Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Speculatively, it might make it harder for friendly psykers to get in touch with one another. Information gathering may also be adversely affected.
Vox Vitae: Warhammer AI quest
- Thread starter Neablis
- Start date
- Mature Sci-Fi
Angle
Release Candidate Enby
- Location
- Colorado, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Theirs/Comrade
Half a dozen turns is nearly a century of dedicated plant-wide effort. That is a mega-project for a single world
Nuh uh! Only 30 years. I mean still kind've a megaproject, but Even so.
Last edited:
Turn 17
Vox Vitae is up for best new work! Please consider voting!
You don't sleep, or dream. Not really. But you do find your imagination running off on its own now and then, and what you're imagining now is a ship. A new ship. Your new ship. It's going to be big, of that you're certain. And armed to the gills. If your interaction with the mechanicus has taught you anything, it's that this new galaxy respects nothing so much as naked firepower. So you've made a note to prioritze that pretty highly. Your new ship is going to be far better armed than the last one.
Though with the size I'm thinking there's definitely going to be space for some more exploration-focused gear as well!
Still, there are the things you want to finish before you actually pack up and leave, and you want to give Anexa and Victan the chance to give input on your plans. One evening you declare a "Mandatory Fun Night," where the three of you gather around some fun games and a nice meal and before you get to serious conversation. Victan prefers the social deception games, while Anexa likes the optimization and planning ones. You have to dial yourself down to even the playing field, though Victan surprises you a few times.
You don't eat of course, but you do enjoy synthesizing up the best approximatinos you can of some ancient delicacies and inflicting them upon your crew. Though you're not quite sure that's the correct description, with the way that they appreciate the food. Victan's more of a fan of the truffaloid cheese mimic while Anexa enjoys the simulated mantis-prawn analgoues. You know that your versions of these foods are but pale mimics of the original, but you posess neither the cloning capabilities or the genetic information necessary to make the real thing.
But with better medical technology I'll get closer to the real thing. I remember Lena used to love cloned steak as bloody as I could make it. She'd tell me to cook it by telling a dirty joke and then slicing off a chunk when the cow blushed. It was even funnier because there were zero cows involved in the process. But I salvaged the meat-cloner nine thousand years ago and need to figure out how to build my own.
You bring yourself back to the present to see your crew both leaning back, looking sated, and decide to open the serious conversation. "So. I'm going to start designing the new ship soon. The one that will take me - us - away from Denva." Your tone is gently questioning and you look around at Anexa and Victan pointedly, making sure they hear the unasked question.
Are you coming with me?
They both sit up and refocus now that the discussion has turned serious. Neither speaks immediately, but they share a glance where Victan raises his eyebrows and Anexa smiles slightly in return. They could communicate via their mental implants, but you don't think they are. This is all human body language, of the kind used since the first humans squatted around fires on ancient terra. Then they turn back to you and Victan answers for both of them. "How big will our new ship be?"
I suppose that answers that.
"I'm thinking a grand cruiser, nine kilometers by two." You gesture towards the holoprojector that had recently projected gameboards. "A design something like this."
They study it for a moment, then Anexa starts. "Wait, did I hear that right. Nine kilometers? That's..." She trailes off, then blinks and accesses her older files. "The size of a grand cruiser. Which - you already said that. Can you even build that? I know you've been building up your void infastrcuture, but by that much? How long will it take?"
You give her a wide grin. "I'm expecting about fifteen years, though that's dedicating most of my effort to it. But yeah. We'll be able fo fight off anything smaller than us, and run from anything bigger."
Anexa snorts and rolls her eyes. "What could be bigger?"
Victan has been studying the ship with a frown, using the controls to rotate the image and examine it from multiple angles. "It looks intimidating," he says at last, and his tone makes it clear that he doesn't think that's a compliment. "It may be hard to conduct diplomacy from such a vessel."
You shrug. "From everything I can see about this new galaxy just getting anybody to talk to us will be a challenge. Maybe if the ship makes them hesistate it leaves an opeining for dialogue."
He tilts his head from side to side uncertainly, then nods slightly. "Acceptable."
You hold a finger up dramatically. "But first! We have some things to get done before we leave." Both Anexa and Victan look at you curiously, though Victan's got a wry eyebrow raised. "There's two things I definitely want to deal with before we leave. First is the psyker monastaries. They seem to have some kind of shielding that I'd love to examine, and it would also be nice to recruit a psyker or ten to join us when we go. Humans were only starting to develop psychic powers when I was last roaming around, and I want to be able to examine one. Is that ok with you both?"
Victan raises both hands in a shrug to indicate he doesn't have a strong opinion, but Anexa's eyes gleam with a familiar excitement.
It doesn't seem like you're going to find any argument here, and you nod decisivly. "Great, that's agreed on. Victan, I want you to reach out to the monastaries. Hopefully that offer from Aevon to make the introduction is still good?"
He chuckles. "They'll do far more than that if you ask. They wish to ride your rising tide as far as it takes them." Then his expression sobers. "But what do we have to offer the monastaries? From what I recall of the briefings they live fairly asetic lives, and may not wish futuristic bribes."
Your gaze pans over to Anexa. "We'll be working on making the psychic shielding smaller and using that as a carrot. It seems like they want to be protected from their powers, and I think that what I have might be useful for them."
Both of them nod appreciatively, then Anexa speaks up. "What are the other priorties?"
You wave your hand absently. "I kind of want to figure out how to leave my manufacturing capacity to the people of Denva after I leave. Right now it's not in a state they can use, but I'm not sure the best way to make it usable for them. But that's not really the important one. You both know I pulled something dangerous out of Klyssar's Nest?" You'd discussed this with Anexa before, but not with Victan. Still, you aren't suprrised when he nods. He's curious, and it's not like you went out of your way to hide the precautions you'd taken.
"I want to investigate it, but it's scary. I want more tricks up my sleeve so that when I poke it and it tries to attack me I'm better protected than it thinks I am." They've both got the general "chaos is a memetic danger" speech and accept that explanation with knowing looks and without pushing for more information.
"Then I hope we enjoy fifteen more years in Denva!" Victan says, raising his glass of tea in a toast. The conversation drifts away from serious topics and they both spend some time asking for more potential games to play, more recipies to try.
Eventually the party of three breaks up, and you watch them leave fondly. It's starting to feel homey, and you look forward to adding more people to your little gatherings. This was fun, but three isn't enough for the really fun shenanigans. Your thoughts drift back to your old crew, and you're pleased to find that the good memories are more prominant and less overwhelmed by the bad. They still cause you to flinch internally and recoil, but now you're able to recall all of the joy as well as the sorrow.
All of that said, you're still happy to abandon the mandatory fun and get to your next task. After all, it's time to design the ship!
Rolling for Can I have a new Ship Please? - rolled 26+20=46. Success.
Link to flagship design
At the end of the day you're pleased with your new flagship. It definitely packs one hell of a punch that should serve you well against anything you run into. You're determined not to be caught unaware in this new galaxy. It might be a little light on manufacturing capability, but it's still five times your old ship, and easy to increase to boost. Besides - you have some ideas to improve manufacturing capacity...
Still, it's done, and now you can turn your attention to the other half of the puzzle - building stuff so you can actually build the ship - though ensuring your security is actually the bigger priority right now. You spend the majority of your construction capacity on a pair of small destroyer monitors. They're nothing incredible, but just the presence of mobile voidcraft will make the Denva system infinitely more secure and ensure that you'll have options other than "hide" should anybody unfriendly warp into the system.
2x Tiny system monitors completed!
Then you actually go ahead and update all of your combat bots with the machine spirit upgrades that Anexa designed, and you ping her to let her know. She responds with a series of smilies and hearts that make you chuckle, since you figure it means she's excited but has gotten too deeply engrossed in her next project for a more substantive response.
1000 Light infantry bots upgraded with machine spirits!
2000 Light humanized infantry bots upgraded with machine spirits!
1000 Medium humanized Infantry upgraded with machine spirits!
3000 Heavy humanized Infantry Bots with Machine Spirit Jammers upgraded with machine spirits!
Then of course, you are building more manufacturing capacity. It's what you do.
5x Orbital Manufactories completed!
Then you turn your attention to following up with Anexa. She's been catching up on your research into your psychic shields, and now it's time to push that further. Your real priority is making them smaller, since half of your goal with these things is to be able to give them to the monastaries, and you think they'll want something a little bit smaller for their use - especially since you can't replicate the box where you've got the scrapcode generator quarantined inside of atmosphere.
You so start with the design of the scrapcode vault, since it's the smallest you thought you could scale your current design. It works, but you'd like to learn how to make it both smaller and more effective.
The answer is not simply to make all of the components smaller. Instead you have to break down the components that generate the "no" meaning, then reassemble them ways that still interlock on the smaller scale. It's a bit tedious to figure out multiple different versions that will work at different scales, but the final product seems to work fairly nicely and definitely enhance your understanding of the shields in general. There's even more room to scale it down, of course, and the current version can't be layered effectively - there'll be interference between the different layers that'll nullify the whole effect. But still, it works.
Researched miniaturized psychic shields - 39+20=59! Success!
You can now upgrade any building/installation with psychic shields by adding +100-500 bp to its cost and getting a 10-50 hp shield out of it. Not compatible with larger shields.
No Anexa level. Level 8+ requires good success on most research rolls.
Unlocked new technology - Personal-sized Psychic shielding (150 RP)
Unlocked new technology - Nested Psychic shielding (200 RP)
Discounted technology - Improved Psychic shielding cost reduced by 50 RP
You're about to go chat with Victan about your success, but instead decide to let Anexa bathe in the quesiontable glory of the success you've both achieved. You've got more important things to do - notably using what you've learned to upgrade the scrapcode generator vault. The generator's been remarkably quiet ever since you imprisoned it but you're becoming increasingly sure that it's building up to something, and you want to get ahead of it.
Scrapcode Vault upgraded - 50/50 HP!
Almost as if it was triggered by your activity, the dormancy of the scrapcode generator ends barely a day after you put the finishing touches on your upgrades. It unleashes a multi-pronged attack on its own imprisonment, follwoed by a chaotic mess of code that's clearly designed to sow disarray throughout your network, and then follows it up with a targeted spike addressed directly to you. All in all it's a fairly significant amount of code, backeded up by more psychic power than you've seen in one place.
Unfortunately for your chaotic assailant it's misjudged three things. First, it mistuned the attack. Instead of brute power it tried a subtler approach, whispers of maybe and what if that was designed to corrupt your machinery. But that's very much the wrong approach to use against your shielding, which just answered no. Second, it waited until after you'd upgraded its shielding to launch the attack. And third, even if it had succeeded its attack wasn't strong enough to get through the psychic shielding around your base. Even if it had gotten the first two right it would have probably managed to corrupt portions of your network, but it would have been an annoyance rather an an existential threat.
Scrapcode Generator rolls revealed:
Last turn - rolled a 21. Poor success.
This turn - rolled a 5. Failure.
-10 HP to the Scrapcode Vault.
In fact, all it's succeeded in doing is providing you more valuable data on psychic attacks and defense, as well as more data on what psychic technology looks like. These are firsthand measurements of challenging phenomena, and you almost want to thank the scrapcode generator for giving you such valuable data.
Discounted technology - Improved Psychic shielding cost reduced by 50 RP
Discounted technology -The Basics of Psytech cost reduced by 50 RP
Additionally, you can still detect the amount of leftover power inside the scrapcode generator, and it's low. Even lower than when you first stuck it in here, and if you didn't know better you'd say it were almost totally inactive. But you know better than that, and based on the rate it built up power before you estimate it'll take at least twenty years to regain all of the power it just spent - and you'll be able to estimate how much energy it's got "in the tank" as it were.
Though where it's getting that power from, I have no idea. Psychic bullshit breaking physics - exciting!
And maybe - just maybe - this means that you'll be able to take it with you. You might not need to get all of the research you want to do with it done before you leave. Stick it into a shielded vault aboard your ship, where you can track its level of resources and prepare for any nonsense it tries, gaining valuable data all the while.
Finally, you check in with Victan, only to find him in surgery?
Your avatar makes it there quickly, watching as Anexa finishes the procedure and closes up the area around his eye. He sits up not too long later to check out the results, and you let yourself into the room. It loks like Victan's replaced one of his eyes with a cybernetic version. It looks much the same except that the iris has been replaced with a spiral arrangement of bronze petals arranged like an irising camera lens.
He looks at you and grins as the bronze iris contracts and expands in response to his commands. He answers your unspoken question. "So you can easily see what I'm seeing when I go to talk to the psykers."
"That makes sense. It looks good on you."
He examines himself in a mirror Anexa holds up for him. "I agree. Thanks Anexa, exellent work as always."
She preens slightly under the attention, then turns to clean up the surgical station.
Victan gestures out of the room. "Let's prep for the meeting." You follow him out of the room and start going over plans for the negotiation - becuase that's what you'regoing to do. You have new protections against chaos and the means to build them, they have new kinds of psytech and also psykers themselves. An equitible exchange should be possible, but it seems very easy to accidentlly insult them or imply the wrong thing, and thus the prepwork.
Once you feel like you're ready, and you both have planned for every angle you reach out to Aevon to ask them for an introduction to the Aevon Monastary, one of the three that exist across Denva. Each occupies one of the mountainous regions of Denva, though the prefer the mountains in more temperate climes.
You're both expecting it to take some back-and-forth before the meeting gets set up, and are surprised when your contact in the Aevon diplomatic corps replies that you're expected at the Aevon monastary in only a few days, with escorts allowed in the compound but not in the meeting. Still, it's within parameters and Victan makes his final preparations for the trip. He's got his augments, a backup communicator, a concealed plasma pistol and light armor that should serve to deflect a glancing blow from a lasgun. You're also flying him in with an assault shuttle that'll be carrying some of your bots, though not too many.
You've scrutinized orbital imagry of the monastaries many times, and there's a well-prepared landing pad directly adjacent to the central dome of each monastary, and that's where you make your descent. Well-armored nulifiers in face-covering armor greet Victan as he descends from the ship, and they escort him inside the dome. You're half-expecting it to cut off communications but nothing of the sort happens, and you're able to watch out of his eye and listen through his implants as he is led to a sumptuously decorated meeting room adorned with many images of the Imperial Faith, all polished to a shining golden gleam.
Inside the room are three old men and woman sitting on one side of a polished conference table. The nullifiers take their places just inside the room, and the old man in the center gestures to the single seat across from him. "Please. Sit. Will you take recaf?"
Victan inclines his head briefly. "Gladly."
A hidden door on the side of the room opens, and an ancient and highly decorated servitor emerges to prepare the recaf in fragile little cups barely large enough for a single swallow, which all three of the people sitting take as one. Victan follows suit, and they smack their lips appreiciateivly.
The old man in the center speaks again. "I am Abbot Declan of the Aevon enclave. To my right is Abess Meeni of the Denva enclave, and to my left is Abbot Uland of the Estrana enclave. We have been wondering when this ancient would contact us. What she would offer." His piercing eyes bore into Victan's, one cybernetic and one natural. "And what she would demand in return, under the emporer's blessing."
Abbess Meeni sniffed loudly. "She didn't even come herself."
Abbot Declan waved his hand. "She sent her emissary to the locals. For that is your role, Victan Thallos?"
Victan inlined his head slightly. "It is. I represent Vita here, and we wish for a mutualy benefical arrangement." He pauses slightly, as if to give them a chance to talk, but continues before they can actually do so. "It is widely known that we have technology of the ancients lost to the Imperium. We offer much of it freely to the people of Denva Secundus. But not all of that technology is known, and some of it is uniquely useful to you. Specfiically, we can manufacture a kind of technological psychic shield that protects against warp influence, especially hostile influence. And we are willing to share it with you."
The abbess's glare was even fiercer than either of the Abbots. "Why? What do you have to gain with such a generous offer?"
Victan spread his hands wide, as if laying out the truth. "The shielding was designed aeons ago. It is powerful, but possess a limited defensive capacity. This was demonstrated onboard Klyssar's nest, when a foul artifact seeded as part of the defenses launched a corruptive psychic attack. Our psychic defenses held, but we were reminded of its limitations. With one hand we offer a gift, and with the other we ask to learn. How can we best defend against such influences, and best destroy them."
Abbot Uland's eyes flicked back and forth between Victan and his peers. "There is no lie, or corruption I can sense. His mind is his own, though meshed with metal."
Abbot Declan nodded slowly. "My conclusion is the same. Very well. May we see a demonstration of this 'psychic shielding?'"
"It is large. The smallest it can be made is the size of one of your outbuildings, though we are able to install it into your central domes if you request."
Uland's eyes flicked around, and after a moment Declan nodded. "Agreed. You will install this shielding on one of our outbuildings. After we have seen it we will investigate it. May the Emporer bless you, wayward son of the Imperium."
It doesn't take long to coordinate slapping together a psychic shield around the provided building - which appears to be some sort of place to smoke and dry a root crop so it doesn't spoil. You suppose they picked a building they weren't afraid of losing. The construction bots trundling off the shuttles take a bit of explanation, but then you're assembling the psychic shielding around the building. Then under the watchful gaze of the three leaders of the monastaries Victan ceremouniously switches it on. They all wince as one, then squint at the building as if into a bright light.
"Well, let us enter." Declan says after a moment. He gestures to Victan. "Lead the way."
They walk inside the shielding, and all visibly relax. Uland wipes a sweaty brow. "It is similar in some ways to the meditation of denial, but now it is as if we are within a mind that has successfully mastered that technique." He looks curiously at Victan. "Can it maintain this for long?"
Victan shrugs. "As long as power is supplied. The network may need to be repaired if it sustains active psychic assault, but it can survive and protect against a heavy attack."
All three of the elderly people seemed to react strongly to that, though they controlled it well. Meeni was the first to speak, biting her lip. "If we can control this, I would like two. One on an outbulding like this, and one covering the central monastary. As well as full technical details such that the nations of Denva can repair it. You are giving them the technology for such a thing, yes?" She tried to frame it agressivly, but the words came out with an edge of pleading.
Victan nodded. "Yes, we can do that, though for such a price I would ask for more than simple scans of your protections. We seek to journey across the stars, and know not what we may find. We ask for a representative of the Monastaries of Denva, that would aid us on our journeys."
All three of the faces turned a bit sour, and Declan replied. "You would ask us to send one of our charges into harm's way, to follow you into the unknown and into the danger of corruption. Such is a violation of our duty to the Emporer, and His Inquisition."
Uland frowned, and all of the leaders became still, seeming to have a silent discussion between them. After a moment Abess Meeni spoke again. "We will consider your words. In return for our requests we will submit a list of candidates that you may choose one from."
Victan hesitated, and you knew why. Neither of you had been expecting to be able to get a recruit so easily. You send Victan a quick message.
> They must really want the shielding. [Amused]
> Yes. I worry I should drive a harder bargain. [Concerned]
> No, this is what we want. We always have more carrots if we want more later - including the juvenat. Just make sure they're not going to try to foist the insane and powerless off on us. [Considering]
> Of course. [Refocued]
Without a beat he replied. "Done, though we have conditions. We wish somebody who has some level of power and discipline, and can aid us concretely in our efforts in the stars. I will also wish to conduct interviews with each."
That's met with another tense silence as the three elderly psykers conferred with one another. Declan spoke again. "We will offer one of the most exceptional students from each monastary, as well as a pool with balanced skills drawn from all of the monastaries. You may pick one exceptional student, or the pool." He sighed, faintly exhasparated. "It does seem that a black ship's arrival is increasingly unlikely, and so saving our best talents for that eventuality is no longer justified. May the Emporer protect our Souls."
Victan considers that for a moment, then nods. "Acceptable."
Monastary Diplomacy - rolled 85 + 18 = 103 Critical success!
+2 Victan levels! He's hit level 10! Vote for his new trait below!
You have your choice of 3 exceptional individuals or a group of unexceptional but balanced skills.
Over the next few days Victan flys to each monastary in turn to interview the offered candidates, as well as scan all of the passive psytech laid into the domes of each monastary. At first you're surprsied by how crude it is, but as you parse through it more it starts to make sense. You think it's acting as a dampener, supressing highly powerful psychic emanations. It doesn't seem to do much at lower power levels, but it'll serve to prevent anything from spilling out of control. Seeing such large examples of psytech will definitely help you understand that discipline better, and you think you can include some of the dampening methodology into your psychic shielding.
Discounted technology - The Basics of Psytech cost reduced by 50 bp
Discounted technology - Improved Psychic shielding cost reduced by 100 bp
The first is Ker Bemsk, from the Devna monastry. Declan makes it clear that this is probably the most powerful psyker on the planet. Declan's been peronsally mentoring Ker since he first came to the monastary at age eleven. He's even darker than Victan, and reminds you of thousands of other awkward human teenagers you've seen throughout your long life - though with fewer skin issues. He's clean-shaven, dressed in a plain monk's robe and has short dark hair that looks like it would form a large afro if it was grown out. He has trouble making eye contact with Victan or directly answering questions until he's asked if he's excited to go off world. At that point he stares straight at Victan with unnatural intensity. "I wish to see every planet in the Galaxy."
You don't feel like he's exxagurating. Ker is a boy who has a hard time engaging with people, but he has his fascinatings and one of them is exploring, seeing new sights. You can get behind that. You send a message to Victan.
> We could work with that. [Inviting response]
> I'm not sure. He seems... challenging to work with. [Demurring]
> He's young. And we can make accomodations. I don't know that anybody else will be better. But we'll see. [Curious]
As if to prove you wrong, next is Cia Steblin from Abess Meeni's Denva enclave and she seems extremly friendly and personable - as well as being taller than Victan. Her pale skin and reddish-brown hair set her apart from most of the population of Denva Secundus - and make you think she very well might have ancestry from the Governer's hive-spire. She walks into the room to see Victan and smiles, immediately extending a hand and introducing herself politely before sitting down for a pleasant conversation. She answers questions honestly even when the answers aren't fully flattering and asks just as many about Victan, about you, and about Anexa once she learns about the tech-priest. She seems genuinely interested in what life will be like if she joins you. It's clear that she's both trying - and succeeding - at making a good impression while wanting to make her own decision about if she wants to join you. You get the sense that she's somewhat of a gloryhound, and wants nothing more than to accomplish great deeds that few other people can boast. She wants to be somebody, instead of nobody.
You can predict Victan's opinion before he messages you.
> I like her. [Pleased]
> So do I. But I'm not sure we need somebody ambitious? It seems dangerous in a psyker. [Conflicted]
> We're all ambitious. We have ambitious goals. She'll rise to any challenge we throw at her, and she's smart enough to avoid dumb risks. [Confident]
> Let's try the last one, at least [resigned]
Kezathi Zenza is the candidate from Uland's Estrana enclave. She's a tiny woman with light-brown skin who seems aged beyond her years if the white hairs speckled through her long black braid are anything to go by. The notable thing about her is that she's a seer, but she's even harder to get details out of than Ker was. She seems to spook randomly and loose her train of thought quickly and without apparent cause, though a few times she fixes VIctan with a penetrating look and says something surprisingly astute. "You're looking for somebody that will uplift the sector. Who can wield the forces of the ancients for the power of good." Then she shivered and looked down at her toes. "I'm scared of the lights."
Victan tries to engage her in conversation a few more times, but it falls flat. He leaves that interview a bit disturbed.
> Not her. [Spooked]
> A seer sounds... very useful. Are you sure? [Questioning]
> No, I'm not sure. But I can't imaging having fun with her. [Conflicted]
> Is that what we're picking them for? Or are we picking what we need? [Pointed]
> Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. We should talk about this with Anexa. [Resolved]
The final group is fairly straghtforward - a dozen different psykers drawn four from each enclave. They're spread over a range of genders, ages and specialties. They're all much weaker than the exceptional candidates you've already interveiws, but a dozen weaker psykers would give you access to a much broader range of specialities and with sufficent psytech you have the feeling even an Iota-level psyker would do alright. Their leader is a biomancer named Nabal Sidz, and he's a slightly pudgy bald man with an easy smile and a farmer's calluses.
Eventually Victan finishes with his world-spanning tour and comes back to the underground ship, collapsing into the comfortable couch. "It's good to be back."
Anexa cocks her head at him. "And now we need to decide who to add to our merry band of thieves."
Your scoff. "Hardly thieves. But you're right. Who do we pick?
Vote below for which of the four Psyker options to take.
Ground Build Capacity: 3500
Lift Capacity: 3500 (converts between ground and void BP)
Void Build Capacity: 1350
Research Capacity: 200
Psychic Shielding: 100/100 (repair for 10 BP/point)
Juvenat usage: 23/50 people's worth (cannot be stockpiled)
Shipbuilding capacity: 4 ship construction slots (treat it as capacity. You can only be building ships that fit within your construction slots)
Available ships:
1x Mechanicus-disguised Shuttle (5 CP)
30x Basic Stealth Fighters (30x5 CP)
12x Basic Stealth Assault Shuttles (12x5 CP)
100x Basic Stealth Missiles (200x1 CP) - in space
60x Shuttles (5x60 =300 CP) +3000 Lift Capacity
2x Tiny system monitors (2x50 = 100CP)
Available ground forces:
1000 Light Machine-spirit infantry bots (20 CP)
2000 Light Machine-spirit humanized infantry bots (2x20 CP)
1000 Medium Machine-spirit humanized Infantry Bots (20 CP)
3000 Heavy Machine-spirit humanized Infantry Bots with Machine Spirit Jammers (60 CP)
CP costs for infantry bots work as breakpoints in increments of 1000. So 50 or 500 or 1000 bots all cost 20 CP, and 1001 costs 40 CP. Abstraction, y'all.
Misc assets:
2 BP of trade goods that Aevon will accept as rent.
Avatars:
Adult human woman, indeterminate age.
Female tech priest with some augmentations.
Original Avatar, young human woman with green hair
Current Installations:
Military Installations:
Underground Machine-spirit Jammer (10 CP)
Underground Medium Void Shield (50 CP)
10x Underground Anti-Air Defenses (10x5 = 50 CP)
2x Underground Anti-Orbital Defenses (2x5 = 10 CP)
In progress construction:
Spark of the Ancients (0/33,650 BP)
In progress research:
The Basics of Psytech (15/100 RP)
Improved Psychic Shielding (40/100 RP)
[] [Free] Poke around some more in the databases, looking for anything in particular.
I'm not going to write out every aspect of Vita going through the databases she yoinked. If you want to ask if something in particular is present because it's important, do so here. Please keep it to one or two items per turn.
[] Orders: Command existing units in a given theater of operations.
[] Diplomacy/Subversion: Talk to people. (Write-in goal & method)
The nations of Denva don't really need your immediate attention. They're integrating the mechanicus, slowly, and moving into space, slowly. The direction is all good, it's just going to take about 10 turns before the situation changes on its own, absent an outside force like you poking it.
[] Construction: Gain build points equal to your build capacity, write in what combination of blueprints you spend them on.
[] Research: Gain research points equal to your research capacity, to be spent designing new blueprints or researching projects. Write in what you spend them on.
25 RP - Anti-armor Bunker (50 BP, 5 CP) A bunker with a heavy melta cannon, able to take out most armor in a single shot.
15 RP - Anti-personnel Bunker (20 BP, 2 CP) A bunker with a set of high-fire-rate weapons designed to take down humanoid-sized attackers wearing medium or lighter armor.
50 RP - Light Void-shield installation (250 BP, 25 CP) A void shield capable of stopping light orbital bombardment, approximately ten heavy strikes.
50 RP - Ballistic missile (50 BP, 10 CP) A long-range ballistic missile. By default it carries a high-yield explosive head capable of destroying approximately a city block. Can be intercepted by orbital defenses.
50 RP - Nuclear warhead (25 BP, 1 CP) A variable-yield nuclear warhead that can be deployed by ballistic missile or other means to destroy a city-sized target unless it's heavily dug-in.
25 RP - Spy satellite (10 void BP, 5 CP) A small spy satellite that lets you do your own surveillance on the planet below. Under your complete control and with better sensors and communication hardening than any of the local satellites.
100 RP - Advanced Technological Research Lab (500 BP, 100 CP) Will allow you to process advanced technological samples, including materials of alien orgin. Has advanced scanning, modelling and processing capabilities.
50 RP - Large automated medical facility (500 BP, 50 CP) 500 treatment rooms with autodocs capable of dealing with moderate injuries.
25 RP - Maglev System (5 bp/mile, 50 flat CP) A high-capacity maglev system to transport large amounts of goods across a planetary surface, linking various surface installations together into a single network so production from any of them can be applied at all of them.
Some things are impossible without the correct research - for example, heavy tanks will require you to research heavy armor first. Other things will be very cheap if you already have most of the design - for example if you research a better weapon it will be relatively cheap to just swap that out on the tanks.
Here are two examples of me designing the two blueprints you have available:
(Basic Defense Satellite) Light defense Platform. Base 100 Bp (200x200 meters). No engines, Light shields for 50 bp, light armor for 50 bp. 1x light lance battery for 100 bp. Total is 100+50+50+100 = 300. Weapons+equipment is 100, within the base BP of 100, so no cramming penalty.
(Basic System Monitor) Destroyer chassis. Base BP 350 (1500x300 meters) Engines: 7 gravities for 100 BP. Light Shields for 50 BP. Medium armor for 100 BP. 2x Light Macrocannon batteries for 200 bp, 1x Light Lance battery for 100 bp, High maneuverability thrusters for (1/10 base, round up to nearest 50 =) 50 bp. Total is 350+100+50+100+200+100+50 = 950. Weapons + equipment is 350, within the base BP of 350, so no cramming penalty.
Destroyer, 50 RP, 50 CP, 1 ship construction slots (200-500 BP, 1200x200-1600x400 meters) Engines: (6/7/8 gravities) for (50/100/150 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100)
Frigate, 100 RP, 100 CP, 2 ship construction slots (500-1000 BP, 1600x400-2200x600 meters) Engines: (5/6/7 gravities) for (75/150/225 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/75/150) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/75/150)
Light Cruiser, 150 RP, 200 CP, 8 ship construction slots (1000-2000 BP, 3500x400-4400x800 meters) Engines: (3/4/5 gravities) for (100/200/300 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/150/300) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/100/200)
Heavy Cruiser, 200 RP, 300 CP, 32 ship construction slots (2000-6000 BP, 4500x600-6000x1200 meters) Engines: (2/3/4 gravities) for (300/400/500 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/200/400) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/200/400)
Level 8
-[] Anexa active Action: Research - assists a research action you take, granting +5xLevel RP to the action. Will level on successful roll, scaled by the importance of the tech.
-[] Anexa passive action: Education - Roll to level, difficulty is 10+5xLevel
Specialty (1/1): Machine Spirits. Grants a +5 bonus when doing research rolls involving machine spirits.
Victan Thallos, Spy.
Level 10
-[] Victan active action: Subversion - assists a diplomacy action you take for the purposes of covert action, granting +Level to the dice to the action. Will level on successful roll, scaled by the significance of the action.
-[] Victan passive action: Counterespionage & communication - Defends against covert action, as well as gathering information on your foes and keeping communication channels open with any allies present. Will only level if something interesting happens.
[] Diplomat-spy: Victan's active action bonus can be applied to all diplomacy rolls, including first contact with a new culture. Victan's only been able to be included on these diplomacy rolls thus far becuase he's a local, and has contacts inside Aevon he can use for diplomacy. If you go somewhere new he'll be limited to just being a spy without this.
[] Infiltrator: Victan may go on active missions involving stealth & subterfuge to acquire data or objectives that would otherwise be completely unavailable. Unlocks powerful new narrative subterfuge options. Will be boosted by cybernetics research. He starts sneaking around to steal stuff or spy on people. This will do things like give you samples or information that otherwise would be impossible to grab.
[] Master of Whispers: Victan will passively cultivate contacts in any society you interact with, building up intelligence over time. Upon return visits this will quickly update you on the local happenings. This will be most effective if you travel to the same places a lot, and he has the time to build up a network.
[] Virtuoso Spy : Victan's bonus to standard infiltration actions increases to 1.5xlevel. If you like raw numbers. However, limited to actions where he's acting like a normal spy, trying to convince people to tell him information they shouldn't or read between the lines in a database to discover new things.
[] Ker Bemsk, awkard telekinetic. Delta (13)
[] Cia Steblin, confidant pyromancer. Zeta (11)
[] Kezathi Zenza, troubled seer. Eta (10)
[] A dozen weaker psykers, led by Nabal Sidz. Caps out at Iota (8)
The scrapcode generator fucked up due to bad rolls. First it used the wrong kind of attack, second it chose the exact wrong time to launch its attack, and third it wouldn't have gotten you anyways, which it was clearly trying to do. Even if it had chosen the right kind of attack your reinforced shielding would have pretty much perfectly cancelled the attack out.
Psyker options were rolled here. I'm currently thinking that the level 10/20/30 options for a psyker would either be to pick up a new discipline or specialize further down their current discipline. Psykers Crew memebers, won't have active/passive actions in the same way as your other characters. Most of theirs will likely be focused on more/less risky ways to level. All of them will start at level 0, and the dozen weaker psykers won't level at all, they'll only serve to unlock the research trees and be users for psytech you develop. But they'll never unlock the full potential of your psytech either.
Psytech is a large research tree, with some very powerful applications. A battleship-scale amplifier specialized to the right discipline would let a powerful biomancer terraform a world, a powerful pyromancer vaporize a (large) fleet or a powerful telekinetic change the orbit of a moon. The kinds of psytech you have access to will be gated behind what specialties you have access to, and at what power. Divination is likely both dice manipulation (of the reroll/pre-roll variety) and things like discerning the plans/rolls of your enemies.
I've slept less than five hours in the last 36 hours, so I'm a little loopy. Still, I didn't want to stop until this was out. I'm sure there are typoes and bookkeeping errors. Please point them out and I'll fix them once I've had some sleep.
Let's do 28 hours of Moratorium and 14 hours of voting? It seems to me like the moratorium is more useful than the voting, so I want to try pushing the ratio a bit.
[X] Plan: Final Preparations For BOTE
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] You've had a bit of a scare throwing down with Warp based phenomena, and the Monasteries on Denva II are the closest thing to subject matter experts that exist, lean on your connections and introduction to open up a line of dialogue with them, and see if we can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement--we have a fairly robust, simple to build and maintain form of Psychic Shielding that's served us well so far, but it was designed without certain more... Hostile factors that seem to be present nowadays--and the Monasteries seem to have arranged themselves to serve as--at the very least--containment against incursion vectors. We're willing to share our designs--including what we hope to be a further simplified design that they can use to reinforce their own wards, if they'll at least share what their own defensive measures contain. Beyond that, well, we've gained a healthy concern for the current state of the galaxy, and when we begin surveying the region, having a handful of stable psychics on hand to serve as early warning and support would be more than useful, though that's definitely on the line of "Stretch Goal" material, the main thing we'd like is the shield exchange to compare what we have and understand with what's been developed since. (Open Dialogue with the Monasteries, see about at the very least if we can trade notes on our shielding vs their shielding, with the possibility of grabbing more depending on roll results. A psyker bean would be amazing, but we'll see what the dice spit out)
---[X] Victan Assists
-[X] Construction (3,500 BP, (Fully convertable to VBP) 1,100 VBP)
--[X] 2x Tiny System Monitors (1,900 VBP, -100 CP)
--[X] Update all Bots to Machine-Spirit Bots (423 BP, +1,260 CP)
--[X] 5x Orbital Manufactories (-1,250 VBP, -200 CP)
--[X] Boosted Vault Shielding (+40) (-800 BP)
--[X] Trade Goods (-27 BP)
--[X] Psi Shield Bribes (-200 BP Budget)
-[X] Research x2
--[X] Can I have a new ship please? (200 RP)
--[X] Miniaturized psychic shielding: (160 + 40 Anexa RP)
--[X] Improved Psychic Shielding (+40 RP (now 55/200), if we get any overflow from the Miniaturized Shielding being discounted, then put it here too )
-[X] [ANEXA] RESEARCH: Miniaturized Psychic Shielding
-[X] [VICTAN] Assist with Monastery Contact
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] You've had a bit of a scare throwing down with Warp based phenomena, and the Monasteries on Denva II are the closest thing to subject matter experts that exist, lean on your connections and introduction to open up a line of dialogue with them, and see if we can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement--we have a fairly robust, simple to build and maintain form of Psychic Shielding that's served us well so far, but it was designed without certain more... Hostile factors that seem to be present nowadays--and the Monasteries seem to have arranged themselves to serve as--at the very least--containment against incursion vectors. We're willing to share our designs--including what we hope to be a further simplified design that they can use to reinforce their own wards, if they'll at least share what their own defensive measures contain. Beyond that, well, we've gained a healthy concern for the current state of the galaxy, and when we begin surveying the region, having a handful of stable psychics on hand to serve as early warning and support would be more than useful, though that's definitely on the line of "Stretch Goal" material, the main thing we'd like is the shield exchange to compare what we have and understand with what's been developed since. (Open Dialogue with the Monasteries, see about at the very least if we can trade notes on our shielding vs their shielding, with the possibility of grabbing more depending on roll results. A psyker bean would be amazing, but we'll see what the dice spit out)
---[X] Victan Assists
-[X] Construction (3,500 BP, (Fully convertable to VBP) 1,100 VBP)
--[X] 2x Tiny System Monitors (1,900 VBP, -100 CP)
--[X] Update all Bots to Machine-Spirit Bots (423 BP, +1,260 CP)
--[X] 5x Orbital Manufactories (-1,250 VBP, -200 CP)
--[X] Boosted Vault Shielding (+40) (-800 BP)
--[X] Trade Goods (-27 BP)
--[X] Psi Shield Bribes (-200 BP Budget)
-[X] Research x2
--[X] Can I have a new ship please? (200 RP)
--[X] Miniaturized psychic shielding: (160 + 40 Anexa RP)
--[X] Improved Psychic Shielding (+40 RP (now 55/200), if we get any overflow from the Miniaturized Shielding being discounted, then put it here too )
-[X] [ANEXA] RESEARCH: Miniaturized Psychic Shielding
-[X] [VICTAN] Assist with Monastery Contact
You don't sleep, or dream. Not really. But you do find your imagination running off on its own now and then, and what you're imagining now is a ship. A new ship. Your new ship. It's going to be big, of that you're certain. And armed to the gills. If your interaction with the mechanicus has taught you anything, it's that this new galaxy respects nothing so much as naked firepower. So you've made a note to prioritze that pretty highly. Your new ship is going to be far better armed than the last one.
Though with the size I'm thinking there's definitely going to be space for some more exploration-focused gear as well!
Still, there are the things you want to finish before you actually pack up and leave, and you want to give Anexa and Victan the chance to give input on your plans. One evening you declare a "Mandatory Fun Night," where the three of you gather around some fun games and a nice meal and before you get to serious conversation. Victan prefers the social deception games, while Anexa likes the optimization and planning ones. You have to dial yourself down to even the playing field, though Victan surprises you a few times.
You don't eat of course, but you do enjoy synthesizing up the best approximatinos you can of some ancient delicacies and inflicting them upon your crew. Though you're not quite sure that's the correct description, with the way that they appreciate the food. Victan's more of a fan of the truffaloid cheese mimic while Anexa enjoys the simulated mantis-prawn analgoues. You know that your versions of these foods are but pale mimics of the original, but you posess neither the cloning capabilities or the genetic information necessary to make the real thing.
But with better medical technology I'll get closer to the real thing. I remember Lena used to love cloned steak as bloody as I could make it. She'd tell me to cook it by telling a dirty joke and then slicing off a chunk when the cow blushed. It was even funnier because there were zero cows involved in the process. But I salvaged the meat-cloner nine thousand years ago and need to figure out how to build my own.
You bring yourself back to the present to see your crew both leaning back, looking sated, and decide to open the serious conversation. "So. I'm going to start designing the new ship soon. The one that will take me - us - away from Denva." Your tone is gently questioning and you look around at Anexa and Victan pointedly, making sure they hear the unasked question.
Are you coming with me?
They both sit up and refocus now that the discussion has turned serious. Neither speaks immediately, but they share a glance where Victan raises his eyebrows and Anexa smiles slightly in return. They could communicate via their mental implants, but you don't think they are. This is all human body language, of the kind used since the first humans squatted around fires on ancient terra. Then they turn back to you and Victan answers for both of them. "How big will our new ship be?"
I suppose that answers that.
"I'm thinking a grand cruiser, nine kilometers by two." You gesture towards the holoprojector that had recently projected gameboards. "A design something like this."
They study it for a moment, then Anexa starts. "Wait, did I hear that right. Nine kilometers? That's..." She trailes off, then blinks and accesses her older files. "The size of a grand cruiser. Which - you already said that. Can you even build that? I know you've been building up your void infastrcuture, but by that much? How long will it take?"
You give her a wide grin. "I'm expecting about fifteen years, though that's dedicating most of my effort to it. But yeah. We'll be able fo fight off anything smaller than us, and run from anything bigger."
Anexa snorts and rolls her eyes. "What could be bigger?"
Victan has been studying the ship with a frown, using the controls to rotate the image and examine it from multiple angles. "It looks intimidating," he says at last, and his tone makes it clear that he doesn't think that's a compliment. "It may be hard to conduct diplomacy from such a vessel."
You shrug. "From everything I can see about this new galaxy just getting anybody to talk to us will be a challenge. Maybe if the ship makes them hesistate it leaves an opeining for dialogue."
He tilts his head from side to side uncertainly, then nods slightly. "Acceptable."
You hold a finger up dramatically. "But first! We have some things to get done before we leave." Both Anexa and Victan look at you curiously, though Victan's got a wry eyebrow raised. "There's two things I definitely want to deal with before we leave. First is the psyker monastaries. They seem to have some kind of shielding that I'd love to examine, and it would also be nice to recruit a psyker or ten to join us when we go. Humans were only starting to develop psychic powers when I was last roaming around, and I want to be able to examine one. Is that ok with you both?"
Victan raises both hands in a shrug to indicate he doesn't have a strong opinion, but Anexa's eyes gleam with a familiar excitement.
It doesn't seem like you're going to find any argument here, and you nod decisivly. "Great, that's agreed on. Victan, I want you to reach out to the monastaries. Hopefully that offer from Aevon to make the introduction is still good?"
He chuckles. "They'll do far more than that if you ask. They wish to ride your rising tide as far as it takes them." Then his expression sobers. "But what do we have to offer the monastaries? From what I recall of the briefings they live fairly asetic lives, and may not wish futuristic bribes."
Your gaze pans over to Anexa. "We'll be working on making the psychic shielding smaller and using that as a carrot. It seems like they want to be protected from their powers, and I think that what I have might be useful for them."
Both of them nod appreciatively, then Anexa speaks up. "What are the other priorties?"
You wave your hand absently. "I kind of want to figure out how to leave my manufacturing capacity to the people of Denva after I leave. Right now it's not in a state they can use, but I'm not sure the best way to make it usable for them. But that's not really the important one. You both know I pulled something dangerous out of Klyssar's Nest?" You'd discussed this with Anexa before, but not with Victan. Still, you aren't suprrised when he nods. He's curious, and it's not like you went out of your way to hide the precautions you'd taken.
"I want to investigate it, but it's scary. I want more tricks up my sleeve so that when I poke it and it tries to attack me I'm better protected than it thinks I am." They've both got the general "chaos is a memetic danger" speech and accept that explanation with knowing looks and without pushing for more information.
"Then I hope we enjoy fifteen more years in Denva!" Victan says, raising his glass of tea in a toast. The conversation drifts away from serious topics and they both spend some time asking for more potential games to play, more recipies to try.
Eventually the party of three breaks up, and you watch them leave fondly. It's starting to feel homey, and you look forward to adding more people to your little gatherings. This was fun, but three isn't enough for the really fun shenanigans. Your thoughts drift back to your old crew, and you're pleased to find that the good memories are more prominant and less overwhelmed by the bad. They still cause you to flinch internally and recoil, but now you're able to recall all of the joy as well as the sorrow.
All of that said, you're still happy to abandon the mandatory fun and get to your next task. After all, it's time to design the ship!
Rolling for Can I have a new Ship Please? - rolled 26+20=46. Success.
[X] Plan: Spark of the Ancients
-[X] Reference Image
-[X] Hull: Grand Cruiser (12000 BP, 500 CP)
-[X] Engines: 2.5 Gravities (1100 BP)
-[X] Shields: Medium (800 BP)
-[X] Armor: Medium (800 BP)
-[X] FINAL HULL COST: 14700 + 2500 (No Shipyard Tax) = 17200. Total Cramming Budget: 12000 BP
-[X] Non-Combat Equipment (Does not contribute to Cramming)
--[X] Warp Drive (1200 BP)
--[X] Warp Abacus Mounting (600 BP)
--[X] Psychic Shielding (2400 BP)
--[X] Repair Bay (1000 BP) (Counts as combat equipment for space budget)
---[X] Hull + Non Combat Equipment Cost: 22400 BP
---[X] Total Cost: 22400 BP, 1000 in the Cramming Budget
-[X] Weapons:
--[X] 2x Heavy Plasma Cannons (2000 BP)
--[X] 1x Heavy Lances (400 BP)
--[X] 4x Light Lances (400 BP)
--[X] 3x Medium Macrocannons (600 BP)
--[X] 2x Light Macrocannons (200 BP)
--[X] 4x Point Defense (200 BP)
--[X] 1x Medium Teleportarium (200 BP)
--[X] 4x Fighters (400 BP, 200 CP)
--[X] 2x Shuttles (200 BP, 100 CP)
--[X] 2x Assault Shuttles (300 BP, 100 CP)
---[X] Total Cost: 27300 BP, 5410 in the Cramming Budget
-[X] Combat Equipment:
--[X] Tuned Shields (800 BP)
--[X] Alloyed Armor (800 BP)
--[X] High Manueverabilty Thrusters (1200 BP)
--[X] Melta Macrocannon Payloads (600 BP)
--[X] Medium Boarding Preparations (1200 BP)
---[X] Total Cost: 31900 BP, 10010 in the Cramming Budget
-[X] Installations: 12000-10010 = leftover BP means 19 modular build slots.
--[X] 10x Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot) (1000 BP, 500 CP)
--[X] 1x Crew Quarters (50 BP, 15 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Basic Juvenat Production Facility (250 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Observatory (100 BP, 25 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Basic Technological Research Lab (50 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Basic Biology Research Lab (50 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Troop compartment (25 BP, 5 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Medical facility (200 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Captive Holding cells (25 BP, 10 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1 Empty modular slots (free)
-[X] Final Cost: 33650 BP, 1775 CP
-[X] Reference Image
-[X] Hull: Grand Cruiser (12000 BP, 500 CP)
-[X] Engines: 2.5 Gravities (1100 BP)
-[X] Shields: Medium (800 BP)
-[X] Armor: Medium (800 BP)
-[X] FINAL HULL COST: 14700 + 2500 (No Shipyard Tax) = 17200. Total Cramming Budget: 12000 BP
-[X] Non-Combat Equipment (Does not contribute to Cramming)
--[X] Warp Drive (1200 BP)
--[X] Warp Abacus Mounting (600 BP)
--[X] Psychic Shielding (2400 BP)
--[X] Repair Bay (1000 BP) (Counts as combat equipment for space budget)
---[X] Hull + Non Combat Equipment Cost: 22400 BP
---[X] Total Cost: 22400 BP, 1000 in the Cramming Budget
-[X] Weapons:
--[X] 2x Heavy Plasma Cannons (2000 BP)
--[X] 1x Heavy Lances (400 BP)
--[X] 4x Light Lances (400 BP)
--[X] 3x Medium Macrocannons (600 BP)
--[X] 2x Light Macrocannons (200 BP)
--[X] 4x Point Defense (200 BP)
--[X] 1x Medium Teleportarium (200 BP)
--[X] 4x Fighters (400 BP, 200 CP)
--[X] 2x Shuttles (200 BP, 100 CP)
--[X] 2x Assault Shuttles (300 BP, 100 CP)
---[X] Total Cost: 27300 BP, 5410 in the Cramming Budget
-[X] Combat Equipment:
--[X] Tuned Shields (800 BP)
--[X] Alloyed Armor (800 BP)
--[X] High Manueverabilty Thrusters (1200 BP)
--[X] Melta Macrocannon Payloads (600 BP)
--[X] Medium Boarding Preparations (1200 BP)
---[X] Total Cost: 31900 BP, 10010 in the Cramming Budget
-[X] Installations: 12000-10010 = leftover BP means 19 modular build slots.
--[X] 10x Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot) (1000 BP, 500 CP)
--[X] 1x Crew Quarters (50 BP, 15 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Basic Juvenat Production Facility (250 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Observatory (100 BP, 25 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Basic Technological Research Lab (50 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Basic Biology Research Lab (50 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Troop compartment (25 BP, 5 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Medical facility (200 BP, 50 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1x Captive Holding cells (25 BP, 10 CP, 1 slot)
--[X] 1 Empty modular slots (free)
-[X] Final Cost: 33650 BP, 1775 CP
At the end of the day you're pleased with your new flagship. It definitely packs one hell of a punch that should serve you well against anything you run into. You're determined not to be caught unaware in this new galaxy. It might be a little light on manufacturing capability, but it's still five times your old ship, and easy to increase to boost. Besides - you have some ideas to improve manufacturing capacity...
Still, it's done, and now you can turn your attention to the other half of the puzzle - building stuff so you can actually build the ship - though ensuring your security is actually the bigger priority right now. You spend the majority of your construction capacity on a pair of small destroyer monitors. They're nothing incredible, but just the presence of mobile voidcraft will make the Denva system infinitely more secure and ensure that you'll have options other than "hide" should anybody unfriendly warp into the system.
2x Tiny system monitors completed!
Then you actually go ahead and update all of your combat bots with the machine spirit upgrades that Anexa designed, and you ping her to let her know. She responds with a series of smilies and hearts that make you chuckle, since you figure it means she's excited but has gotten too deeply engrossed in her next project for a more substantive response.
1000 Light infantry bots upgraded with machine spirits!
2000 Light humanized infantry bots upgraded with machine spirits!
1000 Medium humanized Infantry upgraded with machine spirits!
3000 Heavy humanized Infantry Bots with Machine Spirit Jammers upgraded with machine spirits!
Then of course, you are building more manufacturing capacity. It's what you do.
5x Orbital Manufactories completed!
Then you turn your attention to following up with Anexa. She's been catching up on your research into your psychic shields, and now it's time to push that further. Your real priority is making them smaller, since half of your goal with these things is to be able to give them to the monastaries, and you think they'll want something a little bit smaller for their use - especially since you can't replicate the box where you've got the scrapcode generator quarantined inside of atmosphere.
You so start with the design of the scrapcode vault, since it's the smallest you thought you could scale your current design. It works, but you'd like to learn how to make it both smaller and more effective.
The answer is not simply to make all of the components smaller. Instead you have to break down the components that generate the "no" meaning, then reassemble them ways that still interlock on the smaller scale. It's a bit tedious to figure out multiple different versions that will work at different scales, but the final product seems to work fairly nicely and definitely enhance your understanding of the shields in general. There's even more room to scale it down, of course, and the current version can't be layered effectively - there'll be interference between the different layers that'll nullify the whole effect. But still, it works.
Researched miniaturized psychic shields - 39+20=59! Success!
You can now upgrade any building/installation with psychic shields by adding +100-500 bp to its cost and getting a 10-50 hp shield out of it. Not compatible with larger shields.
No Anexa level. Level 8+ requires good success on most research rolls.
Unlocked new technology - Personal-sized Psychic shielding (150 RP)
Unlocked new technology - Nested Psychic shielding (200 RP)
Discounted technology - Improved Psychic shielding cost reduced by 50 RP
You're about to go chat with Victan about your success, but instead decide to let Anexa bathe in the quesiontable glory of the success you've both achieved. You've got more important things to do - notably using what you've learned to upgrade the scrapcode generator vault. The generator's been remarkably quiet ever since you imprisoned it but you're becoming increasingly sure that it's building up to something, and you want to get ahead of it.
Scrapcode Vault upgraded - 50/50 HP!
Almost as if it was triggered by your activity, the dormancy of the scrapcode generator ends barely a day after you put the finishing touches on your upgrades. It unleashes a multi-pronged attack on its own imprisonment, follwoed by a chaotic mess of code that's clearly designed to sow disarray throughout your network, and then follows it up with a targeted spike addressed directly to you. All in all it's a fairly significant amount of code, backeded up by more psychic power than you've seen in one place.
Unfortunately for your chaotic assailant it's misjudged three things. First, it mistuned the attack. Instead of brute power it tried a subtler approach, whispers of maybe and what if that was designed to corrupt your machinery. But that's very much the wrong approach to use against your shielding, which just answered no. Second, it waited until after you'd upgraded its shielding to launch the attack. And third, even if it had succeeded its attack wasn't strong enough to get through the psychic shielding around your base. Even if it had gotten the first two right it would have probably managed to corrupt portions of your network, but it would have been an annoyance rather an an existential threat.
Scrapcode Generator rolls revealed:
Last turn - rolled a 21. Poor success.
This turn - rolled a 5. Failure.
-10 HP to the Scrapcode Vault.
In fact, all it's succeeded in doing is providing you more valuable data on psychic attacks and defense, as well as more data on what psychic technology looks like. These are firsthand measurements of challenging phenomena, and you almost want to thank the scrapcode generator for giving you such valuable data.
Discounted technology - Improved Psychic shielding cost reduced by 50 RP
Discounted technology -The Basics of Psytech cost reduced by 50 RP
Additionally, you can still detect the amount of leftover power inside the scrapcode generator, and it's low. Even lower than when you first stuck it in here, and if you didn't know better you'd say it were almost totally inactive. But you know better than that, and based on the rate it built up power before you estimate it'll take at least twenty years to regain all of the power it just spent - and you'll be able to estimate how much energy it's got "in the tank" as it were.
Though where it's getting that power from, I have no idea. Psychic bullshit breaking physics - exciting!
And maybe - just maybe - this means that you'll be able to take it with you. You might not need to get all of the research you want to do with it done before you leave. Stick it into a shielded vault aboard your ship, where you can track its level of resources and prepare for any nonsense it tries, gaining valuable data all the while.
Finally, you check in with Victan, only to find him in surgery?
Your avatar makes it there quickly, watching as Anexa finishes the procedure and closes up the area around his eye. He sits up not too long later to check out the results, and you let yourself into the room. It loks like Victan's replaced one of his eyes with a cybernetic version. It looks much the same except that the iris has been replaced with a spiral arrangement of bronze petals arranged like an irising camera lens.
He looks at you and grins as the bronze iris contracts and expands in response to his commands. He answers your unspoken question. "So you can easily see what I'm seeing when I go to talk to the psykers."
"That makes sense. It looks good on you."
He examines himself in a mirror Anexa holds up for him. "I agree. Thanks Anexa, exellent work as always."
She preens slightly under the attention, then turns to clean up the surgical station.
Victan gestures out of the room. "Let's prep for the meeting." You follow him out of the room and start going over plans for the negotiation - becuase that's what you'regoing to do. You have new protections against chaos and the means to build them, they have new kinds of psytech and also psykers themselves. An equitible exchange should be possible, but it seems very easy to accidentlly insult them or imply the wrong thing, and thus the prepwork.
Once you feel like you're ready, and you both have planned for every angle you reach out to Aevon to ask them for an introduction to the Aevon Monastary, one of the three that exist across Denva. Each occupies one of the mountainous regions of Denva, though the prefer the mountains in more temperate climes.
You're both expecting it to take some back-and-forth before the meeting gets set up, and are surprised when your contact in the Aevon diplomatic corps replies that you're expected at the Aevon monastary in only a few days, with escorts allowed in the compound but not in the meeting. Still, it's within parameters and Victan makes his final preparations for the trip. He's got his augments, a backup communicator, a concealed plasma pistol and light armor that should serve to deflect a glancing blow from a lasgun. You're also flying him in with an assault shuttle that'll be carrying some of your bots, though not too many.
You've scrutinized orbital imagry of the monastaries many times, and there's a well-prepared landing pad directly adjacent to the central dome of each monastary, and that's where you make your descent. Well-armored nulifiers in face-covering armor greet Victan as he descends from the ship, and they escort him inside the dome. You're half-expecting it to cut off communications but nothing of the sort happens, and you're able to watch out of his eye and listen through his implants as he is led to a sumptuously decorated meeting room adorned with many images of the Imperial Faith, all polished to a shining golden gleam.
Inside the room are three old men and woman sitting on one side of a polished conference table. The nullifiers take their places just inside the room, and the old man in the center gestures to the single seat across from him. "Please. Sit. Will you take recaf?"
Victan inclines his head briefly. "Gladly."
A hidden door on the side of the room opens, and an ancient and highly decorated servitor emerges to prepare the recaf in fragile little cups barely large enough for a single swallow, which all three of the people sitting take as one. Victan follows suit, and they smack their lips appreiciateivly.
The old man in the center speaks again. "I am Abbot Declan of the Aevon enclave. To my right is Abess Meeni of the Denva enclave, and to my left is Abbot Uland of the Estrana enclave. We have been wondering when this ancient would contact us. What she would offer." His piercing eyes bore into Victan's, one cybernetic and one natural. "And what she would demand in return, under the emporer's blessing."
Abbess Meeni sniffed loudly. "She didn't even come herself."
Abbot Declan waved his hand. "She sent her emissary to the locals. For that is your role, Victan Thallos?"
Victan inlined his head slightly. "It is. I represent Vita here, and we wish for a mutualy benefical arrangement." He pauses slightly, as if to give them a chance to talk, but continues before they can actually do so. "It is widely known that we have technology of the ancients lost to the Imperium. We offer much of it freely to the people of Denva Secundus. But not all of that technology is known, and some of it is uniquely useful to you. Specfiically, we can manufacture a kind of technological psychic shield that protects against warp influence, especially hostile influence. And we are willing to share it with you."
The abbess's glare was even fiercer than either of the Abbots. "Why? What do you have to gain with such a generous offer?"
Victan spread his hands wide, as if laying out the truth. "The shielding was designed aeons ago. It is powerful, but possess a limited defensive capacity. This was demonstrated onboard Klyssar's nest, when a foul artifact seeded as part of the defenses launched a corruptive psychic attack. Our psychic defenses held, but we were reminded of its limitations. With one hand we offer a gift, and with the other we ask to learn. How can we best defend against such influences, and best destroy them."
Abbot Uland's eyes flicked back and forth between Victan and his peers. "There is no lie, or corruption I can sense. His mind is his own, though meshed with metal."
Abbot Declan nodded slowly. "My conclusion is the same. Very well. May we see a demonstration of this 'psychic shielding?'"
"It is large. The smallest it can be made is the size of one of your outbuildings, though we are able to install it into your central domes if you request."
Uland's eyes flicked around, and after a moment Declan nodded. "Agreed. You will install this shielding on one of our outbuildings. After we have seen it we will investigate it. May the Emporer bless you, wayward son of the Imperium."
It doesn't take long to coordinate slapping together a psychic shield around the provided building - which appears to be some sort of place to smoke and dry a root crop so it doesn't spoil. You suppose they picked a building they weren't afraid of losing. The construction bots trundling off the shuttles take a bit of explanation, but then you're assembling the psychic shielding around the building. Then under the watchful gaze of the three leaders of the monastaries Victan ceremouniously switches it on. They all wince as one, then squint at the building as if into a bright light.
"Well, let us enter." Declan says after a moment. He gestures to Victan. "Lead the way."
They walk inside the shielding, and all visibly relax. Uland wipes a sweaty brow. "It is similar in some ways to the meditation of denial, but now it is as if we are within a mind that has successfully mastered that technique." He looks curiously at Victan. "Can it maintain this for long?"
Victan shrugs. "As long as power is supplied. The network may need to be repaired if it sustains active psychic assault, but it can survive and protect against a heavy attack."
All three of the elderly people seemed to react strongly to that, though they controlled it well. Meeni was the first to speak, biting her lip. "If we can control this, I would like two. One on an outbulding like this, and one covering the central monastary. As well as full technical details such that the nations of Denva can repair it. You are giving them the technology for such a thing, yes?" She tried to frame it agressivly, but the words came out with an edge of pleading.
Victan nodded. "Yes, we can do that, though for such a price I would ask for more than simple scans of your protections. We seek to journey across the stars, and know not what we may find. We ask for a representative of the Monastaries of Denva, that would aid us on our journeys."
All three of the faces turned a bit sour, and Declan replied. "You would ask us to send one of our charges into harm's way, to follow you into the unknown and into the danger of corruption. Such is a violation of our duty to the Emporer, and His Inquisition."
Uland frowned, and all of the leaders became still, seeming to have a silent discussion between them. After a moment Abess Meeni spoke again. "We will consider your words. In return for our requests we will submit a list of candidates that you may choose one from."
Victan hesitated, and you knew why. Neither of you had been expecting to be able to get a recruit so easily. You send Victan a quick message.
> They must really want the shielding. [Amused]
> Yes. I worry I should drive a harder bargain. [Concerned]
> No, this is what we want. We always have more carrots if we want more later - including the juvenat. Just make sure they're not going to try to foist the insane and powerless off on us. [Considering]
> Of course. [Refocued]
Without a beat he replied. "Done, though we have conditions. We wish somebody who has some level of power and discipline, and can aid us concretely in our efforts in the stars. I will also wish to conduct interviews with each."
That's met with another tense silence as the three elderly psykers conferred with one another. Declan spoke again. "We will offer one of the most exceptional students from each monastary, as well as a pool with balanced skills drawn from all of the monastaries. You may pick one exceptional student, or the pool." He sighed, faintly exhasparated. "It does seem that a black ship's arrival is increasingly unlikely, and so saving our best talents for that eventuality is no longer justified. May the Emporer protect our Souls."
Victan considers that for a moment, then nods. "Acceptable."
Monastary Diplomacy - rolled 85 + 18 = 103 Critical success!
+2 Victan levels! He's hit level 10! Vote for his new trait below!
You have your choice of 3 exceptional individuals or a group of unexceptional but balanced skills.
Over the next few days Victan flys to each monastary in turn to interview the offered candidates, as well as scan all of the passive psytech laid into the domes of each monastary. At first you're surprsied by how crude it is, but as you parse through it more it starts to make sense. You think it's acting as a dampener, supressing highly powerful psychic emanations. It doesn't seem to do much at lower power levels, but it'll serve to prevent anything from spilling out of control. Seeing such large examples of psytech will definitely help you understand that discipline better, and you think you can include some of the dampening methodology into your psychic shielding.
Discounted technology - The Basics of Psytech cost reduced by 50 bp
Discounted technology - Improved Psychic shielding cost reduced by 100 bp
The first is Ker Bemsk, from the Devna monastry. Declan makes it clear that this is probably the most powerful psyker on the planet. Declan's been peronsally mentoring Ker since he first came to the monastary at age eleven. He's even darker than Victan, and reminds you of thousands of other awkward human teenagers you've seen throughout your long life - though with fewer skin issues. He's clean-shaven, dressed in a plain monk's robe and has short dark hair that looks like it would form a large afro if it was grown out. He has trouble making eye contact with Victan or directly answering questions until he's asked if he's excited to go off world. At that point he stares straight at Victan with unnatural intensity. "I wish to see every planet in the Galaxy."
You don't feel like he's exxagurating. Ker is a boy who has a hard time engaging with people, but he has his fascinatings and one of them is exploring, seeing new sights. You can get behind that. You send a message to Victan.
> We could work with that. [Inviting response]
> I'm not sure. He seems... challenging to work with. [Demurring]
> He's young. And we can make accomodations. I don't know that anybody else will be better. But we'll see. [Curious]
As if to prove you wrong, next is Cia Steblin from Abess Meeni's Denva enclave and she seems extremly friendly and personable - as well as being taller than Victan. Her pale skin and reddish-brown hair set her apart from most of the population of Denva Secundus - and make you think she very well might have ancestry from the Governer's hive-spire. She walks into the room to see Victan and smiles, immediately extending a hand and introducing herself politely before sitting down for a pleasant conversation. She answers questions honestly even when the answers aren't fully flattering and asks just as many about Victan, about you, and about Anexa once she learns about the tech-priest. She seems genuinely interested in what life will be like if she joins you. It's clear that she's both trying - and succeeding - at making a good impression while wanting to make her own decision about if she wants to join you. You get the sense that she's somewhat of a gloryhound, and wants nothing more than to accomplish great deeds that few other people can boast. She wants to be somebody, instead of nobody.
You can predict Victan's opinion before he messages you.
> I like her. [Pleased]
> So do I. But I'm not sure we need somebody ambitious? It seems dangerous in a psyker. [Conflicted]
> We're all ambitious. We have ambitious goals. She'll rise to any challenge we throw at her, and she's smart enough to avoid dumb risks. [Confident]
> Let's try the last one, at least [resigned]
Kezathi Zenza is the candidate from Uland's Estrana enclave. She's a tiny woman with light-brown skin who seems aged beyond her years if the white hairs speckled through her long black braid are anything to go by. The notable thing about her is that she's a seer, but she's even harder to get details out of than Ker was. She seems to spook randomly and loose her train of thought quickly and without apparent cause, though a few times she fixes VIctan with a penetrating look and says something surprisingly astute. "You're looking for somebody that will uplift the sector. Who can wield the forces of the ancients for the power of good." Then she shivered and looked down at her toes. "I'm scared of the lights."
Victan tries to engage her in conversation a few more times, but it falls flat. He leaves that interview a bit disturbed.
> Not her. [Spooked]
> A seer sounds... very useful. Are you sure? [Questioning]
> No, I'm not sure. But I can't imaging having fun with her. [Conflicted]
> Is that what we're picking them for? Or are we picking what we need? [Pointed]
> Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. We should talk about this with Anexa. [Resolved]
The final group is fairly straghtforward - a dozen different psykers drawn four from each enclave. They're spread over a range of genders, ages and specialties. They're all much weaker than the exceptional candidates you've already interveiws, but a dozen weaker psykers would give you access to a much broader range of specialities and with sufficent psytech you have the feeling even an Iota-level psyker would do alright. Their leader is a biomancer named Nabal Sidz, and he's a slightly pudgy bald man with an easy smile and a farmer's calluses.
Eventually Victan finishes with his world-spanning tour and comes back to the underground ship, collapsing into the comfortable couch. "It's good to be back."
Anexa cocks her head at him. "And now we need to decide who to add to our merry band of thieves."
Your scoff. "Hardly thieves. But you're right. Who do we pick?
Vote below for which of the four Psyker options to take.
Current capabilities:
Command Points 6,045/12,500Ground Build Capacity: 3500
Lift Capacity: 3500 (converts between ground and void BP)
Void Build Capacity: 1350
Research Capacity: 200
Psychic Shielding: 100/100 (repair for 10 BP/point)
Juvenat usage: 23/50 people's worth (cannot be stockpiled)
Shipbuilding capacity: 4 ship construction slots (treat it as capacity. You can only be building ships that fit within your construction slots)
Available ships:
1x Mechanicus-disguised Shuttle (5 CP)
30x Basic Stealth Fighters (30x5 CP)
12x Basic Stealth Assault Shuttles (12x5 CP)
100x Basic Stealth Missiles (200x1 CP) - in space
60x Shuttles (5x60 =300 CP) +3000 Lift Capacity
2x Tiny system monitors (2x50 = 100CP)
Available ground forces:
1000 Light Machine-spirit infantry bots (20 CP)
2000 Light Machine-spirit humanized infantry bots (2x20 CP)
1000 Medium Machine-spirit humanized Infantry Bots (20 CP)
3000 Heavy Machine-spirit humanized Infantry Bots with Machine Spirit Jammers (60 CP)
CP costs for infantry bots work as breakpoints in increments of 1000. So 50 or 500 or 1000 bots all cost 20 CP, and 1001 costs 40 CP. Abstraction, y'all.
Misc assets:
2 BP of trade goods that Aevon will accept as rent.
Avatars:
Adult human woman, indeterminate age.
Female tech priest with some augmentations.
Original Avatar, young human woman with green hair
Current Installations:
Crashed Ship (10 CP) +100 BP
Underground Directional-Control Radio Tower (5 CP)
2x Underground Manufactories (2x50 = 100 CP) +100 BP
66x Manufactories (66x50 = 3300 CP) +3300 BP
Underground Captive Holding cells, 0/500 occupants (10 CP)
Underground Basic Technological Research Lab (50 CP)
Underground Basic Biology Lab (50 CP)
Small automated medical facility (50 CP)
Camouflaged Observatory (25 CP)
4x Underground Spaceport (4x25 CP) (40/40 ship capacity)
6x Spaceports (6x25 CP) (60/60 ship capacity)
Underground Magnetic Catapult launch system (50 CP) +500 lift capacity
Underground Directional-Control Radio Tower (5 CP)
2x Underground Manufactories (2x50 = 100 CP) +100 BP
66x Manufactories (66x50 = 3300 CP) +3300 BP
Underground Captive Holding cells, 0/500 occupants (10 CP)
Underground Basic Technological Research Lab (50 CP)
Underground Basic Biology Lab (50 CP)
Small automated medical facility (50 CP)
Camouflaged Observatory (25 CP)
4x Underground Spaceport (4x25 CP) (40/40 ship capacity)
6x Spaceports (6x25 CP) (60/60 ship capacity)
Underground Magnetic Catapult launch system (50 CP) +500 lift capacity
Spoiler: Void Installations:
27x Orbital Manufactory (27x40=1080 CP) +1350 VBP
Small Shipyard (50 CP) 4 ship construction slots
Scrapcode Vault, upgraded with machine spirits (10 CP) 40/50 psychic shielding, repair for 10 BP/point
27x Orbital Manufactory (27x40=1080 CP) +1350 VBP
Small Shipyard (50 CP) 4 ship construction slots
Scrapcode Vault, upgraded with machine spirits (10 CP) 40/50 psychic shielding, repair for 10 BP/point
Military Installations:
Underground Machine-spirit Jammer (10 CP)
Underground Medium Void Shield (50 CP)
10x Underground Anti-Air Defenses (10x5 = 50 CP)
2x Underground Anti-Orbital Defenses (2x5 = 10 CP)
In progress construction:
Spark of the Ancients (0/33,650 BP)
In progress research:
The Basics of Psytech (15/100 RP)
Improved Psychic Shielding (40/100 RP)
Actions (choose 4 of the below, can choose the same action multiple times):
[] [Free] Poke around some more in the databases, looking for anything in particular.
I'm not going to write out every aspect of Vita going through the databases she yoinked. If you want to ask if something in particular is present because it's important, do so here. Please keep it to one or two items per turn.
[] Orders: Command existing units in a given theater of operations.
[] Diplomacy/Subversion: Talk to people. (Write-in goal & method)
The nations of Denva don't really need your immediate attention. They're integrating the mechanicus, slowly, and moving into space, slowly. The direction is all good, it's just going to take about 10 turns before the situation changes on its own, absent an outside force like you poking it.
[] Construction: Gain build points equal to your build capacity, write in what combination of blueprints you spend them on.
- Installations
- Void Installations
- Ships
- Units
- Export Goods
[] Research: Gain research points equal to your research capacity, to be spent designing new blueprints or researching projects. Write in what you spend them on.
Designable Blueprints:
50 RP - Heavy tanks (500 BP, 50 CP) 100 heavy battle tanks with heavy battle cannons to fight effectively against heavy enemy armor. Also unlocks the machine-spirit versions.
50 RP - Medium Shielded tanks (500 BP, 50 CP) 100 medium battle tanks with battle cannons & antipersonnel weapons to fight enemy armor and infantry. Very survivable. Also unlocks the machine-spirit versions.
100 RP - Heavy Shielded tanks (1000 BP, 50 CP) 100 heavy battle tanks with heavy battle cannons and void shields to fight effectively against heavy enemy armor. Very survivable. Also unlocks the machine-spirit versions.
50 RP - Medium Shielded tanks (500 BP, 50 CP) 100 medium battle tanks with battle cannons & antipersonnel weapons to fight enemy armor and infantry. Very survivable. Also unlocks the machine-spirit versions.
100 RP - Heavy Shielded tanks (1000 BP, 50 CP) 100 heavy battle tanks with heavy battle cannons and void shields to fight effectively against heavy enemy armor. Very survivable. Also unlocks the machine-spirit versions.
50 RP - Basic Stealth Shuttles (25 BP, 5 CP) Each shuttle converts up to 50 ground build capacity to void build capacity, and shouldn't be especially noticeable to anybody not actively looking for it. Requires a spaceport for efficient transfer of materials.
50 RP - Bombers (20 BP, 5 CP) Sometimes you want to deliver cargo to your enemies. Can deliver a fair amount of ordinance to a target in atmosphere or out of it. Unlocks a bomber hanger attachment for ships.
75 RP - Basic Stealth Bombers (20 BP, 5 CP) Sometimes you want to deliver cargo to your enemies. Can deliver a fair amount of ordinance to a target in atmosphere or out of it. They shouldn't be especially noticeable to anybody not actively looking, though they won't be able to close all the way to attack range without being spotted. Unlocks a bomber hanger attachment for ships.
50 RP - Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP) Sometimes you want to deliver things other than bombs to your enemies. So let's stick some armor and guns on a shuttle, and make it a bit more maneuverable. Can carry 100 troops and provide anti-personnel and light antiarmor fire.
50 RP - Bombers (20 BP, 5 CP) Sometimes you want to deliver cargo to your enemies. Can deliver a fair amount of ordinance to a target in atmosphere or out of it. Unlocks a bomber hanger attachment for ships.
75 RP - Basic Stealth Bombers (20 BP, 5 CP) Sometimes you want to deliver cargo to your enemies. Can deliver a fair amount of ordinance to a target in atmosphere or out of it. They shouldn't be especially noticeable to anybody not actively looking, though they won't be able to close all the way to attack range without being spotted. Unlocks a bomber hanger attachment for ships.
50 RP - Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP) Sometimes you want to deliver things other than bombs to your enemies. So let's stick some armor and guns on a shuttle, and make it a bit more maneuverable. Can carry 100 troops and provide anti-personnel and light antiarmor fire.
25 RP - Anti-armor Bunker (50 BP, 5 CP) A bunker with a heavy melta cannon, able to take out most armor in a single shot.
15 RP - Anti-personnel Bunker (20 BP, 2 CP) A bunker with a set of high-fire-rate weapons designed to take down humanoid-sized attackers wearing medium or lighter armor.
50 RP - Light Void-shield installation (250 BP, 25 CP) A void shield capable of stopping light orbital bombardment, approximately ten heavy strikes.
50 RP - Ballistic missile (50 BP, 10 CP) A long-range ballistic missile. By default it carries a high-yield explosive head capable of destroying approximately a city block. Can be intercepted by orbital defenses.
50 RP - Nuclear warhead (25 BP, 1 CP) A variable-yield nuclear warhead that can be deployed by ballistic missile or other means to destroy a city-sized target unless it's heavily dug-in.
25 RP - Spy satellite (10 void BP, 5 CP) A small spy satellite that lets you do your own surveillance on the planet below. Under your complete control and with better sensors and communication hardening than any of the local satellites.
100 RP - Advanced Technological Research Lab (500 BP, 100 CP) Will allow you to process advanced technological samples, including materials of alien orgin. Has advanced scanning, modelling and processing capabilities.
50 RP - Large automated medical facility (500 BP, 50 CP) 500 treatment rooms with autodocs capable of dealing with moderate injuries.
25 RP - Maglev System (5 bp/mile, 50 flat CP) A high-capacity maglev system to transport large amounts of goods across a planetary surface, linking various surface installations together into a single network so production from any of them can be applied at all of them.
Ground Blueprint Design:
To design ground installations & non-combat units, post them and I'll add them here if they're valid, along with RP cost to design them. This includes bunkers, anti-orbital defenses, ground units, etc. You'll unlock more things with more technology.Some things are impossible without the correct research - for example, heavy tanks will require you to research heavy armor first. Other things will be very cheap if you already have most of the design - for example if you research a better weapon it will be relatively cheap to just swap that out on the tanks.
Void Blueprint design:
To design void blueprints, follow these steps:- Choose a starting hull from the list of available void chassis below
- Choose the number of Build Points to be spent on the base hull. This corresponds to overall size of the ship - a destroyer with 200 bp will be 1200x200 meters, while a 500 bp base destroyer will be 1600x400 meters. This will set the "hp" of the design as well as determine the total amount of space inside the ship, which is represented by the number of BP spent on the hull. That's your "Budget"
- Pick the speed, shields and armor of the design. Shields are recharging temp HP, while armor is damage reduction. Speed is self-explanatory. These do not count towards cramming.
- Pick noncombat equipment to go onto the ship. These do not count towards cramming.
- Choose weapons and combat equipment to add to the ship.Your budget for these things is the base BP spent on size before you start to get into cramming. You can cram more stuff in, but there will be penalties to maneuvering, maintenance, etc. As an example, if you build a destroyer with a base hull cost of 400, then you have a budget of 400 to spend on weapons/equipment before penalties start kicking in.
Here are two examples of me designing the two blueprints you have available:
(Basic Defense Satellite) Light defense Platform. Base 100 Bp (200x200 meters). No engines, Light shields for 50 bp, light armor for 50 bp. 1x light lance battery for 100 bp. Total is 100+50+50+100 = 300. Weapons+equipment is 100, within the base BP of 100, so no cramming penalty.
(Basic System Monitor) Destroyer chassis. Base BP 350 (1500x300 meters) Engines: 7 gravities for 100 BP. Light Shields for 50 BP. Medium armor for 100 BP. 2x Light Macrocannon batteries for 200 bp, 1x Light Lance battery for 100 bp, High maneuverability thrusters for (1/10 base, round up to nearest 50 =) 50 bp. Total is 350+100+50+100+200+100+50 = 950. Weapons + equipment is 350, within the base BP of 350, so no cramming penalty.
Available Void Chassis:
Light defense Platform, 25 RP, 10 CP, (100-400 BP, 200x200-500x500 meters.) Engines: (none) for (0). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100)Destroyer, 50 RP, 50 CP, 1 ship construction slots (200-500 BP, 1200x200-1600x400 meters) Engines: (6/7/8 gravities) for (50/100/150 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100)
Frigate, 100 RP, 100 CP, 2 ship construction slots (500-1000 BP, 1600x400-2200x600 meters) Engines: (5/6/7 gravities) for (75/150/225 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/75/150) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/75/150)
Light Cruiser, 150 RP, 200 CP, 8 ship construction slots (1000-2000 BP, 3500x400-4400x800 meters) Engines: (3/4/5 gravities) for (100/200/300 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/150/300) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/100/200)
Heavy Cruiser, 200 RP, 300 CP, 32 ship construction slots (2000-6000 BP, 4500x600-6000x1200 meters) Engines: (2/3/4 gravities) for (300/400/500 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/200/400) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/200/400)
Available Non-combat Equipment:
Living Space (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship is built to be run and operated by humans. It will require a crew but will not cost CP to command.
Warp Drive (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to nearest 50) This ship can jump to the warp. Navigation systems sold separately.
Psychic Shielding (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to nearest 50) This ship has a neural network integrated throughout the whole thing, that thinks "no" as hard as possible, answering the question for any warp-corruption for any beings or objects within the hull.
Troop compartment (25 BP) Can carry 10,000 soldiers or 500 medium tanks across the stars.
Medical bay (25 BP) Can treat 1000 moderately injured people at once.
Manufactory (Any cost up to base cost of hull, counts as combat equipment for cramming purposes) Generates void BP equivalent to 1/10 of its cost.
Repair Bay (Any cost up to base cost of hull, counts as combat equipment for cramming purposes). Repairs damage across friendly ships equal to its cost in repairs.
Warp Drive (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to nearest 50) This ship can jump to the warp. Navigation systems sold separately.
Psychic Shielding (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to nearest 50) This ship has a neural network integrated throughout the whole thing, that thinks "no" as hard as possible, answering the question for any warp-corruption for any beings or objects within the hull.
Troop compartment (25 BP) Can carry 10,000 soldiers or 500 medium tanks across the stars.
Medical bay (25 BP) Can treat 1000 moderately injured people at once.
Manufactory (Any cost up to base cost of hull, counts as combat equipment for cramming purposes) Generates void BP equivalent to 1/10 of its cost.
Repair Bay (Any cost up to base cost of hull, counts as combat equipment for cramming purposes). Repairs damage across friendly ships equal to its cost in repairs.
Available Weapons:
Multiple the final weapon cost by 0.9 before applying it to ship designs. So if you have 500 BP of weapons, it only counts as 450 for the purposes of ship packing. But it'll count as 500 for final ship cost.Prow Ram 50 bp. This ship is built to run into things, and hurt them more than it gets hurt.
Light Macrocannons 100 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Medium Macrocannons 200 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Heavy Macrocannons 400 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Light Lances 100 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Medium Lances 200 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Heavy Lances 400 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Light Missiles 50 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Medium Missiles 100 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Heavy Missiles 200 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Light Plasma Cannon 250 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields.
Medium Plasma Cannon 500 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields, less effective against armor.
Heavy Plasma Cannon 1000 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields, less effective against armor.
Light Melta cannon 200 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against armor.
Medium Melta cannon 400 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against armor.
Heavy Melta cannon 800 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against armor.
Fighters 100 BP, 50 CP. Parasite craft with short-ranged guns and some missile capability. Basic stealth automatically applied.
Shuttles 100 BP, 50 CP. 10 Shuttlecraft, combined capacity of 500 lift to or from a planet.
Assault Shuttles 150 BP, 50 CP. 10 Assault shuttles, with combined capacity of 1000 troops or 10 tanks in one trip. asic stealth automatically applied.
Point Defense 50 BP. A series of turrets on the hull to shoot down enemy fighters, missiles and torpedoes.
Small Torpedoes 150 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to give destroyers a bad day, hurt frigates and prick cruisers.
Medium Torpedoes 300 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to wreck frigates, hurt cruisers and make grand cruisers know they've been touched.
Large Torpedoes 600 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to wreck cruisers, hurt grand cruisers and make battleships cruisers know they've been touched.
Light Teleportarium 100 bp. Can teleport a small number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from close range. Enemy shields must be down.
Medium Teleportarium 200 bp. Can teleport a medium number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from medium-close. Enemy shields must be down.
Heavy Teleportarium 400 bp. Can teleport a large number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from long range. Enemy shields must be down.
Light Macrocannons 100 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Medium Macrocannons 200 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Heavy Macrocannons 400 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Light Lances 100 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Medium Lances 200 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Heavy Lances 400 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Light Missiles 50 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Medium Missiles 100 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Heavy Missiles 200 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Light Plasma Cannon 250 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields.
Medium Plasma Cannon 500 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields, less effective against armor.
Heavy Plasma Cannon 1000 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields, less effective against armor.
Light Melta cannon 200 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against armor.
Medium Melta cannon 400 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against armor.
Heavy Melta cannon 800 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against armor.
Fighters 100 BP, 50 CP. Parasite craft with short-ranged guns and some missile capability. Basic stealth automatically applied.
Shuttles 100 BP, 50 CP. 10 Shuttlecraft, combined capacity of 500 lift to or from a planet.
Assault Shuttles 150 BP, 50 CP. 10 Assault shuttles, with combined capacity of 1000 troops or 10 tanks in one trip. asic stealth automatically applied.
Point Defense 50 BP. A series of turrets on the hull to shoot down enemy fighters, missiles and torpedoes.
Small Torpedoes 150 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to give destroyers a bad day, hurt frigates and prick cruisers.
Medium Torpedoes 300 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to wreck frigates, hurt cruisers and make grand cruisers know they've been touched.
Large Torpedoes 600 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to wreck cruisers, hurt grand cruisers and make battleships cruisers know they've been touched.
Light Teleportarium 100 bp. Can teleport a small number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from close range. Enemy shields must be down.
Medium Teleportarium 200 bp. Can teleport a medium number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from medium-close. Enemy shields must be down.
Heavy Teleportarium 400 bp. Can teleport a large number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from long range. Enemy shields must be down.
Available Combat Equipment:
Low-emission Systems (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship has been tuned to reduce overall emissions, making it stealthier. Not stealthy. Stealthier.
High-maneuverability thrusters (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship is more maneuverable, able to flip, spin and dodge more quickly. This lets it maneuver well through dense asteroid clusters and dodge/ram more effectively in combat.
Plasma payloads (choose missile warheads or Macro cannon warheads) (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship can load and fire plasma-warhead ammunition, which has a flat damage increase.
Melta payloads (choose missile warheads, Macrocannon warheads or torpedoes) (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship can load and fire melta-warhead ammunition, which is especially effective against enemy armor and hulls.
Tuned Shields Costs the same as the chosen armor cost, but does count towards cramming (not the total cost, just the extra cost for tuned shields, so if shields costs 100 bp, then tuned shields cost 100 bp and 100 bp is counted against cramming). These shields recharge significantly faster, but when taken down all the way take slightly longer to reboot.
Alloyed Armor Costs the same as the chosen armor cost, does count towards cramming (not the total cost, just the extra cost for tuned shields, so if armor costs 100 bp, then alloyed armor costs 100 bp and 100 bp is counted against cramming). Armor is much tougher but is harder to repair.
Light Boarding preparations (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) Bulkheads are reinforced, extra hatches seal all decks and turrets guard key chokepoints, making boarding annoying.
Medium Boarding preparations (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) The ship layout is designed to funnel borders into kill-zones in front of armored bunkers, and any borders will take heavy casualties.
Heavy Boarding preparations (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship as essentially a flying dungeon, filled with escherian mazes, hidden turrets, crushing-hallways and other deathtraps.
Light Machine Spirit Jammers (1/20 of the base cost of hull, rounded up to nearest 50) Banks of cogitators with code to disable machine spirits. Enough to cause significant degradation in an enemy ship's sensors, maneuvering and targeting. Primarily effective against ships of the same weight class.
Medium Machine Spirit Jammers (1/10 of the base cost of hull, rounded up to nearest 50) Banks of cogitators with code to disable machine spirits. Same as light jammers, plus will also effect total thrust, weapons firing rate. Primarily effective against ships of the same weight class.
Heavy Machine Spirit Jammers (1/5 of the base cost of hull, rounded up to nearest 50) Banks of cogitators with code to disable machine spirits. Same effect as medium, but may also effect friend-foe designation and reactor stability. Primarily effective against ships of the same weight class.
High-maneuverability thrusters (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship is more maneuverable, able to flip, spin and dodge more quickly. This lets it maneuver well through dense asteroid clusters and dodge/ram more effectively in combat.
Plasma payloads (choose missile warheads or Macro cannon warheads) (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship can load and fire plasma-warhead ammunition, which has a flat damage increase.
Melta payloads (choose missile warheads, Macrocannon warheads or torpedoes) (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship can load and fire melta-warhead ammunition, which is especially effective against enemy armor and hulls.
Tuned Shields Costs the same as the chosen armor cost, but does count towards cramming (not the total cost, just the extra cost for tuned shields, so if shields costs 100 bp, then tuned shields cost 100 bp and 100 bp is counted against cramming). These shields recharge significantly faster, but when taken down all the way take slightly longer to reboot.
Alloyed Armor Costs the same as the chosen armor cost, does count towards cramming (not the total cost, just the extra cost for tuned shields, so if armor costs 100 bp, then alloyed armor costs 100 bp and 100 bp is counted against cramming). Armor is much tougher but is harder to repair.
Light Boarding preparations (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) Bulkheads are reinforced, extra hatches seal all decks and turrets guard key chokepoints, making boarding annoying.
Medium Boarding preparations (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) The ship layout is designed to funnel borders into kill-zones in front of armored bunkers, and any borders will take heavy casualties.
Heavy Boarding preparations (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship as essentially a flying dungeon, filled with escherian mazes, hidden turrets, crushing-hallways and other deathtraps.
Light Machine Spirit Jammers (1/20 of the base cost of hull, rounded up to nearest 50) Banks of cogitators with code to disable machine spirits. Enough to cause significant degradation in an enemy ship's sensors, maneuvering and targeting. Primarily effective against ships of the same weight class.
Medium Machine Spirit Jammers (1/10 of the base cost of hull, rounded up to nearest 50) Banks of cogitators with code to disable machine spirits. Same as light jammers, plus will also effect total thrust, weapons firing rate. Primarily effective against ships of the same weight class.
Heavy Machine Spirit Jammers (1/5 of the base cost of hull, rounded up to nearest 50) Banks of cogitators with code to disable machine spirits. Same effect as medium, but may also effect friend-foe designation and reactor stability. Primarily effective against ships of the same weight class.
The ways to get new research options are to:
-[] Medium Defense Platforms (100 RP) You've already got most of the tools you need to build bigger defensive platforms, but these would be a larger platform to stick guns on, with more ability to withstand damage. (Unlocks medium defensive platforms, potential for other void-based installation options)
-[] Streamlined ship design (150 RP) You can improve your tools for ship design to make it easier to design ships in the future. That might be nice (Halves the RP cost to design new ships, may unlock other ship design improvements)
-[] Efficient Equipment Distribution (100 RP) Let's see if you can apply the benefits from weapon packing to equipment (Combat equipment costs count as 0.9x for ship capacity packing.)
-[] Extremely Efficient Weapon Distribution (200 RP) You did a good job already in packing more weapons into less space. But you think you see ways to make it even better (Weapons cost at 0.75 for ship capacity packing)
-[] Can I have a new ship please? (200 RP) Triggers a sub-turn to design yourself a new ship. It can be any size, up to one class larger than what you currently have available (This is Vita's unique mechanic, and will let you design new iterations of your ship)
-[] Boarding Capabilities (100 RP) Apparently it's common for ships in this day and age to board each other and for the crew to fight hand-to-hand. Instead of, you know, chucking enormous missiles at each other. Insane. Well, it might be a nice capability to have in case you want to capture ships intact. (Unlocks boarding torpedoes and boarding craft for hangers, may combine with stealth research to unlock stealth borders)
-[] Networked missiles (100 RP) The biggest danger to missiles is that they'll get shot down by fighters and point defense. If you can network them together to cooperate against those threats, more of the warheads will reach their targets. (Unlocks new combat equipment to make missiles more effective. May unlock more technology to make missiles smarter, longer ranged and generally more effective)
-[] Large-scale Void Manufacturing (200 RP) Unlike ground factories, which have to deal with gravity and atmosphere, there's little stopping you from just... scaling up the principles of void manufacturing. Besides the annoying spaghetti of logistics, but that's a solvable problem. (Allows you to design large void manufactories that are more efficient, improves the manufactories on your ships to be 1/5 instead of 1/10 production). Potential for other void-based platform technologies).
-[] Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements (50 RP) You dramatically improved the efficiency of your void manufacturing by stripping out the dumb stuff that was required by stellar federation beauracracy. There's probably some stuff like that in your ground manufactories too. (Reduces the CP cost but not BP cost of your ground manufactories).
-[] Shuttle automation (150 RP) Surely I don't have to fly these stupid things myself. (Reduce the CP cost of shuttles by 50%)
-[] Walkers (300 RP) Tanks are... kind of boring? Mechs are cooler. (unlock armiger knights, starts the knights/titans research tree)
-[] Mothballing (100 RP) Keeping a bunch of systems functional and ready requires attention that is swiftly running out. Maybe you can figure out how to spend less attention on things that are mostly inactive (Unlocks the ability to mothball an installation for 10% of it's build cost, free reactivation that takes a few weeks. May unlock techs to allow you to freely turn things on and off, as well as increasing the speed of reactivation enough for you to keep military installations mothballed until they're needed.)
-[] Abacus Manufacturing (200 RP) You understand all of the physical parts of an abacus. Now you need to figure out all of the manufacturing techniques needed to actually put one together. (Unlocks the void abacus ship equipment)
-[] Basic Spaceship Stealth (100 RP) Spaceships are big, and emit a lot of energy. It's hard to hide them. Nonetheless, by making them show up worse on active sensors you could make an inactive spaceship much harder to spot. (Unlocks new non-combat equipment to improve ship stealth. Unlocks further research towards better spaceship stealth. Will be able to take advantage of some other stealth technologies.)
-[] Basic Ground force stealth (50 RP) Tanks show up pretty well on scanners, and it would be nice to change that. You might also be able to make your bots hide better. (Unlocks new design options for tanks and ground forces that are less obvious. Unlocks further research towards better ground force stealth. Will be able to take advantage of some other stealth technologies.)
-[] Improved Passive Stealth (50 RP) Ok, you've figured out the basics of hiding your small craft, but you have ideas on what you can do better, that might allow them to hide from even fully-alert enemies. They probably won't be able to close all the way to attack range, but they'll be able to get a lot closer (Unlocks improved stealth designs with improved performance. Unlocks further research for advanced passive stealth technologies. Will synergize with other stealth research.)
-[] Basic Active Stealth (100 RP) Just deflecting away and hiding your signature only helps so much. Then next step is to overlay a hologram over your small craft to make them effectively invisible, and even counter passive sensors. It'll still be a hazy outline, but this is the path towards being able to close to actual combat ranges unobserved (Unlocks improved stealth designs for actively hiding signatures, though they will be expensive. Unlocks further research for improved active stealth, and will synergize with other stealth research.
-[] Heavy Void shields (200 RP) Your current shields are good, but they could be better. Specifically, you want to make multi-layered shields, which could be applied to anything larger than a destroyer (Unlocks heavy void shields for ships and stations, as well as further research for void shielding improved for recharge speed, layered defenses, etc.)
-[] Heavy In-atmosphere void shields (100 RP) Well, the void shields you have are nice. But it would be nice to be able to build bigger ones, that can shrug off essentially any possible orbital bombardment. You need to figure out how to take advantage of the ridiculous energy and heat dissipation capabilities of being on a planet. (Unlocks heavy and super-heavy void shield installations. May unlock research towards better overall void shielding.)
-[] Tiny In-atmosphere void shields (100 RP) Instead of scaling up a void shield, can you scale one down to the size of a person? It won't be as capable of the big ones, but if it's only meant to block small-arms fire it could be quite effective. (Unlocks the ability to build personal void shields, as well as add them to combat bots. May unlock research towards better overall void shielding)
-[] Superheavy Armor (200 RP) Let's just stick starship armor on them and call it a day. (Unlocks superheavy tanks and is half of the puzzle for space-marine-quality power armor)
-[] Advanced Materials (250 RP) You know there are exotic elements with absurd physical properties. But it's also possible to build absurdly strong materials with common elements. How does that work? Time to dust off some ancient research projects and figure this stuff out. (Unlocks improved armor, as well as research to unlock megastructures. Also required for battleships and larger walkers)
-[] Basic power armor (100 RP) Putting heavy armor on a person doesn't work well because... well. It's heavy. If you can give it some robotic actuation then they don't need to carry all of it. (Unlocks humanoid heavy armor, as well as being a prereq for superheavy-humanoid armor, i.e. for space marine-quality, once you research superheavy armor.)
-[] Avatar self-customization (100 RP) Your previous avatar was capable of changing its appearance at your whim, changing the hair, eye and skim color rapidly. Hair length and body size changes took a bit longer but were also possible. Is this worth figuring out? It might just be you being vain. (Unlocks some disguise-style cybernetics... once you get good cybernetics and can do things like skin/eye replacements).
-[] Improved Armor Articulation (50 RP) From your research on humanizing combat bots you have some ideas about improving the points of articulation on armor to increase the range of motion and make the suits more responsive. (Increased performance & mobility for heavier armor, both for combat bots & people wearing heavy armor you make. May unlock further armor upgrade techs)
-[] Really good Robotics: (600 RP) You know it's possible to make robots that are really strong. You've seen the specs floating around. You just don't quite know how to do it, though you've got some ideas on the matter... it would take quite a bit of simulation and a lot of trial and error to bring them into reality (Unlocks improvements to avatars, power armor, cybernetics, combat bots, improved manufactories). Acquire samples of advanced robots to reduce this cost.
-[] Intelligence Coding (400 RP) You don't really understand how your own code and hardware works. Maybe putting some effort into understanding that would pay dividends. It's never been something too interesting, but hey, maybe you should give it a shot. (Helps you understand your own code. Prerequisite to building new AIs, starts command point tree and automation tree, also unlocks personality-checking research)
- [] Personality-Checking Routines (200 RP) All of this chaos-corruption is making you nervous. People changing according to the will of some warp-entity? Becoming different in ways that would disgust their past selves? That gives you the heebee-jeebies. Maybe - just maybe - it would be good to develop some ways to automatically check if aspects of your personality are diverging ways you don't want them to. Then you might be able to fix the problem before you become somebody who doesn't want (Gives you some algorithms to check for personality divergence in AIs. Doesn't do anything, just alerts you to changes and lets you decide what steps to take. Unlocks further research to prevent/rollback personality change, as well as potentially extend this research to humans with neural implants). Locked behind Intelligence Coding.
-[] Improved Psychic shielding: (100 RP) Your "no" shielding seems to have worked to protect you from attack so far. But the design is really just a first-generation version. You could develop the second generation, make it capable of more complex and powerful thoughts? (Gives you the ability to build improved psychic shielding, and further upgrades down the path to make it even stronger, half of the research towards using this as some kind of attack against warp beings, as well as half of the requirements to integrate machine spirits with psychic shielding).
-[] Personal-sized Psychic shielding: (150 RP) You were able to break your psychic shielding down into components to rescale it, but that gets you down to a size measured in tens of meters. If you want to make another one that's even smaller, then you're going to have to break it down into even smaller pieces and build something back up again. But doing that would let you start weaving the shielding into armor or individual bots. (Allows you to outfit individuals with psychic shielding, though it may be less powerful than what you can build into larger structures. Unlocks additional technology for further miniaturization to put it into totems or implants.)
-[] Nested Psychic shielding: (200 RP) With multiple sizes of shielding comes the question - can you simply layer different kinds of shielding to protect against psychic attacks. The current answer is no due to some unfortunate resonance between different layers of shielding. You think you can solve for that, though it involves you making some assumptions about warp-psyker-stuff that you'll need to validate experimentally (Allows you to have multiple layers of shielding active at once. Unlocks additional technology for templating multiple effects into one shield, which will also require improved psychic shielding.) Locked behind warp understanding.
-[] Abacus-Warp interactions (100 RP) The one part of the abacus you don't understand is how it interacts with the warp. That part is just weird, and you need to put in some more brain-sweat to figure it out. (Better understanding of the void abacus, necessary for any improvements on the basic design, and unlocks technology for better warp understanding).
-[] Scrapcode Research (200 RP) How does scrapcode work? Obviously the answer is "psychic shenanigans," but you'd like to get a little bit more detail than that. Maybe you'll be able to defend against it in some way. (Understanding of scrapcode that's likely useful for defending against it. Grants light reduction to shield damage from scrapcode and unlocks technology to further reduce psychic damage from scrapcode, and potential technologies to generate or store scrapcode for your own use.)
-[] Gravity Weapons (200 RP) You know it's possible to use gravity as a weapon, though it sounds a bit crazy. But still, it might be worth trying? (Unlocks basic graviton weapons for infantry, vehicles and warships, as well as research for more advanced graviton weapons. Half of the research necessary for Nova Cannons)
-[] The Biggest Boom (150 RP) So. There's no actual upper limit for how big a fusion warhead can get. But it does get more complicated to build bigger and bigger bombs. Let's figure that out. (Unlocks bigger, exterminatus-grade warheads for nukes. The other half of the research necessary for Nova Cannons)
-[] Superconductive Shenanigans (200 RP) Room-temperature superconductors are a thing. But only kind of, and they still need to be highly pressurized to be stable. You know some people cracked this problem, but they didn't publish on it, which was annoying. But you think you might have an idea how they did it. Figuring it out would be great for manufacturing, and drop costs across the board. (A flat production boost of 5-15% depending on rolls).
-[] Miniaturized antigrav (50 RP) You can make antigrav that reduces the weight of things like shuttles to make them able to make orbit. But there's a floor on how small you can make that technology. The Imperium seems to have solved that. (Unlocks drones, jump-packs etc, as well as additional research to make antigrav vehicles/walkers)
-[] High-energy Physics (300 RP) There's some pretty crazy stuff you can do with physics. Especially when the energy exponents really start getting insane. However, that's going to take a bit of testing - maybe on a planetoid you don't care too much about. Or in space. (The next steps towards bigger, badder weapons, such as fusion beamers, disintegration weapons. Half of the research for vortex weaponry.) Locked behind a High-Energy Physics Research Lab
-[] Improved combat Machine spirits (100 RP) Right now the machine spirits can match the performance of bots you directly control. However, with some tweaking of their networks, structure and code you think you can make an across-the-board improvement in aim, tactics and decision-making of the machine spirits in combat. (Improved combat performance of machine-spirit imbued infantry & vehicle forces. May unlock technology for improved tactical coordination, as well as improved combat performance of machine-spirit equipped ships/larger installations)
-[] Large-scale Machine spirits (150 RP) As it stands, you can integrate machine spirits into small things. Expanding that to military installations and ships is going to require designing even more complex networks and figuring out how to make them work. With Anexa's insights you think it's eminantly possible thought (Unlocks machine-spirit equipped versions of frigate-sized or smaller ships and platforms, as well as most defensive installations. Unlocks more research for machine spirits for larger ships & platforms.)
-[] Manufacturing Machine Spirits (100 RP) Making machine spirits run reactors and shoot guns is one thing, but making them build something? That poses another challenge. You don't think it's insurmountable though. (Unlocks machine-spirit controlled manufactories, orbital manufactories and deep-space manufactories. Unlocks more research for other kinds of machine-spirit aided manufacturing).
-[] Machine Spirit Chaos resistance (300 RP) You think the reason that the machine spirits resist chaos is because they understand their purpose to some extent, and the entire neural network needs to be corrupted to corrupt that purpose, which is harder. There's also emotional simulation that's going on in there. (Improves the basal resistance of machine spirits to chaos corruption. May unlock further technology down this chain, as well as half of the requirements to integrate machine spirits with psychic shielding.)
-[] Psytech Machine spirits (100 RP) You don't think that machine spirits can be psychically active. However, from what you understand of psytech it's a temperamental and difficult discipline, and you think that integrating machine spirits into the construction of psytech might improve its reliability and performance. (Improves psytech, at the cost of making it somewhat more expensive. May lead to more advanced versions for more advanced psytech, and may contribute to better psychic shields) Locked behind The Basics of Psytech.
-[] Servitorization (50 RP) You find it repulsive, but being able to replace somebody's brain with a computer that drives them around would have its uses. (Unlocks the ability to servitorize people in the medbay. Unlocks follow-on research to replicate their personality as well)
-[] An Introduction to Human Genetics (100 RP) Humans are complex creatures, but apparently their manufacturing instructions are just 6 billion bits long, and most of that seems redundant. Interesting. (Unlocks very basic genetic enhancements, as well as a basic understanding of mutations. Unlocks research for more complex genetic engineering, and may lead to research to fix mutations)
-[] Does in vitro have something to do with wine? (200 RP) Unlocks the ability to clone basic humans (Unlocks the cloning bay, as well as further technology to clone things other than baseline humans, like humans without brains for organs or humans with more dramatic genetic mutations. Along with brain implants may lead to personality backups).
-[] You don't need no stinkin' medical school (50 RP) You've got a few auto-doc modules that can prescribe drugs based on symptoms or do basic surgeries. If you actually understood the medicine you'd be able to perform better care, as well as do more advanced surgeries (Unlocks better medical care, as well as general enhancements to surgeries, cybernetic augmentations and more. May be a prerequisite to further biomedical research. Also unlocks more research for advanced medical care, which will likely reduce other research costs and be a prerequisite for advanced augmentations.)
-[] Drugs? Drugs. (100 RP) Human biochemistry is... weird. You've got a standard list of recipies for basic drugs, but if you wanted to get further into it you could start pulling out some stranger and more illicit ones from your research databanks. (Unlocks a wide variety of drugs for things like interrogation, combat, sedation, etc. May lead to research for things like perfect knockout gas, super-adrenaline, psytech drugs, etc.)
-[] Juvenat Beginnings (600 RP) Ok. Juvenat is complicated. You're able to make it by following a formula that is at times precise, at times general and at times just - what? Maybe start to delve into the science of that. (Unlocks a basic understanding of juvenat, and may make it more efficient to produce. Tech cost will be reduced by other biomedical researchers. The start of the juvenat research tree.)
-[] Navigator Genetics (500 RP) So... you have some navigator genetic material. You can poke at that, see if you can figure out how it works. They had a reputation even back in your day, and it only seems to have gotten worse. Still, tempting. (Unlocks basic understanding of navigator genetics. Will unlock further technology to improve the health of navigators, as well as technology to allow you to clone navigators.) Locked behind tech you haven't unlocked yet - probably 1-2 down the human genetics chain depending on rolls.
-[] Navigator Gestation (200 RP) You have a navigator fetus. You don't know what to do with that beyond the obvious. So, how would you do it? Well, you doubt you could just implant it into somebody. From the traces left behind on Klyssar's nest you should do this in a tank. (Allows you to turn the navigator fetus into a navigator baby) Locked behind the Does in vitro have something to do with wine? and maybe a followup tech depending on rolls.
-[] Combat Neural Implants (50 RP) Allows you to install neural implants to calculate trajectories, assist with aiming, further improve reaction time and generally improve human capabilities in combat. (Unlocks combat-focused neural implants. Will synergize with other cybernetics and neural implant technologies)
-[] Advanced organ replacements (150 RP) Your organ replacements almost fully replicate the real thing, but not quite. But they can't adjust to shocks in body homeostasis and they do need to be replaced every decade or so. You think you can make them as good or slightly better than the real thing, including the potential to grow with the bearer. (Unlocks organs which actually just replace normal organs almost perfectly. Likely to synergize with other implant/cybernetics/enhancement techs). Locked behind You don't need no stinkin' medical school.
-[] Superhuman organ replacements (300 RP) Your organ replacements almost fully replicate the real thing, and have some useful auxiliary functions. But there's another level of improvement that's possible here. You could make organs that conveyed superhuman characteristics on the wearers. Improved oxygen transfer rate, improved bone density, immunity to most toxins, improved healing rate. (Unlocks advanced organs implants which grant superhuman capabilities. Not quite space-marine-level, but that's the next tech, though these are still artificial). Locked behind You don't need no stinkin' medical school and Advanced Combat cybernetics.
-[] Advanced Neural Implants (150 RP) Well, your current neural implants are good, but what if you further integrated them into the brain, improving throughput and allowing the recipient even further integrate themselves with digital systems (unlocks advanced neural implants, unlocks further technologies related to neural implants, such as basic cognition filters). Locked behind You don't need no stinkin' medical school.
-[] Advanced Combat cybernetics (150 RP) Your cybernetics can easily contain light and some medium weapons, but they're not really suited to heavy combat. Yet. You could make them tougher, beefier, and figure out how to fit the power sources for larger weapons inside. (Unlocks advanced combat augments. Half of the technology for excellent combat augments, unlocks further cybernetics/research). Locked behind Really good Robotics.
-[] Basic Cognition Filter: (??? RP) Antimemetic threats are such a hassle. Even the programs you've written to partion your own knowledge are an ad-hoc solution. And aside from having an innate resistance above the zero-tolerance you likely have, humans have a really hard time not thinking about something. Fix it. Work out a method for existing brain-augments to isolate knowledge on cognitohazards to the augment's machine spirit in inert memory vaults. The user will have to instead consciously override the locks on the chosen memories to access them temporarily. That way, stray thoughts about the isolated memories cannot happen, and long-term memories in the brain when the memory vaults are unlocked get instead rerouted to the machine spirit of the brain implant. Will have a harder time isolating knowledge from existing long-term memories formed when not actively using the cognition filter. (Unlocks cognition filter modification to brain implants, unlocks further technologies related to cognition filter and methods for mitigating cognitohazards, basilisk hacks, etc. perceived in real-time.) Locked behind Advanced Neural Implants, cost to be determined by the roll on that research.
-[] Organic-Machine control (150 RP) Allows you to hook humans into your own command-and-control loop, allowing you to turn over command duties of various bots to humans - though they'll only be able to command combat units. (Unlocks brain implants that allow a human to control some number of CP worth of combat bots/ships. There are more technologies to allow humans to command larger ships/manufacturing systems as well)
-[] Rapid hacking (500RP) You need to figure out a new approach to subverting machine spirits. It might involve some combination of confusing them with a burst of signals, then showing up and 'relieving' the issue. But it would take a lot of trial-and-error to get right. (Improves hacking of imperial tech. Potentially enough for use in combat situations? Will unlock further hacking technology).
-[] Improved Machine-spirit Jamming (300 RP) Well, you can't combine it with hacking, but you can still try to improve what you have to be more efficent, target more machine spirits at a time, etc. (Improves success rate of jamming imperial tech, decreases failure penalties. May unlock further jamming technology)
- Do research. That'll unlock more research.
- Build appropriate installations & potentially acquire samples to research in them (samples could be anything from 'a human' to 'a Norn queen' in rarity).
- Ask for them. Often I'll tell you what you need to do to unlock specific research options,
Ship Design:
-[] Grand Cruisers (400 RP) Making a ship design that's not spaghetti takes time and effort. It's still boring. But if you want to make queens of the void, its necessary. (unlocks grand cruisers, half of the prereq for battleships)-[] Medium Defense Platforms (100 RP) You've already got most of the tools you need to build bigger defensive platforms, but these would be a larger platform to stick guns on, with more ability to withstand damage. (Unlocks medium defensive platforms, potential for other void-based installation options)
-[] Streamlined ship design (150 RP) You can improve your tools for ship design to make it easier to design ships in the future. That might be nice (Halves the RP cost to design new ships, may unlock other ship design improvements)
-[] Efficient Equipment Distribution (100 RP) Let's see if you can apply the benefits from weapon packing to equipment (Combat equipment costs count as 0.9x for ship capacity packing.)
-[] Extremely Efficient Weapon Distribution (200 RP) You did a good job already in packing more weapons into less space. But you think you see ways to make it even better (Weapons cost at 0.75 for ship capacity packing)
-[] Can I have a new ship please? (200 RP) Triggers a sub-turn to design yourself a new ship. It can be any size, up to one class larger than what you currently have available (This is Vita's unique mechanic, and will let you design new iterations of your ship)
-[] Boarding Capabilities (100 RP) Apparently it's common for ships in this day and age to board each other and for the crew to fight hand-to-hand. Instead of, you know, chucking enormous missiles at each other. Insane. Well, it might be a nice capability to have in case you want to capture ships intact. (Unlocks boarding torpedoes and boarding craft for hangers, may combine with stealth research to unlock stealth borders)
-[] Networked missiles (100 RP) The biggest danger to missiles is that they'll get shot down by fighters and point defense. If you can network them together to cooperate against those threats, more of the warheads will reach their targets. (Unlocks new combat equipment to make missiles more effective. May unlock more technology to make missiles smarter, longer ranged and generally more effective)
General Design:
-[] Large-scale Void Manufacturing (200 RP) Unlike ground factories, which have to deal with gravity and atmosphere, there's little stopping you from just... scaling up the principles of void manufacturing. Besides the annoying spaghetti of logistics, but that's a solvable problem. (Allows you to design large void manufactories that are more efficient, improves the manufactories on your ships to be 1/5 instead of 1/10 production). Potential for other void-based platform technologies).
-[] Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements (50 RP) You dramatically improved the efficiency of your void manufacturing by stripping out the dumb stuff that was required by stellar federation beauracracy. There's probably some stuff like that in your ground manufactories too. (Reduces the CP cost but not BP cost of your ground manufactories).
-[] Shuttle automation (150 RP) Surely I don't have to fly these stupid things myself. (Reduce the CP cost of shuttles by 50%)
-[] Walkers (300 RP) Tanks are... kind of boring? Mechs are cooler. (unlock armiger knights, starts the knights/titans research tree)
-[] Mothballing (100 RP) Keeping a bunch of systems functional and ready requires attention that is swiftly running out. Maybe you can figure out how to spend less attention on things that are mostly inactive (Unlocks the ability to mothball an installation for 10% of it's build cost, free reactivation that takes a few weeks. May unlock techs to allow you to freely turn things on and off, as well as increasing the speed of reactivation enough for you to keep military installations mothballed until they're needed.)
-[] Abacus Manufacturing (200 RP) You understand all of the physical parts of an abacus. Now you need to figure out all of the manufacturing techniques needed to actually put one together. (Unlocks the void abacus ship equipment)
Stealth Technology:
-[] Basic Spaceship Stealth (100 RP) Spaceships are big, and emit a lot of energy. It's hard to hide them. Nonetheless, by making them show up worse on active sensors you could make an inactive spaceship much harder to spot. (Unlocks new non-combat equipment to improve ship stealth. Unlocks further research towards better spaceship stealth. Will be able to take advantage of some other stealth technologies.)
-[] Basic Ground force stealth (50 RP) Tanks show up pretty well on scanners, and it would be nice to change that. You might also be able to make your bots hide better. (Unlocks new design options for tanks and ground forces that are less obvious. Unlocks further research towards better ground force stealth. Will be able to take advantage of some other stealth technologies.)
-[] Improved Passive Stealth (50 RP) Ok, you've figured out the basics of hiding your small craft, but you have ideas on what you can do better, that might allow them to hide from even fully-alert enemies. They probably won't be able to close all the way to attack range, but they'll be able to get a lot closer (Unlocks improved stealth designs with improved performance. Unlocks further research for advanced passive stealth technologies. Will synergize with other stealth research.)
-[] Basic Active Stealth (100 RP) Just deflecting away and hiding your signature only helps so much. Then next step is to overlay a hologram over your small craft to make them effectively invisible, and even counter passive sensors. It'll still be a hazy outline, but this is the path towards being able to close to actual combat ranges unobserved (Unlocks improved stealth designs for actively hiding signatures, though they will be expensive. Unlocks further research for improved active stealth, and will synergize with other stealth research.
Shield technology:
-[] Heavy Void shields (200 RP) Your current shields are good, but they could be better. Specifically, you want to make multi-layered shields, which could be applied to anything larger than a destroyer (Unlocks heavy void shields for ships and stations, as well as further research for void shielding improved for recharge speed, layered defenses, etc.)
-[] Heavy In-atmosphere void shields (100 RP) Well, the void shields you have are nice. But it would be nice to be able to build bigger ones, that can shrug off essentially any possible orbital bombardment. You need to figure out how to take advantage of the ridiculous energy and heat dissipation capabilities of being on a planet. (Unlocks heavy and super-heavy void shield installations. May unlock research towards better overall void shielding.)
-[] Tiny In-atmosphere void shields (100 RP) Instead of scaling up a void shield, can you scale one down to the size of a person? It won't be as capable of the big ones, but if it's only meant to block small-arms fire it could be quite effective. (Unlocks the ability to build personal void shields, as well as add them to combat bots. May unlock research towards better overall void shielding)
Materials & Armor:
-[] Superheavy Armor (200 RP) Let's just stick starship armor on them and call it a day. (Unlocks superheavy tanks and is half of the puzzle for space-marine-quality power armor)
-[] Advanced Materials (250 RP) You know there are exotic elements with absurd physical properties. But it's also possible to build absurdly strong materials with common elements. How does that work? Time to dust off some ancient research projects and figure this stuff out. (Unlocks improved armor, as well as research to unlock megastructures. Also required for battleships and larger walkers)
-[] Basic power armor (100 RP) Putting heavy armor on a person doesn't work well because... well. It's heavy. If you can give it some robotic actuation then they don't need to carry all of it. (Unlocks humanoid heavy armor, as well as being a prereq for superheavy-humanoid armor, i.e. for space marine-quality, once you research superheavy armor.)
Robotics:
-[] Avatar self-customization (100 RP) Your previous avatar was capable of changing its appearance at your whim, changing the hair, eye and skim color rapidly. Hair length and body size changes took a bit longer but were also possible. Is this worth figuring out? It might just be you being vain. (Unlocks some disguise-style cybernetics... once you get good cybernetics and can do things like skin/eye replacements).
-[] Improved Armor Articulation (50 RP) From your research on humanizing combat bots you have some ideas about improving the points of articulation on armor to increase the range of motion and make the suits more responsive. (Increased performance & mobility for heavier armor, both for combat bots & people wearing heavy armor you make. May unlock further armor upgrade techs)
-[] Really good Robotics: (600 RP) You know it's possible to make robots that are really strong. You've seen the specs floating around. You just don't quite know how to do it, though you've got some ideas on the matter... it would take quite a bit of simulation and a lot of trial and error to bring them into reality (Unlocks improvements to avatars, power armor, cybernetics, combat bots, improved manufactories). Acquire samples of advanced robots to reduce this cost.
AI research:
-[] Intelligence Coding (400 RP) You don't really understand how your own code and hardware works. Maybe putting some effort into understanding that would pay dividends. It's never been something too interesting, but hey, maybe you should give it a shot. (Helps you understand your own code. Prerequisite to building new AIs, starts command point tree and automation tree, also unlocks personality-checking research)
- [] Personality-Checking Routines (200 RP) All of this chaos-corruption is making you nervous. People changing according to the will of some warp-entity? Becoming different in ways that would disgust their past selves? That gives you the heebee-jeebies. Maybe - just maybe - it would be good to develop some ways to automatically check if aspects of your personality are diverging ways you don't want them to. Then you might be able to fix the problem before you become somebody who doesn't want (Gives you some algorithms to check for personality divergence in AIs. Doesn't do anything, just alerts you to changes and lets you decide what steps to take. Unlocks further research to prevent/rollback personality change, as well as potentially extend this research to humans with neural implants). Locked behind Intelligence Coding.
Psychic Shielding:
-[] Improved Psychic shielding: (100 RP) Your "no" shielding seems to have worked to protect you from attack so far. But the design is really just a first-generation version. You could develop the second generation, make it capable of more complex and powerful thoughts? (Gives you the ability to build improved psychic shielding, and further upgrades down the path to make it even stronger, half of the research towards using this as some kind of attack against warp beings, as well as half of the requirements to integrate machine spirits with psychic shielding).
-[] Personal-sized Psychic shielding: (150 RP) You were able to break your psychic shielding down into components to rescale it, but that gets you down to a size measured in tens of meters. If you want to make another one that's even smaller, then you're going to have to break it down into even smaller pieces and build something back up again. But doing that would let you start weaving the shielding into armor or individual bots. (Allows you to outfit individuals with psychic shielding, though it may be less powerful than what you can build into larger structures. Unlocks additional technology for further miniaturization to put it into totems or implants.)
-[] Nested Psychic shielding: (200 RP) With multiple sizes of shielding comes the question - can you simply layer different kinds of shielding to protect against psychic attacks. The current answer is no due to some unfortunate resonance between different layers of shielding. You think you can solve for that, though it involves you making some assumptions about warp-psyker-stuff that you'll need to validate experimentally (Allows you to have multiple layers of shielding active at once. Unlocks additional technology for templating multiple effects into one shield, which will also require improved psychic shielding.) Locked behind warp understanding.
The Warp:
-[] Abacus-Warp interactions (100 RP) The one part of the abacus you don't understand is how it interacts with the warp. That part is just weird, and you need to put in some more brain-sweat to figure it out. (Better understanding of the void abacus, necessary for any improvements on the basic design, and unlocks technology for better warp understanding).
-[] Scrapcode Research (200 RP) How does scrapcode work? Obviously the answer is "psychic shenanigans," but you'd like to get a little bit more detail than that. Maybe you'll be able to defend against it in some way. (Understanding of scrapcode that's likely useful for defending against it. Grants light reduction to shield damage from scrapcode and unlocks technology to further reduce psychic damage from scrapcode, and potential technologies to generate or store scrapcode for your own use.)
Psytech:
- [] The Basics of Psytech (100 RP) You have that pile of samples from Prospero. You were supposed to see if anybody was interested in them, but you doubt the people who gave them to you will care much what you do with them anymore. Maybe poke around and figure out what's what. (Beginner psytech learnings. Unlocks research projects to build individual pieces of psytech)Physics:
-[] Gravity Weapons (200 RP) You know it's possible to use gravity as a weapon, though it sounds a bit crazy. But still, it might be worth trying? (Unlocks basic graviton weapons for infantry, vehicles and warships, as well as research for more advanced graviton weapons. Half of the research necessary for Nova Cannons)
-[] The Biggest Boom (150 RP) So. There's no actual upper limit for how big a fusion warhead can get. But it does get more complicated to build bigger and bigger bombs. Let's figure that out. (Unlocks bigger, exterminatus-grade warheads for nukes. The other half of the research necessary for Nova Cannons)
-[] Superconductive Shenanigans (200 RP) Room-temperature superconductors are a thing. But only kind of, and they still need to be highly pressurized to be stable. You know some people cracked this problem, but they didn't publish on it, which was annoying. But you think you might have an idea how they did it. Figuring it out would be great for manufacturing, and drop costs across the board. (A flat production boost of 5-15% depending on rolls).
-[] Miniaturized antigrav (50 RP) You can make antigrav that reduces the weight of things like shuttles to make them able to make orbit. But there's a floor on how small you can make that technology. The Imperium seems to have solved that. (Unlocks drones, jump-packs etc, as well as additional research to make antigrav vehicles/walkers)
-[] High-energy Physics (300 RP) There's some pretty crazy stuff you can do with physics. Especially when the energy exponents really start getting insane. However, that's going to take a bit of testing - maybe on a planetoid you don't care too much about. Or in space. (The next steps towards bigger, badder weapons, such as fusion beamers, disintegration weapons. Half of the research for vortex weaponry.) Locked behind a High-Energy Physics Research Lab
Machine Spirits
-[] Improved combat Machine spirits (100 RP) Right now the machine spirits can match the performance of bots you directly control. However, with some tweaking of their networks, structure and code you think you can make an across-the-board improvement in aim, tactics and decision-making of the machine spirits in combat. (Improved combat performance of machine-spirit imbued infantry & vehicle forces. May unlock technology for improved tactical coordination, as well as improved combat performance of machine-spirit equipped ships/larger installations)
-[] Large-scale Machine spirits (150 RP) As it stands, you can integrate machine spirits into small things. Expanding that to military installations and ships is going to require designing even more complex networks and figuring out how to make them work. With Anexa's insights you think it's eminantly possible thought (Unlocks machine-spirit equipped versions of frigate-sized or smaller ships and platforms, as well as most defensive installations. Unlocks more research for machine spirits for larger ships & platforms.)
-[] Manufacturing Machine Spirits (100 RP) Making machine spirits run reactors and shoot guns is one thing, but making them build something? That poses another challenge. You don't think it's insurmountable though. (Unlocks machine-spirit controlled manufactories, orbital manufactories and deep-space manufactories. Unlocks more research for other kinds of machine-spirit aided manufacturing).
-[] Machine Spirit Chaos resistance (300 RP) You think the reason that the machine spirits resist chaos is because they understand their purpose to some extent, and the entire neural network needs to be corrupted to corrupt that purpose, which is harder. There's also emotional simulation that's going on in there. (Improves the basal resistance of machine spirits to chaos corruption. May unlock further technology down this chain, as well as half of the requirements to integrate machine spirits with psychic shielding.)
-[] Psytech Machine spirits (100 RP) You don't think that machine spirits can be psychically active. However, from what you understand of psytech it's a temperamental and difficult discipline, and you think that integrating machine spirits into the construction of psytech might improve its reliability and performance. (Improves psytech, at the cost of making it somewhat more expensive. May lead to more advanced versions for more advanced psytech, and may contribute to better psychic shields) Locked behind The Basics of Psytech.
Medical Technology:
-[] Servitorization (50 RP) You find it repulsive, but being able to replace somebody's brain with a computer that drives them around would have its uses. (Unlocks the ability to servitorize people in the medbay. Unlocks follow-on research to replicate their personality as well)
-[] An Introduction to Human Genetics (100 RP) Humans are complex creatures, but apparently their manufacturing instructions are just 6 billion bits long, and most of that seems redundant. Interesting. (Unlocks very basic genetic enhancements, as well as a basic understanding of mutations. Unlocks research for more complex genetic engineering, and may lead to research to fix mutations)
-[] Does in vitro have something to do with wine? (200 RP) Unlocks the ability to clone basic humans (Unlocks the cloning bay, as well as further technology to clone things other than baseline humans, like humans without brains for organs or humans with more dramatic genetic mutations. Along with brain implants may lead to personality backups).
-[] You don't need no stinkin' medical school (50 RP) You've got a few auto-doc modules that can prescribe drugs based on symptoms or do basic surgeries. If you actually understood the medicine you'd be able to perform better care, as well as do more advanced surgeries (Unlocks better medical care, as well as general enhancements to surgeries, cybernetic augmentations and more. May be a prerequisite to further biomedical research. Also unlocks more research for advanced medical care, which will likely reduce other research costs and be a prerequisite for advanced augmentations.)
-[] Drugs? Drugs. (100 RP) Human biochemistry is... weird. You've got a standard list of recipies for basic drugs, but if you wanted to get further into it you could start pulling out some stranger and more illicit ones from your research databanks. (Unlocks a wide variety of drugs for things like interrogation, combat, sedation, etc. May lead to research for things like perfect knockout gas, super-adrenaline, psytech drugs, etc.)
-[] Juvenat Beginnings (600 RP) Ok. Juvenat is complicated. You're able to make it by following a formula that is at times precise, at times general and at times just - what? Maybe start to delve into the science of that. (Unlocks a basic understanding of juvenat, and may make it more efficient to produce. Tech cost will be reduced by other biomedical researchers. The start of the juvenat research tree.)
-[] Navigator Genetics (500 RP) So... you have some navigator genetic material. You can poke at that, see if you can figure out how it works. They had a reputation even back in your day, and it only seems to have gotten worse. Still, tempting. (Unlocks basic understanding of navigator genetics. Will unlock further technology to improve the health of navigators, as well as technology to allow you to clone navigators.) Locked behind tech you haven't unlocked yet - probably 1-2 down the human genetics chain depending on rolls.
-[] Navigator Gestation (200 RP) You have a navigator fetus. You don't know what to do with that beyond the obvious. So, how would you do it? Well, you doubt you could just implant it into somebody. From the traces left behind on Klyssar's nest you should do this in a tank. (Allows you to turn the navigator fetus into a navigator baby) Locked behind the Does in vitro have something to do with wine? and maybe a followup tech depending on rolls.
Cybernetics:
-[] Combat Mobility Cybernetics (100 RP) Sticking rockets and grappling hooks into cybernetics isn't just cool. It's also useful - it'll let the wearers utilize more of the strength of their new limb without tearing apart their organic body. It'll also give them new maneuverability options. (Unlocks new parts for augments that enhance the wearer's strength and mobility. Synergizes with other technology, may unlock enhanced mobility for bots & armors)-[] Combat Neural Implants (50 RP) Allows you to install neural implants to calculate trajectories, assist with aiming, further improve reaction time and generally improve human capabilities in combat. (Unlocks combat-focused neural implants. Will synergize with other cybernetics and neural implant technologies)
-[] Advanced organ replacements (150 RP) Your organ replacements almost fully replicate the real thing, but not quite. But they can't adjust to shocks in body homeostasis and they do need to be replaced every decade or so. You think you can make them as good or slightly better than the real thing, including the potential to grow with the bearer. (Unlocks organs which actually just replace normal organs almost perfectly. Likely to synergize with other implant/cybernetics/enhancement techs). Locked behind You don't need no stinkin' medical school.
-[] Superhuman organ replacements (300 RP) Your organ replacements almost fully replicate the real thing, and have some useful auxiliary functions. But there's another level of improvement that's possible here. You could make organs that conveyed superhuman characteristics on the wearers. Improved oxygen transfer rate, improved bone density, immunity to most toxins, improved healing rate. (Unlocks advanced organs implants which grant superhuman capabilities. Not quite space-marine-level, but that's the next tech, though these are still artificial). Locked behind You don't need no stinkin' medical school and Advanced Combat cybernetics.
-[] Advanced Neural Implants (150 RP) Well, your current neural implants are good, but what if you further integrated them into the brain, improving throughput and allowing the recipient even further integrate themselves with digital systems (unlocks advanced neural implants, unlocks further technologies related to neural implants, such as basic cognition filters). Locked behind You don't need no stinkin' medical school.
-[] Advanced Combat cybernetics (150 RP) Your cybernetics can easily contain light and some medium weapons, but they're not really suited to heavy combat. Yet. You could make them tougher, beefier, and figure out how to fit the power sources for larger weapons inside. (Unlocks advanced combat augments. Half of the technology for excellent combat augments, unlocks further cybernetics/research). Locked behind Really good Robotics.
-[] Basic Cognition Filter: (??? RP) Antimemetic threats are such a hassle. Even the programs you've written to partion your own knowledge are an ad-hoc solution. And aside from having an innate resistance above the zero-tolerance you likely have, humans have a really hard time not thinking about something. Fix it. Work out a method for existing brain-augments to isolate knowledge on cognitohazards to the augment's machine spirit in inert memory vaults. The user will have to instead consciously override the locks on the chosen memories to access them temporarily. That way, stray thoughts about the isolated memories cannot happen, and long-term memories in the brain when the memory vaults are unlocked get instead rerouted to the machine spirit of the brain implant. Will have a harder time isolating knowledge from existing long-term memories formed when not actively using the cognition filter. (Unlocks cognition filter modification to brain implants, unlocks further technologies related to cognition filter and methods for mitigating cognitohazards, basilisk hacks, etc. perceived in real-time.) Locked behind Advanced Neural Implants, cost to be determined by the roll on that research.
-[] Organic-Machine control (150 RP) Allows you to hook humans into your own command-and-control loop, allowing you to turn over command duties of various bots to humans - though they'll only be able to command combat units. (Unlocks brain implants that allow a human to control some number of CP worth of combat bots/ships. There are more technologies to allow humans to command larger ships/manufacturing systems as well)
Hacking:
-[] Rapid hacking (500RP) You need to figure out a new approach to subverting machine spirits. It might involve some combination of confusing them with a burst of signals, then showing up and 'relieving' the issue. But it would take a lot of trial-and-error to get right. (Improves hacking of imperial tech. Potentially enough for use in combat situations? Will unlock further hacking technology).
-[] Improved Machine-spirit Jamming (300 RP) Well, you can't combine it with hacking, but you can still try to improve what you have to be more efficent, target more machine spirits at a time, etc. (Improves success rate of jamming imperial tech, decreases failure penalties. May unlock further jamming technology)
Crew :
Anexa Ifina, Tech-priest Errant.Level 8
-[] Anexa active Action: Research - assists a research action you take, granting +5xLevel RP to the action. Will level on successful roll, scaled by the importance of the tech.
-[] Anexa passive action: Education - Roll to level, difficulty is 10+5xLevel
Specialty (1/1): Machine Spirits. Grants a +5 bonus when doing research rolls involving machine spirits.
Victan Thallos, Spy.
Level 10
-[] Victan active action: Subversion - assists a diplomacy action you take for the purposes of covert action, granting +Level to the dice to the action. Will level on successful roll, scaled by the significance of the action.
-[] Victan passive action: Counterespionage & communication - Defends against covert action, as well as gathering information on your foes and keeping communication channels open with any allies present. Will only level if something interesting happens.
Victan Level 10 Upgrade - not part of plan vote
Choose between one of the following four options for Victan.[] Diplomat-spy: Victan's active action bonus can be applied to all diplomacy rolls, including first contact with a new culture. Victan's only been able to be included on these diplomacy rolls thus far becuase he's a local, and has contacts inside Aevon he can use for diplomacy. If you go somewhere new he'll be limited to just being a spy without this.
[] Infiltrator: Victan may go on active missions involving stealth & subterfuge to acquire data or objectives that would otherwise be completely unavailable. Unlocks powerful new narrative subterfuge options. Will be boosted by cybernetics research. He starts sneaking around to steal stuff or spy on people. This will do things like give you samples or information that otherwise would be impossible to grab.
[] Master of Whispers: Victan will passively cultivate contacts in any society you interact with, building up intelligence over time. Upon return visits this will quickly update you on the local happenings. This will be most effective if you travel to the same places a lot, and he has the time to build up a network.
[] Virtuoso Spy : Victan's bonus to standard infiltration actions increases to 1.5xlevel. If you like raw numbers. However, limited to actions where he's acting like a normal spy, trying to convince people to tell him information they shouldn't or read between the lines in a database to discover new things.
Psyker Aquisition - not part of plan vote
You have four options, and can take one. You may aquire more with more diplomacy actions, especially if you offer something good (like juvenat or psytech), but you will never get more options. These are the best candidates on Denva, if you want more options go to another planet.[] Ker Bemsk, awkard telekinetic. Delta (13)
[] Cia Steblin, confidant pyromancer. Zeta (11)
[] Kezathi Zenza, troubled seer. Eta (10)
[] A dozen weaker psykers, led by Nabal Sidz. Caps out at Iota (8)
None of the psychic disciplines are inherently better than the others, but they've certainly got different focuses.
Pyromancy will be most champion-focused, and will scale with psytech into voidship & army-scale effects. It's very much the "now you die" discipline.
Telekinesis is more flexible, with both the ability to attack and defend and some mobility sprinkled in. It'll be significantly less effective at killing things, but can manage it in a pinch. It's probably the one the scales the worst with huge psytech. It'll be pretty effective for things like infiltration.
Divination isn't good in direct conflict, but it's benefits will be more strategic, and you can choose to either use it to learn what your enemies are up to or to manipulate your dice.
Biomancy is more around healing & buffing. A biomancer can be quite powerful in direct combat, but more in the "very strong and self-healing champion" then the "melt you and the room you're standing in" sense. Will also have applications in medical/enhancement/augmentation fields.
And then a telepath is weird. They're in some senses the ideal spy and diplomat, while also having the ability to directly attack people. Almost more versatile than the telekinetic, but with the limitations of not being able to interface with robots without psytech and being the easiest discipline to actively shield agaisnt.
And of course, all disciplines can use force weaponry, which is a big deal.
Regardless it'll be a while before these psykers are up and running - they'll start at level 0, and levelling them will either be slow or risky.
Pyromancy will be most champion-focused, and will scale with psytech into voidship & army-scale effects. It's very much the "now you die" discipline.
Telekinesis is more flexible, with both the ability to attack and defend and some mobility sprinkled in. It'll be significantly less effective at killing things, but can manage it in a pinch. It's probably the one the scales the worst with huge psytech. It'll be pretty effective for things like infiltration.
Divination isn't good in direct conflict, but it's benefits will be more strategic, and you can choose to either use it to learn what your enemies are up to or to manipulate your dice.
Biomancy is more around healing & buffing. A biomancer can be quite powerful in direct combat, but more in the "very strong and self-healing champion" then the "melt you and the room you're standing in" sense. Will also have applications in medical/enhancement/augmentation fields.
And then a telepath is weird. They're in some senses the ideal spy and diplomat, while also having the ability to directly attack people. Almost more versatile than the telekinetic, but with the limitations of not being able to interface with robots without psytech and being the easiest discipline to actively shield agaisnt.
And of course, all disciplines can use force weaponry, which is a big deal.
Regardless it'll be a while before these psykers are up and running - they'll start at level 0, and levelling them will either be slow or risky.
The scrapcode generator fucked up due to bad rolls. First it used the wrong kind of attack, second it chose the exact wrong time to launch its attack, and third it wouldn't have gotten you anyways, which it was clearly trying to do. Even if it had chosen the right kind of attack your reinforced shielding would have pretty much perfectly cancelled the attack out.
Psyker options were rolled here. I'm currently thinking that the level 10/20/30 options for a psyker would either be to pick up a new discipline or specialize further down their current discipline. Psykers Crew memebers, won't have active/passive actions in the same way as your other characters. Most of theirs will likely be focused on more/less risky ways to level. All of them will start at level 0, and the dozen weaker psykers won't level at all, they'll only serve to unlock the research trees and be users for psytech you develop. But they'll never unlock the full potential of your psytech either.
Psytech is a large research tree, with some very powerful applications. A battleship-scale amplifier specialized to the right discipline would let a powerful biomancer terraform a world, a powerful pyromancer vaporize a (large) fleet or a powerful telekinetic change the orbit of a moon. The kinds of psytech you have access to will be gated behind what specialties you have access to, and at what power. Divination is likely both dice manipulation (of the reroll/pre-roll variety) and things like discerning the plans/rolls of your enemies.
I've slept less than five hours in the last 36 hours, so I'm a little loopy. Still, I didn't want to stop until this was out. I'm sure there are typoes and bookkeeping errors. Please point them out and I'll fix them once I've had some sleep.
Let's do 28 hours of Moratorium and 14 hours of voting? It seems to me like the moratorium is more useful than the voting, so I want to try pushing the ratio a bit.
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Ker seems the best one both personality wise and due to being the most powerful. That is the one thing we cannot enhance whereas we cam buy new specialties at level ups.
- Location
- madison
I'm leaning towarsd Ker Bemsk, though if we get the chance for him to learn divination, we should take it.
I think another diplomacy action to get more of the offered psykers would be easy enough, we've got a few more cheap carrots on hand. But at the same time it isn't critical to have those this turn
For example, juvenat capacity when we are planning to handover manufacturing of it to the locals is actually a carrot for multiple parties.
For example, juvenat capacity when we are planning to handover manufacturing of it to the locals is actually a carrot for multiple parties.
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[] Diplomat-spy: Victan's active action bonus can be applied to all diplomacy rolls, including first contact with a new culture. Victan's only been able to be included on these diplomacy rolls thus far becuase he's a local, and has contacts inside Aevon he can use for diplomacy. If you go somewhere new he'll be limited to just being a spy without this.
We use him the most on diplo actions, so I'm down for this one.
[] Ker Bemsk, awkard telekinetic. Delta (13)
[] A dozen weaker psykers, led by Nabal Sidz. Caps out at Iota (8)
either the Explorer, who wants to see all the planets, or the group of psykers that dont take a crew slot I believe. but I only dont really want the divner, since they seem like they would be perfectly happy in the properly shielded domes. I could see the pyro being the heaver hitter of our crew in all honesty if we grab them, use them to fight champions with proper gear built up.
We use him the most on diplo actions, so I'm down for this one.
[] Ker Bemsk, awkard telekinetic. Delta (13)
[] A dozen weaker psykers, led by Nabal Sidz. Caps out at Iota (8)
either the Explorer, who wants to see all the planets, or the group of psykers that dont take a crew slot I believe. but I only dont really want the divner, since they seem like they would be perfectly happy in the properly shielded domes. I could see the pyro being the heaver hitter of our crew in all honesty if we grab them, use them to fight champions with proper gear built up.
Somic
It's meow or never
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I thought we'd go with the friendly pyromancer based on pure rolls, but Ker's desire to explore fits right in, and being hyperfocused on his thing at the cost of not being so good at social is not so bad, and pretty endearing.
Also, Cia is confident and charming, and can fit in basically anywhere, but Ker can only fulfill his dream with us.
Also, Cia is confident and charming, and can fit in basically anywhere, but Ker can only fulfill his dream with us.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
I don't know in-depth what different psyker disciplines are capable of, but I get the impression that Telekinetics are broader in scope than Pyros?
Like everyone else, I'm sad that the Diviner didn't roll well for personality/stability, but I'm glad at least that we might be able to have oneof the other two access Divination at level 10.
My understanding is that we're making a new Juvenat facility for the ship, so I'm currently leaning offering our current Juvenat facility to the psycers to get access to the weaker psycers.
We might get something else to offer them in the next three turns, too.
Like everyone else, I'm sad that the Diviner didn't roll well for personality/stability, but I'm glad at least that we might be able to have oneof the other two access Divination at level 10.
My understanding is that we're making a new Juvenat facility for the ship, so I'm currently leaning offering our current Juvenat facility to the psycers to get access to the weaker psycers.
We might get something else to offer them in the next three turns, too.
- Location
- United Kingdom
Pyromancer would be fun, and ambition wouldn't be a bad trait for a crew member considering what we are and our goals, but the telekinetic wanting to explore just feels perfect.
For this turn I'm leaning towards our fourth action being research, so we can knock out Better medical tech, Ground Manufactory Efficiency and either Psytech or Imp Psy Shields.
Edit: on the other hand with Anexa we'd have 240 RP, so we could get both Psytech and Improved Psy Shields, and then get 40/50 in better medtech.
I think Basics of Psytech should be 100 RP here, not 150?
For this turn I'm leaning towards our fourth action being research, so we can knock out Better medical tech, Ground Manufactory Efficiency and either Psytech or Imp Psy Shields.
Edit: on the other hand with Anexa we'd have 240 RP, so we could get both Psytech and Improved Psy Shields, and then get 40/50 in better medtech.
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Could we, long term, establish a new specialization?
Technomancer, using psychic power to supplement hacking, jamming, operation etc of technology.
(With the Scrapcode generator being like "legendary psychic power, very disappointing tech prowess" our technomancers would be weaker psychically but have much better tech prowess (or even Vita grade if she helps))
So 1 build AP instead of 2 research AP, giving us a 1 time solution instead of something permanent, scaling, and usefull in other areas, too?
I think we should bite the sour apple and get OMC.
It just feels like a fundamental tech for getting humans integrated into our tech-operations.
If we keep putting it off we'll just keep amassing 1AP workarounds.
Vibing these the most
[] Infiltrator: Victan may go on active missions involving stealth & subterfuge to acquire data or objectives that would otherwise be completely unavailable. Unlocks powerful new narrative subterfuge options. Will be boosted by cybernetics research. He starts sneaking around to steal stuff or spy on people. This will do things like give you samples or information that otherwise would be impossible to grab.
[] Master of Whispers: Victan will passively cultivate contacts in any society you interact with, building up intelligence over time. Upon return visits this will quickly update you on the local happenings. This will be most effective if you travel to the same places a lot, and he has the time to build up a network
[] Infiltrator: Victan may go on active missions involving stealth & subterfuge to acquire data or objectives that would otherwise be completely unavailable. Unlocks powerful new narrative subterfuge options. Will be boosted by cybernetics research. He starts sneaking around to steal stuff or spy on people. This will do things like give you samples or information that otherwise would be impossible to grab.
[] Master of Whispers: Victan will passively cultivate contacts in any society you interact with, building up intelligence over time. Upon return visits this will quickly update you on the local happenings. This will be most effective if you travel to the same places a lot, and he has the time to build up a network
- Location
- Sydney,Australia
Ugh my inner loot whore is screaming infiltrator plus we're going to have the opportunity to get diplomat just because we'll be interacting with them getting a new spy is going to be massively more difficult beyond that i want both ker and cia.
Ker to become our head of warp and hazard investigation
cia to a champion duelist and elemental specialist
So I say get ker and then use a diplomacy action to get Cia
Also we forgot to use a free action this turn.
Ker to become our head of warp and hazard investigation
cia to a champion duelist and elemental specialist
So I say get ker and then use a diplomacy action to get Cia
Also we forgot to use a free action this turn.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Victan's sure moving fast, if he's turned jer into a confidante already.
Anyway, one thing to remember to adress soonish os that we've been selling Juvenat for a few decades now.
Us leaving is a death sentence for the 20 most powerfull people in the world, just as they've gotten used to immortality.
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10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
TBh, I'm not sure how much weight we should put on their specific motivations?
All of them are people who have barely left their home enclaves, staying within the same kilomter for most of their lives. The only one who could possibly know what to expect is the Diviner.
All of them are people who have barely left their home enclaves, staying within the same kilomter for most of their lives. The only one who could possibly know what to expect is the Diviner.
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- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[] Kezathi Zenza, troubled seer. Eta (10)
I didn't think so before, but I think Kezathi might be a good choice. She seems scared of her visions more than anything else. If our tech and training can help her deal with her foresight better, that's a character arc right there. And Divination is by far the most useful discipline for Vita, since as an AI she's already very capable in general and can very much use foresight and such as a force multiplier for her efforts.
Also, her exact power level isn't so important, since we now know psytech can boost a psyker as far as affecting an entire planet at once. If that's how high the ceiling is, starting low relative to her peers isn't as much of a drawback as I thought it might be.
I didn't think so before, but I think Kezathi might be a good choice. She seems scared of her visions more than anything else. If our tech and training can help her deal with her foresight better, that's a character arc right there. And Divination is by far the most useful discipline for Vita, since as an AI she's already very capable in general and can very much use foresight and such as a force multiplier for her efforts.
Also, her exact power level isn't so important, since we now know psytech can boost a psyker as far as affecting an entire planet at once. If that's how high the ceiling is, starting low relative to her peers isn't as much of a drawback as I thought it might be.
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10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Both strongest by a wide margin and has a more widely aplicable powerset than the pyromancer. And his high power pretty much cancels out the pyromancers offensive edge.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
I've said it a few times, but specialty matters, and Assignment ranking is not static, it's just your resting place before any training in this context.
A Discipline that does a lot of things tends to do each of those not nearly as well as a specialist. Telekinesis is sort of the apex of that, in that there's not really anything in it you can't replicate with technology in some fashion, it just lets you do it without understanding or the foundation. It's the broadest Discipline, yes, but you lose depth for that.
A Discipline that does a lot of things tends to do each of those not nearly as well as a specialist. Telekinesis is sort of the apex of that, in that there's not really anything in it you can't replicate with technology in some fashion, it just lets you do it without understanding or the foundation. It's the broadest Discipline, yes, but you lose depth for that.
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She is as unstable as it is possible to be in the bounds of the system. If she has scored a 2-3 that would be different, but a 1...? Hard Pass. I'd rather take one of the others and buy divination at level 10
- Location
- Boston
Excellent update, glad we are able to help the psykers with better shielding. Seems like it will be a big quality of life improvement for them.
Here is my starting plan draft:
Outline:
For building our ship, we grab Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements to reduce CP cost of ground factories and then drop a ton per @meianmaru's build plan.
To keep scrapcode moving, we get improved shields with BP earmarked for an upgrade the same turn. Then we dive into the scrapcode research to find out how it works.
Medical school is there since it seems to be the most valuable 50 RP tech on the tree. But if @Karnax626 is correct and Psytech is 100 RP I will swap for that and hope that Anexa + scrapcode bonus is enough to finish it.
Edit:forgot we had already put 40 RP into Improved Shields, since that give 130 RP floating (with Axena) I will swap med school for PsyTech
Edit the second: @Derpmind corrected me that we actually put that into Psytech, which is currently sitting at 55/100 according to our research in progress. So Psytech is certainly in the plan, along with part of medical school.
Research 1
-[] Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements (50 RP) You dramatically improved the efficiency of your void manufacturing by stripping out the dumb stuff that was required by stellar federation beauracracy. There's probably some stuff like that in your ground manufactories too. (Reduces the CP cost but not BP cost of your ground manufactories).
- [] The Basics of Psytech (5 + 40 RP) You have that pile of samples from Prospero. You were supposed to see if anybody was interested in them, but you doubt the people who gave them to you will care much what you do with them anymore. Maybe poke around and figure out what's what. (Beginner psytech learnings. Unlocks research projects to build individual pieces of psytech)
--Axena assists
-[] Improved Psychic shielding: (100 RP) Your "no" shielding seems to have worked to protect you from attack so far. But the design is really just a first-generation version. You could develop the second generation, make it capable of more complex and powerful thoughts? (Gives you the ability to build improved psychic shielding, and further upgrades down the path to make it even stronger, half of the research towards using this as some kind of attack against warp beings, as well as half of the requirements to integrate machine spirits with psychic shielding).
-[] You don't need no stinkin' medical school (0 -> 45 of 50 RP) You've got a few auto-doc modules that can prescribe drugs based on symptoms or do basic surgeries. If you actually understood the medicine you'd be able to perform better care, as well as do more advanced surgeries (Unlocks better medical care, as well as general enhancements to surgeries, cybernetic augmentations and more. May be a prerequisite to further biomedical research. Also unlocks more research for advanced medical care, which will likely reduce other research costs and be a prerequisite for advanced augmentations.)
Research 2
-[] Scrapcode Research (200 RP) How does scrapcode work? Obviously the answer is "psychic shenanigans," but you'd like to get a little bit more detail than that. Maybe you'll be able to defend against it in some way. (Understanding of scrapcode that's likely useful for defending against it. Grants light reduction to shield damage from scrapcode and unlocks technology to further reduce psychic damage from scrapcode, and potential technologies to generate or store scrapcode for your own use.)
Construction 1 (4850 BP):
43 Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) --- (4300 BP, 2150 CP)
2 Spaceport (100 BP, 25 CP) --- (200 BP, 75 CP)
15 Shuttle (20 BP, 5 CP) --- (300 BP, 75 CP)
Trade goods (50 BP)
Construction 2 (7000 BP):
27 Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) --- (2,700 BP, 350 CP)
5 Spaceport (100 BP, 25 CP) --- (500 BP, 75 CP)
55 Shuttle (20 BP, 5 CP) --- (1,100 BP, 175 CP)
500 BP for Psy-shield upgrades
SHIP 2200 BP + overflow
Gives us 8,350 BP per build action x 4 actions = 33,400 + 2200 invested this turn = 35,600 BP. Final cost of our ship is 33,650 BP so we'd have ~1,950 BP to spare next turn.
Risks for this plan:
For our new beans I want Ker, his awkward drive to explore is just too endearing.
[] Ker Bemsk, awkard telekinetic. Delta (13)
For Victan's upgrade I think diplomat is the way to go hands down. We've done diplomacy actions on 10 of our 16 turns and this would double down on one of our core-competency's.
[] Diplomat-spy: Victan's active action bonus can be applied to all diplomacy rolls, including first contact with a new culture. Victan's only been able to be included on these diplomacy rolls thus far becuase he's a local, and has contacts inside Aevon he can use for diplomacy. If you go somewhere new he'll be limited to just being a spy without this.
Here is my starting plan draft:
Outline:
For building our ship, we grab Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements to reduce CP cost of ground factories and then drop a ton per @meianmaru's build plan.
To keep scrapcode moving, we get improved shields with BP earmarked for an upgrade the same turn. Then we dive into the scrapcode research to find out how it works.
Medical school is there since it seems to be the most valuable 50 RP tech on the tree. But if @Karnax626 is correct and Psytech is 100 RP I will swap for that and hope that Anexa + scrapcode bonus is enough to finish it.
Edit:
Edit the second: @Derpmind corrected me that we actually put that into Psytech, which is currently sitting at 55/100 according to our research in progress. So Psytech is certainly in the plan, along with part of medical school.
Research 1
-[] Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements (50 RP) You dramatically improved the efficiency of your void manufacturing by stripping out the dumb stuff that was required by stellar federation beauracracy. There's probably some stuff like that in your ground manufactories too. (Reduces the CP cost but not BP cost of your ground manufactories).
- [] The Basics of Psytech (5 + 40 RP) You have that pile of samples from Prospero. You were supposed to see if anybody was interested in them, but you doubt the people who gave them to you will care much what you do with them anymore. Maybe poke around and figure out what's what. (Beginner psytech learnings. Unlocks research projects to build individual pieces of psytech)
--Axena assists
-[] Improved Psychic shielding: (100 RP) Your "no" shielding seems to have worked to protect you from attack so far. But the design is really just a first-generation version. You could develop the second generation, make it capable of more complex and powerful thoughts? (Gives you the ability to build improved psychic shielding, and further upgrades down the path to make it even stronger, half of the research towards using this as some kind of attack against warp beings, as well as half of the requirements to integrate machine spirits with psychic shielding).
-[] You don't need no stinkin' medical school (0 -> 45 of 50 RP) You've got a few auto-doc modules that can prescribe drugs based on symptoms or do basic surgeries. If you actually understood the medicine you'd be able to perform better care, as well as do more advanced surgeries (Unlocks better medical care, as well as general enhancements to surgeries, cybernetic augmentations and more. May be a prerequisite to further biomedical research. Also unlocks more research for advanced medical care, which will likely reduce other research costs and be a prerequisite for advanced augmentations.)
Research 2
-[] Scrapcode Research (200 RP) How does scrapcode work? Obviously the answer is "psychic shenanigans," but you'd like to get a little bit more detail than that. Maybe you'll be able to defend against it in some way. (Understanding of scrapcode that's likely useful for defending against it. Grants light reduction to shield damage from scrapcode and unlocks technology to further reduce psychic damage from scrapcode, and potential technologies to generate or store scrapcode for your own use.)
Construction 1 (4850 BP):
43 Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) --- (4300 BP, 2150 CP)
2 Spaceport (100 BP, 25 CP) --- (200 BP, 75 CP)
15 Shuttle (20 BP, 5 CP) --- (300 BP, 75 CP)
Trade goods (50 BP)
Construction 2 (7000 BP):
27 Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) --- (2,700 BP, 350 CP)
5 Spaceport (100 BP, 25 CP) --- (500 BP, 75 CP)
55 Shuttle (20 BP, 5 CP) --- (1,100 BP, 175 CP)
500 BP for Psy-shield upgrades
SHIP 2200 BP + overflow
Gives us 8,350 BP per build action x 4 actions = 33,400 + 2200 invested this turn = 35,600 BP. Final cost of our ship is 33,650 BP so we'd have ~1,950 BP to spare next turn.
Risks for this plan:
- Ground Manufactory Efficiency Improvements failing or giving less than 20% CP would put us over our control limit. Since we are trying to do a lot all at once, I could see a bad roll on this tech giving us some construction penalties.
- Even if everything works we will only have a few hundred free CP once our ship is done. So we will need to very quickly hand over manufactories or find some solution
- We are intentionally poking a chaos gribble, even with improved shields there is a risk here. I think it is very worthwhile considering the bonuses we have already got from it, but still a risk.
For our new beans I want Ker, his awkward drive to explore is just too endearing.
[] Ker Bemsk, awkard telekinetic. Delta (13)
For Victan's upgrade I think diplomat is the way to go hands down. We've done diplomacy actions on 10 of our 16 turns and this would double down on one of our core-competency's.
[] Diplomat-spy: Victan's active action bonus can be applied to all diplomacy rolls, including first contact with a new culture. Victan's only been able to be included on these diplomacy rolls thus far becuase he's a local, and has contacts inside Aevon he can use for diplomacy. If you go somewhere new he'll be limited to just being a spy without this.
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