From: Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:47 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: A little thing about the internet (was: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Suppl ement suggestions) >The problem (and perhaps the beauty) with the Internet is that any yahoo can put >something on it. Nothing on the 'Net passes peer review. I see that definitely as the beauty. The greatest thing that has happened to freedom of speech since, what, the beginning of time? But I admit it has it's problems, but I don't think this is the place for that discussion -- unless, of course, the nature of CommCore is similar to the 'net. - Ville *************************************************************************** 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: Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:36 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: VS: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions Brian Ferrenz wrote... >Hmmm... OK, that came out a bit harsher that I intended. What's wrong with harsh? :) But once again, I complain. I don't think it's necessary to quote the *whole message* when replying. Just the important parts. Those who have limitations with their mailbox space (not me, until December) might get a little annoyed if they get a nice message that they'd like to save for later, the only problem being it takes up too much space. >Let's just say that I would prefer a thriving player community, that is monitored by >the game creators, over buying twenty 15 dollars sourcebooks that are hit or >miss. I agree that U/C or "a thriving player community" IS a better solution to this kind of material than a sourcebook, but I don't see a problem with a sort of a collection of the best ones published in a paper form just to get the non-netters in touch with it too. If Biohazard/FFG won't do it, perhaps it could be done at the fans' expense? It's just that I wouldn't want it to be only within the reach of us on the net. But that may just be the cold fact that you can't do nothing about. Unless we get so active that a whole lot of Undercurrents are made, or an entire new BP zine is published in a .pdf form that anyone could print and maybe even take to their nearest game store for free distribution? - Ville *************************************************************************** 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: Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 2:02 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: VS: [BLUE PLANET] - Blue Planet and Cyberpunk Jeb Boyt wrote: >For me, part of BP's appeal has always been the merger of cyberpunk >conventions (cybermods, Incorporates, Blight, disparate social conditions) >with SF conventions (aliens, new planets, space travel). To me it's part cyberpunk, part (a big one) environmental issues, part politics, especially at the grassroots level, part Western-like frontier setting, and a hint of philosophy. I wouldn't categorize SF to being just science and such -- I take SF more as a way to discuss social and philosophical and whatever things than cool gadgets (and as such I'd also include cyberpunk in SF), but I can't say I don't put any value on those either. Especially if they're palpable or add to the themes of the setting, like the fuel cell tech in BP. >I imagine that a BP game set on Earth would have much more of a cyberpunk >feel than one set on Poseidon. Yes, it would. And this brings me to my thoughts yesterday: has any of you ever tried running sort of a "historical" scenario or an entire campaign in Blue Planet? Something like the early stages of the Athena Project or life during the Blight? I thought of running a "historical" scenario at a Con sometime, but for maximum enjoyment, that would require players that don't know *anything* about BP beforehand. - Ville *************************************************************************** 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: jh39 [jh39@ukc.ac.uk] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 4:57 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? On Wed, 11 Oct 2000 23:23:29 GMT kabael@softhome.net wrote: > > > When a Guild navigator uses spice, they become better > > at navigating Fold Space than the computers were and > > thus they were finally able to get rid of them. > > Granted I haven't read the books in forever, but the Dune RPG from LUG > pretty much explicitly says that they used the spice not because it was > better but because it was the only other option. That's not entirely accurate. It says that folding space without it is exceedingly dangerous and failed as often as not, but they still did so in the years between the Butlerian Jihad and when they finally discovered the proper use of the spice. > Don't ask how they _got_ to Arrakiss without the computers or the spice, > the RPG doesn't bother to explain things like that. grumbe grumble I'm pretty sure I read a reason. It wasn't exactly a hard science reason, more of a "well this folding space lark can go wrong easily unless you're prescient" explanation but it does say that they were flying about without it for many years. Jason *************************************************************************** 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: jh39 [jh39@ukc.ac.uk] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 5:03 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: VS: [BLUE PLANET] - Blue Planet and Cyberpunk On Thu, 12 Oct 2000 10:02:13 +0300 Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi wrote: > Jeb Boyt wrote: > >For me, part of BP's appeal has always been the merger of cyberpunk > >conventions (cybermods, Incorporates, Blight, disparate social conditions) > >with SF conventions (aliens, new planets, space travel). > > To me it's part cyberpunk, part (a big one) environmental issues, part > politics, especially at the grassroots level, part Western-like frontier > setting, and a hint of philosophy. I wouldn't categorize SF to being just > science and such -- I take SF more as a way to discuss social and > philosophical and whatever things than cool gadgets (and as such I'd also > include cyberpunk in SF), but I can't say I don't put any value on those > either. Especially if they're palpable or add to the themes of the setting, > like the fuel cell tech in BP. You know, reading several posts where people are saying they have an interest in the politics and social aspects of Blue Planet makes me think of some of my recent lectures. I think H.G. Wells would have *loved* this game. > >I imagine that a BP game set on Earth would have much more of a cyberpunk > >feel than one set on Poseidon. > > Yes, it would. And this brings me to my thoughts yesterday: has any of you > ever tried running sort of a "historical" scenario or an entire campaign in > Blue Planet? Something like the early stages of the Athena Project or life > during the Blight? This seems to have been discussed a few times over the last couple of years since I joined, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they actually got around to trying it. > I thought of running a "historical" scenario at a Con sometime, but for > maximum enjoyment, that would require players that don't know *anything* > about BP beforehand. I thought about trying this after someone else said they were trying to write a short series of one-off adventures leading up to the colonisation and recontact. It seems like a great way to introduce people to it. Unfortunately it probably requires a great deal of work too and I never managed to get far enough with writing anything out. And for some reason I'm suddenly reminded of both the Alpha Centauri computer game and Frank Herbert's "The Jesus Incident" (and sequel whose title I can't remember right now). Jason *************************************************************************** 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: Christopher Gribbon [c.gribbon@dundee.ac.uk] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 6:31 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions >I'd love to see most of the things people suggested, but I'd like >to see them in Undercurrents. True, that kind of limits them to those >of us on the net, but there are already lots of supplements planned >already. > >Rusty > >*********************************************************************** > >>Let's just say that I would prefer a thriving player community, that is >monitored by >>the game creators, over buying twenty 15 dollars sourcebooks that are hit >or >>miss. > >I agree that U/C or "a thriving player community" IS a better solution to >this kind of material than a sourcebook, but I don't see a problem with a >sort of a collection of the best ones published in a paper form just to get >the non-netters in touch with it too. > >If Biohazard/FFG won't do it, perhaps it could be done at the fans' expense? > >It's just that I wouldn't want it to be only within the reach of us on the >net. But that may just be the cold fact that you can't do nothing about. > >Unless we get so active that a whole lot of Undercurrents are made, or an >entire new BP zine is published in a .pdf form that anyone could print and >maybe even take to their nearest game store for free distribution? > >- Ville >*********************************************************************** I agree completely. I think a "Collected Undercurrents" or a "best of" sort of thing would be a great idea for people who aren't netted up. Marginally cheaper to do as well, I would think - as all the stuff would exist already. And you *could* produce it more cheaply - just a ring-bound thing with BW stuff all the way (cover as well as internal illustrations). On the other hand - some people might expect to then be paid for the stuff they'd submitted to U/C, now that it was actually being *sold*. hmm... 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.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jerome Darmont [jdarmont@dionysos.univ-lyon2.fr] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 6:10 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions I'm definitely longing for an Underwater supplement, with stuff about diving and piloting subs (sonar ops, sub combat, etc.). Is this already in Flu Mech (not crossed the Atlantic yet AFAIK). -- Jerome Darmont, mailto:darmont@multimania.com Webmaster http://fly.to/bleue.planete *************************************************************************** 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: Malcolm Craig [malcolmcraig@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 8:25 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions Chris Gribbon wrote: >I agree completely. >I think a "Collected Undercurrents" or a "best of" sort of thing would be a >great idea for >people who aren't netted up. >Marginally cheaper to do as well, I would think - as all the stuff would >exist already. And >you *could* produce it more cheaply - just a ring-bound thing with BW stuff >all the way >(cover as well as internal illustrations). > >On the other hand - some people might expect to then be paid for the stuff >they'd submitted >to U/C, now that it was actually being *sold*. > >hmm... I would certainly feel that seeing any of the stuff I had written actually being in print as reward enough. It's a good idea, although I've already got my own Undercurrents/Players resource folder for BP with the non-sensitive bits of UC and important info from the game in a readily accessable source. Theres nothing there to spoil 'secrets' for the players. This would make me less inclined to actually purchase such a supplement, should it ever happen. For those who don't have access to UC, though, it's a good idea. Cheers Malcolm _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 9:55 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? > -----Original Message----- > From: kabael@softhome.net [mailto:kabael@softhome.net] > Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? > > > When a Guild navigator uses spice, they become better > > at navigating Fold Space than the computers were and > > thus they were finally able to get rid of them. > > Granted I haven't read the books in forever, but the Dune RPG from LUG > pretty much explicitly says that they used the spice not > because it was better but because it was the only other option. > While I have the utmost respect for the guys over at LUG, and at the same time I really don't like being one of those people who preach on "canon" material, how much involvement did Herbert (or his son Brian now) have with them on the RPG? Consultant? A while ago I talked with Steve Long about their Trek RPG and the take on the Vulcans they used (I enjoyed Diane Duane's work in "Spock's World" much better) and I discovered that they didn't have permission to use those ideas so they had to produce something of their own. Hmmm, maybe I need to pick the Dune RPG up. Jim *************************************************************************** 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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 9:50 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? > -----Original Message----- > From: Ml10@aol.com [mailto:Ml10@aol.com] > Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? > In a message dated Wed, 11 Oct 2000 5:45:56 PM Eastern > > By the time of the Dune novels, the Guild no longer > had their computers and without spice, going through > Fold Space would be like driving at high speed while blindfolded. > And so while it wasn't technically true that they needed Spice to fold space, since they had gotten rid of the computers they were *practically* bound to the substance. Or were the computers still available somewhere? Obviously it's been years since I read the books. And I don't ever recall seeing that detailed an explanation, what was your source? Jim *************************************************************************** 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: Russell Sloan [iniquity@nts-online.net] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 12:44 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Costumes/Uniforms At 04:06 PM 10/9/00 -0700, you wrote: >Thanks. Unfortunately I don't know where I'm going to get phototropic >uniforms to outfit the Peacekeepers in this film with :), but the rest of it >I can probably handle. > That would depend on whether or not you've got a computer with digital editing capability. If you do, make them lime green, and digitally edit for that 'Predator' look. If you don't, go for some neutral color that the things would revert to when turned off. There are advantages to being seen, like your fellow soldiers not shooting you in the back accidentally, and being able to order a beer at the bar right after you duty shift is over. You could probably get away with BDUs from your country of choice, or pick one with lighter or more uniform colorations (un-dress fatigues) and dye it to a color of your choosing. Russell Sloan iniquity@nts-online.net ICQ: 29176029 AIM: EricDaGrey *************************************************************************** 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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:33 PM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Player Produced Supplement (long) (was: Supplement Suggestions) > -----Original Message----- > From: Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi [mailto:Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi] > Subject: VS: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions > > >Let's just say that I would prefer a thriving player > >community, that is monitored by the game creators, over > >buying twenty 15 dollars sourcebooks that are hit or > >miss. > > I agree that U/C or "a thriving player community" IS a better > solution to this kind of material than a sourcebook, but I > don't see a problem with a sort of a collection of the best > ones published in a paper form just to get the non-netters > in touch with it too. > I've been watching this thread with some interest, waiting for Jeff or Greg to chime in with some comments. I think I've seen enough now that I can articulate my opinion with more clarity than if I had jumped in earlier. First this isn't official by any means but I have been involved since the beginning so I might have a point of view that encompasses both sides. When I first started role playing (yea, Jason, they did have paper way back then) I also felt more comfortable with material published by the game designer. It was "Official" and How-Things-Are-Supposed-To-Be(tm). And thus to be trusted and used. Later on as I became older and moved from just playing to running games I realized that you can write your own stories (and other material) and use that. And sometimes I would get some really cool ideas. As I got involved in the industry I saw that we often fly by the seat of our pants and sometimes the stuff players and GMs create is as cool (if not cooler) than official stuff. So I realized that it was my game and I could do anything I wanted with it. Of course you can't expect other people (particularly other GMs) to accept your material but you get used to that and eventually you begin to develop a feel for it and you can see when another GM has a good bit that you can use to good effect. So I remind everyone that it IS your game and if you don't like the Abos or you don't like cyberpunk, fine, eliminate it or modify it or whatever works so that you and your players have fun. That IS the whole reason we do this, right? > If Biohazard/FFG won't do it, perhaps it could be done at the > fans' expense? > Now, having said all that, I suspect that a business analysis of a "Player's Companion" supplement would show that it wouldn't sell well enough to break even. And the bottom line is that Biohazard/Fantasy Flight have to *at-least* break even in order to continue to produce all this cool Blue Planet stuff. HOWEVER, there isn't any reason that a fan produced supplement can't be assembled and then rendered into a pdf and distributed that way. Print it out and take it to your local Kinko's and have them coil bind it and Viola, instant supplement. For those who don't have good access to the net we might be able to put together some sort of at-cost hardcopy to distribute via snail mail (you'd pay for printing, binding and postage). But it's not that easy. ("Hey, you just told us it was!") In order to be worth the paper it's printed on it needs to be 1. useful 2. well laid out 3. well edited 4. well proofread 5. well organized And to get it all those things (planning for a typical 128 page layout) takes a ton of work! I've seen it happen twice now. I suspect a group of six to eight "volunteers" (re: victims) would require about five to seven months to get it together. These numbers are total WAGs (not even SWAGs) produced from my neither regions (meaning I pulled them out of my ...). And one other thing, I've seen it happen on other lists, proofreading isn't the fine old thing it might seem to be ("Wow. Cool. I get to read that before anyone else!"). It's hard work, especially if you like or enjoy what you're reading (personally I have a tendency to fill in the correct word/spelling in my head as I read). And if you volunteer to do it I guarantee that it's the first thing chopped when time gets short. Opinions? Volunteers? Submissions? Jim *************************************************************************** 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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:41 PM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - RE: A little thing about the internet > -----Original Message----- > From: Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi [mailto:Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi] > Subject: A little thing about the internet (was: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: > Supplement suggestions) > > >The problem (and perhaps the beauty) with the Internet is > >that any yahoo can put something on it. Nothing on the > >'Net passes peer review. > > I see that definitely as the beauty. The greatest thing that > has happened to freedom of speech since, what, the beginning > of time? > As the list owner I don't want to discourage anyone from discussing anything. This is the Blue Planet list, however, and if we digress too far I'm sure the rest of the list (in their naturally civil tone) will bring us to task. But we are drawn together by our mutual interest and we should feel free to discuss anything (to a limited duration) as long as we're civil to each other. However, I don't necessarily agree that total freedom of speech on the net is the Be-All-And-End-All many people thing it is. Having had to wade too many times through a ton of useless links, I'm not nearly as enthralled as many people. And this same freedom of speech can be misused to totally trash someone's reputation or life just as easily as to provide useful information on cetacean feeding habits from the latest research expedition to British Columbia (for example). Okay, my soapbox is safely stashed away and *hopefully* won't escape again. Jim *************************************************************************** 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: kabael@softhome.net Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:44 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? > And so while it wasn't technically true that they needed Spice to fold > space, since they had gotten rid of the computers they were *practically* > bound to the substance. Or were the computers still available somewhere? the computers were they, but they were just a sin/illegal to use, in a sense. > Obviously it's been years since I read the books. And I don't ever recall > seeing that detailed an explanation, what was your source? the RPG for my source, actually. Although it has large holes, it's still neat (not 35 dollars neat, but hey). - kabael - Kintaro Oe - Derek the Guder - kabael@softhome.net - ICQ# 24193592 the McGuffin Group - the End Times - RPG Action - the Thirteenth Legion "Smiling fishee please don't attack me" - Steven Martini, "Corduroy Penis" *************************************************************************** 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: kabael@softhome.net Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:48 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Dune? > While I have the utmost respect for the guys over at LUG, and at the same > time I really don't like being one of those people who preach on "canon" > material, how much involvement did Herbert (or his son Brian now) have with > them on the RPG? Consultant? I think he had a lot of influence, actually. Brian (IIRC) wrote the foreward, so he was at least cognizant of what was going on. Furthermore, the holes in the setting provided in the book is consistent with a "we're not allowed to go out of the published material" kind of contract, you know what I mean? > Hmmm, maybe I need to pick the Dune RPG up. If you can find it cheap, go ahead. You'll likely disappointed if you buy it at cover price, let alone the $100+ it's running for on eBay now. - kabael - Kintaro Oe - Derek the Guder - kabael@softhome.net - ICQ# 24193592 the McGuffin Group - the End Times - RPG Action - the Thirteenth Legion "Smiling fishee please don't attack me" - Steven Martini, "Corduroy Penis" *************************************************************************** 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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:46 PM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Blue Planet and Cyberpunk > -----Original Message----- > From: Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi [mailto:Ville.Halonen@minedu.fi] > Subject: VS: [BLUE PLANET] - Blue Planet and Cyberpunk > > science and such -- I take SF more as a way to discuss social and > philosophical and whatever things than cool gadgets (and as > such I'd also > Recent readings I've done (okay it was last year maybe) seem to indicate that there is a major schism in Science Fiction. On one side are the hard liners who believe if it doesn't have some sort of hard science in it it's not *Science* Fiction. On the other side are the people who maintain that Science Fiction is about how people and society might exist, be influenced by, etc. the future. For my part I can see both sides but from what I understand it gets kind of heated sometimes. > Yes, it would. And this brings me to my thoughts yesterday: > has any of you ever tried running sort of a "historical" > scenario or an entire campaign in Blue Planet? Something > like the early stages of the Athena Project or life > during the Blight? > Now THIS sounds interesting. A team of scientists working on the final outfitting of the first spacecraft to Poseidon? Any number of other ideas spring to mind. I wonder if it would make a good con scenario? On one hand the players wouldn't have any pre-conceived ideas about where things are going. On the other they wouldn't necessarily get a good picture of what Blue Planet is. Jim *************************************************************************** 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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 1:50 PM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions > -----Original Message----- > From: Malcolm Craig [mailto:malcolmcraig@hotmail.com] > Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Re: Supplement Suggestions > > >On the other hand - some people might expect to then be paid > >for the stuff they'd submitted to U/C, now that it was > >actually being *sold*. > > > I would certainly feel that seeing any of the stuff I had > written actually being in print as reward enough. > And having been "published" on the web is one way for aspiring game writers to accumulate some credentials. I suspect that if you wanted to write for a game company the game designer would want to see copies of something you wrote. And an unofficial web zine or supplement might fit that bill nicely. Jim *************************************************************************** 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: The Smyks [the_smyks@sympatico.ca] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 3:13 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Restricted Access Database Hi all! Not having had the opportunity of picking up first edition, I'm driven by curiousity. What's in the GEO database, and how can I get into it? Derek Smyk *************************************************************************** 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: Russell Sloan [iniquity@nts-online.net] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 3:29 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: VS: [BLUE PLANET] - Blue Planet and Cyberpunk At 11:03 AM 10/12/00 +0100, Jason wrote: And for some reason I'm suddenly reminded of both the >Alpha Centauri computer game and Frank Herbert's "The Jesus >Incident" (and sequel whose title I can't remember right >now). > >Jason > You want another amazing similarity? I just finished re-reading "Startide Rising" by David Brin. Then I got my hands on Fluid Mechanics. Some of the themes on genetic engineering are very similar, as well as some of the technology designed to be used by cetaceans. I plan on trying to find the rest of my Uplift War books, or replace them as necessary to re-read the whole series again. David Brin's books are a little heavy on alien interaction to be directly useful as source material in the game, but the evolution of mechanical and bio technology may provide me with valuable ideas for the game I'm currently setting up. Russell Sloan iniquity@nts-online.net ICQ: 29176029 AIM: EricDaGrey *************************************************************************** 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: Gareth Hanrahan [hanrahag@iol.ie] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 8:03 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Blue Planet and Cyberpunk > > Yes, it would. And this brings me to my thoughts yesterday: > > has any of you ever tried running sort of a "historical" > > scenario or an entire campaign in Blue Planet? Something > > like the early stages of the Athena Project or life > > during the Blight? > > > Now THIS sounds interesting. A team of scientists working on the final > outfitting of the first spacecraft to Poseidon? Any number of other ideas > spring to mind. I wonder if it would make a good con scenario? On one hand > the players wouldn't have any pre-conceived ideas about where things are > going. On the other they wouldn't necessarily get a good picture of what > Blue Planet is. My long-term plan for this is a series of four linked scenarios, which I've only lightly sketched out. The first one has characters from the Athena mission to Poseidon. While there, they discover a vast xenosilicate deposite, and probably some Abo/Creator tech. Due to treachery and conflict amid the Athena team members, the deposit is lost/buried (crewman driven mad by new world sets off bomb or something). The characters note the location, and vow to return some day. [Scenario is designed to give information on the Wormhole, Earth, the colonisation effort] Scenario II is set about 30 years later. It's centred around a group of colonists who discover the ruins of the site blown up in the first scenario. The whole theme of this scenario is learning to work problems out without high technology. Near the end, the colonists uncover something wierd (the Abo tech). Ideally, this section ends with an abo encounter which wipes the characters' memories but brings them into "harmony" with Poseidon. [Scenario is designed to give info on native culture, Poseidon, the Abos, and the Abandonment] Scenario III is set at the same time. The six characters are children/friends of one of the characters from Scenario I. The blight has struck full-force, and the scenario is set in a hellish urban warzone. Civilisation has collapsed. The character from Scenario I has been killed, but he's hidden the location of the mysterious alien stuff somewhere in the city. Basically, it's a puzzle scenario. It ends with the Incorporate security forces restoring order as the characters find the treasure map.[The Blight, and the changes it brings] Scenario IV: Present day. The descendants of the characters in Scenario III arrive on Poseidon to find their legacy, and are opposed by the descendants of those from Scenario II. [Incorporate tactics, Long John, the native/newcomer wars] Of course, my chances of actually getting around to writing these are slim to none.... > Jim Gar http://www.irishgaming.com/warpcon http://chrysanthemumRoad.tripod.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.