Thanks! I hope they will be of use. I can say that after reading through them again after these past years, I can see where they might need more tweaking, so feel free to break them down and re-tool as needed. I'd love to see what changes you make, if any, so be sure and post them here.
LOL! Six years later, we find are first mistake!
No, you are right. What I must have done back then is cut and paste the test modifiers for each example with the intent of filling in the data for each and I screwed it up.
Both ships would have had a -5 modifier to the TN to detect each other, which would have made detection easier and degree of successes better.
Okay... this was a wonderful challenge that I had to put together from all books.
My range modifiers apply to all types of tests, whether they are tactical, sensor scans, or anything else that might be affected by distance. So you apply the relevant range band modifiers based on what is going on in your game.
If two ships are within thousands of kilometers of each other and are committing to combat, the range bands as listed in Table 7.7 on page 110 and my added modifiers apply to Tactical tests to Fire weapons. So at Extended range, the Tactical officer has a -6 penalty to attack roll.
If a ship is attempting a sensor scan sweep of an area from 1 LY to 20 LY (an entire sector sweep), the range bands in Table 1.29 of the Starships book are used and the appropriate modifiers apply per band. So at extended range (20 LY in low res, or 6 LY in hi res), a Sensor operator would have a -6 to his sensor test result.
In the first situation, it has a physical affect in the game because it determines whether a ship hits and does damage. In the second situation, it is more of a story element affect meaning it tells the Narrator the Degree of Success of the sensor scan and he/she may then give out as much or as little information that they want to for the story based on the result.
Does this make sense? If not, let me know and I will evolve what I am saying here with examples.
It is not in the Starships sourcebook, it is in the Starfleet Operations Manual on page 6 in the section "Under Weigh". It is not stated in such clear terms, but it is stated...
that while "Under Weigh", a shipt primarily runs on long-range nav sensors and a full array of passive sensor systems. Depending on the mission, the captain may order a full sensor sweep every eight hours. On survey and scientific missions, the sensors are usually continuously active on all wavelengths.
Thus, I took from that - PASSIVE, INTERMITTENT, and ACTIVE and from that developed the EMCON modifiers based on the different rules from the different books. Believe me, it was not easy because the books seem to contradict themselves at times (as you already know).
Anyway, like I said, the house rule may still be buggy but feel free to work it how you want in your game. I use my rules but there are times when I need to modify based on the situation.