From: Kintaro Oe [kabael@SoftHome.net] Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 9:04 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - recommended short story I just read "Snowball in Hell" by Brian Stableford in my December 2000 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and I have to say that it would make for excellent reading on the part of anyone planning to do a genetic law-heavy Blue Planet game. Basically, the story is set in the near future. The government conducts a raid on a remote manor where they expect illegal genetic experiments are being conducted. Recent laws have made transplanting human DNA into animals illegal, so they come in to bust everything. Of course it all goes downhill with fires and gunshots and whatnot. Anyway, it turns out that the scientists in the manor were not actually transplanting DNA, they were controlling the _way_ the genes that were already there in the animals (pigs, in this case) expressed themselves. They made people by molding what was there instead of bringing in anything new. This is technically not illegal, and ends up being the crux of the story with the question of "What does it mean to be human? It can't just be the genes" closing out the story. It was a good read, although it was more of an idea framed in a legal story than a story with an idea. Definitely recommended, and Analog is just good all over anyway. - kabael - Kintaro Oe - Derek the Guder - kabael@softhome.net - ICQ# 24193592 the McGuffin Group - the End Times - RPG Action - the Thirteenth Legion How much humiliation can four people and a penguin take? *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 1:16 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Idea for future books Stormsurge is fine, but not everyone is online. Of those online, not everyone looks for BP sites. (In fact some of my players found my site today for the first time) Some people prefer to use only "official" rules. I just brought it up as possible material to round out a book. For example, it would be nice to have a few more dolphin and orca specific packages in the upcoming 'Fin book or several different types of covert operatives in Black Crusade. I find that players tend to like those sort of things. Mike Z In a message dated 3/2/01 11:47:30 PM Central Standard Time, stormsurge@stormsurge.org writes: << Yay! Someone other than me put in a plug for the site! :) -- ChrisTheS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeb Boyt" To: Sent: Friday, March 02, 2001 10:01 PM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Idea for future books > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: Ml10@aol.com (Mike Z) > Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 12:09:04 EST > > Hi all, > > Just had a thought... > I'd like to see additional background/ origins/ professional packages > included in future books. > > While it is easy to make up new packages, I know > that some people prefer playing with "official" > material only. > ==================================== > > Well, I'm certainly for it. > > My "unofficial" conversion of v.1 backgrounds that were not included in the > Player's Guide are available at http://www.stormsurge.org > > Jeb >> *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Troy Gustavel [troy_nevermore@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 9:51 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents Question, where do we send submissions for undercurrents? Is electronic submission OK, and if so, in what formats? ===== Troy Gustavel 5825 Bolender Rd. Akron, OH 44319 (330)882 5468 Troy_Nevermore@Yahoo.com "Once upon a midnight dreary..." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Troy Gustavel [troy_nevermore@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 9:58 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - maps --- Kintaro Oe wrote: > What I would like to see is a bit more detail on the city maps > actually. Stuff like labelling where the big attractions in Haven > were would be nice. amen, when reading first Colony I kept flippin g back to the map trying to identify where specific things mentioned were, such as the summit mall and HIST. The map in the moderator's guide numbers these locations, but that map does a poor job of, well, being a map. And on neither of them can I figure out where all the mag-lev rails go, I can't tell the secondary lines from the main roads on the FC map. If I can get around to it, big if (REALLY BIG if) I want to have a go at redoing the haven maps in profantasy's campaign cartographer program, but well, we'll see. ===== Troy Gustavel 5825 Bolender Rd. Akron, OH 44319 (330)882 5468 Troy_Nevermore@Yahoo.com "Once upon a midnight dreary..." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Troy Gustavel [troy_nevermore@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 10:12 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Idea for future books > From: Ml10@aol.com (Mike Z) > Just had a thought... > I'd like to see additional background/ origins/ professional packages > included in future books. Frankly, I am surprised we haven't gotten this already, I really would have like some expanded and more detailed skill packages for GEO patrol and criminals included in FJ. and the upcoming covert security book should really have some spy packages, and of coarse, more fin packages in the fin book ===== Troy Gustavel 5825 Bolender Rd. Akron, OH 44319 (330)882 5468 Troy_Nevermore@Yahoo.com "Once upon a midnight dreary..." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Pawel Daruk [paweldaruk@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 10:22 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Green Piss Dear Blue Planet enthusiasts and Creators! Firstable please let me apologize for the lack of my langual abilities, but I am polish and my dictionary is in my house, where I should be at this unearthly hour instead of working during night shift. I am a humble GM/Player who recently fell in love with Blue Planet, after purchasing 1st ed mainbook. Being a devoted storyteller and WOD-addict for years I have little use of any game mechanics but the setting, the mood, the themes, the ideas presented by Biohazard in this blue piece of art are just marvellous! I could only wish, that I had a credit card, because without it I have access only to a very limited stock of books. No wonder then that I've found the Undercurrents to be an extremely useful tool, and the only one available for me, at least currently. I can't wait to see the issue no 7. And this brings me to the topic which is one of couple of ideas that I might try to share with you all, if I manage to write all these in english. Maybe I'll speed up editing of Undercurrents by this work. Green Piss Club Its very name is a beacon for ecology-interested idiots. Green Peace is/was (depending on, what GM decides; I use it as an active organisation to add some contrast between the old ways and the new ways of ecoterrorism) an ancient ecoterrorist group that gave birth to all the others and if not, then at least it was loud enough to be one of the most famous during 20th/21st century. There are couple of fools foolish enough to not dig deeper into club's reputation posted here and there in CommCore, fools that go to Green Piss wishing to spend some time in a place that sounds like a good fun. Ecology topic is so popular these days after all and even if not, then it is still the loudest topic since GEO is in charge. And we have enough peculiar if not grotesque dialects of so many languages present around the streets of Haven, that pronouncing words "Green Peace" wrongly is rather common. And let's remember about the lots enthusiastic ecoterrorists-to-be and all the youngsters, who have to drink and drink a lot after Prosperity Station's chemical treatments following the six months of abstinence. Concluding, we have here quite a large population that targets the Green Piss Club as a choice for the night. Whatever primitive barbarian came up with the name and funding money to build this hangout, is probably dead or worse, still alive. Regardless, he surely has fun like hell. By the way, fun like hell is a good description of, what awaits inside the club. Imagine an ordinary, large warehouse enchanted by the combined power of solar, wind and stolen energy. Stuff it with tons of low quality, loud, stolen electronics. Fill it with every single kind of psychosomatic drug ever imagined and even more ways to inject it. Pour some green beer onto it. Then crowd it with youth and spice up with neonazis. It gets exciting. Local gang is somehow a traditional group of white power believers, who live by the rules of a subculture, that should be long dead. The Pious Fists, as they call themselves, are cultural, cruel, clever and clean. Very clean. Don't think that they live or party in the Green Piss. They don't. They have hidden, proudly named "headquarters" somewhere in... the Central Business District. No, the Pious Fists are far from partying in the club which they secretly own. Instead they use it for their own purpose. It's a low scale campaign of violence that satisfies the gang's hunger for blood and as such, nurtures their spirit mentor's memories or whatever. Okay the neonazis just come sometimes, rarely in full strength, watching in disgust how these dirty animals are having fun. They observe the patrons, choose the most non-human prey, take it outside, escort it to the Hall of Hubris and there they conduct their rituals. Usually knives, clubs and chains are used to torture the victims and gunshot wound is the fatal one. This happens once or twice per month so it's not a routine, and although Fists already obtained some rivals and enemies, they are still rather quite and small. Surely such kind of activity calls for some authorities' alertness. But Patrolmen are not there. Marshal deputies have their own duties. MacLeod enforcers are just to expensive. And mercenaries... well mercenaries sometimes fight, yeah, but more often they are paid enough to stay away. So before I get to serious describing, what do we have here?: - a dangerously political intrigue leading to the Pious Fists' secretive guardian devil. - a mildly difficult combative mission for anyone who likes to spill the blood of those who like to spill the blood of those who spill the beer. - a chance to underline some basic social conflicts that feed the philosophers and genetic surgeons alike in AD 2199. - a chance to piss in green, although the beer is quite tasty. The Pious Fists gang ...Consist of twenty four persons aged from 12 to 31. This boys and girls are almost exclusively members of social and financial elite of the most civilized society on the planet, which is Haven's administrative caste. They belong to many political backgrounds, including GEO, many Incorporates and even couple of Independents. They all have rich, usually fairly extended families with colossal budgets and webs of influence. They also share another important trait, the one of being taught by the HIST enlightened minds. Their private lives are flawless, literally. Perfect image, perfect education, perfect etiquette, perfect past and future with pencils symetrically placed on their clean desks. The only people concerned would be psychotherapists, but obviously not the judges and prosecutors. But there is a picture behind this, the worst and best what humanity has to offer for any offspring: an idea, a belief, a theory. What has humanity turned into? What did gene-wizards conjured in their filthy labs? Where had vanished the difference between a person and an animal? There was once a species fairer then all the others and these young men and women are their followers. Transhumans to the core, none of them has ever received any additional modification. In fact they believe that their alpha transformations are the perfect, primal states of excellence of the body and mind, which the rest of humans abandoned during their unclean lives, or their ancestors' lives. Those unmodified aren't the threat for our race, at least not now, when more obvious dangers freely walk the earth. Look at those aquaforms! Are they human or fishes or what! And the hybrides?! Wild beasts not tasty enough to cook them! And there are more, many more, who leave only degeneration and trash in humanity's genetic heritage. Fortunately there are powers to prevent the collapse of human purity. Powers like politics, economics, and even fists. One just has to remember, where his loyalties lie. This is the way of Pious Fists. Gang members dress as commonly as any administrator's family, when they cultivate in privacy their own beliefs. But when they go out on the streets, to deliver the humanity's blow into the core of corruption, they tend to wear black leather coats and glasses. Unsurprisingly they are all fair blondes with quite broad jaws and blue eyes. They have access to sophisticated weapon systems although they rarely use trodes and never neural jacks. They drive expensive motorcycles with various nasty upgrades to challenge any unwanted attention. The gang's "tech-members" excel in electronical warfare making it deadly hard to detect the bikes in time. It's complicated enough around the warehouses and narrow streets of Haven. As long as this group exists, which is three years, it was always led by Herman, 25 years old only son of an unidentified GEO officer. Herman is a charismatic personality and a devoted believer, ruthless, strong-willed and proud predator. He assumed the position himself and has been challenged only twice, with always lethal results. The boy leads his herd with an iron fist and he expects obedience before breathing. He usually chooses the prey although not always. Among all Fists he's probably the most sure of, what he wants. He really wants them to bleed. Although no evidence is available, it is suspected by certain Marshal Service operatives, that he is responsible for three hybrid deaths. Other members vary greatly in age, sex, devotion, temper, aggresiveness and effectiveness. Not that they don't try to hide any differences. After all the Ideal is to be the Pure Human, not Pure Humans. Of all neonazis at least eight to ten kids can freely be considered just unguided, confused lambs. Violent, bloody-handed, deeply hiding their own doubts, lambs. The Green Piss Club ...has been bought from a poor mariner and transformed into a wilderness pit that it is today, four years ago. This warehouse is nothing else than a large bioplastic cave able to squeeze in its interior up to one hundred people, a durable treasury of aged electronics and surprisingly powerful hi-fi equipment, and a bloodied biocrete arena serving as a dancing floor. Whoever is a DJ one night, will be worshipped or maimed according to his/her abilities to satisfy the crowd. More often then not recognised club regulars are leading the patrons and druggies into party after party after party. Such individuals, usually non-succesful artist of many sorts, are paid by the owner of the club and usually they even have insurance to not get killed, when Fists show up. The bar located behind an amazingly hard bioplastic serves many ugly drinks, with drugs as the only food available. Club's specialty is the Green Beer, obviously colored and spiced. Green Piss is opened from early afternoon until late morning, not that anyone would survive such a long party. It's extreme. Holographs everywhere with only the wildest bands performing and howling from mighty stereos that shake the surrounding islands. Pharmaceuticals that cause you to believe that you are a Stick Monkey. Hypersensitive bullies seeking anyone bold enough to play card or dices with them. Live music transmitted from anywhere on the planet and beyond, sometimes complete with holoclips or imagesounds shows. The hottest nights are hosted by the personel of three bartenders and five security thugs, who know when to look and when to go to the restroom. They provide rather additional problems then any help, if potential investigators would search for any answers or clues. One of the bartenders though is quite long-tongued. Javier Lorenzo, a plump, bald fortysome. He has his own beliefs about this whole Purity topic. He even hides a secret, which he might share with certain individuals or... beautiful women. He has not fully developed webbings on his hands. He fears that the Fists might realise this and thus he is a weak point in gang's defences. If asked subtly or strongly enough... or by a beautiful woman, he'll tell what he knows, and it isn't a lot. What a Green Piss is, after all? A web for fools, that assures the Fists, that they are correct in their beliefs? An arena of clashing beliefs, often in bloody ways, because Brighton with it's thousands of Silvas and Felines population is just nearby? A real recruiting grounds for couple of ecoterrorist cells? It's all these and more. Lesser politics Chong S. Lee is a manipulator and a multimillioner. Also a politician and a philosopher. A deadly mixture. It is he, who created the sect, the gang, however it should be called. He has his own goals although Herman is not aware of it. Why does he deceive the young extremists? Do he believes in, what they believe? Maybe he just wants their parents' fortunes? Or maybe he wants to ruin them politically by collecting evidence on their offsprings? Maybe he is a neonazi after all, and this is his own way to avenge the dead quasi-ideals? Or all these or something completely different? Let the GM decide. Let him also use the club as a background as well as some scenario small part. Maybe one of the girls from the gang wants to leave unharmed and needs players' help? Or maybe she doesn't want to leave, but she senses that her leader is manipulated by someone powerful beyond her suspections? Maybe another politician, particularly an interested parent is seeking someone to do the dirty work and clean his/her child? Maybe there are ecoterrorists here after all, and Fists act as their recruiters? How hard can it be to combat someone that can't be combatted officially because of political and social hierarchy? Okay the whole topic is best served for a character (hmmm... I prefer solo adventures but others probably like team work) or characters somehow affiliated with racial/genotype complexes. Sell-out natives, hybrids who rejected their heritage, idealists believeing that the humanity paces in the good... or bad direction. After all every gaming session should be oriented in the way that interests both the players and their characters. Do not let the thing change into ambush/frontal assault motives. Rather question characters motives and clash them with Fists and others. Ecoterrorists are also beasts after all and local native population are more humane than humans even if they don't consider themselves humans anymore. Argh. I'm getting tired. It's... 5:08 am. I shouldn't probably post it and instead I should rewrite it but I won't have a chance to do so in the near future and I have couple of other ideas as well, which I'll try to write also soon, so here it is: a set of basic ideas for some place and some people. Please, if anyone finds it helpful, use it, change it, play it. Pawel Daruk. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.