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Thread: Constitution Class Starship (Original)

  1. #16
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    I like the looks of this... traits and manouvre thingies especially.

    Do the weapons not have firing arcs in this system? The tractor beams seem to.

    A little concerned at the reappearance of "x size-worth" of vessels in the shuttlebay. I know players that will incessantly comment on how you can apparently fit a Constitution inside another Constitution

    I can live with it...

    Also looking forward to finding out how a 'Defector Shield' works - I can see spies bouncing off it even now

    Just kidding, Don!

    And thanks for the preview!

    "Again! Again!"
    Jon

    "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is asleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song.
    Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do."
    THE DOCTOR, "Survival" (Doctor Who)

  2. #17
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    Thanks for the info!

    Wow! Looks very nice. Of course, it prompts a great many questions, and I know the answer to them all: wait for the book. But I'm going to ask two anyway:

    - Will the information necessary to understand this completely be in the Player's Guide? Or will it be in the Narrator's Guide?

    - And, just because I couldn't resist: does a 'defector shield' keep people from changing sides during battle?

  3. #18
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    ENGAGE

    I had heard rumblings about future plans for a dedicated starship combat game/supplement (ENGAGE) in the ICON system... and now planned (?) down the line for Decipher Trek.
    Does anyone have any comments... will it be relatively compatible with the new RPG starship combat rules?... after all, if we have multiple radically different rules for the same thing, we'd have Traveller, not Star Trek

    Charles
    "Everything happens for a reason..."

  4. #19
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    While I like the idea of seeing another starship or twelve, what I'd really like to see is a Character Sheet.

    Since we got a Constitution class, how about JTK's character sheet.

    C'mon Don. You know you want to.

    Alex

  5. #20
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    I going to have to reserve judgement on the new CODA system, especially the Spacecraft Templetes, until I can get my hand on both the PHB and the NG.

    But I have to say that I found the Basic Icon a bit too sparse and Spacedock too complex in terms of the information that was given to describe the ships and their systems.

    Personally, I wanted a system that was in between the other two systems in term of describing the Ship's capabilities. But, going from the stats given for the Consitution class I may well be disappointed, but I will to see the rules before making a final judgement.

    By the way, how much damage does her phasers and photo torpedoes do? or is that included in the penetration ratings.
    "Those Klingons are up to something, I can feel it in my bones"
    Cmmdr JT Wayland
    Strategic Operations Officer, Starbase 415, Dragomer Sector, Klingon Border, 2372

  6. #21
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    Question Here are some answers...

    Sure, I’ll answer questions. If I don’t who will? Decipher?

    There are no firing arcs because there is no tactical layer (you don’t move ship counters around). Weapons are presumed to provide a complete field of coverage or the ship alters heading to allow a weapon array to bear on a target. (The tractor beam placements are purely for Narrator use during storytelling.)

    Shuttlecraft sizes are limited to a maximum of Size 2 so no, you can’t fit a Constitution inside a Constitution. You can have a breakdown of Type 4 shuttles, Type 6 shuttles, and x number of runabouts on a Galaxy, however. The Narrator (or the crew at his discretion) makes the determination of the breakdown of support craft on board the vessel when it leaves spacedock.

    All starship combat and construction components are found in the Narrator’s Book.

    I don’t think Decipher’s ever kept it a secret that Engage! is in the works. I believe the plan is to have a layer of compatibility: the basic game is much more cinematic for RPG play while Engage! drills down to a level of detail that you probably wouldn’t want to use in the RPG.

    Damage is listed in the penetration value for the weapon’s array, which is a culmination of a vessel’s offensive potential. Two vessels with Type X phaser arrays can have different penetration values because of the number of said arrays installed. (This’ll probably be clearer when additional vessels are posted such as the Defiant.)

    Thanks for the open mind, Cmdr Wayland.
    Mass Effect Fate RPG | "Mass Effect meets Fate meets awesome = FREE"
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  7. #22
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    Arrow Icon comparisons

    Originally posted by Lancer
    When I saw this template I thought this would be just like basic ICON: Uncomplicated but lacking variety between starships because the numbers for shields, structure, etc. looked so low that there seemed to be not much room for variations between different ship-classes.
    I know people will draw comparisons but let me jump in on Lancer’s comments.

    First, I’d like to state on record that I disliked Icon’s starship combat system. The level of abstraction was so great that vessels were unable to distinguish themselves; everything became so cookie-cutter that combat boiled down to a) win initiative, b) fire every weapon at target, and c) target is destroyed.

    As a Narrator who ran plenty of games with said system it really made it difficult to run those Star Trek battles seen onscreen. Plus you were counting numbers, juggling shields, and there were no real tactical considerations aside from two ships just sitting in front of each other and blowing each other away. (And the most powerful starship in the Icon system was the Miranda!) Don’t get me started on multifire.

    In short it was a mess (IMO).

    While the starship template you see here may contain elements that look similar to the Icon starship system let me assure you it is not. Even with the level of cinematic abstraction that we used there is plenty going on. Every crew member has tasks to help their vessel. Ships have strengths and weaknesses. The action is fast with no real number-crunching (you will mark off boxes on the starship tactical display) while the number and variety of maneuvers allows the Narrator and crews to control the flow of the battle and make decisions that will directly control the outcome of the battle.

    In other words you can have memorable battles in a short timeframe and the starships (both those provided and those you create) will be able to distinguish themselves as unique and with strengths and weaknesses.

    No, it’s not a mini’s game with a hard tactical layer but then we wanted starship battles to be part of your RPG game—not be your game.

    About the best recommendation for the system that I can say is that I’d use it in my game.
    Mass Effect Fate RPG | "Mass Effect meets Fate meets awesome = FREE"
    Contributor, Gnome Stew
    "In every revolution, there's one man with a pizza."
    Star Trek (TOS) "Pizza, Pizza" (Second season), story by D.S.McBride

  8. #23
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    This first glimpse tells me starship combat may be severely improved. Good.

    Up until now, I've been very wary about buying the Decipher system, but hopefully the rest of the system has been much improved...
    "War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

    John Stuart Mill

  9. #24
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    Re: Here are some answers...

    Originally posted by Don Mappin
    Sure, I’ll answer questions. If I don’t who will? Decipher?

    This all sounds pretty promising to me. Is February still looking A-OK for the release?

    "You can't take a picture of this; it's already gone." -Nate Fisher, Six Feet Under.

  10. #25
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    I like the new connie very much, and while people are talking about comparision to ICON I see a lot of FASA in there too i.e. the inclusion of number of shuttlecraft, cargo units etc...

    Further IT is wonderful to see the class restored to Cruiser status, where she should have been from the start, at least LUG will forever have the distinction of being the ONLY source to call it an Explorer. (that should be a trival pursuit question one day at a Star Trek Convention).

    I did see one typo, the Constituton had 13 decks not 23 thats according to the encylopedia. Plus I assume with 430 crew that this is the movie era version and not the series version.

  11. #26
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    Arrow

    Looks interesting, but I'll reserve judgement until I see both books for myself.
    The best way to predict the future is to create it.

  12. #27
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    Originally posted by Eric R.

    I did see one typo, the Constituton had 13 decks not 23 thats according to the encylopedia. Plus I assume with 430 crew that this is the movie era version and not the series version.
    Which version of the encyclopeadia? The latests version has some errors in it, and the Cosntitution is generally accepted as having 23 decks. Both hardcopy versions I have, and both copies of the cd-rom version all list 23 decks.

    "You can't take a picture of this; it's already gone." -Nate Fisher, Six Feet Under.

  13. #28
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    Unhappy

    Spits on ground as he removes his foot from his big mouth,

    "OK can anybody tell me where I even got the number 13 from?"

    I can't find my Saladin/Hermes class deck plans but I have a feeling taht is where the number comes from now. I really hate it when I go to my library sure to be proven right, only to be proven dead wrong!

    However I am right on the 430 figure being the later movie version.

  14. #29
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    Originally posted by Eric R.
    However I am right on the 430 figure being the later movie version.
    Actually, Eirc, Kirk noted numerous times that he had "four hundred and thirty lives" or "over four hundred people" in his crew. The only number outside that ballpark for the original Enterprise was the figure of 203 given by Pike in "the Cage". In the Star Trek Chronology, the Okudas took these changes into account by lumping them with the changes to the uniforms and the sets between "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and the rest of the original series.

    Former Decipher RPG Net Rep

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  15. #30

    Cool Actually...

    Originally posted by Eric R.
    Spits on ground as he removes his foot from his big mouth,

    "OK can anybody tell me where I even got the number 13 from?"

    I can't find my Saladin/Hermes class deck plans but I have a feeling taht is where the number comes from now. I really hate it when I go to my library sure to be proven right, only to be proven dead wrong!

    However I am right on the 430 figure being the later movie version.
    Actually, the 430 figure comes straight from the Original Series (post "Where No Man Has Gone Before," of course). The later movie-era figure was 500 and that came from a disembodied voice announcing crew status in ST:The Motion Picture.

    Take care,
    -DM-
    The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning... however it is also subject to exstensive rewrites, continuity glitches and premise changes.

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