Bryan Ash asked me to forward this weapon idea to the mailing list, so
here it is :-)
IMHO it is a bit on the complicated side, but its still an interesting
idea - but it could be difficult to balance.
My comments are denoted [Charles]
Anyway, if you have any comments etc. could they please be copied to Bryan
mailto:ashbp@blueyonder.co.uk
> Generation Bolts.
If
> the owner fails this roll, then the system causes damage to the
[Charles] Does this include MASS and point cost?
> Generation bolt systems can have vents fitted to the system. Each vent
[Charles] Might be simpler to have a flat reduction in damage (say
reduce by 1-quarter per level or so) - or apply the screen level as a
penalty to the 'to hit' roll.
> Phalon vapour shrouds :-
Increase
> Damage by 1/4 (Round up) 2 success: Increase Damage by 1/2 (Round
> a system is challenged by a critical check, then a d6 roll is required
<snip>
> Generation bolt systems can have vents fitted to the system. Each vent
3 vents x 2 systems = 6 vents, which means you don't have to worry very much
about missing your roll. Don't know about you, but most battles I'm in only
last a few turns.
> Screens are able to deflect some of the damage from this bolt.
proposed method too complex
[Charles] One obvious potential abuse would be Generation Bolt 'torpedo
boats' small ships just carrying drives, firecon, and a single Gen-Bolt.
an ash-Shaulah strike boat would be about perfect. If you hit one, it
goes *pop* anyway, so who cares if the Gbolt makes it a slightly more
spectacular explosion?
In message <RELAY3NGCXWGmQyt51z00004d6a@relay3.softcomca.com>
> "laserlight@quixnet.net" <laserlight@quixnet.net> wrote:
[snip]>
> Bryan Ash wrote:
> Generation Bolts.
What stops me from saying "I've been charging my GBs for 20 turns before my
ships enter the gaming area"? (20 turns of charging means that my opening
shots inflict 524,288 points of damage per hit. A bit of an overkill maybe,
but it should take care of even Stiltman's biggest ships <g>)
> The starting DP of a system is 1 DP. If a generation bolt retained in
What exactly does "challenged by a critical check" mean? Is it "makes a
threshold check (no matter if it fails or not)", or "fails a threshold check",
or something else?
"above or equal to the current number" means that you're safe even if you have
1 charge in the launcher. Not sure if this is intentional?
> If the owner fails this roll, then the system causes damage to the
I wonder this too?
> Generation bolt systems can have vents fitted to the system. Each
+1 per vent currently on the *ship*, or on the *weapon*? (I assume Bryan
means the latter - it doesn't seem to make sense that a vent fitted to
one weapon should be able to vent a different weapon mount...)
As Laserlight pointed out, having this many vents available means that it is a
very safe system indeed unless you've built up a big charge (at least
8 turns, if you have a full set of vents) before you fire the system -
especially since, if I understood the following section correctly, you only
"use up" 1 vent no matter how many vents you actually used to modify the
die roll?
> Each critical that the Generation bolt system fails; and assuming a
Um... how can you ever get *3* successes when you're not allowed to have
more than *2* active screens and you can only score at best one success per
screen?
1 screen reduces the damage by on average 1/24 - well, actually even
less
due to the rounding of low-powered bolts. Call it an average
survivability boost of 4%... somehow the above mechanic looks like lots of
work for a very small effect.
2 screens reduces the damage by on average 1/12 (minus rounding of
single-point bolts) - an average survivability boost of 9%. Again lots
of work for little protection, but at least enough to notice this time.
> Phalon vapour shrouds :-
A survivability boost of over 40%. Why do the vapour shrouds not count as
level-2 screens against *this* weapon, when they count as level-2
screens against all *other* weapons?
> If a critical applies damage to your own ship; then screens on your
Increase
> Damage by 1/4 (Round up) 2 success: Increase Damage by 1/2
Only if it forgot to buy vents, since the above vent mechanics will prevent
the system from exploding unless it has been charged for 8 or more turns.
Also, once again I'd like to point out that you can't get 3 successes since
you can't have 3 active screens.
Does the lack of mention of vapour shrouds here mean that they do not contain
the blast at all? (If so, once again why don't they count as
level-2 screens?)
> Internal damage caused by a failed Generation system can cause
Most
> Generation Bolt Systems out there are vented in an attempt to prevent
So you can only fire it at best every 3rd turn? In that case I'd get to
fire it on average 2-3 times per battle... 'course, if my pre-loaded GBs
hit with their first shot I win the battle immediately.
> Round Held: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
I see no reason not to. The only time there's any danger of blowing up is
if I take a threshold check before I fire my first, overcharged shot -
and the screens help preventing that early threshold check.
Regards,
[quoted original message omitted]
how about the weapon has to take a threashold check each turn, at current
threashold level, after a certain number of turns of charging? Say after three
turns of charging, it takes a threashold check, and when the threashold
fails... the weapon is criticaled AND all charged damage is realeased into the
ship, starting from the last hull box and working outwards. This would reflect
the weapon overloading from waaay to much energy.
[quoted original message omitted]
In message <EEEPKDDJDEDAOPKOKMIKMEKHCHAA.croweall@bigpond.com>
> "Alister Crowe" <croweall@bigpond.com> wrote:
> how about the weapon has to take a threashold check each turn, at
[snip]
Hmm.. how would you handle thresholds from the 'damage taken from last box
backwards' effect? this could be a general rule for all systems that can
damage their carrying ship from an internal explosion (i.e. wave guns).
G'day,
> Hmm.. how would you handle thresholds from the 'damage taken from last
I'd say it depends on whether you see the arrangement of the hull boxes as a
convenience thing or if they represent "depth into the ship". If the form
(convenience only) then if you hit the end of a row if its the first row to go
then threshold is a 6 (whether it happens to be the top or the bottom row), if
its the second row its 5, if its the third row then 4 (did you follow what I
meant there?). If you think it actually represents "depth the
in the ship" then just make it a 4+ as its deep in the ship.
Cheers