Author:  Created:  Rating: WORDWILDWEBB Jul. 01, 2003, 12:13PM   0 Ratings     12345     When adapting Full Thrust to the Star Trek environment, there were a number of changes we made in order to make the game more accurately reflect Star Trek physics and ship design. First, we abandoned the standard construction system. This is no thumbing of the nose at the designers. In fact in abandoning the limitations of the design system, we made our own job or keeping balance that much harder. But the design rules were grounded in a strict physical set of rules – something Star Trek the movies and Star Trek the shows routinely rewrite. So in order to reflect the “reality” shown on film , we had to bend some rules and break others absolutely. We kept to an internal consistency for hull size and approximate weapons loadout, but at the same time we were willing to break those rules as needed – the Defiant for example is a revolutionary vessel, as is the Prometheus. They broke the engineering rules in the “real” universe, so they break even some of our internal construction rules here. Here are some of the major and minor changes we made: Thrust Impulse power (thrust) is more versatile in Star Trek than in many genres. For their size, ST ships are amazingly maneuverable, and the system needed to reflect that. But relative speeds on film are kept low between ships. So rather than increase the thrust rating across the board, we opted to remove the ˝ thrust restriction for course changes. This makes smaller ships exceptionally maneuverable, which is well evidenced in scenes in the Dominion War arc of DS9. In addition, we added the ability to plot thrust points as evasive maneuvers. Each point of thrust gets you one point of evasive. A point of evasive allows you to roll to dodge one incoming weapon – one torp, one Polaron beam, one phaser battery. By adding a size class system, we could account for smaller ships being able to more effectively dodge larger ones. If your ship is 2 or more classes smaller than the opponent, you dodge on a 4-6. 1 class smaller ships dodge on a 5-6. Ships of the same size dodge on a 6. A larger ship cannot dodge fire from a smaller one. To keep this from getting out of control, all evasive rolls are made after fire is declared but before it is rolled – you may end up dodging out of the way of something that would have missed anyway. Also, Evasive plots are limited to ˝ of the thrust rating of the ship. In the case of 3-d gaming, course can be modified by pitch, yaw (normal 2-d turning) and roll. Using flightstands that allow full 3d positioning, this allows a ship to function as it would in space. Arcs There are no restrictions to firing in the aft arcs with phasers or torpedoes. We also went with the original FT 90 degree arcs rather than the 60 degree arcs in FB1. This was in part to simplify for big battles, and in part so we could be lazy and only have 90 degree shield arcs as well. In 3d battles, phasers and disruptors are assumed to fire into a 90 degree slice of space from the mounting point of the miniature. This means the arc is the same as the 2d arc, but extruded into 3 dimensions. It is basically assumed that phasers can elevate to fire with no issues. This simplifies calculating arcs tremendously, allowing bigger fleet battles. Torpedo arcs are 45 degrees, and in 3d games are a 45 degree cone. Torpedoes are tougher to maneuver a shot for, but they trade this off for their damage potential. Shields We went with 90 degree shield arcs, so there are forward, port, starboard, and aft shields. This is in keeping with the spirit of the films. It also allows some ships to be better shielded for attack roles (high forward shields, low aft). Also, we allow shield ratings of more than 3, although the effect in the game is merely as a redundant level for damage purposes – a 4 shield operates exactly as a 3 shield. These arcs are extruded into 3d in the same manner as phaser arcs are. Phasers/Disruptors We discussed arcs above – but phasers in the game can be mounted in batteries (connecting the tick marks on the SSD allows phasers to fire through the arcs they share), and also tend to be more powerful than standard FT (some heavy combat ships mount class 4 batteries). The Federation also utilizes Collimator Rings, which are represented as dotted lines connecting phaser batteries. These are usually mounted on the saucer section, and allow phasers on the ring to fire into any arc that is also on the ring. This means a port side beam may fire into the starboard arc on a Galaxy class ship for example. If a phaser on the ruing is damaged, no phasers may cross the damaged phaser to engage a target (i.e. the ring is damaged). This effect is supported by film evidence, and by a number of unofficial tech sources. It also allows the Feds a unique ability to balance out the Cloak or Polaron Beams of other ships. Torpedos Torpedoes are changed from their FT counterparts. As discussed above, the arc is limited to 45 degrees. Also, torps are affected by shields. When rolling a torp, roll to hit as usual. Roll yield as usual. Then roll that many dice as phaser strikes to penetrate shields. This makes torps less devastating than in FT, but ships generally compensate with a larger number of tubes. Advanced torpedoes such as the Federation’s quantum torpedoes or Romulan singularity torpedoes are represented by diamond shaped icons. They fire as normal, but have a 12 inch initial range bracket, and roll 2d6 for yield per torpedo. Transporters We went with the More Thrust rules for Boarding Party combat, but added the Transpoter treknology to the game. Each transporter icon allows 1 BP to be beamed over to the target vessel, assuming that: The target is in range (6 inches) and has at least 1 level of shield lowered either voluntarily at the beginning of the turn or by damage, and The transporting vessel lowers one level of facing shield (again at the beginning of the turn). Marines are represented as icons in the hull display, approximately 1 per 4 hull. They die when the hull box they are in is destroyed. There is a Marine Status display to use to keep track of them. You can also circle marines that are on board another vessel. Polaron Beams The Dominion’s chief weapon is particularly devastating on film. We took the Heavy Laser battery from the Earthforce Sourcebook for the Babylon 5 RPG and modified it heavily. The icon has a class. Roll that many dice for yield, and subtract one from each die for every 10 inches of range. Roll those dice versus shields. A Polaron Beam may be evaded as per the evasion rules. This makes the beam pretty accurate (it hits unless you dodge), and potentially very devastating (on film, they fired in arcs across a target – the variable damage caused by the yield roll represents this fairly accurately). That’s it for today! I am still revising cloaking rules (work great for 2d but 3d gets wonky with hidden movement – I’m trying to go with marking the vessel cloaked and giving sensor rolls to detect, but need to playtest a few more games to tweak it), tractor beams, and shuttles. A summary of the game changes to the rules will be posted in the downloads section as well, along with Ship Data Sheets for most major races. Questions, comments, critiques, and crude remarks are welcomed! WORDWILDWEBB - I  Public Comments Please log in to post a comment    You must be a registered member to post comments. You may sign-in Here.

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