NOT TYRANIDS == seeking input on hypertechnology for a story

[OhGodItsHimRun]

I am working on trying to write a story that has nothing at all to do with Tyranids. But the current step of the process is tangentially related to WH40K, so I figured I'd ask for input from people who know 40K better than I do.

The story is a rather bizarre reinterpretation of Norse mythology, utilizing a variant on the "ancient alien astronauts get worshiped as gods by primitive earthlings" device, but with more temporal shenanigans due to asymmetrical chronal procession between different worlds in the multiverse (so that the art of Prophecy isn't actually viewing the future, rather checking out the history of a world that's ahead of the one you're in, but has a past identical to your present). And while the sorcerous capabilities of the Vanir will be proper sorcery in my story, I am planning the miraculous capabilities of the Aesir to have hypertechnological sources behind them. Such as Odin's sacrificing an eye to gain wisdom being to allow him to implant a direct neural interface (via the optic nerve) with the Mimir's Well supercomputer system, and the Sleipnir will be a vehicle for navigating the Yggrdasil worlds-web to the eight other worlds they've established footholds in, rather than a literal eight-legged horse (an idea I got nearly 20 years ago, from a Toronto subway stations diagram showing one line upward and eight lines downward off a horizontal trunk). Many of the flavors of Jotnar will also utilize their own hypertech; frost giants being known as such because they're hulking battlesuits heavily cryo-insulated to protect the crystalline lifeforms within from the unbearable heat of a Norwegian winter, thus a rime of frost spontaneously forming when the outer plating contacts the moisture in the air. While the various Lokis (which is a rank of accomplishment more than a personal name in the classic myths) frequently cherry-picking from multiple disciplines to achieve their feats of legendary cunning; Odin's favorite Loki being modeled in this story as a mad scientist with a bioengineering lab and a mind-transfer machine, thereby explaining his various shapeshifting exploits...

It's also worth noting that my story is set FAR earlier in the timeline of the mythic cycle than the usual focus on Ragnarok and its lead-up, based on an idea I got reading about the Roman Empire's documentation of the gods of the Germanic tribes, centuries before Snorri Sturluson wrote down the previously-oral traditions he'd grown up with. The Roman interpretation was that the primary gods of the Germanic tribes were Mars foremost, flanked by Hercules and Mercury. And my understanding of the scholarship is that Mars was Tyr (aka Tiwaz, cognate with Deus) presented as their king, with Hercules being Thor (aka Thunor or Donar) as the enforcer, and Mercury being Odin (aka Wodhen or Wotan) as an advisor rather than being the ruler himself. And so I concluded that in an earlier archaeological timeframe than Snorri Sturluson's writings, Tyr had been the warrior-king of the gods, before the nomadic-warrior tribes settled down and became civilized enough to favor a philosopher-king instead. At which point, the incomparable duelist lost his sword-hand, so that Odin could take his place at center stage.

So my story is set at that point in the mythic timeline, with Tiwaz having just lost his hand (and with it the threat of his hypertech sword to hold over their enemies), Wodhen having just returned from his wanderings of the Yggdrasil worlds-web (freshly motivated to step up and lead his people in preparation for the things he saw coming their way), and Thunor still being a mortal hero. Meaning not yet having partaken of a golden apple of immortality or being claimed as a son by Wodhen, but rather being being "merely" a highly athletic warrior from a heavy gravity world called Earth, using his impossible strength to put the fear of Asgard into the Jotnar during the aforementioned succession crisis. And yes, I freely admit that this version of Thor is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic science fiction series, "John Carter of Mars".

So it's fundamentally a superhuman war story, and thus my desire to use the WH40K mechanics to frame out and quantify the capabilities of the various forces. Allowing me to compare statlines at a glance to help me reliably stage how combats could resolve themselves in the story (but with no pretense of these statlines ever getting used on a tabletop, of course, and therefore points costs are not at all an issue). And that is why I'm seeking input, from people who know 40K better than I do...

For framing out the capabilities of my version of Thor, I'm framing him with an eye toward both Colonel Iron Hand Straken (for the superhuman strength on a human body) and an Ork Warboss (with a Big Choppa and 'Eavy Armor, for his general low-tech approach to combat at this point in his development as a superhuman warrior). However, since he doesn't yet have any access to the hypertech of the Aesir, he's not the best place to start. Thus I'm looking at the Valkyrie in my story's main cast.

Hnoss is the daughter of Freyja by Wodhen (before he went on his journey through the Yggrdasil and came back a changed man), and she has grown up to follow in her father's footsteps as an Aesir warrior, while her sister Gersemi instead took after their mother's side of the family, pursuing Vanir sorcery as a career. And as a fully-qualified Valkyrie, she's got a lot of supernatural capabilities in the folklore for me to have hypertechnological explanations for.

She'll wear powered armor that doesn't rely on a generator pack, instead drawing broadcast power from an entropic energy generator via quantum entanglement chains, with her various wargear tapping into the power system of the main armor the same way, to power her various folkloric powers. She needs to be able to fly over the battlefield, to restore fatally-wounded men back to fighting strength in mere moments, to have her sword and spear always strike the weakest point in an enemy's armor, to see a man's death coming for him before it happens so that she can either spare him or claim him for Valhalla as she sees fit, and to be able to deflect arrows in flight away from their intended targets, and even potentially to cause them to strike another target of her choosing instead. And given that her father is Odin, I'd like it for her spear to be able to strike a man down without being lost from her hand, which is a simple matter of giving it a shooting attack function.

I already have notions in my head of how to model those powers within the mechanics of WH40K, but I'd like to see what anyone else comes up with before I go into that much detail.

Remember, there are no models to be attached to these rules, and points costs are no object. Just brainstorm up mechanics to fit the narrative capabilities of the hypertechnological justifications (helmet HUD, focusing lens for weaponized exhaust in the shield, etcetera) for the mythological being in question.

If anyone is so inclined.

[blackrainbow]

Lightly reading all of that leads me to think two things. First, cool but a bit long because now I feel like I have to relate all of that to what I know about: Norse mythology, Alien/The Ancient Astronaut, any other Chronotrigger'esque manipulative stuff I have read. Which leads to thought two: is the focus of the story how the technology/magic: a) works, b) came about/source, c) is in danger of X (taking over something, being abused by those using it, being lost), d) not about tech/magic and it is just a plot source to allow me to tell the story about the characters. Once that is worked out, delve into the appropriate aspect.

My 2scything-talons.

[OhGodItsHimRun]

The answer to your question is D. This is at heart a story of Thor's journey from "mortal hero with impossible strength, traveling the outlands and slaying giants" to "a proper god who still travels the outlands and slays giants". With the transition of power from Tyr to Odin providing the call of adventure that requires him to step up into history's gaze at this particular moment.

Meanwhile, the thing that always bugged me about Star Wars is how people think it's a science fiction franchise... "Hey kid, you've got magic powers! Take this sword that glows in the dark and cuts through anything, and if you just go fight this evil empire, you get to save a princess!"

Magic knights and princesses =/= science fiction. So even in a Planetary Romance story like this, I feel a need for a plausible veneer of scientific explanation for as many of the fantastical elements as I can manage. Like Burroughs came up with for his John Carter series. Long-established alien technologies, well understood by the natives of that alien world, which are completely outside the experience of the earthling protagonist(s) upon their arrival. With any protagonist's ability to develop understanding of such technologies being entirely dependent on his own degree of intelligence.

That said, there's also a few elements that I'm keeping blatantly sorcerous, so that I can show just how far outside the box a Loki (be it Odin's best friend, Utgardsloki, or another holder of that achievement-rank) thinks as an antagonist. But I want to set clear limits for what the mad science & sorcery are capable of, so that my story doesn't devolve into a bad Doctor Strange story. Wherein shouting loudly enough makes all problems instantly resolve themselves. Bad form, that.

[OhGodItsHimRun]

While I work this morning (ugh), I shall share a few of my own notions for mechanic-representations for the Valkyrie's hypertech arsenal. All of the following mechanical notions are rough drafts only; I will gladly replace them with any better notions that may be suggested. 

First off, Valkyries need to have an airborne capacity, and it is a simple matter to choose Jump rather than Jet Pack mechanics to model this, based on the cultural predilection to charge in toward glory rather than steadily backing away from it. 

Second, a Valkyrie's weapons have a folkloric quality of reliably always striking the weakest point in their foes' armor, thus my choice to explain that with an entropic energy field to actively degrade the armor at the point of impact, rather than simply making them ignore armor flat out. 

Incidentally, this is also the root for the decision for the rest of their wargear to run on the same entropic energy source, provided remotely. 

So, to model a variation on the Power Sword that isn't just ignoring armor entirely, I figured S +1 up front (because the energy would be just as degrading of the target's muscles and organs), but only AP 4 (because low-tech 'Eavy Armor should just crumple under the assault, but advanced armors would offer some measure of protection), and with a special rule to represent the armor being weakened at precisely the point of impact (forcing the target to reroll any type of successful saves vs this weapon, as even a personal force field would be vulnerable to disruption by the entropic energies in use). 

The spear would utilize the same energy, and thus have the same special rule, but in a platform based around delivering a precise spike of energy to a single point, rather than maintaining a constant field in a swordfight. So it would be primarily a ranged weapon, a single shot Lance at AP 2, with an option for the bearer to trade all of their attacks in melee for a single attack using the values of the shooting function. Such is my preliminary thinking. 

The armor itself would be nothing like the heavy clanking ceramite power armor of the Imperium, rather being far more similar to the Heavy Aspect Armor of the Eldar (except for having a not-psychic power source). Still a 3+ save however. 

The Valkyrie's ability to restore fatally-wounded men to combat readiness in moments is just an extrapolation of the existing medkit rules, lending some value of FNP (and perhaps It Will Not Die) to her entire unit. But the other tricks, seeing a man's death coming for him, and changing the course of arrows in flight, are much trickier. 

The former is going to be explained by the helmet's HUD providing her with four-dimensional tracking of entropic wavefronts, giving the ability to detect a cessation of life before it occurs. While the latter is a focusing lens built into her shield to disrupt and potentially redirect the course of projectiles in-flight (provided the shooter and/or target is within a specific range of her when the shot is fired). But for mechanics to model either piece of hypertech in the context of the game's rules, I've got no particularly solid ideas. 

Questions? Comments? Lynch mobs?

[blackrainbow]

Have you considered the angle fantasy takes with Strength vs Armor, that higher S values reduce A, so your valkyrie weapons could count as a higher S value for armor resistance, but be the lower, normal, value when going against toughness.

For the FNP part of their powers, perhaps have a 6 or 12" bubble, where-in a model that, in some previous portion of the game, has done something heroic, automatically gets the FNP variant. This does require some book keeping, so perhaps you could just say that a unit can earn a Heroic Token which lasts for a turn, say get a certain number of successful saves or enemy kills, and then the Vals aura could apply in a generic manner to the unit.

[OhGodItsHimRun]

I am only slightly familiar with the mechanics of either WHFB or AoS, so I'm working with what I know. Honestly, it's kind of amazing I'm not statting them out in the Wild Talents RPG, for which I was a playtester many years ago.

As for the FNP / "glory tokens" notion, I do like the flavor of it for a mythic Valkyrie, but I'm aiming for her whole kit to be Aesir technology, saving lives through Star Trek style surgery moreso than through holy light.

...But the Vanir Sorceress in the story's main cast would quite likely benefit from that sort of mechanical model for the tactical functions of her abilities. Thank you.

[blackrainbow]

Cheers and good luck.