Abstract Shield Damage

[IceGiant]

I was thinking on the bus on the way into work how none of the systems recreates the show and how shield strength is lost. So i thought a simple system could be put into place.

All shields start at 100 %

Phasers/Disrupters: -1d6 % form shields
Photon Torpedoes: -2d6 %
Quantum Torpedoes/Plasma Torpedoes: -3d6 %

Critiical success -1d6 % bonus


Thoughts?

[Cut]

I like the idea, of refelcting in game stats, that the defense value of the shields weaken. But how would you include the on-screen evcidence, that even at full shields some damage sometimes passes the shields and reaches the hull for effect?

[Doug Burke]

CODA does go into the loss of shield strength, actually. Sure it's a 10-point scale (thus giving ratings on round percntages, 20% 60%, etc.), but it still takes it into acocunt...

[IceGiant]

Probably just utilize the 10 damage levels table form CODA which incorporates some things.

Either that or build a table with possible ship dmage based on how successfull the attack is.

[Tobian]

the other problem with the system is... what about weapon strength... I.e. you've just given 3 listings... so a 'phaser/disruptor' is 1D6 - so does that mean a phaser/disruptor on a shuttle is as effective as a Sovereign class?! You need to give this some thought, though I do like the idea purelly from the conceptual notion that they read out damage in percentages

[IceGiant]

the other problem with the system is... what about weapon strength... I.e. you've just given 3 listings... so a 'phaser/disruptor' is 1D6 - so does that mean a phaser/disruptor on a shuttle is as effective as a Sovereign class?! You need to give this some thought, though I do like the idea purelly from the conceptual notion that they read out damage in percentages

Well if we take thes how there really is no difference in weapons. Enemy fire (insert weapon type here) and the occasionaly ready off shield percentage ot a location got hit and some ship damage.

Seeing as I guess i'm goin more for the GM to be describing the ship combat weapon type/sizes kinda become redundant as he would just say either the shuttles wepons did minimal damge or no dmagage at all.

Or:

Shuttle/Runabouts: 1d6/2 %
and Pulse adds +1d6 %

[Tobian]

Well I find this abstraction pushing it too far for my tastes! Weapons shouldn't all be doing the same damage?! The differences in the scales of weapons and ships should count for something, and that's nothing to say for relative shield strengths! As Cut pointed out, it also doesn't take into account damage leaking through shields: That was something I also disliked in ICON, and much prefer the CODA system.

If you were imagining a system where you were playing in, for example TOS, where basically starship combat mostly took place between relatively similarly armed vessels, such as the Constitution class VS a Klingon or Romulan ship of that era, then maybe it could work. But in a more dynamic environment, where you can encounter ships as diverse as shuttle-pods, up to Borg Cubes, and everything in between, it doesn't sit right that they all do the same amount of damage and take the same amount of damage! While I do like rules-lite concepts, because when I run games, I can't remember them all, this just seems a little over-simplified.