Re: Leroy's 3E Ship Construction System

On Wednesday, October 23, 2002, at 09:10 AM, John Calvin wrote:

> Anyway, the claw is not quite what I had in mind, but I may be able to
> use
> something from it.  It seems to me that there are two types of rams.  A
> "charging" ram (the peircing, and blunt rams - this kind of attack
> might be
> analagous to a bull rush in personal combat), and the "grappling" rams.
> Charging rams require a charge of some distance in order to be
> effective, while
> (if I read your rules right) the grappling rams could be initiated at
> any time
> two ships are adjacent.  From my reading of the claw ram it would
> appear to fit
> in the grappling category, but what I really want (and I guess what I
> will
> design) is something that grapples, but fits into the charging
> category.

To be honest, I can't really picture the ram you are coming up with,
but I would be interested to see any rules you lay out for it.


> 1) I saw the pricing for "free turrets" in the Ship Combat section,
> but I can
> not find the pricing for a normal turret.

Looking back, I don't think I ever came up with a final price for a
normal turret. The last notes I have say 1,000 gp, but that may be too
high, I think. Perhaps 750 or so. I am open to suggestions. It is just
a wooden rotating platform.


> Also does adding a free or normal
> turret increase the tonnage usage of a ship?

Nope, turrets do not add to the tonnage of a weapon.


>   Is there a tonnage difference
> between a turret mounted externally and one mounted internally?

Nope.


> This is the
> information I want to know about when designing a ship (so perhaps
> include it
> in Ship Construction).

At this point the ship construction system doesn't detail weapons
themselves, since they are very...modular. They are considered more
accessories than truly part of the ship.  They are easily swapped in
and out.

Perhaps I will add turrets to the weapon charts and put the weapon
charts and notes at the end of the ship construction system. That
should help a bit.


> What I want to know about during combat is how does
> having a turret affect weapon usage?  Compare standard weapons, to
> turreted
> weapons, to free turreted weapons.

Turreted and non-turreted weapons are covered under Firing Arcs on page
6. Do you need more info on these two? The text on free turrets on page
14 could be clarified a bit on what it means by not requiring extra
time to change arc. Is there anything else that needs clarified?


> 2) You have a formula for determining internal space of a ship based
> on the
> tonnage.  Do you also have a formula for determing the square footage
> of a deck
> based on tonnage.  It seems only logical that this would be needed
> since we are
> placing a set amount of weapons on the decks, but perhaps this makes
> things a
> bit too complicated.

I have no such formula, though I do agree it would be cool. I have to
be honest, though. I am not sure how to come up with such a formula.
If anyone has thoughts on this, I would love to hear them.


> 3) If you have a ship that spans multiple hexes, do you end up having
> multiple
> weapon firing arcs?  This relates somewhat to my question #2 in that
> if you do
> have multiple firing arcs, it becomes important to know where you
> placed
> weapons on deck.

Hmmm, I have to admit I had not thought of multi-hex ships and firing
arcs. Ram arcs, yes, but not firing arcs. I will have to think about it
and come up with something. I think an additional diagram is likely in
order.


> 4) Speed.  I've seen the table, but I'm still a little foggy regarding
> a few
> particulars.  Are ship speeds limited by some of the ship stats, and
> if so,
> what are the limiting factors?  - OR - is ship seed limited by some
> other rules
> (helm rules for example)?

The ship construction and combat systems are designed to be relatively
independent of any helm rules, so people can use what they like. The
idea that the helm stresses the ship is the biggest sticking point for
anyone who wants to go far afield of the normal helm ideas.


> 5) In the Ship Combat document you provide several examples of rigging
> crews.
> It would also be nice to have some examples of typical weapon crews.

I will come up with such stats some day, but it is a back-burner kind
of thing. I had a spreadsheet of rigging crews set up already, which is
why they are in there. I have some stuff on pilots, but did not put
them in there since in my system helms do not require spellcasters to
work, so pilots are experts as well. I am guessing most people aren't
interested in that kind of thing.


> 6) Another question regarding rams/grappled ships.  Say I have a 30
> ton ship
> and a 70 ton ship, and somehow they become grappled together (either
> through a
> ramming attempt, or boarding attempt, or some other means).  Both
> vessels have
> helms that can move up to 100 tons.  How is movement determined?

This kind of situation is dependent on specifics about helms, so I
don't really have an answer that is generic.


> Ok, that's all for now.  I really do like the system.

Thanks, John, I am glad you like it. At least someone does. : )


> Also can't wait to see
> what you do with the 3e Helm system you are developing.  Is there a
> chance we
> could get a sneak preview?

My helm system divorces spellcasters from directly powering helms,
allowing them to be piloted by anyone with the right skills. It is
similar to the alternate system up on my site, but it is much simpler,
requiring much less book work. If that sounds interesting, I can send
you a copy of what I have so far, though it is definitely not complete.



Leroy Van Camp III
malacoda@????????.net
http://www.users.qwest.net/~malacoda/TarkasBrainLabIV.html
ICQ #20039817

"Where you come from is gone. Where you thought you were
going to weren't never there. And where you are ain't no
good unless you can get away from it."

               Ministry, "Jesus Built My Hotrod"