Jesse Casey's Plasma jet Cannon goosed the developers at the Midbar Skunkworks
into refining a languishing pair of designs for a 'long duration effect'
weapon. Rather than a big blast that fades over several turns, the Nannite
weapons build do potentially hideous damage over time, though there is always
risk.
Nannite Torpedo- A derivative of the Pulse Torpedo, The NT launches a
barrage of destructive Nannites against the target. On each turn after
sucessful impact, the nannite invasion consumes more of the target's armor,
hull, and systems in a frenzy of self-replication. In the damage table
the
numbers A/B/C... represent damage done on first, second, and thrid turn,
etc. Damage is divided between Armor and hull, round up for armor, down for
hull. Successful Damage Control roll kills the nannite invasion, making the
ship immune to further nannite attack this combat. Additional Nannite Torpedo
hits beyond the first reduce damage control roll by 1. Ships destroyed by
nannite attack are completely unsalvageable.Mass, Cost, range
bands, and to-hit are the same as for pulse torps. If hit, roll on the
table below for damage. If the NT is damaged by threshold, there is a 1 in 6
chance that the casing on a torpedo will crack and launch an invation on the
carrying ship (roll on the NT table). Die Roll Damage 1 No effect (Nannites
destroyed on impact)
2-3 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 4*
4-5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 4*
6 2 / 3 / 4 / 4*
*(in table below) Damage is 4/turn for each subsequent turn.
Nannite Missile - Mass 2, Cost 6, Range/Speed as More Thrust Missile.
Effect is a nannite attack on the target ship, as with Nannite Torpedo. Roll
on Nannite table if missile hits.
I think nannites fall in to the same category as time machines and
teleportation; once discovered would get rapidly and wildly out of hand.
Great as a plot device, bad in a game setting.
Michael Brown
[quoted original message omitted]
> Michael Brown <mkkabrow@wco.com> wrote:
Think of a biological virus - it's a nano-machine designoid
produced by evolutionary processes. See:
http://www.foresight.org
for more about human designed nano-machinery.
***
> Michael Brown <mkkabrow@wco.com> wrote:
Think of a biological virus - it's a nano-machine designoid
produced by evolutionary processes. See:
***
And people call me wacko...
Ok, nano-tech is much closer than time travel or teleporting, tho' less
than you seem to think, IMHO, but that wasn't the point. The point was that
once invoked on the battlefield, it becomes FM, and people seem to claim it
can do anything.
What they keep failing to mention is, if it can do that, it can be used as
a counter-measure.
Simply put, if one side has a nano advantage, the battle is already decided,
game is uninteresting. If nano-tech is balanced, it cancels out, and has
no effect on the game. Sort of like stealth. Or Psi.
Unless VERY small advantage,that is; those can be used, but generally sound
pretty silly to me.
The_Beast
I do understand that nano-machines are in the works, however the
abilities that are proscribed to them are just too much. Larry Niven wrote an
essay on the societal effects of teleportation, I was using that as the model
of the
environmental (natural and Man-made) of nano-tech "Life". If it can
reproduce and if it can move, it will escape. And what happens when it does.
Maybe the virus model does apply...
Michael Brown
[quoted original message omitted]
> devans@uneb.edu wrote:
> ***
less than
> you seem to think, IMHO, but that wasn't the point. The point was that
To me, the best uses of Nano-Tech on the battlefield, would be as
limited repair devices. Maybe you could keep them in a magnetic cage, with a
limited supply of energy. Really big ones could be constructed to repair
vehicals, ect.
> Donald Hosford wrote:
Really big ones (nanites) could be constructed to repair vehicals, ect.
> [quoted text omitted]
Wouldn't that sort of defeat the purpose?;)
> On Tue, 18 May 1999 devans@uneb.edu wrote:
> ***
yep :-) uh, you are an ft guy, right? it pretty much goes with the
territory.
> Ok, nano-tech is much closer than time travel or teleporting, tho'
less than
> you seem to think, IMHO, but that wasn't the point. The point was that
assume for the sake of argument that nanotech is possible and will be
practical quite soon. when the nano revolution comes, it will change
everything. we won't be fighting with starships, tanks and infantrymen any
more.
> Simply put, if one side has a nano advantage, the battle is already
sort of. the effect would be like the introduction of guns: once it had
reached maturity, warfare would be very different, at the tactical level at
least. generals would still be pushing flags round on maps, of course, just
different flags.
consequently, whilst nano combat will doubtless be interesting, just as
regular hard-sf / space-opera combat is, it won't be playable within
FT/DS/SG. that is my theory, which is what it is.
tom
> Jonathan Jarrard wrote:
> Donald Hosford wrote:
Not really, it would be used to repair damaged vehicals. Ships could mount one
to use in reaction to such an attack. It would be like MT missles,
when you run out of nano-repair kits, the next nano-torp gets you.
> Michael Brown wrote:
If it can reproduce and if it can move, it will escape. And what happens when
it does. Maybe the virus model does apply...
To relieve your very real concerns about nano-tech, see:
http://www.foresight.org
for more info and solutions to these problems you pose. This is the source
to find out more about nano-tech, the problems posed by nano-tech and
the solutions that our society has to come up with. The worst problem about
nano-tech is being ignorant of it. Cure that problem by looking at the
site shown above.
I certainly understand that Nannite tech can be either considered 'the next
revolution that will change everything', or a total smorgasbord of
Science Fantasy devices and/or abilities. The Nannite torpedo concept
was much more based on the 'virus' idea. In the Nannite Torp PSB, whatever
other capabilities Nannites might have, if you want to use them as a weapon,
the best way is to use 'feral' nannites whose only function is to consume and
reproduce. If they survive the transit to the enemy ship, they simply begin
eating it. Other PSB could have it that Inherent limits in Nannite
progammability or physical capcity make this the only plausible way to use
them as a weapon.
> Donald Hosford wrote:
I was referring to the idea of really BIG nanites. (Sigh. Oh, well.)
> Jonathan Jarrard wrote:
> Donald Hosford wrote: