[Spaceships] DS-1 Orbital Battle Station

[Phantasm]

Here it is, the one spaceship that many folks have told me not to toss at them! The original Death Star!

DS-1 ORBITAL BATTLE STATION
aka the Death Star

TL: 11^
dHP/ST: 700K
Hnd/SR: -9/5
HT: 13
Move: 0.5 G/c
LWt: 1,000T tons
Load: 50T tons
SM: +32
Occ: several million ASV
dDR: 200,000
Range: -
Cost: $111.6 QT (for mass production; as a one-of-a-kind deal, higher by at least a factor of 10, probably closer to a factor of 100)
Streamlined: Yes (it's a sphere, after all)

Front:
[1] Armor, Diamondoid; dDR 200,000; $10QT
[2!] Weapons Battery, Spinal-Mount; 100B workspaces, $15QT
[3] Control Room; C21 computer, Comm/Sensor 32, 300,000 stations, 100B workspaces, $2QT
[4] Habitat; 6,000,000,000,000 cabins, 100B workspaces, $1QT
[5!] Weapons, 100,000 SM +22 Tertiary Batteries; 100B workspaces, $6QT
[6] Cargo Hold; 50T tons

Middle:
[1] Armor, Diamondoid; dDR 200,000; $10QT
[2] Habitat; 6,000,000,000,000 cabins, 100B workspaces, $1QT
[3] Hangar Bays; Capacity 30T tons, launch rate 2B tons, 100B workspaces, $100QD
[4!] Weapons, 100,000 SM +22 Tertiary Batteries; 100B workspaces, $6QT
[5] Habitat; 6,000,000,000,000 cabins, 100B workspaces, $1QT
[6] Habitat; 6,000,000,000,000 cabins, 100B workspaces, $1QT
[core!] Weapons Battery, Spinal-Mount; 100B workspaces

Rear:
[1] Armor, Diamondoid; dDR 200,000; $10QT
[2!] Weapons Battery, Spinal-Mount; 100B workspaces
[3] Habitat; 6,000,000,000,000 cabins, 100B workspaces, $1QT
[4!] Rotary Reactionless Engine; 0.1G accel, 100B workspaces, $500QD
[5!] Stardrive Engine; 100B workspaces, $10QT
[6!] Weapons, 100,000 SM +22 Tertiary Batteries; 100B workspaces, $6QT
[core] Power Plant, Super Fusion; 4 PP, 400 yr endurance, 100B workspaces, $30QT

Design Features:
Artificial Gravity; $1QT
Total Automation; $8T

Design Switches:
FTL Comm Array

Spinal-Mount Weapon Battery:
1 ZJ Ghost Particle Beam
dDamage: 2d x 1,000,000,000 (infinite) cr ex
Range: X+
Rcl: 0
sAcc: -3

Forward Tertiary Weapons Batteries:
3,000,000 10 TJ Particle Beam Turrets (turbolaser turrets)
Options: Improved
dDamage: 4d x 100 (5) burn rad sur
Range: L/X
Rcl: 0
sAcc: -3

Mid-Section Tertiary Weapons Batteries:
2,950,000 10 TJ Particle Beam Turrets (turbolaser turrets)
Options: Improved
dDamage: 4d x 100 (5) burn rad sur
Range: L/X
Rcl: 0
sAcc: -3

50,000 10TJ Tractor Beams
dDamage: 4d x 100 spec
Tractor Force: 1,000,000 tons
Range: L/X
Rcl: 0
sAcc: 0

Rear Tertiary Weapons Batteries:
3,000,000 10 TJ Particle Beam Turrets (turbolaser turrets)
Options: Improved
dDamage: 4d x 100 (5) burn rad sur
Range: L/X
Rcl: 0
sAcc: -3

Design Notes:
1. The Ghost Particle beam is the best fit I could find for the Death Star Super-Laser at the specified TL. Boosting it to a one-of-a-kind TL 12^ innovation is also possible.
2. I had a bit of flak from some folks on IRC about using "Particle Beam" for the turbolaser, with folks pointing out obscure citations "proving" that turbolasers (and blasters, for that matter) are not particle beams, despite the overwhelming number of citations in which they are described as such. I therefore challenge folks to come up with a better fit if they feel it necessary.
3. I have not broken down the Habitat section for one simple reason: With 24,000,000,000,000 (24 trillion) cabins, would you attempt it?! :)

Abbreviations:
T = Trillion (10^12)
QD = Quadrillion (10^15)
QT = Quintillion (10^18)
ZJ = zetta-Joule


I don't know whether I'll do the DS-2 Orbital Battle Station (Death Star II); any stat block would be its finished version, not the unfinished-yet-operational version as seen (and blown up) in the third movie. The DS-2 has a diameter of 900 km, or roughly 560 miles, which would be SM +34, boosted to SM +36 due to its spherical shape.

[vierasmarius]

Looks good. I did the calculations for the size of the two Death Stars a while ago, and got the same results as you, so I think that's correct. I would not call it Streamlined however; the reduced armor efficiency of that option is due to a vessel having a higher-than-expected surface-area-to-mass ratio (due to the long narrow body and sculpted hull segments) while a sphere has, by definition, the smallest possible surface-area-to-mass ratio.

I'm not sure how you're getting 2dx1B for the Spinal Mount. A 1ZJ Ghost Particle Beam should deal 2dx100,000. It may be a typo, or you may have misunderstood the scaling of beam weapons. Of course, 2dx100K isn't sufficient to destroy a planet, even when tripled for an internal explosion; an Earth-sized planet is roughly SM +45, for 100M HP. So it could be that you've just handwaved a hugely inflated damage score to allow it to achieve that feat. After all, even adding the Cosmic Power modifier to the Superlaser (bumping it up to 1 Yotta-Joule) would only increase damage to 2dx1M, requiring five shots to drop a terrestrial planet to 0 HP, and far more to reduce it to rubble. It could be that the weapon is "double Cosmic", delivering 1000 YJ, or 2dx10M, enough to force a death check in one shot. Also, I'd recommend a TL12^ Conversion Beam as a better match for the Superlaser. You really don't need all that much armor penetration; an Earth-sized planet has only DR 2M*, so any weapon capable of damaging the planet will not even notice its DR.

All of this means, of course, that the other powered systems have negligible drain compared to the main gun, which is entirely appropriate. I'd suggest bumping up the cost of the Spinal Mount and Reactor by a couple orders a magnitude to represent the tremendous power they can deliver.

*I think I based that on a SM +45 Spaceship composed entirely of Rock "Armor". And even that may be excessive, since the crust is quite a thin layer, and the mantle and core may be less resistant to penetration.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

I'm not sure how you're getting 2dx1B for the Spinal Mount. A 1ZJ Ghost Particle Beam should deal 2dx100,000. It may be a typo, or you may have misunderstood the scaling of beam weapons.

It's probably a typo. I don't think I misunderstood the scaling, as I was working off a spreadsheet which did the scaling for me for a lot of stuff, but... Well, weapon damages wasn't one of the things I spreadsheeted.

And then there's the other explanation! :)

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Of course, 2dx100K isn't sufficient to destroy a planet, even when tripled for an internal explosion; an Earth-sized planet is roughly SM +45, for 100M HP. So it could be that you've just handwaved a hugely inflated damage score to allow it to achieve that feat. After all, even adding the Cosmic Power modifier to the Superlaser (bumping it up to 1 Yotta-Joule) would only increase damage to 2dx1M, requiring five shots to drop a terrestrial planet to 0 HP, and far more to reduce it to rubble. It could be that the weapon is "double Cosmic", delivering 1000 YJ, or 2dx10M, enough to force a death check in one shot.

I kinda like this explanation for my oops. Give yourself a no-prize!

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

All of this means, of course, that the other powered systems have negligible drain compared to the main gun, which is entirely appropriate. I'd suggest bumping up the cost of the Spinal Mount and Reactor by a couple orders a magnitude to represent the tremendous power they can deliver.

Good point! I'm not going to do it now, but what factor would you multiply them by?

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

And then there's the other explanation! :)I kinda like this explanation for my oops. Give yourself a no-prize!

I'd put it in my no-ship, but I can't find the damn thing.

Good point! I'm not going to do it now, but what factor would you multiply them by?

At least x10, maybe more for the Superlaser. At x10, this increases the overall cost to $516.6 Q. Of course, this is not a ship that you really need to work out the cost for, unless you just want to see how many entire starsystems need to be utterly plundered to build it. And even then, GURPS isn't really an accurate economic simulator, especially when looking at the Spaceships rules. Ultimately its price is a matter of plot rather than economics.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

2. I had a bit of flak from some folks on IRC about using "Particle Beam" for the turbolaser, with folks pointing out obscure citations "proving" that turbolasers (and blasters, for that matter) are not particle beams, despite the overwhelming number of citations in which they are described as such. I therefore challenge folks to come up with a better fit if they feel it necessary.

Gyuh. This is why I would never run a stock setting, only something "inspired by". Freaking cannon nazis.

3. I have not broken down the Habitat section for one simple reason: With 24,000,000,000,000 (24 trillion) cabins, would you attempt it?! :)

I'd do it by percentages. 80% hab, 5% luxury, 5% entertainment, 5% medical, etc.

[Polydamas]

If you want to be fussy, Mike Wong has demonstrated that the Death Star superlaser would have to release 10^32 to 10^38 J of energy to overcome the gravitational binding energy of an earthlike planet (the superlaser didn't just melt or shatter Alderaan, it scattered the pieces so that they didn't immediately fall back together). Add some energy to overcome the planetary shield. Star Wars technology involves gobsmacking amounts of energy. I wouldn't worry about what type of particle the turbolasers or superlaser shoot, since its pretty clear that they don't match our physics.

[SolemnGolem]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

Gyuh. This is why I would never run a stock setting, only something "inspired by". Freaking cannon nazis.

Haha! "Cannon" + "thread about Death Star superweapon" = Faint to moderate win. Have an e-donut good sir.

Also, thanks to tbrock for statting this up. I'm off to compare it against Spaceships and Space and figure out how you did it all.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Streamlined: Yes (it's a sphere, after all)

Being a sphere means minimum surface area for volume. That is, a given amount of armour ought to give maximum protection on a spherical ship. But the main effect of streamlining in Spaceships is to reduce the protection value of a given amount of armour.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Being a sphere means minimum surface area for volume. That is, a given amount of armour ought to give maximum protection on a spherical ship. But the main effect of streamlining in Spaceships is to reduce the protection value of a given amount of armour.

Ah, yes, that was commented on before. I just never edited the original post.