Re: Engine Threshold Rolls

agoodall@sympatico.ca (Allan Goodall) wrote:

>>It's actually rather simple: make one check for every two points of
thrust,
>>which is halved if it fails. If there is a single "off" point (for a
thrust
>>5 custom ship) then it is eliminated on the first failed threshold
check.
>
>Interesting idea, Sean. This could be easily implemented. Have you
tried these
>in a game, yet?

Yes; soon after I obtained the EFSB and got the idea of trying it with
FT,
I gave it a go. As all the FT standardised designs have even thrust
values,
it was quite easy to implement.

I liked the results. I've always thought that loosing exactly half the
total thrust on a roll was a little bit artificial anyway. For two
identicle ships rolling a threshold, one might loose only 1 point, while
the other may loose 3 or 4 (for destroyers anyway). Mark down the new
rating and you're ready to go.

I found it simpler to treat the damaged thrusters as "new" for
subsequent
rolls, and to simply have damage control bring back one point to the
rating.

For example: a thrust 8 destroyer makes it's first threshold roll (4
rolls), and looses 3 points. On the next turn it makes a successful
damage
control roll, bringing its rating back up to 6. It then takes more fire,
and has to make its second check. Instead of worrying about which
section
of two was halved in the first check, just roll as if it were a "brand
new"
thrust 6 (3 rolls).

I think it adds a nice bit of diversity to the game without adding any
complexity.

Schoon