Sci-fi settings for the Kai

[Wobblie]

Mucking around in the medieval age... how about some sci-fi for a bit? It may sound like the Jedi... or it might not.

What would be your list of 10 disciplines that seem more applicable to a science fiction setting? Furthermore, the name 'Kai' is not too good because there are people who do go by that name around(remember Lexx?).

So I came up with this as a list of disciplines.

Self Control/Ki Direction/Energy Flows(mastery of inner energy; replaces weaponskill)
Boost/Enhance/Full Potential(enhanced basic five senses, improved physical attributes; basically Hunting)
Healing/Curing/Deliverance(makes everybody a Wolverine wannabe)
Animal Kinship/Control/Unity with Beasts(it's still good to talk to animals, even if it's an ant... no telling what you might fnd out about enemy logistics!)
Camouflage/Invisibility/Assimilance(sneak and snoop for the spec ops guys)
Management/Leadership/Total Command(handling groups of people; teamwork; for maximum efficiency of killing in battle)
Sixth Sense/Divination/Soul Link(nice to have a handle on the situation, internal compass)
Mindfight/Psibattle/Conscious War(combination of mindblast and mindshield; made no sense for the two to be separated)
Mind over Matter/Object Focus/Nexus(a classic ability)

That's nine disciplines, but the tenth one I came up with, General Knowledge/Backmind/Universal Memory is very iffy. It allows the guy to tap into the background knowledge of a world or race. At low levels, it maybe provides a mind-map and maybe characteristics of some new alien creature. At higher levels, it enables the ability to speak in any language and knowledge of local customs. I didn't much like it, so it's a questionable choice still, unless somebody has a better idea for a tenth discipline.

I need this for my developing RPG system and my own writing, and I didn't want to copy the Jedi route and the D20 system(which I personally dislike for its class based emphasis). I want characters to get the skills first, then decide what classes they are based on the skills they have. Ditto for the Lissait(my tentative working name for the Kai lords in the setting).

Ranks would be

Soldier ranks
Novice
Intuite
Doan
Acolyte
Initiate
Aspirant
Guardian
Warmarn
Savant

Knight ranks
Langrad
Bladeron
Viscarl
Primota
Tutelary
Principalin
Mentora
Scitarn
Qualios
Opiridair

Master ranks
Cerenthon
Valicator
Forturei
Zyladin
Tacitus
Covrian
Advancis
Revidon
Desgurad
Elitix
High Lord

Enemies are the basic fantasy bunch. You know, demons, darklords, a few nasty evil wizards... and oh, they have laser guns, nukes, and spaceships too! Throw in the horrors from Earthdawn/Shadowrun. There you have the bad guys, in charge of the typcal evil overlord army(TM).

So, opinions on this?

Wobblie

[Lurker from above]

An interresting power for your Lissait (or their ennemies) could be a remote control power (similar to rigging in Shadowrun). When in rigging mode your consciousness become one with the vehicle, you are the vehicle! This power should gives initiative, tactical, piloting and gunnery bonus on the vehicle.

The vehicle could be a robotic drone, a spacefighter, a warship component: ordnance (attack), engineering (repair), shield (defence) and operation (piloting).

This could be as a 10th discipline or a combo-ing of other discipline like the MagnaKai lore circle.

[raharuaharu]

Scifi Lone wolf, is called Starwars hehe ^__^

I do like your ideas however

[jellyfish]

Jun 4, 2009 20:17:50 GMT raharuaharu said:

Scifi Lone wolf, is called Starwars hehe ^__^

Psionic warrior monks using glowing swords, now where did I see that before...?

[askhati]

Skill set reminds me of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri... All that "One with the Planet" hippie-nirvana-enlightenment stuff.

What about a Starcraft skillset, for one of the foot soldiers? Different weapons; tech specializations (Ghost and Science Vessel abilities); driving skills; power armour skills; etc etc. Could work for Terrans and Protoss, but Zerg might be problematic...

[huanchoo]

Well you can't have Sci-fi LW having Burrow and Morph, but then LW with stim-packs?

[askhati]

Stim-packs could work like the Adgana from LW books 7 and 12: increases your CS, but with a chance to reduce your EP.

It shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a Ghost-style skillset, come to think of it... I'll post one later tonight. Maybe do one for the Protoss as well, some Zealot-cum-Dark Templar hybrid. Might have potential!

[askhati]

Well, here's the preliminary lineup. The Ghost character has five attributes:

Combat Skill (CS): ability to use weapons, both melee and ranged.
Health Points (HP): ability to soak up damage.
Armor Rating (AR): amount by which ranged attack damage can be reduced.
Energy Reserve (ER): energy points used to activate special technical abilities (Cloaking, Lockdown, etc).
Psi Energy (PE): psionic points used to activate special psychic abilities (Confound, Feedback, etc).

The abilities are still in progress:
[Gunmanship]: gives the Ghost +2CS when making ranged attacks with a Bolt or Semi-Auto rifle.
[Contact Fighting]: Ghost has increased skill in melee fights; can disarm opponents more easily.
[Armor Proficiency]: Ghost can use combat armor in the field (Marine suit, Firebat suit, etc); gains increased protection from regular infantry armor.
[Support Coordination]: Ghost can direct airstrikes, orbital bombardments and nuclear missiles more effectively; has advanced info on making and using explosive devices.

[Bio-grades]: Ghost has bio upgrades that give it enhanced prowess in certain areas.
[Tech Implants]: Ghost has machine implants that allow it to access and perform certain tasks.

[ESP]: Ghost has stronger psionic abilities than the norm; has increased PE regeneration when not using psi-based abilities.
[Machine Aptitude]: Ghost has increased knowledge of most combat and civilian machinery; has increased ER regeneration when not using energy-based abilities.

[PsyOps Training]: Ghost is particulary proficient at terrorizing targets and affecting their mental states; 'modifier' ability that makes several other abilities more effective when used in tandem.
[Xeno Studies]: Ghost has increased knowledge of most non-human organisms that humanity has had contact with; can perform crude field dissections given the time and equipment.

In terms of items, I have the following:

[Weapons]: 2 ranged slots, 1 melee/sidearm slot. Some weapons may take up 2 slots, like the Firebat flamers.
[Equipment]: 8 slots, ranging from field rations and ammo to medical supplies and electronic spare parts.
[SpecGear]: 4 slots, used to store special gear.
[DataLink]: 4 slots, used to store electronic data like files, videos, music, etc. Number of slots may be increased with Equipment or via abilities.

Right. That's what I have so far. The idea would be to create a storyline that follows the general trend of the StarCraft campaign - the labs, the battlefields, the space stations, the alien landscapes... Many possibilities.

[askhati]

Combat works along a similar vein as LW:

1) calculate Combat Ratio.
2) roll 1d10 and look at table to determine results. However, instead of giving the amount of damage dealt by the attack, the table will give a multiplier value, which you then multiply by the damage/shot value of the weapon to get the actual damage dealt.

Each weapon will have the following attributes:

[Action]: whether the weapon is Manual, Semi-Auto, Auto or an Emitter. Certain actions will have advantages in certain situations. The levels are not cumulative though: if the passage calls for a Semi, you cannot use an Auto or an Emitter.

[Damage/shot]: the amount of damage the weapon deals with each shot. This value is multiplied with the multiplier value from the Combat Table to get the actual damage dealt.

[Type/size]: whether the weapon is Ranged, Melee or a Sidearm. The value in () indicates how many weapon slots the weapon will occupy of its specific type.

[Armour Piercing/value]: the amount by which you can reduce the target's armour before applying the damage from a successful attack.

Example weapons would look like this:
a) Marine Chaingun (Semi, Dam/3, Ranged/1, AP/2)
b) Pump Shotgun (Manual, Dam/4, Sidearm/1, AP/-2)
c) Crowbar (Manual, Dam/2, Melee/0, AP/0)

When resolving combat, the Armour Piercing value of the attacker's weapon is subtracted from the target's AR (to a minimum of zero AR). The target's (modified) AR is then subtracted from the damage multiplier of the attacker on the Combat Table (to a minimum of a zero multiplier). This (modified) multiplier is then multiplied by the attack's damage and subtracted from the target's HP.

[askhati]

Alright, I have the first 50 sections drafted, will post ASAP when I have it on file. Any suggestions for a decent randomizer with regards to section numbers?