Re: [FT] Shields and Screens

John C wrote:

> As a part of my ongoing,
> never-to-be-finished-or-even-put-into-a-playble-form, personal
universe,
> I've been working on ideas for Shields (as opposed to screens) for FT.
> Standard screens (at least in MY Universe, and yes, the skies are
> awfully pretty there) are essentially intense magnetic fields, capable
> of deflecting plasma or particle beams under ideal circumstances.
> Ideal, in other words, for the relatively low-tech Terrans.  My
> Imperials, on the other hand, have access to better, more effective,
> technology.  I was originally going to represent this by allowing them
> to use Class 3 screens, but the current discussion shields and
hardened
> systems has led to an entirely different idea.

> Submitted for your (dis)approval: Shield Generators.	(Please forgive

> the disjointed nature of these notes--this is all very impromptu.)
>			       *****
> Shield Generators are rated anywhere from 1 to 6 points; this rating
is
> equal to the amount of damage that the shield can absorb each turn.
>
> ANY damage that a ship suffers from an attack is first applied to its
> shields, regardless of the source of this damage.
>
> A successful Needle Beam attack against a shielded ship will do One
> point of damage to the shield.
>
> Each point of damage that a shield stops reduces its strength by one
> point.
>
> Any damage that exceeds the shield rating is applied to the ship, as
> normal.
>
> Every time that a shield's rating is exceeded, the Shield Generator
must
> make a threshold check.  If this check is failed, the generator goes
> down, and must be repaired before it can function again--Damage
Control
> parties will be capable of these repairs.
>
> Any shield that has a functioning Shield Generator may attempt to
> regenerate its shields-this attempt occurs at the beginning of the
turn,
> before Orders are written.
>
> To regenerate a shield, the player must roll one die.
>	  1-2 One Point is recovered.
>	  3-4 Two Points are recovered.
>	  5-6 Three Points are recovered.
>
> And that's it.  Simple, eh?
>
> Class one shields would be pretty useless, but the higher ratings
could
> be pretty effective, I think.
>
> I can certainly see making use of directional shields, but I don't
think
> that I would want to be bothered with the resulting paperwork.  But
> that's just me.  Does the basic idea seem workable, though?  I'd want
to
> add a row of boxes to the SSD to help keep track of the current shield
> strength, or perhaps just add a d6 to each shielded ship's base, but
> that should be all of the extra effort that you would need.
>
> John Crimmins
>
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Your shield generators sounds good.  I just might use them on my own
ships...when I get the fleet book!  (my local hobby store is trying to
order
it, but the two distributors they deal with order from Geohex when they
feel
like it...)

Some questions to ponder:
How big are they?  How about 2 for strength 1, 4 spaces for strength 2,
then
8, 12,16, 20 for 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectivly.
How much do they cost?
 What happens if someone mounted two?
 Would the second only come up after the first went down?
 Or could they operate togather, adding their strengths?
 Does an operating shield attempt to stop everything, or only "energy"
weapons? (a la starwars)?

Donald Hosford