Poll

Since I now have a proper sourcebook, what should we do?

Keep going with FTL, we're barely into it yet!
0 (0%)
Add some of the mechanics of RT to FTL, and keep going that way!
2 (66.7%)
Drop FTL, and play some RT!
0 (0%)
I don't care and regret signing up for this!
1 (33.3%)
Since you apparently have all our collective sourcebooks, let's run something completely different!
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 2

Author Topic: Faster Than Light (Interest, Lore, and Sign Up Thread)  (Read 2285 times)

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ApatheticExcuse

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Re: Faster Than Light (Interest, Lore, and Sign Up Thread)
« Reply #30 on: September 19, 2016, 02:15:48 pm »
Sorry it's taking a while. I honestly kinda underestimated this, or rather transcribing it from my paper notes. Next time I know to write this all in word first.

Ok, so hulls, components, and an example. I'll list the hulls, and will give component examples in my example ship, but I'm thinking you guys will make up components as you'll all know what sort of things will be beneficial to you.

Hulls

There are thousands of classes of ships, and hundreds of classes of warpships. Most of them can fall loosely into one of the following designations:

Transports

Generally slow, and not designed for a real fight, the transport is a good choice for a Free Captain who is looking to make his fortune the non-violent way. While they do often mount an armament to discourage opportunists, a transport Captain will have to rely on his wits more than his fighting skills. While most warpships are also warships, there has always been a need for warpships capable of hauling supplies or passengers to planets that are not yet part of the Warpway.

Riply-Class Small Transport

A common sight on the fringes of space, the Ripley-class is a small, multipurpose hauler.

Dimensions: 2km long, 0.4 km abeam
Mass: 8 megatonnes
Crew: 13,000

Speed: 4
Manoeuvrability: -5
Detection: +10
Hull Integrity: 40
Armour: 13
Turret Rating: 1
Space: 40
SP: 20
Weapons: 1 Dorsal
Power: 35
Special:

Cargo Hauler: This ship was built to haul goods, and no amount of modification will change this. It comes equipped with a Cargo Hold component - this component gives a bonus to trade related tests, and adds to a related goal's potential profits. This part does not take up additional space, but will require 2 power to run itself.

Corvettes

Corvettes are light ships, also known as raiders, that are generally fast and reasonably armed, but fragile. They are popular amongst Free Captains more concerned with getting around quickly and unnoticed than with the military or commerce minded, and have also found use amongst the less-legally inclined.

Zeus-Class Corvette

Zeus class corvettes are common in UTA fleets, acting as scouts and picket ships. They are built to be able to run from anything they can't fight.

Dimensions: 1.5 km long, 0.25 km abeam
Mass: 5 megatonnes
Crew: 18,000

Speed: 10
Maneuverability: +23
Detection: +12
Hull Integrity: 32
Turrets: 1
Space: 35
Points: 30
Weapons: 1 Dorsal, 1 Prow
Power: 45

Frigates

Frigates are well-balanced ships capable of filling any role. They are often chosen by Warrant holders for their versatility and availability.

Eris-Class Frigate

The Eris class frigate is a jack of all trades, boasting decent armour and turrets, good engines, and a reasonable armament.

Dimensions: 1.5km long, 0.4 abeam
Mass: 6 megatonnes
Crew: 26,000

Speed: 8
Maneuverability: +20
Detection: +15
Hull Integrity: 35
Armour: 18
Turrets: 2
Space: 40
Points: 40
Weapons: Dorsal 2
Power: 45

Light Cruisers

Designed for long range patrols and second line combat duty, light cruisers are popular amongst Warranted Captain as well - at least those who can find and afford them.

Ares-Class Light Cruiser

Dimensions: 4.5 km long, 0.5 km abeam
Mass: 20 megatonnes
Crew: 56,000

Speed: 7
Maneuverability: +15
Detection: +20
Hull Integrity: 60
Armour: 19
Turrets: 1
Space: 60
Points: 55
Weapons: Prow 1, Port 1, Starboard 1
Power: 60

This gives you a rough guideline yet again. There are, obviously, much bigger ships out there too, but if you're wanting to design a hull, stick with LC or smaller for now.

When building a ship, there's a few parts you MUST have:

A sub-light drive - as a note here, power is provided by the ship's sublight drives. I've stuck the baselines in there, but you can upgrade it for a price.
A warp drive
Shields arrays
A bridge
Life support
Crew Quarters
Scanning arrays

I have quite a few different "essential" components statted out, so if you need help picking something there, let me know and I'll list whatever's pertinent. Generally, unless an essential component adds something, it has no point cost. For example, a basic bridge is free. A fancy combat bridge with holographic displays that gives +5 to shooting the weapons and commanding the crew will take more power and space, as well as add +1 point to the cost.

Besides that, you're limited only by power and space. Vanity rooms (such as a personal, but not ship wide armoury, a chapel, etc. etc.) do not cost power, points, or space - they might, however, have some unintended effects. Grander versions that do have an effect (a chapel that gives a moral boost, an armoury big enough to supply an invasion force or stock macrocannon warheads), will cost power, points, and space.

So, for the example ship.

The Calypso

Modified Rapier Class Frigate
Points: 40

Speed: 8
Maneuverability: +20
Detection: +15
Hull Integrity: 35
Armour: 18
Turrets: 2
Space: 40 (40 used)
Points: 40
Weapons: Dorsal 2
Power: 45 (42 used)

Sub-Light Drives: Class 3 Plasma
Provides 45 power (Space: 10)

Warp Drive: Rastov Mass Drive MK2
Provided sufficient mass modification to allow the ship to move at warp speeds (Space: 10, Power: 10)

Shields arrays: Single Rastov Array
Provides a layer of shielding (Power: 5, Space: 1)

Bridge: Advanced Command Bridge
A very old, very high-tech command center. Features holographic displays, real time ship status reports, video monitoring, and many other uncommon elements. It adds +5 to all ship-related tests (maneuvering, shooting, directing repairs), as well as +10 to social tests made on the bridge itself - it's just that impressive. (Power: 2, Space:1, Points :2)

Life support: United Industries MK1
Built to be reliable, but not to do much about the often unpleasant smells of ship-life. -1 to Crew Moral (Power: 3, Space: 1)

Crew Quarters: Pressed quarters
A holdover from the ship's naval career. They are cramped, unpleasant, but take up a bit less room than standard. -2 Moral (Power: 1, Space: 2)

Scanning arrays: Class 6 Basic Scanners
Simple, basic scanners. These are an external part and use no power. (Power: 3)

Weapons:

Planetbreaker MK 17 Mass Driver

Strength: 1
Damage: 1d10+5
Dam. Type: Physical
Critical: 3
Firing arc: Forward
Range: 6
Mount Type: Dorsal
Space: 5
Power: 9
Points: 2

United Industries Class 9 Laser Batteries

Strength: 4
Damage: 1d10+1
Dam. Type: Energy
Critical: 6
Firing arc: forward
Range: 9
Mount Type: Dorsal
Space: 4
Power: 6
Points: 1

Other Components:

Grand Library
Full of books and dataslates on virtually every subject imaginable, the contents of this library have been passed down in your family for generations. This gives a positive modifier to researching, data collection, and similar tests. (Space: 1, Power: 1, Points: 1)

Internal Maze
The interior of this ship is... strange in it's layout. The vast maze that must be passed through to get anywhere is part of life for the crew, but not for any boarders. In addition, the layout is such that most shipwrights would say you've got everything in the wrong spot. This component gives +10 to defending against boarding actions and hit and runs, as well as allowing the ship's owner to select which components are affected by a critical hit, rather than the attacker. (Power: 1 Space: 2, points: 2)

Extended Supply Storage
Ships are limited by how much they can bring with them. This vessel has had more room made for these sorts of supplies. This component doubles the length of time it can remain in space before crew or moral is negatively affected, adds a small bonus to repair attempts, and increases moral by 1. (Power: 1, Space: 3, Points: 2)


The whole shebang here cots 50 points.

So, here's the deal point-wise. I'm going to give you 80 points (which is alot) to do WHATEVER you want in terms of designing a ship, within the guidelines I've presented. Whatever is left over will be your group's wealth. Something to bear in mind here is that *fixing* a ship can be expensive. If you blow everything on putting one together in the first place, and something bad happens to it, you might well be fucked. As you can see from the example above, you're more likely to run out of space or power than points anyway.

Make something you all like and can agree on - if more than one design is submitted, I leave it to you guys to figure it out. You will spend lots of time on the ship, to the point that it's somewhat a PC on it's own, and you may not run into many chances to acquire a second one, at least not one of the same calibre.

The final note here is that while I might tweak some point costs and stuff you've made up, but frankly, if you build an overpowered deathship with everything you could ever hope for, it's more likely you're just going to run into people with exactly the same armaments out there. Unlike with your personal gear, which is generally all top-quality and expensive stuff well out of the reach of the majority of the population, anyone you're likely to meet in space probably has just as much wealth and resources as you do.
Gone. Cheers guys.

 

NOCTIFER IS A FAGGOT