What do they mean ‘Holographic Hull’ ?

[Erias]

Hi there,

I should have posted this months ago but, well … The Harrier in Pirates of Drinax has a ‘Holographic hull’.With my players we looked up in the Corebook and in Highguard and saw nothing about holographic hulls, so we extrapolated and considered the ship could take any appearance. As you might expect it’s been quite handy for them. They still have to ha the transponder jury rigged for each identity and that’s it. Am I doing this right ?

 

[AndrewW]

Hi there,

I should have posted this months ago but, well … The Harrier in Pirates of Drinax has a ‘Holographic hull’.With my players we looked up in the Corebook and in Highguard and saw nothing about holographic hulls, so we extrapolated and considered the ship could take any appearance. As you might expect it’s been quite handy for them. They still have to ha the transponder jury rigged for each identity and that’s it. Am I doing this right ?

Multiple holographic projectors are embedded within the hull allowing the ship to change hull colours, add graphics and adopt a different appearance (though its shape remains the same). Changing the hull colour or adding a stored graphic can be done by anyone with access to the ship’s computer. Creating a complex colour scheme from scratch requires the talents of a skilled artist. Some young nobles try to outdo one another by changing the schemes daily or hiring artists to create the most complex scenes imaginable. Some pirates have made use of this system to simulate visual hull damage and lure other ships in with a GK distress call. However, most ship owner’s use it for the purposes of advertising.

 

[Condottiere]

Probably general hull configuration, assisted with some physical props.

Ironically, the Cap Trafalgar (disguised as the Carmania)'s first battle was against the real RMS Carmania.[8] Some accounts incorrectly allege that the Carmania was itself disguised as the Cap Trafalgar.[a]

 

[Erias]

Okay, so no more cruising around looking like a Far Trader :lol:

 

[Reynard]

That's why I rebuilt the Corsair with Stealth and Emission Absorption Grid to perform a similar tactic to get as close to prey as possible before pouncing.

 

[cunningrat]

I was/am seriously confused by the Holographic Hull too. It doesn't seem to be very useful as a disguise -- a Harrier covered by a holographic grid is still unmistakably not a Far Trader, and the "disguise" only applies to visual identification. And if it's not meant to be used as a disguise, why would a commerce raider need to have it?

Yes, I understand the Sindalians/Drinaxians liked their ships to look pretty or impressive, for diplomatic and intimidation purposes. That could be a reason for it. The question is whether looking impressive would be worth an extra 20 million credits per ship.

 

[AndrewW]

I was/am seriously confused by the Holographic Hull too. It doesn't seem to be very useful as a disguise -- a Harrier covered by a holographic grid is still unmistakably not a Far Trader, and the "disguise" only applies to visual identification. And if it's not meant to be used as a disguise, why would a commerce raider need to have it?

Can also be used to fake damage and suck a ship trying to help in.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Where can we squeeze in some more advertising?

 

[Condottiere]

Personalized advertizing.

 

[Ursus Maior]

Okay, so no more cruising around looking like a Far Trader :lol:

This type of technology has me bugged from the beginning, for this exact reason: What is the purpose of having that in a ship. Well, I just ruled that while the holo-hull does not alter the ship physically, it can make it appear looking like another ship to optical sensors. The reason being that TL15 holo-projectors will likely be able to generate images of something that isn't there. I mean, holo-projectors can do this today, just not as convincing.

 

[Condottiere]

Effective illusions have a lot to do with expectations.

 

[cunningrat]

Holographic Hull: affects only optical sensors, takes up 0 room, costs 20 MCr.
The "Variable Identification features" of the Corsair, from "Ships of the Reach" p.27: affects optical and radar, takes up 0 room, apparently doesn't cost anything.
*shrug*

 

[Condottiere]

Maybe they're using glass fibre through a three dee printer.

 

[Erias]

So they could go by in the Harrier looking like another ship? It's what we ruled out and if they tweak the transponder (they currently have 5 identities) they can fool spaceports (docking is trickier because the shape of the Harrier is different and thus it might be risky.

 

[Condottiere]

Depends on how much effort you put in it, and how hard the other party is looking.

Gravitational detectors should tell you that mass doesn't quite match volume, though considering how empty spaces should skew that in any event when compared against electron dense armour plating, it's more of an abstract mechanism.

But visually and radioactively, you probably could fool most other observers.

 

[Ursus Maior]

So they could go by in the Harrier looking like another ship? It's what we ruled out and if they tweak the transponder (they currently have 5 identities) they can fool spaceports (docking is trickier because the shape of the Harrier is different and thus it might be risky.

I ruled that this is possible, but only within limits. As 3D-projections have their limits, I ruled the Harrier can appear to take the shape of a similar configured 100-300 dton vessel. However, each shape that ought to be utilized would need its own program to run simultaneously to the hull. So, there is the limited option of running "just colours" over the actual hull of the Harrier and then a more potent version that offers limited (and only holographic) shape-change, which also costs computer power.