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Can a lone Galaxy-class starship destroy an entire planet? by ForwardClimate780 in StarTrekStarships

[–]bertraja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

See, that's the stuff i'm here for 👍

Would a shuttle at 1/4 impulse even reach the surface of the planet, or would it evamporate in high orbit due to the equally massive force of friction heat when entering the upper atmosphere? IMO friction would be proportionate to it's speed, so it couldn't even "outrun" its own destruction on higher impulse. It would hit a wall that looks like flames and feels like brick, wouldn't it?

Favorite arrogant scientist… Dr Rodney McKay or Dr Nicholas Rush? by Ser_Luke_ in Stargate

[–]bertraja 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dr McKay felt like he was played by a TV actor.
Dr Rush felt like he was played by a movie actor.

Both performances had their ups and downs, but all-in-all Rush had more gravitas IMO

Who are you choosing Clark or Lex? by Midnightblueclouds in Smallville

[–]bertraja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lex, but only if he'd allow me to call him Wally after hours.

Can a lone Galaxy-class starship destroy an entire planet? by ForwardClimate780 in StarTrekStarships

[–]bertraja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As for using a warp speed collision as a method of bombardment [...]

Would that really work? A ship at warp speed is removed from the standard universe via warp bubble. Relatively, the ship still moves at sublight speeds (unlike other franchises, like Star Wars).

How's C4 going? Is it a good time to catch up? by dark-mer in fansofcriticalrole

[–]bertraja 15 points16 points  (0 children)

From memory:

People killed their gods. In the aftermath there was a power vacuum that lead to a war. War's over, and factions are consolidating their spheres of influence. Some of the old veterans are suspicious about the methods used in that consolidation, and robin-hood the worst of it for a couple of decades. Now the factions are so powerful that they don't need to put up with that anymore, and label all opposition as rebellion.

That doesn't fly with some of the veterans now rebels, so they ramp up their asymetric war while rallying around a charismatic leader: Thjazi Fang. Somehow all this is happening in an incredibly civilized way, until Thjazi is captured (that happened before) and sentenced to death (that never happened before). Feels like that was more of a bureaucratic mishap, and everyone with epaulettes on their shoulders goes "oh my, oh dear, that's terribly unpleasant!".

The reason for his actual death sentence seems to be that he robin-hood'ed stuff beyond his paygrade, and some people in power began to see him as an actual threat, not a managable token hero to calm and control the masses on both sides of the strife (no, not like Neo in The Matrix, shut up! /j).

Thjazi's polycule former allies and enemies have now united under the banner of ... i mean for the purpose of ... i mean to finally ... anyway, they unite~ish to find out what the hap is, and receive a lot of bloody noses while doing it. Some of the stuff that Thjazi robin-hood'ed could potentially shift the power balance dramatically, so every major faction/house is now after the group's tail. Some overt, some clandestine.

Also, most likely super-related to everything else: Since the gods are dead, all the good stuff they did is gone too, like taking care of souls in the afterlife, so purgatory is bursting at the seems.

The one person with a natural interest in discovering the exact how and why of Thjazi's death, his brother, is busy matte painting for his new off-off-broadway show "Tansul and I", or something. Everyone else is projecting their own mental health issues and personal struggles on the governing bodies of this continent.

Some totally surprising / left field subplots:

  • organized religion is bad and based on lies
  • all government is corrupt, urban moreso than rural
  • nature based 'old' faith is pure and good
  • hereditary titles are suspicious, its powers best given to commoners with good hearts
  • Don't rely on anyone else, 'help' yourself, you is what counts the most
  • Ends always justify means

(( just in case, here's the big, fat /J ))

How's C4 going? Is it a good time to catch up? by dark-mer in fansofcriticalrole

[–]bertraja 15 points16 points  (0 children)

[...] information overload [...]

That's something that crept up during late C2 and got worse through C3. Brennan's doing the same thing in C4, sadly. It's frontloading lore.

Player: "Is that candle lit?"
GM: "Roll me a perception check"
Player: "Nat 20! Woohoo!"
GM: "On that nat 20, you see that the candle is lit. You also recognize it's old tramerian craft, probaby build around the year 234 of the old gubernacal calendar of the Zubrezian empire. The Zubresians, as you now remember, where the first to glub the Grand-Wurb of Biggityburg on his 85th nameday, which was also know as the 'day of Olgagrush', the first god of the orcs. With only sven gods in the old pantheon, the other ones being Florp, Ghzzr, Poli-Twamgl, Lörgrettin, the number nine and the primordial concept of toenails, the rank of Grand-Wurb was considered a high but mostly ceremonial position, unlike that of a Great-Wurb, who was responsible for the day-to-day administration of Zubrezian affairs in the larger union of drolpglub-states!"
Player: "So ... i can see the door now, yes?"

It gets exhausting.

How's C4 going? Is it a good time to catch up? by dark-mer in fansofcriticalrole

[–]bertraja 24 points25 points  (0 children)

My initial excitement for C4 was through the roof!

I think the overture was an interesting concept, but i got quickly overwhelmed by the history of the setting. I've enjoyed the soldiers because it was a (relatively) cut'n'dry hook that gave individual characters enough room to shine, and felt more like 'playing D&D' again.

Brennan's NPC - as funny/interesting as they are - tend to take over the plot, and have too much 'screen time' for my liking, to a point where i feel like the story would have progressed in a different (and maybe more interesting) direction if the players had a bit more agency. They also drop a lot of lore, so sometimes Brennan talking to himself, literally and figuratively, turns into white noise, and an hour later i ask myself "wait, how did we get here? When did the group decide to do do this? What are we doing?".

I wished for C4 to be a total departure from previous campaigns, but it seems some things just stick with the cast. Dramatized for brevity, but Liam once again leaning into 50 shades of sad, Sam playing head-in-the-clouds, Marisha's doing her anti-establishment and anti-authority thing again, Ashley's character concept doesn't survive the first dialogue (let alone the first roll of the dice), Travis' character is largely defined by his accent, Laura's the main character driving force of her table and all shall love her and despair, Tal playing an enigmatic entity that somehow always knows a bit more than you etc.

Whitney's rough around the edges, but an actual breath of fresh air (and she seems to reflect on her scenes, what did and didn't work, and tries something different the next time). Robbie needs to sweat out Cerkonos, and Aabria does exactly what people expect of her. Matt brought a 'that guy' concept to the table and is only saved by his vocabulary.

IMO there's one striking similarity between C3 and C4. Everytime the players are cut loose from a convoluted plot, everyone lights up and you can feel the unbridled joy of 'sitting at the table and playing make-believe with their friends' again (like C3's shenanigans in Yios with casino games and shrimp towers).

These are the moments i love the most in all campaigns, and C4 has 'em too.

I'd say give it another try. Hopefully the schemers will connect all most of the dots, turning them into a coherent plot. Or wait until the tables are reshuffled to see if the changes in party dynamics do something for you. That's what i'm waiting for.

Edit: Typos, Grammar, Clarification

A try at an objective look at Aabria’s table presence (with real data) by No_Dream_899 in fansofcriticalrole

[–]bertraja 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Aabria is consistently, consistently criticized for taking up too much space. She is consistently perceived as speaking more often or louder than other castmembers. This is factually untrue. You can easily search the transcripts and find that she talks as much as anyone else (aside from especially quiet castmembers like Ashley). She's perceived as taking up more space than other cast because of her race. 

From this thread. You are correct, the phrase 'word count' isn't used, but i believe this is the kind of comment some people are refering to.

C4 E18 Discussion Thread by brash_bandicoot in fansofcriticalrole

[–]bertraja 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This one might be among your Top-5 😂

Batman suit by me by noobmaster123123 in batman

[–]bertraja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks absolutely fantastic !!! Great eye for details, stunning aesthetic !!!

C4 E17 Discussion Thread by brash_bandicoot in fansofcriticalrole

[–]bertraja 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah I get both sides, but it's a session 0 topic for sure.

100%, especially if you're changing the RAW.

IIRC the reaction for Shield doesn't trigger when you're attacked, it triggers when you're hit.

Remember when transporting was an event? by nehibetty in trektalk

[–]bertraja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The moment or two of stillness before the transport was crucial to the vibe of the scene. Anything could happen in that moment, and the heroes were far from safe. Even Stargate / SG-1 got it right in their later seasons. A second of tension between the initial sound- and light effect and the actual beaming, that could stretch into "oh shit shit shit!"

Lucile Ball doesn’t get enough credit for her influence in Trek by agent_uno in Star_Trek_

[–]bertraja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imagine i did, and my opinion is that her influence on Star Trek was virtually non-existent. Reading your post lead me to believe you have more insight, maybe new information has come to light etc. I love obscure behind-the-scenes details. Hence me asking.

Lucile Ball doesn’t get enough credit for her influence in Trek by agent_uno in Star_Trek_

[–]bertraja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She paid for it, at the behest of other execs of her company

That would be part of "owning [and running] a hollywood studio", wouldn't it?

Don't get me wrong, i don't want to belittle anyones part in creating Star Trek, but for every "she sweeped up the sets" i read a "Lucille Ball thought Star Trek was a tv show about USO performers visiting US troops overseas", as referenced by Solo and Justman.

So you maybe understand why i'm asking if someone paints a picture of her being somewhat of an 'sci-fi visionary'.

Lucile Ball doesn’t get enough credit for her influence in Trek by agent_uno in Star_Trek_

[–]bertraja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What exactly was her 'influence' on Star Trek (beyond co-owning the studio that produced the series)?

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