Warp Core Saftey (Or Lack Of)

[StyroFoam Man]

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[Captain Blake]

Starfleet seems to have neglected several basic safety features.

1) the Warp Core problem (It seems like just dumping the reactants would fix the problem.) Canon (Let's eject the warp core to seal the rift) seems to suggest that there is a lot of M/AM in the constrictions segments. Still, you'd think that there would be some sort of safety interlocks.

2)The Exploding Consoles of Doom (tm). Fuzes, anyone? I know, I know. The amount of trouble that the ship is in is determined by the amount of ND (No dialog) characters that die when the panels explode, but really.

3) Seatbelts. "Our systems are down, we're going to crash. Brace for impact." With what? The Exploding Consoles of Doom (tm)? Seems safe to me.

It seems to me that since Star Trek is Space Fantasy, not Science Fiction, that dramatic licence takes priority over facts, or even reasonable science.

After all, Janeway counts to 20 before returning fire on a hostile.

I like to run a universe where there are seatbelts, and warp core safety interlocks, and fuzes on the Consoles of Doom. I find that it doesn't really detract. The panel fritzes, throws some sparks. The ND character yells, "Mission Ops" is down. The fight goes on.

And yes, I know others have said the same thing many times around here, sorry.

[Captain Novaes]

Yup, your stepfather got it right... there's no reason why cutting the A-M supply to the core would not stop the reaction. Damaging the magnetic bottle generators on the other hand... hehehe !

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No matter where you go, there you are.

[StyroFoam Man]

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[Greg Smith]

Originally posted by StyroFoam Man:

Beyond that, notice how it is not untill First Contact that we see some type of cooling system for the warp core? Those coolant tanks resemble the steam-generators in a PWR-style plant. (PWR->Pressurized Water Reactor) Any speculation on what thier function may be aside from a plot device?

There's a similar single chamber behind the Enterprise-D's warp core, maybe that's for coolant. Also Geordi seemed to be forever shouting "Bridge, we have a coolant leak!"


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Greg

"Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I'm freaked and intend to stay that way."

[SIR SIG]

'Bridge, I've got a coolant leak and I can't shut it down. I estimate 2 minutes to a warp core breach.'

Geordi in Yesterday's Enterprise.

'my favorite line'!

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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[Dan Stack]

I kinda view it as a genre convention. Wen I started my first LUG-Trek game, at first I was determined to do it very "realistically". Then I noticed my players wanted the cliches - the exploding consoles, the transporter accidents, the technobabble (my wife liked to roll on the technobabble chart when her science officer jury-rigged something ).

But, it varies from group to group. If a lot of the cliches bothered my group, I'd throttle back on them. But, used appropriately, I find they remind players of the universe they are in.

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[StyroFoam Man]

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