The other part of my mind says that of course this stuff doesn't need to be defined because ship-to-ship battles played out on the board are totally disruptive to immersion and really step out of the game play, often give players little to do, and really bog a RPG down in a miniatures battle only a few people will like.
Both of which seem to have some grains of truth.
What do do? Do any of y'all actually know of some siple rules to
Better ways to roleplay starship combat come up often in Star Trek gaming, and here's one that might help: Red Alert, a system designed for Savage Worlds (scroll down), but the overall technique might be easily adapted.
ReplyDeleteHow big an airship are we talking about? If you're thinking more like an airship like in the Thongor stories, that's different than some sort of "battleship of the air".
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking more like the Thongor airships, some sort of "Chase" value for each craft might be good. Whenever a ship wants to give chase, you dice off for each ship, modified by the initial chase distance. If the chase ship wins, it closes the distance. If it fails, the other ship escapes. Perhaps make 2-3 rolls, with each bringing the chase ship into a different range category, i.e., if you're at Long range and succeed, now you're at Medium range and can fire bows, spells, etc., while if you're now at Short range, you can hurl Javelins and perhaps even attempt a boarding action.
I'd be inclined not to bother myself, but if you want inspiration, perhaps try Sean Will's Sailing the Skies of Mars one-page rules for skyships:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediafire.com/download.php?m3mozo3mmmy
Thanks, y'all. I'll look at those rules.
ReplyDeleteBadelaire-- I am definitely thinking more smaller scale for the most part. Thongor/ERB standard airships rather than the giant airships that bombard the Green Martians in A Princess of Mars. I think of them as smallish gondolas under large ballast tanks. Think more this image: http://cid-7c256920ba5a58b4.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.res/7C256920BA5A58B4!573/7C256920BA5A58B4!576 than a big ol' ship.
David-- I may just ignore it all, but I'm still in the gathering info stage. I doubt I would use much of a system if I have a set method....
The three-black-book version of Traveller had a fairly simple yet satisfying starship combat system, plus it uses 2d6.
ReplyDeleteThe blue-cover Expert D&D book had a simple marine combat system that may be useful.
Although maybe you should go nuts and make Airship chases/combat a hex-and-counter minigame...
The best system for immersion is to mimic your player combat.
ReplyDeleteGive ships a defense roll for the pilot to make (with a few different options between payoff and chance of success)
Let the gunners roll their attacks (causing damage)
Let the mechanics roll healing (with different things to focus on to add choices..ie fix the engine and increase speed or put out the fire and prevent repeating damage?)