Radiation trait and radiation protection

[Galen]

The Radiation trait inflict 2D x 60 rads. But do we subtract the radiation protection of the ship in the usual way?
For the radiation shielding it says "... from both natural sources (...) and artificial (including nuclear missiles and meson weapons). ..." So far so good, unless we read the description of the radiation trait which says "If meson weapons are used, ignore radiation shielding - ..."

Does that also count for the normal radiation protection of the ship (500 Points)? This would also mean a ship with radiation shielding would be immune to radiation from weapons?

This would mean that the crew only gets rads if we roll a 8+ (540+ rads). Adding up the rad protection from Equipment/Armor. (In my imagination military crews always wear some kind of suits during battles)

Well ... I'm a bit confused...

 

[Limpin Legin]

The Radiation trait inflict 2D x 60 rads. But do we subtract the radiation protection of the ship in the usual way?

Yes (if trait is from a ship scale weapon). Yes just subtract the radiation countermeasure score from the radiation damage score.

For the radiation shielding it says "... from both natural sources (...) and artificial (including nuclear missiles and meson weapons). ..."

This is Radiation Shielding (TL7), High Guard pg 14.

unless we read the description of the radiation trait which says "If meson weapons are used, ignore radiation shielding - ..."

This is Radiation Damage on Large Ships, also on HG, pg 14. Slightly different rules are used where the crew numbers are supposed to be large.

IDK why Meson weapons are suddenly exempt from radiation shielding, when attacking a larger ship. That is an interesting point.

According to the stated rule, an accumulative DM-1 is applied to all actions a ship performs for every 10% of the Hull lost to radiation weapons. If the ship has radiation shielding, use DM-1 every 40%, instead of every 10%.

So, with Meson weapons you would treat it as DM-1 applied every 10% of Hull lost to Meson weapons.

 

[Gavain]

IDK why Meson weapons are suddenly exempt from radiation shielding, when attacking a larger ship. That is an interesting point.

My 2p worth: Mesons don't interact with matter until they decay at which point the radiation occurs. This, in my view is why they bypass standard radiation protection. I have noticed in HG2022 p14, Radiation shielding as an option does work against meson weapons. Though, the box on The Radiation Trait (p31) says that meson weapons ignore all radiation shielding! I guess that since the wording on radiation shielding option specifically states that it protects against meson radiation, that trumps the general meson guns ignore radiation shielding.

 

[rinku]

Most of the radiation shielding is the outer hull, and meson guns are exploding inside that. The mesons ignore all that normal matter until they decay. So logically, personal radiation protection measures would still apply for a meson strike, just not the ship's general protection from outside hazards.

Note too that the scale of the weapons does not matter in this case - radiation doses are always applied at personal scale, and the dosages for a weapon being larger should already be taken into account.

In regards to hull radiation shielding vs mesons... the rule on p.31 specifically mentions radiation shielding (not just default hull), so it's a direct rule conflict with the p.14, although in line with the rule about large ships on p.14. It makes more sense that that one mention of radiation shielding working vs meson weapons is wrong, when all the other rules that discuss the effect of radiation shielding on mesons say it does not apply.

You might also apply any protection due to the section you're in if the meson strike was in another section (especially relevant in larger ships). An armoured bulkhead around the bridge should provide at least some protection from a meson hit elsewhere, and traditionally there are meant to be bulkheads specifically to screen the rest of the ship from potential radiation hazards in the engineering section. So I'd allow some (but maybe not 500 points) of protection on crew outside of that section if a drive got struck by a meson beam. In addition, if the meson hit was inside a protected section, the rest of the ship should get whatever protection that section normally gets. (BOOM! The armoured bridge is toast... but everyone outside takes 200 less rads from the explosion inside it)

 

[Condottiere]

In theory, find the exact spot on the deckplans where the mesons materialize, and then, radiate outwards.

If it's a dispersed configuration, and it's outside the hull, radiation shielding would apply, except where the explosion burst through the hull.

 

[rinku]

That conforms to my posted thoughts, too.

e.g. if the cargo area is a separate box connected to the rest with a pylon, the rest of the ship should get regular hull protection from a hit on cargo. If the bridge and accommodation are all in one section, a Bridge hit would give no hull protection to passengers.

 

[Anstett]

Early morning disjointed thought.

Does this mean that the bridge should have its own radiation shielding separate from the hull?
If the meson target is inside the hull, and with other sensors you can detect where the clumps of crew are, you should be able to target the bridge area directly.

 

[Condottiere]

If I had designed the Tigress class, I would have thought of creating an internal citadel, which was hardened and shielded, assuming it was possible, with it's own set of meson screens and nuclear damper.