From: Ronald Johnson [ronjon@shore.net] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 9:58 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: - Access Denied - a review Quoting Kintaro Oe : > > any other lurkers lurking in the New England area? Please? :) Davis Square, Somerville. We've also run into the pseudo-sci-fi problem here in Boston. Maybe we should gave a BP get together? Cheers, Ron *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jason Hockley [jason.hockley@skynet.be] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 9:57 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Fairyland and Warewolves Hello all, I think this may have been a topic previously covered but I'm not certain (too many RPG mailing lists, not enough brain) so I'll mention it anyway. I'm currently about two thirds of the way through a book called "Fairyland" by P.J. McAuley and one of the characters has struck me as being possibly applicable to Blue Planet. The character in question is an amnesiac who was once in the French Foreign Legion, though that is only relevant as far as the story goes. The point is that it describes how the Foreign Legion works in the mid 21st century. The character, Armand, has a small chip inserted behind his eyeball with some sort of connection to the brain. This chip forces a state similar to multiple personality disorder. A secondary personality (which is given a name of its own, but referred to as the "wolf" personality) is created with access to the person's body's reflexes and abilities but without the psychological inhibitions that arise from what one learns while growing up. So basically under the right conditions or whenever it is purposefully triggered, the secondary personality takes over and becomes what some see as a perfect soldier. Able to act and kill for the good of the mission without any restraint that isn't necessary. Naturally the chip is removed and destroyed if the person leaves the army through normal procedures. Now, with the programmed reflexes and other modifications available in the world of Blue Planet this doesn't seem at all impossible in the game. I'm not involved in a game at the moment unfortunately but I was thinking about it and this could work in several different ways. The first is simply as I've written here and as it is portrayed in the book. A possibly cheaper alternative to the GEO Shock Troopers, perhaps used by Incorporates since they don't have easy access to the "Atomic Monkeys". The modification could also be used for a wide variety of espionage problems or covert operations. If it is taken that the primary personality is unaware of the secondary or vice versa with the secondary mostly in charge) then these people would be pretty effective sleeper agents. Following on from that note it could also be used by some groups as a method of controlling particular types of criminals, or getting some use out of them in the underpopulated areas of the World of Hurt. This sort of thing has been used and written about in many books and films so I won't pursue it any further here. With a little more emphasis on the story aspect, there is another way they can be used. The characters in "Fairyland" complain that the actions of their secondary personalities manage to slip into their memories through incomplete dreams and occasional (rare in the book) flashbacks. For this reason there are very few that try to leave without getting the chip wiped, and many leave earlier than expected. Not to mention the fact that one of the common triggers is intense questioning ( imagine the insurance salesman's surprise). However, even after the chip is gone they continue to get the dreams and problems. Without getting too angsty about this there is distinct possibility for a few characters here. Now, if instead of an alternative to the supertroopers they could be an earlier attempt, with all the obvious problems that entails. I've heard that the film Soldier, which has been mentioned on this list before, bears some resemblance to this though I haven't seen it personally. Anyway, if there are still groups (or individuals) of these people still wandering around I'm sure they could make great antagonists as long as you developed the character a little more. Well, I just thought I'd share this in case anyone else found the idea interesting. The relevance of the subject by the way is that the soldiers are known as "Warewolves". Finally, just as an addition to the book list have any of you read any books by Stephen Baxter? "Voyage" and "Titan" in particular have some relevance to Blue Planet, though "Voyage" is written as an alternative history to the Space Race of the last 50 years or so. Also, I recently read a book that was co-written by Buzz Aldrin that I quite enjoyed in parts called "Encounter with Tiber". This is very similar to Blue Planet in some ways, though there were bits of it I personally thought might not be quite appropriate for what appears to be a hard science fiction book. Anyway, I recommend these books to anyone interested. Sorry this email turned out so long. Jason Hockley *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 10:06 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - The Legion (was: Fairyland and Warewolves) > -----Original Message----- > From: Jason Hockley [mailto:jason.hockley@skynet.be] > Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Fairyland and Warewolves > > in question is an amnesiac who was once in the French Foreign Legion, > though that is only relevant as far as the story goes. The point is > that it describes how the Foreign Legion works in the mid 21st The only science fiction treatment of the Legion that I really like has been William Dietz's pair of books "Legion of the Damned" and "Final Battle". Jim still searching for "March or Die" -- Jim Heivilin, 884-3898, IAT Services, Systems & Applications Group -- University of Missouri, mailto:banzai@missouri.edu *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: christopher gribbon [c.gribbon@dundee.ac.uk] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 11:07 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Fairyland and Warewolves >"Warewolves". Hmmm ... nice! > Finally, just as an addition to the book list have any of you read >any books by Stephen Baxter? "Voyage" and "Titan" in particular have >some relevance to Blue Planet, though "Voyage" is written as an >alternative history to the Space Race of the last 50 years or so. I haven't read Voyage, but Titan is indeed a brilliant book (even if, in my opinion, the ending is a bit of a cop-out) and I really found myself unable to put the book down at the shuttle disaster bit. Christopher Gribbon Vision Research Laboratories Medical Sciences Institute University of Dundee Dundee DD1 5EH UK (01382) 344 229 ____________________________________________________________________ "A scientist is meant to be disinterested, pure; his ambition merely to descry the cement of the universe. He isn't meant to use it to start laying his own patio!" - WILL SELF, The Quantity Theory of Insanity *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ronald Johnson [ronjon@shore.net] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 10:24 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: - Access Denied - a review Quoting BIOHZD@aol.com : > You ask about lurkers in New England. Well, I am originally from Boston, and > should be there over the Christmans holiday, visiting friends and family. > Maybe we can get togther... Hmm, perhaps we should set up Boston Area Blue Planet Holiday Dinner? :) We could go out, or have it at my house (I make a mean seafood gumbo). Cheers, Ron *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jason Hockley [jason.hockley@skynet.be] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 12:23 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - The Legion (was: Fairyland and Warewolves) ----- Original Message ----- From: Heivilin, Jim To: Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 5:06 PM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - The Legion (was: Fairyland and Warewolves) > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Jason Hockley [mailto:jason.hockley@skynet.be] > > Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Fairyland and Warewolves > > > > > in question is an amnesiac who was once in the French Foreign Legion, > > though that is only relevant as far as the story goes. The point is > > that it describes how the Foreign Legion works in the mid 21st > > > The only science fiction treatment of the Legion that I really like has been > William Dietz's pair of books "Legion of the Damned" and "Final Battle". > > Jim > still searching for "March or Die" Well the fact that it was the French Foreign Legion was sort of incidental to what I was saying. In fact this was only about one page in the book and it sort of implied that this wasn't too uncommon a practise. Still, I'll be looking out for those books you've mentioned now. Jason *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jason Hockley [jason.hockley@skynet.be] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 12:27 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Fairyland and Warewolves ----- Original Message ----- From: christopher gribbon To: Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 6:07 PM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Fairyland and Warewolves > >"Warewolves". > > Hmmm ... nice! Would you believe it took me a while to realise it wasn't just an odd spelling or a typographical error? > > Finally, just as an addition to the book list have any of you read > >any books by Stephen Baxter? "Voyage" and "Titan" in particular have > >some relevance to Blue Planet, though "Voyage" is written as an > >alternative history to the Space Race of the last 50 years or so. > > I haven't read Voyage, but Titan is indeed a brilliant book (even > if, in my opinion, the ending is a bit of a cop-out) and I really > found myself unable to put the book down at the shuttle > disaster bit. It's true, he could have just chopped a couple of the chapters off the end of the book and it might have been better. Still, I don't think it was too badly done despite, as you say, being a bit of a cop-out. Voyage is in some ways the prequel to Titan. It's based on an alternate history where Kennedy is not killed by the assassin, but wounded. He gives up the presidency and puts all his effort into supporting the space race. There's some historical stuff too but the main emphasis is on the push towards Mars. As I said before it may not be directly relevant to a Blue Planet game, but it provides ideas for fleshing out the background a little if necessary. It's also very well written, and to me seemed to be mostly about the level of science fiction that Blue Planet embodies. Jason *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 2:45 PM To: blue planet list (E-mail) Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Player/GM Finder At the behest of the player from Poland who wrote in last week I've talked it over with Jeff and we decided that a resource to allow you the fan to local players and GMs in your area would be a way cool (also useful) tool. I've got a few ideas of what I think might be a) easy to do, b) easy to maintain and c) useful. But I'd like to hear what the list thinks. You can send comments to me privately (banzai@missouri.edu) or to the list. Thanks, Jim Jim Heivilin Webmaster, Biohazard Games http://www.biohazardgames.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Corax@aol.com Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 6:27 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Player/GM Finder In a message dated 9/13/1999 4:01:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time, banzai@missouri.edu writes: > I've got a few ideas of what I think might be a) easy to do, b) easy to > maintain and c) useful. But I'd like to hear what the list thinks. only one thing to say, realy... YES!!! *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.