Re: B5 BREWs update. (SPOILER warning)

Date sent:  22-AUG-1996 13:30:38 
>THIS MESSAGE CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS FOR THE B5 EPISODE "Walkabout"

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>Still here ?

Yes.

>> So you still have a central power store. The only things that draw
>> from this are the beams and the jump drive. You gain 1d6 points each
>> turn (provided the Jump Drive is intact [...] and can store a maximum
of
>> 6 points.
>> - Open a Jump Point cost 6. [...]
>> - Fire a Beam. cost = Beam Class.

>Based on Walkabout, I'd say that the central power store holds enough
>to open a jump point AND fire the BREW - how about assuming that
>the jump drive holds 6 points, and each BREW holds its own class
>(or possibly class * 2). 

No. I think the single power store is quite complex enough. We want
to keep it playable as well as accurate. Also see below about
Hyperspace.

>Also, BREWs can be fired with less than
>full power, doing reduced damage (pumping more energy into the
>WhiteStar's BREW enabled it to do more damage, not having enough
>energy reduced its damage). Finally, Lenir (sp?) seemed to be
>pretty sure of how long it would take to recharge the jump engines,
>so I'd say roll d6 with 1 giving no points, 2-5 giving 1, and 6
>giving 2 points, or possibly just a flat number of points per turn.

Perhaps 1d6 back is too much. Perhaps 1/2 1d6 round down. And I'd
say that using more power is simply sustaining the beam over multiple
turns. I agree with the idea of firing at a lower setting though.

>Is it possible that a ship which opens a jump point gets the energy
>(or a fraction of it) back when the point collapses. I'm basing this
>on the way that the WhiteStar's jump engines weren't drained when
>it engaged the first shadow ship, despite having come through a jump
>point. Note its possible that the less advanced races get less of this
>power back after a jump.  Anyone seen anything that would contradict
>this idea ? (I've only been watching since "Severed Dreams")

I can't remember whether it was here or on one of the the B5 newsgroups
that someone noted that it seems to be much simpler to open a point FROM
hyperspace than to it. I'd say a ship can come from hyperspace with a
full tank so to speak. (Come out shooting) although this does disagree
with a comment from early season 2. (But hey, it was only a single
comment. I think we can ignore it as a plot device). Perhaps
Hyperspace is a higher energy state, so you simply need to 'fall'
out of it, but getting into it is tricky.

>> Minbari BGEW (Big Green Energy Weapon)
 
>> As BREW, but it don't need to charge.

>eh ? The White Star seemed to need to charge its BGEW in Walkabout, in
>fact, if it recharged instantly, they wouldn't have needed any help
from
>the G'Tok. Its possible that the Minbari BGEW simply has a larger power
>store and recharges faster than the less advanced versions.

Good point. Recharge faster, say 1/2 1d6 round up. Maximum capacity 8.
(Still only need 6 for a jump though.).

Some good ideas there. I'll include those in a later draught.

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