Langston Field

[Thrakazog]

Has anybody out there ever tried designing a Langston field in Hero terms? I'm contemplating this issue in a current campaign and was wondering what approach others had taken.

I'm thinking absorption as a defense, with the absorbed points going towards a large AoE explosive KA that doesn't fire until the absorption limit is reached. Then again, I never fully understood the absorption as a defense rules. Thoughts?

[Hyper-Man]

I think it ends up being more expensive than it's worth using Absorption.

Note that this example only affects Energy Attacks and as I recall, the Langston Field affects Physical as well.

43 Langston Field: Absorption 7d6 (standard effect: 21 points) (energy, Side Effect), Can Absorb Maximum Of 100 Points' Worth Of Energy Damage, Absorption As A Defense (x2) (128 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about half of its effectiveness (Defense is the only positive effect of the Absorption ; -1), Side Effects (Defined Attack that bypasses the Absorption Defense if maxium reached or END cost not paid; -1/2), Costs Endurance (-1/2)
[Notes: (The Ultimate Brick, page 35) If the GM wants to simplify how Absorption works as a defense, double the cost with this multiplier and have the total rolled on the dice count as both PD and ED which the character can apply against any attack he Absorbs that Phase.]
END=13

[Sundog]

There are problems with the Langston Field. It seems to be quite complicated.

Pournelle only really detailed it's function in his co-authored The Mote in God's Eye (with Larry Niven). Most of the rest of the time, it just seemed a defense field with an interesting failure effect.

However, in Mote we discover that it's semi-physically permeable. A human falls into the MacArthur's field and sticks there; he has to be pulled out by a search and rescue team. Later, a boarding team rams a pinnace through the ship's field to crash aboard, and suffer only a moment of extreme cold; similarly, three lifeboats are shot out of the field without any negative problems.

However, Torpedoes (which are simply powerful nuclear missiles) detonate on contact with the field, someimes causing pin-point burn throughs, i.e. the field can be overloaded locally before the energy has a chance to disperse throughout the field. Not to mention the question of why the torpedoes aren't just set to detonate inside the field and thus destroy the ship.

Plus, the fact that larger Langston Fields are more powerful than smaller ones due to having more area to radiate excess energy away with. The Moties exploit this feature with their expanding Langston Fields.

So, if you want a Langston Field you're not talking a simple build. I'm not going to have much free time until monday, but I might try and build one then.

[clsage]

There are problems with the Langston Field. It seems to be quite complicated.
<snippage>
However, Torpedoes (which are simply powerful nuclear missiles) detonate on contact with the field, someimes causing pin-point burn throughs, i.e. the field can be overloaded locally before the energy has a chance to disperse throughout the field. Not to mention the question of why the torpedoes aren't just set to detonate inside the field and thus destroy the ship.


Hmmmm.....Well, the generic build for torpedoes in such a universe
might have a disad which reads something like "Can be detonated
premeturely by exposure to X radiation frequency..." where X = the
frequency of a Langston field. Which, of course, adds potential for a
possibly Motie designed "Langston Beam weapon"......:sneaky:

-Carl-

[Hyper-Man]

I believe the Langston Field was similar to the personal shields used in Dune in that fast moving objects would be stopped and have the kinetic energy converted to heat and only slow moving objects could penetrate the field. So in theory a slow moving missile could penetrate the field but it's very unlikely that the ships' point-weapon system would allow a slow moving missile to get close enough to try.

[Nyrath]

I have fairly complete notes on the Langston field here:
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3y.html#forcefield
(scroll down)

Basically it absorbs energy, whether a laser beam or the kinetic energy of a projectile. But the field can only hold so much energy before it explodes. It can radiate away the stored energy, but it takes time.

It is also subject to "local burn-through." If an attack is intense enough and focused enough, part of the damage can poke through.

Read the link for full details.

[Sundog]

I believe the Langston Field was similar to the personal shields used in Dune in that fast moving objects would be stopped and have the kinetic energy converted to heat and only slow moving objects could penetrate the field. So in theory a slow moving missile could penetrate the field but it's very unlikely that the ships' point-weapon system would allow a slow moving missile to get close enough to try.

Except - the slow object (a man in a suit) stuck, and the fast object (the Pinnace) punched through.

In addition, in MacArthur's final battle, the Battleship Lenin fires torpedoes directly into the battlecruiser's Langston Field. MacArthur is not defending herself at the time, and does not attempt to intercept them. Yet, Lenin's master does not attempt to fire THROUGH the field.

I would have to assume the Field somhow neutralizes the Fusion warheads. However, it cannot simply inhibit neclear reactions within it; MacArthur, as with all starships in the CoDo Universe, uses a fusion reactor to power a photon drive.

[sinanju]

As I remember, the Langston Field had the following traits:

1. It "wanted" to be a solid sphere; it took a certain amount of energy to to maintain it as a shell around the vessel.

2. It absorbed energy--kinetic as well as other kinds. Higher energy attacks were stopped cold, while lesser attacks could penetrate more easily. (Yes, there were some inconsistencies, but that was the general idea.)

3. As the field absorbed energy, it required more power to maintain it and prevent the stored energy from instantly radiating away. If the field absorbed enough energy it would overload, collapse, and vaporize the ship as all the energy was released at once.

4. There could also be localized burn-throughs, where the field was momentarily overloaded in a particular spot.

I'd probably design it thus:

1. A Forcefield with a power advantage (or SFX, depending on the GM's views of this) that it only generates as much PD/ED as necessary to match the incoming fire. I'd give the force field a HUGE END reserve dedicated to powering it. The END reserve would recovers slowly, to represent the possibility of the field overloading--but being able to radiate away the stored energy over time.

2. If the incoming attack does enough damage to penetrate the field, it does so. This would be a "burn-through" and the ship is hit as normal. (Note that the END reserve would still be dinged for the amount of PD/ED it provided.

3. The Force Field and END Reserve would have a Side Effect that if the END reserve reaches zero, the ship suffers a large Killing Attack as the field collapses and all the stored energy is released at once.

[Tom Carman]

Hmmmm.....Well, the generic build for torpedoes in such a universe
might have a disad which reads something like "Can be detonated
premeturely by exposure to X radiation frequency..." where X = the
frequency of a Langston field. Which, of course, adds potential for a
possibly Motie designed "Langston Beam weapon"......:sneaky:

-Carl-

More likely a proximity fuse. If the torp hits, the field is just absorbing the kinetic energy of a large, fast metallic object; the Langston field's energy absorption would likely then prevent the detonation of the warhead. So you want the warhead to blow first, and force the field to suck up the blast.