Hi, I'll delurk for a bit to ask for some help. I've been working on
rewriting the class and size systems in Full Thrust/More Thrust to
allow more emphasis on smaller ships... fighters are going to clock in at
between 6 and 18 mass, all the way up to dreadnoughts and
battleships in the 180-200 region. I know this would throw game
balance out (as well as create real problems finding enough dice) in large
fleet battles, but I plan on using the rules for much smaller engagements in a
roleplaying game... a sort of hybrid version of Traveller and a lot of
homebrew rules (can you tell I like tweaking rule systems?).
Anyway, has any work been done in this area before? I know there was a B5
game, but it doesn't quite sound like what I'm looking for. What I need is
some rules to apply to smaller ships to make them more manueverable
(slideslips are a definite must... I am also looking at the Kra'vak
manuevering rules), while creating rules to make the big ships more than just
a bunch of extra damage boxes and weapon systems.
Another problem I am having is with missile systems. I am torn between using
the existing fighter system for missile swarms (although with each salvo only
taking 1 Mass and consisting of 2 "torpedo
fighters") and using the missile system mostly as-is from MT with
unlimited shots (but only one missile in the air at a time).
Crew sizes are also a little hazy, although I have put some work into this.
Basically I'm using a sliding scale to represent the ships (1 Mass is not a
constant size... it gets bigger as you move to larger classes. This is
especially evident at the break points between classes). Each ship can carry a
certain number of crew per mass dependent on class, and then there are
breakdowns for required crew depending on whether the ship is
military/merchant/passenger/fighter/base/etc.
As you may guess, since this is going to be plugged into an RPG, the point
system is going out the window. I am designing the ships with background in
mind, not just filling every last "space" in... since I'll have space in the
medium class ships to make them viable while still leaving room, players can
refit and upgrade ships in their
mini-fleet as the game goes on (sort of a Hardwar/Elite/Frontier type
of game).
Well, I should wrap this up before I start causing anyone's eyes to glaze
over. Thanks for any help... I'm really looking forward to the first adventure
of this, where the players start their careers in a damaged Mass 2 Command
Shuttle boarding a derelict alien craft...
> Hi, I'll delurk for a bit to ask for some help. I've been working on
I' d leave the MASS system as is, and just allow fractional MASS for fighter
creation. This allows you to create individualistic small craft without
throwing the rest of the rules inot the hash.
> Frongoid wrote:
I believe there was a url for a fighter based combat system using full thrust,
somewhere on the 'net. I downloaded it once, but can't remember where it
lurked. Any one know where?
[quoted original message omitted]
Better leave the design system more or less alone. It works very well as is.
I've experimented with mass costs for class 1 and 2 beams, but it is not
really worth it. Small ships actually do have the right feel. Remember that
most small ships in the FB are convoy escorts. As for making them more
manueverable, drop the hull rating and add more engines...
> On 27-Oct-99 at 11:20, Imre A. Szabo (ias@sprintmail.com) wrote:
Think of it this way.
Your characters are on a frigate (quite a large vessal for player characters)
and have 4 hull boxes. They take a shot from the pirate, he rolls a 6 and then
another 6. Boom, everyone is dead. Role playing game over.
You have to go to a little finer granularity when you are going to use this
for a roleplaying game.
***
he rolls a 6 and then another 6. Boom, everyone is dead. Role playing game
over.
***
Well, the ship's dead; we assume pilots punch out of dead fighters, why not
ship's personnel?
While Traveller isn't, but there ARE systems that are that deadly. Other's
have 'fudge' factors when PC's are involved.
You could think of using fractional damage; you could say a ship's box is
actually 5 or 10. Or, you could allow damage control a roll to stop critical
failure. But why bother?
I know, if someone showed me just how deadly fighting could be, I'd be
working, thinking, talking my way out of fights, not running for them.
Big YMMV here. While people in them can be, I think of
war/battle/fighting as interesting, not heroic.
I'd say the REAL problem with using FT in RPG is the granularity of action.
FASA's first ST simulator had a level of play where there were at least 4
(maybe 6?) bridge
stations. There COULD be actually role-playing of manning a
ship.
I have the system, but never played. Don't know how well it worked; just using
your PC's characteristic to accomplish
a task that was straight-forwardly produced in the courser
level sounds like a yawn, but if the engineer had to actually balance energy,
keep track of systems, and interact with other crew, there might be interest
in there...
The_Beast
> On 27-Oct-99 at 13:43, devans@uneb.edu (devans@uneb.edu) wrote:
> I'd say the REAL problem with using FT in RPG is the
I had it and we played, it was a great system which I am still kicking myself
for letting go. That is the system I would love to adapt to Traveller if I
could ever find a copy. Guess I should search eBay again.
> I have the system, but never played. Don't know how well it
The GM has to be rather strict, there is a tendancy for the CO to attempt to
micromanage everything. I took care of this with time limits. Starting now you
have 20 seconds...
> Frongoid wrote:
> Hi, I'll delurk for a bit to ask for some help. I've been working on
Judging from your comments about Mass 180-200 ships being unbalancing,
you don't have the Fleet Book. Get it - it revamps the FT ship design
system completely.
> I know there was
No official design system in the EFSB, though there is at least one
fan-created one on the web.
> What
Sideslips are very easy to do in FT2/FB Cinematic movement - just allow
the second half of a turn to be in the other direction (eg, a ship
executing a 2-point sideslip to starboard would have the orders "S1P1",
turning one point to the right before its move and one point to the
left at the mid-point).
As for increased overall maneuverability, limiting the thrust rating
allowed for the big ships to 2-3 or so works very nicely.
> Another problem I am having is with missile systems. I am torn
Or use the Fleet Book Salvo Missile system :-/
Best wishes,
Could you make it work by mulitpling the size of everything by 5 or 10? This
might make enough room at the bottom of the charts to tweak the fighters and
small ships.
Then you could introduce "fighter/small ship equipment". This might
help the "fighter based FT" game along.
Donald Hosford
> Frongoid wrote:
> Hi, I'll delurk for a bit to ask for some help. I've been working on
Roger said:
> Think of it this way.
Player characters never die from this sort of thing, they
get captured--and taken to the secret hideout, where one of
them falls in love with the Beautiful Hostage. They suffer the megalomaniacal
ranting of the head villain, then break out, rescue the hostages and set off
massive explosions. Thhey watch from a safe distance off and conclude the
villain must be dead--"no on could possibly survive an
antimatter explosion within 10 meters!"--even though the
villain's body is never discovered.....
The GM rules the dice, not the other way around.