Ship/Crew Experiance Pt I (Longish)

-----Original Message-----
    From: John Bennett <johnbenn@globalnet.co.uk>
    To: Full Thrust <FTGZG-L@Bolton.ac.uk>
    Date: 02 October 1998 22:11
    Subject: Ship/Crew Experiance
    
    
    I have been running a campaign using FT and MT with fairly standard
starting fleets for each player. Each fleet consists of 3 Dre, 7 Cru & 9
Esc. They are all from the designs shown on FT1. The players are then
free to "design" new weapon systems and add them to new vessesl as they
are built.
    I have also adapted a GW game, Necromunda, so that at the end of any
battle the crew of each vessel gains experaince and from this can
develop new skills. These skills are generated randomly with the more
powerful abilities being harder to get. If people are interested in this
system I will post more at a later date, but the skills include such
gems as, super gun cres, jump ready marines, sonic screens, Crack Shot,
Evade and Infiltration.
     
    John Bennett
    
    OK in response to Tom's request here goes-
    JBs CAMPAIGN RULES
    
    Ship Ratings
    
    Each vessel is given a number of different ratings upon which it
relies in combat and for movement. Experience gained in action will
allow these ratings to be improved upon and for skills to be generated
for the ships crew. The maximum rating allowed for each class of ship is
shown below.
    
    
    Ratings Thrust / Initiative/ Boarding Action / Crew Quality  / (No.
of  Marines - not a skill)  Morale / Leadership 
    
    Dreadnought Class
    
    Ratings at Start	     0 0 0 0 0 7 7
    
    Maximum Ratings	2 3 4 3 n 9 9
    
    Cruiser Class
    
    Ratings at Start	     1 1 0 0 0 7 6
    
    Maximum Ratings	4 4 3 3 18 9 9
    
    Escort Class
    
    Ratings at Start	     2 1 0 0 0 7 6
    
    Maximum Ratings	6 5 2 3 9 9 9
    
    Merchant Class
    
    Ratings at Start	     0 0 0 0 0 6 5
    
    Maximum Ratings	0 2 0 0 0 8 8
    
    
    Th = Thrust Rating. This relates to manoeuvrability. A vessel which
rolls its Th rating or less may move forwards or backwards by 2cm from
its final position. If more than 1 vessel manages this then move
alternately with lowest In rating going first.
    
    
    In = Initiative Rating. A ship which rolls its In rating or lower
may avoid being rammed or boarded by an opponent. The boarding action is
deemed to go ahead but fails and the attacker cannot undertake any other
offensive action for that turn.
    
    
    Ba = Boarding Action A ship which attempts to board another must
normally be within 6cm. By rolling a ships Ba rating or less an attacker
may increase his boarding range by the Ba rating in cm. ie. BA of 3 with
roll of 3 or less increases boarding range to 9cm!
    
    
    CQ = Close Quarters A CQ rating signifies the number of die that may
be re-rolled during a boarding action to increase chances of victory.
    
    
    Ma = Marine Squads This is the number of marines on the vessel. A
squad occupies one Hull Box.
    
    
    Mor = Morale Rating A vessel within 10cm of a friend who is wrecked
or who bugs out must roll its Mor or less to avoid bottling out. Ships
which bottle out in this way receive no bonus experience except from
hits they inflicted. 
    
    This roll is also made each time a threshold roll is made on the
loss of a line but ships which bug out through failing this roll can
receive experience normally.
    
    
    Ld = Leadership Rating Once a fleet has suffered 25% of its ships
wrecked or bottled out then the ship with the highest Ld rating must
roll this number or below to avoid the fleet failing a Bottle roll. If
the roll is failed the whole fleet flees.
    
    
    POST BATTLE SEQUENCE. (All rolls to be witnessed)
    
    1. Wrecked ships are those which lose all their Hull Boxes to
damage. They drift at the same speed/direction until off table and throw
on the Serious Damage Table.
    
    
    2. Ships which bug out on a failed Threshold roll are removed from
play. At end they throw 1d6. A 1-3 signifies no effect. A 4-6 result
means the ship must roll on the Serious Damage Table. 
    
    
    3. All ships with no Jump Drives suffering a bottle out, bug out or
fleet bottle roll must throw on Serious Damade Table.
    
    
    4. Vessels cannot voluntarily leave the table. Ships taken by
boarders are lost!
    
    
    Serious Damage Table 
    
    Die Roll Damage Sustained Effects of damage
    
    
    11-16 DESTROYED!
    
    
    21 MULTIPLE DAMAGE Roll D6 times on the Serious Damage Table - (re
roll Dest/Capt results)
    
    
    22-23 MAJOR CASULTIES Massive losses of crew. Roll 1d6 =1-3 CQ -1 or
4-6 Mor -1.
    
    
    24-25 BRIDGE WRECKED Bridge personnel killed. Roll 1d6 =1-3 In -1 or
4-6 Ba -1.
    
    
    26 MARINE QUARTERS Lose d6 Marine Squads.
    
    
    31 SCREEN MELTDOWN 1 Screen if present is totally wrecked and melts
into position. It cannot be removed and the hull boxes it occupied
cannot be used again. This result only effects a ship once!
    
    
    32-33 ENGINEERING HIT Engineers killed. Roll 1d6 1-2 = N/E 3-4 = Th
-1 5-6 = Th -2.
    
    
    34-36 OLD BATTLE HITS Roll 1d6 before each battle. On a result of 1
the ship is unfit for action and fails to appear. It DOES count towards
the fleets total score and ships for income calculations.
    
    
    41-55 FULLY REPAIRED Not damaged.
    
    
    56 DRIVES DAMAGED Lose 1 point of thrust from ships drives (not Th
rating). This result is only suffered once per ship & you must halve
down for turns.
    
    
    61-63 CAPTURED The ship misjumps and is captured in tact!
    
    
    64 CAPTAIN UNHINGED The Captain suffers a head wound and acts
irrationally when under stress. Roll 1d6 before the battle. 1-3 = -1 Ld
or 4-6 is stupid and always fires last!
    
    
    65 SURVIVE against all odds Roll 1d6 extra experience gained during
escape from enemy vessels
    
    
    66 MASSIVE ODDS Receive a free skill due to experience gained during
amazing escape
    
    
    CREW EXPERIANCE TABLE Ships gain experaince each time they go over
the levels below. They gain experiance by rolling 1d6 after each battle
and gain 5 exp for each enemy vessel which they wrecked or which failed
a threshold morale roll as a result of their fire.
    
    
    0-5
    
    6-10   
    
    31-40 
    
    41-50 
    
    51-60 then every 20 points of experiance till 100 then every 40
points of exp.
    
    When a ship goes over a level throw 2d6 on table below. and apply
advances.
    
    
    ADVANCES ROLL TABLE (Roll 2d6) SKILL TABLES
    
    2 Choose a skill table Table 1 Shooting Skills
    
    3-4 Random skill table Table 2 Tactics and Stealth Skills
    
    5-6 D6 1-3 CQ +1 4-6 Ba +1 Table 3 Techno Skills
    
    7 D6 1-3 Mor+1 4-6 Ld +1 Table 4 Fighter Skills
    
    8-9 D6 1-3 Th +1 4-6 In +1 Table 5 Marines Skills
    
    10-11 Random skill table Table 6 Various Skills
    
    12 Choose a skill table
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    SKILL TABLES
    
    
    
    
    Table 1 Shooting Skills (1d6)
    
    
    
    
    1. Crack Shot When this vessel fires and is responsible for a
threshold roll it may force the rolling ship to roll a second time, re
rolling all rolls including the Morale roll. The second set of rolls
must be accepted and damage inflicted is recorded.
    
    
    2. Fast Gunners One battery, A, B, C or AA can fire twice. Randomly
select the weapon amongst those eligible as soon as the skill is
received prior to modifications. If the same battery gets this skill
again it may fire three times but re-rolls on this table if it again
receives this skill. 
    
    
    3. Super Crew One weapon system, common or rare may add +1 to ALL
its die rolls each time it fires. An A Bty at close range could add +1
to all three die rolled for hits. If applied to a crammed in system both
mounts receive the bonus. Randomly generate the system from all those
present.
    
    
    4. Crammed In Due to jury rigging of systems the weapon crew has
managed to cram 2 identical weapon systems into the hull boxes of the
chosen system. Threshold hits kill both but they are repairable and not
lost. Randomly generate the system from all those present. (Common
weapons and AAs only).
    
    
    5. Boosted Systems The ranges of one system are boosted by 25%.
Applies to any system except fighters. The captain may choose the system
to be boosted.
    
    
    6. New Free Fire (See notes) If the vessel makes no changes to
velocity or direction the computer targeting system allows the ship to
fire before ANY enemy ships unless they also have Free Fire or
Aggression in which case the highest In then Ld then die decide fire
priority. It is possible that 2 or more ships could fire from the same
side using this skill if their opponents have nothing to combat this
threat!
    
    
    
    
    Table 2 Stealth and Tactics(1d6)
    
    
    1. Aggression The ships Captain is particularly aggressive and can
always fire 1st when he is outnumbered. This skill cannot be used by the
more numerous side but can be used to combat the Free Fire Skill if it
would enable the enemy to fire more than one ship before a reply. Unlike
Free Fire only one of the outnumbered fleet can use this skill in each
turn.
    
    
    2. The Knowledge The ships crews have studied enemy vessels and can
use one hit as a needle beam shot after damage. Roll 1d6 and a 6 allows
a pre designated system to be destroyed. The range of the firing weapon
is not affected by use of the Knowledge skill.
    
    
    3. Escapers The ships crew are fanatic and cannot be captured on the
Serious Damage table but they can be taken by boarding in battle.
    
    
    4. Evade The ships computer operates advanced evasion programmes.
All incoming fire receives a -1 modifier to hit. Only Escorts and
Cruisers can use this technology.
    
    
    5. Infiltration The ship can be placed after enemy vessels set up so
long as it is out of range of ITs own weapons systems.
    
    
    6. Hold Back This ship does not have to enter the battle immediately
but can join on any edge after move 3. Roll a d6 before movement but
after your orders are written, indicating the edge and exact position
where you wish the vessel to appear. 1-4 the ship appears as ordered. On
a 5 it appears on the exact opposite position. On a 6 it appears in the
dead (!) centre of the table!
    
    
    Table 3 Techno Skill(1d6)
    
    
    1. Back-Up! One Fire-control system can be doubled up to provide an
additional free fire con. This does not cost hull boxes and is free,
adding nothing to the ships total cost.
    
    
    2. Riggers These skilled fixers are able to fit Capital ship
weaponry onto Cruisers where the necessary Hull Boxes are available.
They can fit Fighters, Nova and Wave guns and AA Btys.
    
    
    3. Metalworkers This vessel can repair 1 damaged hull box per
campaign turn but only for this vessel. 
    
    
    4. Stealth Scan This vessel may scan two enemy vessels and is not
itself revealed on the table. Additionally, if scanned the player can
state it is a larger or smaller vessel than it really is. 
    
    
    5. Elite DCP Reroll SDT result. Must accept the second roll.
    
    
    6. Advanced Jump Drive Jump Drive enables vessel to attempt
difficult jumps modified +2 on the die. 
    
    
    Table 4 Fighters Skill(1d6)
    
    Randomly generate the type of fighter for each skill gained on the
CV, so if a Chaff skill is obtained for Torpedo fighters then only Torp
Figs can use the skill. Any number of new Figs purchased can use the
skill if of the appropriate type.
    
    
    1. Booster Add 6cm to the movement if this will bring the Fighters
into attack range. 
    
    
    2. Large Group One Group starts with 9 fighters instead of normal 6
ships.
    
    
    3. Chaff One type can ignore PDAF, ADAF, C Bty & Scattergun fire on
1st attack!
    
    
    4. Flares One type can ignore losses in first dogfight!
    
    
    5. Killer Squadron One type (your choice) get +1 in dogfighting.
    
    
    6. Avoidance One type can jump out of dogfights on 1d6 roll of 4+.
    
    
    Table 5 Marine Skills(1d8)
    
    
    1. Free Cadre Receive one free squad of Marines. No Hull boxes are
required for this specialist unit of crack marines.
    
    
    2. Escapers If your attacking marines fail to capture an enemy
vessel they are rescued from destruction through their special equipment
and training and all return to their own ship. 
    
    3. Jump Ready These Marines attack without written orders but ship
cannot fire that go.
    
    
    4. Sonicscreen Your ship may activate a sonic screen which stops all
boarding actions against it unless any boarding vessel(s) have used
noise dampners. Sonicscreens are shown on the ship diagram and can be
destroyed due to threshold hits. They do need hull box space.
    
    
    5. Noisedampers Your marine attack is not affected by enemy
Sonicscreens on a D6 roll of 3+. On a result of 1 or 2 the Marines are
lost (take off vessels records. Dampers do not take up space.
    
    
    6. Killer Reputation Your ships marines are greatly feared. Roll 1d6
and on a 5+ the defenders surrender immediately that the Marines board
their ship
    
    
    7. Nerves of Steel Your defending crew are never overawed by a
Killer Reputation & get 1 extra die when attacked in any boarding
action.
    
    
    8. Self Destruct If your ship is captured by enemy boarding action
or due to a SDT result the Captain may destroy the vessel rather than
let it be captured by throwing below his Ldr rating!
    
    Table 6 Various Skills(1d10)
    
    
    1. Self Sealing Hull Any hit which would cause the loss of Hull
Boxes can be saved on a D6 roll of 6as soon as incoming fire from each
firing vessel finishes. Multiple damage is repairable by throwing one
die per hit received.
    
    
    2. Avoidance This skill enhances the In rating allowing you to
double your In rating to avoid ramming or boarding actions. 
    
    
    3. Souped Up This vessel can use twice its normal drive rating for
increasing or decreasing its current velocity.
    
    
    4. Super Manoeuvre Use the normal drive rating for the ship but it
is now able to turn as per a Kra-Vak vessel! .NB. If the drives are ever
destroyed the skill is lost permanently! 
    
    
    5. Armoured Jump Drive The Jump Drive cannot be lost to threshold
roles allowing this vessel to jump safely if the fleet falis a Ldr role.

    
    
    6. Iron Will The Commanding vessel in an action may use this skill
if appropriate to allow a re-roll of a failed bottle roll. The
commanding vessel is always the ship with the highest Ldr rating not
necessarily ships that have this skill.
    
    
    7. Protected Systems The vessel never rolls for morale or damage on
losing its first line on a Threshold roll but does for subsequent
threshold lines being reached.
    
    
    8. Repair Robots All rolls by Damage Control Parties receive a +1
thereby repairing damage on a 5+ for each system rolled for. 
    
    
    9. Reconfigure A ship with this skill may alter 1d6 Escort Class
ships allowing them to receive A Btys and Mk.3 Railguns. Only one ship
per turn can be altered and the new systems must be prepurchased before
work starts. Having purchased the weaponry, roll a D3 for the number of
systems that can be placed into the Escort. Once a vessel has been
reconfigured you may not add further A Btys or Mk.3 Railguns as this
would weaken the structural integrity too much.
    
    NB. Only one vessel in a fleet may have this skill at any one time.
    
    
    10. Deep Burn If a hit from a ship with this skill causes a
Threshold Roll a flash fire rips through the ships older weapon systems
wiring. All common weapon systems which are lost as a result of a
threshold roll are permanently destroyed and are crossed off the ship
diagram. They can be removed and replaced at full cost at a later date.
The hull boxes are not affected. This Deep Burn effect skill only
affects A,B & C Btys, PDAFs, basic fighters, fire-cons and sub munition
packs. Any Drives damaged must be repaired at normal cost before full
repair can be completed.
    
    
    Boarding
    
    1. Declare a boarding attempt (Ba) on your turn record sheet (unless
Jump Ready skill available.) Once written the ship may NOT fire any
offensive weaponry but may keep screens up as they have no affect.
    
    
    2. Before any fire combat is resolved any ship may attempt to
manouvre using its Th rating.
    
    
    3. During the combat phase you may declare that your ship is
boarding and use that as your fire phase. The boarding action takes
place after all fire combat is complete but record the current state of
the vessels involved as this is used to calculate the relative ship
strengths.
    
    
    3. Target vessels may use their In rating to try to avoid being
boarded.
    
    
    4. Throw 1d6 for each 8 intact hull boxes rounding up. (A Min 1 die
is allowed even if crippled or escort class). Throw 1d6 for each Marine
Squad available and total all die. You may reroll poor die rolls to the
total of your CQ skill. These second rolls must be accepted even if
worse than first roll.
    
    
    5. If the boarders score is twice that of the defender the ship is
captured in tact. If not then half of the attacking Marine Squads are
destroyed. (Round losses down).
    
    There is more but I will await the reaction to this first. One new
weapon system we have is the bullet fighter similar to Jaanese kamikaze
planes but these are as yet untied in combat!
    
    
    
    Hope the above is useful. Provided free!