Ok so I've been playing Star Conflict again and I had this little idea that EP wouldn't be the worst fit to build my pilot character as an RP character.
Its not a perfect fit of course and as SC is not an RPG the background infos are somewhat limited. Also I haven't build an EP character in ages and EP doesn't really have the equivalent of this line of career.
So here is some info:
My character hails from a faction called Jericho which is basically the high tech faction that also deals a lot in cybernetics and so on. They are descended from people who lived on space ships and embraced cybernetic (and I guess genetic) modifications from a young age to optimize the human body and make it fit for live in space.
SC is portrait as very high tech with forcefield shields and some weapons based on gravitational effects and stuff like that. The Jericho background for the "Tech" subfaction (which I consider this character a part of) talks about how they run on the forefront of hightech and also have things like a "mind-interface control system" allowing the pilot to actually merge with the ships systems for greater control and precision.
The Synthetics from the Revelation Space books come to mind from a technological standpoint thought the Jericho don't seem to have anything akin to the "synthesis" described there that allows direct network communication between members and so on.
SC also does have no mention of digitized Egos and morph switching so the body is actually more part of the character and less just a piece of equipment here. Therefore I'd like to base this on a Biomorph as this makes most sense to me. Mayyyyyyybe a Pod to represent a high level of cybernetic modification. I was thinking possibly Hibernoid or Remade as a base maybe?
Main question is: what would be appropriate implants for a pilot who focuses mainly on flying interceptors and fighters (fast, agile ships in direct combat) in space?
Basic Biomods make sense to me just from the faction background, maybe even Clean Metabolism, too.
Basic Mesh Inserts for interfacing with the ship and other technology
One focus would probably be enhanced survivability in space environments:
- Circadian Regulation seems to make sense for reduced need for sleep and ability to fly long missions.
- Hibernation for emergency survival situations (being shot down and having to survive on limited resources for some time in open space)
- Oxygen Reserve and possibly Vacuum Sealing (if you don't do that via equipment) should help with the same situations
- Endocrine Control for the increased resistance to pain, hunger, fear
Another focus would be anything that helps with actually flying a combat ship like this:
- definitely some form of enhanced reaction. Neurachem?
- Direction Sense seems useful for navigating
- improved perception though Enhanced Vision
Is there something that improves tolerance of high G manouvers?
Something that improves resistance to blackout effects or nausea that might be caused by maneuvering quickly in space with no sense of up or down?
Something that helps process data quickly in complex combat situations?
other stuff I didn't think of?
As for skills I was thinking Piloting, Gunnery and Navigation of course. Some Hardware skills and also Interfacing and possibly Infosec and Programming. Some skills that represent general military training. Freefall.
As far as Aptitudes go I'd guess important ones would be COG (Hardware, Interfacing, Profession), COO, INT (Gunnery, Navigation), REF (Freefall, Pilot) and WIL mainly
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Help me design my Space Fighter Pilot
Fri, 2018-07-20 04:12
#1
Xestaro
Help me design my Space Fighter Pilot
Fri, 2018-07-20 13:27
#2
DivineWrath
You might be better off
You might be better off playing Traveller by Mongoose. Eclipse Phase does not support ship combat in any way, shape, or form. Or ships anything. At best, they places where the action takes place, not things the players have much control over.
Products:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/171643/Traveller-Core-Rulebook
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/190671/High-Guard
Forums:
http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewforum.php?f=89
Fri, 2018-07-20 13:54
#3
DivineWrath
Now to help your character in
Now to help your character in the event you still want to play Eclipse Phase.
Enhanced Vision: You will probably be using the sensor system of the ship you're using, so most sensor augments for your morph wouldn't do you much good. However, its a cheap augment so pick it up if you plan on doing stuff on foot.
Morph: I would recommend synthmorph or even infomorph. Biomorphs don't work well as pilots since they're squishy. Machines can be built much more tolerant of high Gs and other fancy space craft stunts. A decent fighter would have a server for an infomorph, so you wouldn't need to waste space or mass on a cockpit.
Neurachem: Anything to improve speed. Speed increases the number of actions you can do in a turn. Its a must have resource.
Sat, 2018-07-21 04:47
#4
CordialUltimate2
In EP the space superiority
In EP the space superiority fighter or drone would be a synthmorph with some special traits. Especially large G-tolerance, larger than any biomorph could survive. Then it would be basically a spaceship that you sleeve into.
Probably Reaper-like and deployed in swarms. Not sure if it needs a full ego or only an ALI is enough.
If it was larger than a Reaper it would probably contain modified supercharged cyberbrain to host the pilot at 60x acceleration that would enable him to compete with dedicated ALIs.
If it was large enough it would probably have ability to deploy its own offensive or defensive drone swarms.
Space combat in hard sci-fi is its own can of worms. Posthuman studios wisely decided to leave it alone.
If you want to know more check out [url=https://youtu.be/xvs_f5MwT04] Isaac Arthur's channel[/URL].
Disclaimer about EP being hard sci-fi. It really is not. Whenever authors see something that they would like to have, they explain it with physically impossible "magical nanotech". Sometimes it is lazy sometimes it is necessary but in EP nanotech is magic.
EDIT: So you do not have to concern yourself with your pilot morph because your pilot morph is your spaceship.
I would reflect that in an ego by pumping up Pilot: Aerospace and Gunnery, Interface, Fray, Perception: Enhanced Senses, Navigation: Space
I recommend working with your GM to identify skills that would be appropriate for certain aspect piloting a space fighter.
As for your civilian morph, you can go with whatever suits your fancy.
Whole transhumanity(- jovians) in EP could be classified as a Tech faction. Maybe a Brinker faction would be close to you with space marine pod that can survive in vacuum. Or a Courier morph as the closest one to actual spaceship/spacefighter.
Ultimates or parallel movements like Exhumans, with their associated morphs, could suit your character well. Maybe not as a member but as an interested person?
I just remembered. The Sphere morph has a Space Superiority variant in the Morph Recognition Guide.
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Sat, 2018-07-21 11:37
#5
Xestaro
Oh, I think I didnt explain
Oh, I think I didnt explain well enough what the idea behind doing this is, sorry!
I also thought that in the EP background you'd just use a ship you could sleeve into or run as an Infolive on a ships cyberbrain/server/whatever.
Thing is: I'm not trying to do this to play the char in an EP session and also not in the EP background.
Actually I'll probably not "really play" this character anywhere, its just to give some background to this theoretical pilot character. Also its not in the EP background but in the Star Conflict background. I just thought of the RPG systems I have, EP might be the one best suited as it seems to have the most parallels in style and technology.
Thats why I was going for a biomorph or possibly Pod.
I'm aware that you'd do things differently in the EP background but thats not what I was trying to do ;) should have been more clear about that.
Sun, 2018-07-22 02:07
#6
DivineWrath
OK. You are making a
OK. You are making a character for funsies.
I suggest that you give your character the right at home trait for their given fighter sleeve, or whatever infomorph they will be using to pilot the fighter. It would be quite inconvenient if the character suffered some integration penalties in combat.
This character might need Hardware: Aerospace 40. Its common for soldiers to know to maintain their weapons, so this is the logical extension for fighter pilots. It also might provide insight into knowing what their fighter can do, and might help in determining if there is something wrong with your fighter.
Sun, 2018-07-22 04:27
#7
CordialUltimate2
Ah so it is this kind of
Ah so it is this kind of endeavour. I was sure you are going to play EP and wanted to "import" a character. If you are porting EP to another setting then you seem to be on the right track with your first post.
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Sun, 2018-07-22 05:46
#8
Xestaro
ok thanks :)
ok thanks :)
so does anyone have any input on this:
Sun, 2018-07-22 15:51
#9
DivineWrath
I don't think there is
I don't think there is anything to help with high G maneuvers. There is High G Adaptation (Gatecrashing p. 152). It designed to help with high gravity exoplanets, not high G maneuvers, but it might help anyways.
As processing data quickly, there is Mental Speed (Core Rulebook p. 308). It gives +3 bonus to initiative and gives you 2 complex mental actions per action phase.
Sun, 2018-07-22 16:32
#10
Xestaro
I guessed High G Adaptation
I guessed High G Adaptation is the only thing in that regard, hmmm.... As there is a direct interface with the ship I guess we're basically talking about keeping the pilots brain well supplied hmmm....
Oh, thinking about direct interface and using your brain to control a ship: Would Neurachem even make sense seeing as the pilot will probably not do much with their body during flight? Or is stuff like Mental Speed and maybe some Co-Processor and whatnot what I should really think about here?
Is Neurachem actually compatible with Mental Speed?
Sun, 2018-07-22 17:32
#11
CordialUltimate2
Yeah. It is compatible. EP
Yeah. It is compatible. EP 1ed has a Speed
System. You may notice that Neurachem gives you Speed. Speed translates into number of Combat Phases (Combat Passes or Initiative Passes) you get during a Combat Turn. Then Mental Speed gives you 2 additional Mental actions per Combat Phase. For example to
If you have Speed 3 and Mental Speed you can make 3 Physical Complex actions and 6 Mental Complex actions per turn.
Speed gives you more Phases, mental speed allows you to do more with this Phases.
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Sun, 2018-07-22 17:34
#12
CordialUltimate2
As for direct neural link
As for direct neural link with a ship. Access Jacks and Mesh Inserts should do the trick.
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Sun, 2018-07-22 18:36
#13
DivineWrath
If you're going to be jamming
If you're going to be jamming your fighter, the speed of the ship matters. If its speed 4 and you're speed 3, then the ship can only take 3 action phases that turn because you aren't fast enough to keep up. If the ship was speed 2, then it could only take 2 action phases and you are left with 1 action phase because you're too fast for it.
Its one of the reasons why I said use an infomorph or sleeve the ship directly. Trying to jam a ship will require that you buy 2 sets of speed augments. Infomorphs are speed 3 by default so they require 1 augment to max out. Sleeving the ship will only require you to buy the speed augments once.
Tue, 2018-07-24 08:29
#14
Armoured
Space combat! I thought
Space combat! I thought about this a lot, with my first character concept being similar. EP doesn't try to do space combat, and there isn't much detail in what space forces consist of, which means everyone can come up with their own canon. :D
Here is what I did:
With EP tending to semi-hard SF, space combat is either light-speed gunnery or long-range missiles. Peter F Hamilton's "Nights Dawn" trilogy has a similar tech level and limitations, and there the combat is largely handled by semi-automonous smart munitions called combat wasps. Combat Wasp. Wasps pack as much ship-killing potential as anything given nuclear weapons and spacecraft fragility, require less delta-V to get places (in fuel at least. dV is relative for your mass), and most importantly, are disposable and cheap (compared to a ship).
Now in EP, the smart in smart munition might as well be an Ego, or crew of them. In EP, transhuman egos have higher skill caps than 'bots after all. These are your fighter pilots; infomorphs literally riding the cluster of bombs and one-shot lasers which is a Combat Wasp.
My character was inclined to fork into all available weapon systems, as he trusted himself the most to be his wingmen, so to speak.
No matter what you go with though, I'd recommend Hardening(ego death) of some sort. Space combat is going to be insanely lethal, no matter what, which means the character will have died repeatedly and been brought back.