Ship Customisation - a bit like Admirals...

[Hash]

The issue with the same refits to both sides is that all refits are not equal value with the ships they are put on.

Example is the first interceptor on a ship that already has dodge say is huge, as layered defenses works out to very small numbers of AD making it.

Adding a 1 AD laser to another ship would in no way balance against that, assuming your opponent was using interceptable weapons.

Ripple

Arghh...that's an excellent point. To be honest I thought you could the use the idea to create "one off" variants that would be at a higher PL level but is does seem a little unwieldy now.

You could come up with something that created a taxonomy of ship systems and cost may be dependent on what you've already bought and what's already on the ship...but that's a bit too complicated for my liking.

Still, I like the basic concept of customisable ships a lot....

 

[Triggy]

The issue with the same refits to both sides is that all refits are not equal value with the ships they are put on.

Example is the first interceptor on a ship that already has dodge say is huge, as layered defenses works out to very small numbers of AD making it.

Adding a 1 AD laser to another ship would in no way balance against that, assuming your opponent was using interceptable weapons.

Ripple

Arghh...that's an excellent point. To be honest I thought you could the use the idea to create "one off" variants that would be at a higher PL level but is does seem a little unwieldy now.

You could come up with something that created a taxonomy of ship systems and cost may be dependent on what you've already bought and what's already on the ship...but that's a bit too complicated for my liking.

Still, I like the basic concept of customisable ships a lot....

This makes the pre-determined options (e.g. the Raiders Scavenged Ship) a lot more realistic although a lot more time consuming to write. There you can control the variables and make sure the "upper end" of what people can choose is on a par with other ships of that PL. If the player chooses other options then that's his choice. Hopefully you should still be left with a lot of flexibility.

 

[Enalut]

I liked Locutus9956's idea of using this to balence out the bias in favor of a swar fleet.

**FULL DISCLOSURE, I TEND TO PLAY FLEETS BASED AROUND LARGE SHIPS (such as G'Vrahn's and Tinashi squadrons)

But overall, I think it is a mechanic that could do well as a means of tweaking it to favor large ships.

In terms of keeping it from overbalencing the game I woudl suggest 2 possible methods of balencing the refits:

1) What about doing some sort of cost based on the probability of roling the upgrade? For instnace Upgrades requiring rolls of 2-3 and 11-12 cost 3 upgrades, 4-5 and 9-10 2 upgrades, and 6-8 1 upgrade? This would allow a player to customize their ship to fit their strategy, but would keep someone from goig to far overboard.

For exabple if I wanted to Max out a Sharlin I could give it Stealth 6+, or Triple Damage on the Neutron laser--but that would be my only effects. COnversly, I could add 2 AD to the Main Beam, and add to its speed (a roll of 9 IIRC). Although allowing the ideal cutomisation of the ship, it reduces teh availability fo the nastier/better upgrades.

Conversly:

2) Whay not just allow the players X rolls on the refit table. Leaves teh possibility for soem nastier combinations, but the odds of gettignt he uber refits goes down markedly.


I could see this beign used as a means fo invreasign the effectiveness of certain large ships as a means of countering the Swarm bias inherent in the game.

 

[CZuschlag]

Another issue is that the Refits lists themselves aren't balanced. I play Drakh and Dilgar.

The Drakh list rules, hard. Stealth? You can get it. Self-Repair? It's there. GEG upgrade? Roll a 3. Extra Huge Hangar even! There are no clunkers; it's all gravy. Even a little Stealth on the Ria'vash is bad, bad news. A self-repairing Light Raider is an absolute nightmare to kill.

The Dilgar list has gone from suck to blow. City Levellers .... does nothing. An additional Mass Driver system is worthless, especially at 2 AD. High-speed reloading Missiles is actually a downgrade. You can't even get the speed refit on the ships that need it, the Wahant, Khatrik, and Rohric. Lovely!

Until the refit lists are balanced, you're stuck with a fixed list of refits.

This runs aground, too, because if the fixed list gives a race something they need that solves their whole problem, you're stuck as well.

ISA or Drakh getting Interceptors 1.
Dilgar Wahants getting Speed 6.
Shadows and Drakh with Antifighter.
Pak'ma'ra with Veteran Engineering Teams.

There are useful syntheses that wouln't be balanced for everyone (the Drakh with Interceptors is by far the scariest of the lot.)

If this exists, it should be a Raiders concept ONLY.

 

[JTL109]

I think that making the sharlin have 6+ stealth would make some people un-happy

-------
6+ Stealth can be dealt with, allowing it to bling eveything within 10"
is far over the top when these traits are combined..

 

[skavendan]

I think that making the sharlin have 6+ stealth would make some people un-happy

-------
6+ Stealth can be dealt with, allowing it to bling eveything within 10"
is far over the top when these traits are combined..

Have 6+ stealth I wouldn't care...

For my point of view Psi Corps. Advanced sensors +1, Hell Rack +1, Marked +1, Shot at +1, Within 8 +1, admiral trait +1. -6 to stealth checks that enough for my Nemisis to nail anything lol

Of course that is asumming it's already been hit... but still a 6 Always fails and I have seen people stick Minbari cruisers in dust clouds and asteroid fields so...

In retrospect giving it a stealth of 6 rather than 5 is rather pointless.

Be better of with high interceptors or dodge.