Area denial/battery fire.

[garhkal]

Brought out of the thread updating anti-starfighter weaponry.
Me and crmcneill, see it that like how BSG and other space shows had it, guns could, rather than target specific ships, just shoot mass flak like spreads of fire, to deny an area/make it harder for enemy ships to approach.

So here goes.

Battery fire.
When this form of shooting is used by a capital ship (or space transport/frigate), all its guns of a specific type in one arc are used to shoot out to a set zone (say the medium range bracket), causing a mass of blaster bolts and explosions to clog that 'zone' up, making it more difficult for incoming fighters to get through to harass the enemy ship.

When used in this manner, average out the gunnery skills from ALL guns of one type in that arc, and make ONE to hit roll at the base range difficulty WITHOUT fire control bonuses. If successful, that zone (range bracket) is flooded, and the to hit roll is added to the base maneuverability target # needed by enemy fighters to go through that zone.

When an enemy fighter, or other ship wishes to traverse that zone, they make a standard piloting roll at the enhanced difficulty #. Should they succeed, nothing happens. Should they fail, they take damage on a graded upwards scale the worse they rolled.

Missing the piloting roll by 1-4, causes 3d SF scale damage, even if the guns shooting were all cap scale.
Missing by 4-8, causes 3d+2 damage, SF scale.
9-12 causes 4d+2 damage.
13-16 causes 6d damage
17-20 causes 7d+2 damage (1d+2 in cap damage)
21+ causes 9d+2 damage (3d+2 in cap damage).
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[atgxtg]

Did you know I did up a FlaK rule years ago?

[Dromdarr_Alark]

Can't you just use the fire suppression house rule that is in the tactical combat thread?
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"I still wouldn't have a roll for it - but that's just how I roll."

[garhkal]

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

Here's what I'm thinking...

Firing a Flak Pattern:
A capital ship firing a flak pattern will roll to hit like a normal turbolaser attack, modified by coordinated fire and scale. The resulting number will be subject to modifiers from the following list:

Targets @ Point Blank Range: +10
Targets @ Medium Range: -10
Targets @ Long Range: -20

For example, an ISD firing all 20 of its starboard turbolasers in a flak barrage will roll 9D+1 (4D+2 Capital Ship Gunnery, plus 4D Fire Control, plus 6D+2 for combined fire from 20 turbolasers, minus 6D for the Scale Modifier), for a likely result of 32 (using the 2D=7 rule). Apply modifiers to generate base terrain difficulties for the varying range arcs. In this case, the terrain difficulties are 12 @ Long), 22 @ Medium), 32 @ Short and 42 @ Point Blank.

Any ship attempting to fly inside the flak barrage must make a Piloting roll against the difficulty number for their distance from the firing ship. A failed role indicates that the ship has taken a hit from the barrage. Apply the number by which the role failed to the following chart, then roll for damage:

Ship fails Piloting roll by # = Maximum Damage Level Inflicted
1-5 = Controls Ionized / Shields Blown
6-10 = Lightly Damaged
11-15 = Heavily Damaged
16-20 = Severely Damaged
21+ = Destroyed

For example, an X-Wing attempting to fly through the barrage pattern at Short Range from the ISD from the example above rolls 8D (Starfighter Piloting 5D, plus 3D Maneuverability) for a likely result of 28, failing his Piloting roll by 4 points. Damage is rolled as normal; 11D damage (5D turbolaser, plus 6D Scale) vs. 5D (X-Wing 4D Hull plus 1D shields), for 21 points of damage. Normally, this would be instant destruction. However, since the Piloting roll only failed by 4, damage is capped at Shields Blown / Controls Ionized, and the X-Wing only loses its shields, rather than being vaporized.

I can see some potential rules for area effect weapons (not subject to scale modifiers), as well as terrain difficulty modifiers for firing at ships in formation (or individual ships) rather than saturating the entire arc...
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"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

[garhkal]

I would rather a lessened damage capacity (D number) be allowed to get rolled, vice a capping the max damage that could be dealt, based on how bad the piloting roll failed by.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[CRMcNeill]

I fail to see why it is an issue; we are already positing that ability to successfully survive piloting through a flak pattern (which in real life is about as close to random chance as one can get) is based on their relative adeptness at piloting, so why shouldn't the degree of damage one takes also be based on it? As I stated on the other topic, this isn't supposed to be a realistic representation, but a heroic interpretation, in which chance favors the heroes (i.e. the player characters) over the NPC extras.
_________________
"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