If I did my math right, this chart expresses a very simple idea:
- Roll attack the attack die, roll the defense die.
- If the attack die is higher, you have penetrated the shields and do damage.
- Damage inflicted is attack roll divided by defense roll, dropping fractions.
One of my design goals is being able to play out a 3-battle mini-campaign in a single 4 hour convention slot, so ships shouldn't last too long once the shooting starts.
However, running out of hull points doesn't automatically damn your ship. Each round you are out of hit point you roll on the Countdown to Doom chart to follow. You might survive a few more turns at diminished capacity or you might be able to trick someone into boarding your ship just before your self-destruct system activates. Or maybe you just plain explode, inflicting damage on neighboring vessels. As with everything else, your Fleet Captain is better able to deal with such emergencies.
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I think the simple maths of it works, and it'll certainly help move play along. Don't see any major problems myself, and I love the Countdown to Doom idea, a Death & Dismemberment for space ships sounds great!
ReplyDeleteSeems pretty good to me. As much as i love 4-8 hour battletech games, I just don't have the time for epic battles these days. A quicker strategy game is right up my ally.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the 'Surrender to Win' option.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the ships are too fragile. Your chart simulates the chance of a lucky shot blowing up a ship, like that scene in Star Trek II or III, when they fire to disable the engines and end up destroying the vessel; or in historical naval battles when an incoming round hits the ship's magazine.
ReplyDeleteWord verification: tyrogic--the logic subordinate captains use to justify their incompetent actions.
I like the simplicity. Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Are shields the only defensive option? Could you also outfit the ship with armour plating, ablative armour, or defensive rocket batteries?
2. Could you incorporate damage control? Maybe as an action on a captain's turn, and it 'regenerates' a number of hull points based on the size of the ship. Like, a frigate might get back 1 point, while a battleship might get 3.
3. Could you please add a Countdown to Doom result where the ship rams into the nearest vessel?
I just ran your chart through Excel really quickly. The average torpedo attack on a Large ship will deal 2.3 points of damage.
ReplyDeleteYou can expect to deal an average of 2.2 points of damage on an attack roll of 10 and an average of 4.8 on an attack roll of 20.
You can expect to receive an average of 10.45 damage on a defense roll of 1, 1.3 points on a defense roll of 6, and .4 points on a defense roll of 20.
Combat between ships of the same size, and/or ships using phasers instead of torpedoes, is obviously going to be less damaging.
Given the low hull points involved though, we're talking about probably 5-ish attack rolls needed for one Large ship to destroy another.
By looking at reduced charts (12x10 for Medium ships) and (10x8) for Small ships, I found their average values, too.
Medium ship torpedo combat deals an average of 1.48 damage per turn, which means that they'll last an average of 4-ish attack rolls.
Small ships deal an average of 1.45 damage to each other with torpedoes, and given their weaker hulls, they'll only last for about 3 attack rolls.
- N
Hahaha I like where this is going, seems great for some light hearted yet deadly action. :)
ReplyDeleteI think it would be cool to do it like this:
ReplyDeleteShip gets taken down below max hull points. This means it's disabled. Roll 1d6 each turn after that. The warp core is leaking, the crew is just now finding out the escape pods haven't been inspected in ten years, and the ship's dog is peeing everywhere. On 1, the warp core explodes and heavily damages everyone within 1, 2, or 3 hexes (depending on ship size). On 6, the engineers have stabilized the ship. Any other result, the ship is still disabled and must roll again next turn.
A stabilized ship gets one die roll per turn instead of 3. You can put it on Move, Shield, or Weapons but can't split it up. If you take any more damage you're immediately put back into Disabled and must roll 1d6 again each turn.
You might want the flagship to stabilize on 5-6 instead.