Oh, and by the way, Akylon, I have, more or less, the system worked out. Not done though. Still want to do some stuff to make sure all the stats are relevant, and the system works properly. Might be a bit more complex than current system, but at least it should be balanced. Ish.
The basics of it is; larger weapons require more and more massiveness. Smaller weapons get you more Weapon Points for cheaper, but each weapon is less effective. Larger weapons are more effective, but, well, larger. The following list is just preliminary numbers; there would be five weapon stats in this system. I might move things up a tier in terms of Massiveness, so that you couldn't have 55-point Weapons; it would start at 5 Massiveness for 15-point Weapons and hit 30 or 35 or 40(not sure which would be best to balance nicely asymmetrically) Massiveness for 45-point Weapons.
2 Massiveness Points - 15 Weapon Points
5 Massiveness Points - 25 Weapon Points
10 Massiveness Points - 35 Weapon Points
20 Massiveness Points - 45 Weapon Points
35 Massiveness Points - 55 Weapon Points
The five weapon stats would be:
Power - effectively Destructiveness, but with an easier/better name. Also probably make it work a bit more reliably, so we don't have Doomsday weapons
dink-ing for a point of damage.
Accuracy - effectively Stability, but with a more fitting name since it applies to things like missiles and drones too. Helps Maneuverability for Missiles and Drones(higher=more agile).
Speed - Works differently for different weapons; with normal 'Turret' weapons, it's probably gonna be some sort of abstract combination of tracking speed, rate of fire, and projectile speed for long-range weapons(helps determine accuracy against small or fast-moving targets). For Missile Weapons, it helps determine range and the time it takes for the missile to reach the target, but reload time is covered by Specialization more(higher=harder to hit). For Drones, it helps determine Evasion, range, and, obviously, Speed.
Maybe
Specialization(I want a better name for it) - Catch-all for everything else, particularly special abilities and exceptional things about the weapon. What makes it, well, Special? That's what this stat is for. Have to put in a certain amount for things, maybe inflict status conditions(which more concrete effects...)? Perhaps you deal more damage at the expense of overheating, or fling population at the enemy? That can be covered by a few points here. Can the weapon double as a defense? Then plop some points here and you're set!
And
Range or Integrity, maybe? - I'm not too sure what the fifth one should be, I want it to be as wide-ranging/important as the other ones, rather than the 'high or low are equally effective' so that putting points in isn't useless. Integrity, probably, or Redundancy or something, since Range would fall under Specialization, in all likelihood. I do know that there needs to be a fifth one for the points to even out nicely, and to allow something other than maximizing Damage Per Turn to be a factor.
Massiveness(probably changed to 'Size' since that's faster) - Higher=Bad. The larger the weapon, the easier it is to hit, the more power/crew/force of will required to man it, the harder it is to repair, and the fewer you can have.
For defenses, something similar, though defenses would have four stats, I believe, if I remember what I wanted to do right.
Effectiveness - How good the Defense is at it's job, basically. This could be the accuracy and tracking speed of flak turrets, the shininess of laser-reflecting armor, or the amount of rage that fills the giant bee swarm that eats enemy drones/projectiles.
Coverage - How likely the Defense is to actually be there to defend against the given attack. Can double as a Specialization-esque stat if needed, though so can either of the others. Basically depends on the type of Defense, really. Armor might have good Coverage in front and crap in the sides and back, whereas Flak turrets might only have a very few blind spots, if any.
Versatility - Weapons may want to specialize, but you could be attacked by anything, so Defenses need to be more versatile. How good the Defense is at protecting from a variety of offensive techniques. A network of telepaths foiling electronic or psychic assault aren't going to be much good against a missile, just as automated flak turrets would be shit against a hacking device.
Durability - Fairly simple; Defenses tend to be tougher than Weapons (for obvious reasons), and Durability is a measure of how much punishment they can take before failing. Weapons and defenses alike get worse as they take damage, and will often break or become useless well before their Durability reaches 0. If the Durability reaches 0, it means the item is irreparable, wrecked, lost forever, good luck so sorry no refunds.
And of course
Massiveness/Size - In this system, Weapon and Defenses total available capacity would be on the same scale, allowing for glass artillery cannons or invinci-steel pea-shooters. Defenses would typically be smaller than Weapons, and correspondingly less effective; the best defense is a good offense, after all. Of course, that doesn't mean that you can't have a better defense than their offense anyway(and unlike a war, you can't replace your ship so easily and just keep trundling on(unless you're Ebbor
))...not entirely sure how to scale these yet. I'll figure it out.
Finally, there would probably be utility modules, which wouldn't directly contribute to combat ability, but enable you to do other things, or improve other modules' combat performance. Repair equipment, enhanced engines, super-powered sensors, evac pods...these are the things that don't
quite fit in to the other categories. As they are the oddball category, their only real stat would be Size/Massiveness, and then whatever ability or effects they have; Size is determined by the GM saying how much he thinks it should 'cost'.
There would also be a limit not just to what you have deployed, which would be primarily limited by crew/power/force of will constraints, but to what you have, period; you can only carry so many missile launchers on your ship, after all.
The Airship stats, as you may have surmised, would be similarly changed with this 'update'. Far more concrete rules concerning them; Propulsion/Speed actually matters worth a shit, for example. The size of your ship makes it easier to hit, harder to Cover, and harder to move, but lets you carry more shit on it.
Stats would probably cap out differently based on GM's fiat and the weapon type in question, as well as the possibility of secondary caps(one of the stats can be at X, the others can only hit Y; you can choose which stat is at X, if you want something that high).
There was something else I wanted to say...I forget though....
Anyway, tell me what ya think! Not done yet, like I said.
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Topic: Skies of Alzeran [7] - *THOOMP* (Read 17379 times)