General Go Pro Cameras

[Timerover51]

I will put this here, and if a moderator thinks that it should be moved, that is not a problem.

I have been watching some videos on YouTube of fishermen using waterproof Go Pro cameras to take a look at where fish are at and what kinds are present. They then try to catch said fish. Sometimes they succeed. This struck me as something that would have relevance to Traveller, as essentially the Go Pro becomes a spy drone controlled by the fisherman. My son has a Go Pro, but I did not know that waterproof varieties were available. Now, if I could convince my wife or kids to get one for me for Father's Day or birthday, I know just were I would try it out first.

This could also be used with the Go Pro on an extendable stick to take a peek at what is on the other side of the wall, or where the enemy fire is coming from while being much harder to hit.

 

[Ulsyus]

I think you’re bang on the mark there. There’s been some work done on hand-held short-range flying recon drones, and Bluetooth and networked remote cameras are readily available now. Throw in a little more miniaturisation at TL10+ and in a little anti-grav flyer & you could have housefly-sized recon drones to do what you mentioned

 

[kilemall]

There are r/c boats oriented towards fishing. This is more beach and pier ops.

RC Fishing Surfer RTR w/ 2.4GHz includes FISH FINDER & built in GPS

Extend your reach... and get to the fish you never thought possible from shore with the RC Fishing Surfer!Our innovative surf fishing boat design allows you to hook up a line from your surf rod & reel rig to deliver line, hook and bait to the sea within 500 yard range.Find the biggest fish, and...

radiosailing.net

https://www.adorama.com/chscff20.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt7G-ytWp_wIVjTrUAR0fNQdmEAQYAiABEgJwMfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&utm_source=inc-google-shop-p

 

[Hemdian]

When I ran my players through Death Station, they quickly evolved a simple low-tech alternative: mirror-on-a-(selfie-)stick. But I like the housefly-sized drone idea.

 

[Baroun Tardis]

I will put this here, and if a moderator thinks that it should be moved, that is not a problem.

I have been watching some videos on YouTube of fishermen using waterproof Go Pro cameras to take a look at where fish are at and what kinds are present. They then try to catch said fish. Sometimes they succeed. This struck me as something that would have relevance to Traveller, as essentially the Go Pro becomes a spy drone controlled by the fisherman. My son has a Go Pro, but I did not know that waterproof varieties were available. Now, if I could convince my wife or kids to get one for me for Father's Day or birthday, I know just were I would try it out first.

This could also be used with the Go Pro on an extendable stick to take a peek at what is on the other side of the wall, or where the enemy fire is coming from while being much harder to hit.

AliExpress has some wifi cameras for $2
I've bought a couple to play with. They charge USB and run for a few hours of internal battery.
I think if you were to put your phone in hotspot mode, link the camera to that, then you could use it out on the lake.

Then, a Mason jar, some duct tape to hold the camera in position and lead weights to make it stink... And a good cord to bring it up and you're golden

 

[Grav_Moped]

At some point the limit isn't technical capability (these things can be as small as you want), but game balance.

 

[Ulsyus]

At some point the limit isn't technical capability (these things can be as small as you want), but game balance.

So the PCs would need a signal jammer to ensure they're not being spied upon by a rival ship crew that landed at the port two days before them? Measure, countermeasure, counter-countermeasure...

 

[Grav_Moped]

So the PCs would need a signal jammer to ensure they're not being spied upon by a rival ship crew that landed at the port two days before them? Measure, countermeasure, counter-countermeasure...

Yes, and.

The issue here is that viewing them as an RPG element, advantages should come with tradeoffs. At sufficiently high TLs, drones can be arbitrarily small -- rice-grain size, for example. On the other hand, you might wish to put some constraints on that to force the PCs to make tradeoffs. Keep the smallest practical size about softball or tennis-ball sized so if they're going to carry one around it'll be obvious, and so that one can tell if a drone has followed them into a building.

 

[Ulsyus]

Yes, and.

The issue here is that viewing them as an RPG element, advantages should come with tradeoffs. At sufficiently high TLs, drones can be arbitrarily small -- rice-grain size, for example. On the other hand, you might wish to put some constraints on that to force the PCs to make tradeoffs. Keep the smallest practical size about softball or tennis-ball sized so if they're going to carry one around it'll be obvious, and so that one can tell if a drone has followed them into a building.

Fair call. That might be a matter of looking at how miniaturised things can be at different tech levels. Not everyone with FTL should be able to make Universal Dust (that's probably closer to TL20 come to think...)

 

[Baroun Tardis]

I'm not even sure "jamming bugs" with radio is going to work well

Consider laser microphones, for example .. and that there's experiments happening now where photons are quantum linked, so that you can "see" around corners. I'd imagine at TL12+, there'd be "spy rays" that can see/listen through walls. Quantum paired neutrino sensors, such that the effects on the neutrino that goes through the area you're sensing is "bumped", and that makes the one you kept in the sensor box twitch.
Which would then lead to "spy ray shields" , I guess.

 

[Timerover51]

I find it amazing on how far this thread has ranged from my original post. I was just thinking about what could be done now.

 

[Ulsyus]

I'm not even sure "jamming bugs" with radio is going to work well

Consider laser microphones, for example .. and that there's experiments happening now where photons are quantum linked, so that you can "see" around corners. I'd imagine at TL12+, there'd be "spy rays" that can see/listen through walls. Quantum paired neutrino sensors, such that the effects on the neutrino that goes through the area you're sensing is "bumped", and that makes the one you kept in the sensor box twitch.
Which would then lead to "spy ray shields" , I guess.

There's a few military and civilian systems available now, but in-game I think I'd be more inclined just to describe how the system looks, is operated and its effects rather than how it "works".

 

[Baroun Tardis]

There's a few military and civilian systems available now, but in-game I think I'd be more inclined just to describe how the system looks, is operated and its effects rather than how it "works".

Agreed, to a point.
I'll tell the players "it's a box about this big, with buttons and .."
20 minutes later, someone's trying to do something with it that isn't on the spec sheet... and then having a good idea in my head how it works lets me decide how difficult the die roll is going to be