08-14-2014, 05:29 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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[Spaceships] Piercing And Other Damage Types
OK, I might only be noticing because I'm looking up the rules to see how spaceships engage in melee combat, but I've noticed a problem: Spaceships doesn't actually say what sort of damage it's weapons do. Oh, it gives things like burn, but not pi- to pi++ (Which I think ranged burning attacks need, or at least they can have it).
Now this is kind of important because unless an attack has pi++ it won't do full damage against a spaceship and attacks that are pi- get a wounding modifier of 0.2 against machines. |
08-14-2014, 05:41 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
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Re: [Spaceships]Piercing And Other Damage Types
The smallest possible spaceship projectiles are 2cm - well above the threshold for pi++. Of course, at the velocities they fire at, their impacts tend to be explosive rather than penetrating, so they should be treated as crushing explosions. Either way, that's a Wound Modifier of x1 against Unliving ship hulls.
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08-14-2014, 07:33 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: [Spaceships] Piercing And Other Damage Types
That's odd, I could have sworn the conventional warheads were listed as crushing. If you're willing to extend the pi categories, a 2 cm warhead would be Pi+2 (Pi++, x2 WM), 2.5 and 3 cm would be Pi+3 (x3), up to 5 cm would be Pi+4 (x5), up to 7 cm would be Pi+5 (x7), up to 10 cm would be Pi+6 (x10), and so forth. If we assume the projectiles are solid steel, then above 3 mps or so (speed of sound in steel is 3.7 mps) the projectiles are just going to explode upon impact, for cr ex rather than Pi+n. The projectiles are probably made of a great deal of stuff other than steel, with a lower speed of sound, so the minimum 1 mps velocity of conventional weapons is probably sufficient for this effect to occur. With that in mind, you might as well just have all of them be cr.
Also, burning weapons don't have a damage type other than Burn, not even Tight Beam Burning. lwcamp's houserules, change this, with a Beam category that's basically "burning piercing" for Tight Beam Burning. |
08-14-2014, 08:01 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Re: [Spaceships]Piercing And Other Damage Types
Quote:
But all "bullets" are guided too, which makes the differentiation between "guns" and "launchers" largely a matter of size rather than function of shell.
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My Blog: Mailanka's Musing. Currently Playing: Psi-Wars, a step-by-step exploration of building your own Space Opera setting, inspired by Star Wars. |
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08-14-2014, 08:17 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
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Re: [Spaceships]Piercing And Other Damage Types
Quote:
Considering the overall level of detail of the Spaceships line, I wouldn't worry about whether shells are technically pi++ or cr ex, and just stick to Wound Modifier x1. |
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08-14-2014, 08:41 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Re: [Spaceships]Piercing And Other Damage Types
Quote:
Hmmm. I wonder if you could work out a semi-reliable system for making alternate shell-types work.
__________________
My Blog: Mailanka's Musing. Currently Playing: Psi-Wars, a step-by-step exploration of building your own Space Opera setting, inspired by Star Wars. |
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08-14-2014, 08:59 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
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Re: [Spaceships]Piercing And Other Damage Types
Quote:
EDIT: Decided to drop by the Designer's Notes to refresh my memory on the Plasma Lance warhead. That's one that could actually be competitive with some projectiles, because of its high basic damage and armor divisor. A 10cm Plasma Lance deals 12d(10); a kinetic warhead would need a relative velocity of 4 mps to achieve the same penetration. Of course, spaceships tend to have far weaker armor than what's found in UT, so there may not be much demand for it. Plus, the Plasma Lance is TL11^, by which point spaceships may be packing Gravity Guns with a minimum velocity of 5 mps. These warheads may still have a niche as cheap bunker-buster bombs (using the bomb rules from SS4). Last edited by vierasmarius; 08-14-2014 at 09:36 AM. |
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