Daniel Lepage on 6 Apr 2003 22:56:01 -0000


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Re: [spoon-discuss] Races 1: Mass 


On Saturday, April 5, 2003, at 03:11  PM, Orc In A Spacesuit wrote:
All right, here's the revisions to the way things are carried, giving everything a mass, and those who can carry a carrying capacity. It's written as if it were modifying the current ruleset, but it shouldn't be too hard to adjust for whatever proposals pass. 

I don't propose the following, as this is only for discussion:
{{__Carryable Objects and Mass__
In this proposal, the delimiters "{-{" and "}-}" are used to group multiple changes to a single rule. 

Create the following rule:
{{__Mass__
All carryable objects have the attribute Mass, which is a number. The default Mass is 5.
If an entity holds objects whose combined Mass are greater than 10 times eir Strength, e gets -X Speed, where X is the difference in 10 times eir Strength and the combined Mass of the objects. If an entity holds objects whose combied Mass is at least 20 times eir Strength, e may not board or disembark from an Airspeeder, catch or pick up any object, purchase any object that is moved into eir inventory upon purchasing, or enter the Grid. No entity may pick up, catch, Force Catch, Force Pull, Force Intercept or purchase any object if it would result in the entity holding objects with a combined mass greater than 25 times eir Strength. The previous two sentences takes precedence over any rule that permits any of those actions. 

What if an entity holds objects, but has no defined strength?
Each Airspeeder has the attribute Maximum Load. If the total Mass of all objects within the Airspeeder, including objects held by players, then Airspeeder may not move. The previous sentence takes precedence over all rules that permit an Airspeeder to move. The default Maximum Load of an Airspeeder is 1000. [[Perhaps upgrades could improve this, and maybe upgrades could also weigh it down]].
I suppose under C++, at least, this would mean "if the total Mass of all objects within the Airspeeder, including objects held by players, is nonzero, then Airspeeder may not move." I rather suspect that's not the intent; if it is, then say it clearly.
Gnomes in Gnome Bags have 0 Mass. This supercedes other effects that modify or dictate the mass of Gnomes in Gnome Bags.
Why bother with Gnome Bags at all? Is there any reason why anyone would ever want to take eir Gnomes out of eir Gnome Bag?
Following is a list of Base Masses for different kinds of objects. An object's Mass is equal to this Base Mass plus the Mass of all objects that it contains, carries, or possesses. The default Base Mass is 5.
Note that this coming list lists Masses for objects that are nowhere defined to have Mass as an attribute - you declared that carryable objects have Mass, but nothing else. 


Any object with a Constitution: 10 times its Constitution
Any beverage: 1
Sledge-O-Matic: 40
Shield: 20
Ball of Wax: 2
Ball of Earwax: 2
Shears: 4
Sponge: 2 (Dry)
Sponge: 8 (Wet)
Towel: 3 (Dry)
Towel: 10 (Wet)
Athame: 15
Big Stick: 20
Pinball Gun: 15
Small Lump of Scrap Metal: 25
Large Lump of Scrap Metal: 70
Gnome: 10 [[Those in bags count as 0, see above]]
Football: 2
Bonus Box: 5
Ring: 1
Bread: 2
Olive: 1
Beer Can: 1
Airspeeder: 1000 (without upgrades)
Big Rock: 10000 (without Siren)
Siren: 100
Ancient Monolith: 10000
Siren Bait: 10
Army: 10000
Improvements: 5000
The Improbable: 5000
Can of Whoopass: 5
Toad: 4
Service Mall: 10000 (includes components)
The Casino: 30000
The Tower of Babel: 30000
Temples: 20000
Hand: 3
Olive Trees: 150
Barney: 1000
Petunia: 10
If an object contains or carries any other object(s), the Mass of the carried or possessed object(s) is added to the Mass of the object that contains or possesses them. (So a 100-Mass Human with a 20-Mass Shield would count as 120 Mass. And if that 120-Mass Human enters a 1000-Mass Airspeeder, that Airspeeder would count as 1120 Mass.) 
}}

In Rule 301/32, __The Grid__:
{-{
In section B.3, replace the first and third instances of "player" with "Player, a Gremlin, or the Yeti", and the second, fourth, and fifth instances of player with "object". [[Inventories aren't just for players anymore.]] Change "a" to "an" as necessary for proper grammar. In addition, add the following to that section: {{Possessing a carryable object is the same as containing a carryable object.}} 

Why only Players, Gremlins, and Yetis?
In section B.4, change the first instance of "player" to "Player, Gremlin, Robot, or the Yeti". Change the third paragraph to "If the square thrown at contains a Player, a Gremlin, Robot, or the Yeti, e may Catch the thrown object. E may declare this catching any time while the object is Airborne. When an object is Caught, it enters the Catcher's possession." 
}-}


We have no Robots, AFAIK...


[[End changes to Rule 301, __The Grid__]]

}}
Whew, after listing all those objects, and seeing where there are lists of objects in lots of places, I'm seriously thinking of doing a Less is More in the form of a massive table.
A table would be helpful... I really don't like the idea of having dozens of rules each containing lists of one attribute for each object... It's irritating, if I want to find the properties of, say, a Big Stick, to have to check one list for its Resource Value, one for its BNS Value, one for its Mass, one for its Color, etc.
Oh, and Petunias: They don't currently exist, but as part of Movement, I made a change to how the IDD worked. I believe it's in the 3rd Hitchhiker's Guide book that the IDD summoned a Petuinia.
What about Rains of Whale Guts? And I'd be wary of making references in one prop to objects that only exist in another; if either gets shelved/vetoed/Flawed/whatever while the other passes, we're going to end up either with stats for nonexistent objects, or objects without stats; neither is particularly recommendable. 

--
Wonko

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