08-19-2013, 06:36 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
|
[Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
This came up in the example combat I ran yesterday, and I was wondering if I just drastically misread the rules or what.
Imagine a scene with two vessels: a rescue craft with adequate but not excessive acceleration, delta-V, and handling; and a drifting derelict. The rescue craft would like to land on the derelict and recover its crew but needs to do this in a hurry since there are enemy forces around. Every turn of the combat, the pilot performs a Piloting Task, spends enough delta-V and acceleration to get an acceleration bonus, and attempts a Closing maneuver (which is fortunately uncontested by the drifting derelict). If the pilot succeeds, he is on an attack vector. There is no way to move to a closer approach than attack vector aside from succeeding on the Piloting skill roll by 10+, which would let him become engaged with the derelict. If the pilot manages to get engaged before running out of delta-V reserve, he can continue to make Piloting Tasks, spending delta-V, and attempting Closing maneuvers. Success will put him on a collision course with the target. He'll never collide with the target, as far as I can tell, but he'll be on a collision course nonetheless. If he wins the Piloting task by 10+, he manages the rendezvous. Is this how things are supposed to work? Is it basically supposed to be impossible to achieve a rendezvous unless you're operating at a Close-scale encounter using 10 minute turns while using vessels that have 0.1+ G of acceleration?
__________________
Read my GURPS blog: http://noschoolgrognard.blogspot.com |
08-19-2013, 12:06 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Boston, Hub of the Universe!
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
Don't forget the TDM (perhaps +4 if the hulk is not tumbling or only +2 if it is tumbling nicely along an axis, or maybe up to +10 because it's not resisting in the slightest) and you can get loads of bonuses for simply taking extra time.
__________________
Demi Benson |
08-19-2013, 02:02 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
There's no mention of TDM in Spaceships.
And yes, I know I can get a load of extra bonuses for taking time, since I could switch to 10 minute turns and it becomes easy. The problem is that it is inordinately difficult for agile craft to rendezvous with an unresisting object if they need to do it in a hurry. For example (as suggested in the original post), they need to do it combat time because enemy forces are around. Again, am I misreading the rules? If so, could someone sort it out with references to the rules in Spaceships?
__________________
Read my GURPS blog: http://noschoolgrognard.blogspot.com |
08-19-2013, 02:55 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
It looks like it's nearly impossible to rendezvous with anything under the basic system unless you've got a lot of mobility in the chosen combat scale or a really hot pilot, yeah.
Spaceships 3 combat may make that easier, though it says 'may attempt to rendezvous' without detailing what that involves.
__________________
I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
08-19-2013, 03:06 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
Would you not connect with a flexible grapple and then take in tension this forcing your speed, heading and roll to converge as you wind in?
|
08-19-2013, 04:19 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
Not until after you're already at 'rendezvous' status. Shooting a grapple at someone from a hundred miles away while moving at an appreciable fraction of a mile per second relative to them is unlikely to do anything, and on the off chance that it does you probably won't be happy about it.
__________________
I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
08-22-2013, 03:54 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
Quote:
|
|
08-22-2013, 06:25 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
|
Re: [Spaceships] Rendezvousing with a hulk
That is the situation after you rendezvous.
__________________
I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
Tags |
spaceships |
|
|