Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-04-2011, 01:00 AM   #1
jacobmuller
 
jacobmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Not in your time zone:D
Default Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

How do you spot the weakspots in Spaceship armour or rather, what Sensors do you use?

The task is on pg52, calling for "success by 5+" but:
Is it Passive sensors or Active sensors?
If Active then do you use the mods from pg44?

eg Skill#, SM+10 vessel, -53 @ 600,000 miles, +20 telescopic vision level 10 zoomed in, +10 plain sight, +24 silhouetted deep space, +10 fusion torch IR signature = skill#+21?
or if they've a stealth hull and are using a fuel cell and between you and a planet = skill#-9?

I know there's a penalty for sensors beyond the listed range (-2 per doubling?) but can't remember where I found it before...
__________________
"Sanity is a bourgeois meme." Exegeek
PS sorry I'm a Parthian shootist: shiftwork + out of country = not here when you are:/
It's all in the reflexes

Last edited by jacobmuller; 09-10-2011 at 12:15 PM.
jacobmuller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2011, 12:21 PM   #2
jacobmuller
 
jacobmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Not in your time zone:D
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

It's been a week; hopefully a polite enough passage of
time for some necromancy

Anyone know what sensors you use to spot Spaceship armour weakspots?
And, if it's Active, what mods you might use?
Or
Where I might have found the -2 per x2 range for active sensors?
TQ
__________________
"Sanity is a bourgeois meme." Exegeek
PS sorry I'm a Parthian shootist: shiftwork + out of country = not here when you are:/
It's all in the reflexes
jacobmuller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2011, 12:26 PM   #3
vierasmarius
 
vierasmarius's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

I'd use let you use any sensor array except a scientific one for the task, and include all mods except the IR signature - that should only apply to detecting the ship, not analyzing it.

The "-2 per x2 range" is from UT, and (IIRC) replaces the normal range modifier. I don't think it's used in Spaceships.
vierasmarius is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2011, 12:49 PM   #4
Snoman314
 
Snoman314's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

Spaceships detection rules are all about the passive sensors. Stuff is usually too far away for active sensors to be useful, and they'd generally be worse for detecting weak spots in armour, ever if they were useable.
Snoman314 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2011, 01:39 PM   #5
Ulzgoroth
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snoman314 View Post
Spaceships detection rules are all about the passive sensors. Stuff is usually too far away for active sensors to be useful, and they'd generally be worse for detecting weak spots in armour, ever if they were useable.
How do you use passive sensors to assess weak spots in armor? I'd think that was more a job for imaging radar or something of the kind.

Active sensors are pretty useless at Spaceships detection ranges, but less so at Spaceships combat ranges.
__________________
I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident.
Ulzgoroth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2011, 05:20 AM   #6
Snoman314
 
Snoman314's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth View Post
How do you use passive sensors to assess weak spots in armor? I'd think that was more a job for imaging radar or something of the kind.

Active sensors are pretty useless at Spaceships detection ranges, but less so at Spaceships combat ranges.
I'll argue mainly due to angular resolution. Imaging radar has a much larger wavelength than infrared or optical wavelengths. (You could point out LIDAR, but the apertures are typically too small).
At long ranges (ie in space) you're just going to get a blob on radar of any kind, where infrared and optical telescopes will be able to resolve surface details. Then a roll against Engineer is required to infer from these images the details of the ship of interest.
Example: Assuming equal aperture sizes (possible by Aperture Synthesis using sensors at most distant extremes of the ship).
Your optical telescope is able to resolve surface details down to 10cm (approx 4 inches) on the surface of a ship of interest. At the same distance, imaging radar (and being generous with wavelengths based on those typically used) will be able to resolve details no smaller than 1 kilometer (approx 1000 yds).

For this reason alone, I would argue that active sensors are pretty useless for detailed target analysis.
Snoman314 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2011, 11:21 AM   #7
adm
 
adm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MO, U.S.A.
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

I think it would be a combination of sensors. For example the above mentioned IR sensors, Hot Spots may represent weak points where more heat can escape, or primary targets like power plants.
__________________
Xenophilia is Dr. Who. Plus Lecherous is Jack Harkness.- Anaraxes
adm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2011, 10:14 PM   #8
Kale
 
Kale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cowtown, Canada
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

Quote:
Originally Posted by adm View Post
I think it would be a combination of sensors. For example the above mentioned IR sensors, Hot Spots may represent weak points where more heat can escape, or primary targets like power plants.
Perhaps the heat blooming from Exhaust ports that a convenient photon torpedo can be tossed down? @:-)
__________________
FYI: Laser burns HURT!
Kale is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2011, 01:33 AM   #9
Snoman314
 
Snoman314's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

Quote:
Originally Posted by adm View Post
I think it would be a combination of sensors. For example the above mentioned IR sensors, Hot Spots may represent weak points where more heat can escape, or primary targets like power plants.
Absolutely. I was mainly pointing out the reasons why optical and infrared wavelengths would be far more useful. Thermal radiation is in wavelengths only approx double that of optical wavelengths, as opposed to 5 orders of magnitude.
Snoman314 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2011, 01:54 AM   #10
jacobmuller
 
jacobmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Not in your time zone:D
Default Re: Finding the weak spot (spaceships, mostly)

Thanks, I'd never have bothered to think in terms of imaging resolution. Although I think I'll stick with the Active scan, eg if your optical resolution were 4 inches, then your radar could be 1-10 yardss, ie just enough detail for a missile to target.
__________________
"Sanity is a bourgeois meme." Exegeek
PS sorry I'm a Parthian shootist: shiftwork + out of country = not here when you are:/
It's all in the reflexes
jacobmuller is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
scanning sense, spaceships

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:40 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.