Just to let you know and to solicit, well, opinions and frustrations, I am working on an update to the Vehicle Handbook to address at least the things that have left me a bit frustrated with the current edition and some other things.
This is not a Fire, Fusion, and Steel-type redo, but in line with the Robot Handbook (and yes, there will be a spreadsheet, but it’s a total disaster right now – or at least only ‘partially functional’).
Like the current Vehicle Handbook, this book will use Spaces, and it’s basically 4 Spaces to a dton (as a general rule – some things, like a sailing ship, take up more volume than a boxcar). So, the assumption is still, as I did in Robots, that the basic structure, locomotion, fuel, power, and transmission eat half the volume by default and Spaces are what are left to mess with. That varies, obviously, for things without an engine or without locomotion. And there will be other options for power – not just the stuff in there now, but there’s a Fusion Plus vehicle article already in the pipeline for JTAS, among other things.
Which brings me to another goal: Structures. A structure (building, outpost, flying city, etc.) is about the right scale for a vehicles book and can use most of the customisations and options of a vehicle, so I am including structures as a vehicle ‘Type’ and structures will have more available spaces than other ‘vehicles’ (just like in Robots, where you can remove the manipulators to give yourself some more slots).
The tag line in my head is ‘Build everything from a chariot to a grav tank and from an outhouse to a flying city’. I will also attempt to make some better construction rules for building your own outpost (or starport – but not at the level of counting all the freshers, or anything silly like that – but at the same level as you can make a starport with Highguard), but that chapter is only a title at the moment.
So, I’m completely open to input and to being told I’m dead wrong, but my style of accepting input is to consider it, and then decide whether I want to do it differently. Which might mean that I completely change my path, or say:
‘Well, that’s interesting, but I’m not going to do it that way.’ And I may or may not follow up with ‘And here’s why.’ (And even if I want to do it a certain way, there’s a higher level of veto so even if I want to do something different, I can get overruled).
A couple of things that have come up in the last couple of days:
Why do heavy vehicles cost more than light vehicles per Space, especially since they’re slower and less agile by default and that pricing model doesn’t correspond to anything in Highguard or Robots? (no reason I can think of)
Trains: went away with the current edition and the towing rules are not adequate. And Martin seems to put a train into many of his adventures somehow, so it would be nice to do it right. I think I have a handle on this one. In addition to vehicle Types (not irregularly broken down into various sizes for light and heavy – size is just a property, not a Type), the customisations on the bottom of the current Type pages are now Features that can be applied to various Types (Features like: ATV, Open Frame, Rail Rider, Streamlined, etc.). I just added a Feature of ‘Locomotive’, which has larger tow capabilities (and can also be applied to things like watercraft – it’s a tugboat!) and slower Speed Band changes (built for strength, not speed) and will increase towing capacity even further when vehicles are on certain types of rails. Grav trains… well that may be a can of rotten worms.
So, there you go. I can promise I will read your suggestions, but I may step away from some conversations that aren’t going anywhere helpful. And I reserve the right to say: Nope.
). Some structures use repulses on the surface instead.
