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shepard1707
2013-09-12, 08:27 PM
So, a few nights ago I was playing through my library of Space Sims, when I suddenly had an idea.

I wanted to run a game in which the players would be the lead pilots and wing commanders for a squadron of starfighters and even bombers, playing out various missions as best they can, but also having to manage things out of combat on board their carrier or base, such as minor crises of maintenence, ship-board politics, and managing the morale of the pilots under their command. They're the Starbucks, Apollos, Mavericks, Wedge Antilles.

Right now, I'm a bit lost on what sort of system to use. Theoretically, I'd use a Space-based wargame, but the focus I'm trying for is simultaniously meant to be engagements between just a few dozen fighters, if that many, and the occasional capitol ship thrown in, and I don't know of any that worth with that. Additionally, I don't know that they'd really work with the character focused side of things, either.

Additionally, any system I use would, ideally, be fast pased enough that it CAN support a larger engagement without being bogged down.


At present, I'm actually considering the Star Wars Saga Edition and it's space-craft rules for it, in that they seem relatively solid to me, and allow for some character scale focus. However, I've had at least one person express doubt that the starship combat rules in that could carry a campaign.

I also realize that there just might actually be rules for this out there, so I wanted to get some open opinions from others, more broadly learned gamers before I tried moving forward with the idea.

Freddrick
2013-09-14, 02:23 PM
Take a look at the d20 modern-future settings to see if those will provide you with what you need. If each player is to have their own fighter then these rules may work for you. My players were never interested in the ship portions so I have not personally used them.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd
http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/msrd/FutureStarships.rtf

-Freddrick

vp21ct
2013-09-14, 07:21 PM
Sorry, miss posted.

shepard1707
2013-09-15, 01:20 AM
Okay. So . . .

Moving forward with the idea to use SAGA edition.

Tentatively worked out 3 capitol ships that would see work in the campaign. All 3 of them were built as best as I could figure using the rules in the 'Starships of the Galaxy' book, with a little bit of tweaking here and there, as well as some notable fluff changes.


Apollo Class Frigate

Collosal (frigate)
Init: -4 Senses: +6
Defenses: Ref 18 (Flatfooted 14) Fort 60; Armor +14, Vehicular Combat
hp: 660; DR: 15; SR --; Threshold 110
Speed: 3 hexes (starship scale)
Ranged Attack: 3x Light Railcannon Battery +11* (-9 against targets smaller than Colossal Size) 4d10x5Fighting Space: 1 hexes (starship scale); Cover: Total
Base Attack: +2; Grp: --
Abilities: Str 110, Dex 18, Con --, Int 16
Skills: Initiative: 0, Mechanics +6, Perception +6, Pilot 0, Use Computer +6
Crew: 100 (skilled); Passengers: 200
Cargo: 2,000; Consumables: 1 year; Carried Craft: none
Jump Drive: Class 1 (1 hex)
Availablility: Military; Cost: --
Light Railcannon Battery (3 gunners)
+9 attack (-11 against targets smaller than colossal size) 3d10x5 damage.

Artemis Class Frigate

Colossal (Frigate)
Init: +0 Senses: +6
Defenses: Ref 18 (Flatfooted 14) Fort 60; Armor 14, Vehicular Combat
hp: 660; DR: 15; SR --; Threshold 110
Speed: 3 hexes(starship scale)
Ranged Attack: 2x Dual Heavy Missile Launchers* +7 9d10x2 (may fire two missiles at once)Fighting Space: 1 hex (starship scale); Cover: Total
Base Attack: +2; Grp: --
Abilities: Str 110, Dex 18, Con --, Int 16
Skills: Initiative: 0, Mechanics +6, Perception +6, Pilot 0, Use Computer +6
Crew: 100 (skilled); Passengers: 200
Cargo: 2,000; Consumables: 1 year; Carried Craft: --
Jump Drive: Class 1 (1 hex)
Availablility: Military; Cost: --
Dual Heavy Missile Launchers* (2 Gunners)
+7 9d10x2 (may fire two missiles at once)
68 missile Magazine

*Does not take range penalties. Travels at a speed of 1 range category per turn.

Ares Class Destroyer

Colossal (Frigate)
Init: -2 Senses: +6
Defenses: Ref 19 (Flatfooted 15) Fort 70; Armor +15, Vehicular Combat
hp: 1400; DR: 15; SR --; Threshold 120
Speed: 3 Hexes (starship scale)
Ranged Attack: x2 Heavy Railcannon Batteries +9 7d10x5Fighting Space: 1 Hex (starship scale); Cover: Total
Base Attack: +2; Grp: --
Abilities: Str 114, Dex 16, Con --, Int 16
Skills: Initiative: -2, Mechanics +6, Perception +6, Pilot -2 Use Computer +6
Crew: 500; Passengers: 100
Cargo: 5,000; Consumables: 1 year; Carried Craft: --
Jump Drive: Class 2 (2 Hex Radius)
Availablility: Military; Cost: --
Heavy Railcannon Battery (3 gunners)
+9 (-11 when attacking vessels smaller than colossal size) 7d10x5

Some notable Homebrew changes:

I would not have normal hyperspace. In this game, FTL travel is accomplished through Jump Drives which act similar to Sub-Space in the Freespace games, or in the Aurora 4x game. A ship equipped with a Jump Drive can open a transit point of a certain size and travel through it. as a full round action. Any ships that can fit through the vessel's transit point, and can move with it's action, can transit with it. Any vessel caught between a ship and it's transit point must make a Pilot Check or be rammed by the transiting vessel, and has a 50% chance of being carried through.

I'm tentatively going to have missile's work differently by having them ignore range penalties except for those incurred to it's sensors (with normal sensors having a -5 penalty at a distance greater than 10 hexes). This can be alleviated with support from other craft relaying data to the vessel firing it's missiles, with a DC: 15 Use Computer check to establish, with potential for jamming. Missiles traverse 1 range increment per turn.



I'll try and get some of the fighters out tomorrow. Let me know what you think and if this will all still work. One notable problem, as I've said, is the lack of any concrete Challenge Ratings. I'd have to do it purely on comparison or eyeballing it, which is a little annoying . . .

Baniff
2013-09-15, 02:34 PM
What different roles do you want players to take? If everyone is going to be a fighter pilot, then it sort of defeats the purpose of having unique characters, since they will all be built the same mechanically. Unless I misunderstood your intentions?

shepard1707
2013-09-15, 02:52 PM
Roles in the party would mainly center around the craft they prefer to use, and getting as much as they can out of that craft and that role, I'm thinking.

For example: Anyone playing in a heavy fighter would have far more ability to take on ships, gunboats, or other 'hard' targets, as well as being very effective as a general tank. Meanwhile, someone in an Interceptor would be something a bit like the rogue of the party, being fast enough to swoop in and engage targets.

And so on, and so forth.

If that makes any sense.

Baniff
2013-09-15, 05:33 PM
Roles in the party would mainly center around the craft they prefer to use, and getting as much as they can out of that craft and that role, I'm thinking.

For example: Anyone playing in a heavy fighter would have far more ability to take on ships, gunboats, or other 'hard' targets, as well as being very effective as a general tank. Meanwhile, someone in an Interceptor would be something a bit like the rogue of the party, being fast enough to swoop in and engage targets.

And so on, and so forth.

If that makes any sense.

Ah, I see. Do you plan on using anything form Saga Edition besides the starship rules?

shepard1707
2013-09-15, 06:23 PM
Ah, I see. Do you plan on using anything form Saga Edition besides the starship rules?

Absolutely.

It'd pretty heavily lean on them, actually. Those are the rules I used to build the ships earlier in the thread. Which is why they lack Challenge Ratings, the book, rather irksome-ly, does not have a system to provide challenge ratings for custom ships. It very clearly would rather you use the ships from their catalog.

Given that (for campaign plot purposes) I'd rather leave shields out of most ships . . . this obviously throws that comparison through a loop.