26

(5 replies, posted in Defiance)

I wouldn't base it on Reserves so much as consider it an inclusion.  Teleportation is a fairly powerful gift.  It'd probably come in two versions - one (for fewer points) allowing for Reserve inserts and for escapes from the map without going "off the map", and one allowing for teleporations from one part of the map to the other (more points).  I'd use Supernatural Presence as a starting point, although obviously that's applied on a different point scale.  However, the rules seem to match up.

As for orders, I'd probably have a special "apport" order.  Thus, a troop has to prepare for teleportation (and if they fail to teleport, they sit there looking like jerks for a round).  Forces that gain VPs from Capture would gain a serious advantage from this, so I need to make sure that the TA is appropriately costed and limited.  It would be expensive.

27

(5 replies, posted in Defiance)

I'm doing other projects, so more than one mechanism might be in place (teleportation can and should be handled in more than one way - I'm not seeking to replace Supernatural Presence, for instance).  To make it clear about the teleportation:

The Phfor teleport troops into and out of locations.  The teleportation is handled from central locations.  It's "reasonably pinpoint" - that is to say, limited information leads to limited accuracy, as might interference (there are several times in the game that Durandal can't fold you into where you need to go, so you have to schlep yourself there).  The Phfor are unusual in that they don't need transit pads to teleport (those would be handled as terrain).  Thus, I'm thinking of making teleportation a Tactical Advantage for them.  On the other hand, it would be a really beefy Tactical Advantage, since their VP Advantage would be Capture (they don't need to haul someone off the map).  This would probably include a beefier version of Reserves, allowing them to teleport reserves into the field deeper than simply a limited deployment area.  (Yes, I'm expecting this to be expensive.)

Augmentations are sensible methods of handling it, but the individual unit does not have the ability to teleport.  It's handled from a remote location.  While this might reflect registry and infrastructure, I'm less certain of using that as the solution.

CDWs might also be useful for this purpose, as a single-use "escape" function.  This doesn't reflect the plenary use of remote teleportation by the Phfor, though.

On analysis, I am liking the Tactical Advantage system, but I'm still hobbled as to how it would be handled.

28

(3 replies, posted in Starmada)

Teaches me a lesson about search terms.  Thanks!   big_smile

29

(3 replies, posted in Starmada)

Somewhat in keeping with my post in the Defiance board, I'm working on stuff to possibly do a Marathon set of house rules.  However, there's a capability that comes up periodically (especially where Durandal shows up), the ability of a ship to tesseract from one point of the battlefield to another.  I was thinking that it could be an enhanced form of Hyperdrive.  It would work much as Hyperdrive (charging up over time).  When charged, the player could choose to make the ship escape (which puts it out of the game as normal) or have it reappear elsewhere on the board, which the possibility for the ship to scatter, accidentally strike a planet, etc.

Has anybody had any ideas on this one?  As with the teleporting troops in Defiance, I don't want this to turn into "melt the game along with your enjoyment" thing, so any ideas people have had (or are presently having) would be great.

30

(5 replies, posted in Defiance)

So, here's a question.  Visible in many areas of science fiction, and yet not present in Defiance outside of the realm of magic (literally), is the possibility of teleporting troops (either teleporting from off-board or hopping about on the board).  Has anybody worked on rules for this?  I could conceive of it as an infantry (or vehicle) CDW, as an Augmentation, or just as a thing you can put on your troops for a certain PV.

I kind of want to throw down a Pfhor army, and the ability to teleport troops into (and possibly out of) the thick of things is part of their schtick.  However, by the same token, I don't want to make it unimaginably awesome to the point of gamebreaking, so if anybody's put work towards this already I'd be heartily pleased to see ideas.

31

(15 replies, posted in News)

Really, I don't think it needs to be that complicated.  If you want to penalize Command for fleet size, you could just set a general Initiative penalty for fleet size.  Realistically, if fleet size offsets the ability of centralized command, it will offset the ability of decentralized command as well.

Also, hello.  I finally made it.  Between forgetting to register for quite a while and my misadventures with the forum's security, it's been a blast getting here.   big_smile