Good afternoon, fellow Travellers!
We are just working our way through some rules updates, and I wanted to get your take on missiles. The following are some rules tweaks we are considering, and I wanted to get your take on them. Ignore High Guard for now, and possibly also ignore the Harrier (it was always supposed to be a 'super' ship designed to keep Travellers alive throughout an extended campaign...). Assume Core Rulebook changes only, with Core Rulebook-style ships.
All comments welcome.
Trial this with Missiles doing 8D damage, and Nuclear Missiles doing 1DD damage.
Missile Rack: Though missile racks require ammunition and the warheads take time to reach distant targets, they can be very powerful weapons and, when a range of warheads is available, extremely versatile too. Missiles use slightly different rules to other spacecraft weapons, which are covered on page XX. Each turret with one or more missile racks holds 12 missiles and costs Cr250000 to refill. It takes one round to reload a missile rack (see page XX).
Missile Rack (nuclear): Highly illegal in most areas of space, adding nuclear warheads to missiles makes them devastatingly powerful, even with reduced blast effects in space. Each turret with one or more missile racks can hold 12 nuclear missiles and costs Cr450000 to refill if legally purchased. It takes one round to reload a missile rack (see page XX).
Point Defence (Gunner)
Using a turret-mounted laser (beam or pulse), a gunner can destroy incoming missiles. Note that a weapon used for point defence cannot be used to make attacks in the same combat round, and vice versa. Point Defence may only be performed against missile salvos (see page XX) as they are about to make their attack roll against a target – missiles are too small and too fast to be targeted at greater ranges. A gunner may only attempt Point Defence once every round.
The gunner must succeed at a Gunner (turret) check against any missile salvo that is about to make its attack roll against his spacecraft. The Effect of the check will remove that many missiles from the salvo. A double turret equipped with lasers provides DM+1 to this check, while a triple turret equipped with lasers will provide DM+2
Missile Combat
Unlike most weapons which travel at or close to the speed of light and so hit enemy ships almost instantly, missiles take time to cross the gulf of space. However, despite this drawback, missiles are capable of doing a great deal of damage when they hit an enemy ship.
Launching Missiles
Missiles used against targets within Adjacent or Close ranges lose any Smart trait they possess, as there is not enough time for them to obtain a solid lock and take advantage of their advanced guidance systems.
Missiles are launched in salvos. A salvo is all the missiles launched by a ship against a single target in the same combat round. This could be a single missile from one turret or dozens from multiple turrets or bays (see High Guard for more information on weapon bays).
Missile salvos effectively have Thrust 10 and will reach their target a number of combat rounds after they have been fired, as shown on the Missile Flight table.
Note that while missile salvos can be fired at Distant ranges, the attacking ship must have detected its target before they can be launched. Given the limited information that can be gained from sensors at this range, friendly fire incidents may be common among Travellers who are too trigger happy with their missiles.
If a missile has not reached its target within 10 rounds, it will run out of fuel and become inert.
Countermeasures
Combat involving missiles creates a very tense atmosphere. The target spacecraft will likely have detected the launches and its crew will have several anxious minutes to watch the blips on their sensor screens gradually get closer and closer.
Fortunately, the crew need not be idle as they await their destruction as there are several countermeasures that can be taken against incoming missiles.
As missiles can take several rounds to reach their targets, you should keep track of how many missiles remain within each salvo, reducing them as countermeasures take effect.
Electronic Warfare: A Traveller performing sensor operator duties on a spacecraft can use the Electronic Warfare action to destroy or misdirect incoming missiles before they impact their vessel or another ship within Close range.
The sensor operator must succeed at a Difficult (10+) Electronics (sensors) check in order to destroy or render inert incoming missiles within a single salvo. The Effect of this check will immediately remove that many missiles from the salvo.
Electronic Warfare may be performed upon a salvo multiple times over several rounds, with the effects being cumulative. However, a salvo may only be subjected to Electronic Warfare once per round, no matter how many sensor operators are available.
Flee: A spacecraft under missile attack may simply turn around and engage its manoeuvre drive, thrusting away from the missiles. Missiles are extremely long-ranged weapons and so it is not normally possible to outrange a missile in this way, but it can perhaps buy enough time to prolong electronic warfare or make a jump.
Point Defence: Finally, just as a salvo is about to strike, gunners may engage in point defence, as detailed on page XX.
Missiles and Targets
When a missile salvo reaches its target, the missile makes an attack roll as normal. However, the Gunner skill of the Traveller(s) that fired the salvo is not used as a DM.
Instead, the number of missiles remaining in the salvo greatly affects their chances of making a successful attack. Apply DM+1 to the attack roll for every missile in the salvo.
Note that missiles almost always have the Smart trait (see page XX). For missiles, use the TL of the missile itself or that of the attacking ship, whichever is greater.
Finally, missiles launched at Distant range expend most of their fuel just reaching their target, leaving little to counter the target’s manoeuvres. Missile salvos launched at Distant range suffer DM-6 to their attack rolls.
Impact
If an attack roll for a missile salvo is successful, the target will sustain damage. Roll for damage as if for a single missile and deduct the target’s armour as normal but do not apply the Effect of the attack roll. Instead, any damage is multiplied by the Effect of the attack roll.
We are just working our way through some rules updates, and I wanted to get your take on missiles. The following are some rules tweaks we are considering, and I wanted to get your take on them. Ignore High Guard for now, and possibly also ignore the Harrier (it was always supposed to be a 'super' ship designed to keep Travellers alive throughout an extended campaign...). Assume Core Rulebook changes only, with Core Rulebook-style ships.
All comments welcome.
Trial this with Missiles doing 8D damage, and Nuclear Missiles doing 1DD damage.
Missile Rack: Though missile racks require ammunition and the warheads take time to reach distant targets, they can be very powerful weapons and, when a range of warheads is available, extremely versatile too. Missiles use slightly different rules to other spacecraft weapons, which are covered on page XX. Each turret with one or more missile racks holds 12 missiles and costs Cr250000 to refill. It takes one round to reload a missile rack (see page XX).
Missile Rack (nuclear): Highly illegal in most areas of space, adding nuclear warheads to missiles makes them devastatingly powerful, even with reduced blast effects in space. Each turret with one or more missile racks can hold 12 nuclear missiles and costs Cr450000 to refill if legally purchased. It takes one round to reload a missile rack (see page XX).
Point Defence (Gunner)
Using a turret-mounted laser (beam or pulse), a gunner can destroy incoming missiles. Note that a weapon used for point defence cannot be used to make attacks in the same combat round, and vice versa. Point Defence may only be performed against missile salvos (see page XX) as they are about to make their attack roll against a target – missiles are too small and too fast to be targeted at greater ranges. A gunner may only attempt Point Defence once every round.
The gunner must succeed at a Gunner (turret) check against any missile salvo that is about to make its attack roll against his spacecraft. The Effect of the check will remove that many missiles from the salvo. A double turret equipped with lasers provides DM+1 to this check, while a triple turret equipped with lasers will provide DM+2
Missile Combat
Unlike most weapons which travel at or close to the speed of light and so hit enemy ships almost instantly, missiles take time to cross the gulf of space. However, despite this drawback, missiles are capable of doing a great deal of damage when they hit an enemy ship.
Launching Missiles
Missiles used against targets within Adjacent or Close ranges lose any Smart trait they possess, as there is not enough time for them to obtain a solid lock and take advantage of their advanced guidance systems.
Missiles are launched in salvos. A salvo is all the missiles launched by a ship against a single target in the same combat round. This could be a single missile from one turret or dozens from multiple turrets or bays (see High Guard for more information on weapon bays).
Missile salvos effectively have Thrust 10 and will reach their target a number of combat rounds after they have been fired, as shown on the Missile Flight table.
Note that while missile salvos can be fired at Distant ranges, the attacking ship must have detected its target before they can be launched. Given the limited information that can be gained from sensors at this range, friendly fire incidents may be common among Travellers who are too trigger happy with their missiles.
If a missile has not reached its target within 10 rounds, it will run out of fuel and become inert.
Countermeasures
Combat involving missiles creates a very tense atmosphere. The target spacecraft will likely have detected the launches and its crew will have several anxious minutes to watch the blips on their sensor screens gradually get closer and closer.
Fortunately, the crew need not be idle as they await their destruction as there are several countermeasures that can be taken against incoming missiles.
As missiles can take several rounds to reach their targets, you should keep track of how many missiles remain within each salvo, reducing them as countermeasures take effect.
Electronic Warfare: A Traveller performing sensor operator duties on a spacecraft can use the Electronic Warfare action to destroy or misdirect incoming missiles before they impact their vessel or another ship within Close range.
The sensor operator must succeed at a Difficult (10+) Electronics (sensors) check in order to destroy or render inert incoming missiles within a single salvo. The Effect of this check will immediately remove that many missiles from the salvo.
Electronic Warfare may be performed upon a salvo multiple times over several rounds, with the effects being cumulative. However, a salvo may only be subjected to Electronic Warfare once per round, no matter how many sensor operators are available.
Flee: A spacecraft under missile attack may simply turn around and engage its manoeuvre drive, thrusting away from the missiles. Missiles are extremely long-ranged weapons and so it is not normally possible to outrange a missile in this way, but it can perhaps buy enough time to prolong electronic warfare or make a jump.
Point Defence: Finally, just as a salvo is about to strike, gunners may engage in point defence, as detailed on page XX.
Missiles and Targets
When a missile salvo reaches its target, the missile makes an attack roll as normal. However, the Gunner skill of the Traveller(s) that fired the salvo is not used as a DM.
Instead, the number of missiles remaining in the salvo greatly affects their chances of making a successful attack. Apply DM+1 to the attack roll for every missile in the salvo.
Note that missiles almost always have the Smart trait (see page XX). For missiles, use the TL of the missile itself or that of the attacking ship, whichever is greater.
Finally, missiles launched at Distant range expend most of their fuel just reaching their target, leaving little to counter the target’s manoeuvres. Missile salvos launched at Distant range suffer DM-6 to their attack rolls.
Impact
If an attack roll for a missile salvo is successful, the target will sustain damage. Roll for damage as if for a single missile and deduct the target’s armour as normal but do not apply the Effect of the attack roll. Instead, any damage is multiplied by the Effect of the attack roll.