[BC] The Blackest Heart (OOC)

[Necronaut]

1 hour ago, Trokair said:

So do we have this compact thing.

 

If there is narative we need to do for it I have a feelign there is no proper time in the Krokadile given that it is about to launch.

 

So perhaps flashback?

 

I got you covered, chief.

[Lysimachus]

I can definitely work something up for an Oath of some sort, but I'm going to be properly busy today so it won't be until this evening (maybe tomorrow morning)

 

Just to direct my writing, is the idea of dedicating the Compact to Khorne in a roundabout way via a Stygian Blood Oath:

 

firstly - narratively sufficient/acceptable to our GM?

 

and (if it is)

 

secondly - is it something that the PCs think is worth doing? The extra WS/BS would certainly be useful, as would a bit of extra Infamy if we succeed? (Obviously with a bit of risk if we blow it) I tend to think we might as well go for it? But I'll work something else out for a more generic Oath if no-one agrees.

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

1 hour ago, Lysimachus said:

Just to direct my writing, is the idea of dedicating the Compact to Khorne in a roundabout way via a Stygian Blood Oath:

 

firstly - narratively sufficient/acceptable to our GM?

 

Yep, that's fine. 

 

 

[Xin Ceithan]

Just to clarify the placeholder : the idea  isn’t to screw with the pact or any narrative you guys are cooking up here - it’s more an attempt to establish  some informal sort  of position of authority within the group ( and perhaps the pantheon ) while Hagga leads from the front 

[Mazer Rackham]

Alright my Malicious Maniacs, whilst we prepare our bodies to go forth and be hurled against a wall of spears, I have prepared a more detailed Draft of the Compact and have it in the Data Thread. (With kind regards to @Lord_Ikka)

 

 

[Necronaut]

Thanks @Mazer Rackham and @Lord_Ikka that all looks great. Looking forward to getting stuck in.

[Necronaut]

It occurs to me that we need a good name for our little warband, something with a bit of zazz. Maybe we'll be able to christen ourselves after this first outing.

 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

20 minutes ago, Necronaut said:

It occurs to me that we need a good name for our little warband, something with a bit of zazz. Maybe we'll be able to christen ourselves after this first outing.

 

What's the collective noun for coffins?

[Trokair]

25 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

What's the collective noun for coffins?

 

Not sure there is one. 

 

I think a group of gravestones not in a graveyard are sometimes called a community.

 

 

50 minutes ago, Necronaut said:

It occurs to me that we need a good name for our little warband, something with a bit of zazz. Maybe we'll be able to christen ourselves after this first outing.

 

The Involuntary Irregulars. or maybe the  The Volunteered Irregulars.

[A.T.]

33 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

What's the collective noun for coffins?

 

'Coffin Fodder' perhaps?

[Lysimachus]

There we go. Not as eloquent as I'd like, but I figured Hagga is generally a Marine of few words and prefers to lead by action...

[Mazer Rackham]

And with that, Hagga and The Pinejackets begin thier maiden tour!

 

Could some kind soul provide me with the following numbers, posting the results in this thread:

• 1D6
• 3D10+8
• 1D100

Cheers!

[Trokair]

16 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

And with that, Hagga and The Pinejackets begin thier maiden tour!

 

Could some kind soul provide me with the following numbers, posting the results in this thread:

• 1D6
• 3D10+8
• 1D100

Cheers!

 

 

1D6 = 4

3D10+8 = 4+2+10 +8 = 24

1D100 = 12

[Mazer Rackham]

Much obliged @Trokair

 

Unless there's anything anyone desperately wants to ask or do, I'll move us on shortly.

 

In other news, a very rudimentary Resource Tracker is now in the googledrive we all have access to, for quick reference.

 

Edited January 12 by Mazer Rackham

[Lysimachus]

5 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 

In other news, a very rudimentary Resource Tracker is now in the googledrive we all have access to, for quick reference.

 

 

This just reminded me, once we have a few more components to go around, I'd like to spend 10 to improve the Quality of Hagga's Plasma Pistol from Common to edit: sorry, Good*? (Maybe if we are successful at the current mission, we will have a few more bits?)

 

*Reason being it gains the Reliable Quality, which means that it only Overheats on a roll of 100, rather than 91-100. A 1/100 chance is much better odds than a 1/10! 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Lysimachus

[Mazer Rackham]

42 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

This just reminded me, once we have a few more components to go around, I'd like to spend 10 to improve the Quality of Hagga's Plasma Pistol from Common to Best*?

 

*Sucks air in through teeth in an expensive manner.*

[A.T.]

3 hours ago, Lysimachus said:

This just reminded me, once we have a few more components to go around, I'd like to spend 10 to improve the Quality of Hagga's Plasma Pistol from Common to Best*?

 

10 components to improve the weapon, but how much more to pay Xerxes for his services :p

 

Basic rules for crafting are on page 94, with the test typically modified by rarity among other things - i'd definitely suggest getting a workshop and some helpers along even with a high tech skill for improving something like a good quality plasma pistol, even more so for best quality.

 

For plasma weapons specifically though it may be cheaper to fabricate purified plasma ammunition (page 173). It's still very rare in quality but Xerxes has the lore-chymistry to try it and won't break your plasma pistol if he fails. It removes the overheat quality while you continue to use it and the one-off cost to create some form of distilling station could eventually provide ammo for the whole party... and an interesting fire hazard down the line :p

[Lysimachus]

I think I'm still not understanding the crafting rules here:

 

On 8/28/2024 at 12:49 AM, Mazer Rackham said:

 

Notes on 'Salvage':

 

Upgrading or running vehicles etc takes supplies. This is based on Availability and an example (is provisionally) as follows:

• Upgrading a Common Weapon's Quality or Repairing it: 10 Components.
• Upgrading a Good Weapon's Quality or Repairing it: 20 Components.

Quality upgrades follow the improvement path as Characteristics do. You have to buy Good -> Best -> Exceptional etc in sequence.

 

You get the idea. Armour is the same. Fuel, Medical and Supplies all run your force or are used in certain applications (i.e. upgrading a Flamer takes 10 Components, 10 Fuel, if you're making up a medkit, it's 10 Components and 10 Medical, and so on). Genrally, what runs your force is abstract and malleable by me to fit the size and scope of your undertaking, but suffice to say, if you get more, you can do more.

 

 

 

So the Components are additional requirements on top of the regular Crafting Rules? I thought they had been included as an alternative way of gaining stuff...?

 

Possibly I'll just forget about the idea then. Seems like the amount of effort involved is beyond the advantage gained, the team can probably use the Components better.

 

Purified Plasma is a good call though, maybe when we next get the opportunity for Acquisitions, that might be one of my options?

 

Edit: sorry, just realised I wrote 'Best' in my above post, I meant 'Good'.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Lysimachus

[Necronaut]

@Lysimachus by my reading, it looks like 10 components to upgrade from Common to Good, then a further 20 to upgrade from Good to Best.

[Lysimachus]

Yep, sorry, my mistake. I wrote Best when I meant Good.

 

Good - gains Reliable so only Overheats/Jams on a 100

Best - never Overheats/Jams at all

[Mazer Rackham]

1 hour ago, Lysimachus said:

I think I'm still not understanding the crafting rules here: So the Components are additional requirements on top of the regular Crafting Rules? I thought they had been included as an alternative way of gaining stuff...?

 

Hopefully I can try and clarify what I intend/mean/how it works without tripping myself up!

 

From a Player perspective, the important bits can be found in BC Core, p.94, under Crafting:

 

'When acquiring materials for crafting, determine the items Availability and then decrease it by one step (i.e. Average items become Common, Common items become Plentiful, etc.). The character then makes an Acquisition Test to buy the materials just as if he were buying an item. Once he has the materials he can then try to create the item.'

 

Basically, the Resources Mechanic removes the Availability requirement or any need to 'Acquire' the materials - you've already got 'em. Considering that everything's Availability has been incresed one step, it's a good Player benefit, because by the book you only get 1 Acquisition attempt at any item, so neutralises frustration. From a GM perspective, by making them an expendable asset, it forces you as Players to go out into the Sandbox, gives you a headache where to spend them and also a problem if you lose them.

 

It doesn't stop you upgrading your gun - your chosen Tech User still has to take the Tests as per p.94, if they want to do it for you. That allows party dynamics 'favour for a favour' etc. Resources just bin the 'Aquisition Test' for materials, which could possibly fail. The expenditure replaces the test.

 

Does that help at all?

[Lysimachus]

Ok, I think that is helpful, thanks!

 

So, assuming you've sorted the necessary Components…

 

According to the table to build a (any?) weapon completely from scratch it would take 1d5 days and 8 Extended Test successes. That could be modified up or down depending on the environment you are working in, and how much help you have, though?

 

Is each Extended Crafting Test just a basic (Challenging+0) Tech-Use, or can that also modified by stuff as above?

 

Is it also modded by having skills like Armourer?

 

Also, is it more or less time and/or tests if you already have the weapon, and you are just upgrading it or repairing it, rather than building something from parts?

 

 

 

 

Anyway, whichever way, it sounds like it's (again!) something for much later in the game, once we have a bit more influence? That's fine, it's another long term goal. 

 

Edited January 12 by Lysimachus

[Necronaut]

The Trade skill mostly allows the character to make an appropriate assessment of the complexity of work required to perform a task and/or the cost of materials thereof, which can maybe modify the subsequent Tech-Use test, but it's a little ambiguous in the baseline rules as to how they're supposed to work together, if truly at all. Otherwise it is best used to negotiate wages/payment for services rendered when used in conjunction with the Commerce skill, acting as an authority figure on the subject.

 

The extended Tech-Use test difficulty for crafting, on the other hand, is modified up or down depending upon the item complexity, craftsmanship, etc to GM taste (I would think item rarity and quality/craftsmanship are the primary modifiers). I hope that helps.

Edited January 12 by Necronaut

[Mazer Rackham]

19 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

Ok, I think that is helpful, thanks!

 

For me too - it codified my objectives on function/aaplication. 

 

19 minutes ago, Lysimachus said:

So, assuming you've sorted the necessary Components…

 

According to the table to build a (any?) weapon completely from scratch it would take 1d5 days and 8 Extended Test successes. That could be modified up or down depending on the environment you are working in, and how much help you have, though?

 

Yes, hence AT's comments about a worskshop/peons working bellows etc.

 

Necro nails the rest of it give or take. 

[A.T.]

1 hour ago, Lysimachus said:

According to the table to build a (any?) weapon completely from scratch it would take 1d5 days and 8 Extended Test successes. That could be modified up or down depending on the environment you are working in, and how much help you have, though?

 

'Trade' is work by rote - a character can hammer out an endless supply of good quality carapace suits with a suitable workshop and parts by following the instructions printed that came in the box. They may not know how or why it works but know where each part goes and how to fit it together.

 

'Tech use' involves understanding of some degree, enough to jerry rig something or work with incomplete or non-sensible schematics.