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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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 Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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It might also be cultural. Remote drones are seen as ok, but using droids on the battlefield is not..
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:20 am Post subject: |
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Are you by any chance planning on pairing a drone with your howitzer platform?
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garhkal
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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Well, the SMAP unit in Empire at war has 2 drone 'scouts'... 
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | Well, the SMAP unit in Empire at war has 2 drone 'scouts'... |
SMAP?
IIRC, the MPTL used a spotter droid, but it operated at ground level, taking advantage of cover for protection. I could easily see the Empire using Viper probe droids in the same fashion.
The difference there is that something operating at ground level is something that can be attacked and destroyed by characters, which may be their only viable option if they are being bombarded by artillery coming from 10-20 kilometers away.
You're talking about a drone operating too high up for your characters to shoot down or jam. Combined with artillery fire that they won't be able to see or hear coming unless they have some sort of specialized sensing equipment, it mostly just sounds like an excuse to put PCs through hell without giving them any viable options. Not a campaign I'd want to play in.
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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
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garhkal
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:06 am Post subject: |
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Drones being too high to shoot down is similar to how they are IRL..
Not everything needs to be automatically be able t get immediately countered by PCs. Perhaps after falling victim to them, they can start researching a way to come up with a counter...
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | Drones being too high to shoot down is similar to how they are IRL..
Not everything needs to be automatically be able t get immediately countered by PCs. Perhaps after falling victim to them, they can start researching a way to come up with a counter... |
Assuming they survive. From the bits and pieces you've mentioned, it sounds like your PCs are operating on foot with only personal weapons. This against an artillery walker (potentially with an overhead spotter).
In short, your PCs won't be able to Dodge, can't run fast enough to outrun this thing and have no weapons which can attack it or the spotter. The idea of spending a gaming session doing nothing but rolling Dodge whenever someone yells "INCOMING!" sounds frustrating and, after a while, monotonous.
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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
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That1guy
Cadet
Joined: 11 Aug 2016
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RedKnight
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 01 Feb 2016
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2017 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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| it does sound awful having to dodge incoming, unless the goal is to do that a few times and get into the artillery's dead zone to take out the battery....or if the artillery is treated as more of a 'terrain hazard' in a world War I trench warfare style scenario....its not well aimed, not accurate but if it hits its like getting punched in the face by a tsunami |
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ForbinProject
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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That's assuming the opposition doesn't have comm gear that can jam all frequencies at once. In the SWU such equipment in small enough that a pilot can fit it into the cockpit of an X-Wing as part of his personal gear.
Source: X-Wing Rogue Squadron - Solo Command |
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garhkal
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:03 am Post subject: |
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| ForbinProject wrote: |
That's assuming the opposition doesn't have comm gear that can jam all frequencies at once. In the SWU such equipment in small enough that a pilot can fit it into the cockpit of an X-Wing as part of his personal gear.
Source: X-Wing Rogue Squadron - Solo Command |
Very true. Comms roll for the pilot of the drone vs the comm roll of the person trying to jam him!! Gives the Comms skill some lovin!
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ForbinProject
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:22 am Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | ForbinProject wrote: |
That's assuming the opposition doesn't have comm gear that can jam all frequencies at once. In the SWU such equipment in small enough that a pilot can fit it into the cockpit of an X-Wing as part of his personal gear.
Source: X-Wing Rogue Squadron - Solo Command |
Very true. Comms roll for the pilot of the drone vs the comm roll of the person trying to jam him!! Gives the Comms skill some lovin! |
That's how I would resolve it. |
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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Oooooor just make it a droid that can operate autonomously if its comm signals are jammed. Real world tech makes great inspiration for space opera ideas, but it doesn't have to be dumbed down to replicate its limitations.
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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
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
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Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:00 am Post subject: |
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| CRMcNeill wrote: | | Oooooor just make it a droid that can operate autonomously if its comm signals are jammed. Real world tech makes great inspiration for space opera ideas, but it doesn't have to be dumbed down to replicate its limitations. |
This would be my choice.
Figure the "dumb" drone is about as smart as a mouse droid... it can do a couple of things, and may have instructions to return to base if communication is interrupted for more than X time. It's one programmed skill is Dodge at 5D; if it loses communication, it goes into Full Dodge mode until the timer tells it to fly to point B.
HOWEVER, it also has a suite that allows someone to take direct control of it, using special hardware, that lets them pilot it like a drone. In that case, the "pilot" uses their own skills, including gunnery, shields, etc., perhaps with a penalty for not being right there.
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