Vectored Thrust Questions - Reply

Lewis asked:

> I am new to this list, so I apologize if these questions

Don't apologise -- if they ain't in the FAQ, any reasonable question is
valid here. Right, people?

> I am interested in playable Vectored thrust rules. I have

1) How long is a round meant to be in FT?

I think it's variable, so as not to tie the rules down too much to one
particular
scale. This avoids the SFB "a turn is 1/30th of a second?!" problem.

> The reason for the above is I want to calculate what

Depends if your drive is inertial or not (see later) and where the big masses
are.
But you have a point -- B5 fans will remember the quite fast 180-degree
rotations made by the EA ships in Severed Dreams to leave when confronted by
Delenn and the Minbari Cruisers. JMS has admitted that the turns were rather
too fast, but they were limited by available screen time. Slower turns = less
plot time.

> 2) (More of a comment than a question) Given the

Whatever they are -- this, again, has been left vague by Jon, and
rightly, IMO.

> I doubt whether small rotational thrusters could be used

IIRC, the aux. thrusters are used only for rotation. The velocity vector of
the ship is altered by the main drive. The rules would have to be altered to
allow for
off-axis thrust.

> Actually, with the design of many of the FT models, I

Depends, as I said, if the drive is inertial. ISTR that the standard FT drive
system (i.e., in Jon's universe) is more of a field-type drive (or so I
assume from the description of the problems with rear arc firing), in which
case there is no problem because manoeuvring does not cause any stress on the
structure. Every atom of the structure accelerates in whatever direction at
the same rate and there are no loads on the ship at all.

> Anyway, this is just a request for the current ideas on

Don't we all... Seriously, one of the beauties of FT is that it is general
enough to be adapted to a variety of SF premises with minimal (or extensive,
if that's what
it takes) modification. Make your own decisions/assumptions regarding
the
technology involved and tweak the rules to fit. No-one here will say you
can't do
this or that -- we may not agree with the way you do something, but it's
your game!

Have fun!

Phil