Amber Chancer
SOC-12
I dislike House Rules, by and large, and try to stay within the canon rules (even if not the canon setting and explanations - some of which I think are bunkum!).
However, occasionally, there is a need to supplement the rules to fill a gap, or to provide something which the players want and the rules don't cater for. And of course, part of the role of the referee is to come up with working solutions and rulings to provide the kit that the players need, that logically ought to exist, but which the rules don't provide for.
One thing that has always struck as unsatisfactory about HG combat is the lack of battlefield intelligence at the outset of any encounter. Literally all you know about the opponent's fleet, before you start firing on one another, is the relative sizes of their ships one to another. Yet sci-fi is FULL of scanning devices of various kinds which enable a ship to find out something about its adversary; and modern technology provides all sorts of devices by which intelligence on an opposing force can be gathered before battle commences. We need some rules!
What follows is my first stab at some rules; and I should be grateful if a few people would play test them and feed back on how they find them. I am happy with the basic concepts of what I have drawn up. What I need is practical experience of the balance. Do my devices draw so much energy that it is better to go blind, for instance? Cost too much (or too little) for the benefit they convey? Are they so powerful that using them is an absolute no-brainer? Are they too heavy for what they do, by comparison with other ship-board devices. Any and all views on these questions are of interest to me.
I want to fine-tune these rules until they are creating genuine ship-design quandaries. Should I have one? If so, should I have the highest factor I can have at my tech level, or settle on something less? In a tightly-packed warship, what should I leave out to make room for it? Those are the sorts of questions I want the rules to prompt.
So, as I say... please trial these rules, and let me know what you think to them
Sensor Arrays
Early battlefield intelligence is often the key to success or failure, and in space combat it is no different. Know your enemy is a key maxim. Detection technology is key to 21st century warfare, and is likely to remain so in the future. It features in most space-going science fiction, and it should feature in Traveller, too. In High Guard combat, all a player knows about the opposing force when battle is joined is the size sequence of the ships in the opposing line. He only discovers what weapons they are packing when they start firing on him; he only discovers what agility and computer size they have when he starts firing on them; and he only discovers what defences carry when he has scored a hit and has to roll for penetration or on the damage tables. Much of this information would have been of great assistance in determining his targets in the opening round of combat; and these rules give players a means of finding out a little more about the ships of the opposing force before they open fire.
Space craft may be fitted with sensor arrays, which are mounted in weapons bays. They may be fitted with as few or as many sensor bays as the designer wishes. Ships without sensor arrays may also be retro-fitted with sensor arrays by removing one or more weapon bays. “Sensors” are a generic concept, covering all manner of active and passive devices for detecting and analysing physical and energy use details about another space craft. It is unnecessary to descend into the specifics.
Sensor arrays count as an additional weapon type for weapon damage rules. The number of sensor arrays which may be brought to bear is limited by the ship size in the same manner as any other weapon type. A separate note should be made on the USP ship profile of the number and factor of the ship’s sensor arrays, and the number which may be brought to bear. Unlike weapon systems, a ship IS permitted to mix 50-ton and 100-ton sensor arrays, and if it does so, careful note should be made of its abilities.
Sensor arrays are treated like any other weapons bays for the purposes of determining a ship’s crew requirement.
50T bays cost MCr25 and consume 20EP
100T bays cost MCr50 and consume 35EP
The USP factor of the sensor arrays fitted is determined as follows:
50 Ton Bay:
N/A @TL 9 & 10
Factor-1 @ TL11
Factor-2 @ TL12
Factor-3 @ TL13
Factor-4 @ TL14
Factor-5 @ TL15
100T Bay:
Factor-1 @ TL-9
Factor-2 @ TL-10
Factor-4 @ TL-11
Factor-6 @ TL-12
Factor-7 @ TL-13
Factor-8 @ TL-14
Factor-9 @ TL-15
Sensor Arrays may never operate at a factor in excess of the ship’s computer number. If a ship has, say, Sensor factor-8 but computer factor-6, then its sensor array(s) will function at factor-6
Modification to High Guard combat sequence
An additional step is introduced to the Starship Combat sequence, between the Range Determination Step and the Pre-Combat Decision Step. This is the Sensor Scanning step. The players take it in turn (the player with the initiative choosing whether to go first or second) to scan opposing ships with their sensor arrays. Ships have not been sorted into a battle line and a reserve at this stage; but they should be arrayed in order of size in order to facilitate the process.
The scanning player announces, in respect of each of the opposing ships in turn, whether it is being scanned, and if so with what scanning factor. His opponent then tells him all of the information about that ship which is revealed by scanning at the relevant factor and range, as shown below.
LONG RANGE
Factor
1. Ship size code
2. Whether streamlined, partial or unstreamlined
3. Whether any added armour
4. Power Plant number
5. Whether equipped with Nuclear Damper and/or Meson Screen
6. Types of weapon mounts (spinal, bays, barbettes / turrents)
7. Number of computers on board
8. Whether equipped with Meson and/or Particle Accelerator weaponry
9. Crew code and whether any low berths on board
SHORT RANGE
Factor
1. Exact tonnage
2. Configuration code
3. Armour factor
4. M-drive number, Agility and Emergency Agility
5. Nuclear Damper factor & Meson Screen factor
6. # of 100T bays, 50T bays, barbettes and turrets
7. Factors of all computers on board
8. Factors of Meson and Particle Accelerator weaponry
9.Exact complement, and number of low berths
All factors are cumulative. Thus, a factor-4 sensor scan will reveal all the information which would have been revealed by factor-1, 2 and 3 sensor scans as well as the information revealed by a factor-4 sensor scan. Scanning at short range will reveal all of the information shown for the relevant factor in the Short Range column as well as all of the information shown for that factor in the Long Range column.
The player whose ship is being scanned is entitled to know which ship is doing the scanning; and he may draw such conclusions as he sees fit from this information.
It is to be assumed that all space craft are capable of keeping track of opposing vessels in a combat situation. A player may not, therefore, attempt to deceive his opponent into scanning the same vessel twice in successive turns by shuffling the order of identically-sized ships in his line. If he has, say, three 8,000 ton ships in his line, then he must always present them in the same order (this is best achieved by adopting a convention of, say, always presenting all identically-sized ships in alphabetical order of ship name).
However, occasionally, there is a need to supplement the rules to fill a gap, or to provide something which the players want and the rules don't cater for. And of course, part of the role of the referee is to come up with working solutions and rulings to provide the kit that the players need, that logically ought to exist, but which the rules don't provide for.
One thing that has always struck as unsatisfactory about HG combat is the lack of battlefield intelligence at the outset of any encounter. Literally all you know about the opponent's fleet, before you start firing on one another, is the relative sizes of their ships one to another. Yet sci-fi is FULL of scanning devices of various kinds which enable a ship to find out something about its adversary; and modern technology provides all sorts of devices by which intelligence on an opposing force can be gathered before battle commences. We need some rules!
What follows is my first stab at some rules; and I should be grateful if a few people would play test them and feed back on how they find them. I am happy with the basic concepts of what I have drawn up. What I need is practical experience of the balance. Do my devices draw so much energy that it is better to go blind, for instance? Cost too much (or too little) for the benefit they convey? Are they so powerful that using them is an absolute no-brainer? Are they too heavy for what they do, by comparison with other ship-board devices. Any and all views on these questions are of interest to me.
I want to fine-tune these rules until they are creating genuine ship-design quandaries. Should I have one? If so, should I have the highest factor I can have at my tech level, or settle on something less? In a tightly-packed warship, what should I leave out to make room for it? Those are the sorts of questions I want the rules to prompt.
So, as I say... please trial these rules, and let me know what you think to them
Sensor Arrays
Early battlefield intelligence is often the key to success or failure, and in space combat it is no different. Know your enemy is a key maxim. Detection technology is key to 21st century warfare, and is likely to remain so in the future. It features in most space-going science fiction, and it should feature in Traveller, too. In High Guard combat, all a player knows about the opposing force when battle is joined is the size sequence of the ships in the opposing line. He only discovers what weapons they are packing when they start firing on him; he only discovers what agility and computer size they have when he starts firing on them; and he only discovers what defences carry when he has scored a hit and has to roll for penetration or on the damage tables. Much of this information would have been of great assistance in determining his targets in the opening round of combat; and these rules give players a means of finding out a little more about the ships of the opposing force before they open fire.
Space craft may be fitted with sensor arrays, which are mounted in weapons bays. They may be fitted with as few or as many sensor bays as the designer wishes. Ships without sensor arrays may also be retro-fitted with sensor arrays by removing one or more weapon bays. “Sensors” are a generic concept, covering all manner of active and passive devices for detecting and analysing physical and energy use details about another space craft. It is unnecessary to descend into the specifics.
Sensor arrays count as an additional weapon type for weapon damage rules. The number of sensor arrays which may be brought to bear is limited by the ship size in the same manner as any other weapon type. A separate note should be made on the USP ship profile of the number and factor of the ship’s sensor arrays, and the number which may be brought to bear. Unlike weapon systems, a ship IS permitted to mix 50-ton and 100-ton sensor arrays, and if it does so, careful note should be made of its abilities.
Sensor arrays are treated like any other weapons bays for the purposes of determining a ship’s crew requirement.
50T bays cost MCr25 and consume 20EP
100T bays cost MCr50 and consume 35EP
The USP factor of the sensor arrays fitted is determined as follows:
50 Ton Bay:
N/A @TL 9 & 10
Factor-1 @ TL11
Factor-2 @ TL12
Factor-3 @ TL13
Factor-4 @ TL14
Factor-5 @ TL15
100T Bay:
Factor-1 @ TL-9
Factor-2 @ TL-10
Factor-4 @ TL-11
Factor-6 @ TL-12
Factor-7 @ TL-13
Factor-8 @ TL-14
Factor-9 @ TL-15
Sensor Arrays may never operate at a factor in excess of the ship’s computer number. If a ship has, say, Sensor factor-8 but computer factor-6, then its sensor array(s) will function at factor-6
Modification to High Guard combat sequence
An additional step is introduced to the Starship Combat sequence, between the Range Determination Step and the Pre-Combat Decision Step. This is the Sensor Scanning step. The players take it in turn (the player with the initiative choosing whether to go first or second) to scan opposing ships with their sensor arrays. Ships have not been sorted into a battle line and a reserve at this stage; but they should be arrayed in order of size in order to facilitate the process.
The scanning player announces, in respect of each of the opposing ships in turn, whether it is being scanned, and if so with what scanning factor. His opponent then tells him all of the information about that ship which is revealed by scanning at the relevant factor and range, as shown below.
LONG RANGE
Factor
1. Ship size code
2. Whether streamlined, partial or unstreamlined
3. Whether any added armour
4. Power Plant number
5. Whether equipped with Nuclear Damper and/or Meson Screen
6. Types of weapon mounts (spinal, bays, barbettes / turrents)
7. Number of computers on board
8. Whether equipped with Meson and/or Particle Accelerator weaponry
9. Crew code and whether any low berths on board
SHORT RANGE
Factor
1. Exact tonnage
2. Configuration code
3. Armour factor
4. M-drive number, Agility and Emergency Agility
5. Nuclear Damper factor & Meson Screen factor
6. # of 100T bays, 50T bays, barbettes and turrets
7. Factors of all computers on board
8. Factors of Meson and Particle Accelerator weaponry
9.Exact complement, and number of low berths
All factors are cumulative. Thus, a factor-4 sensor scan will reveal all the information which would have been revealed by factor-1, 2 and 3 sensor scans as well as the information revealed by a factor-4 sensor scan. Scanning at short range will reveal all of the information shown for the relevant factor in the Short Range column as well as all of the information shown for that factor in the Long Range column.
The player whose ship is being scanned is entitled to know which ship is doing the scanning; and he may draw such conclusions as he sees fit from this information.
It is to be assumed that all space craft are capable of keeping track of opposing vessels in a combat situation. A player may not, therefore, attempt to deceive his opponent into scanning the same vessel twice in successive turns by shuffling the order of identically-sized ships in his line. If he has, say, three 8,000 ton ships in his line, then he must always present them in the same order (this is best achieved by adopting a convention of, say, always presenting all identically-sized ships in alphabetical order of ship name).
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