[gurps] [Vehicle] Tachikoma, rough draft

[DataPacRat]

On 22/08/07, Zan Lynx <zlynx at acm.org> wrote:
> On Wed, 2007-08-22 at 02:03 -0400, DataPacRat wrote:
> > In a PBeM I play, I've managed to have a Tachikoma (
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachikoma ) introduced as a player-run
> > NPC... and started wondering how much such a thing would weigh, how
> > far it could jump, and so on. As it just so happens that I happen to
> > have a building system designed to come up with such details, I tried
> > building one in GVB.
>
> Very cool!
>
> A couple of things I wondered about:
> - It has limited life support.  Is it sealed against gas, etc?  Is it
> NBC safe?

One of the surface features is 'Sealed', which includes being sealed
against gas. I've just thrown in the NBC kit, which isn't too large,
to allow for safe use of contaminated outside air and thus extending
the 6-hour airtank.


> - Is it OK in the water?  How far down can it go before it reaches crush
> depth?

Sealed includes waterproof.

The current version is light enough for its volume to be able to float
on top of water.


> - How about space?  With the sticky legs and the wheels replaced with
> reaction thrusters and some more life support it might make a good
> vehicle for climbing around the outside of ships and stations.

Actually, the sticky legs and cables would still be quite handy for
glomping onto the surface of space stations.


I've just discovered a possible bug in GVB. When I add the wheeled
drivetrain as well as the legged drivetrain to the 'Robot Attributes',
I get a listed Body ST of 35,425, well above the maximum of twice Body
HP.


As it is, I'm having a bit of trouble getting jumping distances
approaching anything shown in the original TV series. Body ST is
limited to twice Body HP, which is mainly a function of surface area
and frame strength, neither of which I can improve. And even with a
Body ST of 768, that only gives a high jump of about 4.4 feet...

... however, I think I have a partial solution: Instead of using
rockets to boost the jump, use the winches and cables. In the anime,
they can fully support a Tachikoma's weight; using the boosted jump
rules, if they effectively negate 95% of the robot's weight, and using
the current ST of 225 and weight of 4375 lbs, that gives us a
"cable-boosted" high jump of 25.7 feet, close enough to the anime for
me.


Thank you for your time,
-- 
DataPacRat         VA3BOS
"You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for
yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain,
and you are responsible for using them." -- Qur'an 17:36, Khalifa
translation.