I think the genre conventions are going to end up being the decision for anything about TL9. As for why humans need to be there at all? I'd imagine jamming would be an issue and there might be other challenges to require a biological presence at the front.
For the drones I was imagining something about the size of a hobby quad rotor. I may have to play around with stating some of these buggers out to see what it'd take to be able to knock out several hundred points of DR and the squishy inside. On Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 9:47 AM, Onno Meyer <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Stephen, > > regarding drones I have three thoughts. > > First, you can have a neat setting where small robots are ubiquitous, as > in Transhuman Space, but more traditional settings prefer to keep the human > in the center of attention. So there is a bit of "GM fiat" or "genre > convention" at work. Of course that is no fair answer to your proposal, so > disregard this one and look at the others ... > > Second, a TL11 hardened microframe is 150 lbs. and $50,000, and it has C7, > IQ 10, DX 11. A hardened small computer, at 1.5 lbs. just the right size > for a little drone, is IQ 8. The neural net and genius options add +1 to IQ > each, at ever escalating costs. That means a robot brain with more IQ than > a typical human is larger than a human. Even stupid robots can run some > impressive skill programs, but they have a problem when the GM calls for IQ > rolls. You mentioned a human supported by drones, but in that case why > bring the human forward at all? > > Third, you are anchoring the flying units to the ground units with the > humans. If you reach an obstacle that requires flight (perhaps getting into > the top floor of a wrecked building, or crossing a river canyon) the drones > can cross but the main unit is stopped. > > - Drones could be used as small and somewhat expendable sensor platforms. > You hope to get them back, but if the enemy shoots them down, at least that > revealed one firing position. > - Drones as loitering missiles. You try to find a target to use them, but > if not they come back for future use. > - Drones as multi-use weapons. They have a beam weapon or gun, not a > self-destruct. Still more expendable than the humans, but you really hope > to get several shots from each drone before it is hunted down. > > What size range where you thinking about for the drones? Attack drones > will have to go through several hundred points of DR. > > > Regarding detection, a suit or drone sensor might have Scan 16-18. The > operator will have a decent skill but might be multitasking. A SM+0 target > at 450 yards would be -14 for size/range. Call it an even chance of > detection. Adding stealth would be very desirable. > > Regards, > Onno > > Stephen replied to me: > > Onno, >> >> Your comment about flanking got me thinking...you don't need to use the >> entire suit to flank. Even now we have grenades that can flank. I'd >> think >> that a single non-flying human supported by a cadre of drones would be >> more >> effective than a single man in a flying suit. I think another question is >> how much cover helps. If I can hide behind a concrete wall and it >> provides >> cover and concealment, great. If I'm in an environment that's so lethal >> that the car doesn't matter and I can expect to be detected anyway...that >> sort of negates the whole purpose of hiding behind it. >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> > http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l > -- Stephen Rider _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
