House Rules...

Comments, please?  (I've never play-tested them; nobody here in Toronto
wants to play with me.  (8-) )

Armour Construction in Full Thrust

Rationale: The Armour rules in More Thrust imply that the hull is toughened
against incoming fire, through a use of exotic alloys and hardening
techniques. These rules have come under criticism in the past, because they
seem to create problems for Captains forced to use "conventional" battery
technology.

However, these rules do not really simulate the concept of making a given hull
thicker, thus improving its ability to survive combat by making it able to
absorb more damage. For example, a mass 100 SDN would be expected to be harder
to kill then a mass 100 CV, by virtue of their roles. Yet, there is no
difference in their DP values, and no way to generate that difference.

This is an attempt to create another option for armouring your ships. This
type of armour option is an attempt to simulate thicker hulls, better internal
subdivision, more ehanced Damage Control techniques, etc. Thus, a ship isn't
harder to hit, just harder to kill.

Rules: When a ship is first constructed, it is possible to convert unused MASS
(dedicated to systems) into damage points, at a ratio of one unused MASS
creates one DP. The cost is simply one point per DP created. However, for
every two DP created, add one MASS to the ship for the purposes of calculating
Thrust. No matter how many DPs are created nor how large the effective MASS
becomes, a ship stays within the class that it was created, for both threshold
checks and Thrust Calculations.

For example, a MASS 36 FTL Cruiser devotes all of its 18 MASS available into
extra bulkheads, thicker hulls, etc. This raises its cost by 18 points for the
armour. However, this means we must also add 9
MASS to generate an effective mass of 45 - thus, we must calculate
the cost for the ship's THRUST as if the ship was a Cruiser class vessel of
MASS 45. We do not elevate the ship's class to a Capital, nor do we increase
the number of damage tracks for threshold check purposes.

CRITICAL HITS IN HANGER BAYS

Rationale: Full Thrust does not simulate the catastrophic damage a ship

can take when a hanger bay is attacked by things that go BOOM.  (8-)

Rules: If ever a 6 is rolled on a threshold check on a Hanger Bay, roll 2d6.
If this roll >= 7 for a loaded bay (i.e. a bay that has not launched its
ships), or if this roll >= 10 for an unloaded bay, then something critical
explodes in the hanger bay. The hanger bay is rendered useless, as per a
threshold check, but
Damage Control teams CANNOT bring the bay back on-line.  In addition,
the ship must take a further d6 worth of damage. If this brings about another
round of threshold checks, perform them as per the rules.

Note that the critical numbers (7/10) can be altered depending on
whether or not your ship's race is extremely adept at damage control, or other
factors. This is a good area for House Rule interpretation.

I hope I'm thinking straight about this.  (8-)

J.