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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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 Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 4:52 pm Post subject: Concerning Buzz Droids |
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In Squadrons, one of the support options is a Supply Droid; target a friendly vessel and launch the droid, and it rearms and refuels the target ship. I think rearming (especially of missiles) is a bit too complex a task for the D6 setting, but it is a very Star Wars take on in-flight refueling. I was musing about other possible uses, and an obvious one is loading a supply droid with a half dozen compact repair droids, which can be deployed onto a damaged ship to assist with repairs. The similarity to buzz droids is obvious, even if they'd be doing the exact opposite.
That got me thinking about the origin of Buzz Droids. Frankly, having a Buzz Droid be a repair droid repurposed as a sabotage weapon (which, from a stats perspective, they would need a high Tech and a lot of tools to perform either task) makes more sense than having them be purpose-built as weapons. It also fits the larger Trade Federation pattern of repurposing civilian craft (like the B-1 Battle Droid and the Lucrehulk Carrier) as weapons of war.
Thoughts?
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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.
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:22 pm Post subject: Re: Concerning Buzz Droids |
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| CRMcNeill wrote: | In Squadrons, one of the support options is a Supply Droid; target a friendly vessel and launch the droid, and it rearms and refuels the target ship. I think rearming (especially of missiles) is a bit too complex a task for the D6 setting, but it is a very Star Wars take on in-flight refueling. I was musing about other possible uses, and an obvious one is loading a supply droid with a half dozen compact repair droids, which can be deployed onto a damaged ship to assist with repairs. The similarity to buzz droids is obvious, even if they'd be doing the exact opposite.
That got me thinking about the origin of Buzz Droids. Frankly, having a Buzz Droid be a repair droid repurposed as a sabotage weapon (which, from a stats perspective, they would need a high Tech and a lot of tools to perform either task) makes more sense than having them be purpose-built as weapons. It also fits the larger Trade Federation pattern of repurposing civilian craft (like the B-1 Battle Droid and the Lucrehulk Carrier) as weapons of war.
Thoughts? |
Works for me. You might also have the original be less a "ship droid and repair droids" and more of a distributed droid (similar to the B-1 Battle Droids). The larger droid is the droid brain for the smaller droids.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:49 pm Post subject: Re: Concerning Buzz Droids |
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| MrNexx wrote: | | You might also have the original be less a "ship droid and repair droids" and more of a distributed droid (similar to the B-1 Battle Droids). The larger droid is the droid brain for the smaller droids. |
Having them be designed as repair droids make it a lot easier to repurpose them as sabotage droids, since they'll already be equipped with all the tools they need to do their job, just that they'll be breaking things instead of fixing them. Having them be distributed "hive mind" would work, too, since it would allow multiple droids to automatically coordinate on repair/sabotage tasks. Maybe they could coordinate on their own in small groups, but would need to interface with a ship's computer for larger, more complex jobs...
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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.
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SWRPGGM
Cadet
Joined: 30 Mar 2021
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| Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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I wouldn't be surprised if there was a space based droid that did resupply for missiles, but I would have it only able to load two at a time before having to return to the ship for another two missiles. The ship would be very vulnerable and would have to be along side the supply ship at the same speed. It should really be seen as not optimal, but necessary.
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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: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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| SWRPGGM wrote: | | I wouldn't be surprised if there was a space based droid that did resupply for missiles, but I would have it only able to load two at a time before having to return to the ship for another two missiles. The ship would be very vulnerable and would have to be along side the supply ship at the same speed. It should really be seen as not optimal, but necessary. |
I'd probably limit that to a non-combat setting, like a deep-space rendezvous with a supply freighter somewhere away from enemy interference.
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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.
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RyanDarkstar
Commander
Joined: 04 Dec 2014
Posts: 351
Location: Chambersburg, PA, USA, Earth
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| Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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I can see the combat utility vehicle from TIE Fighter making excellent use of your repair version of buzz droids working in conjunction with SRT or XLT-014 cargo droids to quickly repair fighters while the latter restock ordnance stores.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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That thing reaaaaaaallly needs a facelift, though...
Apart from that, it seems well suited for the mission.
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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.
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RyanDarkstar
Commander
Joined: 04 Dec 2014
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Location: Chambersburg, PA, USA, Earth
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| Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| CRMcNeill wrote: | | That thing reaaaaaaallly needs a facelift, though... |
You're not wrong. X-Wing Alliance Upgrade tweeked it, but it's still very blocky. -> Link
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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: Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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Either that, or go the Squadrons route and have support and resupply handled by TIE Reapers on the Imperial side and U-Wings on the Alliance side (although I prefer going the WEG route and having that handled by modded YT-1300s).
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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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