[3e Vehicles] In need of a few clarifications...

Varyon · 04-08-2016, 08:29 AM

So, I've decided to start work again on my project to meld the old Vehicles and the new Spaceships into a cohesive whole. The reason for the generic title for this thread is because I intend to use it for the various questions that crop up during this project.

My first round of questions all revolve around Frame Structure (p18-19). In Vehicles, you set Frame Strength (how thick the supports are) and Materials (what they're made of). Strength adjusts the frame's weight, cost, and HP roughly linearly - you can get 1/4 the weight for 1/4 the cost, but this results in 1/4 the HP. Materials keeps HP the same, but lets you use cheaper materials for higher weight and lower cost, or better materials for lower weight and higher cost.

First off, does this influence anything other than HP? I did find that Frame Strength influences Crush Depth, but that's a niche application. Secondly, I understand that 3e and 4e scale HP differently, but don't know how 3e actually did its scaling. Is the above linear relationship between weight and HP typical of 3e, or is it an exception - and how should this be handled in 4e? With 4e's almost pure reliance on mass to determine HP, there's also the fact that cheaper materials (higher weight) would give higher HP, and better materials (lower weight) would give lower HP, but I intend to handle this using Vulnerability and IT:DR (essentially, HP stays the same regardless of weight due to materials, although there will be some nuances).

Secondly, there's the Robotic Structure. I'm somewhat unclear as to what this truly represents. It seems like it's something you'll need if the entire vessel can be controlled by a single crew station, because I don't see any real functional difference between that and a robot brain (the latter is simply automated), but Vehicles states it's only needed for a vessel with a robot brain.

04-08-2016, 08:29 AM	#1
Varyon Join Date: Jun 2013	[3e Vehicles] In need of a few clarifications... So, I've decided to start work again on my project to meld the old Vehicles and the new Spaceships into a cohesive whole. The reason for the generic title for this thread is because I intend to use it for the various questions that crop up during this project. My first round of questions all revolve around Frame Structure (p18-19). In Vehicles, you set Frame Strength (how thick the supports are) and Materials (what they're made of). Strength adjusts the frame's weight, cost, and HP roughly linearly - you can get 1/4 the weight for 1/4 the cost, but this results in 1/4 the HP. Materials keeps HP the same, but lets you use cheaper materials for higher weight and lower cost, or better materials for lower weight and higher cost. First off, does this influence anything other than HP? I did find that Frame Strength influences Crush Depth, but that's a niche application. Secondly, I understand that 3e and 4e scale HP differently, but don't know how 3e actually did its scaling. Is the above linear relationship between weight and HP typical of 3e, or is it an exception - and how should this be handled in 4e? With 4e's almost pure reliance on mass to determine HP, there's also the fact that cheaper materials (higher weight) would give higher HP, and better materials (lower weight) would give lower HP, but I intend to handle this using Vulnerability and IT:DR (essentially, HP stays the same regardless of weight due to materials, although there will be some nuances). Secondly, there's the Robotic Structure. I'm somewhat unclear as to what this truly represents. It seems like it's something you'll need if the entire vessel can be controlled by a single crew station, because I don't see any real functional difference between that and a robot brain (the latter is simply automated), but Vehicles states it's only needed for a vessel with a robot brain.