will be
shielded from the solar radiation they expect from this, but if there's
an unexpected solar flare of above-average ferocity at the same time, it
could be more than the shielding could adequately deal with. I was just
reading an article on this:)
>What about a terrorist group (who somehow knows there's gonna be a
>solar flare and exactly what time the effects are gonna hit) detonates
>thermonukes (high in the atmoshpere or not) at the same times as the
>flare's effects hit, stregthening the EMP from the flare?
Mmmm.... This brounhgt Winternight to mind almost immediately:)
><SNIP>
>>Now with technology effectively gone during this time, what do you
suppose
>>the reaction would be from magic-heavy nations such as NAN or Aztlan?
I
>>would imagine they would take avantage of this situation to increase
their
>>power and influence with no nuclear threat to stop them.
>
>/Some/ of technology gone ... any fiberoptic technology should be
>still functional which means the Matrix should still be up and running
>... this brings up a question: how much of the tech in SR is
>fiberoptic? and how much is electronic? Everything I think of as
>Electronic I can see just as easily as Fiberoptic except Electric Cars
>... surely I'm just not being imaginitive enough ...
Any *purely* fiber-optic technology would be alive and kicking. Can you
think of any purely fiber-optic technology? Besides coaxial cables...
Even an optical computer would need a power supply. Could also have some
serious implication for the power industry. Seems that with this major
sunspot activity coming up in the year 2000, some folks are worried that
the solar radiation could knock out a large number of power stations.
>>Speaking of magic, some of you have mentioned the flood of mana that
could
>>occur with a solar flare of this magnitude. What sort of magical
groups
>>would take this opportunity to reorganize the power structure?
>>
>>What about the effect on spirits (specificly in Chicago)?
>>
>>Wolfchild
>
>Hmm... I don't know enough about the magical groups in Threats but
>about the spirits in Chicago ... do you mean before or after the
>events in Target: UCAS?
Hmmm... if he's doing this before T:UCAS, he could conceivably wake all
of those dormant buggies from their nuclear torpor and make for lots of
fun for the Illinois State Guard and the CZ's various groups of residents
-- could maybe wind up mobilizing the ghouls for the safety of the rest
of the Zone. Or not:) Post-T:UCAS, I'd expect the bugs to take advantage
of the chaos to draft a few new recruits:)
>The simplest way to handle a mana surge from a solar flare would be to
>use Mana Surge rules in the SRCo and Target:UCAS.
Yes and no. I would have just given a blanket background count rating for
the duration of the unusual solar activity. Odd effects could be tossed
in as necessary. *shrug* But whatever works.
>D.Ghost
>(aka Pixel, Tantrum, and RuPixel)
>"Let he who is without SIN cast the first stone"
*toss*
:)
--
John Pederson "Reality is a greasy beast"
aka Canthros, shapeshifter-mage --Colin P. Hill
lobo1@****.com canthros1@***.com john.e.pederson@***********.edu
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/4864 ICQ UIN 3190186
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