Troperia Galactica - Intergalactic Discussion Forum

It depends on the technology behind them, which depends on the faction. Though I think Wot W or Dune-style shields wouldn't work too well given the setting.

NAH's shields are a combination of CPP (charged-particle/plasma fields, special layered energy shields) fields, and inertial barriers slaved to their energy/matter manipulation devices. This has two effects. One: it completely prevents damage until the inertial barrier is overloaded (and, contrary to the name, it actually does stop energy weapons, in fact it does that -more efficiently- than kinetic impacts). Two: after being overloaded the CPP provides an initial screen that any physical object has to pass through, that can soften/partially melt mass driver rounds or other projectiles, and usually outright detonates unshielded warheads. The NAH can link more and more of their systems into the stage-one period, allowing it to withstand more incoming fire, but this brings down critical systems like FTL and artificial gravity as more subatomic manipulation systems are slaved to the shield. For a ship that's already 'dead in the water' it could be a lifesaver, but it's not too useful for a fresh ship.

Most NAH combat vessels have special shield generators arrayed forward for use in ramming maneuvers, should they become necessary. Considering the range deep space combat takes place in, you'd only see ranges where this stuff comes into play in 'terrain', IE in orbit around a planet, or in an asteroid field. When the ship is not combat-ready (therefore is on efficient generation, not max power) only the ramming shields are active, and are 'idling' (at stage two only) to negate debris it may be traveling through.

Hmm... it occurs to me that I've run into the (interesting?) problem now that since they don't have a highly volatile substance easily at hand, they kind of lose that whole 'every round is a missile' thing they had going on a while back.

They don't use energy weapons either, which kind of limits them to 'firing pieces of sharpened, super dense metal at high-speeds' (their natural armour is very dense, and they build most of their machines, tools, projectiles etc. out of it). And I suppose all of their projectiles would basically be fired through springs or fancy wind-up mechanisms...

I'm not really sure, however, about:

• How effective that would be in space, especially against shields
• How effective that would be in an atmosphere, especially against vehicles

edited 27th Dec '11 4:35:20 AM by Eventua

For the Kin, personal shielding takes the form of what is alternatively referred to as phasesuits or wraith fibre—essentially, garments made of a synthesized material that, when subjected to certain conditions, causes whatever it contains to become fractionally out of sync with the space-time continuum. In layman's terms, when activated this stuff makes whoever is wearing it functionally intangible; how this phasing technology works is a closely guarded secret which the Science Caste is not keen on sharing with the other races at this juncture.

Of course, the stuff is hardly infallible; even for a race as industrious as the Kin, wraith fibre garments are particularly expensive to make, thereby limiting their use to members of the Warrior Caste and high-ranking officials of the Science and Ruling Castes. Furthermore, the amount of protection such garments confer is tied directly to the amount of surface area they cover—a wraith fibre tunic, for instance, would provide adequate protection for the torso and shoulders, but none whatsoever for the head or the legs; as such, full-body coverage is typically restricted to important generals, key scientists and the upper echelons of the Ruling Caste, while basic infantry have to make due with little more than simple vests or tunics, with the occasional helmet thrown in as well.

In addition, there's also the matter of power; wraith fibre has its own internal power supply which recharges over time, but every object which passes through it and out the other side depletes some of its charge, and multiple objects of considerable mass passing through over a very short interval of time will quickly short out the phasesuit, leaving its bearer vulnerable to harm until such time as it can be fixed.

Finally, while phase technology is an excellent defense for infantry and some ground units, it is decidedly less useful as a form of starship shielding; the power requirements for this material, and thus how much it costs to make and how difficult it is to maintain, are directly proportional to the surface area and volume of the object being covered—and as Kin vessels are amongst the largest of the known major galactic powers, the power requirements for such a vast and unbroken phasing field are astronomical. To reduce the strain on their ships' reactors—as well as their construction budget—Kin capital ships instead place an emphasis on sturdy hull armour and make use of small, self-contained 'phase arrays' which operate a bit differently from the standard wraith fibre: rather than rendering the ship itself or even a portion thereof intangible, a phase array instead projects a screen that shunts whatever passes through it from a specific direction fractionally out of dimensional sync, thereby rendering the enemy projectiles intangible. Such an effect on an incoming projectile typically only lasts for five-to-eight seconds, but given the velocity most ships and capital ship weapons would be travelling at this is generally long enough for the projectile to pass through without inflicting any significant damage on either the vessel or its crew. It should be noted that such phase arrays are markedly better at neutralising solid projectiles like missiles, torpedos and magnetically-accelerated rounds than energy-based weapons like lasers or plasma weaponry.

I had attempted to add this blurb to the technology section of the Kin article a week or two back, but when the site crashed on me just as I was publishing the edit I kinda frustrated and did not feel like typing it up a second time. I'll try to add it in later on today.

Wont that make them difficult (or even impossible) to take down in space without energy weapons?

Also, I'd really like to know if the korpers will work now, while still being reasonably balanced and not 'out-weighed' by everyone else? o_O"

Essentially, my concerns are:

• Do they work this way? Can they still be a major power?
• How do I make up for the lack of explosive or energy weapons?
• When will someone post?

Part of your problem, Eventua, is your concern about "Out-weighing". None of our races were designed to be explicitly good, and each race can defeat any other on their own preferred terms. Stop trying to balance them or make them competitive, because you're doing it in a way that makes you look like you want them to be the best at everything. Many of your problems can be solved with judicial application of common sense, and you're already halfway there. How do you deal with a lack of weapon variety? Let them use a variety of weapons.

And yes, your new non-reactive blood does take away your ammunition. You can take regular HEAP-style ammunition and do just fine, since it's exactly the same thing as what you were trying to use strange, complex materials for. Yes the Kin are pretty hard to take down if you don't have energy weapons so don't make a race that uses a single weapon type. Molo'Qraaat would have torpedo backups with their laser arrays and the NAH has powerful particle weapons for their close-range work on top of their mass drivers. The fact the Kin are hard to take down with kinetics mean you just mount non-kinetic weapons as well, just as you'd mount direct-fire weapons to deal with NAH's warhead resistance

edited 27th Dec '11 3:28:17 PM by SOCR

The only shielding the Doturi have is the corpses of their comrades. It is not a very effective form of protection, but it is easily obtained and replaceable.

I apologize for trying to balance things out, or, indeed, trying to make korpers 'the best'...

Hmm... okay then. How's this sound?

• Their regular, non-explosive kinetic rounds (which can range from two inch long metal spikes to bits of shrapnel sprayed in a shotgun effect to massive, 10 foot long stakes fired as artillary to muck up ships) are fired either with complicated wind-up, spring based mechanisms (similar to old-fashioned cross-bows and ballistas) or through grown 'fragdools' that basically shoot the projectiles using extremely high-powered muscle spasms. These are used both in an atmosphere and in space.
• They also construct simplified explosive rounds using good old fashioned chemistry, though these are something of a rarity: many korpers are too busy eating the chemicals used to build bombs and missiles out of them. These are used both in an atmosphere and in space.
• Some klas have developed how powered 'Concussion Beams' that charge up huge amounts of energy before releasing it in high-speed blasts of intense heat, blinding light and ear-breaking noise. Only really used in space, and are only mounted on the largest ships. That said, they're pretty intense all the same, if not subtle or stealthy at all.
• On the ground they also use such lovely weapons as poison gas (heating 'slowbluh' to the point where it can be breathed in before deployed in bombs), 'slagthrowers' (which spray molten metal in a wide arc) or tesla cannons (should be fairly obvious what they do).

Lastly, I'm wondering, do any of the other races use melee defences on their ships? By that, I mean do they have anything to stop enemy forces crawling on the outside and 'mucking about' with the systems directly on the surface? Or better yet, firing well-protected penetrative shuttles to crash into the side of the ship before releasing the heavily armed korper raiders inside (going with the whole 'can survive in a vacuum' approach)...

Shuttles will have to get through CIWS point-defense and fighter screens, which I imagine everyone has to a certain degree, Doturi moreso of the latter than others. NAH ships can electrify their hull in an attempt to burn off anything attached, though this is intended for enemy beacons and sapper probes, not lifeforms (though is probably powerful enough to toast those too, but they'd need to have penetrated the first layer of armor).

Outside of that though I can't be sure how effective individuals will be against the hull of a ship. A shuttle may burn their way through with highly specialized, powerful equipment, but again think about it in applicable terms to the modern day... are you really going to just strap yourself to the side of a warship with power tools, trying to cut through armor that can deflect supersonic slugs three times your own mass?

If a shuttle tries to breach the hull by just crashing into it... it'll just explode and do minimal damage to the ship. Remember the only reason Mass Driver rounds can hurt it is the obnoxious speeds at which they're traveling at, a measurable fraction of the speed of light, and they're a completely solid slug. You're talking about a much larger volume (spreading the impact force out across a larger area) which is nowhere near as structurally resilient impacting the ship at much lower speeds.

This comes around and highlights the deficiency in your projectile weapons... they have horribly low velocity. Ballista-type weapons, no matter how powerful, probably couldn't even hurt an Age of Sail vessel, considering modern shell design came about because cannonballs couldn't anymore. If you have explosives, why not explosively propel your projectiles at least? NAH ground forces still use explosive projectiles, and you can configure caseless pre-oxygenated ammo to work in space. Your energy weapons seem pretty interesting though.

edited 28th Dec '11 8:29:09 AM by SOCR

But, eh, muscle spasms! Their projectiles are more powerful normally when fired from 'fragdools', so they tend to use those more often, but I agree. Wind up crank style ballista weapons wont work.

As for the shuttle crashing thing, eh, hmm... I did kind of imagine the front half of the shuttle basically just being dense, sharp armour: fired from a high-powered fragdool before activating the thrusters to pick up more speed. Not enough penetrative force to punch out and through the other side, just enough to get about a quarter of the way through before the crew hop out of the rear compartment armed with light-weight weaponry (I'm thinking, a shuttle that's about 75% dense, penetrative shell, and 25% compact carrying space). That said, it might well just result in the whole thing just crumpling like a bullet, squashing the gits inside. :/

As mentioned, they do use explosives, just not that often: in general, they mainly use explosive projectiles that are fired from a fragdool. As they exit, the ignition system makes contact with the the air and activates, further increasing its speed as it travels before impact.

Lastly: Are you really going to just strap yourself to the side of a warship with power tools, trying to cut through armor that can deflect supersonic slugs three times your own mass?

These are korpers. If one large, impulsive, not particularly bright korper thinks it's a good idea, 'Cause I bet dere ships aint that well-built cause they aint as smar' as us', well... let's just say you'll wind up with many hundreds of korpers using makeshift, high-powered jetpacks to fly towards your ship. Likely then using either their teeth and claws, corrosive acid, or hand-held drills designed to cut through granite and/or ship armour in an attempt to dig themselves into the hull. And (probably) failing.

"They don't use energy weapons either, which kind of limits them to 'firing pieces of sharpened, super dense metal at high-speeds' (their natural armour is very dense, and they build most of their machines, tools, projectiles etc. out of it)."

Battlestar Galactica uses these as their primary weapons and they got along pretty handily.

I'll mention that the energy weapons they do use are insanely powerful, able to punch holes through mountains in a 20 foot thick beam of heat and light and sound that tears metal armour apart...

...except the things take a while to charge up, take huge amounts of energy and are so big that any ship carrying one will basically consist of 'the gun, the engineers, and the pilot(s)'.

Also, on a completely different note, I am finally publishing a story of mine using Amazon Kindle! :D

edited 28th Dec '11 2:05:19 PM by Eventua

Cool!

Indeed! Hopefully it will be the first of many, perhaps! :D

ALSO, BACK TO THE CLEARLY PROBABLY FAR MORE IMPORTANT EFFORT OF THE ROLEPLAY:

• Does anyone know of any (purely terrestrial, Star Craft, Dawn Of War or Jeff Waynes Warof The Worlds, "Risk"-Style Map styled Real-Time Strategy games?) that can be modded with new factions and units and models and things? I know Total War can, but that's kind of old-school... :/
• I'm curious as to when SOCR or Daltar will post again.
• Is more information going to be added about the other factions? o_O"

1. Nope, sorry.

2. Patience is a virtue.

3. See above.

I'll post again... when I'm able. Currently occupied with other things.

Understood. o_o

Say, anyone gonna make a trope page for the roleplay? ALSO, something squicky occured to me... this being science-fiction, I'm hoping we wont wind up with the Boldly Coming trope in play. I mean, we probably wont (since the aliens are all either Starfish Aliens or Intelligent Rabbits) but it's kind of a Squick-y thought.

ALSO ALSO I published that thing at last! :D

UK site: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tin-Boy-Dragon-ebook/dp/B006QYTM9O/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1325197353&sr=8-8

US site: http://www.amazon.com/Tin-Boy-Dragon-ebook/dp/B006QYTM9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325197396&sr=8-1

You don't need a kindle to buy those, by the way! You can download the Kindle App for free and read them on your computer, and stuff! :D

edited 29th Dec '11 2:27:47 PM by Eventua

...Yeah, unless we decide to portray the sexually deviant aspects of interspecies relationships, I don't think we'll be going down that route. I mean, my race may look humanoid on the outside thanks to their shells, but on the inside they are literally nothing but a swarm of bugs, spiders and insects whose individual members are held together by a shared consciousness; that would make liaisons with most other species problematic, I think.

edited 29th Dec '11 2:33:10 PM by SullenFrog

I'm pretty sure none of us have any interest in writing xenopornography. At least, not here.

Also, why are you advertising your books in here? =_=

-shrugs- Dunno, just thought you guys might be interested (in my story, I mean, not the xenoporn). :/

ALSO.

I'm wondering, how would any of the given factions respond to just having a shuttle full of korpers show up on one of their worlds and be all like, "Herp derp, we iz tourists! And immigrants! We'z those lot too! Can we live 'ere?"

In particular, Parable, I'm wondering if it would be okay for there to be substantial populations of korpers on various Verandi worlds?

Also, SOCR, is it okay if the Karnis have been causing trouble for the NAH, attacking their military patrols and trade routes? Since I got the impression that Parable was going to extend their territory on the map, so that they're properly bordering the NAH and the Euralian... o_O"

ALSO the First Order of Rhodes has a page now! Though large sections seem to just be copy and pasted from the NAH. :/

edited 30th Dec '11 4:32:01 AM by Eventua

The Second Order.

We recognize the sovereignty of Bishop of Rome who holds ties to the Nova Auralis Humanitas and thus share in many aspects of their culture and media. If you look closely however, you'll find that it's only the basis for the formatting and little or no text is actually copied.

Rhodes would welcome the Korpers, given sufficiently large immigration, they'd be granted a series of nations and a lingue on a moon in one of systems. Individuals might be settled in more metropolitan areas. Also assuming that knee jerk Xenophobia isn't their reflexive reaction would likely have established missions and charities on Korper worlds some time ago.

Also, The Order Hospitaller have officially in the Game.

edited 30th Dec '11 9:31:42 AM by Fauxlosophe

I'm wondering, how would any of the given factions respond to just having a shuttle full of korpers show up on one of their worlds and be all like, "Herp derp, we iz tourists! And immigrants! We'z those lot too! Can we live 'ere?"

Probably put back on their ship and sent back. Customs and Borders get tax dollars for a reason.

I'm wondering, how would any of the given factions respond to just having a shuttle full of korpers show up on one of their worlds and be all like, "Herp derp, we iz tourists! And immigrants! We'z those lot too! Can we live 'ere?"

The SAD has much stricter border policies than the other nations, to the point where there's about two dozen or so major trading outposts. Those trading planets are the only place outsiders are allowed regularly. If they showed up at a trading planet(which would be less populated then most, with shipping being the only industry) they'd be told that they could trade, but nothing else.

If they showed up anywhere else, they'd likely be shot on sight. Maybe a stern warning might be given once, but most likely they'd be destroyed. The draconian Doturi policy on borders and foreign relations is well-known enough that it should be common knowledge to anyone with a ship.

Euralian would probably start experimenting or studiously ignoring them until they touched something important, at which point the korpers probably wouldn't be leaving alive.

But if by some miracle of the universe they didn't wreck the ecosystem or chew on a brain tree, they'd be allowed to stay.

edited 31st Dec '11 6:14:06 AM by Hydrall

The Kin of the Ark Reach Overcolony would most likely turn them back politely yet insistently; they don't need a rabble of explosively-reproductive reptiles taking up space on one of their planets, if you know what I mean. Even so, that's better than you would get from the Kin of the Hrakk'gart Solar Dominion; those guys are not pleasant, to say the very least.

That reminds me, I should try to get an article up for them at some point so that you guys will have at least a passing knowledge of them should they ever factor into the plot.

Ah, so, for the most part it'd be a case of 'get loss', if perhaps in not quite the same words.

@Parable: I'm still wondering, assuming it had been arranged before hand and the individuals in question had the proper paper-work (without eating it, obviously), do you think there might be populations of korpers on (some) of the Verandi worlds? I'm thinking of particularly on Borcatta (border), Crystalia (entertainment) and the Ojeda Moons (mining)? I can only imagine just how much Bi'Iveguv Karnis would hate that, though, so the Verandi might want to update their security (or re-distribute it a bit more)... :/

@rabbit Rider: Ah, so the Doturi are communists in a 'North Korea' style? I'm just wondering, they wouldn't be interested in free labour? :/

@Hydrall: Yeah, I kind of figured that might happen...

@Sullen Frog: True, I suppose, though korpers live underground (maybe the Kin do as well? I aint sure). Too be honest, you wouldn't really see much of them aside from trading or if you asked them for favours. :/

Lastly, I'm curious as to when the Imago will show up, myes.