[FT] Unified "to hit" (was: RE: "No Roll to Hit")

Already there are a number of means to determine a hit in FT.

1. Beam. Hit on 4+ modified by screens.
2. P-Torp. Based on Range
3. Wave Gun. Auto-hit based on area.
4. Salvo Missiles. Varied Effectiveness, then reduced by defense (PDS). 5. MT
Missile. Hit based on area, reduced by defense (PDS).
6. Scattergun. Auto-hit with varied effectiveness (unbalanced IMHO).

One of the flaws in the otherwise great FT system is that there is no ONE way
to determine a hit. Granted, this actually leads to faster game play once the
rules are learned since you usually only have to roll 1 die per weapon. But
this also means that no one defense can be effective against all weapons
without writing a number of exceptions.

One of the things that I would like to see in FT3 is a unified "to hit"
system. Then it would be easy to implement ECM/ECCM and other
defensive techniques.

> One of the flaws in the otherwise great FT system is that there is

I actually do not see this as a flaw so much as a feature.

The varied methods of yielding either "to-hit" or damage give rise to
the great variety of tactics and design possibilities.

Even though the methods may differ, most can still be quantified using the
same statistics (SMLs being the sole exception I'm aware of).

If all weapons used a unified system, and range, chance to-hit, and
damage were the only variables, I would be uncomfortably reminded of AD&D, to
whit: a dagger and broadsword are only differentiated by the amount of damage
they do.

I am in favor of making any unified hit system an option in FT3.

Other thoughts:

Make minimum beam damage be just 1 point per beam (total damage). You would
still have to roll the beam dice to see if more damage is scored than 1 point.

Donald Hosford

> "Bell, Brian K" wrote:

> Already there are a number of means to determine a hit in FT.