Page 1 of 1
Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:49 am
by gaby
I like to known if ships in Mutants in Orbit have Artical gravity?
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:54 am
by Nightmask
gaby wrote:I like to known if ships in Mutants in Orbit have Artical gravity?
No they do not, the lack of artificial gravity is a long-standing problem for the mutants due to the problems micro-gravity causes for most earth-based organisms. They don't even have gravity manipulating technology. For someone to introduce such technology they'd end up the wealthiest being around (provided they survived the assassination attempts by those trying to steal it for their own profit).
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:56 pm
by glitterboy2098
only if part of the ship rotates. like in Bablyon 5 or 2001 / 2010
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:27 am
by Rallan
gaby wrote:I like to known if ships in Mutants in Orbit have Artical gravity?
Not in the fancy "we can control gravity" sense like Star Trek, no. MiO is a fairly low-tech science fiction setting, and if you don't use the mecha that were included in the Rifts section of the book it comes pretty close to being hard sci-fi (apart from the mutant animals and psychic powers), so the only artificial gravity they've got is the old fashioned "spin the space station on its own axis so centrifugal force will simulate gravity". The only times an MiO character will ever experience the feeling of weight is when he's in a spinning habitat, when his ship is accelerating or decelerating, or when he's standing on the surface of a body massive enough to have its own gravitational pull.
They might get there eventually by mucking about with the principles that allow the setting's Traction Drives to work. But the book never actually tells us how traction drives work (even the technobabble isn't enough to build a good handwavium excuse with), so then again they might now.
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:14 am
by Nightmask
Rallan wrote:gaby wrote:I like to known if ships in Mutants in Orbit have Artical gravity?
Not in the fancy "we can control gravity" sense like Star Trek, no. MiO is a fairly low-tech science fiction setting, and if you don't use the mecha that were included in the Rifts section of the book it comes pretty close to being hard sci-fi (apart from the mutant animals and psychic powers), so the only artificial gravity they've got is the old fashioned "spin the space station on its own axis so centrifugal force will simulate gravity". The only times an MiO character will ever experience the feeling of weight is when he's in a spinning habitat, when his ship is accelerating or decelerating, or when he's standing on the surface of a body massive enough to have its own gravitational pull.
They might get there eventually by mucking about with the principles that allow the setting's Traction Drives to work. But the book never actually tells us how traction drives work (even the technobabble isn't enough to build a good handwavium excuse with), so then again they might now.
Well attaching yourself to the fabric of the universe and just pulling yourself along doesn't sound like gravity-manipulation so I wouldn't see Traction Drive technology giving you reason to figure out gravity-manipulation for drives or true artificial gravity. To have it show up in a standard game you have to have them either discover aliens with such technology, make a recent breakthrough into the technology (either a PC or NPC), or have someone rift in from another setting (Heroes or Aliens Unlimited) with the technology and make it available.
However it got introduced it'd be a setting-changing event as contra-gravity drives would allow for landings on Earth again and a return to space since Escape Velocity is no longer a problem and places like the Moon would be desperate for it as they could slowly raise the gravity inside their colony so that in a few generations they'd finally be able to handle Earth Gravity again rather than being trapped on the Moon (where even Mars would be a dangerous proposition).
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:24 am
by glitterboy2098
magnetic boots don't simulate gravity. they just let you move around easier.
the reason you want gravity or a reasonable simulation is physiological. without gravity you suffer metabolism changes, bone loss, muscle atrophy, and lots of other very dangerous conditions. NASA and other space programs in real life employ short missions and elastic clothing to try and keep the danger down, but unless you have some form of gravity your going to have health issues.
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:30 am
by Nightmask
glitterboy2098 wrote:magnetic boots don't simulate gravity. they just let you move around easier.
the reason you want gravity or a reasonable simulation is physiological. without gravity you suffer metabolism changes, bone loss, muscle atrophy, and lots of other very dangerous conditions. NASA and other space programs in real life employ short missions and elastic clothing to try and keep the danger down, but unless you have some form of gravity your going to have health issues.
Something that gets fairly extensive coverage in the MiO book, both for how much the Moon colony's citizens are effectively trapped in low and zero-gravity environments due to developing birth to death in micro-gravity and what powers might prove capable of offsetting or eliminating the downsides for the individuals who have them.
I imagine endoskeletal-enhancement (as per the PU2 book) would be a breakthrough that the Moon people would love to have, as anyone enhanced that way would no longer have the problems that come from zero-g, or at least eliminate just about everything.
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:45 am
by Rali
It's your game and if you want ships and space stations to have artificial gravity to simplify things, go for it.
Erick and Kevin have always stated that the books are the starting foundation for any game you want to run. It's the reason they always gave me for not fleshing out more of the AtB world. (paraphasing) 'We want to give people room to make the world they want to game in.'
So, "Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?" Yes, if you want them to.
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 1:59 am
by Rallan
Nightmask wrote:Well attaching yourself to the fabric of the universe and just pulling yourself along doesn't sound like gravity-manipulation so I wouldn't see Traction Drive technology giving you reason to figure out gravity-manipulation for drives or true artificial gravity. To have it show up in a standard game you have to have them either discover aliens with such technology, make a recent breakthrough into the technology (either a PC or NPC), or have someone rift in from another setting (Heroes or Aliens Unlimited) with the technology and make it available.
Strapping a rocket to a tin can doesn't sound like gravity-manipulation either, but but the sensation of weight you experience during acceleration is indistinguishable from gravity. Traction drives accelerate things without having to muck around throwing reactive mass all over the place to preserve conservation of momentum. If you were going to make some handwavium-powered artificial gravity thing in the Mutants in Orbit setting, they'd be the logical place to start.
However it got introduced it'd be a setting-changing event as contra-gravity drives would allow for landings on Earth again and a return to space since Escape Velocity is no longer a problem and places like the Moon would be desperate for it as they could slowly raise the gravity inside their colony so that in a few generations they'd finally be able to handle Earth Gravity again rather than being trapped on the Moon (where even Mars would be a dangerous proposition).
Actually traction drives are already a setting-changing technology, it's just that the writers didn't realise it. It's supposed to be a setting where people in chemical rockets spend months travelling from Earth to Mars or the asteroids, and where the rest of the solar system is pretty much left alone because getting to the outer planets would take years. But if you do the math on traction drives it turns out they can get from Earth to Mars in a couple of days, and from Earth to Pluto in a coupe of months. Which I think you'd agree is a bit of a gamechanging proposition.
Re: Can ships from Mutants in Orbit have Artifical gravity?
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:41 am
by acreRake
It's ironic (by which i mean: "seems incongruous") that Dreggies from the Outcast Station have the highest statistical chance of being able to create their own artificial gravity (via superpowers)