Ranged SDC weapons suitable for hunting?

[flatline]

So when you're back at the House, there's probably Engineer-designed "cows" that shed hundreds of pounds of meat every day for the feeding of people, war mounts, and host armors.

On the surface, a host armor can run down a deer to feed himself and his buddies.

But what does a human not in host armor use to hunt deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc?

Edit: I did just notice that the Light Cell pistol and rifle have SDC settings. Are these the primary hunting weapons of the setting?

--flatline

[The Galactus Kid]

Wooden and stone weapons, and any resin weapons that the resistance give them.

[Shark_Force]

Wooden and stone weapons, and any resin weapons that the resistance give them.

i would suspect mostly the first two. as far as we can tell, for example, the incan empire didn't exactly make use of metalworking for, well... anything at all. both of the americas seemed to be getting along just fine without metal weapons until the europeans showed up. they had some pretty impressive accomplishments too, especially in south america.

[Premier]

So when you're back at the House, there's probably Engineer-designed "cows" that shed hundreds of pounds of meat every day for the feeding of people, war mounts, and host armors.

On the surface, a host armor can run down a deer to feed himself and his buddies.

But what does a human not in host armor use to hunt deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc?

Edit: I did just notice that the Light Cell pistol and rifle have SDC settings. Are these the primary hunting weapons of the setting?

--flatline

Hunting Weapons I would say would be based on what it is that you are hunting. In some cases you may still require MDC weapons to hunt successfully, let alone avoid your kills from being usurped by some alien predator/scavenger.

You might want to check out this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=115910

I would suggest humans not in Host Armor allow the hunters to hunt and provide for them if at all possible. Even allowing Gorehounds to course quarry may help successful hunts. But as you pointed out some weapons do have sdc weapon settings. There is also Living Body Armor options that might have a nice assortment of weapons for hunting. If not there are handheld weapons available.

I am curious how your analytical skillset would approach hunting Vire Boar (see the link above)?

[The Galactus Kid]

OOOH. And ceramics.

[flatline]

So when you're back at the House, there's probably Engineer-designed "cows" that shed hundreds of pounds of meat every day for the feeding of people, war mounts, and host armors.

On the surface, a host armor can run down a deer to feed himself and his buddies.

But what does a human not in host armor use to hunt deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc?

Edit: I did just notice that the Light Cell pistol and rifle have SDC settings. Are these the primary hunting weapons of the setting?

--flatline

Hunting Weapons I would say would be based on what it is that you are hunting. In some cases you may still require MDC weapons to hunt successfully, let alone avoid your kills from being usurped by some alien predator/scavenger.

You might want to check out this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=115910

I would suggest humans not in Host Armor allow the hunters to hunt and provide for them if at all possible. Even allowing Gorehounds to course quarry may help successful hunts. But as you pointed out some weapons do have sdc weapon settings. There is also Living Body Armor options that might have a nice assortment of weapons for hunting. If not there are handheld weapons available.

I am curious how your analytical skillset would approach hunting Vire Boar (see the link above)?

If splicer technology can create something that grows 100's of pounds of meat daily that just gets shed periodically (seems likely since it can make host armor that regenerates 2D6+3 per melee), then I would totally not hunt the Vire Boar since it's an avoidable risk.

So, assuming I actually need to hunt large game like this to take meat back to the House (this animal is far too big for me to hunt it just to feed myself, my armor, and perhaps my buddies and their armor. For comparison, a single deer will feed 2 or 3 carnivorous armors easily and a host armor can trivially run down a deer at virtually no risk to itself) and the Vire Boar is the only available game...

...I would totally blow it's head off, preferably while airborne. Any ranged weapon that can harm organics would do (no spores, no acid). Area effect weapons (like omega blasters or pod rifles) might harm the meat, so I think I'd lean towards heat cannon, casting weapon, or Light Cell Laser Rifle. Of course, with Called shots taking 2 actions (a rule I totally take issue with), you could actually destroy the main body is less time than the head, but that would probably ruin the meat.

Even in host armor, rather than hunt large game, I would probably prefer to opportunistically pick off squirrels or other small game throughout the day to feed my armor (piece of cake if I've got prehensile tongue or laser rifle/pistol. Trickier if all I have are MD weapons that totally obliterate the small SDC target...maybe a single flying blade?). Running down a deer also works, but covering ground quickly always carries the risk of running into previously undetected Machine minions (like poppler mines).

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

I am curious how your analytical skillset would approach hunting Vire Boar (see the link above)?

personally, vital points: organic. KO that thing 25% of the time, ideally have a few people helping out, all with the skill, to increase your chance to successfully stun as much as possible. or at the very least have a long enough distance to get a few chances to stun it before it reaches you.

assuming of course that the flight option is not available.

on a side note, i don't think shooting the boar with MD weapons would ruin the meat necessarily, any more than shooting a deer with SDC weapons necessarily ruins the meat. i do think you'd need to be a bit more selective in your weapons though; casting cannons or bore cannons, no problem. gore cannon... well, you're basically vomiting bio-e charged goop onto them. i don't think anyone wants "repulsive ... energized slime" on their meat. and of course, the various short-ranged projectile options would do ok as well... if you don't mind getting close to it (for example, if you're flying).

[Premier]

This is why I love Spliceheads so... much! Just reading your posts above makes me chuckle with amazement at how adaptive you guys would play the game.

I wholeheartedly agree that in most cases any game you can bring down with the risk vs reward being low in risk value is wisdom. However, not every mission is going to allow you to hunt quarry and return home. Some missions/sortes may require eating while on the move (away from base/bunkers) and deer may not be always available depending where your at. And if your feeding your team, (especially after a battle against machines or rival Splicers and you need to quickly replenish) then larger quarry may end up being a requirement to sufficiently sustain yourselves.

I like both of your answers and it has given me more food for thought in designing fauna

[flatline]

Premier, as you design bio-tech flora and fauna, I have two requests.

1. make something that blends in with plants native to a region and acts as a bio-comm relay so that units further than 6 miles from each other can still communicate (like a radio repeater, but undetectable and uninterceptable by Machine units).

2. make an enhanced version of #1 that has some minor sentience to allow it to recognize Machine forces so that when splicers query it, it can give an idea of the numbers, types, and frequency that it has seen machine forces.

--flatline

[Premier]

Premier, as you design bio-tech flora and fauna, I have two requests.

1. make something that blends in with plants native to a region and acts as a bio-comm relay so that units further than 6 miles from each other can still communicate (like a radio repeater, but undetectable and uninterceptable by Machine units).

2. make an enhanced version of #1 that has some minor sentience to allow it to recognize Machine forces so that when splicers query it, it can give an idea of the numbers, types, and frequency that it has seen machine forces.

--flatline

Actually Flatine, your first request has actually been designed and published and is official material. It was written by Brandon "Galactus Kid"Aten and appears in Rifter #50 pg. 67 called "Bio-Comm Roots" under the Gardener O.C.C.

"The plant can receive and relay Bio-Comm signals from its own Great House at a a range of 6 miles (9.6 km). Therefore it can receive a signal from six miles out, and relay it to another recipient 6 miles away, allowing the signal to travel 12 miles (19.2 km) total. After the 2nd relay (18 miles/28.8 km), the recipient must make a Bio-Comm skill roll with a -10% penalty to see if the message can be understood. After the third signal relay (24 miles/38.4 km), the penalty is -25%, and -40% after the forth (30 miles/48 km). The signal is unrecognizable if a fifth relay is attempted."

There are an additional 10 plant fortifications that the Gardener O.C.C. can plant & grow that assist a Great House in defending and protecting itself against the Machine and or rival Houses.
There are some goodies in the Rifters for Splicers material that I would highly suggest picking up when you get the chance to heighten the Splicers experience.

[flatline]

Premier, as you design bio-tech flora and fauna, I have two requests.

1. make something that blends in with plants native to a region and acts as a bio-comm relay so that units further than 6 miles from each other can still communicate (like a radio repeater, but undetectable and uninterceptable by Machine units).

2. make an enhanced version of #1 that has some minor sentience to allow it to recognize Machine forces so that when splicers query it, it can give an idea of the numbers, types, and frequency that it has seen machine forces.

--flatline

Actually Flatine, your first request has actually been designed and published and is official material. It was written by Brandon "Galactus Kid"Aten and appears in Rifter #50 pg. 67 called "Bio-Comm Roots" under the Gardener O.C.C.

"The plant can receive and relay Bio-Comm signals from its own Great House at a a range of 6 miles (9.6 km). Therefore it can receive a signal from six miles out, and relay it to another recipient 6 miles away, allowing the signal to travel 12 miles (19.2 km) total. After the 2nd relay (18 miles/28.8 km), the recipient must make a Bio-Comm skill roll with a -10% penalty to see if the message can be understood. After the third signal relay (24 miles/38.4 km), the penalty is -25%, and -40% after the forth (30 miles/48 km). The signal is unrecognizable if a fifth relay is attempted."

There are an additional 10 plant fortifications that the Gardener O.C.C. can plant & grow that assist a Great House in defending and protecting itself against the Machine and or rival Houses.
There are some goodies in the Rifters for Splicers material that I would highly suggest picking up when you get the chance to heighten the Splicers experience.

Excellent!

I may just have to break down and buy the PDF from drivethru.com. I was hoping to get a hardcopy, but Palladium is out and the cheapest on Amazon is $53.

--flatline

[Premier]

Premier, as you design bio-tech flora and fauna, I have two requests.

1. make something that blends in with plants native to a region and acts as a bio-comm relay so that units further than 6 miles from each other can still communicate (like a radio repeater, but undetectable and uninterceptable by Machine units).

2. make an enhanced version of #1 that has some minor sentience to allow it to recognize Machine forces so that when splicers query it, it can give an idea of the numbers, types, and frequency that it has seen machine forces.

--flatline

Actually Flatine, your first request has actually been designed and published and is official material. It was written by Brandon "Galactus Kid"Aten and appears in Rifter #50 pg. 67 called "Bio-Comm Roots" under the Gardener O.C.C.

"The plant can receive and relay Bio-Comm signals from its own Great House at a a range of 6 miles (9.6 km). Therefore it can receive a signal from six miles out, and relay it to another recipient 6 miles away, allowing the signal to travel 12 miles (19.2 km) total. After the 2nd relay (18 miles/28.8 km), the recipient must make a Bio-Comm skill roll with a -10% penalty to see if the message can be understood. After the third signal relay (24 miles/38.4 km), the penalty is -25%, and -40% after the forth (30 miles/48 km). The signal is unrecognizable if a fifth relay is attempted."

There are an additional 10 plant fortifications that the Gardener O.C.C. can plant & grow that assist a Great House in defending and protecting itself against the Machine and or rival Houses.
There are some goodies in the Rifters for Splicers material that I would highly suggest picking up when you get the chance to heighten the Splicers experience.

Excellent!

I may just have to break down and buy the PDF from drivethru.com. I was hoping to get a hardcopy, but Palladium is out and the cheapest on Amazon is $53.

--flatline

WOW! I know we didn't have any to my knowledge at Gen Con and I do believe the issue was sold out, but man... $53 for a hard copy. My guess is because it is sold out and it is the Special 12th Anniversary Issue of Rifters. The PDF should be well worth it for you.

[Premier]

2. make an enhanced version of #1 that has some minor sentience to allow it to recognize Machine forces so that when splicers query it, it can give an idea of the numbers, types, and frequency that it has seen machine forces.

This would make a nice addition to the Gardener's array of plants. A memory lotus of plan that has deep roots to pick up seismic activity and releases a cloud of pollen that upon contact releases chemical pheromones that settle into the surrounding area and give the bio-plant a sort of echolocation of what all has passed through the vicinity. This information can be stored for a Gardener to come by later on and extract into their Host Armor for intel gathering.

However, would the plant only have the most recent activity and only store that information? Gotta have game balance some kind of way. This could be the upside and downside. No need to know about a patrol of machines that passed by a month ago, if only 1-4 have passed by since then. Then again, if a patrol has passed by days ago, and the information is erased/overwritten because some alien predator has just recently passed by, this could get tricky...hmmm... Perhaps the plant can work like a camera trap and capture multiple pollen/chemical images up to a certain reasonable number.

food for thought as usual.

[The Galactus Kid]

I will see if I can dig up an extra copy. I will say that I know that kevin had discussed doing a special printing of that issue. There may be a chance in the future that the Gardener and the plant defenses may be put in one of the new sourcebooks.