This is the new TMNT cartoon?

Seriously?

Like Rats In A Maze

I've been a fan of the Cube movies and the Portal games for a time and now I'm wondering how I would go about recreating the puzzle mechanic in a tabletop role playing game environment.

It's one thing to have visual cues to go off of while stuck in a seemingly impossible puzzle room, but when the majority a tRPG is verbal, it's not that easy to make a trapped puzzle room that a player, or their character will be able to solve without giving away the solution in the description or continuously repeating the descriptions to your players.

I suppose I could take the route of the old text based adventure games like Zork where I give a general description of the room and then give the clues as the character(s) examine various portions of the room.

d20 games takes this to task with the Spot, Search, and Listen skills. Skills that do not have a relative parallel in Palladium games. The closest that you could come is that in some games characters may have heightened senses, or super vision powers; but nothing to roll them against for successfully spotting the clue to solving a portion of a puzzle or circumventing a trap. The GM can always have the player(s) make an arbitrary roll against a target with a modifier taking into effect their special abilities.

My ultimate goal in this is to create a testing facility run by Doctor Feral, and used to test different mutants (human and animal), and run it at the next a future Palladium Open House.

[IN THE NEWS] Uplift

So this happened... Scientists were able to make some monkeys smarter by implanting a neuroprosthesis (an array of electrodes) in their cerebral cortex.  This was part of a study to find a way to "facilitate and/or recover the cognitive function when such circumstances impair appropriate decision making."  In other words, this brain implant could fix your brain after a stroke or dementia.

The interesting side effect that they found was that it was also able to IMPROVE the cognition of the test subjects.  Outside of testing scales, that probably didn't mean all that much of an improvement - the monkeys probably didn't start reading Hamlet or playing chess.  However, the implication is still there that we stand at the doorway of Uplifting animal intelligence from that of the common domestic and feral beast to that of the common and bestial human.

The question is should we?  From the point of being able to improve primate cognition through medical brain implants, you find yourself looking at a "Flowers for Algernon" situation with a non-permanent improvement, and not a "Planet of the Apes" situation where the change was genetic and permanent.  Since we would be able to deactivate this implant, we would remain in control.  So the danger of revolution is minimal.

I don't question the ethics of changing the cognition of a primate from the stand point of "do we have the right?" either, isn't it the responsibility of one being to help his brother.  However, this could lead one to ask, is this cognitive enhancement an improvement?  Would we be "helping" them?  Are they better off as they are? Are they happier?

No, I would ask should we from the standpoint of, are we ready?  Ready to take on the responsibility.  We have a hard enough time with just one sapient species on the planet, and becoming the parent to a new species is a great responsibility - not to be taken lightly.

Once you uplift a species, you can't just kick them out of the garden and say, "good luck out there", expect them to get a 9-to-5 job, and become a productive member of society.  Nor do we want to "improve" a species just to make them smarter pets or slave labor.  We've been down that road before and should have learned better by now.

No, I don't think we are ready to "improve" another species until we can improve ourselves.

[source]
Journal of Neural Engineering
io9: Scientists make monkeys smarter using brain implants
io9: Should we upgrade the intelligence of animals

Pre-AtB Adventure: Ashes to Ashes

Here is a pitch I am making for a group for a Heroes Unlimited/pre-After the Bomb campaign.  I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Campaign Title: Ashes to Ashes

Game System: Heroes Unlimited 2nd Edition

Setting & Synopsis: The year is 2082 and the world is once again seeing the light following nearly half a century of a dark economic turmoil.  Technology and the Bio-Sciences are seen as the catalysts that helped raise society from the ashes and usher in a new golden age of prosperity.  With these advanced tools life spans have increased, the human condition has improved, diseases are nearly a thing of the past, we have created footholds in orbit, on the moon and on Mars, and we have finally been able to bring new forms of life into the world.

But all is not peaceful in the world: there are warlords, corporations, PMCs and rouge states in the world that did not fair as well or rejected the assistance of others during the rough road to recovery, and now strike out at the rest of the world.

You would take on the role as members of a small unaligned PMC that you have built for yourselves.  Who's side you take is up to you.

Life In Space

Back in 1988, the Mutants In Orbit supplement opened up the "Final Frontier" to the After the Bomb setting, and while the thought of living on a space station can, and has been romanticized with visions of Dyson Spheres, Ringworlds, Stanford Torus Rings, and other shaped habitats where we recreate Terran eco-systems to give the illusion that we are still living on Earth.

The problem with this is where do you get all that dirt and rock for the infrastructure, not to mentions all the materials and alloys needed to build the superstructure? You can't take it from Earth, since it's most likely still needed there. Water can be harvested from comets and other areas in the solar system, but fertile arable soil is not a common resource in our solar system.

Still, by the time we need to seriously consider constructing these types of space habitats, we might have the ability to create large quantities of arable soil.

Carousel Space Habitat


Ringworld


Stanford Torus Ring


Stanford Torus Ring (Space Habitat by Uzi Berko)


Eric Bruneton Space Station


Island One Space Station

Are Cyborgs the Future of Humanity?

Is the next step in human evolution cyborgs? Very doubtful, economically speaking it's just a really big stretch. I'd place my money on genetic enhancements trumping cybernetics, though I don't doubt cybernetic enhancements may find a short lived niche, somewhere.

The main drawback of cybernetics would be upkeep and upgrades. At the pace technological evolution is at currently, you have to change your computers and cell phones every few months to keep up with the latest advances. Would you be willing to go in and have your cybernetics upgraded as often?

Imagine the cost.

Also, cybernetic augmentations would not carry over through reproduction. So you'll have to budget each child's cybernetics.

Nanotechnology might simplify the installation and upkeep processes, but it would still be unpleasant and costly.

Biological and genetic engineering is most likely the road humanity will decide to follow if they decide to take control of their evolutionary path. The biggest benefit would be if the changes were such that they could be passed from parent to child. However, there's no saying if the parents upgrades would be compatible or cause some unforeseen mutations in the offspring.

In the end, you have to ask yourself, would it be worth it?

[UPDATE]
This article was originally written in 2009, and since then we haven't seen much public motion in the area of human cybernetic implants - though there are quite a few more wearable computers (smart phones) on the market today; but there are still those who are continuing to play with and develop the technology.

One of the pioneers in this area, Steve Mann (the father of wearable computing), was recently accosted by a group of men in a Parisian McDonalds [link] who took issue with his cybernetically attached "Digital Eye Glass" and tried to physically remove it from his head:

He angrily grabbed my eyeglass, and tried to pull it off my head. The eyeglass is permanently attached and does not come off my skull without special tools.

I tried to calm him down and I showed him the letter from my doctor and the documentation I had brought with me.

Read More at HuffPost.com

Below is a video from 2010 where Steve Mann talks about his EyeTap technology :

City In The Sky

Here's a bit of filler in the vein of the sci-fi megastructures.

Proving that for some, sky is not the limit, the Megatropolis project gathered quite a few interesting ideas, emphasizing on urban life in the future. One of the concepts belongs to architect Tsvetan Toshkov and reveals a futuristic, lotus- inspired city, far above the sky-scrapers man kind is so familiar with: “City in the sky is a concept about a tranquil oasis above the mega developed and polluted city where one can escape from the everyday buzz, smog and dirt. The concept is inspired by the Lotus flower which is known for its ability to emerge above the murky waters pure and clean“. Even though the project did not make it to the final stage, the idea was taken further and presented in a short movie, that we are certain you will find original and intriguing. Have a look and don’t hold back from sharing your reactions regarding this future-city concept.
[Freshome.com]

Floating City's and Crystal Spires have long been sci-fi and fantasy tropes since... well, since forever.

Here we see them brought together in the form of a crystal lotus tower that would most likely spell certain death to those below if the windows blew out or some other form of structural failure caused part of the building to fall on the city below.

Still this would make for a spectacular set piece for an adventure in AtB or just about any other sci-fi game setting.

The Song Of My People

Vulture Bat

This is one of the largest recorded bats found in the Americas.  The few in Academic field that have been able to study these creatures believe them to be a chimeric blend of the Fruit Bat and Black Vulture.

However, the Vulture Bat differs from both of these creatures in the it is not nocturnal and is predatory in nature, preferring fresh kills to carrion.

Size Level: 5 (Wingspan 8 feet)
Weight: 25 pounds
Hit Points: 12
SDC: 25
Psionics: None
Attacks Per Melee: 3
Damage: Claws 3D6+5, Beak 1D6
Bonuses: +4 to strike while flying, +6 to strike while diving, +6 to dodge while flying
Natural Abilities: Raptor Flight, Heat sense, Night Vision, Beastly Strength, Iron Grip (Claws), Advanced Hearing
Average Life Span: Unknown, estimated at 20 years.
Habitat: Found in the southeastern deserts and rocklands of North America
Notes: Unlike most bats, the Vulture Bat does not utilize sonar.

Lantern Bat

The Lantern Bat that seems to have taken a cue from the Anglerfish.  These bats employ a bio-luminescent lure or 'lantern' to attract flying insects and some small birds.  Then, much like a frog, deploys a long tongue to catch it's meal.

Lantern Bats are found continent wide in the Americas and western Africa.

Size Level: 1 (Wing Span 2')
Weight: 1 pound
Hit Points: 6
SDC: 10
Psionics: None
Attacks Per Melee: 2
Damage: Bite 1D4*; Scratch 1 point of damage* (optional: Save vs. disease)
Bonuses: +10 initiative
Natural Abilities: Sonar, Acrobatic Flight, Glide, Hibernation
Average Life Span: Up to 12 years.
Habitat: Temperate to Tropical.  Has been found in the sewers and old subway tunnels in colder climates.
Notes: The Lantern Bat's 'lantern' projects from a growth located on the head of the bat.  The length of this growth on the adult ranges from 1/2 inch (when retracted) to 6 inches (when feeding).  Lantern Bats only use their 'lantern' to lure and feed on flying insects and small birds while hanging from the roof of a cave or from the branch of a tree, all other times the lure is retracted and unlit.
The Lantern Bat's diet also includes small fish, fruits, and flower nectar.

*I don't have any rules on diseases, but you can find some rules in the Yin Sloth Jungles book.

Siren's Casket

The Siren's Casket is a deadly carnivorous plant that grows partially below the ground surface.  It attracts it's meals by emitting a powerful hallucinogenic that most mammals finds irresistible.  When the victim approaches the plant they will slip and fall into it's large pit-like body containing a strong paralytic syrup and digestive fluids.

Siren Casket's are rare plants that grow naturally in wet and swampy lands from the extreme south of the North American continent to the middle of the South American continent and on many of the islands in the Caribbean.

[Stats Pending]

Fluffy Goes To War

Illustration by Seoul concept artist Oh Jihoon.
Some random antho art I found online.  Maybe I should use this as inspiration for an adventure plot.

RUIN [Short Film]

I found this short film and found it rather inspirational for what the ruins of a city in ATB could be like.
[http://www.conceptruin.com/]

[IN THE NEWS] First Chimera Monkeys Born

Researchers in Oregon say they have created the world's first genetically modified monkeys by fusing cells from up to six different embryos, in what could be a big advance for medical research and the rise of an anthropomorphic animal empire.