The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

When big ships go boom, how damaging are they?
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Gamemasters -> When big ships go boom, how damaging are they? Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14354
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No just me guestimating..
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16403
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe the blast radius could be a factor of the ship's hull code (i.e. the bigger and more durable it is, the bigger the mess when it actually does blow up)
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14354
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or the consumables (which does include fuel, more warheads etc..
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Fallon Kell
Commodore
Commodore


Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1846
Location: Tacoma, WA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or if the hyperdrive goes critical, use the hyperspeed and the length?
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier

Complete Starship Construction System
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16403
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We don't want to make it too complicated. Consumables might play a factor, but I think using Hull dice as the base variable would probably be the simplest path.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Fallon Kell
Commodore
Commodore


Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1846
Location: Tacoma, WA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see where you're coming from, but back when I was a player I would have said "Durasteel doesn't explode! A ship's hull should dampen the explosion, because It's between the blast and me!" Just trying to save you from a similar fate. Razz
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier

Complete Starship Construction System
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dustflier
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 140
Location: Upstate New York

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ship explosions based on the hull code sounds good to me, but I don't think we could make the appropriate calculations to determine if a hyperdrive goes critical, Kell. Apparently, the energies associated with hyperspace accidents are enough to fracture a planet to its core and douse the atmosphere with enough radiation to devastate it and make it inhabitable (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Destruction_of_Pammant).

1000000D?
_________________
Also known as Kiss My Wookiee on Discord and Reddit.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Fallon Kell
Commodore
Commodore


Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1846
Location: Tacoma, WA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dustflier wrote:
Ship explosions based on the hull code sounds good to me, but I don't think we could make the appropriate calculations to determine if a hyperdrive goes critical, Kell. Apparently, the energies associated with hyperspace accidents are enough to fracture a planet to its core and douse the atmosphere with enough radiation to devastate it and make it inhabitable (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Destruction_of_Pammant).

1000000D?

Scale it up one? 5D Death Star Scale for an average Capital ship? Anyway, I don't accept the idea that hyperspace accidents are that powerful, because no one shoots hyperspace message pods at planets for orbital bombardment. "It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than... Oh wait, I know what happened to Alderaan. Someone crashed a Star Destroyer."
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier

Complete Starship Construction System
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Anakin
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 27 Feb 2011
Posts: 129
Location: Sweden

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you should consider the ships shielding and armament. Lots of powerful weapons and shielding requires powerful reactors...
_________________
If you fall seven times, get up eight times.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14354
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hence why i was linking to consumables for all that fuel.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Esoomian
High Admiral
High Admiral


Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 6207
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I suppose you could just have it be +1 for every 10 days of consumables it has so a ship with consumables for 100 days does explodes and it would be rolling 3D+1 as it detonates.

Unfortunately though you'd have to consider how long a ship's tour has been and at what level it's consumables would be at when it is destroyed.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Bren
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 3868
Location: Maryland, USA

PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fallon Kell wrote:
Bren, Ignoring the fact that I have no intention to see any more than the approximately 30 seconds of the Clone Wars series, where would that fit in? Razz
Depends on the aspect ratio that it was shot for. At a guess, probably in between Star Trek TV and Star Wars Movies. Wink

Though I made the point in jest, there is a bit of truth in it. Using movies and telly to determine weapon ranges, ship speeds, tactics, and so on is inherently flawed because the director needs to get a certain number of ships in a shot based on dramatic reasons. Thus ships may be shown moving or fighting at very close ranges, not because that is sci-fi reasonable, but because both (or all) vessels need to be in the shot.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16403
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bren wrote:
Though I made the point in jest, there is a bit of truth in it. Using movies and telly to determine weapon ranges, ship speeds, tactics, and so on is inherently flawed because the director needs to get a certain number of ships in a shot based on dramatic reasons. Thus ships may be shown moving or fighting at very close ranges, not because that is sci-fi reasonable, but because both (or all) vessels need to be in the shot.


Exactly. Although I am all for accuracy and realism in SW games, the simple fact of the matter is that assigning a set number to a space unit ends up negating the Star Wars "feel". If a space unit is a set length, then starfighters can dogfight at ridiculously close ranges (for space combat), but capital ships are hampered by range limitations. In the end, it will always be simpler to just leave space units as an abstract variable. How long are they really? As long as the plot needs them to be.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Dustflier
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 140
Location: Upstate New York

PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Along those lines, perhaps it would be better for the GM to decide the size of the explosion of a particular ship on a case by case basis. Would it be an interesting twist in the plot? If yes, it should be just big enough to escape with minimal or no damage. If no, make it smaller and avoid the situation.

Honestly, not only should such explosions depend on the size of the ship, but the size of the reactor, munitions, direction and speed of travel, shape of the hull, materials from which the hull is made, and the manner in which the ship's explosion originates. Just as it would be a lot of math to figure out the size of a devastating internal explosion that destroys an ICBM submarine or modern aircraft carrier (particularly nuclear powered ones), it would be a lot of math to predict ship explosions in the Star Wars universe that remain consistently accurate in every case.

I support a less realistic and more simple approach, using powers of GM discretion and the ancient RPG martial art of plot-fu.
_________________
Also known as Kiss My Wookiee on Discord and Reddit.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14354
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So hows about we do this..

Each ship has 3 values.
1st is damage B/radius
2nd is range b/radius
3rd is diff to dodge.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Gamemasters All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Page 2 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0