Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - FTL rate of movement for GURPS SPACESHIPS

hal · 02-22-2019, 03:23 PM

Dumb question:

Why does High Automation require size 12+ vessels, but Total Automation has no size requirement?

High Automation costs 20% less than Total automation, and can reduce up to 90% of the workstations required for the ship in question.

Just seems odd.

Either way, there doesn't seem to be any maintenance rules in effect when dealing with GURPS SPACESHIPS - unless it is present in the only rule set I didn't purchase (#7).

In any event, heavily automating starships or total automation makes for a Beserker style campaign - and frankly, that seems like a shame in my eyes.

Moving on to the other rules, it would seem that smaller craft do suffer a penalty where it comes to complexity of computer systems carried on board. This in turn, when coupled with the rules on page 14 of SPACESHIPS #4, make it such that depending on the Tech level, the IQ of the computer driven AI becomes considerably lower.

I won't make a big deal about it, but I largely detest the rules for Robots and AI's in Ultratech for 4e as compared against Ultratech or Robots for 3e. In effect, AI's are now built with character points rather than anything else (or so it seems to me).

Just for giggles? Would someone build (step by step) a functional Complexity 6 AI for use with a TL 10 Hull size 5 vessel?

I'd like to get a feel for what such a vehicle's functional skills would be like when contrasted against a ship whose crew might be trained to skill level 12 as a general rule.

02-22-2019, 03:23 PM	#34
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	Re: FTL rate of movement for GURPS SPACESHIPS Dumb question: Why does High Automation require size 12+ vessels, but Total Automation has no size requirement? High Automation costs 20% less than Total automation, and can reduce up to 90% of the workstations required for the ship in question. Just seems odd. Either way, there doesn't seem to be any maintenance rules in effect when dealing with GURPS SPACESHIPS - unless it is present in the only rule set I didn't purchase (#7). In any event, heavily automating starships or total automation makes for a Beserker style campaign - and frankly, that seems like a shame in my eyes. Moving on to the other rules, it would seem that smaller craft do suffer a penalty where it comes to complexity of computer systems carried on board. This in turn, when coupled with the rules on page 14 of SPACESHIPS #4, make it such that depending on the Tech level, the IQ of the computer driven AI becomes considerably lower. I won't make a big deal about it, but I largely detest the rules for Robots and AI's in Ultratech for 4e as compared against Ultratech or Robots for 3e. In effect, AI's are now built with character points rather than anything else (or so it seems to me). Just for giggles? Would someone build (step by step) a functional Complexity 6 AI for use with a TL 10 Hull size 5 vessel? I'd like to get a feel for what such a vehicle's functional skills would be like when contrasted against a ship whose crew might be trained to skill level 12 as a general rule.