GURPS Starships line errata (and some observations)

[Diomedes]

I'm pretty sure the Alliance-class carrier on SS4:19 is actually an Omega-class destroyer from Babylon 5.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by weby

Spaceships 5

Star Seed
Has only one Solar Panel Array. So needs the note "Cannot use Mining and Nanofactory modules at the same time"

Note: Swapping one of the Science Arrays(there is really no need for more than one) to a second Solar Panel Array would allow both to be operated at the same time.

More sensor arrays let more people work with them at once. If you're doing planetary surveys this can speed things up quite a bit.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Rupert

More sensor arrays let more people work with them at once. If you're doing planetary surveys this can speed things up quite a bit.

That's an interesting idea. What do you base it on? I had the impression that the Control Room had all the control systems, and Sensor Arrays only have workspaces (that is, places where people go to fix the array). On what do you base your statement and/or how do you envision that working

(I'm a little dissatisfied that once you add a single dedicated array, you're basically done with arrays, unless you want to add two more for a meager +1. So if you have a point I can use, I might just use it)

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

That's an interesting idea. What do you base it on? I had the impression that the Control Room had all the control systems, and Sensor Arrays only have workspaces (that is, places where people go to fix the array). On what do you base your statement and/or how do you envision that working

See Sensor Task, p. 52:

A character can perform multiple sensor analysis tasks on
different targets by multitasking, but the vessel is limited to a
maximum of one sensor detection task per array that it has per
turn.

While this is specifically talking about combat sensor tasks it can sensibly be generalized to mean that only one person can operate one sensor array at a time (since long mundane tasks can be simulated with a long series of combat tasks then the long action of operating a sensor to analyze a planet can be seen as a long series of combat turns doing the Sensor Analysis task).

And, yes, you would still need multiple Control Stations dedicated to multiple Sensor Operators since the Arrays don't contain a control station. However, I would probably allow someone in an appropriate Science Lab to operate the Sensors for scientific analysis without using a Control Station. Of course, you can also rely on AI to operate the extra arrays, but that's setting specific as to whether that's available or efficient.

[weby]

Originally Posted by Rupert

More sensor arrays let more people work with them at once. If you're doing planetary surveys this can speed things up quite a bit.

Note that the ship does not have any life support for crew and no control stations and is mentioned to work in squadrons normally.

Of course the AI might operate several sensor arrays I guess, but if you have a squadron of the probes, I would think that the ability to operate both mining and construction at same time would help more in the long run. But as said, the thing is just a comment type. The real thing I wanted said was the first part, as most other ships with limited power generation less than total systems used has a note about such and star seed does not have one.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

My personal guess is that the market for spaceship combat boardgames isn't what David wishes it would be. Spaceships is at least his third try at doing one that overlaps with rpgs and none have been all that successful as boardgames.

There might be a bigger market that doesn't overlap wit rpgs much but there Spaceships is handicapped by a lack of mini and a default setting.

So the playtesters for Spaceships came heavily from the rpg side and had little use for the example ships. Making your own ships is too easy in Spaceships for somebody else's to be worth much to you.

I own all the Spaceships books, but have never used them yet...mainly because
I used GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars, including tactical space combat (which was very fun!!). Now because so much of ISW is in Spaceships, I feel like I've used Spaceships, and if I craft a Sci-fi campaign from scratch, I certainly would use the heck out of Spaceships.

[weby]

Spaceships 5

Komarov-class
Is noted as "This is a compact, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle using anti-
matter rocket engines to achieve high performance. This permits landing and takeoff from high-G worlds. It is designed to glide in for a landing from orbit, but it can operate from a vertical position"

But its ability to operate in high-G worlds is severely limited by the low acceleration and D-v.

It can only take off or land on planets with more than the 0.6g if they have atmosphere. Further the d-V is just enough to reach low orbit of 1g planet with a minimal reserve for docking maneuvers,de-orbiting and similar so it could not operate from larger planets. So no real "high-G" world capability and only limited earth size world support requiring an atmosphere.

[hackbarth]

We have a list of the spaceships "As inspired by" their popular fictional counterparts.

Put any addiction to the list there, for completion and easy indexing.

[scc]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

That's an interesting idea. What do you base it on? I had the impression that the Control Room had all the control systems, and Sensor Arrays only have workspaces (that is, places where people go to fix the array). On what do you base your statement and/or how do you envision that working

(I'm a little dissatisfied that once you add a single dedicated array, you're basically done with arrays, unless you want to add two more for a meager +1. So if you have a point I can use, I might just use it)

The Star Seed has 3, at least in my copy

[weevis]

I really enjoy the Spaceships series, but I mostly use the pre-defined ships as inspiration, or as rarely-consulted NPC ships. I tried messing around with the space combat system using the example ships (before ultimately abandoning it) and I remember immediately running into some of Weby's observations. Thanks Weby for sharing these.

Maybe someone has already mentioned it but here is one thing that is not errata but is close: I remember that I was often surprised by the placement of systems in the example ships, especially because there is no cost to moving things around. In many SS example ships placement doesn't seem to have been done with the Spaceships combat system in mind.

If you use the SS combat system, the two [core] locations are important because those systems can't be hit directly unless damage spreads from another system. Yet sometimes these ships have things like force screens in the core. If you have only one reactor and the reactor is hit, everything else stops working. I'd put that reactor in the core!

On some ships the central hull core system is not even used. Seems odd -- you'll often be going toward or away from things, making the central core the least exposed location on the entire ship.

If you're in an non-combatant ship and you expect you might have to jump away, I would not put the FTL drive and reactors in the rear section! While you are running away to the jump point, or while you're running away as the FTL engines charge, you will be sad when they take enemy fire and blow up, preventing your escape.

Since turrets mounted on the central hull can fire at any target regardless of facing, (SS p. 26), I don't see any reason why you would mount turrets anywhere else. IIRC some merchants in the Spaceships series like to put turrets on the front, making them defenseless when fleeing from pirates. e.g., they can't even try to shoot down missiles that are chasing them.

Speaking of missiles: Even though some of the example ships in the Spaceships series mount the extremely-lethal missiles of the SS rules, the ship designers seem unevenly worried about them. Sometimes a weapons system that appears to be intended for missile defense is present but most often it is not. But the Space combat rules about point defense seem to be urging me to ALWAYS equip an obsolete (since damage doesn't matter in missile defense) very rapid fire turret of some kind in the central section to use as a point defense weapon.

Then it occurred to me: Maybe these were all just all supposed to be NPC ships meant to blow up more regularly and satisfyingly than the one the adventurers are using?