Rubrum's GURPS - United Humanity Long Distance Exploration

Fraser agrees and goes to find Nozomi and bring her up to date on Morel's journal before heading to his room to sleep and reclaim his personal effects (TBA).

 

End of Act 1

All members of the team went to their respective rooms for a period of rest (8 hours is the norm, although Valentine is a slow riser, being not as effective in the first couple of hours after getting up, and Gregory can function with just 6 hours).

Spoiler :

This is the point at which what I considered to be the "first act" ends. Usually we'd advance a lot more "IRL" before I'd give out "xp", but if we want to ever develop the characters a bit, "xp" will come in more often. So yes, escaping the pod room, doing a lot to regain control of the ship, and mostly understanding what has been going on, that was "Act 1"

End of Act 1 means everybody gets 5 character points. These points don't need to be spent now. You can buy anything you want with character points in GURPS, you could even buy more strength, or advantages, provided there is a way to justify it in-game (you'd need a good reason to buy an extra arm). Most of the time people spend the points on skills though, but it's not mandatory. Advantages and attributes (ST, DX, IN, HT) can give a lot of benefits but saving the points means you don't get immediate benefits.

About skills, don't forget that unless this is the very first point you spend on a skill, raising skills usually cost more than 1 character point (i.e. getting from 13 to 14 in Guns (pistol) can cost 4-5 character points, some rules govern that). The exact rules of this are on page 170 of the Characters book, and the character builder software we've used actually accounts for all of this when you dump points in a skill. Or you can just give me a general idea of what you want to do I can probably suggest points allocation.

Usually, you can mostly just gain skill points in skills that have been used (including any skill that you have used without being trained in it (learning in a moment of stress)). But I can be slightly lenient if the demand isn't outlandish (didn't see anyone practicing opera singing or anything close to it). For skills you have never used but still want to dump points in, one needs to practice or study many hours. At some point the campaign may assume many weeks pass us by (or you guys can decide to wait for months if you want) and new skills can be learned by practicing them in the off-camera lull.

Onward to Act 2, and the arrival of a new character pretty soon...

 

After an exhausting day, Nozomi collapse onto her bed.

Spoiler :

So I take it my points would go into filling in the debt?

 

Spoiler :

Good point CivGeneral; you have one character point of debt (-1), so after you paid this point back you still have 4 points to spend

 

Fraser awakens after a long sleep in a pool of his own sweat in his room on board the Odyssey with a sense of dread. He was unable to recall exactly what happened he was not having happy dreams.

Stretching as he got up, Fraser grabs his trusted towel and a heads off to find the shower (or whatever the Odyssey's equivalent is), leaving his gear behind.

 

Gregory had not had the best night's sleep. For an hour after the others had retired to their bunks he had remained awake. Double checking that the crew cabin door was sealed, he carried a chair and settled in front of the entrance, placed a pistol underneath the chair and wrapped himself in a thermal blanket. Confident that he could at least create enough noise to rouse the others should anything happen, he drifted into sleep.

His dreams were confusing, and changed rapidly. He dreamt of war, he dreamt of the sea, he dreamt of England, he dreamt of the sky. Grim were his dreams, and he fitfully slept.

He awoke before the others, and immediately checked the door. Apparently untouched, he gave a quiet sigh of relief. He stowed away his blanket and chair, and holstered his pistol. For the next half hour he stayed in his cabin, listening to the music on his audio player and looking through the personal files on his computer, remembering home. Eventually he became aware of movement outside and, suiting up again and checking his weapons, Gregory went back outside to resume his post in front of the door. He gave Fraser a nod as the Canadian, towel in hand, wandered in search of the showers.

 

Fraser enters the hall and sees Gregory is already awake and alert, and greets him.

"Good morning Gregory, or whatever time of day it is."

He heads to the showers at the end of the hallway to enjoy a good long soak.

 

Nozomi rolls in bed. "Need more sleep!" she moans while turning in her bed.

 

Nozomi, then finally gets herself out of bed and takes a shower. Knowing that she is not a morning person, she tries to find a way to wake herself up and be more alert. "If only there was some tea or coffee I could drink" Nozomi said to herself.

 

Deciding he could stay away from the door a few moments, Gregory went back to his quarters and opened a small compartment in his locker. Taking out a metal box labelled 'luxuries', he took out a plastic mug and a stamp-sized package. He squeezed it tightly and dropped it into the mug, where it convulsed and expanded. Large bubbles broke out over the surface before the entire package exploded into a mass of brown liquid which soon filled the mug. Placing the now steaming container on a table, Gregory rummaged around the box to find a container of white liquid and a package filled with tiny granules, and he added a tiny bit of both to his cup.

Nozomi, of course, saw none of this, but as she walked back to her quarters following her shower she saw Gregory, grinning broadly and raising his cup of tea in greeting.

"I do love a good cuppa in the morning," he said. "Really wakes me up."

Spoiler :

@CG: Couldn't resist. Ho hum.

 

Spoiler :

lol, showering and making coffee, epic story unfolds! So yes, let's just say there is a small "commons" room with a shower and tiny cafeteria in the crew cabins section; of course I had totally thought of that, oh um. At some point the inevitable decisions will still have to be made, but I'm okay with showers and coffee too. As an aside, nobody has really told me if they were interested in spending their points.

 

After Nozomi is finished with her shower, she dresses up in her gear. She walks into the lounge and notices a grinning Gegory drinking his beverage...

Nozomi: GREGORY!!!!!!!! :arg:

Spoiler :

Link to video.
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!

 

Spoiler :

It's tea. And never, ever suggest to a British person that making such a drink is anything less than crucial

Spoiler :

I try my best to level a character based on what I've done before, so feel free to boost my stats using that guide. I suppose some of the combat ones and perhaps 'soldier' for now would make sense.

 

Act 2

Spoiler :

Roll for Fraser's "Nightmares" disadvantage that he resists "quite often" (under 12 is success)... Result of roll: 8. No bad effects from nightmares today

Dr. Laszlo Martin had been awake for an hour, he was busy reading entries from a book entitled "Stretching the theories on exobiology" by a certain Dr. Phillip G. Huberton, retrieved from the ship's database. Rubbing his forehead, he noticed that time had passed and the team may actually be waiting for him. He quickly climbed into his clothes and walked out. He noticed the area was unoccupied and figured people may be in the command post upstairs. As he walked out of the cabins crew area however, he heard discussion coming from the slick conference room at the center of the ship. He entered.

Valentine was sitting with a coffee on one of the superb leather chairs, massaging her eyes and yawning, trying to listen to Fraser talking about the options for the immediate future. Fraser was pointing at a holographic representation of the space object that was hovering over the conference table. Behind him, standing and leaning on the wall, was Sergeant Quentin Gregory, sipping on an extremely crucial tea, weapon at his side. He was stern and quiet.

Fraser took notice of Martin and acknowledged his presence.

Spoiler :

Admittedly, up to now, there is pretty much one unavoidable direction, although there were many paths to that direction and you guys already did a couple of things I hadn't necessarily foreseen. Soon though, when the ultimate decision has been taken to plunge into adventure, things will become quite... Open. But yes, you guys don't have that many options at this point until the decision has been taken to go ahead. Thing is, someone will have to propose to do something, and some characters may not be the most obvious candidate for proposing it. The wilder elements will have to speak up. So yes, we are at the brink of the end of what I had sort of planned as "the half linear tutorial" (6 months tutorial ftw).

The entry of the new player is around the corner and may revive this game for another... little while I suppose

 

Gregory glanced at the door as Martin walked in, relaxing when he saw who it was. His right hand was near his pistol, his left holding his mug of tea. He continued to keep an eye on the door in front of him, goodness knows he was hardly paying attention to whatever the Canuck was going on about.

"Well," he began. "Way I see it, we have an 'unusual' situation, the mission has changed and we're gonna have to improvise. I don't know what to make of what happened to Morel, but I do know we have something...alien...latching itself to the Odyssey. We either check it out, or we sever it from us. I'm strongly in favour of the latter."

 

"Well we could sever the cable, there has got to be at least one tool in the hold capable of doing so, however what would we do next? The shuttle is still missing along with two crew members, and someone or something tied us to the other ship for a reason. Perhaps the shuttle may be on the other ship or there may be clues as to where it has gone, along with the missing people. Without the shuttle we are stuck on board this ship with no way to get down to a planet.

I suggest we suit up and follow the cable into the other ship."

 

"Good point, well made - that shuttle is our most important asset and I'm thinking it's on that other ship...object...thing."

 

"Well, I guess we don't have much choice, do we?" Laszlo said, clearly not much liking the sound of venturing over to the other ship.

"I mean, if that's what we're doing, count me in, but..." He swore softly and shook his head.

 

Nozomi then stood up and stated "Alright, then lets get this show on the road then".

Spoiler :

At least its not a Holy Necro Batman!

 

GM UPDATE POST

The crew exited the conference room, having reached a consensus on the course of action... They went downstairs into the hangar where Aquarius was conspicuously missing. This was the room with the lift-elevator access to the cargo hold. They all stood on the lift platform and Fraser activated it. The platform slowly started going down into the ground, it led to various small circular floors, each dedicated to a specific type of stuff... “Building materials”, “Factory replacement parts”; for now, the floor that was going to be useful to them was “Exploration and defense”. This was actually split on two floors.

The cargo is in the circular part of the ship. Gravity is almost inexistant, the lift is just a way to “push stuff up” in the hangar.

Spoiler :

Here I list stuff that could be available in this area. It's not exhaustive, although it took forever to make. You guys are free to grab pretty much as much as you can (no limits on how many, say, laser sniper rifles there are), although you do have a weight limit for encumbrance (see character sheets). Items with no weight are tiny. Add stuff to your first post in the thread if possible, I will edit your character sheets with that info and will update them soon. You can also ask if you want stuff that may not be there. Think that it's possible to bring a lot of stuff and dump some somewhere later and go back to it. All of this came from the ULTRA-TECH book. If you have it or want it, feel free to look in the book yourself at anything available at the TL9 technology level.

Spoiler :

General use, medical, etc.; this is the hardest list to make since I can't think of everything one could need.

Batteries of all shapes and types (I will probably approximate the use of batteries, except for weapons...)
Mini Flashlights 0,25 lbs (15 yard beam, can be mounted on helm and gun, 2 A batteries)
Heavy Flashlights 1 lb (50 yard beam, usable as a baton, B batteries)
Glow sticks 0,1 lb (2 yard radius, no battery, any colours)
Inertial compass 0,2 lbs (Maps out travel on planet surfaces, connectable to helmet HUD, A batteries)
Envirobags 3 lbs (Sleeping bags meant for extreme temperatures)
Rocket Piton 0,5 lb per shot (Shoots attached line 200 yards)
Filtration canteens 1 lb (filters water to drink)
Rations (won't bother too much with keeping track of food...)
Rope – artificial spider silk, (0,1 lb per 10 yards for 400 lbs support, or 0,25 lbs per 10 years for 1,000 lbs support (thicker))
Portable Tool Kit 10 lbs (Must choose which skill it's for, used to repair, can be used for other skills but at -2, A batteries)
Mini-Toolkit 2 lbs (Must choose which skill it's for, used to repair, only works with that skill, at -2, A batteries)
Slipspray can 0,5 lbs (makes an area really slipper, lubricant)
Gecko adhesive (our duct tape)
Fire extinguisher (mini-tube version lasts 4 seconds 1 lb, small is 10 second discharge 3 lbs, backpack model is 10 lbs for 30 secs)
Plastex B explosive (moldable, 4 times power of TNT, any amount of pounds can be grabbed)
Electronic lockpick 0,2 lbs
Radar Jammer 2,5 lbs
Sonar Jammer 2,5 lbs
Homing Beacon (tiny tracer, signal can then be found with scanners)
Nanobug (tiny recorder with adhesive surface)
Surveillance Worm 2 lbs (camera at end of flexible snake with light source)
Cufftape 0,5 lbs (to restrain)
Radiation Badge (tiny radiation alarm)
Anti-Toxin Kit 0,5 lb
Bandage Spray 0,1 lb per dose, or 0,5 lbs for 6 doses
Diagnostic probes (injected through hypo, tiny biosensors injected in patient)
Hypos (tiny fingernail length needles for injection)
Disposable test kits 0,1 lb (testing for specific medical conditions)
First Aid Kit 2 lbs
Crash Kit 10 lbs (as above but more equipment and better bonus)
Plasti-Skin 0,125 lbs (bandages)
Medical supplies 5 lbs (drugs and other disposables)
Diagnostic Smart Bandage 0,4 lbs for 4 (Bandaging when not a physician...)
Surgical Instruments 15 lbs
Tiny Computer 0,05 lbs (links to HUD, 2A)
Small Computer 0,5 lbs (armband 2B)
Suitcase Lab 10 lbs (basic equipment for ONE skill, choose)
Pocket Analyzer 0,6 lbs (basic equipment for analysis of samples)

Weapons; note that your skills are either in GUNS or BEAM WEAPONS. And you have specialties within these, like GUNS (Pistol) or BEAM WEAPONS (Pistol).

GUNS. Most of these are made of light polymers, evolutions of classic weapons we know in our times. Bullets are encased in propellants and electrically shot.
(Pistol) Medium Pistol 7,5 mmCLP 2 lbs
(Pistol) Heavy Pistol 10mmCLP 2,5 lbs (more powerful than above)
(SMG) Personal Defense Weapon 5,7 mmCL 4,5 lbs (funky Sub-machine gun held close to the body, very short-barelled, with parts protecting the hands)
(Rifle) Assault Carbine 7mmCL 7 lbs (bullpup config. Rifle)
(Rifle) Hunting Rifle 7mmCL 7 lbs
(Rifle) Anti-material Rifle 15mmCL 30 lbs (sniper strong enough to take out vehicles)
(Machine Gun) Light Support Weapon 7mmCL 15 lbs (bipod)
(Machine Gun) Minigun 7mm 33 lbs (tripod gatling gun powered by C battery, 100 rounds per sec)
(Shotgun) Civilian Shotgun 18,5 mmPC 6 lbs (plastic shoulder stock, semi-auto)
(Shotgun) Underbarrel Shotgun 18,5 mmPC 1,5 lbs (can be attached to some weapons)
(Shotgun) Close Assault Weapon 18,5 mmPC 10 lbs (full-auto shotty).
(Grenade Launcher) Underbarrel Grenade Launcher 1,5 lbs 25 mmPC

MELEE
Electric Stun wand 1 lb (shock club)
(Knife) Superfine knife 1 lb (just a knife with superfine technology)

BEAM WEAPONS. Beam weapons are still very high tech and in early development in this campaign. They are chemically powered for most of them, large plastic looking things.
(Pistol) Electrolaser Pistol 2,2 lbs (more of a stun, blind weapon, does have a burn setting)
(Pistol) Laser Pistol 1,5 lbs (more burning, more killing)
(Rifle) Assault Laser Rifle l0 lbs (battlefield weapon, has chemical pack on the back)
(Rifle) Laser Sniper Rifle 20 lbs (bulky battlefield weapon, has chemical pack on the back)
(Rifle) Electrolaser Carbine 3,7 lbs (also more of a stun weapon)
(Projector) Portable Microwave Area Denial (MAD) 20 lbs (“pain” beam that gives burning sensation)
(Projector) EMP Gun 1,8 lbs(attacks electronics of robots or room electronics or anything).

Hand Grenade 1lb
Saucer grenade 1,5 lbs (frisbee style)
Limpet mines 1 lb (stickies)
Smoke grenade 1 lb (also available in little warheads that are at least 10mm)
Electronic Smoke grenade 1 lb (as above but blocks radar and such detection)
Riot Gas Grenade 1 lb (functions as above)

Armors and suits; parts can be used individually or a one-piece “suit” can be used. Suits work on C batteries, helmets on B

Reflex armor (a flexible armor of synthetic materials filled with “shear thickening fluid” armor that hardens upon impact)
Body 6 lbs, gloves, jacket 3 lbs, trousers 2,8 lbs, vest 2 lbs, full suit option 8 lbs

Reflex Tactical Vest 9 lbs (covers only torso and groin but has much higher defense than reflex armor, can't really be used in space without parts of the reflex armor above)

Reflex Tacsuit 15 lbs (full suit of tactical reflex armor, can be sealed using a Combat Infantry Helmet or Space Helmet(see below)))

Reflex Vacc Suit 30 lbs (sealed)

Civilizan Vacc Suit 25 lbs (sealed, less armor)

Combat Hardsuit 30 lbs (heavy duty suit with everything including waste management, must be sealed with infantry or space helmet (see below) but can't operate in vaccuum, only in poisonous environment)

Space Armor 45 lbs (sealed heavy duty for space combat)

Ablative Armor (similar to reflex, but made of plastic that vaporizes on laser impact, mostly for laser protection)
Jacket 3lbs, trousers 2,8 lbs, full suit 8 lbs

Reflec Armor (light and highly reflective polished metal that reflects laser fire, kid of useless against anything other than laser)
Helmet 0,5 lbs, jacket 1 lbs, full suit 2 lbs

Clamshell Armor (only for torso, molded composite laminate chest armor, highly resistant, but only torso)
Heavy 18 lbs, light 12 lbs

Helmets
Combat infantry helmet 5 lbs (seals a bunch of suits as described above, has HUD, radio, etc. full-face visored)
Space Combat Helmet 7 lbs (heavy armored version of above with infrared visor)
Visored Space Helmet 4 lbs (transparent faceplate)

Desert Environment Suit 10 lbs
Drysuit 5 lbs
Heatsuit 10 lbs
Protective Suit 3 lbs (hazmat)

Heavy Exoskeleton 200 lbs (weight not counted, worker climbs in and operates, for lifting and strength for cargo and construction work)
Light Exoskeleton 50 lbs (as above, less power)

Assault boots 3 lbs (armored boots, unusable with full suits)

Suit options:
Infrared Cloaking 3 lbs (applied to something to reduce its heat signature and make it hard to detect with infrared or thermals)
Thermo-Optic chameleon surface 4 lbs (used on a suit, allows you to stealth better vs visual and infrared, can be turned on and off, can be controlled to display any colour)
Programmable Camouflage 2 lbs (to be used on a suit, as above but only allows pre-programmed patterns of camo or bright orange for rescues)
Radar Stealth 3 lbs (to be used on a suit)
Scent Masking 1 lb (to be used on a suit)