Re: Heavy Beam Notes and 2nd draft

G'day Schoon,

>It should let people know what's going on in my tiny little brian.

Or not so timy ;)

>BPS Pricing: the log scale doesn't work. Since range is the same
regardless
>of the class of BPS, it is a linear system. In other words, a Class 3
is 3
>times better than a Class 1, not 8 times better.

With you so far.

>BE Pricing: same story. Three BEs are only 3 times as effective as 1
(by
>the increase in arc area). However, a BE attached to a Class 3 is also
3
>times as deadly as a BE attached to a Class 1, so this NEEDS to be
factored
>in.

Oops now you lost me! The BE just directs whats stored in the capacitor
so
if you factor it into the capacitor then you don't need to factor it
into
the BE as well IMHO.

>The BPS is a combination of generator, capacitor, and discharger that
can
>store a number of Energy Points (EPs) up to twice its class rating. It
can
>discharge any number of stored EPs through any given Emitter.

Now we really are parting company <Schoon breaths sigh of relief> just
for
ease of remembering I'd keep it that the BPS class = number of dice it
can
hold.

>The BPS generates power at the beginning of each turn,

Still with you on this one.

>When taking damage and a BPS fails a threshold check, they are not
>automatically knocked out of commission. Instead, they are treated in
much
>the same manner as drives: the first hit halves the capacity of the
system..
>The second hit destroys the system and inflicts an additional number of
>damage points equal to the number of EPs
>currently stored in the BPS

Can live with that <your right probably will makes things go faster too>

>Beam Power System:
>Class 1	4 MASS	12 POINT COST
>Class 2	8 MASS	24 POINT COST
>Class 3	12 MASS 48 POINT COST

Shouldn't that be 36 points?

>EPs must be channeled through a Beam Emitter. Each BE is linked to a
single
>BPS, and may make use of any EPs stored therein.

Yep that's how we play it too.

>The BE must also be of the
>same class rating as the BPS in able to handle the power load channeled
>through it....
>Beam Emitter:
>Class 1	1 MASS	3 POINT COST
>Class 2	2 MASS	6 POINT COST
>Class 3	3 MASS	9 POINT COST

Now we're parting company again... 
I guess if you keep to your EP=2*rating then this is OK, though I'm
inclined to say still too high. I don't have my FT stuff with me for
comparisons sake right now, but how does this compare to P-trops and
Waveguns? 

<Aside/>
Not that I want to start talking at cross purposes either, but lets just
say you go back to rating = max number EP (for slow people like me who
get
confused easy) then paying 45 points (assuming 36+9) for 3D6 which get
-1
per 6" just seems an awful lot (but my opinion may change once I see how
expensive P-torps are).
</Aside>

I just think that BE should just be a straight system with no associated
class - that comes from the BPS. If you do want to get into classes then
I'd suggest more along the lines of EFSB 

Young races (Narn/Earth) BE can only take max of 6 dice = your class 1
cost
etc
Older races (Minbari) BE can take 12 dice = your class 2 cost etc
First Ones (Shadows etc) can take 18 (or 24 or whatever) dice = your
class 3

And then mix and match so, for arguments sake I buy class 12 BPS <and
not
much else cos I just bankrupted the economy ;)> but only attach it to
some
class 1 BEs (cos I'm Narn) then all I can pump through each is 6 EP. But
if
I went and got a couple of class 2 BE instead (presumably with bump head
gear to match) then I can put 12 dice through each. If I went one step
further and got a class 3 BE then I could put all my dice through that
one
projector (OK most people would probably use smaller combinations incase
of
thresholds, but just imagine we're building a Shadow ship).

I agree that these systems need to be costed well, but I also think the
less change from EFSB the better - St Jon^3 seems to have got it pretty
right there and it should take much to bring them across.

Anyway thats just my 2 razoos of erratic rambling.

Keep up the good work and thanks

Beth

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
GPO Box 1538
HOBART 
TASMANIA 7001
AUSTRALIA
Phone (03) 6232 5018 International +61 3 6232 5018
Fax 03 6232 5053 International +61 3 6232 5053

email: beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au