From: Charles Taylor <charles.taylor@c...>
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2000 20:19:42 +0100
Subject: Needles for everyone
Well, the recent(ish) postings on needle pods got me thinking - the other alien races don't have a needle beam equivalent either - so - what are your thoughts on the following: Kra'Vak Sniper Gun This is a hyper-velocity light K-gun with a very accurate targetting system, designed to target individual systems on enemy ships. System Symbol: Either A filled black hexagon with a line protruding at 90 degrees from the center of one face, representing the firing arc. (c.f. needle beam symbol) _or_ A 1-arc K-gun symbol, with a letter 'N' in place of a class number. Effects: Roll a single die, effect as follows: Range Roll to cause damage Roll to destroy target system 0-6 mu 3-4 5+ 7-12 mu 4-5 6 13-18 mu 5+ not possible 19-24 mu 6 Damage causes 1 point of damage, while destroying the target system also does 1 point of damage - unlike needle beams, armour is NOT ignored. Optionally, when attacking Phalon ships, subtract the number of surviving rows of armour after the first from the dice roll. It has a MASS of 4, and a COST of 16. Its more dangerous than a needle beam, but requires twice the mass and over 2.5 times the cost. Alternatively Just use the same statistics as a human needle beam, but change the PSB :-) Phalons Needle Pulsar Well, you _could_ just rule that standard pulsars (maybe limited to the 1-arc version) can be configured to 'Needle' (N) mode before battle, and that pulsars so configured function as Needle beams in all respects. I'm not sure I like this idea - makes Pulsars _even_ more versitile! And I think 'needle' weapons should have special, highly accurate targeting gear. Hmm.. I seem to remember a 'Needle FireCon' somewhere in the archives - maybe they should get one of those? Alternatively treat Needle Pulsars as Needle Beams in all respect, but use a 1-arc Pulsar symbol with an 'N' in it as the system symbol. Boring I know :-) your thoughts?