| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Fallon Kell
Commodore
Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1846
Location: Tacoma, WA
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:25 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| Dromdarr_Alark wrote: | | You could just give it a simple repulsor system to keep asteroids from hitting it. |
True, but the lasers also serve the purpose of starfighter point defense if the ion trap cannot be fired at the moment.
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier
Complete Starship Construction System |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Dromdarr_Alark
Commander
Joined: 07 Apr 2013
Posts: 426
Location: Boston, MA
|
| Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I think that the empire valued cost-efficiency over effectiveness. I don't think they would invest the money to mass-produce an ion mine that would have equipped laser cannons (which would require an advanced droid brain and targeting computer as well). Having it be a single-function device seems more practical to me.
Remember, in the SW military, contracts go to the lowest bidders.
_________________
"I still wouldn't have a roll for it - but that's just how I roll." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14267
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| DougRed4 wrote: | | So it hits anything starfighter sized; what about capital sized or freighters? |
It hits anything.. cap or SF scale.. but remembering the damage values, its why i said "most likely shutting down any starfighter"..
| DougRed4 wrote: |
Also, what about ships that have false transponder codes? If the BoSS registry shows it as just a regular, old, commercial freighter, I suppose it won't detonate, right? |
If the codes are registered with BOSS as good to go, then no it won't burst.
Unless that "List" happens to be a "Watch out for/capture" list.
| DougRed4 wrote: | One last question (for now):
How does one figure out what range the device is at, when a ship (presumably the PC's) triggers it? |
It waits till 1 of 3 conditions hit.
1) target approaches in the short range blast zone
2) target ship attempts to flee
3) target ship fires on device.
| Esoomian wrote: |
So the shields make it more difficult to detect and also make it more resistant to damage? That seems a bit much. Camoflage/sensor baffling shields make sense but I would assume they wouldn't offer much protection. I'd give it both sets of shields but only allow it to use one at a time. |
The sky blind ship (scouts) book, has the same system, and those work for both sensor and damage resistance..
| Esoomian wrote: |
How does it get it's list updates? Can someone use communications skills to send false updates and repurpose it to stun imperial ships or something to that effect?
|
Encrypted comm bursts usually 1/week or so. So yes someone COULD attempt to hack in, but they would
A) have to be close (short range)
B) be on the authorized BoSS list of ships to be close
C) crack the encryption AND
D) even know that said lists ARE updated.
| Esoomian wrote: |
I assume it has a droid brain or something similar. How does it respond to a ship (that is not on it's list) attempting to salvage it or shooting at it? |
See above.. any hostile act causes charge up and burst (and since its blast ranges are more than most ships weapon ranges, they would be in range).
| Esoomian wrote: |
How does it react to two (or more) ships on it's list if they are too far apart to get both? Does it have some sort of priority system? |
Charge up and blast to get most. Priority would come into play.
A capture ship would be blasted on over a 'look out for' ship. Though if the look out for ship was the only one that got close enough to be 'blasted on' then it gets hit.
| Esoomian wrote: |
What if it detects a ship without an ID (say a homemade vessel that isn't registered anywhere and is just used in deep space... The same way some off road bikes or demo-derby cars aren't road legal but can still be towed/transported to private events and used there)? |
Blasts.. Since i picture these as being placed in areas people are not supposed to be in just for 'joy riding', then anyone there without id/false id/wrong id gets blasted, the locals can then come in and pick up the shut down ship and find out whats up.
| Esoomian wrote: |
Does it have distress call facilities if it is damaged but not destroyed? |
IMO they would be part n parcel of the device's call back capacity when it pulses out.
| Fallon Kell wrote: | | Looks pretty good. I'd consider adding a pair of blaster turrets for point defense (especially against meteoroids), and putting a charge time on the mine. Otherwise the thing could disable Death Squadron in a few turns. I can see players snatching one and just spamming the zap button... |
It has maneuvering thrusters to keep it safe from meteroids (along with sihelds), and it already has a charge time.
Detection to detonation takes 3 rounds of charging. From pulse out to charged enough to pulse a 2nd time is 6 additional rounds.. So it can pulse twice in a 9 round period.. 3 times in 15 rounds.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Esoomian
High Admiral
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 6207
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| garhkal wrote: | | Esoomian wrote: |
So the shields make it more difficult to detect and also make it more resistant to damage? That seems a bit much. Camoflage/sensor baffling shields make sense but I would assume they wouldn't offer much protection. I'd give it both sets of shields but only allow it to use one at a time. |
The sky blind ship (scouts) book, has the same system, and those work for both sensor and damage resistance.. |
Ah I wasn't aware such a technology already exists. It still seems like it'd be less cost effective than having the shields either disguise or protect it but it really depends on how many of these things are being purchased.
| garhkal wrote: | | Esoomian wrote: |
How does it get it's list updates? Can someone use communications skills to send false updates and repurpose it to stun imperial ships or something to that effect?
|
Encrypted comm bursts usually 1/week or so. So yes someone COULD attempt to hack in, but they would
A) have to be close (short range)
B) be on the authorized BoSS list of ships to be close
C) crack the encryption AND
D) even know that said lists ARE updated. |
If the device can send a signal back to the nearest base to notify someone that it has stunned a ship surely signals can be transmitted to the device from a similar range.
| garhkal wrote: | | Fallon Kell wrote: | | Looks pretty good. I'd consider adding a pair of blaster turrets for point defense (especially against meteoroids), and putting a charge time on the mine. Otherwise the thing could disable Death Squadron in a few turns. I can see players snatching one and just spamming the zap button... |
It has maneuvering thrusters to keep it safe from meteroids (along with shields), |
It has a move rating but no dice in the skill that would be required to move it around. That combined with it's lack of manuverability would mean that it fails any pilot rolls it is forced to make. I'd give it 2D in some pilot based skill so it can move through open space easily enough but can't navigate an asteroid field or anything like that.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.
Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14267
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 12:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | | If the device can send a signal back to the nearest base to notify someone that it has stunned a ship surely signals can be transmitted to the device from a similar range. |
Not necessarily. Perhaps it only has a transiever for short ranges, but a more powerful transmitter that does not receive.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Esoomian
High Admiral
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 6207
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 3:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Interesting, I always thing of receivers as being akin to aerials so as long as the signal is strong enough by the time it reaches the receiver it is able to be received.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.
Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14267
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 12:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
Its not the aerial you need to worry about, but the capacity of the receiver itself?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Esoomian
High Admiral
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 6207
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 4:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Perhaps though that concept just doesn't sit right in my head. In my mind they're like radios.
They don't care where the signal comes from just so long as by the time it reaches them the signal is strong enough to be understood. That way you don't need some sort of system that evaluates the signal to determine where it comes from.
If it is just a fragility thing (the device can only handle signals below a certain strength) then high powered distress calls might destroy the receiver and leave the mine unable to be updated.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.
Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14267
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Being i am a comm tech by trade, the receiver is where your reception signal strength matters. Just cause you have the large antenna means squat, other than you can get more frequencies in.
So the mine is set to receive a set freq at a set power level (means you have to be close to it), so IF the pcs can some how find that out, find the freq and power level (and no its not just make me a comms roll), AND can get close enough to not be 'pulsed on' so they can try the freq, then they MAY try and input other ships.. MAY!!! Having the specific encryp is also needed.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Esoomian
High Admiral
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 6207
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| garhkal wrote: | Being i am a comm tech by trade, the receiver is where your reception signal strength matters. Just cause you have the large antenna means squat, other than you can get more frequencies in.
So the mine is set to receive a set freq at a set power level (means you have to be close to it), so IF the pcs can some how find that out, find the freq and power level (and no its not just make me a comms roll), AND can get close enough to not be 'pulsed on' so they can try the freq, then they MAY try and input other ships.. MAY!!! Having the specific encryp is also needed. |
Doesn't that mean you could still use a stronger signal from further away so that by the time the signal reaches the mine it is at the right strength?
I'm not trying to suggest it is something PCs could improvise easily but PCs who perhaps used to work in/with the BOSS (ex towies perhaps) or even PCs who have been stung before and start doing some research.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.
Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fallon Kell
Commodore
Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1846
Location: Tacoma, WA
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Esoomian wrote: | | garhkal wrote: | Being i am a comm tech by trade, the receiver is where your reception signal strength matters. Just cause you have the large antenna means squat, other than you can get more frequencies in.
So the mine is set to receive a set freq at a set power level (means you have to be close to it), so IF the pcs can some how find that out, find the freq and power level (and no its not just make me a comms roll), AND can get close enough to not be 'pulsed on' so they can try the freq, then they MAY try and input other ships.. MAY!!! Having the specific encryp is also needed. |
Doesn't that mean you could still use a stronger signal from further away so that by the time the signal reaches the mine it is at the right strength?
I'm not trying to suggest it is something PCs could improvise easily but PCs who perhaps used to work in/with the BOSS (ex towies perhaps) or even PCs who have been stung before and start doing some research. |
That's what I would think, too. Regulate recieved power with a high power transmitter and use the inverse square law to pare it down to the target range.
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier
Complete Starship Construction System |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16359
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I know I'm coming late to the discussion, but this bears a lot of similarities to the Empion bombs utilized by Warlord Zsinj's forces in the Wraith Squadron trilogy. Weren't those bombs equipped with things like hyperwave transceivers that sent out a signal immediately prior to detonation, so that the minelayers would know they had caught something? A simple one-off burst transmitter that fires off a signal to the nearest holonet transceiver a nano second before detonation is not outside the realm of possibility.
As an aside, g, have you considered a variable fused ion blast? Specifically, an ion blast that conforms to the optimum mode necessary for the target it is engaging? A spherical blast would be good for catching multiple targets at close range, but the energy would be dispersed over a wide area, and disperse relatively quickly. Perhaps the mine could configure the warhead for a spherical blast when engaging multiple small targets (like starfighters), a conical blast for small capital ships, and a linear blast for the big ships? Just a thought.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Esoomian
High Admiral
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 6207
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| crmcneill wrote: | | I know I'm coming late to the discussion, but this bears a lot of similarities to the Empion bombs utilized by Warlord Zsinj's forces in the Wraith Squadron trilogy. Weren't those bombs equipped with things like hyperwave transceivers that sent out a signal immediately prior to detonation, so that the minelayers would know they had caught something? A simple one-off burst transmitter that fires off a signal to the nearest holonet transceiver a nano second before detonation is not outside the realm of possibility. |
As I recall those bombs detonated while the targets were in hyperspace and they were a one use bomb so you didn't need to worry about recovering the bomb or transmitting stop codes to the bomb to allow someone to maintain the bomb or adjust the list of potential targets. It was just a case of denying people certain hyperspace routes.
Garhkal’s concept (to me) seems a little different. The Empion bombs only needed to look for targets, send a signal and detonate. Garhkal needs his devices to look for ships, decide if they’re targets, send a signal, stun the target and listen for potential target updates.
| crmcneill wrote: | | As an aside, g, have you considered a variable fused ion blast? Specifically, an ion blast that conforms to the optimum mode necessary for the target it is engaging? A spherical blast would be good for catching multiple targets at close range, but the energy would be dispersed over a wide area, and disperse relatively quickly. Perhaps the mine could configure the warhead for a spherical blast when engaging multiple small targets (like starfighters), a conical blast for small capital ships, and a linear blast for the big ships? Just a thought. |
Anything other than a spherical attack wave means that his mines will need a gunnery skill to determine if it hits or misses. With a sphere the only important thing is range.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.
Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16359
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Esoomian wrote: | As I recall those bombs detonated while the targets were in hyperspace and they were a one use bomb so you didn't need to worry about recovering the bomb or transmitting stop codes to the bomb to allow someone to maintain the bomb or adjust the list of potential targets. It was just a case of denying people certain hyperspace routes.
Garhkal’s concept (to me) seems a little different. The Empion bombs only needed to look for targets, send a signal and detonate. Garhkal needs his devices to look for ships, decide if they’re targets, send a signal, stun the target and listen for potential target updates. |
They did, however, incorporate both a gravity well projector and a sensor system capable of detecting craft traveling in hyperspace. Different tech, but similar ideas.
Ultimately, with regards to the discussion about transmitting data updates to a central control station, the tech should only be limited by the confines of the plot. If garhkal wants his new weapon to work like that, then it does. The end.
| crmcneill wrote: | | Anything other than a spherical attack wave means that his mines will need a gunnery skill to determine if it hits or misses. With a sphere the only important thing is range. |
The point I was making is that, physics wise, variable fusing and blast configuration (if technically feasible) is a good way to increase the device's effectiveness. If g wants it to work, all he has to do is add in a gunnery skill and appropriate rules.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14267
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| crmcneill wrote: |
| Esoomian wrote: | | Anything other than a spherical attack wave means that his mines will need a gunnery skill to determine if it hits or misses. With a sphere the only important thing is range. |
The point I was making is that, physics wise, variable fusing and blast configuration (if technically feasible) is a good way to increase the device's effectiveness. If g wants it to work, all he has to do is add in a gunnery skill and appropriate rules. |
E has it correctly. The reason i went with the sphere blast zone was to NOT have to worry about a gunnery score/dodge roll issue.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
