THARIOK (includes some replied, and construction of SpiriTech) Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 21:42:32 -0500 From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2575] COSM: Thariok (1/4) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List This series is about a cosm I thought of and partially developed during the Summer of 94. I has a lot of time on my hands, and a empty Computer lab I could spend hours in undisturbed. When I created this cosm, I breifly thought about having it land, but then I looked at the work I'ld have to do. I dropped that idea right quick. This is the first of four parts. Enjoy & netpick. Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 21:43:42 -0500 From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2580] COSM: ThariokRules (2/4) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Welcome to the realm of the Prime Spirit, Ok. Thariok is the cosm where technology and the divine meet. Everything has an essence that makes it what it is. By pouring spiritual power into a technological shell, wondrous and terrifying things can brought forth. ---Axioms and World Laws--- AXIOMS Spirit 26 - The current world view is based on Animisim, that everything has a spirit. The spirits, collectivelly known as Harumoks, inhabit and define everything, including poeple and machines. The strength of the spirits is such that they can act on their own without conduits for divine power. The axiom was at 9 at the begining of the Age of Spirits, but it has risen astronomically in the past 700 years (since 12195 AR). Social 23 - An interplanetary culture where planets are divided into Districts of roughly equal population and are governered fairly efficently by a inter- planetary consortium of technocrats known as The Consortium. Low population density and the Law of Interconnection has resulted in dissention and conflict between Districts being rare, but not unknown. Core Earth-style, nuclear families are almost totally dissolved in favor of community-wide support / education / rearing, but familial ties are still honored. Standardization is the rule, not the exception. Tech 28 - Before The Awakening, Thariok achieved a Tech of 24. With the boost from SpiriTech, the world has advanced and is now a fully mature nanotech society. Cities are active on the second, forth, sixth, and eighth planets as well as on the moon around the seventh planet. Personal communication is availible at a thought, and interplanetary communication is not limited by the speed of light. Information/pattern production is the basic stardard for currency / credit / trade. Due to the Law of Patience, travel technology has not advanced much beyond fast interplanetary travel and slow interstellar travel (e.g. no teleportation). Magic 1 - Never much of a force, it was never developed by the Tharians. It has been repressed / supplanted by faith and technology. It is on the verge of dropping to 0. WORLD LAWS Law of Patience - "Good things come to those who wait" is more than a cliche in Tharian culture, it is a tenant of their religion and a core part of their culture. There are three passive game effects of this law. The first being an increase in life span to allow those 'good things' that are promised, time to happen. Every native or transformed being can expect the lifespan to double once past a normal-length childhood (~16 years). Tharians can expect to live for ~200 years, with advanced medicine and SpiriTech, old age is considered at ~190 years. Second effect is that if a Tharian is affected by a Flurry or plays a Haste card, he may elect to have only one action, but he 'saves' his energies. This is represented by a +3 bonus to the total of a connected action attempted in the next round. Only one +3 Patience' bonus can be awarded for a round to the Tharian. The third effect affects all those operating under this Law. Characters (PC & NPC) have a patience 'buffer'. Whenever a Conflict line event can effect them, they can choose to move the event to their buffer and 'save' it - to cancel or enhance a later event, or when needed. A favorable effect can cancel out an unfavorable event even if they are not equivilent in 'power' i.e. a Flurry can cancel a Setback. Note that a character can have *two* effects active at the same time. i.e. a saved Up with a called for Up allows for two roll-agains, should the buffer be emptied. Should an character exit a scene with a buffered effect, the effect is immediate, for better or worse. For example, a Consortium Agent had chosen to 'save' a Setback he got early in a battle with the Storm Knights. Now a Flurry shows as his action line, he has the choice of getting rid of his bad result (emptying his buffer), or keeping his buffer full and accepting the result. He decides to spend his Setback on the Flurry and they cancel' out. As for non-rule effects, the people and events tend to be quieter and less hectic than standard Core Earth. Tharians may be considered Aka-aligned. Just imagine what a Nile Hero (Law of Action) would feel like being in the Tharian reality (Law of Patience). Law of Interconnection - In line with the belief that every thing is a part of Ok, Tharians see everything as connected somehow. Surprisingly, this has had little effect in raising the Social Axiom beyond 23, where standard rights of groups and individuals are accepted as the norm. It has allowed for the rapid rise in the Axiom up to this point though, having been 22 since the Age of Reason. There are three game effects of this, two passive and one active. One passive effect is that any sublot cards played by a character operating under this law must relate to any other subplot cards played. If this condition cannot be met, the card must be "cashed in". The other passive effect results in a +1 to the total of any skill that is used to find connections between things while under this reality. Evidence Analysis is an obvious choice, but the GM may assign the bonus for appropriate uses of other skills such as Science or Scholar. The GM rules on what is appropriate. The active effect is the connection between the divine and the techological. This connection has been in place since the Awakening, and along with the increase of the Spirit Axiom it has created a new skill, SpiriTech. SpiriTech allows for spirits to be wed to technology, and lets technology act as a conduit for the spirits. See Equipment and Skills for more details on the skill. Non-game effects are hard to seperate from the culture. Tharians as a rule, love puzzles and riddles. Those that are well designed or intricately composed are considered 'high' art. They are also curious as a race, always trying to find the connections that must be there. This is sometimes contradictory to the LoPatience. Tharians are curious, but they recognize that they may have to wait to satiate the need to know. The combination of the two Laws has neither boosted nor hindered axiom advances. The natural curiosity that would push axioms up has countered the slowing effect of patience. ---Connection numbers--- ---Darkness Device and The High Lord---- DARKNESS DEVICE This is the last device sent through the Infiniverse. Being last, it has had to make do with very few possibilities. Thariok has a realitively small (~750 million) population, allowing the darkness device to remain 'undiscovered' since the begining of the Age of Man. Quirquoktix also has a preference for both technology and spiritual power. These three factors have led it to remain relatively dormant until lately. The only action it has taken prior to it's unearthing is to provide the second 'Spark' metioned in the Book of Begining. Quirquoktix (Tharian Darkness Device) DEX - 0 STR - 0 TOU - 200 PER - ~~ MIN - ~~ CHA - ~~ SPI - ~~ Posibilities: very few hundred Quirquoktix (kweer-Kwawk-tiks) is a perfectly rectangular (down to the atom) solid mesuring 1m x 4m x 9m. Should anyone actually touch the surface, they would find it to be nearly frictionless. Only by the lack of background can it be visually located, it doesn't reflect more than 1% of any EM energy, including light. Quirquoktix is a subtle, surprisingly patient device that has allowed itself to be discovered. The infiniverse-wide change in possibility energy due to the War may have prodded it into action. It was recently found on Larok, the moon of Thariok. Quirquoktix called out its name, in true Harumok fashion, after it was fully unearthed by auto-diggers and the first rays of the sun hit the device since the Age of Man. On every availible carrier wave, it broadcast "Quirquoktix". The scientists overseeing the 'diggers at the Larok base were killed when their NanoComm recievers exploded from the overload. This has many SpiriTechnictions puzzled as to what is going on. The lack of the -ok suffix, the raw power this new spirit has demostrated, and its sudden disappearance have generated a quiet contriversy. Only one man can answer these concerns. Purthan Roff is that man. Quirquoktix has chosen Purthan to be its High Lord. Purthan is an ambitious, surprisingly ruthless technocrat who is now heads the Consortium, thanks to Quirquoktix. Purthan not an example of the normally patient, relaxed Tharians. Quirquoktix has Purthan believing himself to be the sole Tharian to hear the spirit voice of 'The machine [-tix] not from Ok [-quok-] but from Beyond [Quir- ].' It realizes that Purthan still has his race's best interests at heart, but is slowly manipulating Purthan to point out 'conspiricies' and 'traitors' to the peace and prosperity of the Tharians. These consipiricies are constructed to make traitors out of those who will try to block Purthan. The accusations also serve to alienate Purthan from his people, trying to work against the Law of Interconnection. Slow, small steps are less likely to be noticed than a large leap. The device has plans for Purthan to lead an 'exploratory force' to other cosms to 'Awaken' the spirits that are there. To this end, it has dropped a dimthread into a lightly populated area in China, where spirit worship is already entrenched. It plans to have Purthan send special Consortium agents there to plant 'homing beacons', allowing it to make a permenent connection. HIGH LORD Purthan, Proto-High Lord (stats) ---Creatures and Such--- MINIONS Consortium Agents (stats) COMMON FOLK Average Tharian (stats) Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 21:43:24 -0500 From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2579] COSM: ThariokReligion (3/4) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List "In the begining there was Nothing. Nothing waited. And Nothing waited. Then from Beyond, the Spark came and Ok was. Ok was all that was. This was the first age, the Age of One. Ok wanted to be more, so Ok became Aok, Harok, Parthok and Thariok. But each was less than the whole Ok, so each was limited. Together, They made the universe. And being limited, They tired. They slept the Sleep. So in their Sleep, did the second Age pass and the third come to be. The Age of Creation gave way to the Age of Being, as it does in all things. Our world was made, and we did come to pass by a second Spark. And with our comming, the forth Age dawned, the Age of Man. When Man first recorded his ideas, a fifth Age came upon the waiting universe. It swept all before into history, for it was the Age of Reason. So begins this book." - Book of Begining; Chapter 1 (From Nothing) [abridged] "But some said the Sleep was not for eternity. They said to have patience, for as Creation took time, so shall Their recovery. And in waiting We grew strong. We were repaid a hundred, nay a thousand, fold for our time. In the year of Man 96838 [12195 AR], They awoke. As Sleep crept away, They found the world that They had made had changed. As They awoke, so too did the spirit of the things that were made from Them. And those that were made from those that were made from Them. Thus all things awoke and so began the Awakening, heralding the sixth Age of the universe, the Age of Spirits. So begins this book." - Book of Now; Chapter 1 (The Awakening) [abridged] "So when the Sleep left Them, They Awoke. When They awoke, so did all the parts of Ok. But just the parts, for the parts are less than the whole. Should Ok be called to fully awake, what Is will be no more. For as Ok is everything, everything is Ok. Wakened, Ok will reform from all, Including you, Seeker, reader of this passage. Aok, Thariok, Parthok and Harok will join, bringing all their now un- sleeping spawn. - Book of Endings; Chapter 1 (Ok Awakening) [abridged] So move through the shell that binds you, when your time is due. Through and onward, to be your spawn and your birthers. Seeing what you have Seen, Knowing what you have Learned, Finding what you have Sought, These will bring you closer to the Four that birthed you in the Second Age, yet let you lie Sleeping 'til the Sixth. As you waited patiently for life, As you waited patiently for death, May you wait patiently in death for Ok - Book of Endings; Chapter 7 (Prayers for the Dead) [abridged] The Harumok are derived from Ok, 'One/Prime', through a long chain. It starts with Ok, then to the elemental spirits of earth, heat, water, and air to begin with, and then on down the derivation line. People have also 'created' spirits because emotions are real. The emotions are derived from people who can trace their lineage back to Ok, and by possessing some of the spirit of Ok the emotions also Awoke. As everything is connected to Ok and by the influence of the LoInterconnetion, there are no enemies of the mythos, thus no Ward Enemy miracle. There is no single spirit (excluding Ok) for one 'type'. There are many heat spirits, and many fury spirits, etc. But spirits of a type are connected, and what one knows, all of that type know. The magnitude of an object determines how many spirits are present. According to Tharian beliefs, the only difference between a small lava vent and something like Krakatoa is the number of earth, heat, lava, smoke, and fury spirits. Of course plate tectonics and chaos theory have something to do with it, but the Harumok have a role to play as well. As noted above, more than one spirit type may inhabit a conceptual object. New objects usually have many spirits mixing in them. But in the mix, the LoInterconnection may connect the spirits in gestaltic ways, and a new spirit can be created. At the time of creation, the spirit calls out its name to be know as. All the Harumok add the -ok suffix to honor Ok, literally adding "of Ok" to their name. During the Awakening and the years immediately after, Thariok was virtually screaming with names of the Harumok awakening. With the low Spirit Axiom, the people who heard were generally considered playing without a full deck. As the years went by and the Spiritual axiom rose, the Harumok was finally accepted, cataloged, and classified. This was to be expected from a cosm with a fairly high Tech and Social axiom. Within the past 300 years few spirits have be spawned, and now hearing one calling bestows great prestige. There are *many* spirits, but here is a quick primer on the most known spirits: Ok : Prime/One spirit. The 'parent' of all that is, the most revered of the Harumok. Also the name of the sun in the Tharian system. Although revered, he is *never* invoked. That would be bad. Read the Book of Ending, at the begining of this file. Garrok : The spirit of kinetics. Antiok : The spirit of light. During the optical computer age (~ Tech 25) it was frequently called on, but has declined with the advent of nanotech computers. Thariok : Spirit of earth. The second most revered of the Harumok, as it is the homeworld's name and the 'parent' to Dok. Dok : Spirit of patience. When frustrated or about to lose their cool, many Tharians mutter a small prayer to it. Merely saying its name provides most Tharians with the patience they need. Porthok : Water spirit. Harok : The spirit of air (gases). Juum'pok : The spirit of cold. Often appealed to to go away, epecially during space travel. Aok : Spirit of heat. Also used in space travel and power generation plants. Vr'rok : Ths spirit of Reproduction. Called on for use by SpiriTechs for incubators and copiers. Vitok : Victory spirit. Frequently called on to help in conflicts. Jok : The spirit of fury. Rarely called on, but can be devastating if invoked. Quiok : Not a spirit as such, as it has no lineage to Ok. It literally means 'having no Ok', and is used in describing vacuums and can be an insult. It is usually called on to stop something. Tixok : The sprit of nanomachines called constructors. Always called on to build structures and to ensure a working society. Currently, the most invoked spirit. Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 21:43:59 -0500 Precedence: bulk From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2581] COSM: ThariokNanoTech (4/4) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Nanotech suppliments Modular 'building blocks': CommBlocks - 1-2 millimeter blocks that can send or recieve data. SensoBlocks - 1-2 millimeter blocks that can detect various forms of energy. LogiBlocks - 1-2 micron blocks of logic circuts. StoreBlocks - 1-2 micron blocks for storing data. Nanomachines: Grippers - for grasping matter on a nanotech scale Constructors - for building structures out of nanomachines Bio-structors - for building quasi-living/bio-compatable constructs out of nanomachines Bio-semblers - for building living biomass from base ingredients Pizo-semblers - for building crystals from base ingredients Carbo-semblers - for building organic compounds (not living stuff) from base ingredients NanoStore - libraries/ per boost, adds NanoLimbs - provides mutable limbs NanoComm - This is a standard enhancement. It is so standard, it is considered odd if a person doesn't have it. This body-wide network of SensoBlocks, LogiBlocks and CommBlocks (2/1/7 respective ratios) gathers data on the host, his enviroment, and any communication channel that is active. This information can be accessed by the host or anyone else the host allows communication with. This allows non-boosted signals to resemble telepathy within a 1 km range. Telepathic-like communication is possible outside this range, but only in the presence (1 km) of a booster network. The booster network in the Thariok cosm covers every square kilometer of any inhabited world, limiting real-time telepathic communication to the surface and near-orbits of any one planet. Inter-planetary FTL communication cannot support the data transfer rate neccessary of telepathic comunication, though it is currently one of the most intensely researched areas of Tharian SpiriTech. NanoStrength - adds to STR NanoFlexes - boosts signals and axion response times / DEX boost NanoComp - internalized computer / MIN boost *NanoHero - spirit boost NanoDoc - Carbo-semblers, bio-semblers and bio-constructors combine to react to damage to the owner. This enhancement will make a First Aid roll automatically when the owner reaches Heavy or Mortal Wound, or goes unconcious. The owner can also activte/deactivate it by mental command. While deactivated, it will automatically apply First Aid only when the owner reaches Mortal Wound. It has a First Aid skill of the owner's TOU+3, or 15, which ever is more. It will continue to attempt First Aid until the owner is dead (4 wounds), is successful, or it is mentally deactivated. Each First Aid attempt takes 3 rounds In addition, the owner can benefit from First Aid twice in a 24-hour period. The enhancement is the only way to recieve the second benefit. NanoSpikes - By programming bio-structors, retractable claws/fangs/spikes in various adds can be had. Adds range from +1, for small raised bumps on the knuckles, to +8, for wicked blades whose edges are just fifty angstroms wide. One 'unit' in needed for each 'area', one per hand/foot (+6 max), finger/toe (+4 max), elbow/forearm (+8 max), teeth (+3 max), tongue (+3 max) or knee (+8 max). NanoWings - By adding reserves of bio-structors, wings can be formed for gliding. The glide ratio is about 6 to 1. The wings will automatically deploy to reduce impact speed to value 2. This requires that a portion of skin be left bare under the arms or across the shoulders. If covered, the growing of the wings will inflict a base 15 damage against any restrictive coverings. If the wings do not score a KO, a wound, or exceed the covering's TOU in shock they will not deploy. NanoSkin - By precise control of bio-structors, armour adds up to +4 are availible. By using Sensoblocks, the Logiblocks can control the bio-structors to form quasi-crystal forms around cells of the skin, muscle and bone around the predicted impact sight. Immediately afterwards, they dissasemble the forms, softening the flesh. The result is that flesh feels and looks identical to non- treated flesh, but feels like hard plastic under impact. This is an automatic reaction, the owner is not required to be awake. NanoSkel - Skeletal enhacement/tou boost NanoEye - eye mods NanoEar - Ear mods NanoShnoze - nose/taste mods *NanoCharm - charm boost NanoTox - Carbo-semblers are located in the liver, mouth, heart, pia matter and lymph nodes in the owners body. Under control, the nanomachines produce anti- toxins to any substance that enters the body and does direct harm to the owner. This is provides a +10 to base TOU when resisting toxins. This does not include biological agents, viruses, or totally unknown toxins. When an unkown toxin is encountered, the owner gets no bonus, but for every hour after the first introduction, the system 'learns' about the toxin and will add a cumulative +1 per hour to any TOU totals to resist it. This continues until the +10 add is reached, it is then considered a known toxin. The list of toxins can be updated from a specialized medical programmer by just pressing the programmer up against the skin. NanoRepair - Specialized bio-semblers are placed in every cell of the owner. These machines read the DNA code once and then actively repair it when a mistake is made during transcription or duplication. It also checks the RNA of the host for forgein strands. This allows the owner to resist all forms of viral infection or any sort of DNA alteration with the owners base TOU +15, even after death. A specialized form of this enhancement can be programmed by a medical programmer to cure DNA alteration based problems and then deativate itself to be excreted normally. It 'cures' with a Medicine skill of 25. NanoHair - The owners hair has lines of constructors along each hair. The constructors can extend or retract their connections on command from a small group of Logiblocks. By doing so, the hair has the ability to move. Without a NanoComm and NanoComp, the hair has +0 adds, and can only act under preprogramed reactions to the owner. With the NanoComm and NanoComp, hair can have adds up to +4 and is under mental control. At +0 adds, the hair can only form weak structures like curls, waves, buns, etc. Hair with greater adds have the following stats: DEX (owner's PER -2) STR (5 + adds) TOU 8 PER/MIN/CHA/SPI 0 NanoBlock - prevents nano-machines from working NanoDampers - energy feild damping NanoTouch - touch boost NanoOrgans - tou boost/drugs ScaleSkin - larger armour adds to +9 w/o penalties Non nanotech stuff Deconstructor - allows for remote disassembly of any constructors *Scrambler - alters nanotech in body *SpiriStore - storage of miracles under Axiom ##. *SoulScan - spirit detector *SpiriVat - all purpose medical Vat/spirit healer/nano installer Gooper - restraining device Resistor - motion stopper *AuraScanner - dectects and idetify someone by their spiritual contents *Spirit Armour - allows for the spirits of the owner's predecessors to inhabit and protect the wearer. Req. SpiriTech *Killer - automatically causes nano-tech to revert to inert matter NEW SKILLS SpiriTech is a method and belief that allow for machines to house divine spirits and for the spirits to activate machines. Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 16:19:12 -0500 From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2707] COSM: Thariok - Combined Replys (1/2) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Saxon Brenton ( *) Kansas Jim (#) separately responded: *> AXIOMS *> Spirit 26 - [...] *> The axiom was at 9 at the beginning of the Age of Spirits, but it interne *> has risen astronomically in the past 700 years (since 12195 AR). * * That is an astronomical rise, which puts me in mind of phrases like *'spiritual revolution'. That might be something to keep in mind when *detailing the cosm's history. If I ever get around to it. . . I thought this up quite a while ago, and I have much bigger fish to fry for now. You know, that work-stuff-thingie I do all day. :) *> Social 23 - [...] *> Core Earth-style, nuclear families are almost totally dissolved in favor *> of community-wide support /education / rearing, but familial ties are *> still honored. Standardization is the rule, not the exception. * * What form does honouring family ties take? Is it purely ceremonial? *("I am Fnu of the House of Thrpp. I greet you in the name of my House") *but there is little to no actual contact/cooperation between kin. Are *their actual duties that derive from family ties? Is their any actual *love between family members? Well, I saw it as people giving up the "It's my kid and I can raise it anyway I like, and I certainly don't need to consider anybody else's standards for health, education, or treatment like a human being" attitude. The LoInterconnection (as well as common sense) forces the realization that the welfare of the child is connected to the community as the community's welfare is connected to the child. It is in the best interest of all concerned parties that all the children get a certain level of education, medical care and socialization with its peers. The parents can check on their child with just a thought, and if anything does happen to the child, the child would certainly try to contact the parents/ monitor. With that level of communication, I think a parent (under the LoInteraction) could leave child-rearing to the community. Once the child can leave the mother (~2 yrs, I guess) it is placed in the community's care, the Brood. Remember that both the rights of the community and the parents are held in equal regard at Social 23 (and the parent is also a member of the community). With that said, back to the questions at hand. Parents and children can see and interact with each other as they desire -barring teaching sessions or medical reasons. There is a great deal of importance to a name, the full name is actually four names. the first is the birth name - given by the parents, the second is the Brood name, the third is the community's name. The fourth is chosen by the spawn when it moves from the Brood house to it's own dwelling - this is the 'common' name people use. An 'official' name for a legal document not only includes the individual's full name, but the names of the parents and the last ten Brood names for the community, as well as the community's name. I always pictured Tharians as pretty normal human beings - I have to say that the love between parent and child is still stronger that the ties to the community, although not by much. Sibling ties are just as strong as the community ties and frequently all the members of a community's Brood consider themselves brother and sisters. *> Tech 28 - Before The Awakening, Thariok achieved a Tech of 24. With the *> boost from SpiriTech, the world has advanced and is now a fully mature *> nanotech society. Cities are active on the second, forth, sixth, and #*> eighth planets as well as on the moon around the seventh planet. Personal #*> communication is available at a thought, and interplanetary communication #*> is not limited by the speed of light. Information/pattern production is *> the basic standard for currency / credit / trade. Due to the Law of *> Patience, travel technology has not advanced much beyond fast interplanetary *> travel and slow interstellar travel (e.g. no teleportation). * What's their attitude to Akashan style bio-tech? I have this idea that *they'd find it a bizarre concept: if everything is alive because it *possess at least one spirit, then making it biologically alive would *probably seem like either guilding the lily, or pedanticism. I wrote this before I got the SG SB. But now that I'm thinking about it, I think it would be nothing more that a curiosity - "Yes, our machines are already alive. Alive with the Harumok. As are yours. Yours are just a bit 'squishier' though." #Is this due to spiritech or an extrapolation of the straight Tech axiom? Extrapolation mostly - SpiriTech boosted what they could do after the Awakening, but they have since raised the Tech axiom to support the non- SpiriTech devices that could emulate the SpiriTech Devices. Currently, SpiriTech is used the most frequently, but as spirits can sometimes be fickle - there are pure Tech back-ups for everything. #*> Magic 1 - Never much of a force, it was never developed by the Tharians. #*> It has been repressed / supplanted by faith and technology. It is on the #*> verge of dropping to 0. *Is it particularly foggy? :-) #Are there any unusual (ie, different from what we're used to) effects #due to the low axiom? Nippon Tech has a couple at Magic 2. I always thought that the NT 'fogginess' was from both the Spirit _and_ the Magic Axioms being so low. The LL has Magic 0, but it is said that Kaah summoned the Deep Mist after landing, so it doesn't look like the 'fogginess' is the result of low Magic Axioms in-and-of themselves. With the Spirit Axiom being 26 I didn't envision any ambient fog due to low Magic. Aside from losing the deja vu 'feeling' I can't think of anything else of note. [...] #> Law of Patience - "Good things come to those who wait" is more than a #> cliche in Tharian culture, it is a tenant of their religion and a core #> part of their culture. There are three passive game effects of this law. # #Oh oh, another one of those philosophy/WL things.... 8-) Just in case you haven't had enough . . . (hehehe) #> The first being an increase in life span to allow those 'good things' #> that are promised, time to happen. Every native or transformed being can #> expect the lifespan to double once past a normal-length childhood (~16 #> years). Tharians can expect to live for ~200 years, with advanced #> medicine and SpiriTech, old age is considered at ~190 years. # #So the average period of old age is only a decade or so? Seems pretty #short, or is this more of a "can't care for himself anymore" kind of #old age rather than just "past their prime"? # #Has the lifespan always been about 200 with medicine and spiritech #only pushing back the definition of old age? Originally I saw the lifespan was about ~100 yrs, with both medicine and SpiriTech pushing back both the definition of 'old age'. I always considered 'old age' to start when assistance is needed for some basic tasks, like breathing or eating. Up to that point, in Thariok at lest, being in your prime lasts until 'old age'. LoPatience extends the life cycle after the activity of childhood. Overall, each Tharian can expect an active adult life for ~170 years. #> As for non-rule effects, the people and events tend to be quieter #> and less hectic than standard Core Earth. Tharians may be considered #> Aka-aligned. Just imagine what a Nile Hero (Law of Action) would feel #> like being in the Tharian reality (Law of Patience). # #Would the LoPatience force the Nile character to be quieter and less #hectic or is that just the way the people are due to growing up under #this WL? If the WL enforces the slower pace I think a Nile character #would disconnect about five seconds after arriving. 8-) The people are quieter and less hectic for both reasons - the way they were raised, and the WL (which also affected the way they were raised). I never saw it as an either-or proposition. And yes, the rocket ranger Major Damage could disconnect, should he try to pursue the nefarious Doctor Dictionary with his Grammatical Gamma Ray(tm) through a Thariok zone. *> DARKNESS DEVICE *> This is the last device sent through the Infiniverse. Being last, *> it has had to make do with very few possibilities. Thariok has a * * An interesting twist. Hey! When dealing out anything, someone _always_ gets the spit end of the stick. :) *> relatively small (~750 million) population, allowing the darkness device *> to remain 'undiscovered' since the beginning of the Age of Man. *> Quirquoktix also has a preference for both technology and spiritual power. * * Is it co-incidence that it's residing in a cosm that has an emphasis on *both? There hasn't been any definite description of this from the *cannon material that I know of, so house rules have tended to run the *gamut of DDs being dispatched to particular cosms deliberately (which *can be thought to include the assertion that _each_ and _every_ cosm *has its own DD), through to the DDs being sent out at random (possibly *including the idea that with a bit of preparation a DD can actually mold *a cosm to its tastes). My view: DD's are a piece of TNO - he couldn't actually 'create' them. TNO vested the DD's with all his creative energy - read Possibilities. TNO sent them at random through the one cosmiverse. The DD 'sowed' the 'seeds' for this cosm - the second Spark Now, back to the questions. No, it is not coincidence. Yes, this DD set the 'mold' the cosm when it arrived and gave the second Spark (Book of Beginnings, CH 1:LN 11). It let the sentients develop the cosm - little did they realize that they were developing the cosm for the DD. Which brings me to another point, that the inhabitants are all tainted by the second Spark. They owe the DD for the Spark, and owing a DD is _always_ a bad thing. I'm not saying that this cosm is doomed, but the fight to keep from becoming the servants of the DD is going to be a never-ending battle for Tharians. #> Possibilities: very few hundred # #Actually we don't know how many P-Points a 'virgin' Darkness Device is #going to have, we've only seen writeups on active DDs and one that got #its butt kicked in a fight with another DD. A few hundred may be the #normal starting amount and then the DD's build up into the thousands #by conquering other realities. (see above) For some mysterious reason I imagined that the DD each had a beginning store of ~500 Possibilities - adding more for each cosm conquered. If you wanted a number for starting possibilities for Quirquoktix - 200 tops. *> Quirquoktix (kweer-Kwawk-tiks) is a perfectly rectangular (down to the *> atom) solid measuring 1m x 4m x 9m. Should anyone actually touch the *> surface, they would find it to be nearly frictionless. Only by the lack *> of background can it be visually located, it doesn't reflect more than 1% *> of any EM energy, including light. *> Quirquoktix is a subtle, surprisingly patient device that has allowed *> itself to be discovered. The infiniverse-wide change in possibility energy *> due to the War may have prodded it into action. *> It was recently found on Larok, the moon of Thariok. Quirquoktix called *> out its name, in true Harumok fashion, after it was fully unearthed by *> auto-diggers and the first rays of the sun hit the device since the Age of *> Man. On every available carrier wave, it broadcast "Quirquoktix". The *> scientists overseeing the 'diggers at the Larok base were killed when their *> NanoComm receivers exploded from the overload. * * Uh. This seems disturbingly like the DD that the _real_ High Lord of Earth, *Arthur C Clarke, owns :-) Shhhh. No one else is supposed to know about that! This cosm was started after a TNT Sci-Fi-athon. It had both 2001 and 2010, along with some other stuff. Its all Ted Tuners fault, blame him! :) -Garrett Taylor Computer Specialist - Macintosh ERAU IT - Computing Resources taylorg@cts.db.erau.edu "I _hate_ ccMail, I _hate_ ccMail, I _hate_ ccMail . . . " -Me, upon discovering ccMail handles files over 20K characters by deleting _all_ your text in the file. Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 16:19:32 -0500 From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2708] COSM: Thariok - Combined Replys (2/2) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Saxon Brenton ( *) Kansas Jim (#) separately responded: #*Part 3 #* #> For as Ok is everything, everything is Ok. # #"Everything is ok", boo hiss! I must have read that passage a hundred times and I never saw that. Just in case anyone is wondering, Ok is pronounced with a short 'o' and a hard 'k' much like the 'ock' in 'mock'. No matter what KS Jim says. :) *> There are *many* spirits, but here is a quick primer on the most known *> spirits: * * Are there spirits for abstract concepts as well as material objects and * emotional states? I thought about opening that can of worms, but the top of the can was above 45,000 ft and I didn't have a oxygen mask at the time, so I simply ignored that ^little^ question. Now I would say that there may be a few, but most abstract concepts are difficult to hold & comprehend for a long time (Unlike concrete and conceptual objects). It far too short a time for the LoInterconnection to gestalt spirits to form abstract spirits. Besides, as soon as that happens it becomes concrete and then the death spirit is roaming the land. Not good *> Juum'pok : The spirit of cold. Often appealed to go away, especially *> during space travel. * * I'm not too good at physics, but it seems to me that it might be *possible to use both the spirit of heat and cold in energy generation *for a more efficient form of heat pump than mere thermodynamic law *would allow. This would be desirable since it would keep a powerful *spirit from getting angry because it feels unappreciated (or is that You're a SpiriTechnician already! I never though of the spirits as having the trait of resentment, though. I thought of them more like animals, minimally intelligent and just existing as the pure form of their embodiment. *> Quiok : Not a spirit as such, as it has no lineage to Ok. It literally *> means 'having no Ok', and is used in describing vacuums and can be *> an insult. It is usually called on to stop something. * * Is it the spirit of vacuums per se though? This relates back to my *question on spirits of abstracts; if it is a spirit of an idea that *relates to the metaphysical framework of how spirits exist within *Thariok, then even if it is the spirit of nothingness, then it still *derives a lineage from Ok. Unless of course, 'having no Ok' means that *it is the spirit of things which do not relate to the framework of *spirits within Thariok (ie, is something 'other than Ok') Ow, my head hurts. If I have successfully comprehended your question, I'd have to go with second option. I'll take some aspirin now. #*Part 4 #* * Nano stuff. Overall pretty good. The only thing that struck me was *the presence of things like NanoSpikes. Now, obviously something that *allows offensive weapons to be grown is going to be handy for PC SKs *fighting in the P-Wars. However, is the presence of the likes of *NanoSpikes any indication on the nature of Thariok society? Do many *people actually need them? And what percentage that have them actually *use them? Are the machinations of the DD upon Purthan causing changes *in Thariok society that are making NanoSpikes more popular? I wrote this over the course a two months, working on one bit at a time. This section started out as a list of "What would be cool stuff for a sufficiently-advanced nanotech-using SK?" This spiritual/social aspect of the Cosm evolved much later and I never really went back to re-edit the nanotech list. On to the questions. No, but it is the natural extension of the ability to reform body structures to make useful tools, like tweezers, socket wrenches, hole punches, screwdrivers, etc. Few people ever get the 'combat versions', although about 1/ 4 have the 'tool' versions. Even fewer use them in combat situations. Although I would expect to see a rise in both categories as the DD moves Purthan into conflict with the DIstricts. And with the waking of the DD, the taint on the ancestors of the Tharians may also increase these numbers. *>NEW SKILLS *> *> SpiriTech is a method and belief that allow for machines to house divine *> spirits and for the spirits to activate machines. * The SpiriTech stuff seems good, but I wonder how much further it could *'in theory' be taken. In Thariok society the animistic slant of their *religion means that spirits can inhabit machines and in turn activate *them, and I presume that's as far as they have taken things for cultural *reasons. But, using OccultTech as a model, the idea of spirit/machine *interface could be taken further so that, for example, machines could *be used to produce miracles with minimal intervention from spirits/ *deities/whatever, rather than the SpiriStore method of just holding a *miracle on tap. Machines could even be used to substitute for spirits. Then at that point in development, the metal, electricity, and other machine spirits would gestalt into the new mega-machine spirit. It would be the spirit that provides the miracles (in the shell of the mega-machine), so no axiomatic violations would occur, and no substitution could be made. Is that a piece of handwaving work or what. * Of course, except under specialised circumstances SpiriTech of this *type would not be able to be developed. I would presume that such *tricks would need to be supported by a world law of some type (like the *LoInterconnection :-). Normally high Spirit and Tech would only be *able to _complement_ each other, not actually _substitute_. But if *Tharians are going to be running around on CE, then sooner or later *the idea is bound to occur to some of the more unscrupulous of them... True, but the LoInterconnection is not quite the LoDomination. "Let's work together" as opposed to "You will work for me". So making a machine to substitute for the spirits wouldn't work anyway. #Do you have any actual #ideas on how spiritech works? It's not like Tharkold's technomagic #is very helpful in showing how you can actually combine technology #with something else. I'm not sure, but I figure it's a ritual performed with science (the SpiriTech skill) that allows the spirits to assist mechanical devices (without specific miracles) and for mechanical devices to help express the spirit's embodiment. (See above, heat engine example) A SpiriTech railgun would have a trigger to summon many garroks into the slug and having the barrel act as a guide for direction. The garroks get to express their embodiment (motion) and the slug gets velocity from the garroks. I guess the SpiriTech part would be the trigger requiring the user to have Faith(Harumok) while it houses the Focus. I'm not sure if this helped or even if it answered your question any. I'm kinda fuzzy on it myself. SpiriTech just sounded like a neat idea at the time. Like so many other things that I've lived to regret. :) Out of context section: #Overall things look pretty interesting so far. * Even if there are large holes in some of the areas, I'm happy to see *that there are still others silly enough to write up huge bloody great *realities :-) Thanks, guys. Oh and 'large holes'? Excuse me, but you can drive a cosmverse through most of them.:) -Garrett Taylor Computer Specialist - Macintosh ERAU IT - Computing Resources taylorg@cts.db.erau.edu "I _hate_ ccMail, I _hate_ ccMail, I _hate_ ccMail . . . " -Me, upon discovering ccMail can't handle more than 20K characters w/o an attachment Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 22:34:17 -0500 From: "Garrett Taylor" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2739] SpiriTech/Machines - Kit-Bashing a construction system X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu) writes: |> #Do you have any actual |> #ideas on how spiritech works? It's not like Tharkold's technomagic |> #is very helpful in showing how you can actually combine technology |> #with something else. |> |> I'm not sure, but I figure it's a ritual performed with science (the |>SpiriTech skill) that allows the spirits to assist mechanical devices (without |>specific miracles) and for mechanical devices to help express the spirit's |>embodiment. (See above, heat engine example) | |Actually I meant in terms of game mechanics, not theory, like how would |a character build a SpiriTech device in the game. Oh the easy part - okay! Well, get the rules for building stuff and. . . ummm. . . errrr. . . . . . Hrumph. Whadda ya know - they don't got none! Well, it looks like I'll have to use my own rules, using Weird Science as a model. I know, I know, calm down. Not exactly like WS, but with the same general concepts of power plant, et al. STUFF: FIrst some basics: everything built in the cosmverse is an object from one and only one class. All classes must have both A Minumum Tech Axiom and a TOU attribute. A Type of object 'inherets' its attributes from its 'parent' class, and may also have additional attributes. The 'children' of those types inheret all the attributes of their 'parent' types and may have additional attributes. A child may delete or substitute inherited attributes & stuff, but at a much greater penalty (DN or otherwise) than 'purchasing' them. [Got that? Good, now that we all know Object-Oriented Programming, let's continue. :)] There could be more types of types (of types...ad nauseum), but when you get right down to it each object is made of components. There are the obvious types of components e.g. control, power, housing parts, but there is also attributes that you apply to the conceptual object - combat-rated, modular, production possible(as is mass-production), kit-bashed etc. that would modify non-attribute effects. Limitations could also be assigned to objects/classes as well as having component-level boosters & compinsators. There could be entire design teams, but then you start getting into co- ordination checks and Scholar(management). Vehicle - an object that moves you under its own power to another location Vehicle Types {example} Motorcycle Construction Tractor-trailer Cars Fixed-wing aircraft LTA aircraft Rotory-wing aircraft Space Craft Submarines Watercraft Weapon - an object that can apply a Damage total to another object Building - a container that doesn't move and lends it armor value to it's contents Tool - an object that 'adds' to the users skill level or attribute Communicator - an object that pases information to another object NOE - an object that is directly related to the Nameless One / Eternity (DD's, shards, talismans, etc.) For Example: CLASS TYPE CAR TYPE Vehicle Car Compact Attr Size Passengers Production Cruise Speed Armour Add Efficient Range Cornering Price Acceleration Max Speed Comp Housing Armour Wheels Motivation Control Power Plant Interior Limits --- --- Comfort BUILDING IT: so a compact car (Tech 23) would need values for Size Max Speed Cruise SPeed Range Price #Pass (incl user) TOU Axiom Level and adds for the following: Acceleration Armor Add Cornering To build said car would require the following parts: Housing - body Motivation - transmission Power Plant - engine Armour - re-enforcement & crash protection Controls - steering wheel & gauges Interior - seats, consumer electronics Wheels - (!) wheels :> The attributes that would modify things: Production ready - adds to the design DN, but reduces building time, Price and one other attribute. (lets say) Efficient - raises the DN for designing/building/repairing but increases range by X. Comfort limitation - lowers design DN and decreases Price - moves interactions one level worse after X time in car. THE ROLLS: Going from concept to finished product involves many things, but can be broken down into four operations: design (A), design check (B), manufacturing (C) & testing (D). Dramatic skill resolution is used: if you have tried to build something from scratch for AE 402-Aircraft Design II class - your know that the time constraint is *very* real. :) That mainly relates to kit-bashing under combat conditions as how long your 'turn' will be normally depends on something other than combat rounds. Probably a Science- or Scholar-(Managment) total. When starting the project, the head honcho makes three decisions: the stats of the 'perfect' object, the # of steps to be taken, and the time per flip. It will take a minimum of X time to make all judgments. The 'perfect' object would become the difficulty numer by a proccess relating 'time unit' per step, and the stats of the object. (So the big cheese/client would have to set realistic goals or else find out that there is no way on Earth (or in the current cosm) to make it work. Then he would determine how many steps they want to take: if they'll Design&Test&Build&Test it all at the same time, they only have to succeed at step A (standard DSR DN mods though). The success of the co- ordination and the scholar/sci (manag) would tell what the actual time frame would be. EXAMPLE: Thomas defines the 'perfect' Widget which has a DN of 20. Thomas wants to take all 4 steps and says he wants to get this done and out the door in two months. He considers that 10 flips will be enough to get and succeed at all four steps. Now the calculating begins 60 days = 9 10 flips = 5 -> 9-5=4 4 = 6 days = one flip. A managment check would let him decrease the # of time units in a flip if he did exccedingly well, keep it as desired or even increase the # of time units per flip. (The DN needs to be defined though.) Thomas fails his managment roll, he can take the increased time per flip and take the consequnces (angry customers, end of the world, etc.), or he can trash the project and start from scratch again. A failure at step A or 'Possible Setback' will force a complete redesign (eg new stats) or increase the number of steps as will a 'Complication'. A 'Critical Problem' means that the idea is flawed and will immediately force the redesign _and_ more steps. By taking more steps, adding limitaions, or lowering the 'perfect' object's stats the design DN could be lowered. By taking more steps, the head honch can still fail a step and not have to redesign everything, he merely goes back to the previous step. If a Design Test (B) failed, then its time to go back to the drawing board (A). Once you have succeeded with A, you can not change the base DN, nor the time units with out trashing the whole process and spending more time for the first two criteria (Design DN# and Time/Step#), but you can never fail (a) and get forcefully kicked out of the design proccess. I haven't got a method for determining the DN's, by I haven't really thought that far ahead yet. I'm still trying to define the classes, objects, attribute, & etc. WHERE SPIRITECH FITS IN: The technician could invoke a few fury spirits for the power plant booster with success levels of the Spiritech's (Faith skill + Spiritech adds) translating through a speed push into either adds for acceleration or say, increasing Max speed. He could also invoke patience spirits to improve Cornering (braking) the same way. Or maybe substituting wind spirits for the lift fans on the GEV version (GEV nomally subtitutes lift fans for wheels, adds the Jump Height Attr. and takes the Noisy Limitation) Forces the WL required Limitaion to be applied. WHERE ULTRACAD FITS IN: By using the ULTRACAD system, the object can automaticlly get the Modular and Production attribute and their benefits with the penalties greatly reduced for modular, and negated for production. WHERE WEIRD SCIENCE FITS IN: Lowers Min Tech Axiom by 10 Allows for the power push to be used insted of the speed push Non-'standard' components (ham sandwiches, toasters, Possibility capacitors, flux conflabulators, etc.) may be substituted for 'normal' components "Powers" are availble to 'install' Forces WL Required limitation & One-of-a-kind limitation CONCLUSION: (?) Obviously this rambles a bit, is really vague, and doesn't amount to much. But I am refining it for my Torg v2.0b1 game. Any one who wants to netpick is welcome to, If you care to disscuss it - I welcome that too, but I'm not going to get too deep into one topic and I'm not going to start number crunching for a while. (Yes, the metaphysics of Torg; reconnection, axioms, etc. are far too deep for this right now. They work for now - I'm using them - 'nuff said on my part.) Phew! 22 words of a question results in 1345 words of an answer. Hmmm. . . Aha! A VX rating of 61.126 (Verbosity eXperienced). Not bad, not bad . . . -Garrett Taylor Computer Specialist - Macintosh ERAU IT - Computing Resources taylorg@cts.db.erau.edu Who is running on just a prayer because he hasn't typed in: 'make aircraft' 'chgprt aircraft, vehicle' 'set aircraft @prop gen.support_type to "wing"'