Date: Tue, 17 May 1994 00:26:18 EDT Sender: Mythus Fantasy Roleplaying Game List <[MYTHUS L] at [BROWNVM.brown.edu]> From: "Rodney W. Morris" <[c s c 3 r w m] at [CABELL.VCU.EDU]> Subject: ABYSS: Starship Operation Starship Operation Procedures Starship Descriptions Sample Ship: Kris Class Interplanetary Interceptor Craft Designation: Kris Class Interplanetary Interceptor; 20 tons; TL 15; Yr: 7115; 2,500,000 BUCs. Computer: Basertronics Combat CPU; Control: dynamic holographic display, touchkeys; TL 15; 6/5/5 Skills: Astronavigation: 20; Meterology: 5; Pilot: 30 Hull: Bonded Superdense hull and superstructure, G-resist: 32, Dmg Points: 50 Power: Single Engine 8; Man 5; Fuel: Environment: Inertial Comp.: 45; basic life support: 120 h; Armor: Pierce Blunt Elect Plasma Heat Ultra-Vital 35 0 50 Super-Vital 35 10 50 Vital 35 20 50 Non-Vital 35 30 50 Weapons: 2xTL 15 Laser Cannon WP: 2 E: 5 S: 3 DT: Las Pos: f* Dam: 10D6 Reliab: 5 ROF: 1 PB/S/M/L/E: 1(x4)/3(x3)/6(x2)/12(x1)/2 4 Shot Missile Launcher WP: 0 E: 1 S:7 DT: Heat Pos: p/f/s Dam: 20D6 Reliab: 10 ROF: 1 PB/S/M/L/E: 3/5/7/9 *This weapon can only fire in a direct line in the immediate front of the ship. Craft Designation describes the class of the ship, which is often the name of the prototype or first issue of that style of ship, the vessel type (explained in detail in the Technologies book), the amount of liquid hydrogen displaced by the vessel, the Technology Level of the majority of the ships systems, the date that the ship was first issued, and the base cost (in BUCs) of the vessel. Computer describes just that, the capabilities of the computer system installed in the ship. Any vehicle meant for space travel must be outfitted with at least a rudimentary computer system to control ship's functions. The type of computer describes its creator and designation, the technology level of the computer is the level of technology at which it was manufactured. All computer systems have MMCap, MMPow and MMSpd ATTRIBUTES. However, only artificially intelligent or cybernetic computer systems have the MR CATEGORY and its corresponding ATTRIBUTES. The MMCap of the computer system is the most power a computer can output without a replacement of its CPU (much like upgrading a 386 to a 486 of today's computers....you can only go so far with a 386 before you need to replace the motherboard). The MMPow of the computer tells how much information a computer can optimally hold. A computer can hold ten times the MegaPulses of information in its databases as its MMPow. A computer's MMPow can be greater than its MMCap, but it sacrifices MMSpd (see the section on Vehicle Creation in the Technologies book). MMSpd is how quickly the computer system can call up information. This usually comes into play only when very obscure information is being searched for or the computer is put under a great deal of stress. See the section describing computer systems in the Technologies book for more information). Hull describes the armor and outside composition of the starship. It describes the material used in construction of its outer hull as well as superstructure. G-resist is how many Gs of force a ship's superstructure can withstand before it risks taking internal damage from stress. Damage points are how many points of physical damage a ship can take before it shuts down. Armor describes the resistance of the ship's armor to various sorts of attacks. Power: Describes the amount of power and from where a ship can issue it. The greatest amount of sheer power often comes from the drive engines, which work in bursts of energy. Most ships are also outfitted with maneuvering thrusters or drives, which act to maneuver the ship between bursts. Overusage of these drives can result in damage to the vessel. The number given is half the amount of movement points a ship has. The amount of thrust a ship can utilize is based upon the ship's mass, and power; in an atmosphere, streamlining and air resistance also come into play. Environment: Inertial Compensation is the compensation for excessive G's that most ships with human inhabitants must have in order to fuction without damage to the inhabitants. This compensation is given in terms of a number, which is the STEEP of the ship's intertial compensation. Depending upon how difficult it is to compensate for the actions (whether intended or not) of the pilot, the DR will change accordingly. Weapons of a ship are important in hostile areas. They follow the format of typical weapons of their type. Remember, this is ship damage; damage of this type done to vehicles is multiplied by two, damage done to individuals is multiplied by ten. Launch and Landing Procedures The launching of a ship usually takes place in three different environments: the atmospheric launch, the vaccuum lauch, and the ejected lauch. The atmospheric launch is a launch that takes place from the surface of a large planet with an atmosphere. Some of the difficulties that arrive include wind strength and direction, storm conditions, solidity of the surface, gravity, etc. The vaccuum launch is, as the name suggests, a take off from a rather small planet with low gravity. This seems easy at first, but taking off from a near weightless environment is often more difficult than it sounds, especially if attempted by a pilot accustomed to an atmospheric launch. The ejected launch usually takes place when a ship is thrown from a larger spacecraft as auxiliary support. This is one of the most difficult types of launches, not only because of the weightlessness, but of the uncontrolled movement from the ship upon exit...making the craft very vulnerable. Atmospheric Launch: Launch in an atmosphere requires space, unless it has VTOL or maneuvering thrusters installed (which most spaceworthy vessels do). A field of about 500 yards should be sufficient, though smaller craft can launch from as few as 100 yards. A ship with VTOL capabilities needs a space about twice as wide as its longest measurement. A ship with maneuvering thrusters needs a space about half again its longest measurement. Of course, these are minimum safe conditions. Anything else will worsen the Piloting check DR by one step. Launch under optimum conditions includes no air circulation, 100% visibility, and a 1G planet. Of course, things are rarely this easy to accomplish. The modifiers for a successful launch are given below. Winds (determines base DR) 0 to 20 KPH Moderate DR 21 to 40 KPH Moderate DR - 10% 41 to 80 KPH Complex DR 81 to 100 KPH Complex DR -10% 101 to 120 KPH Hard DR 121 to 140 KPH Hard DR - 10% 141 to 160 KPH Very Hard D 161 to 180 KPH Difficult DR 181 to 220 KPH Very Difficult DR 221 to 250 KPH Extremely Difficult DR For each 50 KPH over 250: -10% Visibility 100% to 91% No modifier 90% to 81% - 5% 80% to 71% - 10% 70% to 61% - 15% 60% to 51% - 25% 50% to 41% - 40% 40% to 31% - 50% 30% to 21% - 60% 20% to 11% - 70% 10% to 1% - 80% 0% - 90% Unaccustomed to gravity of planet - 5% to -50 % Under fire -10% Failure of a piloting check in an atmosphere usually means that a problem was noticed during launch and the launch was aborted in time to prevent any dangerous problems. A special failure means that the ship reached the velocity it was attempting to reach and control was lost (a serious control problem). Vaccuum Launch: A vaccuum launch, usually from a capital ship or orbital station, is, by far, the easiest type of launch to perform. The Piloting check DR is Complex, unless the lauch is completely controlled by a computer. Many launches are computer controlled, though these sorts of launches tend to be slow. If the launch is computer controlled, the computer must make a check against its piloting with a Very Easy DR. If a problem occurs, the pilot of the vessel will usually be able to notice with a moderate DR perception check and correct the problem, though it is a Very Hard DR Computer Ops check to wrestle control of the vessel from the computer system. Failure during launch results in a successful launch from the facility, but the engines overheated and need to spend a battle turn cooling (movement is restricted to maneuver drives only). A special failure means that the craft has moved far off course and struck the launching facility and damage has been taken by both the launching vessel and the carrier from which it was launching. The launching craft takes 3D6 points of damage from the collision, rolling once on the Strike Location Tables for each D6 of damage (thus, three rolls are made). The capital ship takes 2D6 points of damage in their Launching Facilities. Roll on the Strike Location table for the damage multiple. Such an accident may well shut down a launching facility for quite some time. Ejected Launch: Some capital ships and stations are supplied with quick-strike craft. Most are outfitted with Evac Ships for quick evacuation. Both of these types of ships are outfitted to be forcibly ejected from the launching facilities. This sort of launch is one of the most difficult to perform, in that the original momentum is in no way controlled by the vessel. A ship that is ejected is considered to have minor control problems. A pilot need not roll until the ship is clear of the lauching facility, where he will have to correct the control problem. A special failure is as described under minor control problems, but the vessel is travelling in a randomly determined direction. If that direction is directly back into the ship from which it launched, it is considered to have crashed into the side of the ship from which it launched, with the commensurate damage to both. Flight Procedures Once a vessel is under its own power, it is considered to be "in flight." Control Problems Minor Control Problems: A ship that is experiencing minor control problems is in no real danger of crashing, though the situation can worsen if not rectified quickly. The pilot of a craft undergoing Minor Control Problems must make a Moderate DR check against his Piloting K/S area. If he is succesful, the craft is considered to be under control. If he fails, the situation worsens and the craft undergoes Moderate Control Problems. A craft under minor control problems rolls its movement direction on the table below. Its speed in that direction is equal to its speed before the control problems occured. (Note: These diagrams look a lot better in WordPerfect 6.0...) ------- /---\ | 1 | / 2-5 \ | | /---\ /---\ ------------- / 1 \ / 6 \ | -> | 2-5 | \ /---\ / | | | \---/ ^ \---/ ------------- \ | / | 6 | \---/ | | ------- ^ | : The vessel, overhead view ->: The vessel, side view If the craft in question is near a gravity well (in orbit), use the following table. ------- /---\ | 1 | / 2-5 \ | | /---\ /---\ ------------- / 1 \ / 6 \ | -> | 2-4 | \ /---\ / | | | \---/ ^ \---/ ------------- \ | / | 5-6 | \---/ | | ------- If the craft is near the surface of a strong gravity well (over .5 Gs), use the following diagram: /---\ / 2-5 \ /---\ /---\ ------------- / 1 \ / 6 \ | -> | 1-2 | \ /---\ / | | | \---/ ^ \---/ ------------- \ | / | 3-6 | \---/ | | ------- The direction of the craft in all diagrams is the direction in which the pilot is either moving or attempting to move. Moderate Control Problems: A ship that is experiencing Moderate Control Problems is in a great deal of trouble, if the problem isn't soon corrected. A Hard DR Piloting check will move the problem down one category, to a Minor Control Problem; the direction of the craft will need to be re-rolled on those charts. If a special success is rolled, the control problem will be corrected. If the Piloting check fails, roll on the following diagram to determine direction of the craft. /---\ /---\ ------- / 7-8 \ /13-14\ | 4-5 | \ /---\ / | | \ / 9-12\ / ------------- /---\ /---\ | 3 | 6-8 | / 5-6 \ /15-16\ | | | /---\ /---\ /---\ ------------- / 4 \ / ^ \ / 17 \ | -> | 9-12| \ /---\ | /---\ / | | | \---/ 3 \---/ 18 \---/ ------------- \ / \ / | 18 |13-15| \---/ \---/ | | | ------------- |17-16| | | ------- If the craft is in the gravity well of a planet, use the following diagram. /---\ /---\ ------- / 7-8 \ /13-14\ | 4 | \ /---\ / | | \ / 9-12\ / ------------- /---\ /---\ | 3 | 5-6 | / 5-6 \ /15-16\ | | | /---\ /---\ /---\ ------------- / 4 \ / ^ \ / 17 \ | -> | 7-9 | \ /---\ | /---\ / | | | \---/ 3 \---/ 18 \---/ ------------- \ / \ / |16-18|10-12| \---/ \---/ | | | ------------- |13-15| | | ------- If the craft is near the surface of a high gravity planet (.5 Gs or more), then use the following diagram: /---\ /---\ ------- / 7-8 \ /13-14\ | 3 | \ /---\ / | | \ / 9-12\ / ------------- /---\ /---\ | | 4 | / 5-6 \ /15-16\ | | | /---\ /---\ /---\ ------------- / 4 \ / ^ \ / 17 \ | -> | 5-6 | \ /---\ | /---\ / | | | \---/ 3 \---/ 18 \---/ ------------- \ / \ / |15-18| 7-10| \---/ \---/ | | | ------------- |11-14| | | ------- Serious Control Problems: A craft undergoing serious control problems is in a dangerous situation, though it is not yet hopeless. A pilot who succeeds in his Piloting roll with a Difficult DR will be able to correct the problem one category, to a Moderate Control Problem. A special success will result in a total correction of the problem. A special failure will result in the total loss of control of the vehicle. To determine direction of a craft undergoing Serious Control Problems, roll on the following diagram. /---\ /---\ ------- ------- / 8-9 \ /12-13\ | 4 | | 6 | \ /---\ / | | | | \ /10-11\ / ------------------- /---\ /---\ | 3 | 5 | 7-8 | / 6-7 \ /14-15\ | | | | /---\ /---\ /---\ ------------------- / 5 \ / ^ \ / 16 \ | -> | 9-12| \ /---\ | /---\ / | | | \---/ 4 \---/ 17 \---/ ------------------- \ / \ / | 18 | 16 |13-14| \---/ \---/ | | | | / \ / \ ------------------- / 3 \ / 18 \ | 17 | | 15 | \ / \ / | | | | \---/ \---/ ------- ------- If the problem occurs in the gravity well of a planet, use the following diagram: /---\ /---\ ------- ------- / 8-9 \ /12-13\ | | | 4 | \ /---\ / | | | | \ /10-11\ / ------------------- /---\ /---\ | | 3 | 5 | / 6-7 \ /14-15\ | | | | /---\ /---\ /---\ ------------------- / 5 \ / ^ \ / 16 \ | -> | 6-7 | \ /---\ | /---\ / | | | \---/ 4 \---/ 17 \---/ ------------------- \ / \ / |17-18|12-14| 8-9 | \---/ \---/ | | | | / \ / \ ------------------- / 3 \ / 18 \ |15-16| |10-11| \ / \ / | | | | \---/ \---/ ------- ------- If the craft is near the surface of a high gravity planet (.5 Gs or more), then use the following diagram. /---\ /---\ ------- ------- / 8-9 \ /12-13\ | | | | \ /---\ / | | | | \ /10-11\ / ------------------- /---\ /---\ | | | 3 | / 6-7 \ /14-15\ | | | | /---\ /---\ /---\ ------------------- / 5 \ / ^ \ / 16 \ | -> | 4-5 | \ /---\ | /---\ / | | | \---/ 4 \---/ 17 \---/ ------------------- \ / \ / |17-18|11-13| 6-7 | \---/ \---/ | | | | / \ / \ ------------------- / 3 \ / 18 \ |14-16| | 8-10| \ / \ / | | | | \---/ \---/ ------- ------- Major Control Problems: Chances are a vessel that is undergoing Major Control Problems will not last long, unless an experienced pilot is at the wheel. Combat Procedures Combat between ships is deadly, to say the least, but it is sometimes necessary to meet one's aims (like escaping the wrath of the Corporate Navy or disabling a rogue smuggler). Repair Procedures Lucifer >:} this stuff is mine, all mine, don't print it unless you ask, got it? Good!