Re: Ship to Ship combat for 3E

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion list for the Spelljammer campaign setting
> [mailto:SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com]On Behalf Of Mark Doolan
> Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 1:49 PM
> To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
> Subject: [SPELLJAMMER] Ship to Ship combat for 3E
>
>
> I have been play testing different combats for 3e and so far not
> really like most of them (Some I like better then others).
> Looking for something different I have looked to SFB (star fleet
> battles... Star Trek board game). Found a site that had some odd
> conversions for some of the spelljammer-like ships. The link
> below is just one of 5 such ships.
> http://www.smileylich.com/sfb/ssd/spj-spec.gif
>
> I decided to see if I can create a 'Ship Sheet' that had boxes
> (not going to use SFB system for combat, still want to keep it
> D20). To this end I created just one ship so far and it not
> finished to how I would want to see the final sheet. Anyone else
> game to see if ship to ship combat can be made simple and just
> use the Deckplans when it comes time for boarding actions?
> http://www.shatteredfractine.com/misc/sfb-squid.gif
>
> While this last effort will take a lot of effort, figured I just
> want something that will speed up ship to ship combat (i.e. not
> boarding actions)... Most likely not much will come of this
> effort (just some wasted time on a lazy Sunday Afternoon).
>
> All the above will mean little or nothing to those that not play
> Star Fleet Battles, but for those that have played it ... do you
> think a ship sheet where boxes are marked off instead of keep
> track of hit points per section or hit points in general might be
> a better system?

Well, as someone with SFB experience (yeah, yeah, I admit it - hey, stop
throwing the d4s at me!), overall, I'd say... no.

The strong points of SFB for ship-to-ship combat, IMHO, are how it handles
power management (scarcity of resource) and how it breaks apart a single
combat turn into 32 impulses to better manage different speeds and
strategies and provide decision points in combat. Since you aren't using the
full SFB system for combat, I'm not sure how much use a ship sheet on its
own would serve.

(On a side note, I'm *very* glad to hear you're still using canon d20 rules
for the main combat. SFB is a lot of things, but it doesn't have much of a
mechanism for individual PC heroes to have a strong effect on the battle at
all, and giving PCs the chance to turn the tide of a battle with their
spells and abilities is what Spelljammer ship-to-ship combat is all about.)

>
> Mark T. Doolan
> The Shattered Fractine
> http://www.shatteredfractine.com