Singularity Torpedo

[Phantom]

Does the new Starships book cover this Romulan Weapon System?

[Snake_Plissken]

No it doesn't- but it has a whole table of plasma torpedoes for the Romulans.

[Phantom]

Ok, so no Quantum Singularity Torps. How about any rules for Quantum Singularity Drives?

[Snake_Plissken]

How about any rules for Quantum Singularity Drives?

nope. Again, the rules are meant to be abstract. Phasers and disruptors work exactly alike, the difference in terminology is text flavouring. The Romulans are different from all of the other powers in that they're the only ones using plasma torpedoes. I don't have the book with me but I can name a few other examples as well: Starfleet has its pulse upgrade, the Cardassians have their spinal-wave upgrade (although any race can use those traits IIRC). The Borg and Species 8472 have some deadly beam weapons as well. Both, with Starleet, also have regenerative shielding.

The Romulans (along with the Klingons, the Cardassians, the Dominion and the Borg) have their own tables for impulse/warp drives and beam/missile weapons.

[Phantom]

So do the Romulans have some type of weapons upgrade as well?

[Snake_Plissken]

So do the Romulans have some type of weapons upgrade as well?

no they don't. On the other hand you could very easily come up with some interesting combos by fiddling with the rules a little. For instance you could come up with Plasma Singularity Torpedoes- where you use the regular plasmsa rules and tables but you throw in the Cardassian's spiral-wave upgrade. The spiral-wave upgrade allows for a +1 shield damage bonus when hitting the shields (ie they drain the shields faster): so if the target's shield protection is 14 and you score a 16, the difference is 2 meaning that the target loses 1 shield point (1-5 difference bracket = 1 shield point lost), but with the spiral-wave upgrade the target would lose 2 shield points. If you had rolled a 20 (6-10 difference = 2 shield pts lost) then with the spiral-wave upgrade the target would've lost 3 shield pts. So, you could simply combine the plasma torps with the spiral-wave upgrade and you'd get a very deadly Romulan weapon.

Incidentaly, I came up with a new Romulan defensive system which I call the Micro-Shielding System. I used it on my CODA/SS design for the Norexan. The actual concept and naming is different but in terms of gaming mechanics it works exactly like ablative armor. The concept is that focused layers of energy are applied over the ship's critical systems like life support or weapons, making them more resilient. The way ablative armor works in CODA is that you don't roll for damage at the end of the first row (5 hits), which in the end benefits every of the 6 major ship's systems (life support, operation, propulsion, weapons, shields and sensors) because it is less likely that they'll suffer damage during combat.

[Phantom]

Originally posted by Snake_Plissken
The way ablative armor works in CODA is that you don't roll for damage at the end of the first row (5 hits), which in the end benefits every of the 6 major ship's systems (life support, operation, propulsion, weapons, shields and sensors) because it is less likely that they'll suffer damage during combat.

What?! According to the NG Ablative Armour adds 5 to the structure of the ship. So, they have made changes to the over all system?

This is my observation of course, but from the prespective of someone who is primarily interested in designing Romulan vessels the Starships book doesn't seem to offer much. No new weapon or engine designs, what systems are mentioned seem to be very similar to what was mentioned in the NG (but with "Romulan" sounding names.) Have I misinterpreted the situation? Please tell me I have. I hope this lack of information means that a Romulan Sourcebook is on the horizon somewhere.

[Doug Burke]

Originally posted by Phantom
Ok, so no Quantum Singularity Torps. How about any rules for Quantum Singularity Drives?

Since a Quantum Singularity Drive is functionally no different than a M/AM Drive, there are no separate rules for them.

Originally posted by Snake_Plissken
For instance you could come up with Plasma Singularity Torpedoes- where you use the regular plasmsa rules and tables but you throw in the Cardassian's spiral-wave upgrade.

Except that Spiral Wave Upgrade can only be applied to disruptors. However, you could have fun with the Prototype trait...

Originally posted by Phantom
What?! According to the NG Ablative Armour adds 5 to the structure of the ship. So, they have made changes to the over all system?

Actually, that's always been the advantage of Ablative Armor, Phantom. You get five more structure, but when its depleted, you don't roll a system hit like you would if it had been normal structure.

[Snake_Plissken]

Except that Spiral Wave Upgrade can only be applied to disruptors.

I know that. I was just pointing out what you can do with very simple rule-tweaking to create new systems. Phantom wanted a different weapon system (singularity torpedoes) so I pointed out that you can take the standard Romulan plasma torpedoes and slap them with the EFFECT of the spiral-wave upgrade to create a deadly weapon.

but from the prespective of someone who is primarily interested in designing Romulan vessels the Starships book doesn't seem to offer much

your loss, believe me.

what systems are mentioned seem to be very similar to what was mentioned in the NG (but with "Romulan" sounding names.)

in a way yes, but all of the systems are different in their space costs, availability dates, performance and reliability codes. For instance no Romulan warp engine is exactly like one of Starfleet's. Again, if you want more 'flavour' for a given race you can bend the rules with ease. For instance you may rule that Romulan Quantum Singularity Drives are more powerful than their Starleet's counterparts (you give them higher sustainable speeds or whatever) but each must come with the jurry-rigged flaw because you've decided they're more prone to malfunction. Again, you can stretch the rules VERY EASILY to create new race-specific systems that suits your needs.

[buck rogers]

I use the same concept as your micro-shielding system. I call it secondary shielding though. An example of its use would have been shown in "Star Trek: Nemesis" on the Enterprise down in engineering when that force field went up around the warp core. Actually that movie is where I got the idea. The pros; it can be repaired in the field as a damaged system can, and it acts like ablative armor in that your ship doesn't suffer a critical when the first five structure are lost, and last but not least its upgradeable 3 times. The cons; it doesn't add 5 structure to the over all structure it just reinforces the structure you already have.

[Doug Burke]

Originally posted by Snake_Plissken
I know that. I was just pointing out what you can do with very simple rule-tweaking to create new systems. Phantom wanted a different weapon system (singularity torpedoes) so I pointed out that you can take the standard Romulan plasma torpedoes and slap them with the EFFECT of the spiral-wave upgrade to create a deadly weapon.

That's cool. I was just trying to show how he could do the same thing within the rules. Prototype, Blind Luck, Unique System, all contribute to making your ship exactly like you like it.