Nerfing Stutterwarp

[rgrove0172]

Ive always thought that stutterwarp technology, as it exists in the 2300AD universe, was over powered and tainted what is otherwise a beautiful sci-fi setting by nullifying the effectiveness of so many typical science fiction elements. The supervelocity combats, rediculously long ranged weapons and seeming impervious nature of stutterwarp vessels to conventional weaponry destablizes the entire setting and removes so many interesting possibilities.

My answer is to make a few minor changes in how stutterwarp functions and plugging in a few limitations. I welcome any feedback.

1. Spacecraft may not manuever while in warp. Stutterwarp "runs" are preprogrammed and proceed with only one alteration possible, dropping out early. It is used to move from one place to another, period.
2. Sensors, communications and the weapons tracking equipment cannot function while in warp. Teleporting several thousand times a minute doesnt allow any connection with the universe around a spacecraft. The milliseconds between each jump arent enough time for any interaction. Once has to drop out of stutterwarp to perform any of these operations, or indeed interact with reality.
3. Stutterwarp navigation requires time, hours typically, to plot. Stutterdrives require time, minutes at least, to "warm up" if you will and a like period to "cool down" after disengaging. A spacecraft cannot simply push a button and jet off.
4. Stutterwarp drives suffer increasing difficulty within the .0001G threshold and fail completely within the .1G wall. Conventional thrusters are therefore common place on all vessels.

Weapons Note - space based weapons that fire 600,000 kilometers dont exist. The scale of all weapons is more or less that of vehicle weaponry, increased for the lack of atmophere perhaps. Lasers, rail guns, nuclear detonation lasers and such are all still useful but on a more conventional scale while missiles and other typical weapons systems are now equally useful against spacecraft which must now operate by newtonian physics and thrusters when engaged.

As I dont utilizes any of the Kafer military history, Im not concerned how this would affect any of that but otherwise, do you see this move seriously harming the 2300 setting?

 

[Nathan Brazil]

It's Y2300, so cool. Repercussions to consider:

More required conventional engines and fuel for such = less cargo space

Stutterwarp as a straight line from/to system = space combat strategy changes.
Not the weapons part, but travel itself will change (and not just with the Kafer War). You will not be able to pop into an enemy system easily, scan/scout the system very quickly and pop back out for example as navigation will take minutes or hours. Also as a straight line system, departure and arrival points will be more predictable as the limits of conventional thrusters come into play. You are limited by thrust, mass and fuel.

 

[kermit]

Like Nathan said, it's your game you do as you please. My major concern is that all of these restrictions completely change the drive and thus many of the settings overlying assumptions. In a way it converts everything to something more similar to a fast jump drive (or more like the Star Wars hyperspace drive).

I do understand some of your gripes. In my games I have micro-stutterwarp drives using hafnium to allow for Traveller sized missiles. Also, regular stutter warp missiles often make use of submunitions with small hafnium drives that have the sole purpose of collapsing another ship's warp field. When the field is down, even momentarily, conventional weapons such as kinetic kill interceptors, flechette clouds, and regular HEAP can be used against a starship. I see 2300AD space warfare as being similar to our naval warfare in that it is a constant race between offensive and defensive weapons; not the nearly static portrayal given in the canon history wherein starship weapons and tactics have barely changed over the 140 years since the Alpha Centauri War.

Benjamin Lecrone

 

[Lemnoc]

The supervelocity combats, rediculously long ranged weapons and seeming impervious nature of stutterwarp vessels to conventional weaponry destablizes the entire setting and removes so many interesting possibilities.

I've long held the view that starship combat, popular as it is, ubiquitous as it is, central as it is, is ultimately a ridiculous concept. It's about as dumb an idea as aliens in animal suits. Once you start poking your spade around, you're going to dig up an oil gusher of absurdity. Stutterwarp only makes the ridiculous more so.

M2300U has yet to actually stage a live deep space combat, since they don't seem particularly likely; or if likely, they don't seem particularly survivable.

If space combat really galls you as GM, I suggest staging fewer of them.

 

[kermit]

As per the Director's Guide of 2300AD, there is almost no combat that occurs in deep space. There are a few mentions of ships disappearing that may been lost due to hostile action, but due to the speeds and vastness of the space ship vs. ship combat would exceedingly rare. Thus combat occurs within the stutterwarp threshold; often around a planetary body that is being used as a stutterwarp discharge point.

On the other hand there are numerous examples of ship vs. ship and fleet vs. fleet combat in 2300AD canon. Invasion, Star Cruiser Campaign Book, Overlord and several Challenge Magazine articles have examples of space combat. Since Mongoose 2300AD has only had a few books and adventures out so far, none of which cover the Kaefer War, there has been very little devoted to space warfare and the conflicts involved. Having played the game since 1990 I've come to find 2300AD space warfare to be plausible and logically consistent.

Benjamin Lecrone

 

[rgrove0172]

Plausible and consistent perhaps but not much fun. IMHO

When a lightly armed patrol craft can circle a planet and thousands of kilometers a second and rain automatic hell down on anyting coming up out of orbit, while being impervious to any form of incoming fire, unless it mounted on a like vessel, it just ruins the whole scene.

 

[Colin]

It is different from a "typical" hard sf setting in that sense. However, from a technological standpoint, stutterwarp is what "makes" 2300AD, just like jump drive and reactionless thrusters "make" classic traveller.

If I were to do things differently, I would look at moving the boundary for effective stutterwarp, and taking a close look at weapon and sensors. (I'm not saying I'm going to, just that is what I would do if I were to make any changes). However, that introduces other issues. Reaction drives in 2300AD, while certainly more efficient than "modern" rockets, still are not anything to get excited about, with tremendous fuel consumptions. I like the idea of different types of combat in different places: no combat at FTL, classic ship and missile confrontations in the outer system on stutterwarp, kinetic weapons and rockets in orbit. Maybe adjust weapon ranges so that a stutterwarp vessel can't just pound the sand out of anything in orbit. Tweaking, really.

Stutterwarp was all about getting around that, but still keeping a "hard" feel.

 

[adm]

You mention communications not working. With likely computing ability, a ship using Stutterwarp ought to be able to transmit to a fixed point, such as a planet, in such away as to work. If communication is preplanned, i.e. a spy sending to ship with a known route and frequency, should be able to signals.

 

[GJD]

As per the Director's Guide of 2300AD, there is almost no combat that occurs in deep space. There are a few mentions of ships disappearing that may been lost due to hostile action, but due to the speeds and vastness of the space ship vs. ship combat would exceedingly rare. Thus combat occurs within the stutterwarp threshold; often around a planetary body that is being used as a stutterwarp discharge point.

On the other hand there are numerous examples of ship vs. ship and fleet vs. fleet combat in 2300AD canon. Invasion, Star Cruiser Campaign Book, Overlord and several Challenge Magazine articles have examples of space combat. Since Mongoose 2300AD has only had a few books and adventures out so far, none of which cover the Kaefer War, there has been very little devoted to space warfare and the conflicts involved. Having played the game since 1990 I've come to find 2300AD space warfare to be plausible and logically consistent.

Benjamin Lecrone

The examples pretty much all ocurr in-system, though, usually at a planet or as ships wer heading to or away from a planet (i.e. along predictable paths). Not nessecarily in orbit, but within the shelf. I can't think of any combat that ocurred between star systems.

G.