this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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@swope @DmMacniel
Alas, I am not on Lemmy, so I never saw the original post.
In this case, I again note that the important thing is to focus on Effects, not Causes.
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fasterlight.php#id--Establishing_Limits
The desired Effect is "intercept / interdict the heroes".
The proposed Cause of "deploy gravimetric wells" seems to have too many unintended consequences. For starters it can destroy planets.
Perhaps some technobabble that slows down the protagonist's ship engine?
I am honored! I'll take a look on your document.
And yeah gravimetric wells are a bit overkill.
Another user suggested, as the travel sequence is on rails, that sending projectiles or other kind of weaponry toward them from the other side would be a suitable idea.
I started following @nyrath on Google+, and followed him as a refugee to Twitter. I lost track of him when I abandoned Twitter (mostly) after the Muskageddon. I escaped Reddit recently and happened to find him again.
Now I have this idea for space settlers jumping from one corporate colony to another as their once-visionary founders turn to squeezing profit from their tenants.
Nice. I also recently (2 weeks ago) moved away from Reddit, as I don't agree with the self-proclaimed King.
That's actually sounding like a great plot :)
But what is the analogue to the Fediverse in this metphor?
Some sort of space raft where a bunch of new small habitats glom together like a 3D shanty town?
There's probably a Project Rho page about this specific thing, but I haven't been able to find it.
@swope @DmMacniel
Aha! I was wrong. I do have a section about shanty towns
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/colonysite.php#refugee
I don't where I got that from, but how about a megastructure made out of several dozens/hundreds of smaller crafts that docked together. Everyone is free to leave on their own and be independent, but together they are forming several reachable communities.
@swope @DmMacniel
(My website needs an index)
Or like a boomtown? (Scroll down to BOOMTOWN 2)
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/colonysite.php#wikiboom
Boomtown would certainly be a more optimistic metaphor, but are people mainly pushed or pulled to boomtowns?
Fediverse seems to be mostly people who were repelled by something, and the people who are drawn to it aren't really hoping to make a fortune off being here.
@swope @nyrath @DmMacniel Collapsing corporate space colonies seems really underexplored, but very cyberpunk, theme
@simonbp @swope @DmMacniel
There is actually a real world analog to that...
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/colonysite.php#shanty1
What was the purpose of parking near each other? It doesn't seem like the crews could cross over to the other ships.
@simonbp @swope @nyrath @DmMacniel
Story concepts:
Giganaire buys space colony and cuts costs, killing himself and everyone on the colony because he used air filters made from toilet paper.
Giganaire buys space colony and fires 3/4 of the maintenance staff, claiming they weren't doing a good enough job, but does not replace them.
Hey, this is fun!
@darrelplant @simonbp @swope @DmMacniel
The stories almost write themselves, don't they?
@DmMacniel @simonbp @swope @nyrath
Strains credulity even for speculative fiction.
@darrelplant @DmMacniel @simonbp @swope
Truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense
@simonbp @swope @DmMacniel
A quote from @cerebrate
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacecolony.php#segboss
@DmMacniel @nyrath If smaller vehicles can move faster in jump, the bad guys could simple shoot a missile at them. They could watch as it slowly but inexorably closed the distance…
Yeah, another trick to creating a self-consistent spaceflight framework for storytelling is somehow keeping humans in the mix.
Indeed, sure some would find it interesting when faceless ships fight each other in excruciating technical details, but showing the people on those ships gives those fights way more gravitas. Daniel Orrett over at Spacedock gave some great analysis regarding this in their video "how to write a Space Battle": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3jzNHwJ0Nc (1:38)
@michaelgemar @DmMacniel
I think it would be more dramatically interesting if we could figure out some situation that made the pursuit more like a James Bond 007 automobile chase.
I like the idea of the Agents knowing to some degree when and where the Heroes are going to arrive. Played right it could add a lot of tension. If jump-drive has a predetermined destination I imagine that once it kicks in your ship is locked into its path--only being able to be knocked from it or, as you suggest , something is done to slow the Heroe's ship.
How it could work dramatically: the Heroes slip away from the Agents using the jump-drive. The Agents quickly activate some device (a pulsing buoy, technobabble) in the last place the ship was seen. It lets off three thumps in every direction. The Agent's ships rock back with each pulse after which they retrieve the buoy. A little dialogue about waiting for the pulses to dissipate before engaging their own jump-drive ("we don't want to get caught in the pulse's wake") and they're off.
Cut to the Heroes ship in the jump-space: They think they've made a quick escape but the ship stumbles and an alarm goes off. A quick look at their instruments tells them the ship is dropping speed. This happens twice more-the three pulses catching up to them-each time slowing them not quite out of jump-space but enough to know they're heading into the trouble they thought they's just outrun.
This could be used in universe as a something that is rarely deployed because it does affect every ship that engaged jump-drive in that area within a certain timeframe (pick your area of effect and time factors for best storytelling) so it's quite a statement as to how badly the Agents want to thwart the heroes. When the 'pulse buoy' is used, yes, you may slow them down but you may have also affected local commerce, local military and even other Agents in the area by using it. It's effective but costly. You've just broadcast your location and the desperation of your goals to everyone in that area.
That's some great idea and tech you got there! Also great storytelling.
I like science fiction that has limitations even if it's not based on 'realistic' science. Internal consistency and accepting the obvious extrapolations of any invented technology has to be in place for it to not just feel like magic or deus ex machina. I've found that it usually has the bonus of adding to the dramatic possibilities of the story.
@gonesnake
Reading this it's easy to think about the #StarWars Interdictor-class Star Destroyer :
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Interdictor-class_Star_Destroyer
In #Traveller #RPG the referee should think about if the buoy can be carried inside a ship or it can be used only by space stations and other technical issues (energy costs, how many times can be used, etc.)
@nyrath @DmMacniel @swope
Now that's a great idea, if the buoy can't be transported on a chase ship, space stations only. Making it not always available adds to the drama and keeps it from just being deployed over and over again regardless of its local impact. Even better if only one faction has access to it.
@gonesnake
For example, and this can be a secret weapon coveted by many.
@nyrath @DmMacniel @swope
Raising even more concerns and questions when it's used. Very good.