Radiation Questions again (still)

[PsiTraveller]

I still have some questions about radiation trait weapons in the latest version of High Guard. (pg 10)
Several weapons carried by ships are capable of dealing radiation damage to the crew of a target, through the use of the Radiation trait (see page 75 of the Traveller Core Rulebook). This is simple to apply to the types of low-tonnage ship most Travellers will be using, but what is the best way to represent radiation damage on board cruisers and battleships massing thousands of tons with hundreds or even thousands of crew members?
To keep things quick and easy, and still reflect the effects of accumulating radiation damage on the crew of large vessels, we would suggest simply apply a cumulative DM-1 to all actions a ship performs for every 10% of Hull it loses to Radiation weapons.
If the ship has radiation shielding, increase this to DM-1 every time it loses 40% of its Hull to Radiation weapons (radiation shielding is well worth it if you are facing enemies who like to poison your crew!).
However, if meson weapons are being used, ignore any radiation shielding – regardless of the protection the ship has, the crew will still be getting the full dose of radiation from these weapons.


My question is: How are we supposed to apply it to low tonnage ships? The mechanic that was used in 1st edition has been removed in second edition. (That is, the number of crew that were affected by a crew hit was rolled on the chart on page 151).
How many crew are affected by a radiation trait weapon during a fight. Does armour value reduce any radiation effect the same way it did in 1st edition? Are all crew affected, do they take damage?

 

[arcador]

I have no idea, but it is a good question which fits neatly in High Guard.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Given the size of small ships and the damage of ship-based Radiation weapons, a hit on a small ship is likely to affect all crew...

 

[PsiTraveller]

Ouch.
So assume a Particle barbette shooting from Very Long range. 4D damage to the ship. And we do not really care about the damage this time, we just want to count the rads.
Radiation Trait: pg 75
Radiation: When a Radiation weapon is fired, anyone close to the firer, target and the line of fire in-between the two will receive 2D x 20 rads, multiplied by 5 for Spacecraft scale weapons. This effect extends from the firer, target and line of fire a distance in metres equal to the number of dice the weapon rolls for damage. If the fusion weapon is Destructive, this distance becomes ten times the number of dice rolled for damage.

So the radiation works when weapon fired, not when weapon hits, but let us assume it hits just to make life more difficult. But there is the question of does it work on misses.

Damage is 2D X 20 X 5, so 700 rads on average.
from pg 77
Vacc suits and other measures of protection reduce radiation exposure, as shown on page 96. The hull of a spacecraft decreases the radiation exposure of those inside by 500.

So a crew takes 200 rads from a Particle Beam hit. This is 2D damage immediate effect, and a -1 END permanent effect from cumulative exposure.
Per hit, or per attack. So if you have an 800 ton ship and 4 Particle Barbettes the crew is taking 800 rads of exposure, 8D damage per round of combat? Ouch. Better break out the radiation suits pretty quick. If the crew is not in suits during the first attack (from stealth for example), you may have a crew pretty wiped out in the first round. Survivors can surrender and beg for anti rad drugs.

This pretty much makes radiation shielding and lead undies mandatory for all ship design. Too high a risk of a crew wipe.

What about salvos of missiles? Is it one radiation attack per salvo or per missile that makes it through the defences?