P&P Playtest Pack v 1.1

[Dave G]

Another idea would be to have no hit points or base as the starting position.

So that (for example) a patrol level station would consist of 3(?) modules, each bringing a combination of attributes.

So a long range gunnery module would have a small number of hit points and crew points, a barracks/crew module would have more of both and some troops, while a trade mission or interstellar R & R module would be quite bulky but have no crew - or at least none of any use in a fight.

Balancing all of that would be tricky, but then that's what play testing is for.

 

[Da Boss]

some good interesting ideas - what we now need is a decent review to give us something to playtest

 

[SylvrDragon]

Edit:

I like the idea of modules reducing hit points. An easy thing to do would be to simply reverse the hit point increases of the non-defensive modules as is, and remove the hit point bonus from certain defensive modules such as the point defense module. Mass increasing modules, such as the habitat module, could remain as is.. So a module that would increase hit points by +10/+5/+0 would decrease by -10/-5/-0. Also I agree that hardpoints should be cut. Would cutting them in half be sufficient?

Before...

ISA Raid level station :roll:
12AD Neutron Laser at 36" range (double damage, precise)
4 flights of Thunderbolts or Starfuries
130 points damage
Af 4
Interceptors 5:

After...

ISA Raid level station
3AD Neutron Laser at 36" range (beam, double damage, precise)
6AD Medium Pulse Cannon 15" range (twin-linked)
4 flights of Thunderbolts of Starfuries
60/30/20 points of damage
Af 4
Interceptors 5

Edit:
With the above changes I'd also change the armor module. I'd say reduce the hardpoint cost for it by 1 point for each category. It would be real hard to fit on some stations otherwise.

 

[SylvrDragon]

Hey, I just took another glance over the P&P when I noticed something that had somehow missed my attention before. The two little words "Official update". So, is everything in the Fleet Command, as well as the changes to the Gaim considered official amendments to the rule books? Seems that it's this way to me, but I wanted a second opinion before I claimed they were such to my local group.

 

[Greg Smith]

They will be when it is published. Currently it is only draft material for playtesting.

 

[SylvrDragon]

They will be when it is published. Currently it is only draft material for playtesting.

They should be more careful with the words "Official Update" then. lol So, is there any kind of idea as to when these may come into effect? I really like some of these changes.

 

[SylvrDragon]

Oh, something else I noted. They're not removing that stupid "Quick Loading Missiles" downgrade from the Refits table. It doesn't increase the effectiveness of a ship, all it does it cause the ship to deal damage more slowly. Instead of destroying ships on turns 1 and 3, you destroy ships on 2 and 4. Personally, I'd rather kill a target sooner than later, they shoot back less that way. : /

 

[Greg Smith]

It is on the schedule for a February release.

 

[SylvrDragon]

Thanks, dude.

 

[nekomata fuyu]

Here's also hoping that they do something about that duplicate advanced sensors result in the Psi Corps list...

 

[SylvrDragon]

They really did do a half-#@% job on the refits in my opion. In all seriousness turbo weapons isn't much better. Let's cut your chance of getting hits in half, while keeping the same max damage potential...what? it's like they just threw some ideas in a hat and drew out the winners with out a concern as to if they were really worth spending the xp dice on or not. Sure, some of the refits are nasty, but there are just as many useless ones.

 

[katadder]

turbo weapons is usually half AD +1 where ever it is so thats an immediate increase in potential. then add in crits, when you do get a crit it will be alot more damaging due to being DD rather than single damage

 

[SylvrDragon]

turbo weapons is usually half AD +1 where ever it is so thats an immediate increase in potential. then add in crits, when you do get a crit it will be alot more damaging due to being DD rather than single damage

Usually? It only does it on weapons with odd numbered AD, which is not the majority of weapons. Thus is usually cuts the AD in directly half. And sure, you can double the damage of crits, but you cut the number of crits in half, which equates to roughly the same amount of damage done through crits with half the critical effects. Explain to me how reducing your chance to hit and reducing the number of critical effects while gaining, when you actually do the math of the situation, no additional damage, is an upgrade?

 

[stryve]

The wording is "It gains the Double Damage trait but has its Attack Dice reduced by half (rounding up) +1. So, you always end up with better than half AD, and a little better still with odd starting numbers. Actually, the fewer AD you start with, the better the trade off. Weapons with 2 or 3 AD don't have any negative effects at all with this Refit. So, while not that great for massive banks of secondaries, it works pretty well for smaller ships and a few primary weapons such as the Abbai Combat Laser.

Hmm, upon a closer look, I think I see where SylvrDragon is coming from. The two exceptions to that wording are the Dilgar and the Vree. The Dilgar "City Levellers" doesn't include the "+1" but is otherwise identical, while the Vree "Turbo Weapons" substitutes Double for Triple Damage. Seems a little off there.

Anyway, I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here. Overall, I agree that the Reftits tables could use a little more thought.

 

[SylvrDragon]

In the case of other races I was wrong then. You do come out with a very minor upgrade...I'd personally prefer to keep full ad, but that's preference. My "mistake" was pointed out correctly by stryve. Seems not all the refits list the same as Dilgar, but as I am a Dilgar player, that's the list I had in mind when I made my comments.

But, I think at least most of us agree that the table is in need of fine tuning. I'd say the quick-missiles should be outright removed, as it is very clearly, at least to anyone with something resembling even the most basic of math skills, a downgrade. City Levellers also needs some work. I'd have to look at the various lists to see what else needs fixing, but these are very obviously downgrades. I think something that might help refits is if you got a single re-roll. You roll a refit, if you don't like it you get 1 single re-roll representing the Captain overseeing the refits available to him. The second roll would of course be final...It could, at the very least, provide a quick fix to patch things up until a more permanent solution, such as refit tables have been carefully put together and not thrown together as an after thought, could be put into effect.