What I'm working on at the moment

[Rob Lang]

Now I have the free rpg how to guide out the door, I am focussing on Icar again.

I've been fighting with the skeleton images for the past few months. I can draw but not people. I've tried using 3D programs such as Daz to get models right but the renders always turn out poor. Instead, I reverted to doing the basic outlines like I did for the close combat explanation:



However, the problem is that each of the Scavs wear an environment suit - which is just a boiler suit. Each character image would just have a boiler suit with different hair/face/equipment/pose. Not very interesting when the detail on the outlines is necessarily low. I left a large amount of space in the rules for the images too - half a page each.

Now I am considering to have one pictures as an example and then not bother with the one-image per skeleton. I'll improve the look of the skeleton pages and add more information about the sorts of things they can be expected to do.

Website
The other stopping point is that the website is now 5 years old and looking a bit shabby. It's time to give it an upgrade and simplify it. The foreign language Icar version were never finished and I think there is too much clutter. I am going to separate out the news blog into a Blogger blog with the latest post on the front page. All the other existing pages will then go into an archive. I have a simple design I think I like but I need to work on it more - it's not quite there!

[Onix]

Can you think of a way to customize the boiler suits to each person? Different levels of bulkiness for more protection or mobility, color patterns from different companies etc?

[Rob Lang]

It's an interesting idea. The biggest problem is that the example skeletons all belong to the same crew - so will wear the same thing. I might just have to have a few more goes.

[Onix]

I was just thinking that the scav crew in the skeleton are a bit rag tag. I was thinking their suits could be collected from different sources (after all they are scavengers). They might not have a uniform look. If they were from some big corporation or governmentally appointed I would say they should have the same look.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

If I may ask - why are they wearing environment suits all the time? If you're on a rest period and working on your martial arts, you'd probably be in some more comfortable clothes.

Perhaps it is a demonstration of different martial arts styles and when to use them. A spacesuit should present some tactical challenges for hand to hand combat and require altering styles accordingly. Its difficult to punch the face of someone where a full polycarbonate helmet, and a fully pressurized suit might prevent high kicks. So Capoeira and karate are poor choices, while Aikido and Judo with joint locks and throws would be more effective.

Failing that, perhaps the training is taking place in a Gaia hard-light simulation. What better way to escape the dull confines of a ship than to receive training real (virtual) Shaolin Monk on a scenic mountaintop?

[DOC_Agren]

[Rob Lang]

The suits to my mind are all the same because they are as lightweight as boiler suits (coveralls, not sure if you call them something else where you are). The clunky pressurised suits we're used to seeing in Sci Fi are old hat. Therefore, it doesn't really matter if you're a martial artist or a techie, the environment suit offers no restriction to movement beyond a pair of baggy trousers.

@CA, I could draw them in different outfits - perhaps in their space craft based outfits. They do need to look part of the same crew, with similar insignia and patterning. I think I might try and draw them doing various tasks, as they might while working.

@Doc, Juan sounds very cool. I like the idea of Space Martial Arts. In Icar, it would probably called Zero-G Rail Fighting and be an epoch 3 skill requiring Rail Fighting and Zero-G Operations. Being able to do close combat with the gravity off without a modifier could make for some breathtaking fight sequences!

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

Although it wouldn't help in black and white pictures - perhaps the suits are color coded by job, much like the crew of a modern aircraft carrier. ()

When the crew of Apollo 11 returned to earth they had problems identifying the crew on the moon. Armstrong and Aldrin had identical gear, so in many photos, they couldn't tell who it was. Subsequent flights introduced red stripes on the commander's suit for easy identification. Similarly, in a dark and possibly dangerous derelict will probably have some means of quick visual ID.

If you're wearing them all the time like normal clothes, there is going to be an urge for personalization and probably a market for customization. You might have additional pockets, or a custom pattern with the crew logos and numbers over-laid. Perhaps rather than a custom suit, its some other accessory added - like preference for a vest or tool belt with additional equipment.

To add a bit more to the setting, perhaps the amount of customization or pattern has some cultural meaning. For example, junior crew members get "prison stripes" or "peppermint twists" - a pattern of solid colors and white bars so everyone knows to keep them under close supervision or assist. Once they rank up, or go through a , the crew can get something different. Veterans of a certain conflict might have a meaningful design and take offense to those who wear it without serving.

[DOC_Agren]

[Rob Lang]

The first obvious advantage would be not taking a modifier for fighting in 0g, which you could turn on its head and say that everyone you fight gets -3 to Battle when fighting in 0g.

For higher skill levels (70,80,90) there should be some combo replacements. For example, you can't trip someone in 0g, so for that move nothing would happen. However, if you have the skill at 70 then Trip is replaced with Spin. A spin is something they need to recover from (like standing up). If Juan already has a combo with Trip-Stamp in it then he can still use it in 0g!

This kind of conversation is precisely why I'm going to make a blog - so that I have somewhere to publish these new rule snippets.