New Starship Damage Chart

[CRMcNeill]

A random thought...

One obvious result that should be on the damage chart is having the deflector shield covering a particular arc be damaged ("Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield; one more direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for!"), and yet there is not damage result that renders Shields unable to cover a particular arc.

I haven't really considered how to deal with this, but I'd like to hear your thoughts...
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"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

[CRMcNeill]

I’ve been thinking for a while about how to do precision strikes, as in, a starfighter specifically aiming for a freighter’s engines. Here’s what I’m thinking...

1). Gunner declares which system he’s targeting: Maneuvering, Sensors, Weapons, Hyperdrive, Shields or Engines.

2). Gunner then rolls to attack at -2D (effectively, shooting at a smaller Scale target).

3). On a successful hit, do not roll on the random chart to see which system was damaged; just apply the result to the declared system as indicated by the Damage roll (Lightly Damaged, Heavily Damaged, etc.)

4). On Severely Damaged, use the following results
Maneuvering = Controls Damaged
Shields = Overloaded Reactor
Engines = Dead In Space

_________________
"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

[Raven Redstar]

I like that.
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RR
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[CRMcNeill]

[Darklighter79]

[Whill]

[CRMcNeill]

But automatic safety cut-outs for hyperdrives, at least, are presumed to be pretty effective. I like your suggestion of the main compensator kicking out and localized backups automatically engaging, perhaps imposing hard limits on the ship's performance until the main compensator can be repaired. It also ties into my idea on the cloaking devices topic, so that the main compensator could actually be manually switched off to reduce the ship's gravitic signature, with the consequent loss of performance.

Fo smaller ships, Darklighter's idea of the g-forces inflicting Stun damage is a good one, too, and also has precedent in the EU (see Wraith Squadron book 1, and the death of Jesmin Ackbar).

Much to grok...
_________________
"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

[Whill]

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

Whill alluded to this above, but I feel it bears repeating:

Inertia is in effect at all times. At constant speed, acceleration is 0. So there is no danger of being slammed into by the back bulkhead of a ship.

Also, once in motion, the relative acceleration is much less drastic: the crew is already moving forward, so an increase in the ship's speed isn't going to have as accute an effect.

Also, if the crew are strapped in with support on their aft side, then the ship will effectively "push" them along, rather than accelerate its aft bulkhead toward them.

Blackouts, nose bleeds and things like that should still be possible (that is, likely) in a situation wherein the compensators fail.

[Bren]

[Naaman]

Well, I suppose then that the structural integrity of the ship should also come into play if the compensators fail. If a pilot banks hard left to avoid an obstacle or an attack, a ship that is not sufficiently rigid will twist/warp and maybe even snap into two or more pieces... especially if different parts of the ship are characteristically different in rigidity, which is a near certainty, since some parts are subject more or less to the heat from the engines, heat from weapons, and heat from power sources, etc.

The bigger the ship (dimensionally) the more drastic this effect.

[CRMcNeill]

Okay...

I haven't had a day off in at least three weeks, so I'm a bit frazzled at the moment. So I'll do my best...

There are two ways to view the physics of the SWU:

1) As occurring in a parallel universe where the laws of physics don't apply, and ships in space behave as the might in an atmosphere, where some aspect of the medium creates drag that must be counteracted by constant application of thrust.

2). As occurring in a vacuum, subject to Newtonian physics, as countered by sufficiently advanced technology that said physics are not readily apparent on screen.

Of the two, I'm partial to the latter. In particular, SW tech appears to be able to "bend" a linear trajectory without needing to reorient the ship and burn the main drive to alter course.

Next, a couple key points on Space Units, one stated clearly by WEG, the other inferred by how SUs are applied in practice:

1) Space Units are proportional, not fixed (see the 2R&E Rulebook, page 123)

2) Space Units represent different things depending on how they are used, and trying to force them to conform to one aspect or another weakens their usefulness in their other applications.

Now, with regard to my view of SUs as ship speed representing acceleration, here's an example:

Let's suppose two ships are sitting at rest (zero acceleration) relative to each other, at a point in space we'll call Point X. Point X is not a fixed point relative to anything, and serves merely as a starting and reference point.

Now, suppose both ships begin traveling along the same vector, but at different speeds: Ship A is moving at 12 SUs, and Ship B is moving at 6 SUs. At the end of one round, Ship A cuts thrust, and is now moving at 0 SUs relative to its previous speed. However - and this is key - Ship A is still moving away from Point X at 12 SUs, and will continue to do so indefinitely. From the perspective of Ship B, Ship A has come to a dead stop, and Ship B will overtake and pass Ship A in the following round.

Viewed thusly, any ship in motion measured in SUs is accelerating relative to something else, with the ship's crew subject to the effects of acceleration if not protected by an acceleration compensator. The various speed levels represent different "throttle settings" that modify whatever the ship's base acceleration rate is (measured in SUs).

From there, maneuvering a ship as seen on screen is the result of advanced tech "bending" said ship's trajectory in a new direction, in similar fashion to using a natural gravity well to alter a ship's course without using its drive. My initial theory is that the main acceleration compensator somehow shunts any acceleration experienced by the ship into its ethereal rudder / lateral controls, but I digress.

Naturally, any such system can get out of hand very quickly, as ships that accelerate long enough start running into temporal issues, but the vast majority of starship interaction (and realspace travel in general) occurs at such short ranges that temporal distortion is rarely an issue.

Anyway, the end result is that if a ship is doing anything other than sitting at zero thrust, it's accelerating somewhere, which in turn requires acceleration compensation; the greater the acceleration, the greater the compensation. As such, anything that impedes the effectiveness of the acceleration compensator (combat damage or deliberately dialing it down to reduce its sensor signature) limits how much acceleration the ship (particularly its crew) can be exposed to.

Anyway, it's late, and that's how I see it.
_________________
"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

[Naaman]

You lost me at "still moving away from point X at 12SU."

Acceleration of 0 is different than movement of 0. The ship moving at 6SU will NEVER catch up to one moving at 12SU, even if it accelerates to 12SU the next round. It would have to reach a speed of 12.x or better to begin catching up OR ship A would have to decelerate below the speed (that is, velocity) of ship B.

All that being said, I'm not sure if it even matters to the issue of compensators.

FWIW, I just assume that ships are engineered to accelerate at a rate that even a weak being can withstand. Maybe 1-3 Gs and eschew things like acceleration compensators when they start to complicate the verisimilitude of the SWU.

[CRMcNeill]

But acceleration is cumulative. Ship B is still moving at 6 SUs, and thus will move 12 SUs the following round, accelerating at 6 SUs per round per round. So it is continuing to accelerate, and will overtake and pass Ship A, which is no longer accelerating, even though it is still coasting away from Point X at 12 SUs per round.
_________________
"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