Wacky new supplements

[Cavalier1645]

Would love a B5 ACTA / St## T##k Crossover, but not really that feisable beacuse star #### ships is way too uber for B5

Though would love to see how the Romulans would interact in intrigue world of B5

 

[Sting52jb]

I always felt with some slight changes in technology the Klingons, Romulans, and Cardasians could easily fit into the B5 universe. imagine a Klingon/Narn War, or a Centauri/Romulan war.

Also when ever i think of that episode where they find the artifact that turns that guy into a living weapons and it reminds me of the Borg. I can total imagine a race trying to combat the Shadow turning themselves accidentally into the Borg an evil almost as great as the one they were trying to combat.

 

[Cavalier1645]

The Problem i see is the weapons and equpiemnt on ST ships

Federation: Phasers (extremily accurate energy beams-Accurate, Beam, Precise, Triple Damage), Photon Torpedos (Energy Mine, Super AP, Triple Damage) Shields (Just like Shadow ships only more) More maneuverable
Warp Drive (Instantious leave system?) Quantum Torpedos (big bada boom)

Klingon/Romulan: Cloaking Device (very hard have no ideas yet how to cross over here)

Breen: Energy Dampening weapon

If any got ideas please post them, trying to come up some of my own

 

[Da Boss]

There are I believe several ST / ACTA mods? One thing to remember is that ST ships are actually quite small compared to B5 ships- I think the White Star is about the same size as Nova Class and the big B5 Ships dwarf them.

Cloaking device - I'd be tempted to go with a high Stealth but loses it for the rest of the turn if it fires (like my Veshitan variant) - seems to fit.

re Phasers - I would just go with Mini-Beam, Precise as well, and accurate at S/R - say 8"

Disruptors - Mini-beam, Double Damage

Shields - perhaps more like GEG as damage and effects seem to get through the Shields even when fully operational.

 

[captainsmirk]

Federation: Phasers (extremily accurate energy beams-Accurate, Beam, Precise, Triple Damage)

Really? I never saw a phaser actually rake across its target only pin-point strike and I never saw one cut very far through its targets (like big B5 weapons do) so I think mini-beam and single damage are actually more likely.

Plus you also have to remember the size difference, the Galaxy-class one of the biggest Star Fleet ships is smaller than all the main Earthforce warships and is dwarfed by a Minbari Warcruiser. So Star Trek ships will probably have very low damage ratings.

Of course this would probably add up to a swarm fleet...


Nick

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Federation ships with low damage? They're built of advanced metals that would seem almost like magic to the crude B5 humans. Phasers are sustained beams, mini-beam is stupid. They tend to be used to precise hits because the Federation characters are pussies, in a real way they go all-out though. Watch some of the DS9 episodes where they have proper battles.

Torpdoes wouldn't have e-mine, they'd be more like precise, SAP, TD, and QD for quantum torpedoes.

Phasers would be beam, DD, precise, pulsing phasers SAP, precise, TD. They're nastier, that's why they invented them.

Klingon and Romulan phase disruptors would be SAP, TD, with beam distruptors getting beam, TD. Torps the same as Federation, but Klingon Polaron torpedoes would bypass the shields trait.

Cloaking devices wouldbn't be stealth, you can't see through them at all, certainly not with B5 tech. They'd be more like hyperspace mastery, decloak where they like and open fire. Maybe rule it so you can't cloak again for X number of turns.

 

[captainsmirk]

Wow!!! :shock:

Sorry to step on your apparently all conquering Star Fleet's toes...

But considering the number of people that can apparently be packed into a ship 640m long with just 42 decks the galaxy class has very little actual structure, most of it is hollow...

I'm not saying that Babylon 5 ships would stomp Star Trek ones like an elephant in a china shop, just that perhaps the Star Trek ones are not quite as uber as some people seem to think they are...

*Indeed after watching some footage I'd accept some of the larger weapons being beams but even then I suggest using a more predictable but less variable system.

Nick

 

[Clanger]

Captainsmirk wrote

Really? I never saw a phaser actually rake across its target only pin-point strike and I never saw one cut very far through its targets (like big B5 weapons do) so I think mini-beam and single damage are actually more likely.

In the Wrath of Kahn if memoery serves me right.The ship Kahn had raked a nice phaser across the hull of the Enterprise. Very beam like.

Also the Trek ships would be more maneuverable. They have Transporters, transport that photon torpedo onto a B5 bridge and boom (lets admit it we all have done this when playing Trek RPG :twisted: ). They could transport crew off with regular ease.

But then 2 different shows, 2 different technology.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Aye, even Abbai shields wouldn't stop a transporter beam, it's not the same as Trek shields at all.

 

[katadder]

well the trekkers would have to lower shields to transport, risky in a battle. and you dont know what effect abbai shields, or drakh geg would have on transporters.

 

[Da Boss]

Federation ships with low damage? They're built of advanced metals that would seem almost like magic to the crude B5 humans. Phasers are sustained beams, mini-beam is stupid. They tend to be used to precise hits because the Federation characters are pussies, in a real way they go all-out though. Watch some of the DS9 episodes where they have proper battles.

Torpdoes wouldn't have e-mine, they'd be more like precise, SAP, TD, and QD for quantum torpedoes.

Phasers would be beam, DD, precise, pulsing phasers SAP, precise, TD. They're nastier, that's why they invented them.

Klingon and Romulan phase disruptors would be SAP, TD, with beam distruptors getting beam, TD. Torps the same as Federation, but Klingon Polaron torpedoes would bypass the shields trait.

Cloaking devices wouldbn't be stealth, you can't see through them at all, certainly not with B5 tech. They'd be more like hyperspace mastery, decloak where they like and open fire. Maybe rule it so you can't cloak again for X number of turns.

I have seen this argument on other forums getting very heated - there is absolutely no way to tell how one tech would match against the other for sure.

re your points - the weapons you see are hitting similar sized targets - when they hit BIG ships like in B5 (or even BFG) its going to do less damage / has to cut through more hull I would think.......

Whilst it could said that ST ships have better metals than EA ships - can you really say the same for Minbari, White Stars and Volrons / Shadows

Yes you can see through Cloaking devices given the right tech / technobable (like in the films) and why wouldn't the high tech races have the ability to do so?

 

[katadder]

theres also the fact B5 ships may be more armoured due to lack of shielding tech.

 

[Tolwyn]

The Phasers from Wrath of Khan works more then a Pulse Cannon then a Beam imo.

But I think B5 and Star Trek are hard to compare, as one has revalitv detailed tech specs (DSA 9 Tech Manual and Enterprise D) while B5 specs are more estimated. In addition Star Trek works with a point of high tech that B5 is centuries away.

 

[Da Boss]

The Phasers from Wrath of Khan works more then a Pulse Cannon then a Beam imo.

But I think B5 and Star Trek are hard to compare, as one has revalitv detailed tech specs (DSA 9 Tech Manual and Enterprise D) while B5 specs are more estimated. In addition Star Trek works with a point of high tech that B5 is centuries away.

well yes and no - I think they would love to have regenerating ships that can fly themselves or Shadow tech............

 

[AdrianH]

Phasers: I'd say that they are beam, precise, single damage - it is true that one of them raked across the Enterprise pretty well in "The Wrath of Khan", but it's also true that the Enterprise is smaller than the average B5 capital ship, so what would hurt a tiddler like that might not do much to an Omega. Unless it gets a critical hit on the engines, as Khan's Reliant did.

Photon torpedoes: P&P's version of Earth's anti-ship fusion missiles has them as energy mine, one shot, super AP, triple damage. Photon torpedoes would be similar, but not one shot - possibly slow loading. Quantum torpedoes are quad damage.

Shields: GEG because some damage gets through even when they're fully up, but should also degrade after being hit. GEG X, reduce X by 1 for each hit taken.

Transporters: the ship using them must lose its own shields for that round. Can be used for a variant of the "Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!" SA. If the target ship has the Stealth trait, a roll to beat that Stealth will be needed. Can not be used if the target ship has any form of shield or GEG.

Cloaks: for practical purposes, they're stealth. A cloaked ship can be detected (ion trails, visible shimmering of the starfield), but it's difficult. There's also the problem of keeping track of a cloaked ship in a tabletop game. But the important point here is that weapons won't lock on, which is what stealth achieves. Stealth 6 provided the ship does not fire that round.

Heated debate: it is true that we can't know for sure how Star Trek tech would work in the B5 universe or vice versa. The important thing to remember is that it's a game. We're capable of discussing more important matters, e.g. what to do about the G'Quan, without resorting to abuse, so this little game should be no trouble by comparison.

 

[Dr Stubbsberg]

on a point of pedanticism if you have a look around the internet you'll find that Trek weapons (specifically the high end phaser arrays, http://www.isskerberos.org/htmlshow.php?forthisone=1/spec.html&shipid=1&secid=79) tend to be rated at kilowatt, whilst Babylon 5 beams are rated as terrawatt output weapons (http://www.b5tech.com/science/weapons/particlelaser/particlelaser.html), making the high end B5 weapons about billion times more poweerful. On this not should any of the Trek weapons be noted as beams (shouldn't they all be weak)?

 

[lastbesthope]

Well in "Racing MArs" Ivanova quotes a 200 MW pulse cannon in the forward cargo bay.

Not quite a TeraWatt but still not bad.

LBH