Re: More fighters + (real) Java Space Dock!

Joachim writes:

>  Say, that brings up a third point.  If I always round up the amount
>  of mass I can use for systems (again, this is mentioned in FT in
their
>  discussion of non-FTL ships), why don't all of my ships have odd
>  masses one point below the normal mass.  Why ever build a mass 36
>  ship when a mass 35 ship can hold just as much stuff?  

FT _does_ state that you round available mass up for non-FTL ships. (The
example on p26 shows a 14-mass non-FTL ship with 11 mass available for
systems.) But IMHO, allowing that for FTL ships -- which make up the
bulk of
the ships in most campaigns -- doesn't make sense.

Trying to look at it "realistically," if a 34-mass ship can hold 17 mass
worth of "toys", then a 35-mass ship could hold 17.5 mass worth. If you
don't
have any systems that take up fractional masses, (I don't) then the
35-mass
ship would hold 17 mass of stuff and have an empty 1/2 point of mass. In
other words, the only difference between a 35-mass ship and a 34 mass
ship is
that the 35-mass ship will cost more for hull and drives, etc. 

If you round available mass down, then no one will build odd-massed
ships; if
you round it up, then no one will build even-massed ships. Given a
choice, I
think rounding down is much more in the spirit of the game. 

Scott Field
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Kryten -- “You would gamble your safety for a mere android? Is this the
human
value		    you call ... friendship?” 
Lister --  “Don’t give me the Star Trek crap, it’s too early in the
morning.”