I'm still thinking about the old 3E rules and a TL13 force. Now the question is drones or robots. I want them to play a support role, not take center stage. My drafts are
* SM-2, force screen with the stealth option (-18), C7 neural net computer, 20-mile PESA, 1,120 mph, 40 lbs. * SM+0, force screen with the stealth option (-18), C7 neural net computer, 100-mile PESA, 80-lb. missile bay, 2,500 mph, 400 lbs. * SM+2, force screen with the stealth option (-18), C8 neural net computer, 1,000-mile PESA, 800-lb. missile bay, 6,000 mph, 4,000 lbs. I'm wondering if the drones can afford to circle high over the ground forces, or if they have to stay low to survive -- the preferred look-and-feel would be if the player character's vehicle controls a few drones which can be directed to take a closer look at a suspicious situation, but with a real risk that the drone will be expended. A 'flaming datum'. If they fly lazy circles in the sky, they don't feel so much like a maneuver unit ... The drones are designed around a PESA, as large as possible, and except for the little drone a missile bay for two of the next smaller size, or equivalent payloads. Should the sensor be mounted F or U? Say the little one wants to detect my powered armor. The roll is skill + 19 (scan) + 0 (target size) -14 (cloaking) - range, and no matter the skill no roll can be tried at -10 or worse, so detection is impossible beyond 450 yards and pretty much automatic closer than that. The powered armor tries to detect the little drone. The roll is skill + 18 (scan) -2 (size) -18 (cloaking) - range, so the detection range is 30 yards if flying NOE (or 70 yards against the sky). The heavy drone tries to detect my grav tank. The roll is skill + 29 (scan) + 5 (size) -18 (cloaking) - range, so the detection range is 20 miles. The tank rolls skill + 29 (scan) + 2 (size) -18 (cloaking) - range, detection at 7 miles if the drone is in the ground clutter or 15 miles in the sky. All detection ranges get a bit longer at significant speeds. And are the drones too fast? TL13 mega reactionless thrusters don't take much space. I noticed that the stealth force screen VXii23 is a much better deal than buying stealth plus emission cloaking plus sound baffling plus chameleon. (As long as the screen stays up, which is why the grav AFVs all have force screens plus stealth surfaces.) Comments, corrections, suggestions? Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
