A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

[Narf the Mouse]

Since early word says Star Hero provides no default frameworks for building spaceships and starbases, beyond the basic vehicle and base rules, (a decision who's discussion is irrelevant to this thread), I thought it might be interesting and useful to provide a thread for people to discuss and post such frameworks.

[CptPatriot]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Here is an index of the frameworks discussed to date that I've been made aware of:

• Master of Orion by Christougher
  
• Star Trek Universe by CptPatriot (INCOMPLETE)
  

[megaplayboy]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Well, I suppose the first question would be, what do you mean by "framework"? Something like a thematic conceit underlying ship design for a given setting or genre?

And/or a set of "pre-builds" or "types"(e.g., warp drives/hyperdrives/jump drives, lasers/blasters/particle beams/railguns/tachyon beams/ion beams, carrier/battleship/cargo ship/luxury space yacht, etc.)?

 

SH6 does mention a few useful things, like different ways to build FTL drives:

1. cumulative flight(i.e., your flight movement acts as your acceleration/deceleration rate)

2. Straight FTL

3. XDM(into "hyperspace"), travels to point within hyperspace then re-emerges

4. Megascale Teleport

5. Megascale Flight

6. Travel by means of wormholes or fixed "stargates"

 

Different power sources are also mentioned.

[CptPatriot]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Making a starship in the Hero System is easy, making starships with consistency within a campaign setting is not?

 

Take a setting like Babylon 5? You need certain assumptions in place so you can go about making ships that are consistent and can be made easily.

 

How fast are the drives on their ships? How much do they cost? How much space do they take up? How much mass does it take up? Energy Requirements?

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

What CptPatriot said. I'm going to be one of the consumers of this thread before I'm one of the producers.

[Christougher]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Master of Orion Ship Construction Rules

 

While it's named after Master of Orion, it is not an exact translation. Some of my other influences and some playability issues have arranged things differently.

 

Building a Master of Orion ship is a lot like some people write term papers: produce an outline and use it to fill in the blanks. The outline is provided along with the steps to fill it in.

 

Familiarity with Master of Orion II and the 5th Edition HERO rules is presumed.

 

Starship Outline:

Hull Size

Dimensions

STR

DCV

BOD

Systems/Spaces

Power Plant

Propulsion

Handling

DEX

SPD

DCV

Armor/Shields

Life Support

Electronics

Computer

Sensors/ECM

Communications

Weapons

Vehicles

Other

Crew Quarters

Laboratories

Cargo

 

 

Hull size is straight out of the growth rules for vehicle size. For Master of Orion, every 25 points of growth was designated as a vehicle class size: 25-45 Fighter, 50-70 Scout, 75-95 Frigate, 100-120 Corvette, 125-145 Cruiser, 150-170 Battleship, 175-195 Titan, 200-220 Dreadnaught, 225-250 Behemoth.

Hull size gives the default STR, BOD and DCV penalty. Scout ships have only a single deck, every size class beyond that doubles the number of decks. The exact deck size and deck plans are left as an exercise for the builder. Halving the given area, then taking the square root gives a size twice as long as it is wide.

 

Systems and Spaces is the heart of making a ship conform to Masters of Orion standards. Two systems per level of growth provides a steady increase, though adding 5 spaces will give fighters a non-handwaved difference at that small size.

Each system or space is presumed to have the number of Active Points equal to the AP in growth. IE: A size 50 Scout has 20 systems/spaces of 50 AP each. Details of specific weapons, systems, etc., is being glossed over for now.

 

A Power Plant provides END to power the ship's systems, generally bought as an END Reserve of the appropriate size and technology. Higher technology gives a greater REC.

 

Propulsion covers how the ship moves, which is different than what provides power - IE: A car has an Internal Combustion power plant but Traction Propulsion bought as running. Movement can be bought as megascale 1 KM, and the number of inches divided by the size of the ship. This means that additional Propulsion slots are required for faster combat flight.

Propulsion also covers FTL drives which are incredibly cheap in HERO terms. They should at least take up a full system slot each, with additional slots increasing FTL movement, and different technologies providing the next higher level of FTL.

 

Handling provides the DEX and SPD of the craft, bought as one or more systemsfull of DEX, SPD and DCV levels, usually as evenly as possible. This way, handling can be different among craft based on how many slots they've allocated to it.

 

Armor and Shields are pretty obvious, spending additonal slots on shields narrows the arc that each shield covers, increasing overall shield strength. To duplicate Master of Orion II's Reinforced Hull, a slot can also be purchased with Extra BODY.

 

Life Support is harder to do, with 50 point Scout having enough to afford Full Life Support. Available Technology will have to be the special effect limit here. You can limit available food to the Food SFX multiplier time the size of the slot. Backup Life support systems and extra food would be additional slots.

 

Electronics is just a category header for what follows. For the Computer you have the slot size in points to build a computer, mostly just INT, SPD and Programs. Technology SFX will cover AIs or adding DEX and EGO to the computer. A dedicated Battle Computer can be done with Overall Levels just for combat functions.

Sensors are just a slot full of sensory powers. You can choose the VPP sensors option, though it's not recommended as limiting or justifying SFX gets difficult. Multipowers are okay though. ECM can be simulated by the whole range of powers arranged to taste: Flash, Images, Darkness, Invisibility, possibly even Desolid. Additional slots can be added for each of the special sensor/attack addons present.

Communications has to be handwaved a little bit, determining range and speed of communications and whether they work only while stationary or at FTL speeds.

 

Weapons, everybody's favorite. Just add bunches of DCs of EB or RKA and be done, right? Well, technology and SFX can add different advantages and even different powers in some cases.

Plus, there's something else to consider - MOO2's different weapon sizes.

Standard weapon mounts have a 180 degree firing arc and fire every phase the ship has.

A Point Defense mount has half the AP of the normal weapon, designed to hold twice as many per slot. These weapons fire every segment, have an extended firing arc of 300 degrees, but only half normal range.

Heavy mounts require two weapon slots, and do 150% of normal weapon DCs. They are limited to a 60 degree arc, take an extra phase to fire, and have half normal OCV. END cost is triple normal.

Keel or Spinal Mounts require TEN weapon slots, do 200% damage, and take an extra turn to fire. They have a 0 degree firing arc and are 0 OCV - they are aimed by turning the ship! There is a nominal 10x END cost for these monstrosities.

Other rules exist for Missiles and Torpedoes, not listed here.

 

A Carried Vehicles slot will fit hull size(s) up to the slot size. Additional slots will provide for more or larger vehicles. The size 50 Scout could carry 2 size 25 fighters per slot.

 

By default, no Crew Quarters slot is required to carry a crew equal to the hull size of the craft. Additional slots increase the size of crew carried, or add amenities like larger quarters, more hallways, bigger recreation areas, etcetera.

 

Laboratories are spaces set aside for skill use, just like in bases. A default laboratory can be presumed to be 25 Active Points. More space means more or bigger laboratories.

 

Cargo space is just empty space.

[CptPatriot]

Star Trek ship frameworks

 

My framework will be based on a popular sci-fi series that had exploration/military ships exploring the galaxy with a bunch of central casting aliens and had five TV spinoffs and eleven movies to date... Star Trek.

 

I will be dealing with the technology of Star Trek during the time of the Next Generation movie.

 

Fortunately, much of the legwork has already been done. Statistics for some starship weapons have been done before and what I didn't find there I was able to use the resources at http://www.coldnorth.com/memoryicon/index.htm.

 

Characteristics

Federation ships range from 3.6 meters (Type 15 Shuttlepod) to approximately 700 meters (Sovereign class). That roughly equates to size 3 to size 26.

 

 

More to come...

[shadowcat1313]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

I am building a semi-modular framework thats closer to Traveller or GURPS, the hull sizes/interior space will remain mostly constant, the hull form will affect interior space. a wide variety of hull materials will be available also, and from there its going to depend on what the players want to put in the hull, component size will be based on the AP of the component, but I am borrowing the chart from Champions 2 that covers smaller or larger components. I am also going to look at the ideas presented earlier for adapting MOO 2 to things, there are some interesting ideas there

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

The guidelines I developed for my campaign are a bit much for a forum post; maybe I should write a blog entry?

 

Edited to add: in the end, it became extremely easy to create new ship designs. I had a Hero Designer file with "one of everything" and making a new ship was just a matter of tweaking the "master file" for the correct quantity of each item of equipment, or deleting items the ship didn't have. Took between five and ten minutes, even for larger ships.

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

The guidelines I developed for my campaign are a bit much for a forum post; maybe I should write a blog entry?

 

Edited to add: in the end, it became extremely easy to create new ship designs. I had a Hero Designer file with "one of everything" and making a new ship was just a matter of tweaking the "master file" for the correct quantity of each item of equipment, or deleting items the ship didn't have. Took between five and ten minutes, even for larger ships.

...Now that you've done all that boasting, you have to post it.

 

Kidding, but it does sounds interesting.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

I templates as often as possible, even if its just a hull template with the basic amenities, and add from there

I do the same thing for standard vehicles

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

...Now that you've done all that boasting, you have to post it.

 

Kidding, but it does sounds interesting.

 

There isn't much to boast about, as I took a very 'minimalist' approach: the spacecraft in my campaign have stats for equipment they'll use in movement and combat, but not much else. In my campaign, I prefer the most interesting thing on the PC's spacecraft should be... the PCs!

[shadowcat1313]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

its always seemed like the designs in Terran Empire and Spacers Toolkit were really bland, there just wasnt that much to distinguish one design from another, except the basics, I try to inject a bit more "Life" in my designs

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

its always seemed like the designs in Terran Empire and Spacers Toolkit were really bland' date=' there just wasnt that much to distinguish one design from another, except the basics, I try to inject a bit more "Life" in my designs[/quote']

 

My spacecraft tend to have fairly "standardized" vehicle sheets: they use similar drives, sensors and weapons. Military versions of the hardware have upgrades over the civilians: military rockets use less fuel (due to higher specific impulse ratings), sensors have a perception bonus, and "mil-spec" spacecraft have the Weapon Master talent to reflect superior targeting systems, heavier weapons, etc.

 

The really interesting part is the background write-up. Every spacecraft should have its own "personality" and the write-up should include plot hooks useful for GM's, as well as advice on how players/PCs can use the spacecraft. Here's an example:

 

Background/History: In the race to squander as much wealth as humanly possible on a private spacecraft, the current leader is the Rival Suitor of interstellar yachts. Although quite small -- just big enough for a crew of three, and four passengers -- this spacecraft features interior fittings which put even the famous Fast Clipper vessels to shame. Absolutely no expense is spared to make these hand-crafted vessels the most opulent experience available in private interstellar travel. Of course, not many of them have been sold -- but that just makes the prestige of owning one that much greater. The people who buy these spacecraft, and lesser examples of the type, are those who cannot be bothered to wait for a scheduled transport to their destination star system... even if it's a fast clipper. There are others who simply wish to travel in privacy, and there is nothing more private than a personal spacecraft in hyperspace, cut off not only from everyone else, but from reality itself. And of course, there are a few wealthy eccentrics who are simply too paranoid to share a ride... although these types usually go for larger yachts so they can bring along more bodyguards.

 

For most purposes, however, the Rival Suitor class is secure enough to satisfy most buyers. In fact, when the class made its debut, the performance, equipment and electronics drew comment for being just short of 'military grade.' For such a small spacecraft, it can be quite dangerous in the hands of a capable crew. This has enhanced its reputation considerably, as many other yachts don't back up their luxurious fittings with performance in flight. However, this has also made the class a popular target for hijackers and pirates, who are interested not only in the vessel's cargo and passengers, but its value as a 'prize' in and of itself. A number of corsair squadrons have added a yacht like this one to their ranks, stripping out its valuable interior but keeping its excellent engines and weapons intact.

 

The Solar Express Company has commissioned a series of courier vessels based on the Suitor's basic spaceframe, with identical performance, but not the extravagant interior fittings. On the outside, the Palomino class courier looks just like its progenitor, and is used for high-priority cargo runs, or to transport small groups of VIP's. Palomino crews always make sure, however, to run their transponders so that nobody confuses them for a space yacht. In spite of this, the Palomino courier's class name and strong resemblance to a more upscale type of vessel has made them known to most people as the "Phony Express" couriers.

 

Powers/Tactics: Although considered dangerous for its size, the Rival Suitor class is simply too small to take on any serious attackers -- its best option is usually running away, and using its weaponry to discourage pursuit. While it only has two weapon mounts, both are fitted with hex-mounts: six lasers for point-defense and close-up work, and six coilguns for range firepower. A few owners have opted to replace the coilguns with missiles, but while this provides a single massive salvo, it doesn't afford any staying power if the fight outlasts the very limited supply of (six) missiles.

 

Campaign Use: The three most common encounters with this vessel type will be as a privately-owned yacht, a priority courier, or a converted corsair. (The PCs probably won't own a spacecraft like this one at the start of the campaign, and aren't likely to get one later, either.) For yachts and couriers, the PCs may be called upon either to provide armed escort (if they have a well-armed vessel) or to attempt intercepting and boarding. This will present an interesting challenge, as the PC's vessel will be hard-pressed to equal the yacht/courier's acceleration, and its firepower may also be a problem. If the PCs run into a yacht converted to a corsair, then they've got real trouble, because such vessels seldom operate alone -- they are usually accompanied by the corsair craft which originally captured them. Pirates with captured yachts have been known to stage fake pursuits, with the 'yacht' sending out frantic distress calls, promising a huge reward to anyone who can help them escape. Those who attempt to help are in for a rude shock when both the 'yacht' and the pirates chasing it suddenly gang up on them!

 

Appearance: For Rival Suitor's exterior, the designers made absolutely no effort to hide the spacecraft's excess. The engines and weapons are obviously larger than normal for such a small interstellar craft. Some consider it a garish display of power and wealth; others see a triumphant union of technology and testosterone. The interior simply must be seen to be believed. Each vessel's cabin space is entirely hand-crafted, often to the specifications of the owner, and no two are remotely similar -- each one is an original work of art.

 

A bland character sheet, for a vehicle, isn't so bad -- they're mass-produced objects, after all. But a bland background write-up is a wasted opportunity.

[Lucius]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Halving the given area, then taking the square root gives a size twice as long as it is wide.

 

........huh?

 

Systems and Spaces is the heart of making a ship conform to Masters of Orion standards. Two systems per level of growth provides a steady increase, though adding 5 spaces will give fighters a non-handwaved difference at that small size.

 

Err....how do you "add 5 spaces?" Are you talking about increasing Size?

 

Each system or space is presumed to have the number of Active Points equal to the AP in growth. IE: A size 50 Scout has 20 systems/spaces of 50 AP each. Details of specific weapons, systems, etc., is being glossed over for now.

 

I think I actually understood that...

 

Movement can be bought as megascale 1 KM, and the number of inches divided by the size of the ship.

 

So - for the size 20 Scout, I buy let's say 40" Flight, apply Megascale, then divide the 40 by the 20 to get a total of 2 Km the ship moves in a phase?

 

If I understand (a big if) that means buying anywhere from 10" to 35" of Flight would get the exact same actual movement of 1km/phase.....?

 

This means that additional Propulsion slots are required for faster combat flight.

 

What's a propulsion slot?

 

Armor and Shields are pretty obvious, spending additonal slots on shields narrows the arc that each shield covers, increasing overall shield strength.

 

I don't find that obvious. What are you talking about?

 

To duplicate Master of Orion II's Reinforced Hull' date=' a slot can also be purchased with Extra BODY.[/quote']

 

Let me see if I've got this. By "slot" you mean the same thing as "system" as you defined it earlier; each slot/system/whatever has a certain max Active Points and you only get so many of them based on size.

 

So for the Scout example with 50 pt "slots" you could use one of the slots to buy +50 BOD.

 

Life Support is harder to do' date=' with 50 point Scout having enough to afford Full Life Support. [/quote']

 

How does that make it harder?

 

You can limit available food to the Food SFX multiplier time the size of the slot.

 

What's the "Food SFX multiplier?"

 

I thought every "slot" on a given ship was the same size?

 

Backup Life support systems and extra food would be additional slots.

 

So it may only COST the basic +5 to duplicate something you already have, but you still need to devote an entire "system/slot" to it. Right?

 

 

It sounds fascinating.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

With a crew of palindromedaries

[CptPatriot]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

The guidelines I developed for my campaign are a bit much for a forum post; maybe I should write a blog entry?

 

Edited to add: in the end, it became extremely easy to create new ship designs. I had a Hero Designer file with "one of everything" and making a new ship was just a matter of tweaking the "master file" for the correct quantity of each item of equipment, or deleting items the ship didn't have. Took between five and ten minutes, even for larger ships.

 

If you post it as a blog entry, let me know so I can add it to the index.

[Gnaskar]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

I have a half finished system for my semi-hard-sci-fi setting here; though getting it to become self consistent is rapidly becoming a problem. I had to divide it into the parts of the design with stats based on how big they are compared to the rest of the ship (engines, armor and fuel tanks) and the parts that have stats based on how big they are in general (reactors, weapons, crew areas, sensors).

[Christougher]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

........huh?

Err....how do you "add 5 spaces?" Are you talking about increasing Size?

I found that when trying to build fighter-scale vehicles, I too rapidly ran out of available spaces. Just adding five for free was one possible method of solving that issue.

 

Movement can be bought as megascale 1 KM, and the number of inches divided by the size of the ship.

 

So - for the size 20 Scout, I buy let's say 40" Flight, apply Megascale, then divide the 40 by the 20 to get a total of 2 Km the ship moves in a phase?

 

If I understand (a big if) that means buying anywhere from 10" to 35" of Flight would get the exact same actual movement of 1km/phase.....?

 

What's a propulsion slot?

A porpulsion slot/system (your followup about that is spot on). I admit I was working only on crunchy/break points, so I can't speak with certainty on 10-35" of Flight, but that appears to be correct.

 

 

I don't find that obvious. What are you talking about?

One shield has to cover 360 degrees of ship. Adding another shield means you have 180 degree fore and aft shields of equal strength to the single one, effectively doubling shield strength. Three, four or six shields (Five doesn't conform well to hexmaps) continue the trend.

 

Let me see if I've got this. By "slot" you mean the same thing as "system" as you defined it earlier; each slot/system/whatever has a certain max Active Points and you only get so many of them based on size.

 

So for the Scout example with 50 pt "slots" you could use one of the slots to buy +50 BOD.

Exactly. The Slot/System discrepancy is a variant of copy/paste disease and an inability to decide what to call them. Although it was written for 5E, giving only 25 BODY

 

How does that make it harder?

A 50 point scout has 50 AP slots as pointed out previously. Full Life Support fits easily within that, but by special effect it shouldn't be available at the lowest tech levels. So Special Effects of available life support tech gets involved.

 

What's the "Food SFX multiplier?"

 

I thought every "slot" on a given ship was the same size?

All slots are the same size. The Food SFX multiplier is an in-game consideration of how much food you can squeeze into the slot(s) devoted to Food & Water. Astronaut freeze-dried food allowed them to pack more food into smaller space, extending the time they could spend in space.

 

So it may only COST the basic +5 to duplicate something you already have, but you still need to devote an entire "system/slot" to it. Right?

I discarded the idea of +5 cost to double in order to replicate how the computer game Master of Orion does things. So without that, two 25 AP systems would fit into one 50 AP slot. I'm sure a talented GM could extrapolate out how to use the +5 doubling rule if they wanted to.

 

It sounds fascinating.

Thank you. There's also documents to duplicate the Master of Orion tech trees which answers some of the SFX questions, but it's outside the scope. Of course, I ignore a lot of things like megascale and handwave the difference between ship grade weapons and hand held weapons. But it works.

 

Chris.

[Lucius]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

One shield has to cover 360 degrees of ship. Adding another shield means you have 180 degree fore and aft shields of equal strength to the single one, effectively doubling shield strength. Three, four or six shields (Five doesn't conform well to hexmaps) continue the trend.

 

Okay....so

 

if I buy 1 shield: I have

1 shield with 360 degree coverage

 

 

If I buy 2 shields: I have

1 shield with 360 degree coverage PLUS

2 shields each with 180 degree coverage?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary also wonders how one defines "shield"

[Christougher]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Okay....so

if I buy 1 shield: I have

1 shield with 360 degree coverage

Correct.

 

If I buy 2 shields: I have

1 shield with 360 degree coverage PLUS

2 shields each with 180 degree coverage?

Not quite. Only 2 shields each with 180 degree coverage. Each shield arc becomes smaller as the additional shields are added.

 

As for defining 'shields' that's open to interpretation; Star Hero uses Force Walls, for MoO I used extra BODY so they could regenerate properly.

 

Chris.

[megaplayboy]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Scale, imo, is an extremely important consideration for any design framework. Namely, what is the "combat scale" for ship-to-ship combat, and what is the "campaign scale" for the overall setting size?

Since ship-to-ship combat will be taking place in space, does it involve big ships slowing to a virtual halt, with small craft slowing to dogfight speeds(i.e., hundreds of kph) for purpose of maneuverability? In that case, your combat scale could even be below 1"=1km. If ships have relative velocities equal to or greater than Earth escape velocity, then the combat scale will likely be 1"=1km or even 1" = 10km. A typical conceit is that the maximum range for beam weapons is on the order of 1 light second(about 300,000 km). If this is the case, then the maximum possible scale is on the order of 1"=10,000km or 1"=100,000 km(with every ship moving 1" per segment, and combat taking place within a few inches of each other).

Similarly, the size of the campaign setting(and assumptions about the average speed of interstellar travel) will greatly influence your design framework. In a "Solar Hero" setting, FTL travel may be non-existent, and travel to the outer edges of the solar system may take weeks or months. In an early "Interstellar Hero" setting, travel between star systems may take years or decades, or with early FTL, weeks or months. A Trek type setting may involve vessels travelling at about 500-1000x light speed, reaching near stars in days, and the outer edges of explored space in months. A Space Opera setting might have fast ships crossing the galaxy in a week, or even being fast enough to reach other galaxies in a reasonable time. Some settings may even have instant travel between star systems, with the only real space flight involved being moving from a jump point to a stable orbit.

 

Anyway, it's something to keep in mind.

[Lucius]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Not quite. Only 2 shields each with 180 degree coverage. Each shield arc becomes smaller as the additional shields are added.

 

As for defining 'shields' that's open to interpretation; Star Hero uses Force Walls, for MoO I used extra BODY so they could regenerate properly.

 

Chris.

 

Okay....hardly seems worth it to buy more than one then.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wants 720 degree coverage

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Okay....hardly seems worth it to buy more than one then.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wants 720 degree coverage

Because you can rotate undamaged sections to face the enemy.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Scale' date=' imo, is an extremely important consideration for any design framework. Namely, what is the "combat scale" for ship-to-ship combat, and what is the "campaign scale" for the overall setting size? [/quote']

 

 

For space combat, I stick to the most useful units. Distance is in hexes, acceleration is in G's. One G of acceleration is 10meters per second squared, (rounded up from its standard value, but close enough) AND it's also a change in velocity of one hex per "segment" squared. I don't use standard segments in space combat: they scale up in relation to the square root of the hex size used. Hex size = [segment] squared X 36. This gives a hex size in km, using a "segment" measured in minutes.

 

I've found a five-minute space combat "segment" most useful, because I can use a one-hour "Turn" with 12 "segments" of five minutes each, and keep the standard Speed Chart if I want to use it. At this scale, space combat hexes are 900km across; a ship accelerating at 1G for 5min will achieve a velocity of 3km/sec, which is 1 hex/segment at this scale. (900 km / 3kps = 300 sec = 5min. This works for higher accelerations as well.) Another reason this scale is useful is that the basic 1hex/segment speed of 3kps is also the speed at which an object's kinetic energy equals that of an equal mass of TNT. Since the DC of TNT is known quantity in the Hero System, this is useful for designing kinetic-kill missiles, mass-driver ammo, and also comes in handy if some idiot who's been watching too many bad movies decides to try ramming an enemy spacecraft. (He's in for a nasty surprise if you use "realistic" results: both spacecraft are toast at these velocities. No survivors.)

 

Note that if you make the spacecraft's Flight power fully "cumulative" under these rules, it won't need to be Mega-scaled; 10 meters of Flight for 300 seconds will do the job.

 

Moving up the time chart:

1min segments: 36km hexes

20min segments: 14,400km hexes

60min segments: 129,600km hexes

 

This covers acceleration and deceleration. For other maneuvers (turning, in other words) the standard Hero System turn mode rules don't give 'realistic' results in space combat. There are three options: 1) forget realism and use regular turn modes. This is easy. 2) Use a vector-based system. I've tried this -- it requires extra counters and confuses people. 3) Use the following modified turn mode rules:

 

Instead of using the standard V/5 formula, make a two changes:

1) Use velocity squared (in hexes per segment). Spacecraft moving at high speeds take forever to turn around.

2) Divide by the ship's acceleration in G's (instead of 5). High-G spacecraft are much more maneuverable.

 

In realistic hard-SF campaigns, it's fair to say that movement skill levels can't improve a spacecraft's turn mode: the laws of physics don't care how many character points you spent.

 

That's it, in a nutshell. Hexes, segments, and G's. Tactical maneuvering at low-to middle speeds, one-shot fly-by attacks at high speeds. (And ramming is a bad idea.)

[Narf the Mouse]

Re: A thread for spaceship and starbase frameworks

 

Interesting, useful and mathematically accurate.