Power Control (The Far Orbit Project)

[Deacon Rayne]

Hello,
Pirates and Privateers introduced the following concept:

Power Control
Brief: Optional Rules for re-routing shield power on capital ships
Source: The Far Orbit Project p.25
Description:
“More power to shields!"
“Route additional power to main guns."
Although the Star Wars films refer to power switching and rerouting available power, the Star Wars Roleplaying
Game has downplayed this mechanic In order to maintain simplicity. A gamemaster interested in increasing the level of
technical detail can use the following rules.
A ship has enough power available to run all of Its systems simultaneously, and has enough carrying capacity to
channel up to an additional +2D to any system, rerouted from any other system. This power is in raw form, and has no

benefit to computer systems, like the navigational computer or targeting systems. It might be able to boost communica-
tions range or active sensor scans.

In addition, power is commonly routed from an inactive system to an active one, and from non-firing weapons to
firing weapons.
For example, the Far Orbit is in an exchange with another escort frigate. Captain Vedij orders extra power routed
to the main weapons and shields. Power Control takes this power from the ship's two tractor beams with 4D of power
each – 8D of additional power to be divided among the 12 main turbolasers. Power Control allocates 1D to each forward
turbolaser and 1D+2 to the forward shields, leaving +1 left over and of no benefit to any system.
As the enemy ship passes the Far Orbit on the right in the exchange, power control switches the extra power
from the forward turbolasers to the right arc weapons and shields. The 8D are distributed differently this time, with 1D+2
going to each of the three right turbolasers, for a total of 5D (3D straight over with 2D getting split into 6 pips) and 1D+2
going to the shields. The remaining 1D+1 goes either to waste in the power buffer or gets routed to some other system.

123

The power controller might have routed power from the left arc shields or weapons, but that would have meant
that the left arc would be with little or no defenses to fend off surprises from that side of the ship. Starfighters with shields
do this occasionally, switching shield power to a particular side the pilot expects to come under heavy fire.
Please note that ships moving All-Out (at the highest rate of speed)j cannot fire or maneuver, and may not be
able to use shields, at the Gamemaster’s discretion; this can be 'chalked up to routing all available power to the engines.
Transferring power is a demanding task, and carries some built-in difficulties. Use the following as benchmark
difficulty numbers:
Condition: Base Difficulty:
Simple power rerouting (single single to single recipient) Moderate
Rerouting multiple systems to a single recipient Difficult
Rerouting multiple systems to multiple recipients Very Difficult
Power switching time, however. When the shield operator rolls as indicated above, compare the result to the table below:
Operator’s Roll: Time Taken:
1-5 2D rounds
6-10 1D round
11-15 2 rounds
16-20 1 round
21+ 1 second

One question: exactly WHAT skill does an operator roll to facilitate power transfer? Do they roll starship shields to transfer energy to/from shields?

Thank you very much

[Raven Redstar]

I believe it's the appropriate repair roll.

Starfighter Repair to transfer power in a starfighter.
Space Transports Repair for Freighters and whatnot.
Capital Ship Repair for anything capital scale.
_________________
RR
________________________________________________________________

[CRMcNeill]

I say the appropriate Piloting / Operations skill is a better choice, as this is a normal operation ships are designed to perform, whereas Repair is intended to fix something that's broken or otherwise improperly functioning.

Also, this topic is probably a better fit for the Official Rules section...
_________________
"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

[Potroclo]

I'ld say Repair too, that's what I use at least. It allows for players other than the pilot of the group to perform important tasks during space combat. I see power redirection more as a copilot or on board engineer's task that can be performed from anywhere inside the ship with an apropriate computer access/the engine bay/whatever. It distributes task so nobody is bored while the pilot does everything.
Plus piloting is more of a skill needed to stir the ship, but it doesn not mean you know anything about how it works, just as people can drive a car and yet not even know hot to change a wheel, IMHO.

PS: nice avatar Deacon

[Whill]

[Whill]

We discussed this deficient rule earlier this year in the below thread:
Power Routing for freighters

And here is the direct post in the middle of the thread with the House Rule I came up with:
Power Routing for Space Transports

You may find it more valuable to read the whole thread for all the discussion and context, so I shared that URL first. But if you want a shortcut directly to the rule I came up, I included that too. I hope this helps.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage

[Deacon Rayne]

[garhkal]

[CRMcNeill]

[Raven Redstar]

If I'm not mistaken, Chewie also has a decent Space Transports Repair skill 10D+2 as of the Battle of Hoth, could he also not be transferring power from the controls using his repair skill? It's reasonable to think that Han and He may have put in a shortcut to the console just because of how temperamental the Falcon is.
_________________
RR
________________________________________________________________

[CRMcNeill]

[Raven Redstar]

It also covers making modifications, which this could be considered as a temporary modification.
_________________
RR
________________________________________________________________

[garhkal]

[Potroclo]

I always understood all repair skills to be also used for modifications and manipulations of all kinds in the particular tech. Just as computer or droid repair/program is a single skill used for both. It follows the general idea of different skills used for operating the tech and skills used to modify the tech, derived from the basis of Mechanical vs Technical attributes. Either that's the implied mechanic of the game or some techs need separate Technical skills, which seems like an arbitrary decision based on semantic misunderstanding.

[CRMcNeill]