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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:44 am 
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On the basis of my recent instantiation at an official GM, I've decided to have a go at trying a second game. The tentative title for this game is "Singluarity Hunters".

As with New Amsterdam, it will be run with the Fate system, because it seems to work well for me; it's light on rules, heavy on description, and gives the players a lot of options.

Setting and rules will follow.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:10 am 
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Setting:

In the early twenty-second century, humanity found the secret to faster-than-light travel. What is known of history in those days is somewhat spotty, but the drive was known as the Beeder-Two Hyperdrive (though who Mr. Beeder was, or even if there was a Mr. Beeder, is lost to history).

It is known that, over the next fifty or so years, humanity spread out to cover around half the galaxy, finding no alien life beyond simple, single-celled creatures.

And then the Singularity Wars happened, which is the reason why history before that point is poorly known.

The Singularity, as is well known on the world of Centauris, is what happens when someone creates an AI of sufficient intelligence. This AI will then create a more intelligent AI, which will create a more intelligent AI; by the end of the week, you will have an intelligence that no human, or group of humans, can match in ingenuity, or in understanding of physics. And it will not see humans as of any more account than ants. It may, if the people of that world are lucky, run some experiment that goes wrong and changes the planet into a small sun of makes it blow up, or, as happened on Betelgeuse II, create a grey goo that blankets the surface of the world in self-replicating nanites that have eaten the population (and everything else).

If they are unlucky, they will survive the first difficult few days.

It is believed that, at the start of the Singularity Wars, there were at least five different successful singularities. It is not known why they went to war. It is not, in fact, even known if they were at war as such, or if they were merely having the equivalent of a rather spirited chess game. It is not known how many people died, and the principles behind the technology that the Singularities created are not known.

What is known is that the deaths numbered in the trillions. What is known is that entire worlds were created, destroyed, rebuilt, blown up - sometimes all in the same day. What is known is that the stars changed over every world, sometimes on an hourly basis. What is known is that space warped and twisted; strange things showed their faces, genetic plagues swept across galaxies, and creatures that had once existed only in myth and legend began to show up in unexpected places (some claimed genetic engineering, others pointed out that genetic engineering did not and could not explain the waveries).

And then one, or possibly more than one, of the Singularities discovered time travel, and things got really confusing.

--------------

It was a dark time, a time of which little is known. But it is now over. Somehow, humanity survived the Singularity Wars. Somehow, the Singularities ended - either destroyed each other, or destroyed themselves. Nothing survives now of their reign but the odd piece of Singularity Tech, and legends. Legends like the legend of Avalon, the one world to survive the Singularity Wars with its industrial base intact, the one world which did not have to restart from the stone age.

It's been centuries since the Singularity Wars. The wounds have (mostly) healed, the cities of Centauris have been rebuilt, technology has once again attained the heights it once knew. But with these heights come dangers, as is now known - the danger of the Singularity.

Should someone - for any reason - attempt to create an AI with an intelligence of 1.0 or above on the Johnston Scale, this may trigger a Singularity - not immediately, but within a week. And this is where you come in. You are the Singularity Hunters - the best of the best of humanity, recruited by a mysterious figure known only as The Man for a single task - to hunt down and eliminate any AI above 1.0 on the Johnston Scale.

You may be sent to any world, at short notice (fortunately the Beeder-Two Drive is nearly instantaneous) with sometimes a lot of information, and sometimes a little, and always the same task; before the week is up, locate and eliminate at least one Johnston-One or higher AI. Should you be too late, The Man will drop a Wavery Bomb on the planet; and everything that requires electricity at all will abruptly stop working. Thousands will starve as cars stop working, radio and television cut out, and the planet will forever afterwards be constrained to an agricultural existence. No AI can survive when the waveries eat the very electricity from the wires. But, this way, the damage is at least limited to only a single world.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:25 am 
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Waveries - creatures made of radio waves. Named from the short story in which they were first described. Believed to have been created by one of the Singularities during the Singularity War, for reasons unknown. They make the perfect anti-singularity weapon, but also pretty much dismantle civilisation. They are the last resort. Once introduced to a planet, they cannot be exterminated by any known means.

Wavery bomb - a breeding colony of waveries, trapped in a box. Open the box, and the planet will be infested with Waveries in a matter of hours. It is considered polite to ensure that Wavery Containment Satellites are in place before opening the box, to limit the infestation to a single world.

Singularity Tech - a general term for any device made by, for, or at the bidding of a Singularity. It tends to break the laws of physics as they are known - it can do anything. Some possible examples include a TV that displays tomorrows programming, a gun that shoots red bullets at enemies and green bullets at allies, or a stopwatch that stops time when used. Singularity Tech is always dangerous - most examples are centuries old and have had zero maintenance for much of that time, some examples are simply dangerous because they do not always follow sane rules (like the lighter that never needed fuel but blew up the 1024th time it was used, taking the planet it was on out with it). Some examples of Singularity Tech are actually living creatures (there are unicorns on several worlds). Singularity Tech can be used against developing singularities, but this is dangerous; after about day five, the developing singularity will have a better idea of how the tech works than the Hunters do, and may use it against them. (A Singularity can be expected to start producing its own Singularity Tech by day four; when it uses its own Tech, naturally, it usually works).

The Man - Your mysterious employer. Seen only as a shadow on a vid-screen with a bright light behind him. It is not known how he knows when a Johnston-One AI is being produced, but his ability to tell early when a Singularity is in development allows your team to get there on time.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:58 am 
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On to character creation.

Humans are rife throughout the galaxy; ever since the Beeder-Two drive was first developed, they have spread to every inhabitable planet about and made many others habitable. Humans always want more living space. Most PCs will probably be human. If you want to be something else, then describe your species, and what makes you different from humanity, and I'll consider it.

A note of warning; you'll probably be carrying around EMP bombs and other devices designed to destroy any AIs in the area. Anyone wanting to play an AI, or any other electrically-based life, is likely to end up dead before the end of the first Hunt; hence, AIs as players will not be permitted (unless the player is really, really persuasive). Aside from that, just about anything reasonable could go. (AIs of less than Johnston-One level are common on Centauris; they can follow commands, sometimes even to the spirit and not just the letter, but they lack the creativity and imagination to create AIs more intelligent than themselves).

The character creation comes in five phases; about a paragraph per phase would be good. Each phase comes with two aspects. These you can choose yourself. They can be used to aid you, or to hinder you; using them yourself costs a Fate point, having them used against you gives you a Fate point. Fate points also power some of the more impressive stunts, and can be spent to prevent an Aspect from hindering you, so it's a good idea to keep a few on hand at all times.

The first phase describes how you grew up. Most of the PCs would have grown up on Centauris; a large world, where food is plentiful, skyscrapers are tall, and the only major dangers (aside from the tiny chance of someone triggering a Singularity) are other humans. The police force, however, is efficient and very good at what it does. There is antigravity, flying cars, even teleportation technology over short distances, and medical technology is very advanced. Think Earth in the time of Star Trek.

However, The Man will if necessary recruit people from other planets, which can be pretty much anything within reason. (That is, generally less advanced than Centauris, all the way to planets that have not yet got out of their equivalent of the stone age).

Name:
Description:

Phase 1: Growing up

This phase describes how you grew up - where did you come from? Who were your parents? What was your family like? Pick two aspects relating to this.

Phase 2: Setting out

As time moves on, one must eventually leave the nest and move out into the big wide world. What happens when you spread your wings for the first time? Who do you meet, what do you find in the world outside? Again, two aspects.

Phase 3: Making a Name for Myself

This phase is generally something impressive, something that gets you noticed, maybe even gets your name in the papers ("Hero Rescues Thirteen In Stadium Fire", perhaps). Two aspects again.

Phases 4 and 5: Guest starring

In these two phases, you turn up in other people's Phase 3 adventures. Helping, supporting... "Other Hero Saves Another Five In Stadium Fire", perhaps. Again, two aspects per phase. (This phase does need to wait until you've seen everyone else's stage 3's, naturally).

Skills: You can find a list of skills, and what you can do with them, here. While there is technically no magic in this setting, the Singularity Tech fulfills more or less the same role; the Mysteries skill therefore reflects a better-than-normal knowledge of the legends and myths surrounding the surviving pieces of Singularity Tech. It will only be of use when dealing with ancient examples; recent pieces of Singularity Tech that you may or may not come across will remain mysterious.

You get a total of 10 skills: one at +5, two at +4, thee at +3, four at +2 and five at +1.

Stunts: You can find information on Stunts here. Pick five.

Any questions?

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:42 am 
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DIBS!

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:45 am 
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Color me interested.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:39 am 
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This sounds amaaaaaaazing.

Since I'm already in one of your games I'll hold off on joining to give others first crack, but I can't wait to see where this goes!

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:49 am 
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I'm in, if you'll have me.

Question: does Singularity tech/stuff fall under Science skill/stunts or Mysticism, or is it gonna be some kinda mix?

edit: oops, forgot engineering...

Just curious, since singularity tech sounds like the perfect example of "Any sufficiently advanced technology..."


Last edited by Warbeard on Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:03 am 
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Singularity Tech can be described as 'that which breaks the known laws of physics'. Scientists can't explain how it works, or why, or (usually) what's powering it. But there are... legends... bits of things written in ancient books, or passed down as myth... some things known, most things only surmised...

So ancient Singularity Tech falls - almost always - under 'Mysteries'. Note that there hasn't been time for legends to grow up around any singularity tech that's been invented within the last day or two - there is no skill that can deal with those.

And Singularity Tech is never safe.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:06 am 
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Spoiler alert:

The Man is a Singularity.

That's all I have to say about this. It sounds like lots of fun, but I so do not have time to play. :sadface:

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:27 pm 
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Explain "Aspects". You mention them a lot, and say what they do, but never explain what they are.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:47 pm 
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Just from my experiences playing, an "Aspect" is a character trait, like "Shy", "Clumsy", "Kleptomaniac", it can be tied something special about the character, such as a custom weapon "Batarang" :)

As to what they do, well at the most basic, they give a bonus to actions being performed (Basically a +2 to the roll or allowing a re-roll whichever is better). How they are used though, depends on the situation,
Such as, the last mission in New Amsterdam, I used my character's "Sucker for a pretty face" aspect to gain a bonus to his attacks because he was defending Inspy's character in a fight.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:43 pm 
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FreakyBoy wrote:
Explain "Aspects". You mention them a lot, and say what they do, but never explain what they are.


Aspects are very important. They describe your character; they are strengths and weaknesses, and the very best aspects are both strength and weakness. They are also tied closely to Fate points, so I shall explain the use of Fate points as well.

An aspect can be anything. It can be a character trait, like "Shy" or "Always Prepared"; it can be an object, like "Jetpack"; it can be a catchphrase, like "To infinity and beyond!"; it can even be a memory, like "My mother saved me from a fire." You start with up to ten Aspects (you may leave a few undefined to start out with), and one Fate point per Aspect. At regular intervals (every new Hunt), your Fate points will reset to either one per Aspect or however much you have at the time, whichever is larger.

An Aspect of your character is always something that is, in some way, important to your character. The more interesting the Aspect, the better.

Note that the PCs will not be the only thing with Aspects. Everything has Aspects; NPCs, objects, scenes, The Man. Everything. You will not, as a general rule, be explicitly told what these Aspects are, but they are there. Aspects can be used in three ways; a player may invoke one of his own Aspects, at the cost of one Fate point, where suitable, either to make a declaration or to gain either a +2 on a roll or a reroll (the +2 is usually better on any roll above -2, the reroll is better on average on any row below -2; unless you specify that you want the other one, I'll go by default with whichever choice has the highest probability of being good for you); a player may tag an aspect belonging to another player, an NPC, or anything else, to gain some benefit, again for the cost of one Fate point (this time paid to the owner of the Aspect); or I may compel an Aspect to throw some obstacle in your path. (A Fate point may also be spent to simply declare something as true. Some declarations I will not ask for a fate point for; some I will ask for a Fate point for; and some I will simply veto).

As an example, let us assume that a player has the "Famous Movie Star" aspect. This can be Invoked to do either of the following, among others:

- Gain a +2 advantage when rolling for acting on a stage
- Declare that a security guard recognises you on sight
- Quickly locate a fan who may be willing to lend you a car in an emergency

I can also Compel this aspect to:

- Provide a -2 to any roll involving anonymity or disguises
- Have a tabloid reporter turn up at a bad moment

Another player can Tag the aspect "Always Armed" on another player to take his spare pistol (whether or not the other player explicitly mentioned the existence of a spare pistol before then or not).

Tags and Compels can also be resisted. This involves spending one Fate point; note that this also prevents you from receiving the Fate point you would otherwise receive. (That's another reason to keep a few Fate points on hand; if you don't have any spare Fate points to resist the Compel with, then I get to do what I want without allowing you to resist it. Mua-ha-ha!)

If you resist a Tag from another player, then both of you lose one Fate point. If you accept a tag from another player, then he loses one Fate point and you gain one Fate point. If you invoke one of your own Aspects, or make a declaration, you lose one Fate point; if you accept a Compel, you gain one Fate point. You will generally want some aspects that are easy for me to Compel, in order to gain Fate points with which to use your other Aspects and any Stunts powered by Fate points. But the best Aspects are those that can be used either way.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:24 pm 
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Tentatively interested. I have a vague idea for a character idea that might work well with this.

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 Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:40 pm 
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I think I've got a character concept, though it might be prone to repeats from other players or veto from the GM.

Also, 1+2+3+4+5=15, not 10.

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