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Aircraft Design Company- Matsura's Planes Are Always Fastest!

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Character Sheet
  • Informational


    • ​
    Stress
    0​
    Office Stress
    0​
    XP
    5​

    Matsura Asuka
    Head Designer for Ohara Airworks
    Age 24 (Legally 25)
    Year 12 AF (After Flight)

    Design Stats
    Aerodynamics Engineering - +2
    Structural Engineering - +2
    Chemical Engineering - +1
    Mechanical Engineering - +1
    Ballistics Engineering - +1
    Electrical Engineering - 0

    Personal/Political Stats
    Social Skills - 0
    Politics Skills - 0
    Importance - 2
    Income - 1
    Investments - Ohara

    Resources
    Power - 0
    Wealth - 2

    Designs
    Type 1 Series - Military Variation (Designated T1M1)
    Type 2 Racer (World Speed Record October 1910-April 1911, 180kph)
    Model 2 Scout (Designated T1M2)
    Navy Scout Prototype (Drowned Rat)
    Dive Bomber B1M1 "Duck"
    Machine Gun Carrier R1A "Dragonfly" (World Speed Record May-July 1911, 200kph)
    Naval Rescue Water-Landing Supply Plane NR1M0 "Dolphin" (World speed record 240kph)
    Rhino Demon Train Hunter
    The world's first airliner
    The world's first pulsejet airplane

    Assets
    Slide Rule
    Computator (1 Reroll per Routine)

    Languages
    Albian
    Gallian

    Familiar Vices
    Drinking
    Prostitutes
    Dancing

    Family Life
    - Engaged to Arita Yachi, formerly the leading Ace in the Imperial Army. Designated #1 Cutest Army Boy, he's having some serious problems with PTSD right now.
    - Taking a second try at dating Mikami Kiho, ex-dockerwork from the south.

    Upgrades
    - 3 XP to upgrade a stat.

    Ohara Airworks
    Start Up, Imperial Capital, Akitsukuni

    Owner
    - Mr. Ohara, Rich. Aircraft Enthusiast. Business guy.

    Engineers

    Kibe Koume, 26, Office Manager
    Tiny & angry, Kibe went to school in Albia, picking up the language, the religion, and a fuckload of swear words. Speaks Albian.
    Mechanical +2, Ballistics +1
    Office Manager: If Kibe is not assigned to a team, the Office Stress is reduced by 1.

    Sakane Jun, 26, Second Team Leader
    A soured patriot, Sakane is married and has a young child being raised gender-neutrally. His two brothers who fought in the war.
    Structural +2, Aerodynamics +1
    Team Leader: If there are any additional projects, Sakane will lead them.
    Joinery: Sakane has training in the traditional Akitsukuni carpentry art of joinery, creating complex self-supporting joints with no fasteners or glue. When working with non-monocoque wooden spars or ribs, +1 Structural.

    Tezuka Kenji, ???
    A stoner with occasional flashes of insight. Nobody really knows what he does, but he's probably useful?
    Aerodynamics +2, Chemical +1
    Flashes of Brilliance: Each natural 10 rolled by any team Tezuka is assigned to gives +1 forward to the next research roll.

    Hasegawa Morio, 26
    A hopeless nerd with a photography habit, mostly on account of developing his own film, Hasegawa seems to do nothing but work and stack card houses, but somehow has an incredible attractive boyfriend. Speaks Gallian.
    Chemical +2, Ballistic +1
    Silent Workhorse: Hasegawa can work on two different projects at once for no cost to Office Stress, providing they use different stats.

    Kawamura Yosai, 25.
    Serially successful womanizer and incredibly attractive, Kawamura doesn't seem to have much of a personality outside of seducing women. Well, except for that time he seduced Asuka, which nobody talks about. Speaks Dyske.
    Structural +2, Electrical +1, Social +1
    Easily Distracted: If Kawamura is working on the same team as a female or non-binary employee, the team is at -1d10.

    Koide Hatsu, 24.
    One of the few female graduates of an Akitsukuni engineering school, Koide is brilliant and incredibly driven, but her first job at Akibara was both humiliating and exposed her to an abusive coworker. Her father is a rich businessman with factories in Joseon, and she's engaged to Ken from Castles of Steel. Speaks Joseon.
    Mechanical +2, Structural +1
    No Sleep: If you let her, Koide will work herself to death. She can work a second project for no Office Stress, but all her stats will be reduced to 1 for the routine.

    Kobayashi Ayao, ???
    Disowned heiress of the Kobayashi family, all Kobayashi wanted was a career and to be a modern woman. For her trouble, a cousin threw acid on her, scarring her face, neck, much of her torso, and her left arm. Despite appearing serene and above it all, she's actually an avowed communist activist and baseball player.
    Aerodynamics +2, Social +2

    Adachi Ren, 24
    Adachi learned chemistry from her father, one of the most famous chemical engineers in the country, rather than through formal schooling. She's married, has a kid, and takes spirituality very seriously. Yes, you did the math right, she had Yuki when she was 17. It's 1912, folks.
    Chemical +2, Electrical +1
    Young Mother: Adachi will cause double Office Stress if she has to work multiple tasks.

    Uyeno Sei, Ballistics Engineer, 31.
    The oldest member of the crew, this is Uyeno's second career. Her first was as an officer in the Imperial Navy with specialized technical training: her very promising career was cut short by her transition. Her work in a naval arsenal on machine-guns landed her the job here. Briefly dated Satomi (the age range is a bit creepy but again, 1912), she's missing a piece of her ear and is deaf on that side, from an exploding cannon. Recently returned from Varnmark from experimental surgery, she's known for her skill navigating gendered bureaucracy.
    Ballistic +3

    Mi Kyung-Jae, 23
    A recent graduate of the Imperial College of Heijo, Mi is from the recently annexed territory of Joseon. For those keeping track at home, that means he's a Korean national living in Imperial Japan in 1912. We haven't seen much of his personality because he's rightfully terrified of everything around him. He has a specialty in endurance engine design and modification. Speaks Joseon.
    Mechanical +1, Chemical +1
    Endurance Engines: Mi has an excellent understanding of metallurgy and tolerances. Any engine he works on gains +1 Reliability if a 16+ is rolled.
    Pulsejet Wizard: Mi is now one of the world's leading experts on the pulsejet engine. He can be given his own project to custom-craft pulsejet engines, and he gives +1 to any pulsejet-related project.
    Joseon National: Mi does not have security clearance to work on any top-secret projects.

    Miyoshi Shigeri, 23.
    A non-binary person and admirer of Asuka's work, they were in an support role in the Army before joining the company.
    Structural +1, Mechanical +1, Aerodynamic +1
    Mechanic: Miyoshi has some experience repairing and refurbishing aircraft. They get +1 if assigned on the clean-up phase.


    Other Employees
    - Ohara Satomi, 22, Mr. Ohara's niece and the company test pilot, Ohara is a general lesbian disaster. She's good at flying planes, driving cars, and kissing girls. She's bad at being patient, being respectable, and sticking to literally anyones conceptions of gender roles. Deeply in lesbians with Coralie D'Amboise.
    - Fujkikawa Sotatsu, old, modelmaker. He's an old man and toymaker and we don't see much of him because he locks himself in his workshop a lot. He's friends with Kawamura?

    Assets
    - Engine Test Rig (Allows engine tweaking and optimization.
    - Wind Tunnel (+1 Aerodynamics)
    - Rapid Prototype Lab (+1 Clean Up)
    Expanded Cast

    Akitsukuni Industry
    - Homura Mohoko: Head Engine Designer for Kobayashi. First female engineer in the country. A lot of sex appeal.
    - Okumura: Head of Akibara aircraft design.
    - Yamanaka Hajime: Kobayashi engineer. Young and eager.
    - Igarashi Masazumi: Kobayashi engineer. Reserved and experienced.
    - Admiral Akibara Toru: Imperial Navy Admiral. Maximum nepotism. Maximum douchebag.
    - Lt.Cmnd Akibara Shinzo: The above's son. A hottie but very forward.



    Character Families
    - Matsura(?) Mizuko: Asuka's sister. Was paralyzed in an accident in Asuka's first flight. Lives Elsewhere and is married now. Can't forgive Asuka, even though she's tried.
    - Adachi Motoki: Adachi's husband, an accountant. Legally blind.
    - Adachi Yuki: Adachi's 7 year old daughter and wannabe pilot. Very adorable.
    - Yachi's Brother: Exists.
    - Sakane's Wife: Exists. Drives him a bit crazy, but he loves her.
    - Yachi's Brother's Wife: Exists. Is statistically likely to be pregnant.
    - Lt. Coralie D'Amboise: Gallian pilot in exile. Satomi's girlfriend. 25. Accomplished bisexual duelist. She flew in the war for a single day, and for her troubles got a hole blown in her cheek and had her left arm paralyzed.

    Akisukuni Army & Ex-Army
    - Lt. Torio Tanaka: Yachi's former observer as an enlisted man. Was jumped up to fly Ducks and lost a leg on his first mission. A trained painter, married to Torio Saya.
    - Captain Amari Shiro: A Dragonfly pilot who ended up flying as Yachi's partner. Kind of delightfully twinky. They sorta slept together at one point, which wasn't great. He lost his previous boyfriend in the April Offensive and turned his plane into a shrine. He was shot in the gut and is still recovering.
    - Major Izuhara: Logistics officer, Imperial Army, this bespectled officer stood up to the Caspian Crown Prince and accidentally kicked off the Akitsikuni-Caspian War. The guilt was so much that, after almost a year of running Army procurement, he shot himself in a phone both.
    - Captain Nakai Sekien: Army scout pilot. First person to drop a bomb from an airplane, later head of the Duck Squadrons.
    - Captain Teshima: A Desk pilot that fought with Yachi. Lost an arm in the process, took over for Major Izuhara after his death. Seems cheery despite it all.
    - Captain Nashio: A real piece of shit dude and probably a rapist, he's also a war hero as the second-highest scoring ace on the Akitsukuni side. He was a young shitty kid in way over his head but it's no excuse.
    - Lt. Kinjo: Kind of a dumb lump and Nashio's friend, one of the desk pilots. Dead at 19.
    - Lt. Okazaki: Yachi's friend from before the war and pilot, he died in a spin in his dragonfly. His death probably hit Yachi the hardest.

    Westerners
    - Rose & Antoinette Sears: Pioneers of flight. Sisters. Black in 1910s not!America. Yikes.
    - Timina Guasti: Famous aircraft designer from Otrusia. Likes big planes and green.
    - Prince Protasov Vasilyevich: Crown Prince of Great Caspia. Real dick. You gotta hand it to him though, a decent flier.
    - Count von Zeppelin: Invented rigid airships. Runs a successful airline business. Damned impressive.
    - Bennhold: Aircraft Engineer. Experimenting with metal aircraft.
    - Aileen Middlemiss: Albian reporter for the Artimis Times. Well meaning and oblivious.
    Available Tech
    • Materials: Wood, Duralumin, Molded Wood, Wood & Silk Composite, etc
    • All engine mounts
    • All wing types
    • Basic reinforcement
    • Wing warping and ailerons
    • Basic water radiators
    • Flying Wings
    • Semi-Monocoque design (requires at least half the slots have frame pieces)
    • Valved pulsejets
    • Basic weapon mounts and turrets
    Tech not Yet Developed
    • Custom engines
    • Monocoque construction
    • Cantilever Wings and associated tech
    • V and T tails
    • Tailless designs
    • Aluminum and titanium
    • Cellulose surfacing
    • Any kind of radar
    • Weapon accessability mods
    • Interruptor gear
    • Geared propellers
    • And Maybe Other Stuff
    Akitsukuni
    Island Nation

    Government
    Constitutional Monarchy
    - The democratic portions of the government are dubiously legitimate.
    - The head of state is the Empress of Akitsukuni. She gives her blessing to newly formed governments.
    - The Navy and a small number of families have undue influence on politics.

    Economy
    Developing Mixed Market
    - Most industry is controlled by a small number of wealthy, family-owned companies.
    - The state provides most contracts to industry. Consumer good market is anemic.
    - Exports are few, mostly cultural.
    - Imports are raw minerals, food, oil, and expertise.
    - Currently suffering an economic crash after the last war.

    Politics
    The Diet is currently ruled by a Constitutional Nationalist government. It has a system of nonlocal proportional representation, with representatives appointed by the party in accordance to their share of the vote.
    - Constitutional Nationalists: 50%
    - Purity Club: 9%
    - New Independents: 26%
    - Fairness Association: 11%
    - United Communist League: 2%
    - Monarchists: 1%
    - Assorted Fringe Parties: 5%

    Demographics
    Akitsukuni is mostly very ethnically homogeneous. Around 5% of the population are various minorities, most from nearby countries. Roughly .1% are westerners here for business or in advisory positions.
    - Population: 55 Million
    - Religion: Mostly Kodo. Roughly 2% of the population follows western religions.
    - Wealth: Most wealth is concentrated in the top 5% of the country. Nearly 20% of the population lives in conditions indistinguishable from peasantry.
    - Urbanization: Heavily urbanized for a small economy: 35% and rapidly growing.

    Military
    At Peace
    - Imperial Akitsukuni Navy (IAN): The 6th largest in the world, and the most experienced.
    - Imperial Akitsukuni Army (IAA): 150,000 highly experienced soldiers, and a considerable reserve.

    Aspects
    - Poor Resources: Aluminum costs +1.
    - Damn Akitsukuni Engines!: Engines have -1 Reliability.



    The Main Character Of This Quest Is Nonbinary And Uses They/Them Pronouns.

    I Am Putting This Here Because The Next Person To Misgender Them Is Getting Yeeted Into The Trash

    Also here's the Gayaverse TV Tropes page, because why not.​
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • Okay, here's what I get when I plug numbers into my spreadsheet:
    Part Cost Mass Structure Drag Stability Control Notes
    Base   3 16   -5 +5  
    Pilot 1 1         Windscreen
    Co-pilot 2 1         Windscreen+controls
    Inverted Ogre 6 6   2   -1  
    Radiator   3   9     6V radiator
    Fuel Tank   2+(10)          
    Skin (Canvas)   3 3 3     (Can add one more skin if we need to to accommodate the radiator, has the effect of boosting DNE to 500)
    Frame (wood) 7 7 28        
    Bomb Sight 1 1          
    External bomb rack   1          
    Bomb load   (5)   (5)      
    Wing, 7A, Canvas/birch       28 8 8 High Wing
    Flaps, 5A 1   15        
    1A Canard       1 -1 2  
    2x 1A Outboard Fin       2 2    
    Landing Gear       7      
    Optimization   -4 31 -4 +3   Includes effects of Wing Strut
    Total, loaded 18 36 (7) 63 53(10) +7 -9  
    Pitch -2, Thrust 10
    V Max: 150kph (loaded), 100kph (loaded, flaps out) 160 (Half fuel, or full fuel, bombs out), 170 at half fuel, bombs out, 180 at empty
    V Min: 100kph (loaded), 30kph (flaps out), 10kph (flaps out, half fuel, or full fuel+bombs out)
    Take off: 110kph (flaps up), 40kph (flaps down)
    Cruising speed: ~105kph-120kph, loaded.
    Minimum combat radius: 420km
    DNE: 490kph
     
    Last edited:
    Yeah this plane kinda suffers a bit from having been paper-designed and then I didn't necessarily give all those options in the vote.

    I mean partially because I wasn't originally going to be offering flaps? They're a little ahead of time. I got a little blindsided by the speed at which you all settled on one design and that messed me up.

    Also the bomb load thing was something I thought I had already changed but didn't; an extenal bomb load adding real drag was kinda a drag to bookkeep. Sorry!

    We can switch to Sam's take on the design.

    Things should be better in the next routine of design. I won't be dying and the system will be patched up a bit.
     
    [X] Accept and find some nice clothes.

    I think we deserve to de-stress a bit on our own terms? Plus, it'll let our team blow off steam a bit without the boss being there. I know it's not exactly Akitsukuni workplace culture, but screw it. Also, this potentially gets us an in with the Navy, so we're kind of taking one for the team. Even if we have to do it by, uhm, taking one for the team.

    Also honestly I'm really interested to see where navy boy takes us, and to hear him talking about the naval war.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    Yeah this plane kinda suffers a bit from having been paper-designed and then I didn't necessarily give all those options in the vote.

    I mean partially because I wasn't originally going to be offering flaps? They're a little ahead of time. I got a little blindsided by the speed at which you all settled on one design and that messed me up.

    Also the bomb load thing was something I thought I had already changed but didn't; an extenal bomb load adding real drag was kinda a drag to bookkeep. Sorry!

    We can switch to Sam's take on the design.

    Things should be better in the next routine of design. I won't be dying and the system will be patched up a bit.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Waaaait.

    Is @samdamandias spreadsheeting out a different design, or is he taking all the same elements of the design that you did and just mathing differently? I'm confused.
     
    It looks like Sam's design is everything in the one I got, just... math different.

    I've not been in the greatest place to get this stuff right.
     
    Let's not blow off our team after we worked them really hard under demanding conditions? Especially for a date we don't even really want with someone who is well positioned to really fuck us over when the inevitable drama blows things up at the end. Leaving aside the bit about how we're already seeing someone we really like in a culture where monogamy is the default assumption. Every way I look it it, this looks like it would be a mistake. Any bad thing Navy boy can do to us if he's annoyed about it, he would probably also do and more when it all comes crashing down at the end. On the other hand, any favoritism we get out of it still won't be enough to counter the favoritism his family's company and the navy arsenal will already be getting, just perhaps enough to make us not receive any penalty in particular for being us. Meanwhile, we have an in with the army in the form of a cute army pilot boyfriend who might have some strong feelings about whether or not we go on this date if he were aware of it.

    This looks like the makings of the kind of pointless drama and bullshit that makes me hate romance subplots in most other quests.
     
    This above me.
    Lets not introduce an unnecessary love triangle.
     
    Honestly, I wasn't even considering it that way before, but the avatar of the air force finding themselves dating both the army and navy at the same time is so perfect for Japan and so hilarious that I can't resist!

    open_sketchbook said:
    It looks like Sam's design is everything in the one I got, just... math different.

    I've not been in the greatest place to get this stuff right.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    It's really not the biggest deal. Doing the pedantic numbers checking is kind of why this quest exists after all, and it's been a really fun ride so far. :lol

    It's not even like it's a huge difference.

    I also do think there's maybe a broader phenomena with system-knowledgeable peeps more or less settling on a design from the outset, and then moving towards that, even when it's sometimes partly anachronistic or using meta-knowledge outside of what one might expect. But on the other hand, we're meant to be an inspired designer, and the point of this is to really stress-test the system, so I'm not sure in all honest that one can say it's a bad thing?
     
    [X] Blow it off and party with your team.

    Still holding out for the return of K O B A Y A S H I G I R L!
     
    Admiral Skippy said:
    I also do think there's maybe a broader phenomena with system-knowledgeable peeps more or less settling on a design from the outset, and then moving towards that, even when it's sometimes partly anachronistic or using meta-knowledge outside of what one might expect. But on the other hand, we're meant to be an inspired designer, and the point of this is to really stress-test the system, so I'm not sure in all honest that one can say it's a bad thing?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I'd be more of a fan if we weren't using future knowledge, but it's sort of an inevitability in design quests, I feel like.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    Also the bomb load thing was something I thought I had already changed but didn't; an extenal bomb load adding real drag was kinda a drag to bookkeep. Sorry!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oh, no, this is on me, because if you changed it in the rules in the last day or so, I didn't see it, and assumed we were still operating with previous rules.

    Lemme just make a note to go for internal bays next time.
    Simon_Jester said:
    Is @samdamandias spreadsheeting out a different design, or is he taking all the same elements of the design that you did and just mathing differently? I'm confused.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Mathing differently. Well, okay, I assumed a prop geometry optimized for speed over jerk*, which pushed up our top speed at the cost of dropping Thrust down to +10kph instead of +30kph. And we'd need to swap to 4A flaps instead of 5A flaps if we want to be able to retract them in level flight after take-off with the new way bombs work, but we'd still be able to dive 800m and eat a 2G pullout by entering the dive at between 40-50kph with flaps out at 900m, and retracting the flaps when we get going fast enough. Which if we're absolute maniacs and pull out at altitude 1, we'd be tossing a net +8 to hit, which means a bullseye 79% and missing only 1% of the time.**

    *Yes Sketch, I am going to keep calling it that :V
    **Okay, in this context hit means "got the bomb close enough that it could do damage". Missing by say, five meters will still smash an average switching yard, but it'll probably do nothing to a hardened command bunker.
     
    [X] Blow it off and party with your team.
     
    [x] Accept and find some nice clothes.

    I'd like to avoid cheesing off the one guy who might be able to convince the Navy to not hate our guts, thanks.

    I'd go for the polite refusal, ie. sending a message saying "Company event popped up unexpectedly, unable to make it" or something to that effect, making it seem like our refusal is more "I don't want to break ranks with the company" than "I don't want to hang out with you", but that's way behind even this.
     
    Last edited:
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    • [X] Blow it off and party with your team.

    i regret that i must decline. must attend company function. best regards.​

    After writing out your reply on the return side of the card (Koide helpfully had a pencil) and handing it back to the courier, you headed out. You were done with politics and planes for a little bit. Time to loosen up.

    Miss Yukaku's was looking a little rough under wartime conditions. It had adapted to the cold well enough with some dividers to keep out the chills, but the staff was looking a little lopsided; you guessed a lot of the guys had ended up in uniform, and even those who were still home in reserve were probably told their day job wasn't really fitting with military readiness. There were still some handsome specimens about taking orders, but they were definitely outnumbered and looking a little overworked, especially given the number of female customers. Probably lonely war wives.

    There were also a number of blue and white uniforms, lower military officers here to spend their pay, and you briefly caught sight of the Akibara team through an open door before it was slid closed. Looks like they beat you here.

    Soon enough, the crew piled into one of the dining rooms and began availing themselves of the cheap food and strong booze, while talking about their lives, the project, the war, and everything in between.

    "Hey Matsura, what was that telegram you got earlier?" Kibe asked, and you shrugged.

    "A Navy officer, asking me out." You replied diplomatically. "Wasn't interested."

    "Damn, you're popular with guys in uniform. What's you're secret?"

    "I dunno. They keep throwing themselves at me." You said. You were never getting this kind of attention before, though then again before this job you spent almost every day locked in your room solving equations and doing homework.

    "It's because you look so fragile." Uyeno butted in, shifting closer to Kibe. "Guys like that. Makes them feel protective. I mean, look at you, a stiff breeze would knock you over. Kibe, on the other hand, is more like... a small angry dog that bites."

    "Hey!" Kibe protested. "I am not! How dare you!"

    "See?"

    On the other side of the table, Sakane was busily explaining to everyone why he had decided to come along for once. He was more animated and cheerful than you'd seen him in a while.

    "Well, look, my wife reads these awful magazines, and since the pregnancy it's even worse. Modern Women's Gazette and fashion rags and stuff, right? And she takes it all super seriously even though it's nonsense, basically just old wives tales repacked. The house is cluttered with the damn things. Which, fine, she can read whatever. But now she's got me roped into it because 'the baby' so we're eating bizarre stuff and doing these awful exercises and every week it's different. One week, salt is great! Next week, no salt, only soy. And one story got her convinced that spending any time with me will cause the baby to be a weakling so now I'm sleeping in a different room. Like, look, at a certain point..."

    The men all nodded along to the sage wisdom of a married man, offering condolences and additional drinks.

    Speaking of, another round arrived. Everyone grabbed their glasses, and out of nowhere Koide screamed "BOTTOMS UP!" at the top of her lungs before downing the entire glass in a single swift motion.

    Well, that was impressive. Nothing for it!

    Roll 1d20 to get fucked up and get this adventure on the road!

    Also I'm changing the way the Vice rules work. You'll be glad to know there's no more blacking out as it was under the last set of mechanics. Instead, things will just spiral into more and more nonsense.    ​
     
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