|
Yeah... dumbest, most annoying line of the movie. And coming from the movie that featured Jar Jar at his worst, that's truly saying something.I can't wait to try my favorite Star Wars dog fighting manoeuvre!
"I'll try spinning! That's a good trick." - Anakin Skywalker, Age 8.
Aww no, I was being tongue in cheek! If I was 8 years old, I promise I wouldn't have had anything more clever to say than that.
Back on topic:
I'm excited by the possibilities of Starship combat, particularly how it works with one-crew fighters (like an X-Wing or TIE), because that kind of dogfighting is probably key to my space fantasy fantasies.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Built by the vesk munitions company Vindicas, the Tyrant is a dreadnought feared across multiple star systems. Huge weapon batteries tear through even the most formidable capital ships, while its hangars unleash squadrons of fighters to mop up foes too insignificant to be worth the Tyrant's direct attention.
That ships looks massive! I'm guess something that big isn't expected to be used by five players, or would the ship roles change into something akin to leadership positions, like chief engineer?
Also the mention of squadrons of fighters make me wonder if there are any sort of large scale ship combat mechanics.
I've really been loving all of art shown so far, excellent job! :)
This looks like the old d20 star wars ship combat! Awesome, something for everyone to do!
So, as a role, the captain doesn't have to be the one in charge, just the one people listen to in a crisis. A charismatic first mate or co-pilot is just as good in that slot.
Too bad there isn't a co-pilot/navigator role. Every ship should have a Chewbacca or a Chekhov when there is room enough on the bridge or in the cockpit. Even Rey wanted one.
Someone could probably also have pilot ranks who uses aid often to pull off tricky moves
So, what could the mystic do? I'm not sure what role they would fill.
Too bad there isn't a co-pilot/navigator role. Every ship should have a Chewbacca or a Chekhov when there is room enough on the bridge or in the cockpit. Even Rey wanted one.
I am guessing that co-pilot or navigator is what a captain calls himself when he wants to let the pilot think that he and not the captain/co-pilot/navigator is in charge.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Han Solo, captain by rank, pilot by role.
Chewbacca, co-pilot by rank, captain by role.
Han makes the decisions, Chewie passes out bonuses. At least when one or another of them isn't trying to fix something. The Falcon really could use a dedicated engineer, but Han & Chewie probably wouldn't tolerate somebody else poking around in her guts.
So, what could the mystic do? I'm not sure what role they would fill.
It isn't really class based.
It would presumably have some relationship to skills in several cases. If you don't have science skills or engineering skills, aren't good at shooting or driving the ship, I guess you're stuck as captain.
My problem is with the fact that presumablely space combat would take place in three dimensions. There appears to be no consideration for attacking from above or below. Space combat in two dimensions feels like it loses something important.Pretty much every PnP game with space combat I have played (Traveller, Star Trek, Star Wars D6/Star Warriors) uses one or two dimensions only.
Without a computer it's pretty much impossible to keep track of a 3rd dimension.
Quite a few PnP games over the years have used 3-D space combat, they all found the same thing: If you houserule down to 2-D, the gameplay doesn't really change.
It's not that it can't be done, it's that there is little to no benefit in doing it for most fights.
Especially in space. Most areas of space just are not going to have enough "terrain" that depth winds up having that much impact. Generally if you are fighting you eventually are orienting near each other and that effectively is a plane. The game also seems to allow you to cross directly over/under/around somebody with a manuever so you still get the tie fighters strafing the falcon sort of options. Unless one side or the other is so horribly outnumbers they can be fully englobed you just don't gain much but slowing the game down for fully modeling 3d.
|
|
In re: any combat involving up to 3 points of interest can be modeled as a plane.
Could a 1 on 1 combat then be modeled as just a line? All motion then boils down to Approach, Retreat, or Maintain Separation. The more mobile combatant would have near complete control over the separation distance.
No, because the direction your ship is facing matters, so there's more to it than just how close you are. There's also which way you're moving. So besides the two ships, you'd want to track the starting and stopping point of the moving ship on each turn (or possibly point of closest approach or some other interesting point before you reach the end point), which gives you 3 points of interest again.
Which makes me wonder why that also wouldn't create 4 points of interest when dealing with 3 ships, thus bringing us back to 3 dimensions.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mk III Drone: you can have it in any colour as long as it's not black.
How much do you wanna bet the Shireen really tried to take special "single color" orders but then they get on the factory floor and all of those color options and then their compound eyes get really big...
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
So, what could the mystic do? I'm not sure what role they would fill.
In the heat of battle, there's always room for someone to close their eyes and pray for dear life.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The Drone Mk III is a smaller ship fabricated by shirren manufacturer Starhive. As befits their name, Drones are extremely common and used as freighters, personnel transports, light colonial defense vessels, and more. Despite the ships' mass production, Starhive takes a natural shirren pride in making sure each ship's iridescent paint job is unique.
Seriously. I love the bug-people.
I can't wait to try my favorite Star Wars dog fighting manoeuvre!
"I'll try spinning! That's a good trick." - Anakin Skywalker, Age 8.
Still can't believe Lucas gave Anakin that line. He could have said nothing from the time he got in the cockpit till the time he left, and he would have seemed a lot more competent as a pilot (as Ben Kenobi built him up to be when talking to Luke about him).
|
No, because the direction your ship is facing matters, so there's more to it than just how close you are. There's also which way you're moving. So besides the two ships, you'd want to track the starting and stopping point of the moving ship on each turn (or possibly point of closest approach or some other interesting point before you reach the end point), which gives you 3 points of interest again.In re: any combat involving up to 3 points of interest can be modeled as a plane.
Could a 1 on 1 combat then be modeled as just a line? All motion then boils down to Approach, Retreat, or Maintain Separation. The more mobile combatant would have near complete control over the separation distance.
You don't need to track starting and stopping points, you just need to track each ship's orientation with regard to the line. When a ship moves, it's speed is represented in both a change in separation distance and an angular velocity. So, still two points.
For a Star Wars Saga game, I did an experiment with implementing 3-d space battles. Basically, I had rulers taped vertically to a heavy base, with starship miniatures clipped (with those black clip thingies) to the ruler. By moving the base, the ship would move horizontally, and by moving the clip, the ship would move vertically (using the inch measurements on the rulers to tell how far "up" or "down" a ship was from another). Ships on the exact same vertical plane would move onto the same ruler, etc. It was kinda fun, but I only tried it for a few battles. If I were more crafty, I probably could have streamlined the idea better.
In re: any combat involving up to 3 points of interest can be modeled as a plane.
Could a 1 on 1 combat then be modeled as just a line? All motion then boils down to Approach, Retreat, or Maintain Separation. The more mobile combatant would have near complete control over the separation distance.
No, because the direction your ship is facing matters, so there's more to it than just how close you are. There's also which way you're moving. So besides the two ships, you'd want to track the starting and stopping point of the moving ship on each turn (or possibly point of closest approach or some other interesting point before you reach the end point), which gives you 3 points of interest again.
Which makes me wonder why that also wouldn't create 4 points of interest when dealing with 3 ships, thus bringing us back to 3 dimensions.
That's not the point he was trying to make. He was talking about the ships when he said points of interest, and even if you take 3 points and have them face and move in three totally wild and different directions, a flat plane can be made by those 3 points at any given time.
|
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
One easy way to represent some 3d on a battle map is with colored poker chips - use, say, red chips for down and blue chips for up, each chip being one space. Put the mini/representation of the ship on top of the stack. Calculating distance requires a little math.
In my experience 3D isn't worth the complication in space combat.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Please tell me that, even though they aren't listed here, there are rules for ramming.
Please tell me that, even though they aren't listed here, there are rules for ramming.
That demo game at GAMA had goblins ramming (or at least trying to ram) the PCs' ship, so it must be there in some form.
Please tell me that, even though they aren't listed here, there are rules for ramming.That demo game at GAMA had goblins ramming (or at least trying to ram) the PCs' ship, so it must be there in some form.
They said during the demo that it was a house rule, so it will not necessarily be in there.
But it is too fun an idea to give up on.
Even if it is not directly in the core rulebook, I would be very surprised if nobody comes up with some sort of ramming rules within a week of that book's initial release. After all, they would have to cover accidental collisions in some way -- and what is ramming but a deliberate collision?
I would be pretty surprised to not see some form of ramming rules in game. It is one of those things that tends to pop up in anything where people fly around.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
And deliberate ramming was a tactic chosen by a Rebel ship in Rogue One.
Even if there isn't a specific rule for it, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to calculate. Each ship should have statsfor size, hardness and durability. Treat a ship as a bludgeoning (or piercing if the nose is pointy enough) weapon of X size category. Do math.
|
Especially in space. Most areas of space just are not going to have enough "terrain" that depth winds up having that much impact. Generally if you are fighting you eventually are orienting near each other and that effectively is a plane. The game also seems to allow you to cross directly over/under/around somebody with a manuever so you still get the tie fighters strafing the falcon sort of options. Unless one side or the other is so horribly outnumbers they can be fully englobed you just don't gain much but slowing the game down for fully modeling 3d.My problem is with the fact that presumablely space combat would take place in three dimensions. There appears to be no consideration for attacking from above or below. Space combat in two dimensions feels like it loses something important.Pretty much every PnP game with space combat I have played (Traveller, Star Trek, Star Wars D6/Star Warriors) uses one or two dimensions only.
Without a computer it's pretty much impossible to keep track of a 3rd dimension.
Quite a few PnP games over the years have used 3-D space combat, they all found the same thing: If you houserule down to 2-D, the gameplay doesn't really change.
It's not that it can't be done, it's that there is little to no benefit in doing it for most fights.
I think there needs to be some consideration for hitting the soft underbelly of a capital sized ship with a snub fighter kind of thing. I have every confidence this will will a great game. I preordered the whole kit. I Just wondered if there is something in place to represent the oddity three dimensions present
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There isn't any reason to build capital ships with a 'soft underbelly.' It's actually a terrible design flaw in a space born ship, you'd want (and have no reason not to) protect it with the same armor and weapon arcs as anywhere else.
There isn't any reason to build capital ships with a 'soft underbelly.' It's actually a terrible design flaw in a space born ship, you'd want (and have no reason not to) protect it with the same armor and weapon arcs as anywhere else.
Capital ships are also unlikely to "land" and there for can actually put a large number of guns and defenses on the bottom.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
though if they did need to land they could have extending legs to not crush the guns