From: Andy Wills [andy@olywa.net] Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 10:46 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - The GEO Marshall Chris Sakal wrote: > > The only real analogy I can think of for the GEO Marshall is the Texas > ranger of a century ago (well, a bit more than that actually). The > Marshall is a policeman with a whole planet as a district. He needs to be > able to get around Poseidon as quickly as possible, and if you want to do > that, you need to know how to pilot a jumpcraft. True. He should know how to pilot a jumpcraft, but not as well as the commercial pilot. To go with the western example, Texas rangers could ride, but most of them not as well as an expert cowhand. It wasn't their main job, hence they weren't quite as good at it. > When I said flying into enemy fire, I wasn't talking about SAM batteries, > I was talking about small arms fire, but that is quite enough. How many > drills do you think a civilian pilot would go through involving the sudden > loss of one or more engines? I would think this would be a major part of > the Marshall's training. Civilian commercial pilots go through lots of drills involving loss of one engine, etc. (As I recall) Moving from amateur to professional pilot involves many more drills in emergency procedures. The civilian pilot would have the skills to fly well in small arms fire--whether they'd freak or not would depend on the individual character. > The way I envision a Marshall, they would be MORE highly trained even > than a SEAL, they have a harder job. They are supposed to be able to do > everything that their job requires alone if needs be, not as part of a > team, and so they have to know correspondingly more. Check. However, they can carry out their job just fine with a lesser piloting skill, no? I just don't think a Marshall would have the time to develop the additional skill. > Oh, by the way, I've known several private pilots and if you want to fly > anything anywhere you have to file a flight plan. That goes for 747s and > one engine cessnas alike. Yep. I hope I didn't imply otherwise. I assume the same thing would be true of Poseidon, although it would be easier to get around that restriction. > Chris Sakal Okay, I'm done with the Marshall and piloting thing now :) Y'all can come back. -Andy *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Chris Sakal [csakal@erols.com] Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 4:25 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - The GEO Marshall Y'all are vastly underestimating both what the GEO Marshall is capable of and what he is expected to do. He is not merely a detective, he is the end-all be-all of law enforcement on Poseidon. He must be able to function equally well above and below the water, get anywhere on a moment's notice, and handle any situation that may conceivably arrive. The only real analogy I can think of for the GEO Marshall is the Texas ranger of a century ago (well, a bit more than that actually). The Marshall is a policeman with a whole planet as a district. He needs to be able to get around Poseidon as quickly as possible, and if you want to do that, you need to know how to pilot a jumpcraft. Not only that, but he needs to know how to pilot it well, though even the average pilot on Poseidon is going to have some real trouble and has to be quite good to navegate a storm (which is a bad idea, but which every pilot should probably at least have some training in) the Marshall will have to know how to fly even better than that. When I said flying into enemy fire, I wasn't talking about SAM batteries, I was talking about small arms fire, but that is quite enough. How many drills do you think a civilian pilot would go through involving the sudden loss of one or more engines? I would think this would be a major part of the Marshall's training. The way I envision a Marshall, they would be MORE highly trained even than a SEAL, they have a harder job. They are supposed to be able to do everything that their job requires alone if needs be, not as part of a team, and so they have to know correspondingly more. Oh, by the way, I've known several private pilots and if you want to fly anything anywhere you have to file a flight plan. That goes for 747s and one engine cessnas alike. Chris Sakal csakal@erols.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: wil liam hindmarch [hindmarc@stu.beloit.edu] Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 1:43 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - The GEO Marshall At 08:46 AM 8/29/98 -0700, you wrote: >Okay, I'm done with the Marshall and piloting thing now :) Y'all can >come back. > >-Andy Me too. I still think I'm right :) but I'm not interested in debating anymore. will *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@aurora.alaska.edu] Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 3:56 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - some thoughts on character creation wil liam hindmarch wrote: > > Fighter, interceptor, and attack pilots are the only ones I know of who > both move themselves and fight. It's not to say that it couldn't happen (my > militaristic home game is based somewhat on this concept), especially in a > vast frontier setting where individuals can still weild great tactical > power, but I don't think this is the purvue of the Marshall, again. > Marshalls are Marshalls, not SWAT, not QRT, and not SEALs, as I've > interpreted them. They've got better than traditional Marshall training, > but they still tend to operate in small, operational groups, not small, > tactical groups. I have to think that one of the factors driving (parts, at least) of this little controversy is that some people think Marshals are analogous to the U.S.'s FBI or Marshall Service, while others (like myself) think they're more like Judge Dredd; to wit, more badass than thou. Or all of your friends. >From their impressive list of skills, and from "To the Service of Justice" I get the impression that they're trained to be the equivalent of a squad of PeaceKeeper SWAT or about .75 Atomic Monkeys. Expensive? HELL yeah, but look at the money the GEO's putting into biomods for them. After that, you want them to have the training to keep them alive. Just put them through SuperTrooper basic, and cut them loose. It's not terribly effective in some senses, but it also gives them the rep that gets them their edge -- if you've a Marshall on your side, it's as good as or better than having God or Lady Luck. If he's on the other side, you'd best just give up. -- (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk. Auberon *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: wil liam hindmarch [hindmarc@stu.beloit.edu] Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 5:03 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - some thoughts on character creation At 12:56 PM 8/29/98 -0800, you wrote: >I have to think that one of the factors driving (parts, at least) of >this little controversy is that some people think Marshals are analogous >to the U.S.'s FBI or Marshall Service, while others (like myself) think >they're more like Judge Dredd; to wit, more badass than thou. Or all of >your friends. RANT: [ON] DIRECTION: [UNDIRECTED] (Not intended for one specific individual) I still see the Marshalls in a much more realworld light. Judge Dredd can fly jumpcraft (if he can, I dunno) because no one gives a damn about realism in the Dredd setting. Even when seen like Marshalls of the old west (which I agree is the role they fulfill) then you should recognize that they ARE badasses not because of extreme skill, but because of dedication, intensity, and jurisdiction. Marshalls are badasses but they don't occupy a separate world from everyone else. You shoot a Marshall in the face, and he dies, I don't care how bad his ass is. A punk with a 30% skill in handguns could still mess him up if he rolls better. My view is a blending of traditional Marshall archetypes (via the west) and modern Marshall styles (a la the modern world). Marshalls don't, in non-Poseidon venues, have a totally free reign. They, officially, don't even have one on the blue planet. They're job descriptions are not like Judge Dredd's, they ARE like a frontier lawman. They still have laws, both judiciary and physical, to obey. To close, and I don't want to discuss this anymore, I don't think it's completely ordinary and common and logical for a Marshall to have a largely superior knowledge of skills like piloting because he carries a big gun and can confront people dramatically. While a Marshall could have (for example) piloting skills, I disagree on how obvious it is for a Marshall to be an extreme expert at skills only arguably and loosely related to his work. The way I run my game will reflect this. Run yours however you want. Excuse my defensiveness, but I'm getting a little irritated with the attitude in these discussions, my own included. We all stopped arguing opinions a long time ago and are trying to pretend we all know more than everyone else. And we're all wrong. Good day. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Guilherme A Oliveira [gsi00074@gsaix2.cc.GaSou.EDU] Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 5:39 PM To: blueplanet Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Marshal stuff... Howdy everybody, I just signed on the list serve and have read the latest on this Marshal stuff, I even went through that extensive discussion on fusion/fission engines and space/land travel- Wow ^_^. Recently some members wanted to wrap up this rather interesting dialogue, but I just HAD to throw in some script into the pot. I am running an adventure where a Marshal is involved as a PC. I had my misgivings because there was a debate among the group as to what kind of character the Marshal really is suppossed to be (and the points raised in the serve sound _very_ similar). In the end, BP relies a lot on imagination, both from the GM and players- come what may. But let me say this- a Marshal as a PC is more trouble than its worth (in my humble, inexperienced opinion). The Marshal _is_ indeed the law, consider that there are ONLY 12 on the entire planet. It seems in my game when the Marshal is in way over his head (by his own design I might add), the most prudent step is to "call in backup". Expecting backup to arrive the situation slowly turns away from the PC's control. Sometimes I feel I'm running a one man show when the pile is thick. Anyway, I don't want to ramble TOO much here. My suggestion is this: don't allow Marshals in the game. BP makes them larger than life AND ambiguous at the same time. There is an NPC for Haven- let the GM decide if they are needed. I believe someone once mentioned that Marshals don't have the time to be at every investigation (much less fly around dodging SAMs and whatnot), they probably _are_ filling reports for the havoc they DO cause anyway. I hope I have not struck a match- just my thoughts. JIM "Yeah, you dumb 'rilla! Me an' my pals are... hey, where did everybody go... uh oh!" -yet another funny moment before the bar fight _really_ got started! *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: BIOHZD@aol.com Sent: Saturday, August 29, 1998 10:57 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Fluid Mechanics Hey All, Have ya' heard the one about the GEO Marshal that crashed his jumpcraft into the ocean...? ; ) OK...now that I have your attention, I would like to make a fun announcement. We've begun to determine the final content for Fluid Mechnics. It's unfortuate that we can't solicit complete submissions for the tech book as we did for the Access Denied booklet. As you probably realize, the individual entries have to be too carefully integrated with each other to make this practical. We would however, love to hear about the kinds of things you want to see included in the tech book. We'd hate to leave out something players thought was important. To this end we encourage you to start posting your ideas for new BP tech to the list. Feel free to describe them in as much or as little detail as you like. Post complete ideas or just half-baked possibilities. Post technical descriptions or possible stats, or even just cool names for specific models like Hard Target Personal Armor, or SmartNav Guidance Systems. Keep in mind that we may edit, cut, meld, glue, hack, eliminate, nix, cobble, scuttle, torch, mix, mush, bend, fold, spindle or mutilate anything that is posted, into any form we think would be cool. Remember too that all submissions are made simply for personal enjoyment and that their use does not imply any sort of publishing contract. Be sure to include your full name with each submission so it may be included in the book's credits should your idea(s) be incorporated. OK folks, here's your chance to have your say about Blue Planet's technological future. Speak now, or forever hold your pilot...er...peace ; ). Jeff Barber Biohazard Games *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.