Outcast Quest [Updated 10/10/18 - Turn 14]

[dragoongfa]

What happened with the points?

Anyway as to the choices and my suggestions.

Military:

[X] Militia Training. The Children's creche can wait until after some children have been born.

Diplomacy:

[X] Debate Moderator

Important with the elections slowly approaching.

Stewardship

[X] Mine Expansion
[X] Yeast

Going for RU and Yeast for the Protein. Next turn I plan to suggest Stabilisation Thrusters according the Head Plan to which no one has given any input yet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Learning:

[X] Over Yonder

Fenrir is within the house but if it was something nasty it would have happened already. The sounds though, I don't like them at all.

Personal:

[X] Setting Ensign Kelly to Rest

Important for crew morale, to be followed by the promotion.

[joestej]

Crap, I think I confused a few things in my distracted state. Lemme fix it.

{Edit}

There fixed it. Thanks for pointing that out.

{Edit 2}

Oh, and a note. You can improve the diplomacy chance with the Loroi by actually bothering to learn their language for a change.

Curse me and my inquisitive mind! We could have gotten some free construction!

[Razor One]

I would have retconned it later if not now, and if I caught it way later I would've probably thrown more difficult things at you out of petty spite.

Regarding points, this is what won:

[2] Martial
[2] Diplomacy
[0] Stewardship
[1] Intrigue
[0] Learning

I'll add them once I've gotten some sleep under my belt since it's apparent that I've got my head in the clouds at the moment.

[anamiac]

I agree with everything dragoongfa posted except the stewardship. I would do:
6. mine Exp + agricultural complex expansion
7. Mine Exp + yeast
8. Clinic + yeast

Now that we've started crop diversification, we've got a major negative food income that we have to rectify fast. Since Agricultural complexes take more resources than yeast, we're going to need to build another mine. I think that stability thrusters can wait, we already have Altitude thrusters. The spreadsheet dragoon posted doesn't have us getting off rationing ever, Since we have over 500 colonists (and more on the way), and with two agri centers and Yeast we only produce 500 food. I think we're going to find that our people are more productive and smarter when they're eating 3 meals a day instead of two.

Military:
[X] Militia Training.
Diplomacy:
[X] Debate Moderator
Stewardship
[X] Mine Expansion
[X] Agricultural Complex Expansion
Learning:
[X] Over Yonder
Personal:
[X] Setting Ensign Kelly to Rest

[Siber]

I disagree on the creche. If I'm not mistaken we'll be having the first births on turn 9, and it's turn 6, and the militia takes 3 turns. So we'd have a month with children around and no creche. It's not massive exposure, but I'd rather delay the militia a month than take the chance, on principle more than practicality.

Research is a frustrating thing. with average rolls both over there and over yonder are two month affairs, and I'd love to finish up trade but average rolls on that is something like five months out. :[

[dragoongfa]

The children will be born in round 9 and the creche will be finished in turn 10. If SHTF happens in turn 9 then having militia finished at that turn is the safest approach.

[dragoongfa]

I agree with everything dragoongfa posted except the stewardship. I would do:
6. mine Exp + agricultural complex expansion
7. Mine Exp + yeast
8. Clinic + yeast

Now that we've started crop diversification, we've got a major negative food income that we have to rectify fast. Since Agricultural complexes take more resources than yeast, we're going to need to build another mine. I think that stability thrusters can wait, we already have Altitude thrusters. The spreadsheet dragoon posted doesn't have us getting off rationing ever, Since we have over 500 colonists (and more on the way), and with two agri centers and Yeast we only produce 500 food. I think we're going to find that our people are more productive and smarter when they're eating 3 meals a day instead of two.

The moment Yeast is produced we will jump from 250 meals to 500 and thus we will be able to remove food restrictions. With three meals a day taking 539 out of the equation that will mean a deficit of 39 happening in turn 9. Which means that 314/39 = 8 turns with a deficit if we go full three meals at turn 9 when Yeast will begin producing. Full food production will begin in turn 16 which allows us to eat through the reserves until then if we start from turn 9. If we build agri complex its production will still be halved for diversification and thus the average of food input will be around 400 meals a month.

Even after birth the babies should be breast fed for at least 6 months to an year which shouldn't bring us an increase in food consumption until then.

[joestej]

The children will be born in round 9 and the creche will be finished in turn 10. If SHTF happens in turn 9 then having militia finished at that turn is the safest approach.

Hmm. Could go both ways on that. On the one hand if things go wrong having a militia around would minimize the total damage to the colony, which is probably more important than protecting our very first batch of infants at this point. Still, recall the reward text for the Creche:

"Children guaranteed protection during boarding actions. Parents rest easy. Colonel rests easy."

The Colonel (and colonists) will probably insist that we divert militia or marine forces to protect the infants if they aren't already safe. With the Creche we'll be able to leverage our full forces wherever they're needed, rather than have a fragile and relatively static group that will need constant protection. A militia would probably still provide more defensive benefits, but not by much.

Personally, since I doubt the colony will be at risk for boarding in the next few turns, I say go for the Creche first. The good will that will generate seems like it would make up for the temporarily reduced security.

I agree with everything dragoongfa posted except the stewardship. I would do:
6. mine Exp + agricultural complex expansion
7. Mine Exp + yeast
8. Clinic + yeast

Now that we've started crop diversification, we've got a major negative food income that we have to rectify fast. Since Agricultural complexes take more resources than yeast, we're going to need to build another mine. I think that stability thrusters can wait, we already have Altitude thrusters. The spreadsheet dragoon posted doesn't have us getting off rationing ever, Since we have over 500 colonists (and more on the way), and with two agri centers and Yeast we only produce 500 food. I think we're going to find that our people are more productive and smarter when they're eating 3 meals a day instead of two.

The moment Yeast is produced we will jump from 250 meals to 500 and thus we will be able to remove food restrictions. With three meals a day taking 539 out of the equation that will mean a deficit of 39 happening in turn 9. Which means that 314/39 = 8 turns with a deficit if we go full three meals at turn 9 when Yeast will begin producing. Full food production will begin in turn 16 which allows us to eat through the reserves until then if we start from turn 9. If we build agri complex its production will still be halved for diversification and thus the average of food input will be around 400 meals a month.

Even after birth the babies should be breast fed for at least 6 months to an year which shouldn't bring us an increase in food consumption until then.

It could also be argued that the mothers will need increased food to support their health and their children's health, resulting in increased ration consumption right away. Obviously that would still be less than another grown adult would be eating, but there's a point where realism must be abstracted just to keep us from having to track exactly how many children are what age. Razor, verdict on this one?

[dragoongfa]

...

Please don't make me redo the numbers

[Razor One]

Expecting mothers are pretty much on full rations for the good of their children and their health, since pregnancy is incredibly demanding. This doesn't affect the equation, since husbands (or those responsible at least ) and supportive friends are pitching in their meals to make up the difference.

Children will be considered to use up a full food unit regardless of age. This is for both simplicity and sanity. They won't be considered a part of your work force until they hit the age of majority though, which is way, way, way off. Unless you decide to lower the age of majority. Have fun justifying that to their parents outside of a dire situation though.

Right now, I'm tracking pregnancies by rolling a 1d20 each turn. Those numbers will be pregnant women and thus what gets added to your pop every 12 turns. The women that fell pregnant will be removed from the potential pool for two years following delivery, then they'll get re-added. As I understand it, this is the natural rate of pregnancy for breastfeeding women; one child every two years, as opposed to when babies are put on formula, where it's one per year.

There is a bit of abstraction there, but I either abstract it or wind up going insane from yet more bookkeeping on population simulations.

If you take actions that increase your population to a certain point, I'll abstract it further by slapping on a simple growth rate as a percentage of population per year.

As far as the luck on your rolls go, you've actually done really well. You tend to roll higher than would seem statistically plausible and you've only critfailed a very small handful of times at best. It's honestly beginning to irritate me a little.

[dragoongfa]

Damn...

I will have to redo the numbers again...



In any case, it looks like we will have to build an extra agri center down the line to count in the population growth. As things stand now the Yeast gives more food for RU and with an Extra agri center we are going to have a surplus even before the food diversification is finished.

I will work on the spread sheet later though.

[Razor One]

The kids will only get added on Turns 12, 24, 36, etc. etc. Anyone born before then eats for free, and those not technically grub from your food supply before they're born. On balance this should work out in the same fashion that rounding works for five cent coins. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

[dragoongfa]

As I am transferring my fan fic from the manuscript I just realized something that may piss Razor off.

If what makes the noise on Fenrir is some short of beacon then we will have to do a few things.

First, move the beacon to an other asteroid group. Then move our asteroid group somewhere else before we open a mine on Fenrir to cover where the beacon was.

I think that we may need the stabilisation thrusters ASAP. And if someone like the Hadrekak comes asking then we shrug like we know nothing.

EDIT: In any case, the stabilisation thrusters allow us two crucial abilities:

1st: The possibility to completely avoid a collision with an incoming asteroid.

2nd: We can keep our home moving within the Briar patch in case someone discovers our current position.

[Razor One]

Why would that piss me off? It's as valid a plan as any.

So far you've passed all the checks for asteroid collision and crop failure. You pretty much need to roll a natural one each turn to get them and you haven't as yet.

[joestej]

As I am transferring my fan fic from the manuscript I just realized something that may piss Razor off.

If what makes the noise on Fenrir is some short of beacon then we will have to do a few things.

First, move the beacon to an other asteroid group. Then move our asteroid group somewhere else before we open a mine on Fenrir to cover where the beacon was.

I think that we may need the stabilisation thrusters ASAP. And if someone like the Hadrekak comes asking then we shrug like we know nothing.

EDIT: In any case, the stabilisation thrusters allow us two crucial abilities:

1st: The possibility to completely avoid a collision with an incoming asteroid.

2nd: We can keep our home moving within the Briar patch in case someone discovers our current position.

I'm more liking the idea of disabling the beacon (if there is one) than moving it. If its a marker designed to allow research vessels or mining ships to home in on that particular asteroid, the previous owners are going to want words with us for stealing their claim. If its a navigational beacon (like a high-tech lighthouse), screwing with it is going to result in some angry aliens wondering who turned out the lights. And if it's somehow a monitoring device strong enough to punch a signal through the Briars, we've got REAL problems.

In all cases, tampering with it will be noticed. But while an inactive beacon could be the result of many things (equipment malfunction, asteroid impact, etc) a beacon that's been moved suggests only one thing: intelligent intervention. They WILL come looking for us, and moving our base will be much less effective against someone actively searching for such tricks.

Once we've been found, claiming ignorance will work best if we disabled the beacon: "Don't look a us, it was broken when we found it!" That excuse is somewhat unlikely, but still plausible. It is significantly less plausible that someone else picked up their beacon, moved it, and cleared out almost exactly when we showed up. We have to assume that Occam's Razor will apply to alien logic as well: don't go looking for a mystery race with unknowable motives when there's another race with really obvious reasons for screwing with your beacon right in front of you.

Constantly moving within the Briar Patch seems like a bad idea. Those thrusters will still require fuel to run, and shifting a mountain is not easy. We should probably only move if we have reason to believe someone knows where we originally were, or if we need to avoid some form of danger.

Why would that piss me off? It's as valid a plan as any.

So far you've passed all the checks for asteroid collision and crop failure. You pretty much need to roll a natural one each turn to get them and you haven't as yet.

Glad to know the odds of deadly collision are so low. I'd still like to get those thrusters up eventually (we've rolled ones before!), but with the naturally low chances of collision and the fact that we've already got Altitude Thrusters, I'd say Stabilization Thrusters aren't probably going to be something we'll need for the next few turns. Of course, now that I've said that we are almost guaranteed to roll a 1 next turn. You'd think I'd know better than to say stuff like that out loud...

[dragoongfa]

The atmosphere will provide the necessary fuel for movement since the thrusters are described as 'air breathing'.

We don't know if its a beacon at the first place, however I am extremely anxious in the case of it belonging to someone who isn't nice. If it is a beacon and it works with sound (since the light second limit is universal) then the one who put it there knows how to move around the Briar patch and realizes that sound is the best way to home in on stuff.

Moving it and making it look like some Urkuk did it while looking for loot will provide a plausible explanation if someone comes asking, especially if we say that we moved the asteroid to keep wandering Urkuk off our backs.

In short, if someone comes asking, blame the snooties.

[joestej]

The atmosphere will provide the necessary fuel for movement since the thrusters are described as 'air breathing'.

We don't know if its a beacon at the first place, however I am extremely anxious in the case of it belonging to someone who isn't nice. If it is a beacon and it works with sound (since the light second limit is universal) then the one who put it there knows how to move around the Briar patch and realizes that sound is the best way to home in on stuff.

Moving it and making it look like some Urkuk did it while looking for loot will provide a plausible explanation if someone comes asking, especially if we say that we moved the asteroid to keep wandering Urkuk off our backs.

In short, if someone comes asking, blame the snooties.

Even if they require no extra fuel to run, the energy to move the asteroid has to come from somewhere. If we start using the thrusters non-stop, it stands to reason that we can expect to see SOME sort of penalty. Besides, thruster emission is traceable, and stealth is our biggest advantage right now. Constantly blasting off huge engines will either stir up the currents or give us away in some other fashion. Remember, as far as anyone else knows there's nothing here but dead rock. We should try to maintain that illusion for as long as possible.

Sound does obviously carry farther than other methods of detection in the Patch, which lends some weight to the beacon idea. Still, if this beacon is supposed to reach for millions of kilometers like whatever is Over Yonder, I think it would be a heck of a lot louder.

After doing some research into infrasound, I found this:

Infrasound can be generated by human processes such as sonic booms and explosions (both chemical and nuclear), or by machinery such as diesel engines, wind turbines and specially designed mechanical transducers (industrial vibration tables).

I suspect this isn't a beacon at all, but a mine, turbine, or other construct left behind by another faction.

But if it is, why would the Urkuk MOVE a beacon? They'd smash it, sell it, or tear it apart trying to figure it out, but leaving it intact and moving it to another asteroid is a level of subtle that seems out of character for them. Even if it wasn't, there's no benefit for them to just move it instead of destroying or stealing it.

EDIT: Did more sound research and reread some of the existing descriptions, revised opinion of sonic tracking.

[alpha]

Lost planned post because Safari is bad.

Link to Character Spreadsheet:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Sort data using filter views in Data->Filter Views.

What role should we take?

Actually, what role should everyone take?

Lt. Cole is an obvious choice for director of trade, and can focus on either stewardship or intrigue.
Dr. Campos and Engineer(?) Volkova are obvious choices for researchers, and should probably focus on Learning.
Ensign (soon to be Lt.) Izumi is obviously going to be our ambassador / language instructor. She should probably focus on Diplomacy and Learning.
Cdr. O'Malley is our future naval commander if we choose to take another role. She should probably focus on Martial.
Col. Pierce is our marine commander, and should probably focus on Martial.

Also, action suggestions:

Military:
[X] Militia Training
Nothing better to do. The other options can wait. Also, we might get more options (machine shop/hidden options added by GM).

Diplomacy:
[] Opening Relations
Not with those odds. Let's learn more Loroi Trade first to improve our chances.
[] Debate Moderator
[X] Common Folk
I think we should do common folk first, so that we can figure out what they want, and how we can make them happier (Healthier, if this is Beyond Earth).

Stewardship:
[X] Mine Expansion
More RU!

[X] Agricultural Complex Expansion
[] Yeast
We have a deficit of 138 after the diversification. Our current food supply will last for 4 turns.
The Agricultural Complex Expansion will bring up our food production to 375 or 500, depending on Razor, which will stop the deficit until the diversification ends. Then, we can diversify the expansion .
Yeast has the advantage of being a guaranteed 250 food without reduction due to diversification, but it can wait until later.

Learning:
[X] Over Yonder
[] Over There
[] Loroi Trade

Eh. Why not.

Personal:
[X] Setting Ensign Kelly to Rest
Next turn, we promote Ensign Izumi.

[Absalom]

Diplomacy:

[X] Debate Moderator

Important with the elections slowly approaching.

For the choice after this, I would suggest Common People before Opening Relations, on the chance that a sticking point will be noticed in the process.

Stewardship

[X] Mine Expansion
[X] Yeast

Going for RU and Yeast for the Protein. Next turn I plan to suggest Stabilisation Thrusters according the Head Plan to which no one has given any input yet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

I thought Razor said the first births would be turn 12, why does food consumption spike in turn 10? If this isn't an artifact, then I would strongly suggest another Ag Expansion soon.

Learning:

[X] Over Yonder

Fenrir is within the house but if it was something nasty it would have happened already. The sounds though, I don't like them at all.

It's still a point of curiosity, though. Still, I doubt that a Nafen or Hadrekak (or any, really) "intruder detector" would make beeping noises, on account of the intruders hiding the evidence while you aren't watching by carefully accelerating a small but existing meteorite to sufficient speeds to obliterate it, so unless it's a homing beacon for a long-lost wreck, it's probably some sort of subtle geyser.

Though I suppose it could be a secret Nafen colony, or "Tacoma Narrows in SPAAACE!!!!!", both of which could be very bad.

[dragoongfa]

Turn 9 marks the possibility of lifting the food restrictions at that turn. If the restrictions are lifted in turn 10 then we won't have to build an other agri center despite the increases after the first births.

Gonna have to rework on it soon anyway.

EDIT: Reworked the food, if we lift the food restrictions a turn after Yeast is ready then we shouldn't have any problem at all with food unless 100 children have been born.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

BTW: How many children will there be in turn 12 Razor?

EDIT: Razor? How about that survey?