GURPS: Spaceships Questions

[Rigil_Kent]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

The verbiage on page 49 is perfectly clear on defining a sequence for actions.

Actions aboard a specific starship, yes. I was simply unclear whether all actions that transpire between respective ships were simultaneous.

To me, the more time that a "round" takes (e.g., the 10-minute turn), the less sense it makes for actions aboard various hostile vessels to not happen concurrently. For example, if actions are not simultaneous, that means it is entirely possible for a PC vessel in a 3-minute or 10-minute round to get completely wiped in the opening round of a space combat without even having the opportunity to fire back, even if they're completely aware of this. Strikes me (personally) as kind of weird, that's all. If I'm a player in a game with a (FREX) Basic Speed of 7 and I normally go before our Pilot, and because our Pilot is only of average Speed, our ship goes after the bad guy ship & is destroyed in round 1 before any of the players get to act, I think I might complain a little bit. If we're destroyed in that round but manage to return the favor to our enemy (mutual TPK! That's one way to end a campaign, I suppose), I think I'd be less irritated.

Since you're telling me that the each spacecraft's respective turns aren't simultaneous per RAW, though, I may consider house-ruling that ... maybe if initiative is determined by Tactics check instead of Pilot basic speed, then it's sort of like a quasi-ambush? Something to ponder, I suppose.

GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars doesn't use GURPS Spaceships, it has its own system. I can think of no reason to expect rules from the former to have bearing on the latter. I don't know right off whether it has simultaneous turns, but GURPS Spaceships certainly does not.

I think you misunderstand what I was asking - my fault. I should have been more clear. I was not expecting the rules from GT:IW to "have bearing" on those from Starships; I was merely using that as a comparison or example.

Appreciate the response!