I like to help.

It's just like in Star Trek!

>>6766926
What's the time frame for this? Far/Near future? What's the tech-level planet-side?

its been done in a few ways, but I'd love to see some original ideas.

I would in fact play that game. I'll be happy to help.

So, are we looking at backwards Dune, or is interplanetary contact going to be kept to a minimum / nonexistent.

>>6766965
1) Far future. Think Grimpunk Cyberdark, but not to the extent of 40k

2) Throughout the rest of the universe, technology is far enough up that plasma-based weaponry is still heavily in use. Planetside, technology is kept at a low level with a few rare exceptions, mainly having to do with heat extraction from geothermal energy sources.

I don't see where you'd even get food in a place like this, except maybe under the water.

>>6767032
Hydroponics.

Alternatively, underground frost fungus that leeches special elements from the permafrost to help it grow.

>>6766997
I was planning on Planetary Contact being limited to the smugglers or Government ships dropping off convicts.

So yes, >>6766997 has the right idea for the amount of contact. Backwards Dune, except no Fremen; The planet itself has only been populated for a few generations, and nothing like Spice is available.

I'm open to suggestions as to other cool things I can do, as nothing is set in stone right now.

This is your new worst enemy.

Hard mode: it was your son or wife.

>>6767053
If there's so little contact, how did the Geothermal equipment get there in the first place?

Also, Hydroponics sounds like a neat idea.

So... Lost Planet: The RPG?

>>6767086
Hush, you.

How much outside help are the criminals getting? Are there any permanent government bases on the planet, to ensure there are no escapees? Are there regular food/supply shipments? Does the government just occasionally drop a large box of stuff with a note that says "please share" and leave them to it? Or is it, once they're dumped off, they're entirely on their own?

>>6767048 Hydroponics

Outdated. Go with airponics instead.

You know that creature from The Thing?

...IT'S HERE FUCKER

rolled 86 = 86

>>6767086

Beat me to it

>>6767092
So, yeah, Lost Planet, only with a wild west theme.

>>6767032
Cold-adapted crops, like cryotriticale.

>>6767086

Could actually be cool.


>>6767097

Just me but I like that idea of random supply drops from orbit with basic essentials. Could make for some badass missions of racing to get the drop first and haul it away before anyone else can nab it.

My question, what sort of weapons do the PCs have? Are they limited to projectile weapons and blades until they can smuggle in some military issue energy weapons or...

A World where father Lhymic won?

Idea: The initial first generation of convicts and wardens was dropped off/built the first settlement, which I'll call... Heat, for lack of a better name. Heat is the most advanced city, but is absolutely in control of the wardens.

Also, some factions:

Wardens: Either a newly-arrived Warden or a hereditary Warden from one of the initial colonizations waves. They'd be the authority figures within Heat, and the arbiters of justice for whatever government OP has in mind.

Convicts: Exactly what they sound like. Kept in a seperate area from the Wardens; while Wardens have at least some luxuries within their portion of the city (Inner Heat), the Cons eke out a living in Outer Heat.

>>6767140
That does sound like fun, and will probably see entry into the final campaign.

As for weapons, I haven't the foggiest; I was thinking of keeping it somewhere at alternate mid-tech, which means alternate tech that parallels familiar stuff. Things like Flechettes, Gyrojet weaponry, and the like. Then, of course, there'd also be melee weaponry. A club made out of frozen ice as strong as steel would make a potent weapon.

rolled 1, 5, 3 = 9

So Hoth, only worse. Understood.

At those temperatures, and with geothermal being the only reliable source of heat/power, most structures are going to be completely or mostly contained underground. You could have plenty of adventures in the myriad twisting tunnels, hollowed out by auto-miners over generations.

If you're taking the OP pic as an example of the view on this world, there should be a great amount of potential in solar energy.

>>6767150
I like that. The wardens don't even bother to keep people inside Heat. Oh, you want to wander the fuck off into the frozen wasteland? Have fun, we know you'll be back since there's nothing anywhere else.

There's a secret convict city tunneled out of the ice and snow, and they don't know jack shit about it. JOKE'S ON YOU, WARDEN. Its residents live like the citizens of Cascadiopolis in Jay Lake's new short story in the Metatropolis anthology. There are a few large caverns excavated and braced, but much of the city is small, unsupported warrens only big enough to crawl through. A person spends their life bundled up when they aren't sleeping in their nest.

Aww shit yeah. I dunno how much attention I'd be able to devote towards keeping tabs on /tg/ to help with development, but I personally -love- single-biome ice planets that are sparsely populated.

>>6767150
>>6767140
Building off of these, what if there was a "rebellion" in the city called Heat? Maybe some kind of mob boss was sent down planet-side, didn't like not being top-dog anymore, and got some smuggler contacts to A) map out other geothermal hotspots and B) ship the machines for extracting the heat there and set them up. Reason the Wardens haven't discovered is that A) the ones who are aware of the second city's existence can't find it because it's under a layer of ice/rock, or B) most aren't aware of it's existence at all, as most don't care about the fates of the prisoners after they are dropped off.

I'm thinking there should be some kind of sanctioned settlement, more or less in control of the governmental representatives (prison guards or whatever). This gives a nice place for the PC's to take their first baby steps, as well as get us past some problems with smuggling (ships in the area can at least pretend to be resupplying/trading with the local government). As far as non-sanctioned settlements, the governments can be nice and pretend to care (orbital drops with basic essentials and rudimentary technology) or ignore them entirely, forcing all inmates to interact with the Warden(s).

As far as what those not directly supplied by the government have access to, I'd say primitive/relatively primitive technology. Flame/plasma weapons intended to be used as mining tools, blunderbuss -like weapons intended not to kill but to shred protective suits but preserve other valuables the person might be carrying, maybe even repurposed sonic charges that use sound waves to break apart ice.

>>6767194

You know, you have a setting where chainswords are perfectly reasonable now? What better way to cut through the ice than a chainsaw. A few quick modifications and you have a chainsword...

If the world really is mostly convicts and smugglers, totally go the Alien route of cobbled together weaponry and the few "proper" weapons having been smuggled in. The best "real" weapon that's commonly available should be a combat knife. After that, everything improvised. Flamethrowers or heat guns made from the tools dropped to melt ice and make structures. Compressed air cannon? I dunno. If it's a world of convicts I figure that would be cool.

What about transport? Skis to start with and eventually snowmobiles / crawlers? Dogsled with some sort of native animal?

/tg/? Getting shit done when we're being bothered by /v/idya faggots and the kiddies staying up late? Well done!

Wanted to contribute something as well instead of just congratulations, so have smexy russian shewolf!

>>6767280
>>ice planet
>>chainsaw

Make that chainsaw transparent and orange and now we're talkin'.

>>6767307
Shit yeah, nigger.

We could have this be an abandoned mining colony. Some Xenogeologist screwed the pooch when they did their initial survey, and it turns out this planet doesn't really have anything valuable about it. Company sells it to government to cut losses. Government doesn't realize that the abandoned mine shafts that dot the area are filled with dangerous tools. Though far from effective against heavily armed and armored guards like the ones found in Heat, they are sufficient to be stripped apart and remade into something that is more than capable of raiding other convicts in control of other abandoned junk. Explains why a person might leave, and how they could survive on their own/small group.

Will this be connected to Fast Food Mafia? You could make Ben and Jerry the rulers of this place.

But since I'm sure it's not connected...
>>6767335
awwwww yeeeaaaaa
>>6767107
Quick, get me Kurt Russel!

Now, a question, /tg/: What kind of creatures might have been smuggled to this ball of ice/gengineered to be useful and brought here? What kind of creatures might be native? I'd rather not have anything sentient be native here, but I suppose it could be swung.

Also, an idea: about 1/2 of the planet is iced-over ocean; in most places, ice above the oceans is about 700-900 ft thick, though in some places the ice is less than 100 feet (which is relatively thin, compared to the rest of the great Ice sheets). Thoughts?

Mission Idea: Ship crashes, could be a supply ship, could be a random trader passing through. Something unusual. If you want interesting moral choices there are survivors and everyone is racing to this like it's a supply drop. Alternatively this is how the game kicks off. Error in the nav-comp of a transport ship, crashes on an icy hell-world and no one believes the players aren't just convicts. Lets them have some cool starting gear without having to deal with smugglers already.

Hey OP, there have been some decent ideas along these lines discussed in the past. Not saying they shouldn't be discussed further, mind you. But you ought to check sup/tg/, I know some of the better frozen wasteland setting threads have been archived.

>>6767280

Translucent orange chainsaw, fuck yeah

>>6767367
It will not be connected, though it may be linked by genre. I've been getting into steadily darker and darker campaigns with the group and so far they've loved it, so I'm running with it.

>>6767393

Strange chemical ocean, not water at all. It doesn't freeze. Iceburgs are common, in fact there might be colonies on some of the larger ones. "Ocean" has life. Most is poisonous but some is edible. Whale like creatures are the biggest fauna on the planet. Most all life is aquatic.

As for adapted life... Humans have always had a hard-on for Dogs. I'm picturing an even fluffier Tibetan Mastiff. If anyone were to come to this world voluntarily you can bet there's a dog or a cat somewhere around.

As for natives... I'd say something that burrows. Gotta figure out what there are for plants first though. Are there trees? Odd grasses? Just fungus? Figure out what plants there are and what they can support and move up. If you ever read the Ciaphas Cain novel with the Ambulls... I'd want to see something like those but native and thus probably furry.

>>6767403
Orange transparent chainsaw is my patron saint. No joke. I'd have a pair of them put on my family crest if I could.

>>6767400
I usually browse sup/tg/ around this hour, but thought I'd help out anons by starting a setting-brewing thread, since I was fixing up my campaign anyway.

Also, what other kinds of mining equipment/weapons can you think of , /tg/? I've seen chainswords, plasma cutters, combat knives, and flamers, but what else can you use to kill somebody? I myself suggested Flechettes and Gyrojets, which I find are awesome.

>>6767444
Explosives, for sure.

>>6766926
This sounds familiar to Lost Planet in a few ways.
Would the device that Wayne has implanted in his arm make a good MacGuffin?

>>6767393
Giant whale like creatures with massive amounts of blubber; they're rare and tough as shit, but if you can get out you can make a shit load of oil out of the fat and turn a solid profit in whatever economy actually exists on the planet.

>>6767463
What would /tg/ think if I said I've never played Lost Planet, and therefore have no idea what you've referenced?

>>6767444
Maybe some sort of sonic vibration-based tool? Heat pickaxes? Orange transparent drills?

>>6767444

Stolen military hardware. That's your stuff.

Reverse flamethrower? Shoots a liquid that almost instantly freezes solid. Has a thousand and one other uses but can also encase someone in ice. I'd use it to build bridges and chest high walls for cover but... ice. hehe.

More as I think of it.

>>6767444
Flechettes and Gyrojets could be reserved for Wardens, OP, since they're on the higher end of alterna-tech. A leader of Con City might have a weapon using either, but otherwise the Wardens would be the only ones to have them, imo.

>>6767491
That reverse-flamethrower idea made me smile at the possibilities.

Possible thermal plant/ City of Heat?

>>6767483
Vibration-weaponry also sounds like a neat weapon, as does sonic weaponry. Sonic/Vibro might actually be a bit dangerous, really; if you're on thin ice, then using one and hitting the ground or having the vibration/soundwaves travel through the ground might actually crack the ice and send you plummeting down into a crevasse.

>>6767610
>you're on thin ice

I think I see what you did thar.

>>6766926
Slight derailing of the thread, but how's the FFM campaign going for your players?

>>6767475
That you should play it now and weep because it will be pretty much impossible for you to continue with this setting without at least a 50% overlap with Lost Planet.

The macguffin this man is referencing is a device that was invented as the apex of research of one of two opposing groups who had their respective plans for how mankind should live on EDN-III (Ice planet). One advocated terraforming the planet no matter the cost (In their case they intended to detonate every single fossil fuel or geothermal energy source on the planet at once, killing everything on the surface but making the planet habitable again), and the other group created this: A kind of cyborg arm attachment for people that allows efficient gathering and conversion of thermal energy sources, even granting regeneration abilities if neccessary, albeit at the cost of a great deal of thermal energy. Users of it could survive being frozen solid for DECADES. Basically it was a tool that would allow mankind to survive in harmony with EDN-III's environment. He also made his son's version of it the key to activating the extra features on a mech which at the time it was built, would have been a GODLIKE weapon in comparison to the tech of the time, although 40 years later the cutting edge of technology had begun to catch up to it.

Make the primary source of power wind?

>>6767667
The first reasons sounds a bit far-fetched, to be honest, as the combined heat energy from that much detonation would most likely either destroy the planet or make in unihabitable for many decades, possibly centuries.

The second idea sounds semi-plausible, but again, a tad too far-fetched. As a Warden-tech Survival item I can envision it being a standard loadout for Wardens leaving Inner Heat; in Outer Heat, however, it would be a coveted prize, and would be extremely rare, although not completely unattainable. Which could, I suppose, make a macguffin that the PCs need to collect for somebody as a quest... which means it actually has some use now, in my mind's eye.

>>6767683
Wind power, while a novel idea, would probably be unreasonably expensive; the cost of maintenance for them, while generally low in comparison to other tech, becomes exponentially high due to the fact that the near-constant sub-zero temperatures would render anything NOT running or processing heat either freeze solid or become so brittle that it might break apart. As candidates for that, I'm looking at the wheelhouse and the actual blades of the wind turbines, though other areas might also break if subjected to enough pressure from surrounding ice.

>>6767653
It's going quite well. The PCs are in the employ of the King, and are currently infiltrating Panda Cherng's operation, with some help from Wendy.

No mention of Arx Fatalis? Fuck you guys.

>>6766926
>the wind howling across the icy plains

Yeah... I'm thinking wind power is viable so you can just use that. Probably supplement it with the geothermal too by digging a tap down.

>>6767774

Not really. A wind turbine is not a complex machine and its resilience to the environment would depend on what it is made of.

Other than completely ripping off the Icerigger series by Alan Dean Foster, let me see...
Barbarians exist for a few simple reasons: ice is a great insulator. Bodies make a lot of heat. tl;dr: Slaves are not just a labor resource, they are heat generators that furnish food (cannibalism and perhaps some fungal agriculture from decomposition and waste products) and new tribal members (lolrape).

>>6767839
Plus its motion must generate a fair bit of heat.

>>6767730
There were severe drawbacks for both really. The prior method would kill everything on the planet, native life and human alike, hence the plan was to evacuate their faction up to the station at the top of the planets space elevator, and go into cryosleep for 200 years while automated systems periodically fired drop pods full of planet life and various other creatures neccessary to build a biome. Naturally the free living snow pirates and the like were not very pleased with this plan.

The latter had the problem that each one of these things was incredibly advanced tech and hence a huge investment to create. There weren't even enough for most of Holden's faction to have one, let alone enough to pass them off to outsiders and hence create the utopian survivalist society that the device's creator envisaged. Also, not to mention the fact that the devices had a nasty tendency to give their host amnesia if it was pushed to its limits, like the aformentioned "Frozen solid inside a mech cockpit for 4 decades" scenario.

>>6767819
A viable point. I'll probably keep wrangling with the problem, see if I can't come up with a solution that either negates the use of Wind Power or makes it extremely untenable

>>6767774

I really don't see machine failure being any more of a problem that it usually would be. Sure, if we made a wind turbine out of the same stuff we use on Earth and put it in sub-zero temperatures it would go wrong, but we'd obviously avoid that by using different materials. The same materials that the whole colony would likely have to be built from.

>>6767872
Sorry, meant to say either negate it or make it TENABLE. I was thinking too negatively :/

Depending on how savage you want the setting to be, turbines COULD be made from other materials like say, the bones of some of the larger native creatures.

>>6767774

Machines don't just freeze solid. They're not sacks made of mostly water like us and don't really have anything to freeze. Any machines which produce waste heat that must be managed will actually perform better the colder it is.

You also wouldn't build a wind turbine meant for a sub-zero environment out of materials that become unstable in a sub-zero environment. Hell, not even the lubricants are a weak point because we have cold-tolerant materials for that too.

Cold icy planets are especially fantastic for fusion and industry if you're at that tech level.

>>6768083
I was using what little pseudo-technical knowledge I have, so thanks for clearing that up. Shoulda remembered more about Thermodynamics, instead of trying to get rid of Wind power. Thank you.

Also, I liked the aesthetic of having Geothermal being the main powersource, which is why I didn't glance at Fusion power. But I had a thought: Fusion for the Wardens, to maintain their heated paradise behind the walls of Inner Heat, with the convicts of Outer Heat relying on whatever they can scrounge to tap into Geothermal Power?

>>6768230

Now that you mention it, fusion could be a pretty good idea. A cold planet could have an abundance of liquid helium, which would be great fuel.

>>6768230

Whats wrong with wind power?

Its cheaper and easier than geothermal with less chance of OHGODEVERYTHINGSGOINGWRONG!

For geothermal you have to drill down to somewhere with the heat you need. Thats time consuming and expensives. It also needs lots of water (yeah plenty of frozen water around. Heat it how?)

>>6768230

Geothermal is lower tech, so that works for the have-nots. It's also more consistent than wind power (which is even lower tech), so it makes some sense that settlements would want to tap into it even if they have operational wind turbines.

Wind turbines may even be the first step towards geothermal, since they'll need a sizable amount of power to dig down and set up such an endeavor.

>>6768249

There's "Antarctica in winter" cold, and then there's "Holy shit the atmosphere is a liquid" cold.

One you can imagine a civilization barely scraping by in but the other? You're pretty much SOL unless you want to play a race hyper complicated electromagnetic fields that can only exist in superconducting conditions.

>>6768249
Not my idea, but thanks for thinking it's cool. Idea credit goes to the nameless >>6768083

>>6768265
I was planning on handwaving the mechanics and inherent difficulty behind Geothermal energy as being A) the future and B) being pretty cool, so the players would be distracted by the scenery instead of wondering how it worked. However, you do make a valid point.

Before we go further with energy options, what kind of weather do you invision, aside from the bit of flavor text I said in the first post?

>>6768352
Fairly homogenous. It seems like it would be too cold to support the atmosphere needed for a snowstorm to form most of the time.

On the other hand, the stray heat radiated from settlements and the like would probably mean that any kind of human settlement has a localised weather pattern making the general area they are located in discernable long before any sign of habitation is located.

Very windy in general, but the breeze tends not to carry much with it other than MIGRATING ICEBATS or whatever native life you choose to have.

I was thinking you could also have humans modified to survive under these conditions. (Experiment? Very badly failed settlement attempt?) Like LeGuin's Gethenians, genetically altered humans with natural anti-freeze in their blood, and bodily fluids, compact, tribal types who live rather more like the Inuit instead of burrowing.

They can't live very long in a warm environment, but will raid settlements and travelers for tools and equipment, and the city dwellers can't get rid of them because a) the cost of a military campaign on the ice would be prohibitive and b) they just have play keep away until the soldiers hunting them freeze to death. At which point they will take their stuff and eat the corpses.

>>6768352
>weather

For starters you have the howling wind across snow plains, rolling through mountains, avalanches, frequent snowstorms, hoarfrost and all that good stuff.

Now throw in rare cold fronts that pass through areas periodically.

A cold front on a cold planet?

Yeah, think less "cold" and more "the air just condensed into liquid". Striking like sandstorms in a desert, these fronts force you to either find heated shelter or have adequate environmental protection until it passes and the liquefied gasses re-evaporate.

The cold fronts could originate from the poles, which are perpetually in this state. Going to the poles would require environmentally sealed vehicles and suits, which gives you another setting on the same planet that is uniquely dangerous.

>>6768512
That would give the planet a very interesting topography. It would likely have oceans only at the poles as the rest of the world is simultaneously too cold for liquid water and too warm for liquid air.

Thread has been archived.

http://www.suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/6766926/

>>6768512
Or as a less severe alternative, you just get rain occasionally. Cloud formations made of liquefied gasses rather than water. The rain would evaporate back into gas soon after reaching the warmer surface, but it's definitely not something you want to get caught in.

Yeah, that sounds like it would add to the alien nature of the world. A frozen world where it never actually snows (too cold to support water moisture in the air), so it stays on the ground like dirt does on earth (snowstorms probably happen like dust storms do on earth)... and it instead rains liquid nitrogen and oxygen.

>>6766926
lost planet? minus bugs?

>>6768512

You might have the planet with a very slow rotation though, where the night side cools off to the point where everything liquefies, the storms near the terminator where things start to warm up, or even getting seasonal flash floods of liquid nitrogen should geography allow it, would be the really dangerous bit.