Scheduled for Fall-2004.

Would generally follow format of the Gurps Klingons book.

Need planet surveys for every "planet" on the F&E map. Those which are home planets of sentient races need more extensive surveys with religion, culture, history, etc.

Suggestions, requests, comments, welcome. Don't expect much interaction from me for the next few months but this is a good place to compile notes for me to look at later.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 05:04 pm: Edit

Fralli: The following are various messages regarding these critters, which I am reposting here. I'm really not sure who (on the staff) did these or where they are.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 01:37 pm: Edit
Here is a challenge for anyone who wants to take it: the Fralli are a race from PD1 that were not included in GPD. I didn't include
them because I could not figure out how to specify their electrical powers in GURPS terminology.
If anyone wants to take a crack at creating a Racial Template for the Fralli, go for it! The only restrictions are (1) the RT must use
existing/published GURPS rules only, and (2) RT cost must not exceed 150 character points.
=====
By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 10:37 pm: Edit

I believe I have "cracked" the Fralli situation. The good news is: I used 100% official GURPS rules. The bad news is: I dipped into
the magic system to do it. However, if done properly it should not be noticeable.

The trick of it is: There is no advantage, psionic power or super power that can power an electrical device. Numerous abilities will
allow you to jinx them, destroy them or otherwise mess with them, but none to let them work properly. There is, however, a spell
for it in GURPS Grimiore (Lend Power, I believe it's called).

I am aware that the SFU does not include magic. But if the spell were taken as a knack (as noted in Compendium 1), it could be
treated as a standalone advantage, renamed and treat the fact that it's magic as a "special effect". The Fatigue equivalents for the
various power cells are also listed in Compendium 2 and GURPS Vehicles.

Based on this, I created a racial template for the Fralli that only used around 25 points. It has not been playtested, but may serve as
a starting point for those interested.
=====
By Peter Miller (Thegolem) on Saturday, November 23, 2002 - 07:52 pm: Edit

I don't think Gurps Super 2/e has any power or advantage that would be able to be used to 'power an electrical device' (as the Fralli
can do, re: ph93, Fed Sourcebook). There are powers that let loose electricity, but not in the sense of powering a device.

I'm interested to see how they turn out in MPA. I don't have GURPS Magic, so I can't see how FDW did it.
=====
By Robert Herneson (Rherneson) on Saturday, November 23, 2002 - 10:52 pm: Edit
If there is any question on the point cost, I believe what you have described could qualify as a 'knack' in Magic terms & you could
verify point costs that way.
The other way I could see about converting fatigue to kWs is by way of the vehicle rules on exotic power plants (Vehilcles P86),
but they vary somewhat too. The best I can see from there is the stats for a Soul Burner engine, where it notes that ~1kW can be
gathered from 1 HT point.
Personally, I think the Knack or Magic rules may offer a better avenue, especially as you note, they have the handy conversion
chart on Grimoire P 99 that tells us 1 fatigue is equivilant to a B Cell (which holds 180 kWS at TL8).
=====
By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 02:26 am: Edit
The Fralli have some natural abilities that were easy to define in PD1, but were simply awful to define via GURPS game mechanics.
As a result, I decided to dis-include them in GPD. But while we were working on GPD, Alex figured out a way to do them, but too late
for inclusion in GPD -- so we already have written their Racial Template.

I'm not trying to supress anyones $.02 worth on how to do the Fralli, but it's going to have to be a lot better than what we've got
now, and Alex came up with a neat solution.

For those of you without a copy of FS, The Fralli have several electrical-related powers:

They have an internal/organic self-regenerating electrical battery that can power hand-held equipment such as small vehicles,
tools & equipment, and weapons -- in fact, they can power almost any item that works on electricity and has been adapted for use
by (ie powered by) a Fralli.

Not that they need weapons; they can also produce a electrical attack that can zap someone by touch, or as an electrical arc with
several meters range. In their pre-technological days, this ability is how they hunted and killed dinner.
=====
By Loren Knight (Loren) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 11:28 am: Edit

Is this electrical arc affected by environment? Like, thin or thicker air or in water? Does it work in vaccume?

Or should I just look them up in PD1?
=====
By Robert Herneson (Rherneson) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 02:57 pm: Edit

What is the damage & range of the arc?
=====
By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 03:33 am: Edit

My Fralli Template (55 pts)

Attributes
ST -2 (-15)

Advantages/Disadvantages

Bioelectric Power (40) (NEW ADVANTAGE!)
Bioelectric Shock (10)(CI50)
Lightning (20) (Natural Attack, CI72)

NEW ADVANTAGE

Bioelectric Power 40 pts

The character can power devices using internal electricity. To activate this ability, the character must take the concentrate
maneuver for one turn and the power becomes available the next turn. A minimum of 1 Fatigue must be spent per activation. If
powering an energy weapon, each turn of firing is one activation. In order to figure Fatigue equivalents for various power supplies
consult GURPS Grimoire p99 and GURPS Compendium II (forgot the page number!). Don't forget to adjust efficiency of devices for
the proper TL.

(This is the knack advantage. I originally expected it to cost 20 points, but a further reference of the knack rules caused me to
increase it. Sorry if the wording is clumsy or unclear. I just wanted to make sure it got up here; my net access is rather
intermittent.)

--Doug
=====
By Loren Knight (Loren) on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 02:05 pm: Edit

Does the character have to Re-concentrate for each firing of a weapon? Or can he concentrate once the fire repeatedly until his
fatigue runs out?
=====
Didn't Alex do a write-up? Anybody seen it?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 05:07 pm: Edit

Nick Blank, Federation Express Deck Plans.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 05:29 pm: Edit

Noted for record

=====
By John Sickels (Johnsickels) on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 06:08 pm: Edit
There was also the Mantorese racial template I submitted many months ago.
Also, I was considering writing something with a more detailed look at Mantorese society and such at the eve of the General War. Interested?
=====
By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 07:24 pm: Edit
I have the mantor template, no problem. Email me about this longer version. I don't remember the other submissions but let me see if they turn up. Email me a list of what you send before and I'll hunt them down; don't send the files again.
=====

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 06:06 pm: Edit

John Sickels did some Federation personal heavy weapons several months ago (phaser carbine, grenade launcher, etc).

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 06:17 pm: Edit

Alex and I put our heads together and did a version of the Fralli last year.

I don't have any major problem with Knarf's version except that it requires an entirely new Advantage. That might be the best way to go, or not.

I'll put the two side by side and work something up for the staff to review.

SVC, tag this as a "Gary item".

By Andy Palmer (Andypalmer) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 06:48 pm: Edit

I recommend that work on Gurps Federation be done at least partially concurrently with R8. I can see decisions made in GF impacting R8 and vice versa. IMO they would both be better products if these types of decisions and changes were made during design.

By Nick G. Blank (Nickgb) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 07:57 pm: Edit

Ah yes, the Fed express ship. Forgot I had done that one. I will put it on my to-do list for FEDERATION.

By David Lang (Dlang) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 08:12 pm: Edit

Nick, the Fed express ship will also fit in very well with the civilan ships stuff beign discussed

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 08:26 pm: Edit

Nick, in one of the topics here (the one where David has been crunching all the numbers) I think I posted a list of the ships that needed to be in there, or else ships that needed to be added to David's table.

I would remind you that you do not need to make deckplans for the Modular Courier or the two Skiffs in CL23, as SJ Games has already published them.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 08:33 pm: Edit

I have already rewritten the Vulcan Psionics Schools article from PD1, except for the parts that are giving me a headache.

PD1 had the concept of "Vulcan Psi Masters" as a player character class within Star Fleet. Obviously this concept will not work within GPD; my thought is to rewrite it so that characters can attend one of the schools and receive "professional certification" (ie Professional Template ala GPD page 46) and may then go on to join Star Fleet, or the Marshals, or just stay a civilian, or whatever.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 01:06 am: Edit

F-111 deck plan might be pretty cool. Has one, maybe 2 small decks, but blow it up on a large print and characters could be placed there.

By Christopher E. Fant (Cfant) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 01:21 am: Edit

That would be kinda spiffy.

By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 03:07 am: Edit

I actually tried to convert the schools using GURPS Psionics and was largely successful. The only mechanical problems were the "powers" that actually just increased Attributes in some way.

One thing I noticed is that most of the Vulcan powers were more telepathy based, and the powers outside that envelope were available only to NVPs. In GURPS terms I would suggest that Vulcans pay an Unusual Background for having powers outside of Telepathy, perhaps 10 points.

I thought about doing a psionics certification, but my idea was a little more broad. Along the lines of

Psionics: Psionic Power (any) 1+; any 2 Psionic Skills-15; any other 2 Psionic Skills-12

This set of requirements has the advantage of being compatible with both GPD Psionics and the full GURPS Psionics system, even if Vulcans are limited to only telepathy-style powers.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 03:12 am: Edit

Knarf, that stuff is already covered by the rewritten PD1 article I mentioned about four posts up.

If you're going to use psionic abilities outside the "GPD" set, then you pretty much need to use the BASIC SET psi system, or the system in GURPS PSI. All three systems are mutually exclusive, although the Vulcan and Fralli abilities are written to be compatible with all three systems.

By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 03:27 am: Edit

For the convenience of those interested in my Fralli template, I am reproducing here the text of the Lend Power spell from GURPS Grimoire.

Lend Power/TL Regular

With this spell a mage takes fatigue in order to power a device magically. In theory, a large enough circle of mages could use this spell to power a starship and it's weapons.

This spell cannot be used to recharge power cells; it could, however, power a cell recharger...

Duration: Indefinite

Cost: The GM will have to convert the devices power requirement into a fatigue rate equivalent (See chart page G99 or in Compendium II, reproduced below). Minimum ST cost is 1 per hour; high skill does not reduce cost.

Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Seek Power

Example: A large vapor canteen runs for a month on an E cell; this amounts to about 1 Fatigue every 45 minutes.

Energy Fatigue
A cell .1
B cell 1
C cell 10
D cell 100
E cell 1,000

These values are at TL8. increase by 50% for each TL above 8. For example, a TL12 C cell will contain the equivalent of (10[TL8] + 5[TL9] + 5[TL10] + 5[TL11] + 5[TL12]) 30 Fatigue points.


Yes, this means that my statement regarding each burst of an energy weapon being a separate activation of the ability was incorrect. As long as the person continues to power the device, there is no need for additional concentrate maneuvers.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 04:39 am: Edit

If the spell cannot recharge power cells, then how do you apply it to Fralli, who are walking power cells?

By Robert Herneson (Rherneson) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 06:47 pm: Edit

I noticed later that the Grimoire rules have been superceeded. Please look over the rules for Fatigue and Power Cells on page 19 of Compendium II.
In short, it says 1 megawatt = 2.8 Fatige per second.

RH

By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 03:17 am: Edit

GP: You hit the nail right on the head. The caster effectively is a battery and can give power to things that are designed to accept it. Power cells, however, are expected to release energy, not take it in, so they are excluded. However, it does say that a caster may power a recharger (again, a device intended to accept energy).

RH: Apparently, this only applied to a previous printing of Grimoire. My copies of Grimoire and Compendium II are in agreement on fatigue equivalants of power cells. If anyone out there has an incorrect printing of Grimoire, they are directed to Compendium II or GURPS Vehicles. If your printing of Compendium II disagrees with the fatigue equivalents that I posted above, please do let me know.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 06:50 am: Edit

I've got three competing Racial Templates for the Fralli. I'll choose one and post it here, so y'all can have the fun of ripping it to shreds!

By Matthew Pulido (Talison) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 03:19 pm: Edit

"If you're going to use psionic abilities outside the "GPD" set, then you pretty much need to use the BASIC SET psi system, or the system in GURPS PSI. All three systems are mutually exclusive, although the Vulcan and Fralli abilities are written to be compatible with all three systems."


I thought the Psi systems in Basic Set and Gurps Psionics were 100% compatible. I don't see a differance, unless I'm missing something.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 04:41 pm: Edit

GURPS PSI is an expanded version of what is in BASIC SET. You can't really have different characters with abilities from these books -- the GM has to go with one or the other.

By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 01:37 am: Edit

The only problem going between GURPS Basic Set Psionics and full GURPS Psionics is the Basic Set has fewer options. For example, I believe the Teleportation power is unavailable in Basic Set, so if your GM only has the Basic Set, you won't have access to Teleportation. But if you were to create a telepathic character using the Basic Set and then your GM got Psionics, you wouldn't have to modify your character any to get access to the new tricks provided by that book. Converting between either system and GPD Psionics is going to take some doing, however.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 08:16 am: Edit

Yep.

By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Tuesday, January 06, 2004 - 12:46 pm: Edit

Will any new races be appearing in GURPS Federation (Other than the Fralli)?