Prime Base version 2.0

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by nuke11

Both 3rd and 4th editions have a clear number of personal at PB, 150 persons.

I would disagree on this point. The 3rd edition project manual mentions 150. The module, made for use in 3rd edition clearly state that the max total population is 838. My reading of 4th edition does not even make a specific number. So canon does not make any of this conversation moot nor inconsistent with 4th edition.

[nuke11]

Originally Posted by mmartin798

I would disagree on this point. The 3rd edition project manual mentions 150. The module, made for use in 3rd edition clearly state that the max total population is 838. My reading of 4th edition does not even make a specific number. So canon does not make any of this conversation moot nor inconsistent with 4th edition.

4th Ed, page 190 first column, bottom third, first sentence;

"The prime central base of the Morrow Project is a vast underground complex designed to sustain the lives of some one hundred and fifty people through the holocaust as they recorded the data linked with the war."

And onto what PB was to be used for

"Also to act as a central communications point for the rest of the Project when they should wake. So thorough was their recording that this base remains as the only comprehensive source of information on pre-war times."

[tsofian]

TML in its various incarnations did not appear to take internal consistency to heart. There are a lot of conflicts in canon, even within a single product, let alone across the entire 30 plus years of versions and modules and such.

Trying to make sense out of all of this is probably impossible. With the yapping I do I try and keep things in my campaign consistent. I don't think a PD can do more than that.

[nuke11]

Originally Posted by tsofian

TML in its various incarnations did not appear to take internal consistency to heart. There are a lot of conflicts in canon, even within a single product, let alone across the entire 30 plus years of versions and modules and such.

Trying to make sense out of all of this is probably impossible. With the yapping I do I try and keep things in my campaign consistent. I don't think a PD can do more than that.

Than that would be a clear starting point between you and Chris. What would be considered cannon in the 3rd and 4th editions for PB and then develop your module from there? If 1000 persons is the new number then when Chris does the next revision to the 4th edition he updates the passages in the rules to reflect this new cannon and we move on waiting for the module to be released.

Prime Base was developed by Nick and Bill at the end of their stages of any interest in the game. So problems will be there and this would be the time to fix the problems that crept in over the years.

[cosmicfish]

Prime Base also needs to make sense as part of a complete Project. Perhaps 150 people makes sense for a Project of a few thousand, but 1000 people in PB means either a lot bigger Project or else a largely ineffective effort.

[tsofian]

I think a good rule of thumb would be that Prime Base is 10% of the human assets of the Project, so base you Prime on how big you think your Project is. I have always though that a Project that deploys an average of 1000 people per State is about right.

So if there are 50,000 staffers out in the US (between 500 and 1,000 bolt holes) and there are 4,000 staffers plus dependents at Prime it makes sense to me.

Population in 1990 in the US was around 250 million. Even if there is a 99% kill (very much a worst case scenario) that leaves 2.5 million survivors. 50,000 field people mean 1 staffer per 50 survivors (assuming no losses for teams, but I would assume 10% losses due to bad luck and such). In a scenario with 50% survival that means 50,000 MP team members to help 125 million people or one team member per 2,500 survivors.

The MP teams are designed to be everything from paramedics to police to teachers to physicians. In the US most urban areas have between 1 sworn officer per 400 to 200 people. That doesn't include State Officers and Federal Law Enforcement types.

I think 1 per fifty is way too many but 1 per 2500 is going to make life pretty rough, since all team members are not all things to all people.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by tsofian

I think a good rule of thumb would be that Prime Base is 10% of the human assets of the Project, so base you Prime on how big you think your Project is. I have always though that a Project that deploys an average of 1000 people per State is about right.

Where does this rule of thumb come from? I like the size of your Project, but what does the rest of the structure look like?

Originally Posted by tsofian

So if there are 50,000 staffers out in the US (between 500 and 1,000 bolt holes) and there are 4,000 staffers plus dependents at Prime it makes sense to me.

How many are in a bolthole?? 50-100 on average??

[.45cultist]

Originally Posted by tsofian

TML in its various incarnations did not appear to take internal consistency to heart. There are a lot of conflicts in canon, even within a single product, let alone across the entire 30 plus years of versions and modules and such.

Trying to make sense out of all of this is probably impossible. With the yapping I do I try and keep things in my campaign consistent. I don't think a PD can do more than that.

It was a college writing paper initially that became a beloved game for decades.

[ArmySGT.]

Bear in mind at a minimum one facility somewhere is going to need to be built to tear down and rebuild TMP vehicles to the hull.

Take these tank plant videos for ideas.
Part 1


Part 2

[tsofian]

And Prime Base is a terrible spot for that. Logistically it would be hard to get to. I think there should be a couple of these facilities spread out.