Re: Area effect 'arc-o-death' weapon idea

Date sent:		Fri, 4 Aug 2000 17:00:52 -0700
To:			gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
From:			Sean Bayan Schoonmaker <s_schoon@pacbell.net>
Subject:		Re: Area effect 'arc-o-death' weapon idea
Send reply to:		gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU

> >Prototype #1 - low power/short range varient.
> >This weapon has a single fire arc, and fires an expanding energy
field
> >that strikes all targets within the fire arc that are in range
(doesn't
> >necessarily do damage though, read on...) When fired, any ships in
the
> >fire arc of the weapon (friend -or-foe, it's indescriminate) may take
> >damage, for each ship, roll a number of dice equal to the class of
the
> >SFAEEF, reduced by 1 for every full 6 mu of range, and score them
> >_exactly_ as beam damage, counting screens, armour, etc. as usual.
> 
> I like this so far. Simple but different.
> 
> >Alternatively, just roll one lot for the weapon, then figure effects
on
> >ships on a case-by-case basis, when reducing the number of dice as
you
> >cross range bands, discard the _largest_ dice result. (you _might_
want
> >to cut the MASS/COST down if you use this option)
> 
> IMO, a bad idea. A separate roll for each ship is far better.

Agreed. All ships have at least some degree of variation in it's 
protective factor. And the energy of the effect might not be purely 
constant. If it diminishes on range, that might have an effect, as 
might space debris in the path weaken the wave to some effect.
> 
> >I can't decide if you need a firecon to fire this monster :-(
> 
> I'd say "Yes."
> 
I'd say yes too. I'm not sure if this is intended as a 'spinal mount' 
(being new to the list), but if being used in multiples, I would 
suggest a FireCon for each.

> >Ok, the bottom line:
> >Class  MASS
> >1	   10
> >2	   30
> >3	   90
> >every additional class is triple the MASS of the previous.
> >COST is MASS x4
> 
> I'm not going to do the math at the moment to figure if these are
decent
> figures or not.
> 
Just from a mathematical POV it would be easier if you used the 
'square' principle. Instead of using your current system, go with 
(Mass^2)*10. Instead of the 10, 30, 90, 270 system you currently 
have, it would be 10, 40, 90, 160, 250. It's just easier from a 
mathematical POV. Then again, this is assuming you have it as a 
spinal mount with no multiples. 

With multiples, you find that two Class 2's are an improvement over 
a Class 3 at most ranges (Up to 6, 1 extra dice, up to 12, less 
Mass and Cost). You might want to allow larger class weapons to 
work on a bigger arc. Class 1 gets the traditional 11-1 facing. Class 
2 gets a 10-2 facing. Class 3 a 9-3 (full front arc) facing. Allow the 
larger devices to be fired in a narrower arc, but have it determined 
at the point of firing. If this is deemed too powerful, reduce the 
Damage dealt at each expansion. So a Class 3 firing on full arc 
gets 1D out to 6". A Class 5 firing on the Class 3 Arc would get 
3D. Anyways, that's just the ramblings I've come up with. 
Playtesting would be needed, across multiple games and varying 
ship types, to figure if this is too powerful.

Morgan Vening
- Faction undecided.