• Registered: 2006-05-29
  • Posts: 30

Topic: Traveller ships using starmada for my Heros scifi rpg.

The traveller problem: Traveller does not use shields. Starmada does. Armor plating wont cut it for me, although it sounds very tempting. So shields represent a tougher hull.

Hulls represent 20ktons of ship. this could be a problem for 1000kton traveller ships, but I dont anticipate playing with ships that big.

To make things a bit more heroic I am thinking of ditching the ODD rule for enemies. Realize that I want to have the players survive some firefights. Input?

Also on the ship design I wasnt sure if i should make it (AB) (AB)
or rate of fire 2.  I think a dual laser should be ROF, since they both need to target one weapon.
correct me if im wrong  (AB) (AB) means i can target 2 different enemies?

Another problem is skill levels, so I am going to use 2 OCV levels per +1 starmada modifer
For dueling pilots ill do a Skill lvl minus Skill level, and apply the +/- difference as a starmada modifier.

This OCV stuff comes from hero games. Im doing Hero games science fiction with traveleresque skills/ground combat, using starmada combat.

Heres a Basic Traveller Trader 100 ton,
Two hardpoints.
(88) Trader-class Alliance FreeTrader
Hull: 5 4 3 2 1                   
Engines: 6 5 4 3 2                   
Shields: 2 2 2 1 1                   
Weapons:
1:X 2:X 3:Y 4:Y 5: 6:
X: Hardpoint Dual Laser: 4/8/12, 2/3+/1/1;   [AB]
Y: HARDPOINT Missle Launcher: 5/10/15, 1/4+/1/2;   [ABCDEF];  Ammo: 6
Special: Cargo; Fire Control; Hyperdrive; Countermeasures


Heres a FAR FRIGATE 200 Ton; Three Hardpoints;
(163) Frigate-class Alliance FAR
Hull: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1             
Engines: 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 1             
Shields: 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1             
Weapons:
1:X 2:Y 3:Z 4: 5: 6:

X: HARDPOINT Tracking Laser: 4/8/12, 2/4+/1/1   [AB]
Y: HARDPOINT Pulse Cannons: 3/6/9, 2/3+/1/1;   Anti-Fighter;  [ABCD];   
Z: HARDPOINT Missle Rack: 5/10/15, 1/4+/1/2;  [ABCDEF] ;  Ammo: 6
Special: Cargo (6); Fire Control; Hyperdrive; Countermeasures

Enemy Pirate Escort.
(38) Escorts-class Pirate Free
Hull: 2 1                     
Engines: 4 2                     
Shields: 1 1                     
Weapons:
1:XY 2:XY 3:XY 4:X 5:X 6:X

X: Fixed Combat Beam: 3/6/9, 1/3+/1/1; [AB][CD]
Y: HARDPOINT Missle Launcher: 5/10/15, 1/4+/1/2, [ABCD]; Ammo: 4
Special: Point Defense; Countermeasures


Tell me what you think

  • Registered: 2005-12-28
  • Posts: 195

Re: Traveller ships using starmada for my Heros scifi rpg.

I'm a big fan of Traveller (he says as he eyes the box and shelf full of Traveller books), and a big fan of the superhero version of the Hero System (i.e., Champions), having owned every version since v1.  I wouldn't mix the two when it comes to the characters, maybe use Traveller ships in Hero but that would be it.  I'd also use the Traveller ship combat system and not convert to Starmada.  I've written up the small Traveller ships as Starmada ships (I have the miniatures), they're smaller than you've gone with, but then they were just targets/distractions for the larger warships fighting each other (a battlestar with it's rag-tag fleet  big_smile ).

Are your RPG players interested in a detailed ship-to-ship fight?  How often will they want to man their battle stations and roll a few dice? 

IMO, sometimes it's better to live with a few warts of a game system than trying to fit together the "best" aspects of two different systems.

  • Registered: 2006-05-29
  • Posts: 30

Re: Traveller ships using starmada for my Heros scifi rpg.

I was using mongoose traveller, and I wasnt crazy about the simple combat system in the book.Then i got mayday from rpgnow (where i bought most of my more recent mj12 games from), and thought about getting azanti high lightening. im not crazy about herogames combat for space ships.

my sandbox world is wrought with flavor. ship to ship combat adds to the flavor of the game I am looking for. Essentially the group is in a miniverse of 20 human systems. The alliance dominates with 80% of the worlds. All words occupants have a common origin earth. Combat is used to solve the pirate problem. There are no acknowledged aliens yet. Sometimes alliance systems to go the matresses over $$$ issues, or political issues. over the last 300 years there have even been some colonial issues.  But now all is quiet. The players are doing some mystery solving and exploring both of which require combat.

The traveller ships I have are abstracted for fighting smaller ships and slightly larger ships. I think the players should feel like their ship is bigger than it is, to promote the "heroic feel" Thats what my style of rpging is about.

A friend of mine out on long island uses starfire to run his military rpg game. Its been years since ive played that and i dont think i want to invest in that or, a similiar game SLAG, though slag looks interesting. I gave SS (3d miniatures combat game), I cant remember the full name of the game, but that company now has a license to do traveller ships. Since i cant get a copy of the rules, I dont want to waste money on something Ill never use. I have too many rule systems laying around at home.

how often will the players roll the bones in space? Well they spent 3 games in a row, due to misjump and fought rogue miners a couple of times. They fought some kind of wierd space pirates. They thought about taking on an  alliance cruiser. They surrendered before displaying weapons (b5 reference).

Its not quite cowboys in space. I picture something like Elite (90's type computer game), something like cthulu, a bit of spying and intrigue. Lots of trading and missions because its built on traveller making money building up for retirement. Since its built on traveller with out the wierd races, the players have found, or been awarded a jump2 engine. The rest of the verse is still tinking along at jump 1.

Im sort of a game hacker. A bit of this. A bit of that. I hope that answers your question.