Monsters

[Nomad]

I could really do with a monster right now.

To explain; in the SFU, there are several 'space monsters'. These are living creatures (space dragons/amoebas/wild boars et.c) or rogue, computer controlled ships, some taken from the TV show (such as the Planet Killer), and some invented for the game (such as the Juggernaut, http://www.fotothing.com/photos/8eb/8eb8f26b8f0d4b234aa53bdb51fe31cb.jpg).

They move either at random or by following simple rules (i.e. attack the nearest player ship). They are generally heavily armed, well defended and difficult to disable (not always by weapons fire, sometimes involving the use of labs to analyse them and determine how to 'switch them off').

Their purpose is to provide opponents for solo games, or 'mechanical hares' for training scenarios for new players.

While I can cobble something up myself - though after reading the recent posts on the 'Welcome...' thread I am none the wiser as to whether I could post it on here or not - this is a plea to The Powers That Be that one or two of these things might be useful.

 

[Sgt_G]

You could always send an e-mail to Matthew and/or Steve Cole and ask if they're at all interested. If they are, write it up and send it in. If they're not, it looks to me like fair game to post (no pun intended).

I do know, from a discussion I had to Steve at Origins, the reason he never put the killer-probe from the Nomad episode in the game is he feels it was a writers pipe-dream that had no basis in engineering reality (as much as there is in Trek). A probe the size of a person has a weapon equal to eighty (80!) photon torpedoes? And the "E" took such a hit and didn't drop the shields? In any game setting, 80 photons would vaporize a starbase.

 

[Nerroth]

I might have mentioned this before; but if the Juggernaut DN (as it is now classed as) is ever on the table for conversion, I hope it might have some of its more recent "Juggernaut Empire" stablemates added in, too.

Recent issues of Captain's Log have seen the array of Juggernaut hulls expanded upon in SFB; with the list now ranging from the small, but still powerful, frigate all the way up to a 768-point beast of a battleship. Also, the direct-fire weapons seen on Juggernaut Alpha have been supplemented by the deadly Shriek missiles; few in number, hard to stop, and devastating on impact.

(There's even a scenario showing a simulator exercise in which a fleet of JE warships attempt to take down a Seltorian Hive Ship, the Star of Redemption, in the depths of inter-galactic space; something which could be adapted should the Hive Ship's Sphere-killing variant, the Battlewagon, be on the list of units added to the second book.)

If the J-DN isn't enough to work in a fleet -level game like this one by itself, its JE stablemates could make things more viable in that regard.



Speaking of the Juggernauts, one thought I had was to adapt the Klingon shield rule into something that could help to model the infamous rotating shield the ships have in SFB and FC. Rather than always leave it in the forward arc, the JE player would decide at the beginning of each turn which 90* arc the bonus would cover for the remainder of that turn.

As for the electro-static armour that covers all but the aft shield facing in the other games, simply say that the Juggernaut's Shield score does not cover the A arc; thus, if the "bonus" is facing aft, any hits that get past it score against the hull directly.

Thus, it would be left up to the Juggernaut Empire player to use his or her highly maneuverable ships to best effect... or for the opposing force to work themselves into the best firing solutions.

(The idea came to me when thinking of how to model a different, yet similar system from another empire over in the broader SFU; but perhaps it could help here.)

 

[DM]

A probe the size of a person has a weapon equal to eighty (80!) photon torpedoes? And the "E" took such a hit and didn't drop the shields?

Every time one of my friends sees that he starts rocking backwards and forwards, muttering "Its only a TV show, its only a TV show!"

 

[Sgt_G]

What do you mean "it's only a TV show"? It's a way of life, man!

Note: For the record, I consider myself to be a Trekker, not a Trekkie. I do not, never have and never will, own a set of Spock ears or a Starfleet uniform.

 

[DM]

Trekker, not a Trekkie

Whats the difference?

 

[starbreaker]

Trekker, not a Trekkie

Whats the difference?

Short form, being called a Trekkie generally implies that you have trouble differentiating between reality and illusion. Longer explanations (and various counterarguments) can be found all over the net, for ex:

http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_5151.shtml

 

[Da Boss]

As I understand it - you could post a monster you had made up, say a big space shark/crocodile but not if its already a unqiue creation done for the SFU.

eg: off the top of my head and probably nonsense but.......

Giant Space Shark
A vast but fast moving super carnivore of the void armed with teeth and hungerTurn: 4, Damage: 90/20,
Traits: Agile, Armoured, Enhanced Bridge (brain)Fast,
Lunging Bite......8".........F..........10AD.........Accurate +2, Precise, Devestating +3,(*), Multihit 2,

The Shark will, at the start of its turns head directly towards the largest ship (as long as it not larger than the HSark iself - has more starting damage) than the Shark itself. It will attempt to maneuvere around any terrain such as Asteroid fields that would potentially dmage it. Once it has finished its movement, in the Attack Phase it will attack and ship that is within range and within its F arc. It will not carry out special actions.
The Shark takes criticals as normal but ignores any results that do not effect it - eg reductions in Shields, Marines etc..........

 

[Reynard]

>> Whats the difference?
>>
>Short form, being called a Trekkie generally implies that you have trouble differentiating between reality and illusion. Longer explanations (and various counterarguments) can be found all over the net, for ex:
>

A Trekkie enjoys the show. A Trekker take themselves FAR too seriously.

 

[Nazgull2k1]

As I understand it - you could post a monster you had made up, say a big space shark/crocodile but not if its already a unqiue creation done for the SFU.

eg: off the top of my head and probably nonsense but.......

Giant Space Shark
A vast but fast moving super carnivore of the void armed with teeth and hungerTurn: 4, Damage: 90/20,
Traits: Agile, Armoured, Enhanced Bridge (brain)Fast,
Lunging Bite......8".........F..........10AD.........Accurate +2, Precise, Devestating +3,(*), Multihit 2,

The Shark will, at the start of its turns head directly towards the largest ship (as long as it not larger than the HSark iself - has more starting damage) than the Shark itself. It will attempt to maneuvere around any terrain such as Asteroid fields that would potentially dmage it. Once it has finished its movement, in the Attack Phase it will attack and ship that is within range and within its F arc. It will not carry out special actions.
The Shark takes criticals as normal but ignores any results that do not effect it - eg reductions in Shields, Marines etc..........

Actually, this is not bad at all... however, to balance it out, I would change

It will attempt to maneuvere around any terrain such as Asteroid fields that would potentially damage it.

to

It will take the straightest path towards the closest ship, regardless of terrain.

----

This will allow the monster to be easily played by a solo player. As of now, with your ruling as it stands, it can simply be avoided by a faster ship, and pinged to death at long range.

----

Oooo! brainstorm! Why not have both??? Sharks are known for bloodlust right? So why not change it to something realistic and pleasing everyone?

----

Mega Shark will avoid terrain until X amount of damage is taken. When this happens, it gains frenzy. Increasing its move speed/dmg and IGNORING terrain that does not instantly destroy it. So great is its desire for food, a little debris doesnt even phase it.


*edit* - Thats not nonsense at all.. its actually brilliant. Someone should playtest this.

Should get a rear attack though. Tail swipe? Nothing ridiculous, but a way to defend its rear against shotgunned plasma's. lol

 

[Sgt_G]

>> Whats the difference?
>>
>Short form, being called a Trekkie generally implies that you have trouble differentiating between reality and illusion. Longer explanations (and various counterarguments) can be found all over the net, for ex:
>

A Trekkie enjoys the show. A Trekker take themselves FAR too seriously.

No, it's the other way around. A trekker watches the show; a trekkie tries to re-live it.

 

[Iron Domokun]

No, it's the other way around. A trekker watches the show; a trekkie tries to re-live it.

... and they both argue about the differences between trekkies and trekkers on internet boards.

 

[Sgt_G]

Okay, I'll give you that one.

 

[Nomad]

Trekkers/trekkies; Whether to boldly go...anywhere...at all...wearing Lycra. Or not.

 

[arabuck]

Giant Space Shark
A vast but fast moving super carnivore of the void armed with teeth and hungerTurn: 4, Damage: 90/20,
Traits: Agile, Armoured, Enhanced Bridge (brain)Fast,
Lunging Bite......8".........F..........10AD.........Accurate +2, Precise, Devestating +3,(*), Multihit 2,

Nice! Duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh...