Re: [FT] The Sa'Vasku

At 08:15 AM 12/7/98 -0800, you wrote:
>John C <john1x@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>>     I: Select mass.
>>     II: Subtract x% of mass, designated as "Brain".	This takes the
>>place of human Firecons, among other functions.
>>     III: Subtract y% of mass, designated as the ship's "Heart".  This
>>is the organ that absorbs/manipulates energy, and takes the place of
>>human screens, again among other functions.
>>     IV: Add armor, if desired.  Organic armor, being less tough than
>>the artificial variety, costs half as much, but masses twice as much.
>>     V: Buy nodes, from the following list (for details of weapon
>>functions, see below).
>
>I haven't had time to read this entire post, but why add nodes?
>
>The S'V could choose any function for their ships if they had enough
energy
>for it, and I see no reason to change that. Adding functions? Sure. The
>basic mechanic, however, was an exchange between energy and any given
>function.
>
>
>Schoon
>

The basic mechanic, interesting though it is, is very flawed.  Have you
ever played a game with the SV?  I like the way they work, and will
probably adapt it somewhere along the line, but they are not suitable
for a
large game.  Rolling and allocating power factors for fifty different
ships
(the size of my fleet) is just too slow a process.  Eliminating the use
of
power factors speeds up play considerably, while the addition of
different
systems helps maintain the alien flavor.

Which, for the record, is kinda minty.

John X Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
  "...is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian.
They control information.  Don't ever piss one off."
  --Spider Robinson, The Callahan Touch.