Let's have another go at this, this time with various suggestions added
in...
Full Thrust - Heavy Beams
Heavy Beams consist of two (or more) systems on the SSD: the Beam Power System
(BPS) and at least one Beam Emitter (BE).
The BPS is a combination of generator, capacitor, and discharger that can
store a number of Energy Points (EPs) up to twice its class rating. It can
discharge any number of stored EPs through any given Emitter.
The BPS generates power at the beginning of each turn, During Step 1: Write
Orders for All Ships. The BPS rolls two dice for each class rating, which are
scored like Beam dice. The result is the number of EPs added to the BPS's
capacitor, up to its maximum. For example, on a Class 2 BPS the rolls
are 2, 3, 5, and 6 (re-roll of 3). This generates (0+0+1+2) 3 EPs.
When taking damage and a BPS fails a threshold check, they are not
automatically knocked out of commission. Instead, they are treated in much the
same manner as drives: the first hit halves the capacity of the system, making
it equal to rather than twice its rating, and also halves the number of dice
rolled for EP generation. The second hit destroys the system and inflicts an
additional number of damage points equal to the number of EPs currently stored
in the BPS
Beam Power System: Class 1 4 MASS 12 POINT COST Class 2 8 MASS 24 POINT COST
Class 3 12 MASS 48 POINT COST
EPs must be channeled through a Beam Emitter. Each BE is linked to a single
BPS, and may make use of any EPs stored therein. The BE must also be of the
same class rating as the BPS in able to handle the power load channeled
through it. When firing, each EP assigned to a BE allows one die roll.
Subtract one from this die for each full 6 MU of range, and the result is the
damage done to the target. For example: A ship allocates 3 EPs to a BE, firing
at a target 15" away. The 3 dice roll 2, 4, and 5. The dice are scored 0, 2,
and 3, resulting in 5 damage points to the target. Emitters are affected
normally by threshold rolls. Emitters fire though only one arc.
Beam Emitter: Class 1 1 MASS 3 POINT COST Class 2 2 MASS 6 POINT COST Class 3
3 MASS 9 POINT COST
More comments? More suggestions?
Schoon:
With Power System and Emitters requiring both having a class progression, the
whole thing could be simplified by uniting the two and simply saying they
count as 2 systems on the SSD:
Class 1 HBW = 5 Mass, 15 points + 1m/3/pts per additional projector
Class 2 HBW = 10 Mass, 30 points + 2m/6/pts per additional projector
Class 3 HBW = 15 Mass, 45 points + 3m/9/pts per additional projector
I see that as pretty expensive, but I'm not doing a damage/mass/cost/arc
comparison. Is a class 1 HBW 25% "more powerful" than a Ptorp?
On the whole, I think I agree with Beth: the Emitter should be a straight
system w. fixed cost and mass.
Other wrenches into the works. these have the "feel" for me of the B5 beam
weapons: Extended range: Higher class HBW's could fire as lower class with
extended range. for example. A class 2 should be able to fire as a class 1
(i.e. 1 die) with
7"
range bands (for max range 42") A class 3 should be able to fire as a class 2
with 7" bands or a class 1 with 8" bands (max range 48") etc... Setting needs
to be marked on order sheet during movement plotting.
Focusing: Lower class HBW's could fire as higher class with lower range. A
class 1 could fire as a class 2 with 3" range bands. Class 2 as class 3 etc.
Setting needs to be marked on order sheet during movement plotting.
Quatloos by the bucket...
schoon,
overall, i like it! i have a few questions and suggestions below.
> Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 18:33:31 -0800
[snip]
> Beam Power System:
why did the class 3 BPS jump to 48 when there seems to be a 3 x mass = cost
proportion for the others? shouldn't it be 36, or did i miss something?
[snip]
> Beam Emitter:
i assume it is possible for a class 3 BE, for example to output a beam of 1, 2
OR 3 EP?
i also like michael's ideas on adding +1 mass for: each extra arc, +3"
range,
+2 damage, anti-fighter (sweeping). (although i personally would only
say +1
damage for 1 mass, since this is a per die rating.) these features allow one
to create the variety of beam weapons seen in B5 and B5 Wars.
dave
My God, I'm actually have a spare moment to post to the list. (8-)
(For those who are wondering, there should be an archive update by next week,
and I'll be digging back into the Encyclopedia after
GZG-ECC III. All of you come to Pennsylvania, damnit. (8-) )
Hi Noam. How's NEAR? (That's what you're working on, righ?)
> "Izenberg, Noam" wrote:
with 7"
> range bands (for max range 42") A class 3 should be able to fire as a
Setting
> needs to be marked on order sheet during movement plotting.
Hmmm. What I've actually been playing with is the 'class of dice' rule. HBW's
normally throw D6s. If you spend two energy points out of the emitter, you can
throw D8s. If you spend three energy points out of the emiiter, you can throw
D10s. This progression continues until you reach the rating of the emitter
i.e. an emitter that can throw six points of energy can throw 6d6, 3d8, or
2d10 or even 1d12. (Round down, of
course! (8-) )
You lose a lot of efficiency, but you do have the chance to reach out and
touch someone at long ranges.
You can play with that a lot. I haven't done the math analysis, but the above
'feels' better than the other option (which is by squares i.e. 1 point per d6,
2 points per d8, 4 points per d10, etc.)
One other nit-pick -- instead of ranking by class and saying storing
the double amount of energy, just ranking by the size of the capacitor.
e.g. Class 3 is a HBW-6. (Though, admittedly, this might be just a
familiarity thing; most every version of the Big Red Beam O' Death I've seen,
both official and unofficial, has rated by capacity.)
> Quatloos by the bucket...
2000 Quatloos on the human.
Back to life,
J.
Why couldn't I have a Class-3 capacitor but only Class-2 emitters and
never fire more than 2 dice from each? KISS, I presume?
> why did the class 3 BPS jump to 48 when there seems to be a 3 x mass =
Mistake alert! - it should be 36!
> Hmmm. What I've actually been playing with is the 'class of dice'
rule.
> HBW's normally throw D6s. If you spend two energy points out of the
I think that adding in dice other than d6s is a bit too complex than I need.
FT has clasically been a solely d6 system.
> Why couldn't I have a Class-3 capacitor but only Class-2 emitters and
Actually, that's where I think that this is going ;-)
Schoon,
I assume all Armor and Shielding rules apply?
( Concerned about ANY wepaon with Auto-Hit capabilities. 6" range is
very easy to get to...)
-=Kr'rt
> Schoon,
Yes, they reduce the die roll or damage.
For example: a ship with level one shields gets to subtract one from incoming
HB dice. Armor affects the resultant damage per Beam rules.
Schoon
> Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 18:35:00 GMT
for our FT: B5 universe, we have a hit roll:
4-6 d6 - younger races
3-6 d6 - minbari
2-6 d6 - first ones
this serves to also reduce the average damage.
dave
> On Tue, 1 Feb 2000, Kr'rt wrote:
> I assume all Armor and Shielding rules apply?
for( int i = 0 ; i < Integer.MAX_VALUE ; ++i )
agree!
auto-hit is evil, bad and wrong. can we bung just a leetle -1 penalty in
somewhere to make it go away?
tom
ps if a later rev of the proposal does this, please forgive me