Chaos Earth in the Three Galaxies

[keir451]

So, I was thinking about ways to adapt old Robotech modules (like Ghost Ship) to the three Galaxies and had a random thought about "What if the PC's aren't FROM the Three Galaxies or RT Earth or Rifts Earth? What if they're from Chaos Earth instead?" How well would some of the OCCs adapt? Take the Chaos Wizard for example: Would the Chaos effect of their spells still apply? What would constitute a
"Blue Zone" for them?
Sure the NEMA troops are just humans in power armor and giant robots, but what if they were the LAST NEMA troops left? How would they react to seeing all the supernatural creatures at a place like Center after all they've been through? What of the Para Arcane? Or Monster Hunters?
These are the questions that fill my mind before I go to bed so I can get up and go to work the next morning.

[taalismn]

First pass ideas/imho:
Gutshot reaction and they open fire on some innocent/unassociated d-bees because of their appearance. The authorities jump on them and lock them up for disturbing the peace(or at least being blatant about it) and maybe confiscate their equipment. Provided they don't actually kill anybody, they might get off with a warning, but some of their equipment is sold off to pay for damages. If they're lucky, they get deported to someplace like the Human Alliance, if not, they get stuck in the slum levels where they try to adapt and make a living possibly as mercs, albeit with a reputation for being uneducated(by Galactic standards) and somewhat deranged and prone to fly off the handle.

[glitterboy2098]

Blue zones are just chaos earth terminology for leylines. Ley lines run several hundred feet to a mile wide, and lacking any term for them, they named them after the faint blue glow present.

[keir451]

First pass ideas/imho:
Gutshot reaction and they open fire on some innocent/unassociated d-bees because of their appearance. The authorities jump on them and lock them up for disturbing the peace(or at least being blatant about it) and maybe confiscate their equipment. Provided they don't actually kill anybody, they might get off with a warning, but some of their equipment is sold off to pay for damages. If they're lucky, they get deported to someplace like the Human Alliance, if not, they get stuck in the slum levels where they try to adapt and make a living possibly as mercs, albeit with a reputation for being uneducated(by Galactic standards) and somewhat deranged and prone to fly off the handle.

Interesting take on it. I can see characters such as the Para- Arcane maybe trying to be the voice of reason and the Monster Hunters going crazy, maybe even the NEMA troops, too.
Wolfen Quatoria ala Judge Dredd style: "I AM THE LAW!!!" opens fire on poor misplaced Chaos Earth people.

[keir451]

Blue zones are just chaos earth terminology for leylines. Ley lines run several hundred feet to a mile wide, and lacking any term for them, they named them after the faint blue glow present.

True. But to the Chaos Mage it is, perhaps, as much psychological as it is thaumaturgical. The Blue Zones on CE are more intense and pervasive than typical for most magical realms ley lines. Even Rifts Earth is brimming with so much magical energy it over empowers most magical beings making them MDC vs. just high SDC.

[taalismn]

[
Interesting take on it. I can see characters such as the Para- Arcane maybe trying to be the voice of reason and the Monster Hunters going crazy, maybe even the NEMA troops, too.
Wolfen Quatoria ala Judge Dredd style: "I AM THE LAW!!!" opens fire on poor misplaced Chaos Earth people.

Getting stripped, scanned, booked, and arraigned will only further convince the traumatized Earthlings that they're in the presence of monsters..until somebody begins wondering why they're getting a 'police station' vibe.

[keir451]

[
Interesting take on it. I can see characters such as the Para- Arcane maybe trying to be the voice of reason and the Monster Hunters going crazy, maybe even the NEMA troops, too.
Wolfen Quatoria ala Judge Dredd style: "I AM THE LAW!!!" opens fire on poor misplaced Chaos Earth people.

Getting stripped, scanned, booked, and arraigned will only further convince the traumatized Earthlings that they're in the presence of monsters..until somebody begins wondering why they're getting a 'police station' vibe.

NEMA Soldier: " Sir, I think we've just been fingerprinted."
NEAM Officer: "Come again, soldier?"
Soldier: "I'm serious, sir. I used to be Chicago PD before everything went to hell in a hand basket, and this whole routine reminds me of booking a perp', except from the perp's point of view."
Officer: "So you're saying we've just been arrested?"
Soldier: "Yessir."
Officer: "Great, just frelling great."

[RockJock]

Hey, all those Glitter Boys had to get to 3Gs somehow......

[taalismn]

[
NEMA Soldier: " Sir, I think we've just been fingerprinted."
NEAM Officer: "Come again, soldier?"
Soldier: "I'm serious, sir. I used to be Chicago PD before everything went to hell in a hand basket, and this whole routine reminds me of booking a perp', except from the perp's point of view."
Officer: "So you're saying we've just been arrested?"
Soldier: "Yessir."
Officer: "Great, just frelling great."

"The charges on that free phone call are going to be -murder-."

[keir451]

[
NEMA Soldier: " Sir, I think we've just been fingerprinted."
NEAM Officer: "Come again, soldier?"
Soldier: "I'm serious, sir. I used to be Chicago PD before everything went to hell in a hand basket, and this whole routine reminds me of booking a perp', except from the perp's p oint of view."
Officer: "So you're saying we've just been arrested?"
Soldier: "Yessir."
Officer: "Great, just frelling great."

"The charges on that free phone call are going to be -murder-."

Officer, dialing: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=we ... &FORM=VIRE
Officer: "Oh, f*ck me."
Quatoria: (grinning over all this,in perfect English ) "No thanks, you're not my species."
NEMA personnel: .......

[taalismn]

"We're hopefully in the drunk tank and not in the kennel. The former, they'll roll us out in the morning, the latter, if we're not chipped and not claimed, they'll put us to sleep."
"Given the smell coming from the whatever it is in the next cell over, we may not be making it through the night anyways."
(("Quiet, soft and delicious ones! Sentient being here seeking undisturbed sleep!"))
"...I really hope that was a mistranslation I just heard..."

[keir451]

"We're hopefully in the drunk tank and not in the kennel. The former, they'll roll us out in the morning, the latter, if we're not chipped and not claimed, they'll put us to sleep."
"Given the smell coming from the whatever it is in the next cell over, we may not be making it through the night anyways."
(("Quiet, soft and delicious ones! Sentient being here seeking undisturbed sleep!"))
"...I really hope that was a mistranslation I just heard..."

"Would you rather it wanted to make us its b*tch instead?"

[taalismn]

When you think about it, spending even a single night in an unfamiliar hoosegow can be an adventure unto itself, with possibly lethal consequences, and not just from other cellmates.
I remember one episode of Babylon 5 where Garibaldi has to deal with the fall-out of discovering that the in-cell latrine sanitizer chemicals are poisonous to Drazi, as is proven out on an unfortunate drunk.

Of course, somebody might capitalize on this to try the 'sick prisoner' trick..only to have it backfire when the turnkey flips out a remote medical sensor to scan the 'patient' or has a mage or psychic come in and do a diagnostic/cure from beyond the range of the bars.

"Great, we got -smart- jailers."

[keir451]

The good thing is that NEMA equipment isn't that much of a threat when compared to stuff like Naruni Wave 2 gear or some of the nastier PA or robot units in the 3G's. So equipment wise they'll fit right in. The only issue might be if I were to try and use the actual Zent cruiser from the adventure and take it to the 3G. It'd be interesting to see what the players might do with a ship that big. Though NEMA gear vs. Zentraedi gear is kind of a "No contest" in the NEMA crews' favor as the NEMA gear can generally out tank any Zent unit one on one and possibly even two or three on one (depending on all the variables).

[taalismn]

Though NEMA gear vs. Zentraedi gear is kind of a "No contest" in the NEMA crews' favor as the NEMA gear can generally out tank any Zent unit one on one and possibly even two or three on one (depending on all the variables).

It's the whole 'space supremacy with big hinking space guns' that sways the fight in favor of the Zentraedi. If you use Mutants in Orbit as indicative of what the Golden Age was fielding military-wise in space, the Zen-xenos would -mulch- the Earth forces as bad as they did Robotech forces, provided they got a clue early enough to stay out of knife-fighting range. Get commando teams aboard, though, and the NEMA grunts stand a chance...of accidentally blowing themselves out into space.

[keir451]

Though NEMA gear vs. Zentraedi gear is kind of a "No contest" in the NEMA crews' favor as the NEMA gear can generally out tank any Zent unit one on one and possibly even two or three on one (depending on all the variables).

It's the whole 'space supremacy with big hinking space guns' that sways the fight in favor of the Zentraedi. If you use Mutants in Orbit as indicative of what the Golden Age was fielding military-wise in space, the Zen-xenos would -mulch- the Earth forces as bad as they did Robotech forces, provided they got a clue early enough to stay out of knife-fighting range. Get commando teams aboard, though, and the NEMA grunts stand a chance...of accidentally blowing themselves out into space.

Yeah, the Zent ships have the firepower for sure, more than enough to slag anything in CE space.
Onboard the ship might be a bit different tho'. The armor values of most Zent power armor barely exceeds that of an old style CS SAMAS, weapon damages are higher, for sure, but not excessively so. Even the newer Zent body armor is only equivalent to NEMA standard issue. The armor values of NEMA bots on the other hand are a different story: the lowest armor value is the Gunbuster with the next highest being the Bull Dog, followed by the SAMAS, then the Mastiff, then the GB, then the Super Mastiff. Weapon damages are lower for some, but not too low.
In a one-on-one fight it could go either way but the armor advantage for NEMA could make the difference. The Zent's biggest advantage is sheer numbers. Several hundred Zent's WILL make mincemeat out even the toughest of NEMA (or even RDF/REF) units unless they're VERY smart.
And of course NEMA personnel DON'T read or comprehend Zentraedi, so even IF they won they'd be looking a REAL alien language.

[taalismn]

Give the Southern Cross NEMA gear and the fight against the Robotech Masters becomes more interesting. Ruling out 'nuke'em from orbit!', big robot-wise, NEMA still gets shellacked because Bioroids would run circles around them, Given enough warning and proper positioning, though, the Glitterboys can SHRED bioroids become the latter can bring their own weaponry into range.
And then you set the SAMAS squads on 'em....

[keir451]

Give the Southern Cross NEMA gear and the fight against the Robotech Masters becomes more interesting. Ruling out 'nuke'em from orbit!', big robot-wise, NEMA still gets shellacked because Bioroids would run circles around them, Given enough warning and proper positioning, though, the Glitterboys can SHRED bioroids become the latter can bring their own weaponry into range.
And then you set the SAMAS squads on 'em....

Yes, I can see it now... A group of NEMA soldiers wind up on RT Earth before the Masters War, hand their technology over to the SC and the Masters wind up facing a very different force, potentially changing the future of RT Earth and preventing the Invid Invasion. Kinda boring tho' dontcha think?

[taalismn]

Give the Southern Cross NEMA gear and the fight against the Robotech Masters becomes more interesting. Ruling out 'nuke'em from orbit!', big robot-wise, NEMA still gets shellacked because Bioroids would run circles around them, Given enough warning and proper positioning, though, the Glitterboys can SHRED bioroids become the latter can bring their own weaponry into range.
And then you set the SAMAS squads on 'em....

Yes, I can see it now... A group of NEMA soldiers wind up on RT Earth before the Masters War, hand their technology over to the SC and the Masters wind up facing a very different force, potentially changing the future of RT Earth and preventing the Invid Invasion. Kinda boring tho' dontcha think?

Or the Masters just switch tactics.
Annnnddd I was kinda under the impression the Invid were going to find out about the FoL anyways; Zor Prime just accelerated the process of the spores getting spread around.
On the other hand, having nuke-powered, as opposed to protoculture-powered, mecha and gear to fight the Invid? The Regis might get the impression the super-monkeys are insane even sooner...But there, only the SAMAS and the Flycycle are the best choices, because everything else is too slow(and Glitterboy chroming really does squat against Invid annihilation discs).

[keir451]

Give the Southern Cross NEMA gear and the fight against the Robotech Masters becomes more interesting. Ruling out 'nuke'em from orbit!', big robot-wise, NEMA still gets shellacked because Bioroids would run circles around them, Given enough warning and proper positioning, though, the Glitterboys can SHRED bioroids become the latter can bring their own weaponry into range.
And then you set the SAMAS squads on 'em....

Yes, I can see it now... A group of NEMA soldiers wind up on RT Earth before the Masters War, hand their technology over to the SC and the Masters wind up facing a very different force, potentially changing the future of RT Earth and preventing the Invid Invasion. Kinda boring tho' dontcha think?

Or the Masters just switch tactics.
Annnnddd I was kinda under the impression the Invid were going to find out about the FoL anyways; Zor Prime just accelerated the process of the spores getting spread around.
On the other hand, having nuke-powered, as opposed to protoculture-powered, mecha and gear to fight the Invid? The Regis might get the impression the super-monkeys are insane even sooner...But there, only the SAMAS and the Flycycle are the best choices, because everything else is too slow(and Glitterboy chroming really does squat against Invid annihilation discs).

Yeah, but that 770 MDC and the 3d6x10 MD of the Boom Gun put paid to just about any Invid unit.

[taalismn]

[
Yeah, but that 770 MDC and the 3d6x10 MD of the Boom Gun put paid to just about any Invid unit.

Depends how much the Regis wants to snuff out the Resistance, and how many of her kids she's willing to lose in a zerg rush. Quantity has a quality all its own.

[keir451]

[
Yeah, but that 770 MDC and the 3d6x10 MD of the Boom Gun put paid to just about any Invid unit.

Depends how much the Regis wants to snuff out the Resistance, and how many of her kids she's willing to lose in a zerg rush. Quantity has a quality all its own.

Abso-smurfly correct! That's why the REF lost so badly, her quantity beat their quality. A single GB isn't much of a game changer, even a small force of NEMA personnel aren't much of a factor in that kind of fight. I suspect that the SC would have lost even if the hadn't been spanked by the Masters so hard simply due to the Regis' sheer number of children. Even if the NEMA forces could change the mindset and tech base of the SC in time I agree that the sheer number of Invid would overwhelm them even with their relative advantages. As far as the resistance movement goes, the real problem is supply and demand of weapons and equipment. Without an industrial base to produce their gear the resistance loses anyway.
Anyway I've done that game to death already, only using the CS instead. In the end the CS wins.
I'm still more interested in how the non-tech CE characters would work in the 3G. Chaos Wizards, while technically just another sort of mage are still very different in their operation than the ones the UWW is used to, also the brand new psions that came out of CE would likely confuse any of the more regular ones especially as by CE rules they can do stuff that more "regular" psionicists can't. Some CE psions are more equal to the psychics out of Marvel comics in power and capability than even a Mind Melter, fer cryin' out loud.
That's where your Ship Wreck table comes in really handy. These poor lost souls find a wreck (?) of a starship the likes they've never seen before after being rifted to someplace that isn't Kansas anymore, Toto". How do they react? What do they do? If there are "monsters" do they fight, flee or (to use the Quatoria again) does something entirely different happen? What kind of humor and moral dilemmas can I insert into this scenario to make them go "Hmmm?".

[taalismn]

And how long, in order to give the series that edgy personal and sexual tension, before characters in the group start infighting with each other, or sleeping with each other?

[keir451]

And how long, in order to give the series that edgy personal and sexual tension, before characters in the group start infighting with each other, or sleeping with each other?

Infighting? Never happens. Sleeping w/ each other? Often. One of the PCs is almost always female and invariably draws the attention of one of the male PCs (or NPCs) and viola!

[taalismn]

And how long, in order to give the series that edgy personal and sexual tension, before characters in the group start infighting with each other, or sleeping with each other?

Infighting? Never happens. Sleeping w/ each other? Often. One of the PCs is almost always female and invariably draws the attention of one of the male PCs (or NPCs) and viola!

...and she eats him afterwards.

[keir451]

And how long, in order to give the series that edgy personal and sexual tension, before characters in the group start infighting with each other, or sleeping with each other?

Infighting? Never happens. Sleeping w/ each other? Often. One of the PCs is almost always female and invariably draws the attention of one of the male PCs (or NPCs) and viola!

...and she eats him afterwards.

Sort of....
Though that makes me think, the ship they find is a recent wreck, the Quatoria are there tracking an escaped convict w/shape shifting/disguise abilities and s/he/it are hiding among the NEMA personnel and the refugees that were rifted with them.

[taalismn]

[
Though that makes me think, the ship they find is a recent wreck, the Quatoria are there tracking an escaped convict w/shape shifting/disguise abilities and s/he/it are hiding among the NEMA personnel and the refugees that were rifted with them.

Or the fugitive is hiding IN one of the PCs(the alien is a symbiotic/parasitic lifeform that allowed itself to be consumed(disguised as a foodstuff) or somehow got inside a PC by other means and is hiding in a body cavity or disguised as an organ or body fat.

[keir451]

[
Though that makes me think, the ship they find is a recent wreck, the Quatoria are there tracking an escaped convict w/shape shifting/disguise abilities and s/he/it are hiding among the NEMA personnel and the refugees that were rifted with them.

Or the fugitive is hiding IN one of the PCs(the alien is a symbiotic/parasitic lifeform that allowed itself to be consumed(disguised as a foodstuff) or somehow got inside a PC by other means and is hiding in a body cavity or disguised as an organ or body fat.

The fugitive is hiding among the refuges, but is actually innocent (this time) or the fugitive is a rogue A.I. (Machine Person or some such) wrongly (of course) accused of some crime. Or maybe s/he's an Elven conn artist using their magic to disguise themselves as one of the refugees or maybe we've got an "Audrey 2" problem, one of the refugees picked up a 'plant' that is actually banned because it grows so big it destroys worlds... "Feed me Seymour!".

[taalismn]

Or the refugee is a child....seemingly innocent of the crimes ascribed to its parents/species. Except that maybe when it attains maturity, hereditary memory kicks in, and the innocent child acquires the memory and attitude to start building world-conquering/destroying technology.

[Nightmartree]

Or the refugee is a child....seemingly innocent of the crimes ascribed to its parents/species. Except that maybe when it attains maturity, hereditary memory kicks in, and the innocent child acquires the memory and attitude to start building world-conquering/destroying technology.

Thats...SO CUTE!!!!!

*wipes tears from my eyes* I can introduce them to my damocles robots, living ai's progremmed with all the technology they would need to eradicate civilization, locked away until the day they decide that destroying civilization would be a good thing. They are allowed to grow and learn about the worlds i leave them on until they choose to destroy them or go to sleep. Always a threat of anihilation, but the sword may not fall, and life may not end, will you pick a fight with them and possibly sway them to destruction? will you show them the good of your world? will you hire them as interior decoraters? will they be the worlds greatest villians? or will they become hero's?

One day, the sword of damocles will fall, and on that day, a world shall burn.

[taalismn]

[

One day, the sword of damocles will fall, and on that day, a world shall burn.

Well....that's awfully reassuring.
I think I'll leave the light on tonight when I go to sleep....but pull and duct-tape the shades just in case.

[glitterboy2098]

Or the refugee is a child....seemingly innocent of the crimes ascribed to its parents/species. Except that maybe when it attains maturity, hereditary memory kicks in, and the innocent child acquires the memory and attitude to start building world-conquering/destroying technology.

or it is a "living dead girl" from Chaos Earth Resurrection.. so not only is there a hidden zombie killbot, but you just contaminated every piece of tech within 2 miles of that rift you passed through with the Secondary form of The Transmission.

it might be limited spread without the Black Obilisk, but you just sparked a zombie outbreak..

[Nightmartree]

[

One day, the sword of damocles will fall, and on that day, a world shall burn.

Well....that's awfully reassuring.
I think I'll leave the light on tonight when I go to sleep....but pull and duct-tape the shades just in case.

I have to say the Damocles robots are a pet of mine, and I love that reaction to them. Honestly they are one of the few beings i'd be tempted to be a bad GM and say "no no no you don't triple crit and insta kill him!" but honestly even if you did go that crazy you can't kill one that easy...I specifically designed them to be near indestructible, unstoppable, nightmares, you can slow one down, you can seal them away, but you can never truly stop them once they are triggered. Best recommendation is to drop one in a sun or black hole, and even that's not a sure bet.

But they start as a almost clean slate, like a kid, a very intelligent and powerful kid, who has some understanding of how he/she is supposed to decide if the people around it are "good"...whatever it decides good may be.

[taalismn]

[

or it is a "living dead girl" from Chaos Earth Resurrection.. so not only is there a hidden zombie killbot, but you just contaminated every piece of tech within 2 miles of that rift you passed through with the Secondary form of The Transmission.

it might be limited spread without the Black Obilisk, but you just sparked a zombie outbreak..

Yrah...THAT'S going to leave a positive first impression of you on the locals.

[SolCannibal]

For a moment while reading the OP's intro i though he was going to suggest a "what if Robotech become Chaos Earth" kind of scenario....

[keir451]

For a moment while reading the OP's intro i though he was going to suggest a "what if Robotech become Chaos Earth" kind of scenario....

Nah, I've thought that one through to death as well as read other story ideas based around it.

Currently my thoughts are; A Wolfen Quatoria is tracking an escaped "criminal", the Quatoria follows the alleged criminal through as Rift to Chaos Earth and runs afoul of a NEMA troop (the players) who are escorting refugees to a safe zone outside of Chicago. The "criminal" hides among the refugees. The palyers must deal with the Quatoria's accusations (assuming they actually automatically kill the Quatoria) and attempt to find the escaped convict in their midst. During all this they are all Rifted to a planet somewhere in the 3G's, a planet that is a graveyard of various and sundry ship wrecks dating all the way back to before the A.I. wars.
The criminal turns out to be an escaped A.I. from the time of the A.I. wars, only s/he (not currently decided if NPC is male or female) is ACTUALLY innocent, s/he is guilty only of being an A.I.

[taalismn]

For a moment while reading the OP's intro i though he was going to suggest a "what if Robotech become Chaos Earth" kind of scenario....

Basra Nikki did one , ages back....pretty good, actually.

[SolCannibal]

For a moment while reading the OP's intro i though he was going to suggest a "what if Robotech become Chaos Earth" kind of scenario....

Nah, I've thought that one through to death as well as read other story ideas based around it.

Currently my thoughts are; A Wolfen Quatoria is tracking an escaped "criminal", the Quatoria follows the alleged criminal through as Rift to Chaos Earth and runs afoul of a NEMA troop (the players) who are escorting refugees to a safe zone outside of Chicago. The "criminal" hides among the refugees. The palyers must deal with the Quatoria's accusations (assuming they actually automatically kill the Quatoria) and attempt to find the escaped convict in their midst. During all this they are all Rifted to a planet somewhere in the 3G's, a planet that is a graveyard of various and sundry ship wrecks dating all the way back to before the A.I. wars.
The criminal turns out to be an escaped A.I. from the time of the A.I. wars, only s/he (not currently decided if NPC is male or female) is ACTUALLY innocent, s/he is guilty only of being an A.I.

Does gender even truly apply in the case of an A.I./robot NPC, who might change gender with frames or be outright genderless?

Hmmm, just now had this weird idea of the A.I. as a sort of possessing entity-like being specialized in robots or computer machinery in general, akin to Automan or the Gari-Goma from Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide.