Well of Souls Forums

Quick question, is the Neridi symbol on their uniform just a Neridi head looking up and to the left?

Sweforce wrote:Speaking of that, what kind of biochemistry do the orgus work at?

It's not related to the Soia-Liron biochemistry, but I don't have any more detail than that.

dragoongfa wrote:Quick question, is the Neridi symbol on their uniform just a Neridi head looking up and to the left?

No, it's a more abstract symbol. But that's funny, now that you mention it.

Arioch wrote:

Jakelope13 wrote:How much modification can a Umiak withstand? Are we talking ocular implants, prosthetic arms, maybe a built-in weapon, or Borg-level of modification, where the Umiak might as well be a machine with Umiak components grafted on in odd places?

The extreme example would be the hardtroopers, most of which are "full replacement cyborgs"; that is, the entire body except for brains and guts has been replaced with an armored combat chassis. Think along the lines of Robocop, Briareos from Appleseed, or the Dreadnoughts from Warhammer 40K. Some hardtroops look more like armored vehicles than Umiak.

I was catching up on backstory and setting, and now all I can think of are Umiak analogues of Adeptus Mechanicus Kataphron Battle Servitors from Warhammer 40K. Arioch, I noticed GURPS features fairly regularly as a method of cross-comparison, have you ever entertained what kind of unit profile various dramatic personae or Infantry (e.g., hardtroopers) would have? As much of a background as I have with that game, I tend to look to it for comparisons in understanding something’s relative power or strength.

Corpsman_of_Krieg wrote:I was catching up on backstory and setting, and now all I can think of are Umiak analogues of Adeptus Mechanicus Kataphron Battle Servitors from Warhammer 40K. Arioch, I noticed GURPS features fairly regularly as a method of cross-comparison, have you ever entertained what kind of unit profile various dramatic personae or Infantry (e.g., hardtroopers) would have? As much of a background as I have with that game, I tend to look to it for comparisons in understanding something’s relative power or strength.

I never did any workups for Umiak troops in GURPS. I had done some fiddling around with GURPS stats for armored troops for the progenitor story to Outsider (about a Human interstellar civil war), and I found that the Ultra Tech gear started to lose consistency around TL10; for example, in my notes the Infantry Combat armor had PD6 DR65, but the contemporary assault rifle only did 6d cr... which means it was effectively incapable of penetrating that armor, even when using armor piercing ammunition. That didn't sound to me like the offensive/defensive balance that I was looking for.

My books are currently in storage. I'd like to fish them out at some point and take a look at that again.

Arioch wrote:

Corpsman_of_Krieg wrote:I was catching up on backstory and setting, and now all I can think of are Umiak analogues of Adeptus Mechanicus Kataphron Battle Servitors from Warhammer 40K. Arioch, I noticed GURPS features fairly regularly as a method of cross-comparison, have you ever entertained what kind of unit profile various dramatic personae or Infantry (e.g., hardtroopers) would have? As much of a background as I have with that game, I tend to look to it for comparisons in understanding something’s relative power or strength.

I never did any workups for Umiak troops in GURPS. I had done some fiddling around with GURPS stats for armored troops for the progenitor story to Outsider (about a Human interstellar civil war), and I found that the Ultra Tech gear started to lose consistency around TL10; for example, in my notes the Infantry Combat armor had PD6 DR65, but the contemporary assault rifle only did 6d cr... which means it was effectively incapable of penetrating that armor, even when using armor piercing ammunition. That didn't sound to me like the offensive/defensive balance that I was looking for.

My books are currently in storage. I'd like to fish them out at some point and take a look at that again.

I realize in rereading my message that I omitted the part where I had meant to say “Warhammer 40K unit profiles.” I actually know very little about GURPS; my mistake!

Corpsman_of_Krieg wrote:I realize in rereading my message that I omitted the part where I had meant to say “Warhammer 40K unit profiles.” I actually know very little about GURPS; my mistake!

Ah, when you said "that game" I thought you meant GURPS.

As with all things Umiak, there is significant variety among the Hardtroops. Some would be roughly analogous to the Space Marine infantry, some to the heavy Terminators, and some to the Dreadnoughts. But those analogues only go so far; 40K is not what I would call a "realistic" tactical simulation.

Arioch wrote:

Corpsman_of_Krieg wrote:I realize in rereading my message that I omitted the part where I had meant to say “Warhammer 40K unit profiles.” I actually know very little about GURPS; my mistake!

Ah, when you said "that game" I thought you meant GURPS.

As with all things Umiak, there is significant variety among the Hardtroops. Some would be roughly analogous to the Space Marine infantry, some to the heavy Terminators, and some to the Dreadnoughts. But those analogues only go so far; 40K is not what I would call a "realistic" tactical simulation.

That is certainly true! Very much science fantasy. Thanks for the references; helps me understand them better.

Arioch, could a Barsam win in melee combat against an Umiak ? And one Umiak against a Delrias ? What about a Barsam versus a Delrias ?

Onaiom wrote:Arioch, could a Barsam win in melee combat against an Umiak ? And one Umiak against a Delrias ? What about a Barsam versus a Delrias ?

Clearly you haven't heard the Barsam battle hymn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TUTJ0klnKk

Onaiom wrote:Arioch, could a Barsam win in melee combat against an Umiak ? And one Umiak against a Delrias ? What about a Barsam versus a Delrias ?

Assuming you mean unarmed hand-to-hand combat between individuals with equivalent preparation and training: Barsam are larger and heavier than Delrias, and are very tough with excellent endurance. Delrias are faster and have great strength in short bursts. If he can survive the initial onslaught, the odds favor the Barsam in a drawn-out fight.

The physical capabilities of Umiak vary widely due to gene tailoring and surgical and cybernetic alternations. A hypothetical "pure-strain" Umiak in a native 1/3 G environment is very fast, but without weaponry I would expect either a Barsam or Delrias to be able to take one down, if it can be got hold of. Such an Umiak individual would probably be easy pickings in a 1 G environment. Genetically modified Umiak soldiers raised for heavy gravity environments would probably give a better account of themselves, but they're slow and not really specialized for unarmed fighting, so I think the edge still goes to the Barsam or Delrias combatants.

An Umiak hardtrooper is an armored cyborg death machine, so it can't really be "unarmed." A weaponless Barsam or Delrias would have a very difficult time taking down one of these.

How does the Umiak stack handle changing participants in an ongoing discussion?

Arioch wrote:

Onaiom wrote:Arioch, could a Barsam win in melee combat against an Umiak ? And one Umiak against a Delrias ? What about a Barsam versus a Delrias ?

Assuming you mean unarmed hand-to-hand combat between individuals with equivalent preparation and training: Barsam are larger and heavier than Delrias, and are very tough with excellent endurance. Delrias are faster and have great strength in short bursts. If he can survive the initial onslaught, the odds favor the Barsam in a drawn-out fight.

Now the real question is. Will the loroi try to interrupt such a brawl or just stand back and shout "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT"?

Werra wrote:How does the Umiak stack handle changing participants in an ongoing discussion?

A polite speaker will refrain from using references that the new participants don't know, and (if necessary) explain what was being talked about. An impolite speaker may deliberately exclude new participants by using unfamiliar references. In a similar way to how pronouns or indirect references might need to be clarified in our own language for a new speaker ("which 'she' are you referring to?").

The Soia (and that other species) used gene modification to terraform ecosystems. Did they also shape the landscapes directly?

Is there a common stack in effect for Umiak if they haven't created their own in a chat with each other yet? Could Umiak exchange "posit-xs" to have polite smalltalk?

Werra wrote:The Soia (and that other species) used gene modification to terraform ecosystems. Did they also shape the landscapes directly?

There is pretty clear evidence that there were some large-scale planetary engineering projects undertaken during the Dreiman era, including moving moons around, crashing comets into planets to beef up the atmosphere, and building gigantic spaceborne megaliths. There aren't many clear examples of this during the Soia era, though the boundary between the two eras is not always clear in some locations, and so it's not always possible to say with certainty whether a certain work near the transition date is Dreiman or Soia.

There are some who suggest that the Dreiman were actually just setting things up for the Soia, but others point out that many Dreiman projects were abandoned unfinished, or went almost entirely unused during the Soia era.

Werra wrote:Is there a common stack in effect for Umiak if they haven't created their own in a chat with each other yet? Could Umiak exchange "posit-xs" to have polite smalltalk?

Although the stack can contain anything, it is most commonly used for proper nouns, in a similar way that we use pronouns. Common preset stacks of proper nouns probably wouldn't make much sense for most conversations. Familiar speakers might use agreed upon slang, references or code words, but I don't think this really integrates into the stack, since the order of the stack is specific to a conversation.

I can imagine that some Umiak might have sharp enough memories that they can keep a running conversation with another Umiak going over multiple discreet occasions, remembering the previous stack and adding new stack elements in the new occasion's conversation at the next highest stack number from the previous conversation (say, 22 instead of 1), and then make references to the previous conversation. But I think this would be confusing even for an Umiak.

Starting with a higher stack number would be one way for two Umiak to accommodate a third Umiak who joined an existing conversation, adding new stack elements at the current number, but declining to reference previous elements that were established before the new speaker entered the conversation, as that would be impolite.

Arioch wrote: Although the stack can contain anything, it is most commonly used for proper nouns, in a similar way that we use pronouns. Common preset stacks of proper nouns probably wouldn't make much sense for most conversations. Familiar speakers might use agreed upon slang, references or code words, but I don't think this really integrates into the stack, since the order of the stack is specific to a conversation.

Yes, any phrase common enough to be referred to in a universal stack should quickly turn into its own word.
But then again..."High Command", "Loroi", "Reporting for duty" could feasibly end up in such a species wide stack. I don't think only nouns would get absorbed. I mean...how many different phrases does one really use with total strangers?

What convinced the Orgus to go the way they did? They seemed to have gone way into the empty region; straight to the center. Was this part of a general plan to make the Umiak loose their scent and the Orgus would double back up-arm, or even onto Loroi space from the side? Or just a huge hope someone was out there/something like a planet to hide on?

danuis wrote:What convinced the Orgus to go the way they did? They seemed to have gone way into the empty region; straight to the center. Was this part of a general plan to make the Umiak loose their scent and the Orgus would double back up-arm, or even onto Loroi space from the side? Or just a huge hope someone was out there/something like a planet to hide on?

The Orgus vessel fled in the only direction open to it; once cut off from other known routes, the only option left was to try to follow the long path through the Great Wasteland to Union territory. It was a forlorn hope; they probably didn't have enough supplies to make it. Luckily, they stumbled across an alien outpost along the way.

Any chance we will see Kikitik-27 in the future? His style of speech is amazing.

SVlad wrote:Any chance we will see Kikitik-27 in the future? His style of speech is amazing.

Well, he made a point of saying his name, and other characters have talked about him several times now.

Odds that he has no further part in the story: 0.0%