SDNW5 Discussion Thread I

[Steve]

New thread. Continue as you were.

[Simon_Jester]

Sorry about the page limit thing; the thought popped into my head but it didn't occur to me to mention it to you.

[White Haven]

Didn't that stop mattering in PHPBB3? Could have sworn...

Not that it matters, just musing.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I didn't even know there was a page limit...

Oh well, at least we have a new thread to work with I suppose.

[OmegaChief]

Wow we've already gone through our first thread.

In other news, diplomatic post should be up later today, woo.

And contemplating more prologue stories now that I've got a better idea of who's near me, probably need to poke my neighbours about first contacts though.

[Simon_Jester]

I'm not playing as xenophobic isolationists, for one thing. I failed to describe the idea properly to Skywalker - They're on the mild side of xenophobic, having many trust issues, but being nice enough that you can sit down and have a chat with them, although you should be careful as to what you choose to talk to them about. They're obviously not isolationist. I don't know how you got the isolationist part.

I'm sorry; I inferred incorrectly.

Honest mistake.

And yes, general discussion should go in general discussion threads, not the map thread. If Steve were moderating the game he could actually physically move posts, but since he's only in periodically, we have to observe some posting discipline on our own.

Wow we've already gone through our first thread.

In other news, diplomatic post should be up later today, woo.

And contemplating more prologue stories now that I've got a better idea of who's near me, probably need to poke my neighbours about first contacts though.

We spent a lot of time working stuff out- honestly I think that was good, because we already have several involved people who have pretty good ideas about the nature of each others' countries and how they'll get along together. In many ways, that's better than the situation was at this time during the runup to SDNW4, where except for the Koprulu Zone I don't think a lot of people had clear ideas about the relationships between their nations.

[Skywalker_T-65]

And I'm one of said people. What can I say, I like the details.

Seriously though, I can agree that it is a good thing to work out nation relations early on. Helps prevent stuff like say...another MEH situation (actually got around to looking through SDNW4 now...and my God I am glad I wasn't around for that). Plus it gives me the opportunity to work out how both Space Sweden and SPACE VIKINGS react to other nations.

EDIT: And in case anyone needs it, I'm moving my last map thread post here.

Heh...and sorry I'm the source of said confusion. And on the xenophobe front, no one beats the SPACE VIKINGS. They hate EVERYONE...including normal Space Swedes. The difference being they don't go for isolation, they go for far flung RL Viking raids...in SPAAACE.

(Incidentally I don't remember saying that KF's people were isolationist...did I? And I'm not implying they are here either, just clearing up any potential problems from calling the SPACE VIKINGS xenophobic)

[Fenreer]

The Dwarven Covenant will have 4 trade routes open. If you're in the market for mined resources or durable manufactured goods, we're your one-stop source for some of the finest products available. Anyone interested and willing to reciprocate?

[Simon_Jester]

Umerians are a major market for manufactured goods, durable and otherwise, and tend to specialize in expert-system software, high-end machine tools, and mad science.

However, I may not have a trade route to spare. I think I have one to Shinn and one to Akhlut, leaving none... is that right, guys?

[Panzersharkcat]

I have one left, though we do a lot of manufacturing ourselves. We do rather pride ourselves on our manufactured goods.

However, I may not have a trade route to spare. I think I have one to Shinn and one to Akhlut, leaving none... is that right, guys?

You have a trade route to swamp gas? I know it's one of their sectors not majority Greys but it's still funny.

[Simon_Jester]

Of course we trade with the dinosaurs.

We just humor their strange religious beliefs about these mythical mini-humanoidean entities.

[Fenreer]

I have one left, though we do a lot of manufacturing ourselves. We do rather pride ourselves on our manufactured goods.

Well, if you're interested in raw materials, we're all Dwarves over here... we're the miningest mothers ever to swing a vibro-pick.

I'll hold off on Simon for a bit, to see if I can get reciprocity first. If not, he's first in line for free money

[OmegaChief]

Free money? I love that stuff, I've got no reciprical routes to give, and don't know how far from the Authority you're planning on going, but if you've got a trade route no one else wants then I'll gladly take it.

[KlavoHunter]

Fenreer! You bastard! You owe me a good Battletech game moderated by you!

Welcome aboard.

[Panzersharkcat]

Sure, I'll take raw materials, too. What would you want in return? Gambling things? Banks? Medicine? Weapons? Consumer electronics?

[KhorneFlakes]

The Qiirsaan Meritocracy might be interested.

(That's what I decided to call them. Decided to just bastardize Ur-Quan into a different word. I'm lazy. )

[Fenreer]

Sure, I'll take raw materials, too. What would you want in return? Gambling things? Banks? Medicine? Weapons? Consumer electronics?

Medicine, interesting (for Dwarves) foodstuffs, literature, that sort of stuff. It'll work out.

Fenreer! You bastard! You owe me a good Battletech game moderated by you!

Welcome aboard.

You take on a primary House and I'll think of it. Good to see you. Wondered where you'd gone off to. Make yourself some funky aliens and get in here and play. Keeps the rust off.

Just don't tell these guys how much of a bastard I really was over there. I had to be what I had to be... herding cats is hard work.

The Qiirsaan Meritocracy might be interested.

(That's what I decided to call them. Decided to just bastardize Ur-Quan into a different word. I'm lazy. )

Fair enough. Got a reciprocal trade pact to send back, or would you like to be next in line beneath The Jester?

[Simon_Jester]

Thejester is someone else on this forum. Call me Simon.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Grax Gorin is $5. Oderus Urungus, Balsac the Jaws of Death, Beefcake the Mighty, Jizmak Da Gusha, and Flattus Maximus are each worth $1. Can one dwarf reasonably be expected to take on all five of the Scumdogs themselves?

[Fenreer]

Grax Gorin is $5. Oderus Urungus, Balsac the Jaws of Death, Beefcake the Mighty, Jizmak Da Gusha, and Flattus Maximus are each worth $1. Can one dwarf reasonably be expected to take on all five of the Scumdogs themselves?

Grax would never have let Corporal Punishment rip off his cock.

[Simon_Jester]

Still, you might want to tone him down a bit... Unless.

Unless, say, Grax routinely stomps around in some horrendously overdeveloped mecha/power armor/hypertransturboaxeweaponoid/whatever that grants him a significant fraction of his killiness?

I'd be okay with a Bolo being worth 5$, possibly even a good deal more. But Bolos can do things like cross swords with small orbiting starships, murderize enemy armored corps, and shoot down incoming ICBM salvoes. Is Grax that badass?

Hell. Maybe so. I've seen worse. I'm seriously considering doing worse...

[Fenreer]

I priced him there simply to burn some cash, but in a way, it's appropriate. When he was rolled up as a AD&D 1st edition character... 28 years ago (Dear God, I'm old), he was just a dwarf fighter, level 1. Then strange things began to happen... for one, he never ever missed a saving throw, even when I digressed and let the DM throw the dice. Once, he leaped down the throat of a red dragon with nothing in his hands but a misc. magic item called "Daern's Instant Fortress" and uttered the command word while plunging down the beastie's gullet. The DM read the iem description over and over saying "It isn't a damage dealing item... it isn't a damage dealing item... but it becomes a freakin' 20 by 30 tower... I, I, Arrrrghh! Screw it!"

From that point on, the DM tried to kill off Grax to no avail, to the point that it became a subject of great hilarity. The fellow even took a hammer to his dice at one point. Other, more amicable DM's followed, and those gentlemen tended to enjoy the fact that, though my characters tended to be born with expiration dates on their heels, that dwarf simply wouldn't fall over. Even his miniature wouldn't have the common courtesy to die on the table in games of Warhammer Fantasy Battle & Mordheim. Granted, at 3" per turn, he wasn't seeing too much combat, but when he did his vanilla rules Lord ass wouldn't hit the turf.

In game terms, he's a Dwarf who acts as a POV character for the most part, commenting upon the successes and failures of his people and bearing witness to the events of the universe. In an operational role, he'll have various elite Dirty Dozen-types joining him and leaving as circumstances dictate. He recruits the finest operators with the best skills for his Oceans Eleven-style team-ups. If he's being attacked by the uber-tank, it might not be Grax's gun that blows the thing up, but rather a tragic stroke of bad luck where the uber-tank's fusion core ruptures into the crew compartment. Whether by highly unlikely strokes of luck, obsessive contingency planning, or simply stumbling upon the right item for the job, Grax somehow manages to come out battered, grumpy, and conspiculously not dead. So, I listed him at $5. I figure he can take $4.999999999999 of damage and still manage to drag himself out of the rubble and find his way to the Action Hero Convention to get Bruce Willis's clone to sign his dvd of Die Hard XVIV.

Or I could just throw $5 more into marines and have him simply be the POV character without a budget line. He can amuse and entertain either way.

[Simon_Jester]

...That is actually an entirely honorable and reasonable way for his presence to be worth five points on the battlefield.

Remembering that some of his "victories" may not actually involve the other guy dying- say, just having an enemy force fail in their objective can be a victory for the high-point side. So... be inventive and it's all good. No problem.

Basically, if he's fighting the Scumdogs, he might not win, but there's a pretty good chance that something bizarre will happen to fuck up the Scumdogs' plan and ruin their day.

[OmegaChief]

Though given the Scumdogs all together are about equal to him, if they gang up on him it could be a draw/loss for him too.

After all, while points do equal points, if both players agree to a narrative where a small points value defeats a larger one it can still happen too.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Yeah, points really only matter if you can work up something with the other player. For example, if it fits the narrative better, you can have a swarm of 1 point gunships blast apart a super-dreadnought.

Also, Arcadia is always open to extra money, we just don't have a TR to send back.