Vehicle Height

[Mazeus Xenon]

OKay, either I am being dim or I just can't find it anywhere... is there a rule (or even a guideline) definining the typical height of a vehicle? The rules state a width and a length, and an area, but what about a height and a volume of a vehicle?

I only ask as I am trying to iron out some details in setting up my own rules for vehicle creation. I want to set down the "space" available and since the core rules and the Ultimate Vehicle have for stats is all 2-D, I would like to figure out how to determine the volume of a vehicle. If I design a vehicle, it is assumed that I can simply re-arrange the area to make it more than 1 hex high, essentially shrinking the widht and length to get height or what?

Oh, and yes I know that TUV indicates weapons and defenses (and everything else) as using up so many hexes per AP. I would still like to know what people feel/think about a vehicle's volume...

[Zed-F]

I think the usual assumption is that the height is the same as the width. So a vehicle that is 8"x2" is really 8"x2"x2" (or whatever.) But that's going purely on memory and I haven't looked at this in a long time.

[Mazeus Xenon]

That is the basic concept I am working with... anyone else wish to chime in? I'd love to hear from anyone else!

[Lord Liaden]

As a default, each hex is considered to have a height of two meters, matching its width - essentially a hexagonal cylinder. You can if you wish redistribute this volume over several levels in larger vehicles. However, Steve Long's official vehicle rules allow much broader interpretations of vehicle dimensions based on what the player and GM think is appropriate for a given vehicle. His official guidelines for that are deliberately loose, but The Ultimate Vehicle has a few sections which address these issues: p. 8, "Height And Volume"; p. 10, "Passengers And Cargo"; and p. 118, "Equipment Mass And Volume".

[PhilFleischmann]

For most applications, especially for Vehicles and Bases, the "height" of a hex is irrelevent. The hexes specified by the size of a vehicle (or base) should usually be assumed to indicate floor space. After all, the floor is what the characters will be standing on. High ceilings may look luxurious, but they don't provide any game benefit.

This is true for planet-bound vehicles (ground, air, water) probably at least 99% of the time. For space vehicles, this could be a little more complicated, sometimes. Obviously, we don't one munchkins buying a 1-hex vehicle and saying that it has room for 100 passengers because it's 100 meters tall!

But in general, cargo sits on the floor, passenger seats are mounted on the floor, etc. Headroom is just "to taste" and common sense and IMO, shouldn't cost any additional points for size.

Example: a double-decker bus has about twice the hexes of a single-deck bus, and those upper-floor hexes *do* count, because they are useful floor space. If you removed the upper floor, leaving the original upper ceiling, the overall height of the bus is still the same, but you've reduced the usable floor space, and therefore the game-mechanical "size" of the vehicle.

[BobGreenwade]

For purposes of game stats, assume a Vehicle is 1" high unless defined otherwise (as with multi-level vehicles, among others).

[Mazeus Xenon]

I have been thinking about this and may treat a vehicle as just a 1" height (or half the width - yes, width). Then, if a character does want to have a multi-level vehicle (with a purpose, not just vaulted ceiling) they can take hexes from the standard "area" of a vehicle to make a second level.

This may not make a lot of sense with smaller vehicles - like a car or something - but when designing a large spaceship or something (like that personal star destroyer or what have you :eg:) it might work out. I dunno - any more comments?

[gojira]

Normal floors are about 10 feet high. You have to allow for stuff (beams, wiring, plumbing, etc.) in between floors too. So a real vehicle should be about 1.6" to 1.7" tall per floor.

Plus, the outside walls might add something on the top and bottom.

Besides passenger cars, a vehicle designed to stand up and move around in might easily move around in would be much taller than 1". A vehicle designed to carry 12 crew could be defined as a van, but could also be a combat helicopter, which is going to be much taller. Something like a moving van, which has extra room in the back, is going to have more inside space than just what the floorplan indicates.

Finally, don't forget that wheels, landing gear, pylons, etc. will add to the effective height and make the vehicle taller.

[PhilFleischmann]

Then, if a character does want to have a multi-level vehicle (with a purpose, not just vaulted ceiling) they can take hexes from the standard "area" of a vehicle to make a second level.
That would be my recommendation. The paid-for-with-character-points "size" of the vehicle is the *floor space* only. The height of that space (or levels) should just be assumed to be whatever makes sense and is realistic. Obviously, cars, pickup trucks, motorcycles, small boats, flying carpets, etc. are all going to be less than 1" (2 meters) tall. And airplanes, semi trucks, ocean liners, railroad cars and engines, busses, tardises, and any other vehicles intended to allow humans to stand up inside them, will be considerably taller than 1" per level.