How fast is this ship???

[GoldenAge]

The ship has:
SPEED: 3
Corellian Mark 25 Displacement Drive:  Teleportation 20m, MegaScale (1m = 10 lightyears; +4 1/2) (110 Active Points); Extra Time (requires 4 hours to prepare for a displacement) (4 Hours, -3), Increased Endurance Cost (x4 END; -1 1/2), Requires A PS: Operate Displacer Drive Roll (Skill roll; -1/2), Limited Maneuverability (-1/4)

Assuming the galaxy is 100,000 LY across...

How ling would it take this ship to cross the galaxy?
How far can it go in 24 hours?

[Chris Goodwin]

It can cycle 6 times a day, for 10ly each, so 60 ly a day assuming it has the END. 

 

According to my trusty calculator, it'll take (100,000/60) 1666 and 2/3 days.

[L. Marcus]

More like 20 meters times ten lightyears times six times a day equals one thousand two hundred lightyears a day, so crossing the galaxy takes three months.

[GDShore]

Marcus is correct, it will take 2000 hours to cross the galaxy assuming the 100,000 LY width. 2000 hours = 83,3 days or just shy of the 3 months. In actuality it will probably take at least twice that, refueling, eating, sleeping and general maintainence on the vessel will extend the trip to a year to 18 months. You will have to achieve my short list of tasks to complete this goal, mainly sleeping. It has been a very long time since I pulled an all nighter, back then I went "5 days" without sleep during exam week, the end result was not pretty.

[Christopher R Taylor]

This is the level of tech I prefer to be roughly max for sci fi settings.  You don't want it to be a fast travel cut scene to get from one end of a galaxy to another, the distances and remoteness are a key part of the genre.

[GDShore]

True Mr. Taylor true. At the same time you don't want to take so much time moving from star "A" to star "B" that your players lose focus and intrest.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Right, its got to be fast enough that moving to nearby systems doesn't require hibernation, but long enough that there is some drama and tension.  If you can call home from 240000 light years and talk in real time, it damages the sense of distance, isolation, danger, and real adventure.  Done properly it can feel like old ships exploring and traveling.  There's adventure in the trip, but they are so alone they don't get news for weeks or months.  There's no rescue gonna come hyperspace in like the cosmic cavalry.

[GoldenAge]

Thanks everyone!

Like CRT I don't want ships zipping around the galaxy like Ubers. I also don't want it to take 75 years to get back from the Delta Quadrant. I've settled on a map that divides the galaxy by 18 sectors (hexes). The galaxy is 117,000 LY in diameter. I would like a very fast ship to be able to travel 1 sector every 24 hours or across the entire galaxy in 18 days...

So, what's the buildout of a ship's propulsion that can travel approximately 5000 LY in a 24 hour period?

(If you zoom in on the map below you can see the sector hexes)
 

 

Edited April 18 by GoldenAge

[GDShore]

THere was one small, little detail I forgot to mention in my list of things a ship's Captain would have to accomplish to make the cross galaxy trip. Refeuling, the ship that is, one assumes they have enough storage for at least 3 months of consumables onboard. So, at least 12 to 18 months to make the voyage.

[L. Marcus]

4 hours ago, GoldenAge said:

So, what's the buildout of a ship's propulsion that can travel approximately 5000 LY in a 24 hour period?

If you keep the Teleport and Megascale as is in the OP but up your cyclic rate to one jump an hour, you can travel 4800 lightyears a day.

 

If you want to keep the cyclic rate at six jumps per day, you'd need 80 meters of Teleport at 10 lightyears of Megascale to get the same result.

[GoldenAge]

For the 6 jumps per day...

Like this?

SPEED: 3
Corellian Mark 25 Displacement Drive:  Teleportation 80m, MegaScale (1m = 10 lightyears; +4 1/2) (??? Active Points); Extra Time (requires 4 hours to prepare for a displacement) (4 Hours, -3), Increased Endurance Cost (x4 END; -1 1/2), Requires A PS: Operate Displacer Drive Roll (Skill roll; -1/2), Limited Maneuverability (-1/4)
 

Edited April 18 by GoldenAge

[L. Marcus]

Yup.

 

By the way, how are you handling the Endurance? What's the power generation tech like?

[GoldenAge]

The math on that plays out thusly:
80 x 10 LY = 800 LY per Jump
Assuming 4 hours between jumps - At peak proficiency, the ship would be able to jump 6 x 800 LY / 24 hours - or 4800LY/day 

The END is next! 

All I'm trying to do is build a propulsion system (not necessarily a Jump Drive) that I can use as the median, helping with ship balance.

I have no idea why this has become such a problem for me. 

 

When we play, it's the Engineer's job to dole out END to propulsion and various systems. It's a tough job for the player, but he ends up performing something like a catcher in baseball, involved in every play. The Captain has the last call, but the Engineer decides where the power goes. This can lead to exciting roleplaying when in combat and every station requests full power and the Engineer has to decide who gets left out (Weapons or Sensors has come up before!).

 

[GoldenAge]

We don't worry too much about END at any other time than in battle. It can be very fun. Never piss of the Engineer or you might fall victim to an embargo!!! 😆

[GoldenAge]

We handle it this way...

 

Engineering: The Engineer is in total charge of END distribution for ships operations/weapons and responsible for maintenance of ship/weapons/repairs - at first this may appear boring, but it can be a real handful to run a ship like a Multipower. Hard power distribution decisions have to be made all the time. There's also the aspect of pushing. - The Engineer is ALWAYS busy and the roleplaying (as folks scream for more power where there isn't any) can be epic.  (Especially when he suddenly cuts Life Support to get a little more Plasma into that last torpedo "WHAT???")

 

Communications: Fighting the ECM/ECCM battle within the battle. The Communications officer wages the electronic war within the war. His success (or failure) could mean the difference between life or death. Beyond the tasks of scanning the enemy, looking up critical data on their race and technology. He's also the chief System's Operation guy, constantly trying to hack the systems of his opponents. 

 

Helm: Every ship needs a good pilot - but a great pilot can save the day! We utilize SHIP-JITSU (Piloting Maneuvers by Ben Seeman found in Digital Hero #19) which basically allows the pilot to create a piloting martial art.

 

Navigation: Our navigator is as important in OOC moments as in combat. His rolls can knock hours, days or even weeks off long journeys. His success could mean the difference between arriving in the nick of time or total failure. In combat his course-plotting aids the Helmsman (complimentary Skill Rolls) in open space. But he really shines when combat occures near gravity wells (planets/stars/black holes), asteroid fields or any number of other cosmic anomalies. When that happens he can negate their negative effects on the Helm and Weapons as well as utilize the "terrain" against our opponents! He's also looking out for mines... damn mines!!!

 

Weapons: SHOOOOOT!!! The Weapons/Security Officer shoots the guns, fires and manages tracking weapons like missiles and torpedoes. He's a busy guy. On our ship the Weapons Officer is also the de facto Security officer. So he must also be weary of hostile incursions and manage any offensive assaults by our marines. He's also responsible for all defensive technologies such as shields and ablative armor.

 

Doctor: We utilize a hit location chart for damage allocation. Someone's ALWAYS getting hurt in battle. The Doctor also spends time trying to analyze any biological information found by the Communications officer that may be useful.

 

Lastly...

 

The Captain: If the Captain is worth his salt he's chosen a competent crew that he trusts to do their jobs. However, he's the rudder of the ship. He makes things happen. But sometimes, he's not the fastest or most dexterous person on the bridge...

 

We run ship combat just like a normal combat. People (or computers/ships/drones) go on their SPEED and DEX. So often the bridge crew HOLDS their actions until the Captain goes (issuing commands/orders/expectations/requesting options/etc.). The captain's main skill on a ship is TACTICS. In addition to running the ship he get's a 2 rolls... 1 Tactics roll (OPPOSED by the enemy's Captain) and one skill roll of his choice. If he wins the Tactics roll-off he allocates a +1, +2 or +3 to all Bridge Crew rolls (depending on his level of success) and then he can utilize his second Half-Action to focus on one of his other skills (maybe he'll be assisting with Weapons fire, or perhaps he knows a thing or two about computers and will help the Communication Officer hack the attacking ships defense systems to bring down their shields, etc.)

 

When a crew member deems it necessary to go before the Captain (assume the Weapons Officer has a higher DEX and MUST fire NOW) than he can go on his DEX. However, he is NOT eligible for any bonuses that the Captains infinite wisdom (Tactics/skill roll) would have conveyed. He's on his own - this can sometimes lead to serious problems.

 

All in all, the game is a wild ride of roleplaying full of the issuing of orders, replied suggestions, requests for MORE ENERGY and the inevitable Engineer who bellows "I'm giving her all she's got!!!"

 

This all happening while you're being shot to pieces!!! YAY!!!!!

Edited April 18 by GoldenAge

[Christopher R Taylor]

9 hours ago, GDShore said:

THere was one small, little detail I forgot to mention in my list of things a ship's Captain would have to accomplish to make the cross galaxy trip. Refeuling, the ship that is, one assumes they have enough storage for at least 3 months of consumables onboard. So, at least 12 to 18 months to make the voyage.

 

The parallels between the old sailing ships and sci fi theoretical travel in space are many and profound.  Which is in theory how the Honor Harrington books came about, although I couldn't get through the first one.

[GDShore]

That's too bad about Webber's work I thoroughly enjoy them but each to their own.