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[CYOA] Space Australia: GAME. SET. MATCH.

13468997

Posts

  • jakobaggerjakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular
    I-1

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    H-1

    Daddy wants RAD suits!

  • BobCescaBobCesca Is a girl Birmingham, UKRegistered User regular
    H - 2

  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    Turn 8

    Decision: E 1 - Build a Xenofarm in hex 1, investigate the missing bodies.

    Overview: Glorious Space Australia
    Population: 2.3k [2.5k cap]
    Food: 2.7k [(+1.6k -1.2k)/turn] [Rationing]
    Resources: 2k [+0/turn]
    Energy: 3/5
    Morale: Unhappy [-2]
    Frozen Dead People : 0.2k [0.4k of food]

    Pod Six Colony: New Botany Bay
    Xenofarm [+0.8k food per turn, -1 energy, 0.2k pop workers, Big]
    Crashed Pod [2.5k Housing, no energy requirement]
    Nuclear microreactor [+5 Energy]

    Hex 1 (Occupied)
    Xenofarm [+0.8k food per turn, -1 energy, 0.2k pop workers, Big]

    Hex 2 (Unoccupied)
    Crashed Pod Eight

    Forces
    Medium gang of armed prisoners [Size2, Strength 1]
    Horde of convicts and colonists with sharpened toothbrushes and screwdrivers [Size21, Strength0.1]

    Research
    Planetology II: Basic Xenobotany [allows Xenofarm construction], Anti-fungal Design [Removes fungus problems on short trips]
    Fundamental Science I: Basic Planet Electromagnetics [allows communication via targeted comm lasers]

    Summary
    Angry Bruce appointed five of his militia to go and find out who had stolen the bodies from deep freeze. The move to bring in something resembling actual organised law enforcement sits very badly with the convict section of society. The colonists were not overly supportive of a criminal police force either. Still, it was just five men and one crime. Weapons in hand, they set off into the seedy underbelly of the seediest of the six (eight?) colony pods to find out who would be so low as to steal from respectable criminals.

    Outside, work busily resumed now that the storm had gone. A receiver dish was mounted on the top of Pod Six, hopefully the fungus would quickly cover it as right now it was something of a beacon for anybody searching for hidden criminal colonies. Elsewhere, thick cables were laid across the sandy floor towards the site chosen for a new farm. The rest, when not being interviewed by the Space Australia Investigatory Taskforce, were clearing the land to the east and assembling some of the last prefab structures into a second processing plant. The lack of transport was becoming a real problem, men were dragging the huge insulated panels across the ground like teams of horses with only a few hastily improvised dollies to help them.

    The second Xenofarm was a bit better looking than the first. The colonists were learning the finer points of construction on alien worlds and it was showing. Hooked up to the reactor back in the crashed pod, the plant would double their food production. Hope returned that one day people might be served a full helping of nutrient slurry - or even that they'd get around to setting up a hydroponics lab to grow some of the foods that were starting to become only distant memories. The new processing centre for the farm even sported it's own receiver dish. Now, when the explorers returned to solve the mysteries of Pod Eight, they'd be able to send reports back to the colony.

    Not far from the deep freeze where the bodies were taken, the taskforce had drawn quite a crowd. After a few rounds of "questioning" "suspects" their investigation was over. All five of the men were suspended by their feet and hanged upside down. Bloody pools had accumulated underneath each of the officers, their heads removed (and nowhere to be seen). On the wall opposite the graffiti had been painted over so that it could clearly hold a single fresh message - "Who watches the watchmen?". Some of the crowd exchanged ration tokens, more than one of the gangs had apparently been running a book on just how long the taskforce would survive and how they'd eventually end up being dealt with. The sensible money had been on "tossed out of an airlock" or "eaten". "Beheading" had been an outside chance, and it had paid off for the few.
    [Roll for police action - difficulty 14. You get a 7. Failure]

    With the people having spoken, the investigation was officially closed. Now there was another issue at hand, the new farm had no protection and while the only dangerous entity on the planet appeared to be Space Australia itself, there were concerns of hidden giant sand worms, fungal dragons or even space ghosts.

    [Population growth roll 1d6(-2) - 1d6. 2(-2) - 6. No growth]

    Map
    Turn8.png

    Decision Time
    (Choose a letter and a number)

    A - Explore a hex [see the map, give a direction]
    B - Build More Housing [+0.5k population cap, needs 1 energy, costs 0.5k resources]
    C - Build Hydroponics Bay [+0.5k food per turn, needs 2 energy, costs 1k resources]
    D - Build Labs [needs 4 energy, costs 3k resources]
    E - Research Planetology [Narcotic uses of Xenobotany]
    F - Research Industry [Transport - Rovers for better exploration]
    G - Research Fundamental Science [Radioactivity Shielding]
    H - Research Fundamental Science [Solar Array problems]
    I - Research Military [Improvised Weapons]

    1) Split the armed militia into two to keep a useful defence force across the expanding colony [Medium gang becomes two small ones, one based at New Botany Bay, the other at the new Xenofarm]
    2) Leave the guns protecting Pod Six

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • TmoiyTmoiy Registered User regular
    We need to boost our morale before more challenges pop up. Let's build hydroponics and stock up a bit more this turn, and then stop rationing food next turn.

    C-1

  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    Also, I am continually humbled and amazed by the volume of voters I have each round. Thanks guys, I'm glad you guys are willing to humour me on this :)

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • CapfalconCapfalcon Tunnel Snakes Rule Capital WastelandRegistered User regular
    Goody Box Time

    G-1

  • ErlecErlec Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    G-1

    Surely finding the secrets of the pod will help population morale!

    Erlec on
    steam_sig.png
  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    H-1

    I'll admit it. Lasers are fun. You know what's more fun? More lasers, with more power, letting us...um...well I guess we could grow some food with them.

    By all accounts we by no means wish to turn the lasers into some sort of death ray. Or use solar power for a green electric fence like the Cain mexico border solution back on old Earth.

    electricitylikesme on
  • AnialosAnialos Collies are love, Collies are life! Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered User regular
    F-1!

  • ElderlycrawfishElderlycrawfish Registered User regular
    G 1

    Let's get some suits so that we can loot pod 8 for whatever resources we can get. Afterwards, we may want to look into solar array issues and transportation; another thing to be concerned about is we won't have enough spare energy or resources to build anything big, like labs.

  • BobCescaBobCesca Is a girl Birmingham, UKRegistered User regular
    C - Build Hydroponics Bay [+0.5k food per turn, needs 2 energy, costs 1k resources]

    1) Split the armed militia into two to keep a useful defence force across the expanding colony [Medium gang becomes two small ones, one based at New Botany Bay, the other at the new Xenofarm]

  • DarianDarian Yellow Wizard The PitRegistered User regular
    G-1

    We might find solutions to the other problems, like rovers or energy sources.

  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    Splitting the forces just means that both areas are lightly defended. Lets have one of the Jackaroos keep watch at all times and laser back to the pod if anything (anything) unusual happens.

    G - 2

  • Void SlayerVoid Slayer Very Suspicious Registered User regular
    We need to get a mine going, I can only assume rovers will help get us in that direction. We are running out of resources.

    He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!
  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    G - 2

    Our army kind of sucks right now to be splitting up.

  • FlarneFlarne Registered User regular
    F-2. With rovers we should be able to defend both hexes pretty well even if we keep our forces together. Plus better help dragging shit back from pod8 before we head in there.

  • blahmcblahblahmcblah You pick your side and you stick - you don't cut and run when things get ugly. Registered User regular
    Yes, now is the time to investigate that pod. And I agree that one large force would be smarter at present. G-2

  • CayrusCayrus Consul Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!Registered User regular
    F1

    If we get rovers, we can build things more efficiently, move our troops around faster, explore farther, and carry whatever is in the pod back to the Botany Bay.

    Former Secret Service Agent Nathaniel Ford in Call of Cthulhu: Whispers in the Darkness

    Henri Emmanuel Gratien St Pierre in Where No Man Has Gone Before

    Lord Augustus Cumberbatch in Eclipse Phase
  • NeadenNeaden Registered User regular
    C-1Then go off rationing as soon as we can.

  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    C-1

    getting more food production and off rationing seems like the best option.

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
  • ElderlycrawfishElderlycrawfish Registered User regular
    Hydroponics won't be enough to get us off rationing without still losing food, I think. We'd need another xenofarm to be able to eat at full and build up surplus. It also uses more energy than a xenofarm does, though at the moment I guess we're not able to utilize the energy for any other projects.

  • simonwolfsimonwolf i can feel a difference today, a differenceRegistered User regular
    Getting off rationing is a pretty high priority, really, since it will be a symbolic victory over the planet/situation. Building another farm would help more, but getting the infrastructure in place to get there is the way to go.

    C-1

  • CapfalconCapfalcon Tunnel Snakes Rule Capital WastelandRegistered User regular
    We should at least try to claim another hex so we can build a Xenofarm and make the most of our turns if you really wanna fix the food problem.

  • simonwolfsimonwolf i can feel a difference today, a differenceRegistered User regular
    Considering we have already used a prime ore site as farmland, I'd rather make the most of what we already have before expanding further out into unknown territory.

  • CapfalconCapfalcon Tunnel Snakes Rule Capital WastelandRegistered User regular
    simonwolf wrote:
    Considering we have already used a prime ore site as farmland, I'd rather make the most of what we already have before expanding further out into unknown territory.

    How do you know mines will be "Big?" thus preventing them from being used in conjunction with a Xenofarm?

  • simonwolfsimonwolf i can feel a difference today, a differenceRegistered User regular
    edited October 2011
    Because I am already Australian, and thus have a unique insight into the world of Space Australia

    Case closed.

    simonwolf on
  • CapfalconCapfalcon Tunnel Snakes Rule Capital WastelandRegistered User regular
    simonwolf wrote:
    Because I am already Australian, and thus have a unique insight into the world of Space Australia

    Case closed.

    Touche.

  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    Turn 9

    Decision: G 1 - Research Radioactivity Protection, split the troops

    Overview: Glorious Space Australia
    Population: 2.3k [2.5k cap]
    Food: 3.1k [(+1.6k -1.2k)/turn] [Rationing]
    Resources: 2k [+0/turn]
    Energy: 3/5
    Morale: Unhappy [-2]
    Frozen Dead People : 0.2k [0.4k of food]

    Pod Six Colony: New Botany Bay
    Xenofarm [+0.8k food per turn, -1 energy, 0.2k pop workers, Big]
    Crashed Pod [2.5k Housing, no energy requirement]
    Nuclear microreactor [+5 Energy]

    Hex 1 (Occupied)
    Xenofarm [+0.8k food per turn, -1 energy, 0.2k pop workers, Big]

    Hex 2 (Unoccupied)
    Crashed Pod Eight

    Forces
    NBB
    Small gang of armed prisoners [Size1, Strength 1]
    Horde of convicts and colonists with sharpened toothbrushes and screwdrivers [Size20, Strength0.1]

    Hex 1
    Small gang of armed prisoners [Size1, Strength 1]
    Horde of convicts and colonists with sharpened toothbrushes and screwdrivers [Size2, Strength0.1]

    Research
    Planetology II: Basic Xenobotany [allows Xenofarm construction], Anti-fungal Design [Removes fungus problems on short trips]
    Fundamental Science I: Basic Planet Electromagnetics [allows communication via targeted comm lasers], Radioactivity Safety Protocols [Removes problems of radioactivity for short exposures in small groups]

    Summary
    A nuclear reactor, even a small one like those powering the six colony pods (and hopefully the two or more secret ones), put out a lot of radiation. Enough to cook a man within a minute or so of direct exposure. Back on earth the solution would have been to use robots, controlling them from a distance and hoping that their electronics were sufficiently radiation hardened. If you had to send in a man then there were certain materials that displayed useful properties in the face of radiation, crystal structures that were very stubborn about allowing incident radiation to rearrange their atoms. Both of those were pipe dreams though. Here, on the planet and with the available resources, there was only one real solution: Heavy metals. Taking advantage of the slightly lower gravity (g was ~0.95m/s^2 compared to the 0.98m/s^2 back on earth. It wasn't much, but it let every man and woman lift a little more than they otherwise would be able (the downside being that the lower gravity also reduced bone density and muscle mass slightly).

    In the end, the Sparkies had put together ten suits. Big bulky things that fit over the slimmer overalls the colonists were used to wearing outside, each was lined with lead. On top of that came an extra lead apron. Each was also fitted with a small Geiger-counter and a second meter detailing the total exposure. The suits were heavy, but finding ten muscle-bound convicts was not so difficult at all. The other explorers would carry the suits out, dress the radiation team as close to the site as possible and then hope for the best. It was far from ideal, any precision work would be severely more difficult, but they should prevent the worst of the effects. More suits could be made in the future fairly easily, but the problem was that their massive weight made transporting them a nightmare. Right now, there was no way these suits could be included in the standard exploration package (unlike the comms laser), they would only be brought along when found absolutely necessary. The team who designed the suits speculate about possible advancements if they had better facilities: Some kind of powered skeleton within to make them easier to move in or replacing the lead with more sophisticated radiation absorbing materials

    [Population growth roll 1d6(-2) - 1d6. 1(-2) - 5. No growth]

    The militia were split now between guarding the core of Space Australia and the outlying farm. The food supply from the new farm was steady, but the militia were feeding back some strange reports. On several occasions they ask whether another exploration team was in the area. A blurry photo even begins to circulate showing a vaguely man-shaped shadow in a dust cloud. It might be nothing, or it might be a joke. It doesn't help the sullen mood of the colony though.

    Map
    (no change)

    Decision Time
    (Choose a letter)

    A - Explore a hex [see the map, give a direction]
    B - Build More Housing [+0.5k population cap, needs 1 energy, costs 0.5k resources]
    C - Build Hydroponics Bay [+0.5k food per turn, needs 2 energy, costs 1k resources]
    D - Build Labs [needs 4 energy, costs 3k resources]
    E - Research Planetology [Narcotic uses of Xenobotany]
    F - Research Industry [Transport - Rovers for better exploration]
    G - Research Fundamental Science [Solar Array problems]
    H - Research Military [Improvised Weapons]
    I - Head back to Pod Eight with the rad suits.

    Sorry about the slightly flat writing today. Better to move things along than just sit here trying to spice it up though, right?

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    I think that our priorities should be a) getting some variety in the food, b) working out transportation, c) military improvements against the ghosts.

    Of course, a goody-hut trumps all of that. I

  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    G.

    We need electricity, or more specifically, the capability to expand our electricity grid arbitrarily without having to salvage or build nuclear reactors, or mine stuff or trying to find out what makes fire in an ammonia-nitrogen atmosphere.

    electricitylikesme on
  • hoodie13hoodie13 punch bro Registered User regular
    I.

    Definitely wanna head back to Pod Eight with the rad suits.

    PSN: HoodieThirteen
    XBL: Torn Hoodie
    @hoodiethirteen
  • simonwolfsimonwolf i can feel a difference today, a differenceRegistered User regular
    I.

    Let's retrieve whatever loot is left in the crash site before the space ghosts get it.

  • BobCescaBobCesca Is a girl Birmingham, UKRegistered User regular
    As much as we need food and electricity and everything else, that pod is taunting me like Christmas presents under the tree in Christmas Eve where you just want to shake them all and work out what you're getting.

    So, I

  • blahmcblahblahmcblah You pick your side and you stick - you don't cut and run when things get ugly. Registered User regular
    I

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    F

    One more turn to prepare before going to pod 8, rovers should let us haul all the cool crap back for us instead of wasting a turn walking back and forth.

  • FlarneFlarne Registered User regular
    F!
    I'm not giving up until I get those rovers. I'm forming a roving band of crazy criminal explorers.

  • ErlecErlec Registered User regular
    I

    We want goodie hut! We want goodie hut!

    steam_sig.png
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    Bedlam wrote:
    F

    One more turn to prepare before going to pod 8, rovers should let us haul all the cool crap back for us instead of wasting a turn walking back and forth.

    Cthulhu makes good sense. I'm going to change my vote.

    Retract I
    Vote F

  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    edited October 2011
    F

    Space Ghosts may be after our hidden treasure but if they haven't got already beaten us to it then we probably have time. We ride over there in style and we use the transports to loot that place empty in one clean hit!

    Jam Warrior on
    MhCw7nZ.gif
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