Space Ships in Doctor Who Game

[hgpdoc9]

I got the Rocket Age book thinking it would have ways of stating up spaceships. Is there anybody who knows how to do these things. I wanted to do a Dalek Spaceship and several others, but don't know how to go about it. Thanks for any help!

[misterharry]

I've not yet tried to stat up a spaceship using the Rocket Age rules, but it looks fairly straightforward. If you've got the core rulebook, have a look at pages 226-228 which cover Vehicle creation so far as their Attributes are concerned, and pages 200-204 for their Traits.

There are also plenty of examples of Vehicle stats on pages 182-187 and more importantly for you, examples of spaceships are included on pages 191-196. Europan saucers (194-196) are probably a useful basis for building Dalek ships, the Imperial and Conqueror class saucers in particular - though I'd suggest beefing up things like their Air Speed, Action Round Speed and Handling for the superior technology of Dalek ships.

[misterharry]

The one thing that Rocket Age doesn't seem to have which is needed for DWAITAS is faster-than-light capability. I'd suggest a couple of new Equipment Traits specifically for using the Rocket Age vehicle rules in a DWAITAS game:


FTL DRIVE

This vehicle has faster-than-light capability, enabling it to travel between the stars in a matter of days. The vehicle's engines can bend Einsteinian laws and propel the vehicle at super-light speeds in real space. The vehicle has an FTL Speed in addition to an Air Speed and Action Round Speed, used to determine how long the journeys between stars and/or galaxies take. FTL Drive is available to Technology Level 6 cultures and above.


HYPERSPACE DRIVE

This vehicle has the capability to enter hyperspace and "hop" across the universe, covering vast distances in a matter of minutes. The vehicle has a Hyperspace Speed in addition to Air Speed and Action Round Speed (and possibly FTL Speed). Hyperspace Drive is available to Technology Level 7 cultures and above.


For FTL Drive, a little more thought is needed to determine the relative speeds of FTL ships, or at least how long it takes them to get around. So far as I can make out in Rocket Age, the Air Speed and Action Round Speed of ships is just determined by the GM rather than purchased or calculated from its other attributes. So I'd suggest the same for the FTL Drive and that this is written as a multiple of the speed of light (roughly 1,080 million kph). Looking at some of the distances involved, the FTL Speeds need to be fairly high. The nearest star from Earth (Alpha Proxima) is 4.24 light-years away; the Milky Way is about 120,000 light-years across at its widest; and the nearest galaxy (Andromeda) is 2.5 million light-years away. So a ship with an FTL Speed of 1000 would take about 1.5 days to get to Alpha Proxima, 120 years to travel across the Milky Way and 2,500 years to get to Andromeda. At 1 million x light-speed: The journey to Alpha Proxima would take a few minutes; across the Milky Way would take about 44 days; and Andromeda would still be 2.5 years away.

Similarly for Hyperspace Drive, you need to consider how fast a ship can cover distances in real space while in hyperspace (if that makes sense!). Given the advance in technology, Hyperspace Speeds should typically be much larger than FTL Speeds. Again, I'd suggest using multiples of light-speed for this. Using the example above, a ship with a Hyperspace Speed score of 10 million would arrive at Alpha Proxima in a matter of seconds, traverse the Milky Way in four and a half days, and get to Andromeda in 3 months.

Now, I've not given the above an awful lot of thought - I've really been typing things down as I think of them. So there may well be kinks to iron out - it may be that I'm over-complicating this and all you need in most circumstances is to know whether a ship has FTL capability. All comments and suggestions welcome!

Oh, and don't forget that many Dalek ships are also fitted with time corridor technology or even time drives, so they need the Vortex trait too.

[Stormcrow]

Apr 1, 2014 8:38:20 GMT misterharry said:

HYPERSPACE DRIVE

Hyperspace is a theoretical absurdity!

[da professor]

Apr 1, 2014 20:52:38 GMT Stormcrow said:

Apr 1, 2014 8:38:20 GMT misterharry said:

HYPERSPACE DRIVE

Hyperspace is a theoretical absurdity!

And Time Travel isn't?

[misterharry]

Apr 1, 2014 20:52:38 GMT Stormcrow said:

Apr 1, 2014 8:38:20 GMT misterharry said:

HYPERSPACE DRIVE

Hyperspace is a theoretical absurdity!

One which I shall exploit to assist in the destruction of humanity!

(Sorry, I'm mixing my quotes!)

[hgpdoc9]

Apr 1, 2014 8:38:20 GMT misterharry said:

The one thing that Rocket Age doesn't seem to have which is needed for DWAITAS is faster-than-light capability. I'd suggest a couple of new Equipment Traits specifically for using the Rocket Age vehicle rules in a DWAITAS game:


FTL DRIVE

This vehicle has faster-than-light capability, enabling it to travel between the stars in a matter of days. The vehicle's engines can bend Einsteinian laws and propel the vehicle at super-light speeds in real space. The vehicle has an FTL Speed in addition to an Air Speed and Action Round Speed, used to determine how long the journeys between stars and/or galaxies take. FTL Drive is available to Technology Level 6 cultures and above.


HYPERSPACE DRIVE

This vehicle has the capability to enter hyperspace and "hop" across the universe, covering vast distances in a matter of minutes. The vehicle has a Hyperspace Speed in addition to Air Speed and Action Round Speed (and possibly FTL Speed). Hyperspace Drive is available to Technology Level 7 cultures and above.


For FTL Drive, a little more thought is needed to determine the relative speeds of FTL ships, or at least how long it takes them to get around. So far as I can make out in Rocket Age, the Air Speed and Action Round Speed of ships is just determined by the GM rather than purchased or calculated from its other attributes. So I'd suggest the same for the FTL Drive and that this is written as a multiple of the speed of light (roughly 1,080 million kph). Looking at some of the distances involved, the FTL Speeds need to be fairly high. The nearest star from Earth (Alpha Proxima) is 4.24 light-years away; the Milky Way is about 120,000 light-years across at its widest; and the nearest galaxy (Andromeda) is 2.5 million light-years away. So a ship with an FTL Speed of 1000 would take about 1.5 days to get to Alpha Proxima, 120 years to travel across the Milky Way and 2,500 years to get to Andromeda. At 1 million x light-speed: The journey to Alpha Proxima would take a few minutes; across the Milky Way would take about 44 days; and Andromeda would still be 2.5 years away.

Similarly for Hyperspace Drive, you need to consider how fast a ship can cover distances in real space while in hyperspace (if that makes sense!). Given the advance in technology, Hyperspace Speeds should typically be much larger than FTL Speeds. Again, I'd suggest using multiples of light-speed for this. Using the example above, a ship with a Hyperspace Speed score of 10 million would arrive at Alpha Proxima in a matter of seconds, traverse the Milky Way in four and a half days, and get to Andromeda in 3 months.

Now, I've not given the above an awful lot of thought - I've really been typing things down as I think of them. So there may well be kinks to iron out - it may be that I'm over-complicating this and all you need in most circumstances is to know whether a ship has FTL capability. All comments and suggestions welcome!

Oh, and don't forget that many Dalek ships are also fitted with time corridor technology or even time drives, so they need the Vortex trait too.

Thanks a lot! I will have to try that! And thanks for the page numbers for Rocket Age. It really helped me. Now I just need to stat it in my spare time! :/

[misterharry]

Apr 3, 2014 6:44:27 GMT hgpdoc9 said:

Thanks a lot! I will have to try that! And thanks for the page numbers for Rocket Age. It really helped me. Now I just need to stat it in my spare time! :/

You're welcome! If you do find time to stat anything up, could you post it for us to have a look?

[hgpdoc9]

Will do!

[hgpdoc9]

DALEK SPACESHIP (Standard)

(These stats are based on Rocket Age rules and DWAITS)

ATTRIBUTES

COMMUNICATION - 6
HANDLING - 4
SENSORS - 7
STRUCTURE - 20
*Use this as ARMOR

SKILLS

Subterfuge 7, Technology 6, Transport 5

TRAITS

Autofire (-4 to Dodge) 7/10/15
Beam (-2 to Dodge) 12/24/36
Concealed (-2 to Discover)
Escape Pods (Need to spend 1 SP to escape)
Hyperspace Drive (Spend all SP to hop to different solar system)
Holding Cells
Computing Power (+3 SP for Technology Rolls)
Laboratory (+3 SP for Science Rolls)
Vortex (+2 on rolls to travel through the vortex)
Time Corridor (+4 on capturing Time Capsules. If Captured, it takes 3 turns to escape with more
difficulty with a +8/+12/+16. When captured, the Dalek Spaceship will dock the
ship.)


This is something I came up with during my really spare, time! Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

[Polar Bear]

Coincidentally, I was working on a ship today, except I didn't have the Rocket Age rules. Here are some suggestions:

-There may be an automatic targeting system, and that would give the ship a "marksman" skill. I'm not sure I'm happy with it having its own transport skill--that implies it flies itself without a skilled pilot at the helm.
-The "vehicles" page on p. 75 of the 11th ed. Gamemaster's Guide includes Armour, Hit Capacity, and Speed for all vehicles, so I wouldn't omit those.
-I think it's important to include the ship's Technology Level, just in case anyone tries to fiddle with it.
-It might be worthwhile to create a category for "Stuff." For example, there might be only two Escape Pods, despite there being 20 Daleks aboard.
-Just about any ship larger than an escape pod will have the trait "Huge (Major)" (see Aliens & Creatures p. 105), which matters if someone aims a weapon at it. Speaking of which, there should probably be some idea of size, whether that's in km, Dalek population, or whatever.
-photo?
-How are repairs done? Does it need to refuel?

That's all I can think of at present!

[Polar Bear]

Here's my effort--done without advantage of the Rocket Age rules, I'm afraid.  And on my MS Word document, my son photoshopped the ship to get rid of the ugly base, so it actually looks like it's hovering.  



CHULA SHIP




Armour: 20      Hit Capacity: 30      Speed: 300
Shields: 0            TL 8
                    
                    

SKILLS:
Aliens 2 (using “Aliens” as a 13th skill for DWAiTaS)
Knowledge 4 (Restriction: Navigational and galactic history databases only)
Marksman 2
Medicine 5
Subterfuge 7
Technology 4 (Restriction: This skill can only be applied to rolls relevant to the ship’s operation and repair)

TRAITS:
Environmental: Vacuum, Vortex
Invisibility, Silence, Stealth mode
Scan (using Awareness 8, orbital range)
Size: Huge: Seating/sleeping capacity = six humanoids, but not comfortably.
Special: Tractor Beam (Treat as Telekinesis: Special Good @ Resolve 10).
Special: Temporarily grants the trait Fast Healing (Major Good) to any one person in its medical bay.
Teleport (orbital range; teleports people & stuff, not itself)
Transmit
Vortex

WEAPONS:
Four missiles; replacements must be 3D printed @ 15 minutes each. Missiles do damage 15/30/45.
Two energy blasters, doing combined damage of 8/16/24.

STUFF:
3D printers/bioprinters
Remote Control
Babel fish tank (from Diary of the Doctor supplement on Hitchhiker's Guide gadget usage in DWAiTaS)
Repair Tools

NOTES:
*The ship is not self-healing.  To fix damage requires (a) a successful Ingenuity + Technology roll against difficulty 21 and (b) 1d3 hours of work (outside the Vortex) per point of damage to hit capacity. Each failed roll represents one hour of wasted labor.  If the PCs only have a limited number of hours for repairs, they'll only be able to repair a limited amount of damage.  At the GM's discretion, story points may be used to adjust the d3 roll.

*Consider refueling to be completed between adventures.

*Chula technology is extremely rare, and most initial efforts to meddle with it must be considered "unskilled attempts."

[hgpdoc9]

Apr 11, 2014 20:08:52 GMT Polar Bear said:

Coincidentally, I was working on a ship today, except I didn't have the Rocket Age rules. Here are some suggestions:

-There may be an automatic targeting system, and that would give the ship a "marksman" skill. I'm not sure I'm happy with it having its own transport skill--that implies it flies itself without a skilled pilot at the helm.
-The "vehicles" page on p. 75 of the 11th ed. Gamemaster's Guide includes Armour, Hit Capacity, and Speed for all vehicles, so I wouldn't omit those.
-I think it's important to include the ship's Technology Level, just in case anyone tries to fiddle with it.
-It might be worthwhile to create a category for "Stuff." For example, there might be only two Escape Pods, despite there being 20 Daleks aboard.
-Just about any ship larger than an escape pod will have the trait "Huge (Major)" (see Aliens & Creatures p. 105), which matters if someone aims a weapon at it. Speaking of which, there should probably be some idea of size, whether that's in km, Dalek population, or whatever.
-photo?
-How are repairs done? Does it need to refuel?

That's all I can think of at present!

Thanks for the suggestions! I will look into it when I get a chance!

[Polar Bear]

Additional conversation on sister thread: dwaitas.proboards.com/thread/2685/tardis-alternatives