Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor. *fnord* - Page 3

whswhs · 11-30-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

I like to combine jump drives and "warp" (Necklin) drives. The jump drives are for close systems. The Necklin drives are for systems which are connected, no matter the distance.

I don't think you are using those terms as they are defined in GURPS. The Necklin wormhole drive is clearly a jump drive. You enter a wormhole in solar system 1 and you come out in solar system 2 without passing through the 3-space between. And given that, I don't understand what it is you mean to refer to by "jump drive," since it's clearly not that.

Bill Stoddard

The Whiner Knight · 12-01-2009, 01:35 PM

And you don't really need super-light travel to get from wormhole to wormhole.

The Ariel in Mirror Dance takes 6 days to travel from Escobar to Jackson's Whole. The Saga Sourcebook says the Ariel has a total acceleration of 6G, and it's supposed to be fast in comparison to many of the stories' other ships.

So either the stated time in Mirror Dance is wrong, the thrust value for the Ariel is wrong, or wormholes are astonishingly common.

TWK

Tel · 12-02-2009, 07:49 PM

It is wrong.

The entire Dendarii fleet covers 36 light-minutes in 12 hours decelerating to a dead stop in The Vor Game. That's 70 gravities, at least, sustained.

The Ariel, meanwhile, leaves the main body of the fleet two hours or so from that point and arrives two hours early. I think that comes out to something around 100 gravities.

You can also compare travel times and tight-beam times. Whatever Vorkosigan vessels are using, it's way more space opera than what's statted out.

The Whiner Knight · 12-03-2009, 02:29 PM

Thanks, Tel. I thought I'd seen someone mention it, but I didn't have the figures.

Well, I was already going to wing it. Vorkosigan ships travel at the speed of plot, after all.

I think I'll require a Quick Contest of Piloting skill when two ships are trying to maneuver to change the distance between them, with a bonus of +1 to +2 for the faster ship.

Speeds determined by the ship's intended role and load. Thus a fully-laden container ship is slow as Christmas while attack shuttles are fast enough to swarm it without much trouble; the challenge then is who can outshoot whom in point defense fire.

That sort of thing.

TWK

Boxer01 · 12-07-2009, 09:29 AM

Not to go too far OT but in-system travel times in the books seem to be more tightly coupled to the needs of a story than to physics. Ships capable of doing 70 - 100 gees can cross the Solar System in very short order which tends to mitigate against the many days it takes to go wormhole to wormhole in-system that LMB describes.

Archangel Beth · 12-07-2009, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I honestly don't see that there's anything about the setting that makes it especially gameable, and I seriously doubt I know anybody who'd have any interest in playing it.

While the player-lack is always an issue, the chapters are introduced by original vignettes that suggest a mystery plotline which... Well, it seemed perfectly gameable to me, anyway?

So if you see it, you might want to flip through the vignettes, at least, to see if they spark any, "Oh, so that's how to do a game" thoughts?

Since, well, that's probably about how I really got into the whole, "Oh, yeah, that's how to do it!" kind of mindset. O:>

The Whiner Knight · 12-08-2009, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxer01

Not to go too far OT but in-system travel times in the books seem to be more tightly coupled to the needs of a story than to physics. Ships capable of doing 70 - 100 gees can cross the Solar System in very short order which tends to mitigate against the many days it takes to go wormhole to wormhole in-system that LMB describes.

Yeah, that's the problem with trying to nail space opera down into concrete GURPS terms. How fast does the Enterprise travel? How much tougher is an X-Wing than a TIE fighter? Can the Prince Serg get from Komarr to the Hegen Hub in time for Gregor to negotiate a temporary alliance to repel the Cetagandan invasion force?

You almost have to have some kind of numbers in place, or really understanding players, or consistency is going right out the window and that tends to upset the more concrete-minded players. "Oh, you mean the pirate ship is faster than us because you say so, huh? All right, bye!"

TWK

12-01-2009, 01:35 PM	#22
The Whiner Knight Join Date: Jul 2005	Re: Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor. fnord And you don't really need super-light travel to get from wormhole to wormhole. The Ariel in Mirror Dance takes 6 days to travel from Escobar to Jackson's Whole. The Saga Sourcebook says the Ariel has a total acceleration of 6G, and it's supposed to be fast in comparison to many of the stories' other ships. So either the stated time in Mirror Dance is wrong, the thrust value for the Ariel is wrong, or wormholes are astonishingly common. TWK __________________ TWK "When the human race is clocked on the stopwatch of history, it's a new record every time."

12-02-2009, 07:49 PM	#23
Tel Join Date: Dec 2008	Re: Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor. fnord It is wrong. The entire Dendarii fleet covers 36 light-minutes in 12 hours decelerating to a dead stop in The Vor Game. That's 70 gravities, at least, sustained. The Ariel, meanwhile, leaves the main body of the fleet two hours or so from that point and arrives two hours early. I think that comes out to something around 100 gravities. You can also compare travel times and tight-beam times. Whatever Vorkosigan vessels are using, it's way more space opera than what's statted out.

12-03-2009, 02:29 PM	#24
The Whiner Knight Join Date: Jul 2005	Re: Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor. fnord Thanks, Tel. I thought I'd seen someone mention it, but I didn't have the figures. Well, I was already going to wing it. Vorkosigan ships travel at the speed of plot, after all. I think I'll require a Quick Contest of Piloting skill when two ships are trying to maneuver to change the distance between them, with a bonus of +1 to +2 for the faster ship. Speeds determined by the ship's intended role and load. Thus a fully-laden container ship is slow as Christmas while attack shuttles are fast enough to swarm it without much trouble; the challenge then is who can outshoot whom in point defense fire. That sort of thing. TWK __________________ TWK "When the human race is clocked on the stopwatch of history, it's a new record every time."

12-07-2009, 09:29 AM	#25
Boxer01 Join Date: Jul 2009	Re: Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor, Vor. fnord Not to go too far OT but in-system travel times in the books seem to be more tightly coupled to the needs of a story than to physics. Ships capable of doing 70 - 100 gees can cross the Solar System in very short order which tends to mitigate against the many days it takes to go wormhole to wormhole in-system that LMB describes.