On SIZE and blueprints

[Heroman]

I was wondering, how closely do people adhere to the SIZE's area and actual layout of a ship? My two interestes were when trying to lay out designs for ships posted and also for when trying to convert existing maps (like Traveller) into Hero rules.

-Heroman

[Trebuchet]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

I just completed my first ship design for an upcoming story arc, and to my surprise I was just about dead on even though my ship has two decks (The lower deck is much smaller). I just figured the total area and converted it to inches. IIRC the vehicle size is the actual area the vehicle's occupants can move about in and not the total physical size of the ship. So a ship with huge engine nacelles like Star Trek's USS Enterprise would not count the warp engines in its size calculations.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

I tend to try to stick reasonably close to what Size would offer.

 

Do try to remember, though, that many of the dimensions listed in TUV, TE, AW, and STK are just the "default" dimensions for the given Size, and not (on the whole) adjusted to what the dimensions would actually be. For example, the Empress class battleship (TE 172) is given as 250" x 125" at Size 24, but the drawing clearly shows a vessel with at least 3 decks and probably more like 5 or 6 -- I probably would've listed it as 60" x 35" x 6.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

IIRC the vehicle size is the actual area the vehicle's occupants can move about in and not the total physical size of the ship. So a ship with huge engine nacelles like Star Trek's USS Enterprise would not count the warp engines in its size calculations.

On the contrary -- the Size is the overall physical size. The occupants get half that, by default.

[Heroman]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

I was thinking it would be the overall size. I was hoping to make something like how Traveller handles ship construction and assign a space usage for each item (some things scaling depending on ship size). I was curious because the only floorplan tied to a Hero designed seemed smaller than the required SIZE...

[Trebuchet]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

On the contrary -- the Size is the overall physical size. The occupants get half that' date=' by default.[/quote']I stand corrected.

 

Bob, I'm really getting tired of standing on my head to reply to you...

[shadowcat1313]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

converting traveller squares or Gurps squares to Hero is easy

its 2 hero hexes to a traveller square

[shadowcat1313]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

we had a thread going over on the star hero fandom site, about ship design and how much space things take up, but it kinda died

 

I seemed to do most of the posting, I could go back to work on it easy enough, but I would hope to see a litttle more input

[shadowcat1313]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

I have most of the old traveller deck plans from FASA, and a set of Azhanti High Lightning with an extra set of maps here

 

thats one disapointment about Ultimate Vehicle, they went away from the older rules that covered how much space something took up, the new version is just a little too vague for my tastes

[Heroman]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

Traveller always had kickass deck plans (even if they are the wrong scale). I would love to add any help to that. Time to dig out the books!!!

 

-Heroman

[shadowcat1313]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

I stiill have a copy of Champs 2, which had some rules for sizes etc...

should we stick with those, or work up something differerent?

[Chiba Bob]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

For starships, I assume the that the area given for a SIZE is a 1 1/2" (9 feet) thick rectangle which I cut-up and or shape into various decks at my whim (as long as they don't exceed the total area of the vehicle). As for internal space, I would base that on the tech level or on the genre of the campaign. For example, in low tech campaign, using chemical rockets, I would have cramped crew quarters with fuel taking up most of the space of the ship. In a space opera campaigns, ships seem to have huge bridges and landing bays, wide corridors and so on. Let your imagination be your guide.

 

I have been reading through Alien Wars and I feel that the interior Xenovore ships should be a cluster of interconnected spheres of various sizes. Someone else may envision something different. I feel that Alien ships should be alien and some universal design system like in Traveler doesn't do it.

 

 

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[Captain Obvious]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

I agree with Chiba Bob. The Hero System and TUV are supposed to cover every genre of vehicle design. Setting default sizes for every system that could be installed in a vehicle goes against everything Hero stands for.

 

Standardized sizes for vehicular systems should be worked up for each individual campaign, and probably for each individual race within the campaign, if the GM deems them necessary. I personally would go with common sense and eyeballing the deck plans.

[Trebuchet]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

Star Hero basically states (indirectly) that the higher the tech, the smaller it is. Who can say how small or large any rubber science device would be? Describe a hyperspace generator? It obviously wasn't too big in Star Wars, because even individual X-Wing fighters had hyperspace generators.

 

Ultimately this has to come down to each individual campaign and what the GM thinks makes it work. High science fiction will be cleaner and smaller than low science fiction.

[Heroman]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

Overall I would assume that the SIZE's # hexes is the area within the vehicle, regardless of era. The campaign concept, however, may dictate that the components of the vehicle take up interior space, the exact amount of which is probably all determined by the campaign and how micronized components are. That is the only way I could see things like Tech level handled. It is unfortunant that, being generic rules, they are so vauge, though. I guess that the average size of components and how much space general infrastructure of a ship takes up should be more covered in campaign books.

 

-Heroman

[Chiba Bob]

Re: On SIZE and blueprints

 

It is unfortunant that' date=' being generic rules, they are so vauge, though.[/quote']

 

Hero is more of a writers game system which encourages the GM and even the players to fill in the blanks. Feel free to let go of the hand of concrete reasoning and step into the realm of the imaginary freedom. If a world book tells you at a warp drive is one cubic meter square and weighs hundred kilos, it is just a figure that a writer just pulled out of his head. The good news is that you can create stuff too.

 

 

 

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