Re: Weapons Modules, who would use them?

Greetings,

In our last episode, Michael Sandy said:
>Part of the problem is that a lot of people have house rules that different
>significantly from the published rules, and it shouldn't be a surprise
>that as you change the mechanics you change what tactics would work.

	Yup.  (:

>If you have mechanics that allow for deep wildspace detections and encounters
>you will have a lot more battles far from a gravity well.

	You are correct.  (:  Thing is, I havn't noticed anything in
the "official" material which suggests that they *do* take place near
gravity wells.  Some do, of course, like the battle of Greela, but the
majority seem to just happen "somewhere".  

>When you make more of combat dependant on Detection magics you take
>away some of the equality.  A society which is more advanced magicly
>has _much_ more of an advantage, groundlings are in a much _worse_
>position, because they don't have magical detection devices, or
>communication crystals, cloaking devices or anything else which is
>pure magic.

	Which is why you don't see groundlings in space much... (:
Besides, why *should* their be equality?  In groundling campaigns a
highly magical nation usually *is* at an advantage.  If it's not,
what keeps *them* from taking over the world?  Sorry if I'm being
overly critical.  I'm "between campaigns" now, and questioning the
very nature of the universe (so that I can build a really cool and
consistent one... (: ).

>The current set up doesn't require a huge proportion of the crew
>be mages or clerics.  If you make too much of a typical encounter
>based on magic, you may as well not have an Player character fighters
>because they aren't going to be _doing_ anything.

	You mean typical encounters aren't already based on magic? (:
Would you rather be a 20th level mage or a 40th level fighter?

>Unless the magical detection devices are integrated into the helms in
>such a way that everybody has the same basic edge you risk changing
>the player slowly learning what sorts of maneuvers work in space to
>The Quest for the Better Black-Box-Device-For-Detecting-Other-Ships.
>Why pore over deck plans when you just spend a little more money and
>get a better detection system?

	And now it's not a "Quest for a Major Helm and a Vipership"?
(:  *Everybody* *always* wants an advantage.  If not, then you don't
have to worry about your campaign changing too much...

>Remember that discussion about the effect of superior speed on tactics?
>That goes double for detection range.

	You are *absolutely* correct... (:  But it also depends on how the
detection works.  For instance, if all it takes is a Detect Magic spell
to see a ship's SJ wake (at a max of about, say, 50 miles), then all you can
do at spelljamming speeds is hope that you fly into a trail.  Then, you
hope that you can find it again.  Then, assuming you can tell which way the
ship is going, you try to catch up.  Is that unbalancing?  All I can see
it being used for following ships from a known location.  And that's true
only if the wake is detectable for any appreciable length of time...

>Very simple magical devices can double or triple the effectiveness of
>a fleet's ability to protect or attack a world or sphere.

	Then why aren't they used?  If a stone that raises ambient air
tempurature helps my fleet's ships in battle (for whatever reason), I'd 
make sure that *each ship* has one (or two) of these rocks.  That is,
assuming it's a "very simple magical device".

-Static

ps.  Once again, I'm being critical to promote thinking, not to start a 
war... (:

--
 Static,     |  "Life isn't one damn thing after another.  It's the same
  of the     |   damn thing over and over again."  -SOLOMON SHORT
   NIGHTMARE |
    Company  | --==<< http://k2.CWRU.edu/~static (Stories and Games) >>==--