Fitz Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 I'm in the process of renovating my old space opera campaign, and I want to define a quality for Jump Drives so that they will operate reliably for a while, and then aquire an activation roll. At present, I've decreed that the basic unit starts with an Activation (Burnout) Roll of 36- and which drops by one with each successive use of the drive, effectively giving the user 19 reliable jumps before something might break. It works similarly to Ablative in its effect, but the deterioration doesn't kick in for a while. My problem is, how do I cost this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Goodwin Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 What are the conditions for regaining reliability? Do these conditions restore one step or to full? How often do you anticipate the players using them? (Answer: If they're simple, after every jump.) Probably not more than -0 unless to restore reliability is very complicated, takes a long time, and only restores one step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitz Posted October 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Regaining reliability is as simple as swapping out the drive and replacing it with a new one. They're not hard to come by, or terrifically expensive, but if the ship is stuck in the back of beyond without ready access to a spare parts store, there could be trouble. If you're interested, my campaign stuff is at http://fitz.jsr.com/roleplay/hero/sci-fi/sci-fi.html There's a reasonable amount of stuff there, though most of it is still written up for 4th Ed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 How about this model? Hyperjump Engine (OAF, Immobile, Requires Hyperjump SKill Roll, Burnout) Hyperjump Control Module (OAF, Bulky, +5 to Hyperjump Skill Roll, 30 charges, Boostable Charges, Charges Difficult to recover - requires new circuitry and Hyperdrive Engineering Roll ) If you seperate the two functions, then you have room for substandard or incompatible modules (+5 to roll, 20 charges). and for military models (Hyperjump with no Skill Roll, 25 charges, difficult to recover). It also allows for inexperienced pilots to have a greater chance of burning out the hyperdrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pteryx Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 I do believe Farkling's got the right idea. Though I'd do it a little differently, having the control module be something akin to a Naked Power Advantage -- Naked Disadvantage Buyoff, if you will. Give the base engine an activation roll, figure out what the difference in cost between it having and not having said roll is, then apply however many Charges you want on that difference. -- Pteryx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitz Posted October 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Hmmm, perhaps I wasn't clear about the problem. Just defining a jump drive isn't a big issue, whether it's a single unit or a multi-part module dingus thingummy. What I'm having trouble with is this: I want to be able to give it a decreasing activation roll which doesn't kick in until after some arbitrary number of uses. Doing it as I am now, by basing it on Ablative (even though it's not a Defence Power) and starting at an un-failable roll level will work for what I want, but Ablative is worth -1 and clearly this limitation isn't as bad as that, since there's a clear period of predictable reliability. Using Charges doesn't quite do it, since it can be used (probably) after all the charges have been expended..... unless I go to the lengths of giving it a bunch of regular charges, plus one charge at 17-, one charge at 16-, one charge at 15-, and so on. Clunky, to say the least. In point of fact, an exact limitation value isn't really vital for my campaign since the point value of a ship's systems don't matter at all to the PCs. However, this is a limitation type which isn't precisely covered by any of the current rules, which interested me since I don't often find something I can't build straight, without hand-waving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eepjr24 Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Side Effect? To the hyper drive, add the following side effect: SE: Acquires 18- Activation Roll after 18 uses. Activation roll goes down 1 for each use after activation roll is acquired. (Minor, -1/4) I based the minor on both my feeling and the fact that it is only significantly impacted if regular maintenance is not done. Or, looked at another way, it is only ablative half the time. Obviously, there are many ways to skin a cat, and SE is one of my favorite lims for odd effects. - Ernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatwyrm Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 How about making it with the burnout limitation. The activiation roll is equal to the number of charges left or the amount of END left in the battery. A roll of 18 might still result in a failure (dud battery), but it will be very reliable until you get down to around a dozen charges left. I probably would make this about a -1/4 limitation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pteryx Posted October 28, 2003 Report Share Posted October 28, 2003 Originally posted by Fitz Using Charges doesn't quite do it, since it can be used (probably) after all the charges have been expended..... unless I go to the lengths of giving it a bunch of regular charges, plus one charge at 17-, one charge at 16-, one charge at 15-, and so on. Clunky, to say the least. Er... that's not what Farkling and I were trying to suggest. The idea was to build it straight with the activation roll, then build a Charged way to get around said roll. Once you're out of Charges, you must resort to rolls instead in order to use it. -- Pteryx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted October 28, 2003 Report Share Posted October 28, 2003 That's right. I figure if the Hyperdrive doesn't make the RSR (let's assume no penalty for RSR) then it will Burnout.... So you add a rider power to boost the Hyperdrive skill rolls... The Extra Time and Adjustment of the module will allow for better rolls....and wreck the circuitry faster... Eventually you are left with a Hyperdrive that may not function reliably more than a few times. Perhaps instead of Hyperdirive Control Module I should have written "Wormhole Navigation System" Ah well. Side Effects works too. More of the decsion and operation is in the GM's hands that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 You could also build it like this: Multipower: Jump Drive (Slots change automatically after all charges expended -1/4) a) Jump Drive: 18 charges difficult to recover Jump Drive: Ablative (every use reduces roll by 1 Level) with Burnout option Start out with 18 charges to represent 18 always-successful Jumps. After all 18 charges are expended (representing general wear and tear on the systems) the Multipower auto-switches to slot B. The first use of this slot will be successful automatically (no Activation roll yet); this gives you 19 total automatically successful uses. After that 19th use, though, the Jump Drive now has a 15- Activation roll (that's the Abaltive coming out out to play). From now on, each time the ship attempts to Jump, roll the Activation check. If the ship makes the check, it Jumps successfully and the Activation roll is lowered to the next Level. If the roll is failed, then the drive has Burned Out and must be repaired or replaced. Even if they're incredibly lucky, sooner or later they're going to drop below 8-, at which point it simply won't work anymore no matter WHAT they roll. OR.... Find the cost of the Jump Drive without worrying about this kind of limitation. Once everything else is figured, call the cost of the drive X. Now figure out the cost of the Jump Drive with the Ablative limitation (where the Ablative *automatically* lowers to the next lower level with each successful use of the Power). Call this cost Y. The difference (X-Y) is cost Z. Buy the cost Y drive. Buy cost Z as a seperate Power (kind of like a Naked Advantage) with the Limitations Charges (Difficult to Recover) and Linked: cost Y Jump Drive. Each time they Jump, this automatically expends one charge (Linked) of the "I don't have an Activation roll yet" add-on (the cost difference between a Drive without Ablative and one with Ablative). Once all the Charges have been expended, the Ablative starts its work degrading the drive. In other words, the actual Drive is bought with Ablative, but you're buying 18 Charges of being able to ignore the Ablative limitation by paying for the difference between the two as limited by the Charges. Make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitz Posted October 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 Originally posted by Pteryx Er... that's not what Farkling and I were trying to suggest. The idea was to build it straight with the activation roll, then build a Charged way to get around said roll. Once you're out of Charges, you must resort to rolls instead in order to use it. -- Pteryx Ah, all is now clear -- pardon my obtuseness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 I can even picture the Tom Corbett / Lensmen consideration "Without the computers...it would take MONTHS to calculate the correct jump co-ordinates" What is the bonus to the Skill Roll for months? Heh heh heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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