A couple of thoughts on adding heroes into FT/MT battles, mostly
as part of campaigns; NB, this is very much "movie reality"! The idea is to
let such characters have a big (-ish) effect on small battles, and a
noticeable effect on bigger battles, without overbalancing them. None of this
is playtested, I only just thought of it!
A hero or heroine is given a grade at the start of the campaign, possibly by
dieroll. For each grade point, a skill or characteristic is chosen from the
table below. The hero's presence is marked on the record sheet of any ship he
joins, and he's rolled for at threshold checks.
Skill Effect
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~
Fighter-0 (Possibly free?) Hero is incompetent fighter pilot- makes any
group "turkey"
Fighter-1 Hero is competent fighter pilot
Fighter-2 Hero is competent fighter pilot
Gunner-1 Adds 1 die to any 1 beam weapon or SM pack
fired, counts as extra Firecon
Gunner-2 As level 1 but also uses C-Batt as normal
PDAF, 12" range bonus for beam weapons
*AF Gunner-1 Adds 1 die to any 1 PDAF/ADAF weapon fired
*AF Gunner-2 As level 1 but also uses C-Batt as normal
PDAF, PDAF as ADAF, and uses extended ranges 12" PDAF, 18" ADAF
Engineer-1 Counts as 1 extra Damage Control Party
Engineer-2 Counts as 2 extra Damage Control Parties
Survivor-1 Ignores first threshhold check (personally-
the ship rolls as normal)
Survivor-2 Ignores first two threshhold checks
Survivor-3 Ignores first three threshhold checks
Sensors-1 Raises carrying ship's sensors and ECM by one
level
Sensors-2 Raises carrying ship's sensors and ECM by one
level
This reminded me of an article I wrote that was published in Ragnarok a while
back on the subject of integrating FT with Traveller. I suggested the
following rules for character skills and their effect on FT games:
Pilot A character must have this skill to be the pilot of a starship (i.e. a
ship with FTL drive). Subtract 1 from the skill level and divide by 2,
dropping any fractions. This is the number of 1 point changes to the move
orders that can be made just before the ship is moved. A 1 point change is a
modification of 1 point of turn or 1 point of
acceleration/deceleration.
Navigation A character must have this skill to fulfill the duty of navigator.
Gunner A character must have this skill to operate a battery or weapon system
effectively. If a character attempts to do so who does NOT have the
skill then that weapon system takes a -1 modifier on it's die roll. A
skill
level of 2 or more takes a +1 modifier for the weapon system's die roll.
Steward A character must have this skill to perform the duty of a steward
aboard ship.
Engineer A character must have this skill to be a ship's engineer. The
optional rule for Damage Control from "MORE THRUST" must be used. An
engineer is attached to one of the Damage Control Parties and his skill acts
as a modifier on the DCP's attempts to repair systems. An engineer
with a skill level of 2 or 3 gives a +1 modifier to the die roll for the
repair of a system. An engineer with a skill level of 4 or more gives a
+2
modifier.
Medical A character must have this skill to be a ship's medic.
Ship's Boat When this skill is first obtained, roll 1D6 to determine if
the skill is for fighters or other non-FTL ships (50/50 chance). A
character must have this skill for fighters to fly a fighter. A skill level
of 2 or 3 gives a +1 modifier in Fighter Combat for the single fighter
being flown by the character. A skill level of 4 or more makes the pilot an
Ace (see "MORE THRUST" for rules on Aces). For non-FTL ships, treat this
skill in the same way as Pilot for FTL ships.
Ship Tactics This skill is required for any character to be the captain of a
starship of MASS greater than 10.
Fleet Tactics This skill is required for any character to command a squadron
of ships.
Any thoughts?
Mike Elliott
________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Heroes in FT space battles
Author: SMTP:owner-ftgzg-l@bolton.ac.uk/ at INTERNET
Date: 28/11/96 22:15
A couple of thoughts on adding heroes into FT/MT battles, mostly as
part of campaigns; NB, this is very much "movie reality"! The idea is to
let such characters have a big (-ish) effect on small battles, and a
noticeable effect on bigger battles, without overbalancing them. None of this
is playtested, I only just thought of it!
A hero or heroine is given a grade at the start of the campaign, possibly by
dieroll. For each grade point, a skill or characteristic is
chosen from the table below. The hero's presence is marked on the record sheet
of any ship he joins, and he's rolled for at threshold checks.
Skill Effect
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~
Fighter-0 (Possibly free?) Hero is incompetent fighter pilot- makes any
group "turkey"
Fighter-1 Hero is competent fighter pilot
Fighter-2 Hero is competent fighter pilot
Gunner-1 Adds 1 die to any 1 beam weapon or SM pack
fired, counts as extra Firecon
Gunner-2 As level 1 but also uses C-Batt as normal
PDAF, 12" range bonus for beam weapons
*AF Gunner-1 Adds 1 die to any 1 PDAF/ADAF weapon fired
*AF Gunner-2 As level 1 but also uses C-Batt as normal
PDAF, PDAF as ADAF, and uses extended ranges 12" PDAF, 18" ADAF
Engineer-1 Counts as 1 extra Damage Control Party
Engineer-2 Counts as 2 extra Damage Control Parties
Survivor-1 Ignores first threshhold check (personally-
the ship rolls as normal)
Survivor-2 Ignores first two threshhold checks
Survivor-3 Ignores first three threshhold checks
Sensors-1 Raises carrying ship's sensors and ECM by one
level
Sensors-2 Raises carrying ship's sensors and ECM by one
level