For the play testers, I'm working on a version that has our page count down, but here are some of the changes to expect.
- Characters - While I love the concept and think it was a unique idea for a starship game, they are being pushed to book 2. This saves us tons of pages and allows us to integrate them better into the campaign system which was already scheduled (in my mind) for book 2.
- Squadron Orders - Since they were character driven, they will be part of the new rules in book 2
- Templates - Will be moved to web site for free download when we publish
- Sample Fleets - We will try to keep four of the seven in the first book. The others may show in the second or as an online based on space and timing.
So what does that leave us for Book One?
18 pages of core rules
3 pages of space terrain
9 pages of ship construction items to include starship specials
10 pages of sample fleets (~2.5 pages per fleet)
I still need to squeeze in scenarios and my fear is we may end up dropping another two sets of fleets leaving only two samples. Time will tell.
So what will go in Book Two (assuming things go well)?
- Characters
- Campaign System,
- Additional Sample Fleets (Maybe),
- Specialty Fighters like Bombers and Interceptors
- Mine Fields
- Tractor Beams
- Boarding Parties
- Starbases
- Additional Special Rules
All that to give the testers a bit of fair warning on the next version headed your way by the weekend.
I'll be putting up a few questions for the testers that I am hoping to have your input on. Watch for those soon.
Thanks folks!
jp
Edit: I saw I used the word soon four times in three sentences at the end. Changed to look less like a dweeb.
Is there not a way to compress the sample ship data so it takes up less space? At the moment you get three ships to a page. In my blog I ran mine like this:
ReplyDelete"Town Class Cruiser - Capital Ship, CV: 5, Range: M, Speed: M, Hardened Armour, Full Spectrum Sensors, Damage Control, Point Defence, Shield Generator
System Cost: 55 Actual Cost: 220"
You could do a ship on three lines.
You are right. I've already started to mess with it a bit. Also - I think you have tipped the scales on the Escort/Capital point discussion and measuring bridge to bridge... Expect those changes.
ReplyDeletejp
What break point are you considering for escort/capital? I've been working at capitals being greater than 40 points which only throws the points of four ships in the sample fleets out of kilter (the Imperial Carrack Destroyers and, in the Confederation, the Lexington and the Wellington).
ReplyDeleteI followed your lead. 40 worked well. I already made mods to the other escorts to bring them to the proper level.
Deletejp
I liked the ship data layout and used that layout when writing out the ship data on to filing cards but agree if it saves type count go with KK's suggestion although you could always leave one as an example layout.
ReplyDeleteRe the capital/ escort discussion at the risk of adding a complication into the mix I find treating cruisers as a "capital" ship maybe stretching the definition. From a wet navy point of view a cruiser was a class of it's own. Should you consider likewise for the ship design? I just think it seems a big jump in class from escort to capital
And, of course, in modern navies a frigate is bigger than a destroyer :)
DeleteI am designing my fleets around a basic concept of Destroyer (base CV3), Frigate (Base CV4), Cruiser (Base CV5) and Battleship (Base CV6). The odd ship gets a CV adjustment up or down. Destroyers and Frigates are escorts and the other two are capitals. It starts all forces off on an even keel (as it were).
With the 'Over 40' breakpoint I'm looking forward to designing some truly expensive escorts now - a Quality 2 ship with 40 points of systems is an escort costing 200pts; that's more than the non-command version of my LLAR cruiser :)
Maybe it could be a good idea to make a initiation set with some few competences?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this changes related stuff. Much exceptional one.
ReplyDeleteSample cV Template