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Re: [GZG] More advanced screens

From: "Robert Mayberry" <robert.mayberry@g...>
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 10:46:02 -0400
Subject: Re: [GZG] More advanced screens

Here's my take on the Langston Field in Full Thrust (NOT play-tested):

SHIP DESIGN

All ships have 10% (fragile) hulls. This reflects that in the Mote
universe, typically ships' hulls are quite fragile RELATIVE TO THE
WEAPONS IN USE. You can't buy more (or less) than a 10% hull.

Hull boxes are represented by circles in a single row on the bottom of
the SDS.

Langston Field Generators are sized exactly like Screen Generators: 5%
of ship mass, with a minimum size of 5 mass.

A ship with a Langston Field Generator may buy Langston Field boxes at
a cost of 1 mass, 2 points (These represent upgrades to your Field
Generator). These are square and are arranged in 4 rows as usual. A
ship that has a field generator but no boxes does not generate a
sufficiently powerful Field to have any effect for military purposes.

Assign DCPs as usual, with this exception: half of your DCPs are
allocated to your Langston Field Boxes, and the rest go below in the
Hull Circles. These will represent crew lost in burn-throughs.

You may add multiple Field Generators. Additional Field Generators do
not have any effect beyond redundancy. However, this is important
enough that you should strongly consider adding it (see below).

Hull Armor does not exist in the Mote universe. Neither do fighters,
Needle Beams, screens, and many other systems. Beam Batteries in the
Mote universe are primarily laser batteries, though other weapons
exist. Shuttlecraft are available exactly as in my previous post on
small craft: one free shuttle per DCP, with restricted launch rules.
Submunitions, MT Torpedoes and SMLs are all used, though in Imperial
terminology they are all referred to as Torpedoes.

DURING PLAY

For the most part, actual Full Thrust play is unaffected. Damage all
goes to the Field Boxes (do not count the penetration effects of
weapons like K-guns or P-Torps). Threshold checks represent damage
from burn-throughs. However, check at each threshold only ONCE.
(example: a ship marks off the last of its first row of Field Boxes,
then makes a threshold check. It then radiates energy, "healing" some
of its first row of Field Boxes back. If it is damaged again, it does
NOT need to make a threshold check until it takes enough damage to
lose all of its second row of Field Boxes).

In certain scenarios, ships take damage due to environmental effects
(drive plumes, for example, or sun-diving). DCPs are NOT lost and
threshold checks are NOT required due to damage from these sources
because the more diffuse energy is absorbed without the possibility of
burn-through.

Every turn, a ship "heals" a number of Field Boxes equal to the number
of generators aboard (to a maximum of three).

There are two catastrophic situations that can happen to a ship. If
all of a ship's Field Boxes are marked off and the ship takes more
damage, then the Field collapses. If all of a ship's Langston Field
generators are disabled (perhaps from threshold checks), then the
Field collapses. If the Field collapses, take the number of the ship's
total Field Boxes and apply them as damage to the hull circles. If
this doesn't kill the ship outright (it usually does), then take
another threshold check (use the threshold value of your LAST row of
field boxes, minus one).

A ship may surrender at any time, according to the scenario being
played.

Colors are important with the Langston Field. Players must accurately
indicate a ship's current color if asked. Draw a line dividing each
Field Box row in half (if there aren't an even number of boxes, the
line should be slightly to the right). Mark each area as follows:

Black	       ###|###	  Red
Orange	      ###|###	 Yellow
Green	       ###|##	   Blue
Violet		 ###|##     Indigo
		   OOOOOOOOOO

# = Langston Field Box
O = Hull Circle
| = dividing Line

In the example above, the ship is clearly around mass 100 (since there
are 10 hull boxes). If its Field collapses from damage, it would take
22 points of damage to its hull (far more than enough to kill it).

On Sun, Jun 1, 2008 at 3:17 AM, Richard Bell <rlbell.nsuid@gmail.com>
wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 5:19 AM, Hugh Fisher <laranzu@ozemail.com.au>
wrote:
>>
>> Advanced screens are those that can protect against
>> beams and other weapons as well, eg Langston Fields
>> from the Mote in Gods Eye.
>>
>
> Langston fields were very peculiar pieces of kit.  The tuffleyverse
analog
> would be ships with a phantom first row of damage.  While the field is
> operating, the ship takes no damage, but a first level threshold check
is
> made whenever the phantom row is filled (to model burn through).  If
the
> Langston field generator fails a threshold, while the filed is active,
the
> ship is lost with all hands in a cataclysmic explosion.  Ships with
Langston
> fields also have a heat track with one box per row.  Each time a
threshold
> is inflicted, one box is ticked.  One box on the heat track is
regenerated
> each turn.  If a threshold is inflicted, while no empty boxes are
available
> on the heat track, the field overloads, and the ship is destroyed.
>
> Ships destroyed by field failures leave no survivors and no wreck. 
Naval
> combat is complicated that when a ship surrenders, it is only lightly
> damaged.  As the field was a side effect of the hyperdrive, piracy was
> difficult and may have been extremely rare.
>
> Naval combat is possible because hyperspace can only be entered/exited
at
> certain points and travel only went from one star to its nearest
neighbours,
> with each route having its own entry point.
>
>
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-- 
Robert Mayberry
(678) 984-5113
Robert.Mayberry@gmail.com

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