FTL Combat

[MistWing]

Does anyone have any house rules for faster-than-light combat? Using the rules in the game, it would either be ineffective or excessively expensive. Both FTL and Mega-Scale impose limitations that make combat ineffective and not using these makes the cost expensive. So, I was hoping someone had some house rules to do this.

 

Thanks

MistWing SilverTail

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: FTL Combat

 

Do you have an example of when this would come up? Generally speaking it is hard to fight with something moving so fast that it is at best a blur or at worst in hyperspace.

 

That said, velocity is relative. If both parties are traveling at the same insanely fast velocity, they are effectively stationary relative to one another and you could just use regular combat rules.

[MistWing]

Re: FTL Combat

 

Do you have an example of when this would come up? Generally speaking it is hard to fight with something moving so fast that it is at best a blur or at worst in hyperspace.

 

That said, velocity is relative. If both parties are traveling at the same insanely fast velocity, they are effectively stationary relative to one another and you could just use regular combat rules.

 

My question was inspired by the game "Star Fleet Battles" which a a board games of starship combat at warp speeds. In this game, combat speed can be anywhere from 1c to 32c. My intention was to imitate this if possible.

 

MistWing SilverTail

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: FTL Combat

 

I'd use the Dogfighting or Intercept rules from APG 1.

[psyber624]

Re: FTL Combat

 

Basically no real rules are needed. The only way you are going to be able to have combat at FTL speeds is if you are using an "alternate dimension" theory for FTL travel where anything traveling at these speeds is only doing it by jumping to "hyperspace". At that point you simply allow standard combat rules apply to ships in hyperspace, allowing their "FTL Factor" to translate to inches of movement in the "hyperspace" dimension. (ie every ly/y = 1" of movement per phase, or every x2 FTL spent = 1", whichever method you as a GM prefers).

 

Non-dimensional FTL movement would happen so fast that combat would be basically impossible. The distances between vessels, the speeds at which an attack would have to travel, etc, mean that it just wouldn't happen. I guess as a GM you could MAKE it happen, but I wouldn't recommend trying it.

[Jas]

Re: FTL Combat

 

SFB doesn't worry about realism, and neither should you. Ships traveling at multiples of the speed of light fire weapons that can traverse the space between them effectively instantly (in the case of phasers and photon torpedoes) and at up to 32c in the case of drones and the like. If you really are statting out the ships, just build the weapons like any other, unless they're physical objects like drones or shuttles, in which case I might make them into a limited use summoning that creates the physical object and links a large killing attack to a move-by maneuver.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Re: FTL Combat

 

Just use the Intercept rules. They were created for this sort of combat. As long as your weapons have the appropriate ranges and you can target out to that distance, then you can fight at those distances/speeds. Its up to the GM's descriptive powers to make the battle feel like its happening at FTL velocities. No game rules could be created to represent this well since its such an abstract concept.