Hello. I've had this idea for a while, and I don't know if I'll have the time, but I like it enough that I want to share it with you all.
I tend to dislike how hitting and hurting something tends to be lumped together in games. I also dislike the amount of randomness there tends to be. So i brainstormed for a while, trying to find something that satisfied me for sci-fi games I was(and still am) planning on making. I found it, and at this point it's mostly balancing mumbers against each other, and trying to make sure the system works how I want it to.
To make it clear how it works, I think I should just give a couple examples of things. Numbers are still rough, names and such, but it gives the idea, I think. I may be bad at explaining things.
Name: Medium Railgun Turret
Accuracy: 2D6+1; Aim +1D6+3; Track 6
Penetration: 2D6+4 Kinetic
Damage: 1d6+2 Kinetic
Range: PB 6; LR 11; MX 19
Clip: 3/-*
* Can use any Medium Slug ammunition
Accuracy is how capable the weapon is at hitting it's target. Some weapons fire multiple times, and every X number of points they exceed their target's Hit Class results in an additional hit. The larger the weapon, the lower this will typically be. Aim is how capable a weapon's computers are at compensating for the various factors that tend to diminish a weapon's accuracy. This is the bonus a weapon gets to Accuracy if it takes the time to aim. The larger the weapon, the higher this will typically be. Track is the tracking speed of a weapon(only really applies to turreted weapons; Missile weapon equivalent is part of the missile's Maneuverability, and Fixed weapons rely on the ship's maneuverability), and is how effectively the weapon can deal with fast moving enemies; it directly counters Maneuverability of targets. The larger the weapon, the lower this will typically be.
Penetration is the ability of the weapon to punch through armor and some types of shields. The name indicates the type(which affects how armor protects against it, and how some shields affect it). If the roll is higher than the armor in the location the target was hit, it penetrates.The larger the weapon, the higher this will typically be.
Damage is how much structural damage and death the weapon can wreak. The type of damage is important for shields and some types of critical systems. Some weapons can do multiple types of damage. The larger the weapon, the higher this will typically be.
Range is how capable the weapon is at retaining it's course over a given distance, as well as the projectile speed(as the farther the projectile is coming from, the more time the target has to react). PB stands for Point Blank, and the weapon takes no penalty to accuracy within this range. LR stands for Long Range; the are between this and Point Blank is considered Short Range. Every space/tile/square beyond Point Blank imposes a -1 cumulative penalty to hit. Every space beyond Short Range takes an additional -1(-2 total per space). MX stands for Maximum Effective Range. In space, there is no actual maximum range, but at a certain point, it becomes so much wasted effort. Every space beyond Maximum Effective Range imposes another -3(-5 total per space!) to hit. Against very large targets with small, accurate, but short ranged weapons, you can of course still hit. However, the extreme range and random variations means that Criticals are impossible beyond this range, and it is typically impossible (as in, you cannot try to unless it says otherwise) to hit Weak Points beyond Long Range. Additionally, some weapons may suffer from Falloff, having reduced damage and penetration at longer ranges. Missile weapons will typically have a speed and fuel, which create their range, rather than a flat range. The larger the weapon, the longer the range will typically be.
Clip represents how many shots a weapon has before it must reload, and the second number is how much ammo is available to fire for that weapon. Although most, if not all, weapons are auto-loaded, not all can have massive amounts of ammunition available instantly for firing, and some weapons simply overheat. Others have to charge up power or accumulate materials of one sort or another before firing. Whatever the case, many weapons cannot be fired continuously for long periods of time. Some weapons reload fast enough or in such a way that they effectively never have to reload, and some have sufficient ammunition on board that it would be useless to try and keep track of how much is being used; it can be reasonably expected that they have more than they could ever need. Many weapons can also use multiple types of ammunition; this will be indicated. The larger the weapon, the lower these will typically be.
It can be rather complicated when you get into the depth of the game system I was trying for, but it basically just comes down to tags you add to weapons to change their effects slightly. The variable dice and basics of the stats is what I was trying for in the system(though I am considering adding a flat 3d4 or something to some of the rolls to allow for even inaccurate weapons to get lucky sometimes)
However, this wouldn't be complete without a ship to show off the weapons and how it would practically work.
Name:
Reprehensible AmbitionShip Type: Heavy Corvette
Ship Class: Gen I
HereticalHP: 20
Crew: 16
Morale: 12
Speed: 3
Size: 8
Maneuverability: 8
Hit Class: 16
Armor: 10CP
Shields: 6AS
Skills:
-Boarding 2
-Command 2
-Discipline 3
-Electronic Warfare 3
-Engineering 3
-Gunnery 3
-Navigation 4
Systems:
-Primary Engine(3) x2(1/2)
-Bridge x1(1/2)
-Sensor Clusters x2(.25/.5)
-Computer Hub x1(.5/1)
-Reactor(
x4(1/0)
-Engineering Bay x2(1/1)
-Maneuvering Engine(2) x4(.5/1)
-Life Support(4) x4(.25/1)
-Shield Bank(3) x4(.25/1)
-Shield Generator(6) x1(1/3)
-Medium Railgun Turret(Port) x1(.5/1)
-Medium Railgun Turret(Starboard) x1(.5/1)
-Light Railgun Turret(Port 4) x1(.5/1)
-Light Railgun Turret(Starboard 4) x1(.5/1)
-Flak Guns(6) x4(.5/1)
-Point Defense System(3) x4(.25/.5)
-Small Missile Bay(2) x2(.5/1)
-Magazines(4) x4(0/0)
-Bulkheads x16(0/0)
-Marine Quarters(2) x3(0/0)
-Rift Drive(2) x1(1/3)
Name tells you the name of the specific ship in question
Ship Type tells you what role the ship is typically used to perform and gives you a basic idea of what the ship will have.
Ship Class tells you the name of the specific type of ship model.
HP represents the structural integrity and hull strength of the ship. As it is lowered, the ship will undergo more and more stress, often degrading in combat performance. If it reaches 0, the ship will begin to beak apart, and will usually be irreparable. At this point, it will almost always be a wreck, as the remaining crew ill be too preoccupied with reaching lifepods before the emergency power runs out or the bulkheads fail to do anything else.
Crew represents the amount of crew typically on board the ship, as well as surviving infrastructure and communications/power relays, etc.; this is not the maximum crew or passenger capacity, nor is it the skeleton crew requirements. Crew is used to operate some systems. Each Crew represents about 100 people, who usually work in 2 to 4 shifts. A system may be crewed with half the listed amount of crew; their performance, will, however, suffer.
Morale is the willingness of the crew to fight and follow orders, as well as their eagerness, bloodlust, ans courage. If this is low, the ship may mutiny, disregard orders, or flee. If this becomes exceedingly high, the ship may disregard orders, attack targets without being ordered to, or attack surrendering enemies.
Speed is the power of a ship's engines relative to it's mass. This is not maximum speed, but rather cruising speed(and as much as I'd like to do Newtonian physics, and it would certainly be possible, it would also be a pain in the ass to make sure everything was balanced and deal with ranges)
Size is the size of the ship, however, it works similarly to gauge measurements; the smaller the number, the bigger the ship. This is because the Size and Maneuverability are added to make the basic Hit Class.
Maneuverability is the agility and ease of handling of a ship. It is mostly used for fixed weapons and Hit Class, though Close-In Fighting(Dogfighting/Ship equivalent of melee or grappling) also uses it.
Hit Class is the difficulty to hit the ship, and may be modified by any number of factors.
Armor is the thickness, durability, and strength of the armor on the ship; the letters signify the type of armor. In this case, CP means Ceramic Plate, which has the same performance against all penetration types. However, some weapons can bypass armor entirely, and there are many ways to penetrate armor that would typically prevent the attack from getting through at all.
Shields are the power, type, and recovery capability of the ship's shield systems. The effect varies wildly by the type of shields. In this case, the shields are Absorbtion, which absorb energy weapons fire and converts it into power.
Skills represents the quality of the crew in various areas. These are typically added to whatever the base ability of the ship is in that field, or used on their own for ability in various fields.
Systems are the various parts of the ship, typically ones that can be damaged with a noticable impact on performance. The first number is the crew requirement for that system, the second is the power requirement.
Gah. That took a while, and is far clunkier than I could wish for, but it does more or less what I was hoping it would, I guess.
What do you guys think?
Author
Topic: Gaming Block (Game Discussion Thread) (Totally Not Roller's Block) (Read 418337 times)