Advantages and Disadvantages for Starships

I was just thinking about something inspired by The Price of Freedom. I was thinking that since Starships can have renown like characters, why couldn't they also have advantages and disadvantages as well. The idea I have is have a base point cost based on Size and then modify this cost with various Ads and Disads. Here's some possible ideas. [list=1][*]Make a vessel easier or harder to hit by adjusting its size for targeting purposes.[*]A Hanger Queen that's less reliable (suitable for prototypes)[*]A weak spot where a hit could do more damage, like the Jem'Hadar Attack Ship.[/list=1] These are just some possible ideas. So what does everyone think? Good, bad, etc.?

As a matter of fact, I already have some notes for including a system of Traits for starships in the next iteration of Spacedock. The DecTrek starship rules also employ this concept.

Steve Long

Isn't it nice when great minds think alike?
Can't wait t see the new rules.
BTW, just out of curiousity, will the next edition of Spacedock™ be a whole new book or a supplement to the existing rules?

Will these 'starship traits' cost/provide SU's or are there going to be special 'points' with wich to buy/sell them? Perhaps all advantages and disadvantages must be in balance?

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BTW, just out of curiousity, will the next edition of Spacedock™ be a whole new book or a supplement to the existing rules?

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Primarily I intend to present it as a whole new "revised and updated!" edition. I am considering just presenting the changes in a separate file, but the odds are against my doing so because it's a lot of annoying extra work for everyone involved.

Don't hold your breath waiting for this, though. I have a lot of other things to clear off my plate before I think about the revisions. And then there's layout time.... :)

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Will these 'starship traits' cost/provide SU's or are there going to be special 'points' with wich to buy/sell them? Perhaps all advantages and disadvantages must be in balance?

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As I currently envision things, Starship Edges would cost SUs, and provide some benefit. (There will, however, be some controlling mechanism to keep gamers from slathering on lots of Edges just because they have leftover SUs.) Starship Flaws would probably give you extra SUs to spend, or where appropriate directly reduce the cost of the system with which they're associated. It depends how it all works out as I write it. :)

I have no intention of requiring an absolute "balancing" between Edges and Flaws. That sort of goes against the "ultimate flexibility, do whatever you want!" philosophy I have in mind for SD. :)

Steve Long

This sounds like a LOT of fun! Thanks Mr. Long!

I'd love to see traits or another form of mods to stock starship designs, and Steve is (what else) a few leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of us on this one.

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Inevitably, there will be those who load their ships to the gunwales with mods (USS Munchkin) without sufficient regard to story or thematic consistency. (I qualify it as 'sufficient' regard as there's always a reason for the USS Munchkin being faster than Warp 9 with 2500 multiphasic quantum microtorpedos and shields with a Borg adaptive matrix module, it's just usually one that makes your teeth grind.)

It's sort of like the starship rules in Star Wars (D&D3E in Space), where it's virtually impossible to have a player-owned starship that doesn' thave a serious flaw. Wonder if they did that for horses in the D&D rules (you buy a horse, roll d20, it's lame, blind, or spooks at the word 'Blucher').

Bob

See, this is no good. Now I'm all enthused and want to start writing some draft rules -- but I do not have the time. ::sigh:: Ah, well, we'll just have to see. :)

Steve Long

PLease, everybody. We must band together and donate all our spare time to Steve Long. I have a couple of hours this evening that I was going to play Diablo 2 and maybe have a beer or 3 in.

I will happily donate this spare time into the Steve Long 'find the time' fund for working on this project...

Even if it means printing the new updated rules, if my printer works of course...

Donated time? Oh, don't I wish it were that easy! :)

Steve Long

I'd be willing to do a write-up of the USS Munchkin if you'd like that. :D

Well, since I'm the guy that put poor Steve into this mess in the first place...(looks around, sees all the charged phaser III's pointing in his direction and gulps), I'll donate to the fund...:D :D :D

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Originally posted by Dan Gurden
PLease, everybody. We must band together and donate all our spare time to Steve Long. I have a couple of hours this evening that I was going to play Diablo 2 and maybe have a beer or 3 in.

I will happily donate this spare time into the Steve Long 'find the time' fund for working on this project...

Even if it means printing the new updated rules, if my printer works of course...

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Hell, I've been unemployed for 2 months. Though, if I really could have donated the time, I'd have given it to David Pulver to hurry Transhuman Space along... :rolleyes: What can I say, I like Trek, but I prefer Science Fiction... ::gets out the flame-proof battlesuit::

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Originally posted by Steve Long
Donated time? Oh, don't I wish it were that easy! :)

Steve Long

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Yeah... I'd give you all my time at work. I'm more "free" here than at home.

"Honey do this, honey do that..."

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Originally posted by calguard66


Yeah... I'd give you all my time at work. I'm more "free" here than at home.

"Honey do this, honey do that..."

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Hope your better half doesn't see that.

Look out for that rolling pin!;)

OOHHH, too late. :D

One interesting way to handle advantages/flaws and new tech might be to allow desingers to use "future tech" but with a chance of picking up a flaw. For instance, in a campaing set prior to DS9, a prototype ship like the Defiant might allow a player to design a new engine (with the Narrator), and then check to see what problems arise from the new engines. This is enetially what happened with the Defiant- class on DS9.

This would probably work out to be easier for an TOS campaign, since we have some clues as to what the new tech could be, but it could still hold up for some things in the post-DS9 era. For instance, it wouldn't be hard to figure out SPACEDOCK data for Type-XIII phasers.