Interest Check: Eclipse Phase

Started by Empyrean, June 14, 2014, 04:47:17 PM

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CarnivalOfTheGoat

Okay, confirming so it's all in one place:

You have some special 'bonus system' for veterans other than 'here have X more CP to throw at things.'
You only want one person to be using Transhuman because of the problems it poses with checking due to Kin's spreadsheet not handling its systems/components.
PCs will be Firewall veterans of 2-5 missions and veterans as a TEAM, together. Which probably means that it will be a team of specialists used to working together.
We already have a Hyperelite Socialite who is a legal type. Does that include face/schmoozing duties?

I'm looking at the far opposite end of that, an outer-system type, possibly Scum. Not planning to utilize TH.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ReijiTabibito

#26
Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 19, 2014, 10:20:54 PM
You have some special 'bonus system' for veterans other than 'here have X more CP to throw at things.'

Yes.  And no.  Yes, I have one.  No, we may not be using it because we might be getting 5 players.  The only way I'll use the system is if we have 4 or less.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 19, 2014, 10:20:54 PM
You only want one person to be using Transhuman because of the problems it poses with checking due to Kin's spreadsheet not handling its systems/components.

Yes.  Also because I don't know who is capable of working the spreadsheet myself, and I have no desire to hand-build 5 characters working with the player.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 19, 2014, 10:20:54 PM
PCs will be Firewall veterans of 2-5 missions and veterans as a TEAM, together. Which probably means that it will be a team of specialists used to working together.

Yes.  PCs will have been working in Firewall for some time.  Whether or not you all start out as a team, I won't guarantee, but I will guarantee that each one of you will have worked with at least one of the other PCs in the past.  If characters allow, then yes, you'll have worked together as a team for a handful of jobs.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 19, 2014, 10:20:54 PM
We already have a Hyperelite Socialite who is a legal type. Does that include face/schmoozing duties?

Yes.  They're a Sylph who has cornered the market on social-type skills, Networking (Social Butterfly Trait), and Social Engineering (Profession).

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 19, 2014, 10:20:54 PM
I'm looking at the far opposite end of that, an outer-system type, possibly Scum. Not planning to utilize TH.

Okay.  So noted.  With you, have 4/5 players forwarding character ideas - none of them involving TH.


EDIT: Update for character concepts - another player is going to be an Argonaut techie, focus on Hardware skills and the like.

GloomCookie

#27
Name: Katie Larson
Background: Original Space Colonist
Faction: Argonaut
Primary Morph: Neotenic
Gender Identity: Feminine
Actual Age: Unknown
Motivations: +Exploration +Discovery
Roll on the team: Engineer, Bomb Tech

Brief Biography: Katie doesn't remember having a family.  She doesn't remember much beyond the training, the preparation, the fierce competition.  She remembers seeing the colony ship for the first time, the wonder of being onboard.  Of being with so many people trying to be the firsts to push the frontier.  That was a long, long time ago.  Back before the Fall.  These days, she still wakes up, still feels the wonder of poking at new things, but she misses the days when everything was new and exciting.  She wants to relive those days, to feel like they're doing something new and unique for the first time.

Quote: "Ok, ok, I got it, don't panic, I got this.  Ok.  Uh... ok um, slight change to that.  Go ahead and panic."
My DeviantArt

Ons and Offs Updated 9 October 2022

CarnivalOfTheGoat

#28
Quote from: ReijiTabibito on June 19, 2014, 10:31:54 PM
Okay.  So noted.  With you, have 4/5 players forwarding character ideas - none of them involving TH.

Well, if it comes down to it, I've hacked the spreadsheet before, back before Kin had updated for Rimward. and can easily do so again.

And I confess, I was looking through TH just to verify I didn't want anything and had an LMAO moment with the Jenkins. Just because Scum and the sexual characteristics of male rats. ::) >_> I might play a male character. I've been experimenting with it a bit of late.

EDIT: The more I think about it, the more hilarious the idea of a Jenkin biochemist becomes.

Particularly one with built-in glands.

EDIT EDIT: OMG I MEANT DRUG GLANDS GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

Empyrean



Name: Sachiko Yamafuku
Background Hyperelite
Faction: Socialite
Primary Morph: Sylph
Gender Identity: Feminine
Actual Age: 34
Motivations: +Family, +Personal Career, +Hedonism
Role on the team: Social networking/face duties

Brief Biography: Sachiko was born on Earth before the fall, the daughter of Kassi Yamafuku. She grew up in a life of luxury, but it was a controlled life. Not specializing in any one thing, always aware that her mother was wealthy but she'd never control, Sachiko drifted aimlessly in her early years. She established herself as a party girl and socialite, made several successful movies pre and post-Fall, and did all the things a bored child of privilege does. Now she seeks to make her own name for herself and enjoy life her way.

Quote: "Hope this is more fun than an Earth orbital party!"

CarnivalOfTheGoat

#30
As this is an 'experienced' team, can we ignore starting morph restrictions for faction/background? Shaping up to be Lost/Scum and I really don't think it's at all sensible that some of the most-hunted people in the system (Lost) would be sleeved into a Futura after multiple missions (really, not after one...Too much like painting a giant target on yourself).

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ReijiTabibito

Probably.  Work on everything else first.  We'll talk bodies in a bit.

CarnivalOfTheGoat

#32
Just as an aside, Linna, your motivations are actually used in Eclipse Phase to regain Moxie and to earn experience (Rez). Your character should have three. :) If you're working on thinking up a third or having trouble doing so, just say so. :) An easy out for almost any Firewall agent is '- X-threats.'

Quote"...count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceedst to three. Five is right out."

Character is shaping up to be a mindfucker. Not in the 'face' sense, but in the 'designs recreational drugs as a hobby/profession (and is an Async)' sense. So if smiles and kind words don't work, there's always psychoactives and brain-twisting.

The nice thing about Async capabilities is that they have very little (not quite nothing) to do with the morph a character is in. The not-so-nice thing is that Asyncs are about as stable as a hatfull of mercury fulminate.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

Empyrean

Sachiko is an Async too, so they should have plenty to talk about. :)

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Quote from: Empyrean on June 20, 2014, 08:35:24 PM
Sachiko is an Async too, so they should have plenty to talk about. :)

Crud, I didn't see anything in your posting that suggested that. Sorry. Hopefully Reiji isn't concerned about having more than one Async in the party. I note your character is a Hyperelite, how'd she get exposed? (I'm working up a Lost, so the 'how' is actually a part of the background).

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

Empyrean

She was on Paradise, a resort station in Earth orbit when the Fall happened. She got infected while she was stuck in there with all the refugees that swamped the place, but didn't realize it until after her family paid to get her removed to a private habitat. I imagine that she doesn't advertise about this. Her family would have taught her not to blab it about for her own good and the good of the clan.

ReijiTabibito

Given the size of the crew, you could all be asyncs and I wouldn't care.  (Okay, I probably would, but at least you guys aren't my IRL crew.)  Besides, you being an async is an opportunity for me to exploit when it comes to you, especially in the body department (Morph Feverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!).

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Yup, Asyncs are very easy to fuck with. Stick'em in a can...And have their opponents be in cans, as most Async powers won't work against a synthetic mind. Either way works quite well.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ChaoticSky

...belated thought, i dont think a neotenic morph (linna's character) is allowed by Es rules (characters have to be mentally and physically over 16)

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Quote from: Darkling on June 20, 2014, 09:57:04 PM
...belated thought, i dont think a neotenic morph (linna's character) is allowed by Es rules (characters have to be mentally and physically over 16)

Neotenics aren't children. They're short, fully mature creatures. Hmmm. But I think Elliquiy disallows 'chibi' characters, too. It might be safer not to go there.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ChaoticSky

#40
Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 20, 2014, 11:35:58 PM
Neotenics aren't children. They're short, fully mature creatures. Hmmm. But I think Elliquiy disallows 'chibi' characters, too. It might be safer not to go there.
They are children in every sense that matters, they are short, prepubescent and undeveloped, perpetually suspended in a childlike state while being capable of reproduction. Thats both the real-life literal definition of Neoteny and the EP definition of Neotenic Morphs. Like human children they are extremely intuitive, creative, and learn quickly, while using less space, food, water, and air. Those qualities make them ideal for low budget space colonies.

However, as the book stresses, they are very frowned upon in sexual professions, since even in EP people are not okay with that kinda thing, atleased not for mass consumption (considering that they occasionally mention of the darker tastes in the setting i wouldn't be surprised). If they were merely short, intuitive adults, then there would be no such stigma, it might be considered extremely niche (like current-day 'midget porn'), but there wouldnt be a broad condemnation of the practice.

QuoteNeotenics are transhumans modified to retain a child-like form. They are smaller, more agile, inquisitive, and less resource-depleting, making them ideal for habitat living and spacecraft. Some people find neotenic sleeves distasteful, especially when employed in certain media and sex work capacities.

CarnivalOfTheGoat

I did say, it might be safer not to go there. :) That was me agreeing with you.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ReijiTabibito

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 20, 2014, 09:50:53 PM
Yup, Asyncs are very easy to fuck with. Stick'em in a can...And have their opponents be in cans, as most Async powers won't work against a synthetic mind. Either way works quite well.

True indeed.  From where I stand, though, the only async abilities worth having are a handful of the Chi-level passives, which operate regardless of your opponent's body.  But Active abilities...yes, no dice.

CarnivalOfTheGoat

#43
I know we've got at least one person new to the game, so I hope the rest of you will forgive me if I write this bit like everybody is. :) I find it's often useful to go over this stuff when putting a party together anyway.

Even though EP isn't really a 'class-based' game, there are some skills which are pretty darned useful in a Firewall team and others which are just about mandatory, and we've got two characters on the table already. I mention this because I realized that I was assembling a niche character which would be useful if the big 'gotta have it' skills were pretty well taken care of, but who probably wouldn't be a front-runner for any of those 'critical roles.' So I'm still working on her but I'm going to be flexible about it.

Things that it would benefit every character to have at least in the 30s (parentheses represents a skill specialization that's particularly useful):

A ranged weapon skill,
Fray (higher is better),
Kinesics,
Perception (higher is better).

Things the party would benefit from having at least one character with the skill in the 60s-range (parentheses represents a skill specialization that's particularly useful):

Academics: Chemistry, Cryptography, Memetics, Nanotechnology, Psychology, Xeno-Archaeology and Xeno-Linguistics if you're Gatecrashing which we probably aren't
Deception (Bluffing or Fast Talk),
Hardware: Armorer, Electronics (Nanofabrication Devices), Implants, Industrial (Habitat), Robotics
Infiltration (Sneaking, Shadowing),
Infosec (Brute-Force Hacking, Sniffing),
Interfacing (Forgery, Stealthing),
Investigation,
Medicine: Paramedic,
Persuasion,
Profession: Security Ops, Police Procedures, Squad Tactics, Habitat Admin, Habitat Ops,
Programming: (Malware, Nanofabrication)
Protocol,
Research,
Scrounging (Habitats)

You can sort of create some roles by seeing what fits together well (an AGI party hacker with all of the computer/intrusion skills is a very stock combination, and it's usual to have a face/social "hacker" as well as a hardware type and a "dedicated fighter" with every combat skill under the sun). Having said that, it's often good if everybody has kind of a primary role and one or two things they can do 'adequately' outside of it...Not just because it sucks if a dragon eats the cleric, but also because in Eclipse Phase teamwork can really add up.

Anyway, where I was going with all this is that it might be useful to discuss roles (and secondary roles) just to be sure we've got a good spread and nothing is missing.

So far I see:

Empyrean's Sachiko Yamafuku who is a Social Networking/Face type with a Hyperelite/Socialite background
Linna's Katie Larson who is an Engineer/Bomb Tech with an OSC/Argonaut background.

That looks like a lot of the social stuff is covered (but it's nearly impossible for one character to have high rep scores and networking scores in EVERYTHING so it's good to have solid rep/networking with whoever your main faction is), and I'm guessing most of the Hardware stuff as well as Demolitions.

So despite how much I was enjoying the idea of a walking drug factory/addict (who would've been bringing a wide array of chemical and nanotech support to the party, including chem/nano combative tricks and swarms for area denial as well as medicine and secondary hacking/nanofab skills), I recognize that that is a kind of a niche character (EP is odd in that you really can wander around without a healer, assuming fairly common nano), so I'm going to temporarily shelve her until it looks like the party has a pretty solid spread of the 'gotta-haves.'

Without knowing what-all exactly is out there, it looks like we might need a dedicated butt-kicker and a dedicated hacker.

If those don't fit what you were looking at, Darkling and Muse, let me know. If needed, I have a few such characters just lying around. For that matter I can do just about whatever (which is one reason I gravitate towards less-specialized secondary-niche characters, I've played EP pretty much since its release, been in several long campaigns and myriad short ones and I can handle just about any 'position.')

(I will add, Muse, that if you're worried about the complexity of the game, just like in most systems 'fighter' is the easiest role to pick up...but you sure don't have to if you don't want to! Just letting you know in case you're drowning in details.)

EDIT: Oh yeah. While I don't advocate buying much besides blueprints for a FW character, pretty much everybody should spend the lucre for a False Ego ID...Unless (like some GMs I've known do...And some don't!) Reiji is one of the folks who believes that this paragraph from p.357 of the EP core rules is literal.

QuoteNew sentinels are given a code name and fake
identification
. Outside of the proxies, the real-world
identity of a given sentinel is a closely guarded
secret. Sentinels are even discouraged from sharing
such information with members of their own teams,
though this line is often crossed. Additionally, each
sentinel is required to upload a backup to Firewall’s
secure servers and to update this backup regularly.
This backup serves a dual purpose, enabling all sentinels
to be retrieved should they die, but also putting
a copy of the sentinel in Firewall’s hands should they
ever need to interrogate them.

(Heck, you still might want to, it's nice to have burnable identities...Oh, and bear in mind that your fake ID needs its own points spent on rep if you don't want it to be a 'nobody.')

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ReijiTabibito

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 23, 2014, 03:01:44 AM
Things that it would benefit every character to have at least in the 30s (parentheses represents a skill specialization that's particularly useful):

A ranged weapon skill,
Fray (higher is better),
Kinesics,
Perception (higher is better).

And most of these, it's better to have them in the 40s+ range.  Technology can make up a lot of distance, though - if you invest in Kinetic weapons and carry a Firearm, you can take smart ammunition, the best of which is probably Accushot (unless you're carrying some form of rifle, in which case Homing/Zero is best).  And all weapons come with a smartlink, which grants an automatic bonus.  A person who has, say, Kinetic Weapons 40, with the Pistol Specialization, and gives themselves Accushot ammunition has an overall effective skill of 60 that isn't affected by range, meaning you can shoot out to max distance with no penalty.

The other major weapon category that is similar is Seeker Weapons - Seekers are also smart ammunition capable, and they've got an enormous range - the smallest missile has a short range of 70.

Kinesics is another skill that you can easily make up for.  The Personal Interaction Sensor and the Kinesics Software (each cost 1000 credits) grant a +20 and +10 bonus to Kinesics tests, respectively.  So someone with an average SAV stat (15), can have a skill of 45 in Kinesics with just these simple pieces of equipment.  Unless you're going to be a dedicated social-type, like Empy, you don't really need a Kinesics skill much higher than 50-ish.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 23, 2014, 03:01:44 AM
Things the party would benefit from having at least one character with the skill in the 60s-range (parentheses represents a skill specialization that's particularly useful):


Academics: Chemistry, Cryptography, Memetics, Nanotechnology, Psychology, Xeno-Archaeology and Xeno-Linguistics if you're Gatecrashing which we probably aren't
Deception (Bluffing or Fast Talk),
Hardware: Armorer, Electronics (Nanofabrication Devices), Implants, Industrial (Habitat), Robotics
Infiltration (Sneaking, Shadowing),
Infosec (Brute-Force Hacking, Sniffing),
Interfacing (Forgery, Stealthing),
Investigation,
Medicine: Paramedic,
Persuasion,
Profession: Security Ops, Police Procedures, Squad Tactics, Habitat Admin, Habitat Ops,
Programming: (Malware, Nanofabrication)
Protocol,
Research,
Scrounging (Habitats)

In terms of Active skills, everyone should have Interfacing and Research - the former because it's the 'use electronics' general skill, and the latter because you use it to look up anything.  Hardware: Electronics is usually pretty useful (but I think Linna's character has that covered).  As for the Knowledge skills, yeah, most of those are pretty useful, though I will say that there is a possible Gatecrashing component to this story, but don't feel as if you have to go overboard on the Xeno skills.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 23, 2014, 03:01:44 AM
Without knowing what-all exactly is out there, it looks like we might need a dedicated butt-kicker and a dedicated hacker.

I've said this once, and I'll say is as long as we're playing EP - building a dedicated hacker is not hard in EP.  In fact, adding 'hacker' to your list of descriptives is probably the easiest thing to do in the EP system.  To be a powerful hacker, you just need 3 good skills, and 1 so-so skill.   The 3 good skills you need are: Infosec, Interfacing, Programming, and the so-so skill you need is Research (but almost everyone should have that, anyways).  And since everyone's Muse comes loaded with all 4 skills, you can always benefit from a Teamwork bonus on those tests.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 23, 2014, 03:01:44 AM
EDIT: Oh yeah. While I don't advocate buying much besides blueprints for a FW character, pretty much everybody should spend the lucre for a False Ego ID...Unless (like some GMs I've known do...And some don't!) Reiji is one of the folks who believes that this paragraph from p.357 of the EP core rules is literal.

(Heck, you still might want to, it's nice to have burnable identities...Oh, and bear in mind that your fake ID needs its own points spent on rep if you don't want it to be a 'nobody.')

I was always under the impression that whatever identity you have now is the fake one that Firewall set up for you.  That whoever you're creating is the fake Firewall ID, and who you really are is somewhere buried.  That's just my opinion.

GloomCookie

In regards to my playing a neotenic... the character picture is how the character looks.  Neotenics are made to be small, and that's the idea.  She looks old enough, and that's that.
My DeviantArt

Ons and Offs Updated 9 October 2022

ReijiTabibito

To all players - anyone interested in doing one of the new Factions from Transhuman...the setup is going to need some work.  For some reason, the character spreadsheet done by Kindalas doesn't correctly function for 'custom' factions.  It instead, for some reason, substitutes in one of the canon (IE, pre-Transhuman) factions, going with seemingly randomly selected one.  This does not apply, however, to custom backgrounds or bodies.

...but it doesn't really seem like we'll have that problem...

Empyrean

If it helps Carnival, Sachiko's muse has the following skills:

Academics (Psychology) 60, Academics (Network Science) 40, Interest (Cutting Edge Tech) 40, Profession (Mesh Engineering) 40, Profession (Accounting) 60.

It might not cover all you were saying, but it might help a little. :)

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on June 23, 2014, 11:13:41 AM
And most of these, it's better to have them in the 40s+ range.  Technology can make up a lot of distance, though - if you invest in Kinetic weapons and carry a Firearm, you can take smart ammunition, the best of which is probably Accushot (unless you're carrying some form of rifle, in which case Homing/Zero is best).  And all weapons come with a smartlink, which grants an automatic bonus.  A person who has, say, Kinetic Weapons 40, with the Pistol Specialization, and gives themselves Accushot ammunition has an overall effective skill of 60 that isn't affected by range, meaning you can shoot out to max distance with no penalty.

The other major weapon category that is similar is Seeker Weapons - Seekers are also smart ammunition capable, and they've got an enormous range - the smallest missile has a short range of 70.

I agree that it's better to have them in the 40s. :) I was suggesting encouraged minimums. The only reason I am a little averse to seekers is that sometimes you're having to fab stuff on the fly, and seekers take considerably more time to produce.

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on June 23, 2014, 11:13:41 AMKinesics is another skill that you can easily make up for.  The Personal Interaction Sensor and the Kinesics Software (each cost 1000 credits) grant a +20 and +10 bonus to Kinesics tests, respectively.  So someone with an average SAV stat (15), can have a skill of 45 in Kinesics with just these simple pieces of equipment.  Unless you're going to be a dedicated social-type, like Empy, you don't really need a Kinesics skill much higher than 50-ish.

I wouldn't suggest that a non-social-engineer type needed a 50...That's just me, I suppose. Specifically because it's so easy to get cheap gear to boost it.

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on June 23, 2014, 11:13:41 AMIn terms of Active skills, everyone should have Interfacing and Research - the former because it's the 'use electronics' general skill, and the latter because you use it to look up anything.  Hardware: Electronics is usually pretty useful (but I think Linna's character has that covered).  As for the Knowledge skills, yeah, most of those are pretty useful, though I will say that there is a possible Gatecrashing component to this story, but don't feel as if you have to go overboard on the Xeno skills.

Bearing in mind that your Muse has Interfacing 40 and Research 30, and I do believe those are skills where the teamwork or 'complement' bonus is pretty easy to justify. Generally speaking, one reason to have quite a few skills down around 31+ is just so that they can be used as complementary skills to other things. And you only need to roll Interfacing when you're doing problematic stuff with your electronics, you don't need it for normal button-pushing.

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on June 23, 2014, 11:13:41 AMI've said this once, and I'll say is as long as we're playing EP - building a dedicated hacker is not hard in EP.  In fact, adding 'hacker' to your list of descriptives is probably the easiest thing to do in the EP system.  To be a powerful hacker, you just need 3 good skills, and 1 so-so skill.   The 3 good skills you need are: Infosec, Interfacing, Programming, and the so-so skill you need is Research (but almost everyone should have that, anyways).  And since everyone's Muse comes loaded with all 4 skills, you can always benefit from a Teamwork bonus on those tests.

Okay, I think we're using the same words to mean two different things. When I say 'dedicated hacker' I mean either an Async with Instinct/Multitasking Sleights or an AGI with Intuitive Cracker...To me, a 'dedicated hacker' means the character you can count on to break into the enemy TacNet in one round, then plug in a backdoor for everyone else to play with using their less-developed skills. I agree that most characters should be able to do adequately. In the same way that lots of people will have Networking and Persuasion or will have a Hardware skill or two, but you expect your Face character or your dedicated Techie to have aaaall that stuff at high levels. :)

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on June 23, 2014, 11:13:41 AMI was always under the impression that whatever identity you have now is the fake one that Firewall set up for you.  That whoever you're creating is the fake Firewall ID, and who you really are is somewhere buried.  That's just my opinion.

Well, when it all comes down to it, you're the GM, so I have a feeling your opinion counts. ;D

Quote from: Empyrean on June 24, 2014, 12:05:06 AM
If it helps Carnival, Sachiko's muse has the following skills:

Academics (Psychology) 60, Academics (Network Science) 40, Interest (Cutting Edge Tech) 40, Profession (Mesh Engineering) 40, Profession (Accounting) 60.

It might not cover all you were saying, but it might help a little. :)

Because EP is confusing in how it uses the term 'networking,' is 'Network Science' meant to be something like 'Mesh Communications' or 'Interpersonal Interractions?'

Also, to everybody, as we're a 'known team that has worked together', is anyone else investing heavily in blueprints? It might be good to avoid having too much duplication, if so.

Muse, Darkling, what've you got so far on character-sorts?

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

ReijiTabibito

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 24, 2014, 12:46:22 AM
I agree that it's better to have them in the 40s. :) I was suggesting encouraged minimums. The only reason I am a little averse to seekers is that sometimes you're having to fab stuff on the fly, and seekers take considerably more time to produce.

Right.  But I was just giving examples.  By and large, kinetic weapons are the more favored system, unless you plan on fighting up close, in which case go with Shard Pistols/Shredders because they get that extra die of damage at short range.  There's no doubt in my mind that kinetic weapons are generally cost-effective and versatile.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 24, 2014, 12:46:22 AM
I wouldn't suggest that a non-social-engineer type needed a 50...That's just me, I suppose. Specifically because it's so easy to get cheap gear to boost it.

Well, look at it this way.  Average SAV of 15, +20 Personal Interaction Sensor, +10 Kinesics Software, and that's not even counting if you've got the Enhanced Smell mod (+20 on Kinesics tests if you're within 5m of your target) or have Infrared vision (would Enhanced Vision cover that?; also grants +20).  If you manage to stack all those bonuses together, you've got a Kinesics skill of 85, without a single point invested into the skill, and entirely average SAV.  For me, I would probably invest a few points into the skill, relying on only having the Sensor and the Software around.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 24, 2014, 12:46:22 AM
Bearing in mind that your Muse has Interfacing 40 and Research 30, and I do believe those are skills where the teamwork or 'complement' bonus is pretty easy to justify. Generally speaking, one reason to have quite a few skills down around 31+ is just so that they can be used as complementary skills to other things. And you only need to roll Interfacing when you're doing problematic stuff with your electronics, you don't need it for normal button-pushing.

Right.  If you're doing something wacky with your electronics, that's when you need Interfacing.  Still a useful skill to have at a modest level.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 24, 2014, 12:46:22 AM
Okay, I think we're using the same words to mean two different things. When I say 'dedicated hacker' I mean either an Async with Instinct/Multitasking Sleights or an AGI with Intuitive Cracker...To me, a 'dedicated hacker' means the character you can count on to break into the enemy TacNet in one round, then plug in a backdoor for everyone else to play with using their less-developed skills. I agree that most characters should be able to do adequately. In the same way that lots of people will have Networking and Persuasion or will have a Hardware skill or two, but you expect your Face character or your dedicated Techie to have aaaall that stuff at high levels. :)

Maybe.  But the cornerstone, the stuff you must have to be a good hacker is the same.  You're not doing much of what you described with just an Infosec skill of 30.

Quote from: CarnivalOfTheGoat on June 24, 2014, 12:46:22 AM
Because EP is confusing in how it uses the term 'networking,' is 'Network Science' meant to be something like 'Mesh Communications' or 'Interpersonal Interractions?'

Yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_science

When Empyrean and I were working on the character, he was asking for technically-oriented skills, and noted that he had taken stuff related to the Mesh.  I was trying to be creative and come up with an Academic skill to give besides computer science, so I used my own Research skill to find the entry above.  Read it.  Let it change your life.