Eclipse Phase in Cataclysm

[Rivet]

I think a few of the armor mods and ‘bionic’ things which don’t lean so heavily towards fantasy-tech might be the sort of stuff we could use as inspiration for CBMs, but I’m not really feeling the robot monster critters. Bear in mind that the robots in C:DDA which are left wandering the world are all things that served a purpose prior to the end of the world; they kept law and order or cleaned up toxic waste. There’s just not much of a market in a sensible pre-cataclysmic world for robots whose stated purpose of function is to tear people’s heads off and throw them in the dumpster.

Also the attitude, not to much appreciated. I am only mentioning these because it was suggested I do so. Otherwise I would likely never have posted or suggested these.

If you don’t want criticism for posting ideas (which may or may not fit with C:DDA’s world due to being lifted from an extant IP), then don’t post them in the first place. You may not like everyone’s opinion of what you post, but you invite critique by posting in the first place.

[FunsizeNinja123]

Still have that problem of having only one weakness, though. In a game where everything else can be destroyed with enough conventional weaponry, they just feel out of place. Also Cata tech hasn’t advanced far enough.

I agree.

And a bad idea someone went out of their way to suggest is still a bad idea.

Too far.

[Chase]

Most of this is just stuff pulled right from the EP Core Rulebook. sometimes adjusted to fit into Cataclysm better (such as the mentioned UPS stuff, a UPS doesn’t exist in EP).

I’ll get to the weapons later and then see about tackling the other rulebooks.

[KA101]

Uh, Chase?

I’ve got a pile of GURPS books to my right (and a few to my left!) as I type this, but putting 'em in wholesale seems like a bad idea. Atomic Horror, Bio-Tech, Martial Arts, Robots, High/Ultra-Tech, etc all are relevant to Cata, and I frequently check 'em for reference, but copying stuff out ain’t all that great. Sorry.

OK, yeah, the nanoswarm might fly as a Lab finale (with EMP gear accessible but tough to get at, sort of a HL-style set piece), and the bladebot could work as Inadequate suggested (make it a combine harvester and set it rogue on the occasional farm).

The augs: we have a UBA aug already and if sewage got deep enough to go under, it’d work fine there. I can accept augs that would fight disease and infection (we have the anti-disease one already, and IMO medical nano ought to fix infection if it doesn’t already). Appetite is a Problem because actual need-for-food and Hunger are the same thing in DDA, so tech that lets you believe you’re not hungry actually WOULD keep you fed. Which… it really shouldn’t.

Rest of 'em, meh, no real need or opposition. We’ve got internal storage already.

Armor: we have an offensive-defense aug, so I guess it could be crafted into armor if someone wants to. That’ll add more recipes or require more infrastructure work, FWIW. Rest of it gets the Meh.

[Chase]

Well people can pick and choose if they want. I am not offering to implement these. I am placing them up as ideas, for those who don’t want to read through the books.

[ted]

Appetite could be implemented by simply suppressing the speed penalties derived from hunger/thirst while active. This would be very useful to a starving player without affecting the long-term need for food/water.

[Soyweiser]

Well, I would have assumed the reaction to this would have gone better. Seems I’m one of the few people who likes the “future!” aspect of cataclysm.

Headhunter robots could be modified into something else, a misguided science experiment by one of the labs. A robot that tries to either remove goo infested flesh, or salvage the not goo infested flesh, either way a flying robot that hunts for Z’s, and other live things to gut them. Have them attack till a certain reservoir is filled and then they fly off (probably to go to a sacrophagus or a toxic waste dump or something). So they grab you, cut pieces out of you (perhaps enough to kill you) and fly off.

The exsurgents could be implemented in labs like some sort of CBM super soldier gone mad. Say, a wounded soldier is used as an experimental test subject, implanted with all kinds of badly working CBM’s that interact in annoying ways, talk to him (Basic AI) and the world also went to shit. Then, in the ruins of the lab from which you cannot escape due to the turrets at the door, you read that you are infected with some sort of goo that ruined the world. Enough to drive most people mad. And then you look in the mirror and see: http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/336/2/6/continuity_by_freshpaint-d343eq6.jpg or http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/233306/Team_by_sttheo.jpg (not the middle one). And your left arm keeps talking to you about a lost connection!

Thanks for taking the time to type it up Chase.

[Cherry]

Yeah I also like many of these existing ideas that we can take and change to fit the cataclysm.

Because FUN.
Robot farmer FUN.
Nano swarm lab finale FUN.
Robot limb dismember-er in a lab FUN.

[TheGrifter]

I thought you literally meant an eclipse in Cataclysm. You go outside when it should be daytime, and it’s as dark as night…

Eerie. But you started talking about DnD, three and three, and then everything just degenerated into word salad that I could not palate.

[Zireael]

Appetite could be implemented by simply suppressing the speed penalties derived from hunger/thirst while active. This would be very useful to a starving player without affecting the long-term need for food/water.

That’s a good idea. Or we could sneak a look at Cata 2 - its treatment of hunger resembles Unreal World.

[i2amroy]

For appetite/hunger (and thirst/hydration + tiredness/rest) we have plans to eventually split them into two categories, one which determine what your body actually is and the other determines what you feel (and over time moves towards the real one). Generally penalties would be determined by the one that you feel until you reach the more serious ends of dehydration/starvation/exhaustion at which point your body starts to feel real physical effects.

As for the OP I find the biggest problem it suffers from is idea overload, i.e. too many ideas in the same post. There are definitely some good ideas in there, but there are a fair amount of ones that I would heavily oppose too, making it difficult to discuss them due to the sheer number.

[kevin.granade]

one that jumps out me as one whe should add is the air reserve bionic.
grey goo is neat, but it needs HEAVY limitations, both thematically and in game mechanics.

[Inadequate]

By the way, since it is the topic of discussion, I feel obligated to mention that as Eclipse Phase is licensed under a Creative Commons license, you can pick up the core rulebook for free here: http://robboyle.wordpress.com/eclipse-phase-pdfs/
In case anyone wants to look through and pick up ideas for themselves.

[Chase]

The “Grey Goo” isn’t actually the kind that we often think about. A nanoswarm can’t self replicate (well maybe some of the TITAN ones can, but most can’t).

[system]

We need bio-mods.

[Zireael]

[quote=“Kevin Granade, post:21, topic:5223”]one that jumps out me as one whe should add is the air reserve bionic.
grey goo is neat, but it needs HEAVY limitations, both thematically and in game mechanics.[/quote]

This is a brilliant idea!

[ArgusTheCat]

Nanoswarms would be a great opportunity for a powerful robot-type enemy that ISN’T just a bigger and badder version of one of the security bots. It has specific weaknesses (fire, explosions, EMP) and it has its own abilities (stealth, almost impossible to beat in melee). It’s not fast, though, and it can only melee, so it doesn’t just one-shot the player from nowhere, it encourages safe gameplay in areas where you know one is around. Perhaps some sort of way to track it, or when it’s dormant it shows as a pile of dust or something that the player can clearly see and avoid. I like the idea of another powerful thing like the zombie bear or the jabberwok, but those both go down super easy to the right gun, and the nanoswarm WOULDN’T. Anything that requires different playstyles creates variety, and I’m in favor of that.

[Inadequate]

It doesn’t encourage different playstyles, it encourages using one specific method of attack to take on. That is literally the opposite of encouraging variety.

[Soyweiser]

It doesn’t encourage different playstyles, it encourages using one specific method of attack to take on. That is literally the opposite of encouraging variety.

As is I agree. Having only one specific vulnerability just forces you to get a weapon of that type before you go for it. And it would be horribly unfair to first time players. (Zombies are a bit more easy to understand than molecular disassembler swarms)

Perhaps the 2040 nanoswarms just ain’t that good yet. Say, little movement, so they just act as clouds that do not follow you around. And they only get power in specific regions of a certain lab type. (Say a powered lab, which has its own fusion power generator). As long as you walk around in the swarm something bad happens (or it is just annoying). You could turn off the power but that would kill the lights, and quickly reduce the temperature to sub zero.

So you could use emp/fire whatever to clear away specific tiles of nanoswarms. Or just kill the power, and get a different set of issues.

I think we could come up with better solutions of enemies that cannot be shot. (some sort of active emp field enemy? like the skeleteons but double strength).

[Zireael]

Perhaps the 2040 nanoswarms just ain't that good yet. Say, little movement, so they just act as clouds that do not follow you around. And they only get power in specific regions of a certain lab type. (Say a powered lab, which has its own fusion power generator). As long as you walk around in the swarm something bad happens (or it is just annoying). You could turn off the power but that would kill the lights, and quickly reduce the temperature to sub zero.

So you could use emp/fire whatever to clear away specific tiles of nanoswarms. Or just kill the power, and get a different set of issues.

That’s a neat idea.