Alcore
2021-02-14, 03:40 AM
so i am planning a Pirates of Drinax from Mongoose Traveller (2e specifically) and have been going over stealth. Given the nature of the ship and a holographic hull one can just turn black i assume this is going to come up. Some of it is quite easy to do; there are rules for stealth hull and stealth drives. Yet i find myself stumbling on visual sensors. So today i will codify something for me to use. Use it if you want and critique if you desire...
What are the visual senors? Perhaps the first thing that should be addressed. In High Guard (pg 19) it shows all the sensors in the game and visual is not on there. Perhaps that is an oversight as i think at least one camera should be pointing out. Regardless, i think the message is clear; visual sensors is the naked eye.
What are we trying to spot? A giant spacecraft. A Harrier to be more percise. A 200 displacement ton ship at about 66m long and 50-60m wide due to the wings.
To put it in more relatable terms it is about 200ft long (roughly three big rigs smashed together) and ~160ft wide. A free trader is rather squat in comparison... i assume each deck is a little taller to compensate.
How far do the rules say you can spot it? unclear. Core rules says "Under normal circumstances, an Electronics (sensors) check is all that is required to detect and identify a target that has moved into range of sensors." Since it is visual i can rightly assume it is recon instead. (Pg 160 btw)
So with recon one can spot "minimal" detail at vary long range... which is 25,001km or 15.5 thousand miles away... starting range. Since it goes to distant that is in excess of 31 thousand miles away.
So then i was thinking... what about full detail?
So if the harrier just barely enters short range that is 771 miles (roughly half the length of that long highway that runs through Texas). I don't think my eyes were ever that good, not before glasses not just after. I might see a dot. At the short end we have about 7 miles between us and something that big should be readily visible should i look for it.
Does anyone else see a problem here? Did i simply miss something?
Mechanics below;
Perhaps still stretch suspension of disbelief... but;
At short range recon 8+
Each range increment imposes a +/-2DM for closer/farther targets
+1 for each 100tons** (round up to the next hundred)
-4 if camouflaged*
*It's only a matter of time until they turn the hull black and try to sneak up on someone in the blackness of space...
**think per 100 is too fast?
What are the visual senors? Perhaps the first thing that should be addressed. In High Guard (pg 19) it shows all the sensors in the game and visual is not on there. Perhaps that is an oversight as i think at least one camera should be pointing out. Regardless, i think the message is clear; visual sensors is the naked eye.
What are we trying to spot? A giant spacecraft. A Harrier to be more percise. A 200 displacement ton ship at about 66m long and 50-60m wide due to the wings.
To put it in more relatable terms it is about 200ft long (roughly three big rigs smashed together) and ~160ft wide. A free trader is rather squat in comparison... i assume each deck is a little taller to compensate.
How far do the rules say you can spot it? unclear. Core rules says "Under normal circumstances, an Electronics (sensors) check is all that is required to detect and identify a target that has moved into range of sensors." Since it is visual i can rightly assume it is recon instead. (Pg 160 btw)
So with recon one can spot "minimal" detail at vary long range... which is 25,001km or 15.5 thousand miles away... starting range. Since it goes to distant that is in excess of 31 thousand miles away.
So then i was thinking... what about full detail?
So if the harrier just barely enters short range that is 771 miles (roughly half the length of that long highway that runs through Texas). I don't think my eyes were ever that good, not before glasses not just after. I might see a dot. At the short end we have about 7 miles between us and something that big should be readily visible should i look for it.
Does anyone else see a problem here? Did i simply miss something?
Mechanics below;
Perhaps still stretch suspension of disbelief... but;
At short range recon 8+
Each range increment imposes a +/-2DM for closer/farther targets
+1 for each 100tons** (round up to the next hundred)
-4 if camouflaged*
*It's only a matter of time until they turn the hull black and try to sneak up on someone in the blackness of space...
**think per 100 is too fast?