DataPacRat's Warren

Coined the word I would eventually adopt as my nom de net.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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Sender: Daniel Boese <dbo...@harpo.becon.org>
From: DataPacRat <spam.datapacrat.s...@warren.kill.com>
Subject: DataPacRat's datapacrats (TL8)
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 Having just acquired "GURPS Robots", I've started playing around with the 
system. Here's one of the more interesting results - a small "courier" 
robot, the size of a real-life rat, that can scoot along at over 50 mph. 
With a range of 10 miles, their radios make them a wonderful platform to 
create a "distributed system" independent of any other network... (And 
yes, I know that the point-cost is meaningless if the 'bot isn't going to 
be a PC, but I wanted to check it anyway.)

 What do you think of them?

-----

DataPacRat's datapacrats (TL8)

Brain: Tiny, Compact (0.25 lbs, 0.005 cf, $400), Complexity 1.
 Absolute Timing, Doesn't Sleep, Eidetic Memory 2, Lightning Calculator, 
Mathematical Ability. Cannot Learn, Reprogrammable Dute, No Sense of 
Humor, Slave Mentality (-5 points).

Sensors: Basic Sensors, Low-Resolution Hearing (-10 points), 
Low-Resolution Vision (nearsighted) (-25 points), Color-blind (-10 
points), One eye (-10 points), No sense of Smell/Taste (-5 points) (0.4 
lbs, 0.008 cf, $1,000).

Communicator: Basic Communicator, Mute (-5 points) (0.2 lbs, 0.004 cf, 
$100).

Arm Motor: ST 1 (0.2 lbs, 0.004 cf, $400, 0.005 kW). Reach: Close (7 
inches).

Drivetrain: Wheeled, 0.01 kW (0.075 lbs, 0.0015 cf, $1.50).
 6 wheels (0.006 cf).

Power System: rB cell (0.05 lbs, 0.005 cf, $30, 180 kWs).
 Power Requirement: 0.015 kW. Endurance: 3 hours, 20 minutes (-10 
points).
 Can operate without "breathing" (20 points).

Subassemblies: One arm (-20 points).

Arm Design: Houses ST 1 motor (0.004 cf).

Body Design: Houses brain, sensors, communicator, drivetrain, energy 
bank, and 0.0025 cf of cargo space (about 1 by 2 by 2.16 inches, holding 
up to 0.125 lbs / 2 oz), and 0.45 lbs riding on top (0.026 cf).
 High Pain Threshold, Immunity to Disease (20 points).
 No Naural Healing (-20 points).

Surface Area: Total surface area 0.5 sf. Top Deck: 24 square inches.
 Size: 10.4 inches long, 2.3 inches wide, 2.16 inches tall.
 (Up to 54 can crowd into 1 square yard.)

Structure: Super-Light, Advanced (0.075 lbs, $50).

Hit Points: Arm: 1; Body: 1. Each wheel: 1.

Armor: DR 1 laminate (0.05 lbs, $5, PD 1, LC 6) (29 points); Sealed 
($10) (20 points); Appearance: Very Beautiful ($25) (25 points)

Statistics: 1.875 lbs (0.0009375 tons); 0.03 cf (10.4 inches long); 
$1,676.50. Body ST 1, arm ST 1 (-80 points), DX 8 (-15 points), IQ 4 (-50 
points), HT 12/1 (-35 points). Speed 26.13 (17.5 points). Legality Class 
6.
 Size Modifier: -5; Inconvenient Size (-10 points).
 Move: 26. Dodge: 2. Step: 6 hexes.
 Termal Velocity (falling): 170 mph.

Model Point Cost: -168.5 points.

Vehicle Statistics: gSpeed 55 mph, gAccel 3 mph/s, gDecel 10 mph/s, gMR 
1.5, gSR 3, gPressure 315 (Very Low, Offroad speed * 0.8). wSpeed 1 mph, 
wAccel 0.2 mph/s, wDecel 10 mph/s, wMR 0.75, wSR 4, wDraft 0.98 inches.

Maintanance Interval: 491 hours (every 147 battery changes).

Encumbrance:
 up to 2 lbs: Normal Move
 up to 6 lbs: Move * 80% = 22.
 up to 10 lbs: Move * 60% = 16.
 up to 15 lbs: Move * 40% = 10.
 up to 20 lbs: Move * 20% = 5.
 up to 30 lbs: Move = 1.
One-handed lift: Max. 6 lbs.

-----

Options:

* Cheap: Cost * 0.8, HT -1.
* Very Cheap: Cost * 0.5, HT -2.

* Wheel blades (0.02 lbs, $1.98).

* Neural Net, +2 DX Reflex Booster ($1,600, DX 10, IQ 5) (+90 points).

* Gyrobalance ($5,000) (+15 points).

* Surface Sensors ($600) (+0 points).

* Micromanipulators ($1,600) (+15 points).

* Electrified Surface (0.1 lbs, $5).

* Replace the cargo space with Mass Storage (0.25 gig, $25).

Any one of:
* Solar Cells (0.025 lbs, 0.25 sf, $7.50, 0.01 kW).
* Reflective Surface ($7.50) (+2 points).
* Liquid Crystal Skin (0.1 lbs, $20).
* Basic Chameleon System (0.2 lbs, $40) (+15 points).

-----

Thank you for your time,
-- 
DataPacRat
The Rrangoon species is available at http://www.phantomcross.org/rrangoon/

Original

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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Sender: Daniel Boese <dboese@harpo.becon.org>
From: Foxtaur <spam.foxtaur.spam@spam.warren.kill.com>
Subject: Re: FTL, light cones, and conic sectioning?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
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George William Herbert <gherbert@gw.retro.com> wrote:
> Foxtaur  <spam.foxtaur.spam@spam.warren.kill.com> wrote:

>> Thinking about the thread asking about non-causality-violating FTL 
>>travel, I started pondering the past and future light-cones that describe 
>>what are and aren't "time travel". Visualizing the two cones touching at 
>>their tips, they suddenly reminded me of an old high-school model 
>>demonstrating the various types of conic sections - ellipses, parabolae, 
>>and hyperbolae.
>> Perhaps when an FTL drive is activated, it forms some sort of "barrier" 
>>along its path (and likely some distance to either side), which prevents 
>>any potentially causality-violating FTL trips...?

> We discussed this in the thread last week when I asked about
> non-causality-violating FTL.  You can do that, but if you
> do then someone can fly through your area in a highly accellerated
> reference frame and block "normal" FTL travel.  That may or may
> not be a problem; the universe could work that way, but it's hard
> to write a lot of fiction around.

 Hm... I'm not quite sure whether or not your near-C traveller would be 
able to affect "normal" travellers by turning on its FTL drive. With 
enough travellers jumping around and building their barriers, the combined 
effect would seem to be a large "wall" that defines a preferred reference 
frame for FTL travel.

 Say somebody pops from Sol to the ever-exampled Alpha Centauri. If they 
arrive after the light-speed photons of their departure, then they're just 
chopping their subjective time; if they arrive so soon that the photons 
from their arrival would return before they left, then they would have 
created a potential paradox. Let's say our rubber-physics FTL drive does 
neither option, and they arrive somewhen in the ~8.6-year window between 
both extremes. So far, all well and good... but let's now introduce Mr. 
Paradox, who's trying to destroy the universe by travelling through time.

 When our heroes arrive at A.C., Mr. Paradox immediately tries to use his 
FTL drive to jump back to Sol before they left... but the heroes' "drive 
wake" (for lack of any better technobabble) bounces his own ship's course 
later-time so that he arrives a few instants after they left. Disgruntled, 
he pops back to A.C., arriving just after his own departure. "Aha!", 
thinks the would-be Evil Overlord, "all I have to do is jump off to the 
side, away from their wake, then sneak back in underneath it..." And so he 
jumps to Wolf 359, and then aims for Earth... but this time, his /own/ 
wake, from the A.C.-to-Wolf-359 trip, bounces his course at the start of 
his "jump", as it was "tilted" at the same angles as the Earth-A.C. jumps 
(in 4-space, that is), as no drive-wake can intersect with any other. Back 
at Wolf, he jumps to a third nearby star, and waits until the edge of his 
wake is no longer between the time-space instant our heroes left, and his 
current location... but that instant turns out to be the same time the 
photons from that event arrive, putting him in its future light-cone, and 
once again preventing his travel.

 There are two or three other interesting points that I can think of. 

 First, as I said, this drive seems as if it would tend to create a 
preferred reference frame for FTL travellers, so that spending 6 hours on 
one planet delays your arrival-time on the next by an equal amount.

 Second, if you set your drive to jump from Earth to A.C. at just under 
light-speed, then jump to arrive back home 8.6 years later (just outside 
the light-cones), then you've effectively cut off Earth from A.C. for 
those 8 years - the only possible jumps would be to the moments between 
you arrived and left. But that begs the question - if two ships, unknown 
to each other, jump on courses in wake-free space on courses that would 
prevent each others' travel, would either arrive? And if so, which?

 Third, the "wake angle" seems to be effective in relatively flat space... 
but I haven't yet figured out what might happen with those sci-fi staples, 
space-warping wormholes and black holes.

 What are your own thoughts?

Thank you for your time,
-- 
Foxtaur
The Rrangoon species is available at http://www.phantomcross.org/rrangoon/

Original

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
From: Foxtaur <spam.foxtaur.spam@spam.warren.kill.com>
Subject: TL8 Drop Troops
Date: 2000/11/30
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 First, some background:

 I'm working up a nifty little TL8 setting, where the PCs will be aboard 
the HMSS Sir Isaac Brock. This ship usually just quietly orbits the Earth; 
but whenever the higher-ups decide to intervene in a military hotspot, the 
Brock is quite the useful tool. It has around sixty nukes it can drop if 
the mission is just to utterly destroy a given target (tactical nuclear 
warheads have lost some of their social stigma after being used so 
liberally by both sides in the decade-long European/Islamic war); but when 
the object is to do a /controlled/ amount of damage, the Brock sends in 
its dropships.

 The Brock carries one company of drop troopers - about 160 men - split 
into four platoons. Four dropships - the "Detroit", "Queenston Heights", 
"Stony Creek", and "Beaver Dam" take the soldiers from whatever orbit the 
Brock happens to be in to the target zone. Depending on the specific 
mission, either the dropships will land, or the troopers will either 
parachute out (letting the dropships leave the area in a hurry). If one 
dropship is knocked out, the remaining three can carry the entire company.

 Now, my questions:

 You're probably familiar with Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" (which the 
movie bears little resemblance to), and you might have read the "Alien 
Legion" series of comic books. Within 'standard' TL8 limits, and taking 
into account that this company is yet-another assembly of the 'best of the 
best' (or, like Nomad, 'worst of the worst' <grin>), these are the closest 
examples I can think of of the type of military group I'm trying to write 
up. I have some ideas which I'd like your opinions on, and I'd also like 
to see what ideas you can come up with. :)

 Given how common CBRN weapons (chemical, biological, radiological, 
nuclear) are, and that the occasional mission will be on the moon or at an 
orbital colony, armoured vacuum suits are an absolute minimum. And given 
how heavy those are in addition to a standard combat load, exoskeletons 
also sound like a good idea. When I add up all the available options for 
such a suit (plus an emergency medkit) the total comes to 532.2 lbs and 
$294,755 per suit - and that's without any weaponry or extras. Given that 
the Brock herself cost about $2.5 billion, I suppose that's not completely 
unreasonable... is it?
 (Also, given CBRN warfare, the Brock carries a P4-secure Full Genetics 
Lab to deal with any nasties the troopers might discover.)

 For TL8-level weapons, the only sourcebooks I have are Basic, Space, and 
Cyberpunk. I've also declared that batteries have 1/10th the energy of 
standard powercells, which means that man-portable lasers aren't 
especially useful.
 My latest ideas for arming these fellows is to split them into 4-man 
"Fire Teams", carrying four vibro-blades, three Assault Chainguns, an EM 
Mortar or automatic EM Grenade Launcher, various grenades, and ammunition. 
I also want at least a one-shot anti-vehicle weapon, but the Mortar is the 
closest I can find. Given how much money has already been sunk into the 
Brock, the guns might as well be "very fine" and the vibroblades "super 
fine".
 Visible cybernetics have about the same social stigma as current 
prosthetics ("You mean you cut off your arm?"), but are still better than 
not having a given limb at all. The military would probably be willing to 
pay for certain biomods, though, should the soldier volunteer. (Bio-Tech, 
page 63; Jointwork, Muscle Graft, Eye Upgrade, and Bone Stimulation seem 
appropriate.)
 One thing I haven't quite worked out is what sort of parachuting gear the 
troopers might use. Heinlein's troops had the advantage of a TL10-level 
Personal Reentry Kit; the only other thing my books list is the Backpack 
Parawing from Cyberpunk.

 Should I try to come up with one or two drop-attack-aircraft, for when 
a nuke's too big but fragmentation-mortar-shells are too small? What sort 
of craft would you design?

 Here's what I've come up with so far for the Brock herself and her 
dropships. How do they look to you? What changes do you suggest?

-----8<-----

Space Submarine: "HMSS Sir Isaac Brock"

                    Spaces  Mass     Cost    Notes
Hull, 2M cf, SL    (3160)   200      12      Area: 100 ksf.
Total Compartment.     -     40        .4
Turrets, large, 2   <200>    40       2.4    Area: 20 ksf.
cDR: 1                 -    900      36      "Advanced" armor.
Radical Stealth        -    120     180
Radical Cloaking       -    240     360
Large Bridge           4      9       3.2
Enhanced Sensors       1     12      23      Scan: 34/33. Power: 1.
 Astronomical          -       .1      .5
 Planetary             -       .12     .25
Life Support, total   66    165       3.3   Capacity: 330. Power: 1.5.
Cabins               330    330        .99
Crew, 150              -     15       -
Missile bays, 2        2      2        .006
 16 Hvy Nukes          -     22.4     2.112
 40 Lt Nukes           -     12       3.44
Entries, lrg, 3        3      9        .033
Halls, 3              30       .6      .09
Surgeries, 3           1.5     .42     .15
 Ursaline              -      -        .858  330-man, 2-year supply.
Fission Core           1      4        .61
Fission Power        200    800     160      400 MW.
 Fissionables          -      -     320      2 year supply.
Solar Panels           2     24       2.88   Area 96 ksf. 3.8 MW at 1 AU. 
Batteries             10    250      50      450,000 MWs.
Light Sails            2    100     100      Thrust: 20. 30 sq. mi.
Nuclear Pulse Drive  300   1200     240
 Fuel Tank          1000     25     170
 N Pellets             -  12000     300
Genetics Lab, P4      20    100      10      G:Bio-Tech, page 21.
Dropship bays, 3     315      1.5     0.009
 Dropships, 3          -   3561.69  300.459  Includes mass of marines.
Cargo Space          872.5    0       0
 Cargo                 -      0       0
Heavy Laser         <100>   500      90      Power: 10,000.
Heavy P-Beam        <100>   500      90      Power: 29,000.

SM: +11
cSM: +1
ASig: -7
 When using light sails: -1
PSig: -7
cHP: Hull: 1500
     Turrets: 300 each

Total Mass: 21,183.83 tons.
Total Cost: $2,459,817,000.00
sAccel: 1.416 Gs
Burn Endurance: 1h 8m 34.2s.
Delta Vee: 57,100.2 m/s
Top Air Speed: 4,330.1 mph.

-----

Dropships: "Detroit", "Queenston Heights", "Stony Creek", "Beaver Dam"

                    Spaces  Mass    Cost    Notes
Hull, 50k cf, SL     (80)   200      12      Area: 10 ksf.
cDR: 1                 -     75       3      "Advanced" armor.
Radical Stealth        -     10      15
Radical Cloaking       -     20      30
Cockpit                0.5    2.5     1.1
Basic Sensors          1     12       4.6    Scan: 32/31. Power: 0.5.
Passenger Seats        4      5.6     0.036  60 men. Power: 0.03.
 Entry Module, small   0.5    2       0.007
 Crew, 60+pilot        -      6.1     -
 Surgeries, 2          1      0.28    0.1
Fission Core           1      4       0.61
 Fission Power         1      4       0.8    2 MW.
 Fissionables          -      -       0.16   2-year supply.
Nuclear Pulse Drive    1      4       0.8    Thrust: 100.
 Fuel Tank            70      1.75   11.9
 N pellets             -    840      21

SM: +8
cSM: -2
ASig: -10
PSig: -10
cHP: 150

Total Mass: 1,187.23 tons.
Total Cost: $100,153,000.
sAccel: 0.084 Gs.
Burn Endurance: 24 hours.
Delta Vee: 71,319.0 m/s.
Top Air Speed: 866.0 mph.
Time to reach Earth Orbit: 4 hours, 49 minutes, 42.6 seconds.
Time to escape Earth Orbit: 6 hours, 49 minutes, 42.6 seconds.

----->8-----

 (And if you're wondering: The Brock was originally American, but during 
some political shenanigans involving arms limits, was transferred to 
Canada, who then lent it to NATO. Canada is a country caught in the middle 
between the US/Islamic and Europe/China power blocs; Canadians try to be 
as un-American as they can be, given how close they are. (For example, 
after Fidel died (at as ripe an old age as TL8 medicine can buy), in order 
to avoid becoming Yet Another American Territory, Cuba declared itself 
part of Canada... <grin>)

 After establishing the setting with the players, I intend for the main 
plot to involve the Brock swinging around to Mars after the Phobos and 
Deimos colonies are lasered into oblivion by undeclared attackers... I'll 
probably have the ship swing around Venus, both because it can be a 
shorter route, and for any Venusian intrigue I can come up with - perhaps 
having to acquire fuel for the Nuke-Pulse drives from uncooperative folk, 
within a time limit that can't be changed as the Brock swings around on 
its Hohmann orbit...

 Do you have any other plotworthy ideas?

 Any other comments at all? :)

Thank you for your time,
-- 
Foxtaur
The Rrangoon species is available at http://www.phantomcross.org/

Circa this year, plus or minus one, moved to a new home.

(And managed to give myself heat exhaustion during the move itself.)

Original

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
From: Foxtaur <foxtaur@my-deja.com>
Subject: HERO: Hivemind character, comments?
Date: 2000/05/15
Message-ID: <8fo3vg$89j$1@nnrp1.deja.com>
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 I've come up with what I think is a rather unique character, and I'd like
your opinion on it - both as a character, and as a collection of statistics
and powers.

-----8<-----
Character Name: "Us"
        Nickname: "Trouble" (because it comes in threes...)
Player: Daniel Boese <dboese@becon.org>

-----
Body 1:

Characteristics: -1
Skills:          44
Talents:         10
Powers:         197
Total:         _250_

Base Points:    100
Disadvantages:  150
Total:         _250_

Characteristics: Total: -1
 -5 INT 5
-10 EGO 5
 -5 PRE 5
  1 END 22
  3 +5 INT, linked to Mind Link A
  3 +5 INT, linked to Mind Link B
  3 +5 EGO, linked to Mind Link A
  3 +5 EGO, linked to Mind Link B
  3 +5 PRE, linked to Mind Link A
  3 +5 PRE, linked to Mind Link B

Skills: Total: 44
7 +1 Skill Level, linked to Mind Link A
7 +1 Skill Level, linked to Mind Link B
3 Acrobatics (11-, 12-, or 13-)
3 Breakfall (11-, 12-, or 13-)
3 Concealment: 9+INT/5 (10-, 12-, or 14-)
3 Contortionist (11-, 12-, or 13-)
3 Paramedic: 9+INT/5 (10-, 12-, or 14-)
3 PS: Meditation: 9+EGO/5 (10-, 12-, or 14-)
        [Us is trained to enter meditative states.]
3 Shadowing (11-, 12-, or 13-)
3 Stealth (11-, 12-, or 13-)
3 Survival (11-, 12-, or 13-)
3 Tracking: 9+INT/5 (10-, 12-, or 14-)

Talents: Total: 10
10 Eidetic Memory

Powers: Total: 197
28 Duplication, Body 2 (210 points), Always On
14 Duplication, Body 3 (210 points), Always On
        [When two or more bodies are touching, by taking a full phase at
        1/2 DCV, instead of the duplicates re-merging, the bodies'
        memories are re-integrated.]
        [Duplication always on is different from followers. Duplicates
        have a greater sense of loyalty than followers do. GMs generally
        run followers, but players can run their own duplicates.]
25 Enhanced Sense: Mental Awareness, Discriminatory, Targeting
        [360 degree sense. Targeting allows Us to establish Line of
        Sight on either the user or target of mental powers.
        Discriminatory allows Us to determine the specific Mental Power
        being used, the level of power (ie, the Active Points, plus or
        minus 10%), and whether the power is being used grossly or
        subtly, if Us makes a PER Roll.]
10 Flight: 5", 0 END, Only accelerates at 5"/phase (-1/2)
        [Special effect: batlike wings.]
 6 HA, +2d6 (total 4d6)
        [Special effect: claws and teeth.]
 5 Mental Defense, 5 points
 3 Mental Defense, +5 points, linked to Mind Link A
 3 Mental Defense, +5 points, linked to Mind Link B
        [Special Effect: presents itself as a "mental barrier", a solid
        protection against mental attacks.]
 4 Mind Link A: to Body 2, Normal Range (-1/2), Increased Maximum Range
 4 Mind Link B: to Body 3, Normal Range (-1/2), Increased Maximum Range
        [Range: 5". A Mental Power. Instant mental communication; also
        receives the mental impressions of the other body's senses, but
        does not actually see through the other body's eyes.]
10 Shrinking, Persistant, Always On
        [1m, 12.5kg, -2 PER, +2 DCV, +3" KB]
10 Multipower: Standard Mentalist Powers
u1 EGO Attack, 1d6, 0 END
        [Special effect: induced pain]
u1 Mental Illusions, 2d6, 0 END
u1 Mind Control, 2d6, 0 END
u1 Mind Scan, 2d6, 0 END
u1 Telepathy, 2d6, 0 END
 7 EGO Attack, +1d6, linked to MLA (uses END)
 7 EGO Attack, +1d6, linked to MLB (uses END)
 7 Mental Illusions, +2d6, linked to MLA (uses END)
 7 Mental Illusions, +2d6, linked to MLB (uses END)
 7 Mind Control, +2d6, linked to MLA (uses END)
 7 Mind Control, +2d6, linked to MLB (uses END)
 7 Mind Scan, +2d6, linked to MLA (uses END)
 7 Mind Scan, +2d6, linked to MLB (uses END)
 7 Telepathy, +2d6, linked to MLA (uses END)
 7 Telepathy, +2d6, linked to MLB (uses END)

Disadvantages: Total: -150
-15 DNPC (eggs): Incompetent, 8-
-20 Distinctive Features (winged lizards): Not concealable, major
        reaction
-20 Hunted (anti-alienists, anti-mentalists): More Powerful, 11-
-20 Normal Characteristic Maxima
-20 Physical Limitation: all the time, greatly
        [No familiarity with Earth's culture, science, or laws. However,
        Us can understand and read English.]
-10 Physical Limitation (Cannot speak, must use telepathy to
        communicate with others)
-15 Psychological Limitation: Code Against Killing
-15 Psychological Limitation: Cannot Lie
-15 Psychological Limitation: Gullible

-----
Body 2: Points: 208

Identical to Body 1, without Duplication, and changing references to
'Body 2' to 'Body 1'.

-----
Body 3: Points: 208

Identical to Body 1, without Duplication, and changing references to
'Body 3' to 'Body 1'.

-----
Notes:

 In physical combat, Us always attempts to use coordinated attacks and
to get the multiple attacker bonus.

 Reason for Coming to Earth: Outcast! A fugitive from his own world for
political, social, racial and religious reasons. Us selected Earth as a
new home to be free of his world's prejudice and persecution.
 You see, on Us's homeworld, practically /every/ hivelizard is part of
a hivemind, usually with dozens, if not hundreds of hivelizard bodies.
The three lizards which form Us, however, are a special case: after
recently encountering the 'onebody' minds of non-hivelizards, some minds
offered the idea of creating smaller mind-units than usual in order to
better interact with and understand the aliens. This eventually led to
something resembling a war, or crusade, or hostile corporate
takeovers... and to the emigration of hivelizard eggs in the hopes of
creating a 'new society' of 'fewbody' minds. The ship carrying the eggs
that would hatch into Us was attacked, but sent a lifepod to Earth with
Us before being destroyed...

Hivelizards:
 Home environment: Mountains and cliffsides, especially with warm
grasslands or other open country nearby.
 Diet: Herder Carnivores. Before developing civilization, hivelizards
worked in groups, prowling about for groups of prey. Using teamwork to
single out a weak prey animal from its herd, they used a burst of speed
to catch it. They shared the top of the food chain with several other,
less intelligent species that have mostly been exterminated.
 Metabolism: Warm-blooded (like humans).
 Reproductive Strategy: Several offspring, with moderate neotony (closer
to dogs or cats than humans). Three sexes, oviparous (laying eggs).
 Shape: Six limbs, plus head and tail. The front limbs have crude hands,
about the level of chimps or orangutans; the middle ones are wings; and
the rear ones simple legs. They have small claws on each digit, and
sharp little teeth. Their skin is covered with scales. Their voice boxes
are limited to "animalistic" sounds - grunts, purrs, howls, and so
forth.

 Psychology:
 Company, preferably lots of it, is a /necessity/. They react quite
positively to others of the same species, and are miserable when
alone... but the species instinctively dislikes 'outsiders'. They tend
to put the concerns of the group before their own.
 They are aware of others' emotions and are compelled to help others,
even enemies.
 The species is naturally cautious, always on the lookout for danger.

----->8-----

Thank you for your time,
--
Foxtaur

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

Posted first comment to Slashdot.

My paternal grandmother, Catharine Rosella MacKinnon Boese, “Nanny”, died this day.

Original

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
From: Daniel Boese <dboese@nev.npiec.on.ca>
Subject: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Date: 1998/08/04
Message-ID: <6q7k7h$31f$1@brain.npiec.on.ca>
X-Deja-AN: 377902017
Organization: Niagara's Electronic Village
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.science
User-Agent: tin/pre-1.4-980226 (UNIX) (IRIX/5.3 (IP22))
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science,rec.arts.sf.misc

(I posted this last Thursday, but my local server lost its newsfeed for a
while. If this shows up twice, my apologies.

 As I'm sure a number of you know, a new science-fiction game is coming
out this fall. "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri - A Brian Reynolds Design" is a
turn-based strategy game detailing the future history of a colonization
mission to Alpha Centauri, which has an accident along the way; the crew
breaks up into competing factions.

 Brian Reynolds has posted some detailed data about this fictional Alpha
Centauri planetary system to the forums at www.alphacentauri.com. However,
as they're buried among thousands of other messages, I've collected the
pertinent data, and am posting it here to promote interest in the game and
discussion about the specifics.

-----

   The planet will mostly be referred to in the game as "Planet",
   although its astronomical name is Chiron. Its two moons are Nessus and
   Pholus. For reasons involving stability of orbits in binary systems,
   there is only one other planet, Eurytion, which is more or less like
   Mercury. Alpha Centauri B (the K-class twin star) has one Jovian
   planet.

   Atmosphere has a much higher Nitrogen (N2) partial pressure than Earth
   (2.02 ratio), w/ Oxygen .71 compared to Earth, CO2 .67 ratio, argon
   1.06 ratio and total air pressure 1.74 atmospheres. So it's fine for
   earth plants (and the abundant nitrates in the soil help a great
   deal), but nitrogen narcosis problems prevent direct breathability by
   humans.
   The much higher nitrogen partial pressure (and resulting lower oxygen
   partial pressure) will tend to make things like forest fires
   considerably less likely.

-----

   PLANETS OF ALPHA CENTAURI A
   ===========================

   Solar                constants   Sun       Alpha A   Ratio
   Mass                 kg          1.99E+30  2.15E+30  1.08
   Luminosity           W           3.89E+26  5.63E+26  1.45
   Radius               m           6.96E+08  7.59E+08  1.09

   Planetary           constants    Earth     Planet/   Ratio
                                              Chiron

   Mass                 kg          5.98E+24  1.10E+25  1.84
   Equat. radius        m           6.38E+06  7.54E+06  1.18
   Dist. from star      m           1.50E+11  1.60E+11  1.07
   Axial tilt           degrees     23.45     2.00      0.09
   Surface area         m^2         5.10E+14  7.18E+14  1.41
   Standard gravity     m/(s^2)     9.81      12.85     1.31
   Escape velocity      m/s         11184     13947     1.25
   Density              kg/(m^3)    5519      6150      1.11
   Size of sun          degrees     0.27      0.27      1.02
   Year                 our days    365.3     388.6     1.06
   Year                 local days  365.3     532.0     1.46
   Day                  hours       24.00     17.53     0.73
   Mountain height      m           10626     8112      0.76
   Horizon distance     m           5051      5493      1.09
   Ocean tide (sun)     m           0.12      0.12      0.94
   Ocean tide (moon 1)  m           0.27      0.18      0.67
   Ocean tide (moon 2)  m                     0.11
   Ocean tide (both)    m           0.39      0.41      1.05
   Orbital Circumfrnce  m           9.42E+11  1.01E+12  1.07
   Orbital Speed        m/s         29861     29942     1.00

   Atmosphere

   Total pressure       Pa          101325    176020    1.74
   Nitrogen             Pa          79125     >160000   2.02
   Oxygen               Pa          21228     <15000    0.71
   Argon                Pa          942       1000      1.06
   Carbon dioxide       Pa          30        <20       0.67

   Nitrogen                         78.09%    90.90%    1.16
   Oxygen                           20.95%    8.52%     0.41
   Argon                            0.93%     0.57%     0.61
   Carbon dioxide                   0.03%     0.01%     0.4

   Surface density      kg/(m^3)    1.22      2.06      1.68
   "Flammability"       mmol K J-1  7.17      2.87      0.40

   Effective temp.      K           253       261       1.03
   Greenhouse effect    K           +36       +32       0.90
   Surface temp.        K           288       293       1.01
   Surface temp.        C           15.4      19.7      1.28
   Solar constant       W/(m^2)     1383      1750      1.27

   Moon #1 (Nessus)                 The Moon  Nessus    Ratio

   Mass                 kg          7.35E+22  6.50E+21  0.09
   Radius               m           1.74E+06  8.00E+05  0.46
   Dist. from planet    m           3.84E+08  2.00E+08  0.52
   Surface area         m^2         3.80E+13  8.04E+12  0.21
   Mean gravity         m/(s^2)     1.62      0.68      0.42
   Density              kg/(m^3)    3342      3031      0.91
   Synodic month        our days    29.5      7.7       0.26
   Synodic month        local days  29.5      10.6      0.36
   Syn. months/yr                   12.4      50.2      4.05
   Angular radius       degrees     0.26      0.23      0.88

   Moon #2 (Pholus)                 The Moon  Pholus    Ratio

   Mass                 kg          7.35E+22  5.20E+20  0.01
   Radius               m           1.74E+06  3.50E+05  0.20
   Dist. from planet    m           3.84E+08  1.00E+08  0.26
   Surface area         m^2         3.80E+13  1.54E+12  0.04
   Mean gravity         m/(s^2)     1.62      0.28      0.17
   Density              kg/(m^3)    3342      2895      0.87
   Synodic month        our days    29.5      2.7       0.09
   Synodic month        local days  29.5      3.7       0.13
   Syn. months/yr                   12.39     143.76    11.60
   Angular radius       degrees     0.26      0.20      0.77

   Eurytion (Mercurian planet)      Earth     Eurytion  Ratio

   Mass                 kg          5.98E+24  5.16E+23  0.09
   Equat. radius        m           6.38E+06  2.82E+06  0.44
   Dist. from star      m           1.50E+11  7.06E+10  0.47
   Surface area         m^2         5.10E+14  9.98E+13  0.20
   Standard gravity     m/(s^2)     9.81      4.33      0.44
   Escape velocity      m/s         11184     4942      0.44
   Density              kg/(m^3)    5519      5503      1.00
   Size of sun          degrees     0.27      0.62      2.31
   Year                 our days    365.3     113.8     0.31
   Year                 local days  365.3     SYNCHRONOUS
   Horizon distance     m           5051      3357      0.66
   Surf. temperature    K           288       438       1.52
   Surf. temperature    C           15.4      165.3     10.71
   Solar constant       W/(m^2)     1383      8999      6.51

-----

   Preliminary report on the Chironian biosphere

   Introduction - the astrophysical background

   Alpha Centauri A ("Alpha Prime") is a G2V main sequence star, similar
   in spectral class to the Sun, but about a billion years older. Chiron
   (or "Planet" as most of the colonists refer to it) is a 1.8 Earth mass
   planet orbiting at 1.08 AU from Alpha Prime, receiving 23% more
   sunlight than Earth does at the present.

   Like the Sun, Alpha Prime was once about 30%-40% dimmer than its
   present luminosity. Stars grow continually more luminous over their
   lifetime on the main sequence - this was a matter of some concern to
   astronomers in the past (Hart 1978) who reasoned that if the Sun had
   been much less luminous than it is today, then the Earth should have
   been locked in a permanent ice age. But the geological record shows
   that Earth was not significantly cooler than it is today. This was
   known as the Faint Young Sun Paradox.

   It was Walker and Kasting who pointed out (1981) that if the Earth had
   had a much greater amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, then the CO2
   greenhouse effect could account for the difference. CO2 is emitted
   into the atmosphere from volcanoes and weathered out of the atmosphere
   by the reaction

   CaSiO3 + CO2 ---> CaCO3 + SiO2
   calcium  carbon   lime    silica
   silicate dioxide

   The carbonate rocks are eventually subducted into the mantle by
   continental drift, broken down into silicate rocks and CO2, and the
   cycle begins again. The crucial feature of this cycle is that the
   weathering reaction is temperature dependent: the higher the
   temperature, the faster CO2 is removed from the atmosphere. So the
   carbonate-silicate cycle acts as a planetary thermostat, keeping
   temperatures constant even while stars vary over geological time.

   On Earth, the consequence was that life evolved in an atmosphere of up
   to 1000 millibars CO2 or even more. The first photosynthesising
   organisms using atmospheric CO2 may have evolved up to four billion
   years ago and have dominated the biosphere ever since. But on Chiron,
   the temperature was already too high to support a dense CO2
   atmosphere, and carbon was a much less available element in the warm
   early seas. This has led to a very different evolutionary path.

   Chiron today - atmospheric composition

   The atmosphere consists of >160 kPa N2, <15 kPa O2 and <20 Pa CO2. The
   low oxygen content results in fewer forest fires, a higher proportion
   of anoxic environments - encouraging a large anaerobic ecosystem
   reducing nitrates to break down organic matter, about which more later
   (see report on "xenofungus") - and a plant ecosystem dominated by the
   need to conserve carbon.

   Meteorology and Climatology

   The warm tropical seas of Chiron are breeding grounds for hurricanes,
   which are also encouraged by the high gravity and rapid rotation. The
   dense nitrogen atmosphere only partly offsets this. The equatorial
   cloud belts, however, help to regulate the climate by reflecting
   sunlight.

   Because the planet spins faster, the winds follow the lines of
   latitude more strictly than on Earth. Moreover, the meridional
   circulation splits into five cells, as opposed to Earth's three
   (Hadley, Ferrel, and Rossby). Compare this to the bands on a giant,
   rapidly rotating planet like Jupiter or Saturn.

   Oceanography

   At over 20% higher insolation than Earth, Chiron has very small polar
   ice caps. The effect of this on the oceanic circulation is profound.
   Instead of cold oxygen-rich polar water sinking at the poles and being
   carried in a current along the ocean floor to the equator (as on Earth
   today), the circulation is driven in reverse, with warm saline
   oxygen-poor water sinking at the equator and flowing to the poles (as
   on Earth in the Cretaceous period). As a result, the bottom waters are
   highly anoxic (note: such seas are called euxinic after the Black
   Sea).

   Soil Composition

   Compared to Earth, silicates are much less common in the soils of
   Chiron. As in the tropics on Earth, warm water leaches the silica from
   clays, leaving a poor alumina-rich soil (this does not prevent rain
   forests from growing, but will inhibit agriculture). The arctic
   regions have a higher proportion of acidic soils with a high
   proportion of organic matter (podzols) which is equally hard to farm.
   The temperate soil zone, which on Earth is favoured with rich
   aluminosilicate clays, is much narrower here on Chiron, and the soils
   are more likely to be sandy or lime-rich. Bogs are also common.

   Ecology

   Although basically similar to Earth life, in that it is based on
   carbon compounds in water, the organisms of Chiron have evolved a
   biochemistry very different Earth. The scarcity of carbon in the
   environment, and of dioxygen in the soil, has forced plants to try to
   make do without O2, and economize on the use of carbon in structural
   parts and as an energy storage material. They do this by using a
   biochemical reaction unknown on Earth

   N2 + H2O + 5/2O2 --> 2H+ + 2NO3- ( -7 kcal mol-1 )

   as can be seen, this reaction is exothermic, but (thankfully) is
   unknown on Earth. Chironian plants seem to have a special enzyme to
   encourage this reaction, possibly with the aid of sunlight. They use
   the nitrate obtained this way to store energy as organic
   nitro-compounds (see report on "gun-cotton trees"); to reduce
   carbonates to carbon; and to carry out respiration in anoxic
   environments.

   The prevalence of anoxic environments rich in organic material,
   combined with the presence everywhere on Chiron of nitrated compounds
   has led to an astonishing variety of underground organisms (see report
   on "xenofungus") which live in the absence of oxygen (though they can
   use oxygen if it is present) and "breathe" nitrate:

   (CH2O) + NO3 ---> H2O + CO2 + 1/2N2O + 1/4O2

   This ecosystem apparently has symbiotic relations with the plants and
   with Chironian animal life (see report on "mind worms"). The
   prevalence of nitrate in the environment has serious repercussions
   (see below).

   The nitrous oxide is present in only small amounts as it combines with
   ozone in the stratosphere to break down into N2 and O2

           light
   N2O + O3 ---> 2NO + O2 ; 2NO ---> N2 + O2

   This process prevents the build-up of an ozone layer.

   Fossil Fuels

   When plant material is buried, nitro-hydrocarbons have all they need
   to "burn", so they will do so slowly underground, leaving nothing
   behind until all the reducing material (hydrocarbon) or all the
   oxidizing material (nitrate) has gone. We expect the nitrate to run
   out first in all cases, leaving a residue of carbon compounds.
   Provided this does not come into contact with oxygen, it will
   fossilize to produce ordinary fossil fuels. Since Chiron has been hot
   and hypoxic for a long time, it should have all the oil, shale, and
   coal the colonists could want.

   This will be a focus of the colonists' terraforming efforts to
   increase the CO2 (and hence oxygen) as they transplant Earth
   vegetation to Chiron. They will also want to blast chalk limestone
   deposits (which are also abundant on Chiron) to liberate the CO2.

   Regardless of any attempt to wipe out the underground nitrate
   respirers, all our efforts to return carbon to the biosphere will
   encourage Chironian life to proliferate. Conversely, the huge
   quantities of nitrate in the soil will be heaven to human farmers.

   But the water will have to be treated in order to remove the nitrates
   so that it is safe to drink; otherwise the colonists may suffer from
   methaemoglobinaemia, or "blue baby syndrome", where the red blood
   cells are poisoned so they can't take up oxygen. The way to do it is
   to pass ozone through the water to destroy the nitrate.

   Planetologist Del Cotter. UNS Unity, February 24, 2100AD.

-----

Alpha Centauri (c)1998 Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts and the Electronic
Arts logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in
the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved. Alpha Centauri and
Firaxis Games are trademarks of Firaxis Games, Inc.

-- 
Daniel Boese                                      dboese@nev.npiec.on.ca
"I want be accused of and found guilty of morticide. Is that wrong?"

Original

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
From: spam.db97al.spam@span.badger.ac.brocku.ca.spam
Subject: Next "Mode" book?
Date: 1998/05/02
Message-ID: <6igbba$6dn$1@brain.npiec.on.ca>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 349709073
Organization: Brock University
User-Agent: tin/pre-1.4-980226 (UNIX) (IRIX/5.3 (IP22))
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony

 Is there any information available on Piers Anthony's next "Mode" book?

 Considering what the titles so far have been, I'm guessing that it will
be called "Complex Mode" or "Complexity Mode".

--
Daniel Boese                                   db97al@badger.ac.brocku.ca

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