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Well, Fleets of the Three Galaxies is nearing completion. Really. It has grown in scope from an outline of the Splugorth Fleets into a monstrous article detailing the space fleets of the CCW, the TGE, the UWW, the Golgan, the Splugorth, and the the Altess. It include ranks for each of the navies, and some technology notes. Some of the fleets are very powerful (Altess, Splugorth) and some are kind of crazy (Golgan).

The CCW has built a dreadnought called Emancipation

The TGE is building an experimental missile ship that will be undetectable by normal means (think "Red October")

The Splugorth are... the Splugorth. the Kittani have a ship with a mass driver built into it though.

The Altess are stupidly powerful, but never go to war, instead hosting parties on their battleships.

The Golgan are like North Korea on drugs... armed from the future and spoiling for a fight.

But what, oh what, should I do with the UWW? I have one or two ideas, but I would like to hear from you guys. I never usee the UWW, and personally like to keep the magic toned down in the Phase World setting. What shall we do with the Warlock Navy?

Braden, GMPhD wrote:Well, Fleets of the Three Galaxies is nearing completion. Really. It has grown in scope from an outline of the Splugorth Fleets into a monstrous article detailing the space fleets of the CCW, the TGE, the UWW, the Golgan, the Splugorth, and the the Altess. It include ranks for each of the navies, and some technology notes. Some of the fleets are very powerful (Altess, Splugorth) and some are kind of crazy (Golgan).

The CCW has built a dreadnought called Emancipation

The TGE is building an experimental missile ship that will be undetectable by normal means (think "Red October")

The Splugorth are... the Splugorth. the Kittani have a ship with a mass driver built into it though.

The Altess are stupidly powerful, but never go to war, instead hosting parties on their battleships.

The Golgan are like North Korea on drugs... armed from the future and spoiling for a fight.

But what, oh what, should I do with the UWW? I have one or two ideas, but I would like to hear from you guys. I never usee the UWW, and personally like to keep the magic toned down in the Phase World setting. What shall we do with the Warlock Navy?

IF you're going to flesh put the United World of Warlock (hmm...wasn't I promised a Book on this very setting by now?? ), then you've simply GOT to start constructing a Fleet that is the Magical equivalent of the other Fleets in the Three Galaxies.

Not using Magic in the makeup of the ships of the UWW would be like.....well.....using Magic Ships in the Coalition Navy..

I agree.

And my first thought is that all the planets in the UWW are linked together by rifts. SO if you attack Planet A, reinforcements can be immediately brought in form everywhere else in the UWW.

So what if we expand this idea, and build giant dimensional portals in space? Jump gates... or whatever. Thus, within the UWW, the entire fleet could be rifted in to deal with a given threat.

When travelling outside of the UWW, they use their standard Rift drives.

Thus, Warlock worlds would have a massive space station in orbit, capable of opening a rift to any other member world. And LOTS of orbiting weapon arrays.

cornholioprime wrote:
Not using Magic in the makeup of the ships of the UWW would be like.....well.....using Magic Ships in the Coalition Navy..

Disagreed.

It is mentioned, that about 30% of the UWW planets use tech primarily.

So, they are more tolerant regarding tech, than the CS regarding
magic. IMO the UWW treats tech like the CS treats psionics and
dog boys.

Besides, since there is a significant wolfen minority... Maged up
Hunters, anyone?

Adios
KLM

I'm envisioning something huge and awkward (another Dwarven Ship), that relies more on Rifting than it does any conventional system to get to point A to point B.

Possibly even a weapon that prods several Ley Line Maws (see Megaverse Builder by Carl Gleba) to grasp on to and start destroying an enemy ship or to ensnare/intercept fighters and PA....in either case the maws would immobilize the enemy long enough to blast them with Rifts Projector Cannons or conventional weaponry.

~ Josh

El_Generalissimo wrote:By the way, if you're doing a fleets of the 3 galaxies book, may I suggest blueprint drawings of the ships. Much needed.

Uh....

A) I can't draw

B) the article is 52 pages long already at 12pt type, single spaced... and I have yet to finish several entire sections.

Otherwise, sure. You got it!

Braden, GMPhD wrote:B) the article is 52 pages long already at 12pt type, single spaced... and I have yet to finish several entire sections.

Remember, submission requirements are size 10 font.

~ Josh

I was sure that somewhere I had read 12pt....

Ah, well, then it's significantly shorter.

mattling wrote:As far as the UWW goes I don't see space stations necessarily as much as huge, complex magical circles on planetary surfaces allowing everything from the creation of Impenetrable Walls of Force, teleporting things here and there (of course), as well as focusing power for detecting and attacking ships in orbit.

Warlock Marines would be outrageous in boarding actions. Unless of course you want to use the P.O.S. ones that have already been splatted out (hint: they suck). If Warlock Marines were warlocks, or even just mages in general they could do terrifying things.

For example. Get a couple Shifters and some other Mages. Shoot down enemy energy shields, and teleport in to the ship, anywhere you want into the ship. Then start summoning Elementals. Or demons. Or cast River of Magma, which would basically just fill the ship up with lava (that hardens into rock later, if it doesn't just melt through all the bulkheads).

Using projected-Rift weapons the UWW could do a lot more than just create clouds of water. You could use it to start Rifting enemy ships into Hades, for example. Or the home dimension of Fire Elementals. Or into each other.

Every UWW ship should be a monument to magic, a device more complex than a hundred Rune Weapons combined. Granted, they don't like a volley of antimatter missiles any more than the next guy, but they would be flexible enough to attack in any way imaginable. I don't even see most of them having technological weapons outside of the most basic ones available. Iron Ships should represent the closest thing they come to a union of magic and technology; everything else should be heavily magical.

Magic is capable of so much more than just "Fireball!". It should be reflected in the war machines of the UWW.

Word!
What he said...

A century ago, the UWW commisoned the construction of a super- dreadnaught class of vessel to counter the growing threat of the Kreeghor empire, the existing Splugorth menace and the possible re-appearence of the 'Demon Star' armada.
The result was the creation of the TW Superdreadnaught AEther-Phoenix class. Only 5 have been consturcted (each takes over 30 years to build / grow) and nearly beggered the respective shipyards involved. Yet each one is an elegant and lethal weapon of war.
The AEther-Phoenix resembles a stylzed bird-shaped craft cronstructed of a bluish-white tranclucent crystal, while the interior resmbles nothing less than an elven pallace, with fluted and ribbed halls, glowing crystal lights, and an almost living essence, interspersed with gleaming ultra-tech elements..

Warlock Navy ‘AEther-Phoenix’ Super-Dreadnaught
Model: AEther-Phoenix
Class: Techno-Wizard Super Dreadnaught
Crew: 600 (10 Officers and 560 Enlisted, plus 30 Techno-Smiths)
Troops: Standard; 2000, Maximum; 5,000

Vehicle Compliment:
48: WF F-15 Shadowbolt fighters or WF FB-17 Spectre strike fighters
8: Atmospheric Shuttles (may be replaced on 1 for 1 basis with Starghost phase-tech fighters)

M.D.C. by Location:
Forward Weapons Array (“Head“): 45,000
TW ‘Phoenix Cannon’ (Bow): 1500
Antiship Laser Batteries (11): 1200 each
Battleship Laser Cannons (5): 2500 each
Point Deffense Grav-Railguns (15): 180 each
Long Range Missile Launchers (6; 3 per wing): 1,200 each
Launch Bays (2; underside): 2,000 each
Wings (2) 33,000 each
[1] Bridge (Tower on dorsal part of main body) : 75,000
[1] Emergency Bridge(Located 2 decks under bridge tower, in main body): 45,000
[2] Main Body: 300,000
[3] Engineering Section: 90,000
[4] Outrigger ‘D-Drive’ Pods (2) 20,000 each
[5] Variable Force Field: 12,000 a side (72,000 Total)


Notes:
[SPECIAL] The ships crystallis armor absorbs 50% of all incoming energy, not counting purely kinetic energy weapons. Subtract 50% of all damage done to the ships hit locations by energy weapons. Plus, all damage done by energy based attacks will fully regenerate 1 minute after combat ceases! Kinetic energy weapons and explosions do full damage.
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship also has an auxiliary bridge. Even if both bridges are destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Dreadnaught out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.
[3] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion systems are destroyed and maximum sublight acceleration is reduced to ten percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[4] Destroying either pod will disable the ships special Dimensional-Drive system.
[5] Shield positions are variable and can be combined into one shield. The shields regenerate at a rate of 5% (3,600 MDC) per melee round.

Speed:
Flying: Mach 15 combat speed. 0.4 sublight speed. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 1 percent of light per melee.
FTL: 4 LY / Hr. using negative matter drive (see later for Dimesion-drive).
Range: 10 years at optimal conditions, using both conventional and magical life support.
Statistical Data:
Height: 949.05 feet (285 meters). The bridge tower adds another 66 feet (20meters). Length: 8,020 feet (2,406 meters) Width: 2,847 feet (854 meters) Weight: 8.76 million tons (7.93 million metric tons).
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 70,000 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition
Drive Type(s): Primary; Negative-matter energy wave generators rated for factor 400.
Secondary; Dimension-Drive for point-to-point travel (see later for description).
Power System: matter/anti-matter reactor with 30 years at maximum output. Cosmic ley-line PPE syphons for techno-wizard devices; 1000 PPE/hr. and crystal storage cells with 20,000 PPE capacity.
Market Cost: Unknown. Estimated at 100 billion Tri-galactic credits if ever sold.

Weapon Systems
1) Bow-mounted ‘Pheonix Cannon‘: Located in the front of the Aether-Pheonix is the devastating ‘Phoenix Cannon’. This weapon is similar to the Arcane-X’s Flare cannon, but is much more accurate and potentially more lethal despite it’s lesser damage output. When activated, a cluster of anti-protons is captured in a magnetic vortex while simultaneously a massive plasma cloud surrounds the magnetic ‘egg’. Upon firing, the entire cluster is propelled towards the target area at nearly 80% the speed of light, where at a pre-set distance the magnetic filed collapses. The result is a massive explosion enveloping several thousand cubic feet in raw nuclear fire!
Mega-Damage: 6D6X100 to a 2000ft. (610m) radius area! Damage is inflicted to all exposed areas, and in the case of capitol ships, the blast will damage at least 3 shield facings (GM‘s call). R.O.F.: once per minute (requires precise calculations). Range: 50miles (80km).
Payload: 1000 PPE per shot. Capitol Ship scale= -5 to strike small targets (due to large blast radius).
*Spells used in this design: Anti-Matter Blast, Magnetic Vortex, Nova (Rifter #10). Power Bolt, Sub-Particle Acceleration (FoM or R:MG).

2) Concealed Antiship Laser Batteries (11): Located port starboard & aft (6 dorsal, 4 ventral, 1 aft-dorsal), and covered by folding armour plates are concealed heavy laser batteries. Each battery has a 45º arc of fire to either side. Only called shots may damage the guns, and they are -25% to detect closed.
Mega-Damage: 3D6X100 per laser battery shot. R.O.F.: 2 shots per battery / rnd. Range: 55miles (88km) in space. Payload: Effectively unlimited. Capitol Ship scale= -10 to strike small targets.

3) Battleship Laser Cannons (5): 5 powerful laser cannons round out the main antiship weapons of the Aether-Phoenix. 2 are located in the ’head’ of the ship above and behind the main-gun, 2 are placed in the main body near the wing-roots, and 1 placed center-aft. Each cannon has 30 arc of fire.
Mega-Damage: 4D6X100 per shot. R.O.F.: 1 per gunners action. Range: 155miles (284km) in space. Payload: Unlimited. Heavy Ship scale= -14 to strike small targets.

4) GR-100 Grav Autocannon turrets (15): These point defense gravity-guns are spaced evenly across the hull to protect from enemy fighters and incoming missile strikes. The turrets may be manually operated or set to auto-fire.
Mega-Damage: 1D6X10 per 10 round burst. R.O.F.: 1 bursts per action or 3 attacks automated.
Range: 3miles (4.8km). Payload: 1000 bursts each. Light Ship scale= No penalties. Note: The rotating turret gives a +1 to strike (plus any WP, weapon system lock-ons and sensor bonuses). If set for auto-fire, the guns are +4 to strike (+6 if lock on has been achieved).

5) Foreward LRM / Torpedo Launchers (6): In either wing are 3 single-tube LR missile & torpedo launchers facing forward. Typically these launchers are loaded with plasma or gravitic warheads.
Mega-Damage: As per LRM / Torpedo type.
R.O.F.: Individually or in volleys of two per launcher (total volley of 12 warheads). Each volley counts as 1 gunner action. Once 10 warheads have been launched, it takes 3 actions (1/2 a melee) for the auto-loading system to reload another 10 from the magazine. Range: as per warhead type.
Payload: 10 per launch system plus an additional magazine of 60 per twin-launcher, for a total 420
*Note: Up to half the missile payload may be replaced with anti-magic, tech-disruption and/or ’breacher’ warheads.
See Carl Gleba’s ‘Rifts: Three Galaxies’ Pg. 130-131 for effects of these TW missiles.

Other Systems
Crystallis armour (½ damage from energy based attacks). ECM generators. Advanced Sensor Package. Geologic Sensors. Targeting and combat computer (+2 to strike, +1 to dodge). Auto-pilot & Supernavigation computer (50% skill). Atmosphere recycling system. 50 staterooms & 550 basic accommodations (troops are housed in barrack style areas). 2 Launch-bays (@200 tonne capacity each). Artificial gravity. 5 Recreation facilities. 300 Stasis pod facilities. Medical Facility (200 patients). 100 FTL life-boats. FCE pod (bridge unit). Auto-Breach sealing. FTL communications system.

Dimension Drive (Special)
This techno-wizard engine creates a stable wormhole that enables the Aether-Phoenix to travel enormous distances in a single jump. This system is a three part device. The first (and most important) component of the D-Drive is the ‘navigational cogitator’. Consisting of a series of massive parallel-processors programmed with navigationl charts, linked to a TW cloud chamber resembling a 30ft. ‘plasma-globe’ made of black crystal located deep in the center of the ship. The second part is the navigators chair, which connects the navigator mage to the sensor systems of the ship via TW neural links (a modified noro psi-helm). Finally, the drive nacelles which create the actual wormhole effect.
When activated, a glowing ring of bluish energy projects from the D-Drive nacelles to encircle the ship. Also, lines of glowing blue vein the surface of the Aether-Phoenix; each line composed of moving msytic sigils and glyphs. 1-6 minutes later, the ring shoots forwards opening the transit wormhole, drawing the ship along behind it.
Though capable of going ten times further than even the most advanced ‘Rift’ drive, and able to create relatively stable wormholes, the D-Drive is still subject to fluctuating travel ranges, and may take up to 6 minutes for the navigator and the ‘NC’ to calculate the safest endpoint for the wormhole. However, the D-Drive is still a marvel of TW spce technology.
Range: 1D6X100 light years. Payload: 1 Jump per 5 hours. PPE: 3000 per jump! Takes 1D6 minutes for the navigator & ‘navigational cogitator’ to calculate the wormhole endpoint (requires skill Navigation: Space/FTL).
*Spells used in this design: Create wormhole, Stabalize Wormhole (Rifter #10). Teleport: Superior (Rifts RPG).

TW Systems
1. Impervious to energy: 20 PPE / 20 minutes. Draws directly from the storage batteries, but can be activated by others from the bridge.
2. Invisibility superior: 20 PPE / 30 minutes. Draws directly from the storage batteries, but can be activated by others from the bridge.
3. Sustain: 12 PPE / 10 days. Draws directly from the storage batteries, but can be activated by others from the bridge.
4. Spaceflight superior: 38 PPE / 10 hours. Draws directly from the storrage batteries, but can be activated by others from the bridge. Used when / if primary power is disrupted to the main engines. Equal to 10th level power.
5. Pin-point deflectors: 20 PPE / 5 minutes per deflector (up to 10). Same effect as Deflect spell, but cover a 10ft. area per barrier. Draws directly from the storage batteries, but can be activated by others from the bridge. Must be manually controlled. Equal to 10th level power.
*Spells used in this design: Deflect, Armour of Ithan.
6. Ship to Surface Teleporter (up to 20 crew or 10X10X10ft. Object): 600 PPE per use. Draws directly from the storage batteries, but can be activated by others from the bridge. Roughly equal to 10th level power, and uses Teleport Superior table for success rate; typically the ship sensors give a 99% accuracy rate (different weather conditions or anomalous energy fields can effect the accuracy. GM’s call).
7. TW Sensors: Ley-line sensor, Sense Magic, Sense Dimensional Anomaly, See Dimensional Anomaly. Draws directly from the storage batteries. See Carl Gleba’s ‘Rifts: Three Galaxies’ Pg. 108-109 for descriptions, though ranges are based on the ’normal’ sensor suite (tied directly normal sensors).

Don't worry about the font. I do my stuff in 12 so I don't have to squint every time I read it. Palladium will change the font as they see fit.

Josh...awesome idea My jaw hit the table when I saw that one.

Braden,

A couple ideas I was tossing around was an upgraded Dwarven Iron ship. Maybe bigger, add some more "tech" augmented with the latest in TW abilities.

Another idea was the Gate Crasher. Basically its a capital ship that that functions as both a carrier and a transport vessel for small ships. It can open a huge Rift that several ships or a whole fleet can slip through to "gate" in on an enemy. The ship is not a front line fighter and has minimal defenses relying on its fighters and screening ships.

A TW stealth fighter - thought it would be cool. Got the idea from watching BSG on sci-fi

Thats about all I can think of off the top of my head.

If you have any goals in terms of page counts here some info: Megaverse Builder was about 125 pages at 12 pt font. So it made for a 96 page source book. 160 page source books run about 225 to 240 pages at 12 pt font.

Include a nice set of starship construction rules and I think you'll have a happy crew for this forum

Carl

Space Battleship Yamato.....

kidding. but the concept of the UWW taking a more retro look for there ships, Battleships and subs and such from WW1 and 2 would be keeping with the current canon vessels.

for example, take a WW1 battleship, mirror it along the waterline (resulting in a ships with guns on top and bottom), add fins and rockets on the back for the space look, and then use the plate steel with rivets aesthetic.
one Dwarven Space Battleship.

for Elvan craft, you might want to look at organic ships that look to be sculpted wood, like the Jurai ships in the Tenchi Muyo Series.

stuff like that.

glitterboy2098 wrote:kidding. but the concept of the UWW taking a more retro look for there ships, Battleships and subs and such from WW1 and 2 would be keeping with the current canon vessels.

for example, take a WW1 battleship, mirror it along the waterline (resulting in a ships with guns on top and bottom), add fins and rockets on the back for the space look, and then use the plate steel with rivets aesthetic.
one Dwarven Space Battleship.

I'm all for a Dwarven equivalent to the Mighty MO (rather than a WW1 battleship). I've had several ideas for the Phaseworld fleets and such, as well as the spaceship construction system. If you are looking for someone to lend a helping hand with this (and perhaps turn it into a manuscript for submission at the open house), send me a PM. I'd love to help out (seriously, if you are willing, then I think we could make a genuine run at getting this published as a sourcebook).

Spaceship construction, eh?

I doubt I could ever come up with a system that would please everyone. Would it point-based, like the space stations? Based on weight like Mutants in Orbit?

I myself take existing ships, and use that as a template. No real rules involved there.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to do it.

I'd also love to include a section on the Dominators, too. With stats for one of the Star Forts...

argos wrote:Obviously, UWW spaceships should have magic capabilities. 1. That is what sets them apart and makes them what they are. 2. Its an excuse to come up with huge magical dreadnaughts (so awesome). But comin up with the fleet isnt just comin up with huge craft but also tactics, which in turn will breed the type of ships and equipment etc. that could be added. I dunno if you want to go this deep or into this area or not so im just gonna give some thoughts you may consider, use, or jus throw away.

ok, so here are some of my ideas.

1. i could see teams of soldiers teleporting onto the ships. Im not sure you could teleport everywhere in the ship unless you know the exact layout, but surely the surface of the ship, and that may be better. Here's how. Spell casters casting mystic portal on gun turrets to create a quick hole and throw in a grenade. It minimizes risk of harm and is a nasty lil surprise attack. More on this type of attack in 2. . . Also can mechanically possess gun turrets by touching them if a psychic. POint being, trained soldiers could run amok on the actual surface of the ship.

2. For smaller vessels (this attack might not be effective against the huge ships) equip your strike team with magical suits with breath without air. Then equip them with flame throwers and fire based weapons. Why? Fire uses up oxygen to burn. Burn enough, no more oxygen, no more crew (for the most part). Works well the mystic portal attack.

3. Entity missles. Missles that upon impact release 2d4 entities that enter the ship or take over parts of the ship. Lots of fun for the GM with this one.

4. This could be potentially the most damaging attack, stronger than an anti matter missle. A missle equiped with the armorbane spell. Imagine 10% of a starships hull. Ouch.

5. Starfire cannon. No not the one in fed of magic, but a weapon that opens a rift to the corona of a star. Now thats what i call a flame thrower!

6. Point defense lasers with enslaved tectonic entities as unmanned point weapons. (You dont wanna give these crazy ghosts control of the heavy hi lasers do you?)

7. Imagine a ship with force fields but under that force field the entire ship is covered in armor bizarre. Hmmm, wonder what the HF on that would be.

8 Fighters equipped with cloak of darkness. In the middle of space, would be impossible to find. Ultimate sneak attack.

Just some possible ideas aside from the obvious aatack spells.

Your Ideas prove yet again why Kevin is pretty much forced to hobble Magic and Magic City-States on Rifts Earth.

Magic is SO damned potentially nasty in a creative mind........

Those sound great.

But where's the ballance? How does, say, the Golgan Republik counter such tactics and weapons? It's all about the game ballance...

I like #4, and #8 especially. Those might make it in. As might Carl's "gate ship" which is along the lines I was thinking of before: a Warlock Navy that is not as powerful as the others, but far more mobile.

I would go with magical augmented ships - beginning with shields, armor, weapons and maybe a the hyperdrive.

Carl Gleba wrote:
A couple ideas I was tossing around was an upgraded Dwarven Iron ship. Maybe bigger, add some more "tech" augmented with the latest in TW abilities.

Another idea was the Gate Crasher. Basically its a capital ship that that functions as both a carrier and a transport vessel for small ships. It can open a huge Rift that several ships or a whole fleet can slip through to "gate" in on an enemy. The ship is not a front line fighter and has minimal defenses relying on its fighters and screening ships.

A TW stealth fighter - thought it would be cool. Got the idea from watching BSG on sci-fi

(...)

Include a nice set of starship construction rules and I think you'll have a happy crew for this forum

Carl

Upgraded ships: The text of the Dwarven Iron ships mentions several systems as recent additions. It does not have to be bigger. Moreso,
it does not have to be more enchanted - just the design enables
the magic officer to cast any spells on the craft.
It does not have to be bigger - instead, I would go for indistinguishable
ships.

As for Gate Crasher, it is exactly covered by the Mage Star IMO.

Stealth fighter: The shadow bolt is already a stealth fighter. Slap
in Invisibility Superior (instead of shadow melt), and here you go.

------------------
Dreadnought: Since the current Rift cannon is able to take out
a ship (OK, "Just" teleports it away, maybe forever), the UWW
would not like to place so much eggs into a single basket.
Plus their loose federation.

Still, do not molest an Asteroid Eater with a puny little Doombringer.

Alternate ammo for bottled demon launchers is a must.

Hmmm... Balance:
Flesh out CAF, TGE, Golgan (anti)magic tactics. Be it based
on Noro psylite, Bio-wizardry/silouette TW, Ultrovian and NE
stuff, plus tactics, methods...
...and then let loose the dogs of war(locks).

Adios
KLM

Ice Dragon wrote:I would go with magical augmented ships - beginning with shields, armor, weapons and maybe a the hyperdrive.

At least a backup hyperdrive.

Let's face it: the UWW probably like to stick to the
space ley lines. Ley line storms most likely occur
in space too.
Magic equipment is... funny... during a LL Storm.

Therefore at least a backup is needed in technological
ways. Anyway, the one who does not designs multiple
systems to a starship is asking for trouble.

Adios
KLM

Lord_Coake wrote:Well...I'm kind of a novice as far as magic goes, but I think I have an idea for a balancer.

Ever played Arcanum? If you have, have you ever tried to use a magic item as a technological character, or vice versa?

The idea in that game is that Technology and Magic are mutually exclusive, except to the most absolutly powerful mages and the most intelligent and talented technologists working in tandem.\

Try casing a spell in an advanced science lab? IF it works at all, it'll be far weaker that you expect it to be, and costs more mana (PPE) to use.

Try using a personal computer or an energy weapon in a Mages sanctum? Again, IF it works, it'll be weak, or off target, or even explode.

Most likely, in both cases, it fizzles.

Sorry, but a good bunch of techno-wizards disagree with you.

Hell, even there is a Technocracy, and the Glass Walkers in
the White Wolf stuff.

Adios
KLM

Funny...
I'd always thought that drednaughts would be the FIRST thing to be considered as a show of power by at least certain members of the UWW, followed by several small, FAST attack craft (corvettes & frigates).
After all, all you need is ONE big-one as a mobile command base (able to hold it's own), and let the smaller fleet elements do the grunt work of 'hit & fade'.

And for the nay-sayers out there; please read the flavour text before passing critical judgement. The AEther-Phoenix was constructed to be able to go toe-to-toe with Doom-bringers, and especialy for battle against a battle group of Demonstars .

Yes, even the fragmented coalition of the UWW would have enough resources and cohesion to finance the construction of drednaught classed vessels.
Just not many of them

Well, the UWW is even its current state is not without things that can sweep the sky - the MageStar is probably the TW equivalent of the Death Star
(but mainly a base, mothership and rift-opener), plus there are the
various Asteriod Eaters.

Adios
KLM

KLM wrote:As for Gate Crasher, it is exactly covered by the Mage Star IMO.

Not familiar with this ship...


But after giving it some thought, the UWW already has a "battlecruiser", the Arcane. And I really think that is as big as they can build them. A dreadnought (and you'll have to read the rest of the article to believe me) cost trillions of credits to build. And you really only build them to scare your enemies... i've yet to be convinced that they are anything better than big targets, where I can build a fleet of cruiser-class ships for the some money/time/effort.

But the idea of ships cruising space ley lines... so if their ships can ley line phase along the lines... instant travel anywhere within the UWW. With Rift drives for going "off the grid".

Cloak of Darkness wont work for crap on a fighter that's moving. The ship might be hidden but I'll see its engine exhaust for miles. Even if it is running silent, any sensor package will pick it up. What CoD would be great for it objects that are just sitting there doing nothing: orbital mines, and space-borne weapon platforms. Imagine some pirates closing in on a seemingly undefended UWW World... suddenly, from beneath their CoD hundred of Hi-laser cannons rip the pirates to shreds.

KLM wrote:Upgraded ships: The text of the Dwarven Iron ships mentions several systems as recent additions. It does not have to be bigger. Moreso,
it does not have to be more enchanted - just the design enables
the magic officer to cast any spells on the craft.
It does not have to be bigger - instead, I would go for indistinguishable
ships.

I'm talking a total redesign. Sure it may have some new modern systems, but from a game and real life perspective there is a lot that could be done and I'd start with the book of magic. Actually I'd probably create two versions, one similar to the original, and one that was totaly tech.

KLM wrote:As for Gate Crasher, it is exactly covered by the Mage Star IMO.

Mage Star is not ringing a bell, and of late I've been digging through all of the 3G books for research. Care to elaborate?

KLM wrote:Stealth fighter: The shadow bolt is already a stealth fighter. Slap
in Invisibility Superior (instead of shadow melt), and here you go.

As a writer I wouldn't take something already written and say here it is but modified. I like to bring new things in, not stuff that is rehashed. Thats just me.

KLM wrote:Dreadnought: Since the current Rift cannon is able to take out
a ship (OK, "Just" teleports it away, maybe forever), the UWW
would not like to place so much eggs into a single basket.
Plus their loose federation.

Still, do not molest an Asteroid Eater with a puny little Doombringer.

While your logic is sound, what fun is that Any large ship with super heavy weapons is going to be one heck of a loss. But who knows what kind of heavy weapons Braden could come up with for a UWW dreadnought. I say go for it Braden!!

KLM wrote:Alternate ammo for bottled demon launchers is a must.

Agreed I'm trying to come up with some variants myself.

Braden, we expect a progress report prior to the big event! Otherwise you'll find a pair of Oni thugs at your door. They have orders to duck tape you in front of your computer and stay until you're finished

Carl

Fine. Here's something for you. It's not about the UWW but it should be enough to prove that I am working diligently on getting this thing done.

Emancipation-class Dreadnought

This ship did not exist until 24 years ago. Before then, Consortium scientists and engineers commonly believed that the Packmaster was as big as one could build a ship and still have it able to travel faster than light. Then came the shocking discovery of the Kreeghor Doombringer, and suddenly, the rules changed. A new arms race began as a panicked Consortium Congress awarded trillions of credits towards the development of a similar vessel. The fear, then as now, was that the Transgalactic Empire could have only one reason for building such a vessel; the Doombringer was quite obviously meant to be a massive, mobile fortress from which to launch surprise fighter attacks and horrific numbers of cruise missiles.

The first hurdle in building a Consortium ship larger than the Packmaster was the creation an entirely new contragravity engine. The Balanced Hammond Drive eventually increased the maximum possible mass of a starship into the range of 150 million tons. This meant that the CCW could finally design a ship that would equal the Kreeghor monstrosity. That ship was the CSS-Emancipation.

It is interesting to note that development of the Emancipation-class was vehemently opposed by the Noro, the Catyr, the Strata, the In’Valians, and the Iborians, all of whom feared that building such a ship would only entice the Kreeghor to top it. Such an escalation in arms, they argued, was not why the Consortium had been founded. But the Wolfen, the Faustians, and the Humans argued otherwise; that such ships would enforce the peace, not break it. The Seljuk and Oni delegates were oddly neutral during the debate.

To the surprise of the Wolfen however, the Human Alliance went ahead and developed the new super-carrier all by itself. At no point did any Wolfen participate in the building of Emancipation, even though they had helped to ensure its existence. The Consortium Congress was greatly troubled by this turn of events. The Human Alliance simply stated that only the facilities orbiting Goldielox were up to the task of construction.

The ship is obviously of Human design, looking like two, giant Warshield cruisers fused across the middle. The ship is cross-shaped when looked at head on, with a command tower mounted far on the aft dorsal section. There is a massive launching bay at the bottom of the ship. Its exterior is studded with point defense emplacements. Its main weaponry is a series of HI-Lasers so devastating that the legality of them is still being debated by the Consortium Congress.

These ships have never been fully tested in combat. By the end of the last border war with the TGE, only one had been completed. It was paraded near the disputed zone for all the Kreeghor commanders to see. Its very presence may or may not have had anything to do with the cessation of hostilities. As a symbol of the Consortium might, they are unsurpassed. But as an effective instrument of war, they have yet to prove their worth.

Model Type: ESC-01
Class: Flagship (Dreadnought)
Crew: 3000 Fleet Officers
Troop Capacity: carries over 10,000 CAF Marine Troopers! Plus 400 Maniple IFVs, 300 Phalanx Tanks, and over 2000 ground robots/power armor suits. This does NOT include space fighters.

MDC by Location
Main Laser Batteries (4) – 5000 each
Secondary Laser Batteries (4) – 1,200 each
Cruise Missile Batteries (4) – 900 each
GR-Gun/Missile Batteries (48) – 400 each
Hanger Bay – 75,000
*Bridge – 15,000
**Main Body – 300,000
Variable Force Fields – 15,000 per side (90,000 in total)

*Destroying the bridge will eliminate the master controls. The ship can be controlled from Engineering, but it will be -3 to strike, parry, and dodge.
** Destroying the MDC of the main body will put the ship out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

Speed:
Sub-light: Mach 7.5 in space. 100 mph in an atmosphere; not really recommended as a trans-atmospheric vessel
FTL: 6 light years per hour.
Range: Carries enough supplies to keep the crew alive for two years.

Statistical Data:
Height: 2000’
Width: 2000’
Length: 10,500’ (about 2 miles)
Weight: 100 million tons fully loaded.
Cargo: 30 million tons
Power System: Anti-matter reactor with a 50 year life span.
Construction Cost: Undisclosed. Estimated at over twenty-five trillion credits per ship.

Weapon Systems
1. Main Laser Batteries (4): The main weaponry for Emancipation consists of four, 80 inch HI-Lasers. They are arranged two per side, on the crosspiece of the front hull. These cannons were designed and built by the top weapon engineers in the Human Alliance, and are capable of dealing out 25% more damage than the main guns of the Protector. They may be fired two at a time (port or starboard), or as a devastating volley of four (which is standard operating procedure).
Primary Purpose: Anti-planet/anti-space station
Mega-Damage: 2D6x1000+3000 per cannon.
Rate of Fire: Each cannon may fire once per melee round.
Effective Range: 120 miles in space, or 60 miles in an atmosphere
Payload: Effectively unlimited

2. Secondary Laser Batteries (4): The horrific amount of damage this vessel can throw out only becomes apparent when you consider that the secondary lasers of the Emancipation are in fact, the same 40 inch cannons that form the main armament of the Protector. Two are mounted on each side of the ship, with each in a ball turret. Thus, Emancipation can actually fire each of these weapons for 360-degrees in a 90-degree arc. Yes, it can, if the target is big enough, deliver a volley of 4 blasts, though, usually, only two guns can be trained on the same target at once.
Primary Purpose: Anti-capital ship
Mega-Damage: 2D6x1000 per each cannon.
Rate of Fire: Each cannon can fire twice per melee
Effective Range: 100 miles in space, or 30 miles in an atmosphere
Payload: Effectively unlimited

3. Cruise Missile Launchers (4): Like the Protector, the cruise missile launchers are found on the front and midsection of the ship (2 on each). They can volley as many as 32 torpedoes simultaneously. With all four firing, that’s a maximum possible 128 missiles per round.
Primary Purpose: Anti-capital ship
Mega-Damage: Standard loads – either 2D6x100 for nuclear or 4D6x100 for anti-matter.
Rate of Fire: One at a time, or volleys of 2, 8, 16, or 32. Per launcher.
Effective Range: Over 1000 miles.
Payload: 32 missiles per launcher. Reloads are automatically brought up from the cargo holds (takes 2 melee rounds). Standard missile compliment is 2560 warheads: that’s 20 complete reloads for each launcher.

4. GR-Gun/Missile Batteries (48): The builders of the ship elected to use kinetic weapons as point defense, instead of lasers. Their reasoning is not entirely clear; it is well known that HI-lasers can deliver more damage than railguns. However, by electing to use railguns in the point defense turrets, the ship gains the ability to knock down missiles and enemy fighters at a range of 16 miles, instead of only 3 miles.
Primary Purpose: Anti-Aircraft/anti-robot
Mega-Damage: A burst is 20 rounds and inflicts 4D6x10 MDC. Missiles are always plasma: D6x10
Rate of Fire: Equal to the number of hand-to-hand attacks of the gunner. Missiles can be launched one at a time, or in volleys of two or four.
Effective Range: 16 miles in space, one-third that in an atmosphere. Missiles have a range of 2 miles in space.
Payload: 200 bursts for the gun, and 32 in the launcher. Both can be reloaded from the cargo bay in about 3 minutes.

5. Space Fighters and other Vehicles: The super-carrier has several fighter wings totaling 600 units: all space fighters are Black Eagles (this may explain why Galactic Armory was short 12,000 units… they were all waylaid to the Emancipation-class ships and no one was ever told). The ship also carries 100 CAF Assault shuttles and 60 Battleram Attack Robots.
_______________________________________________________

The section on the CCW is done, as are the Altess, and the Golgan. The Splugorth will finished next, followed by the super phase ship the TGE is building (hee hee), and then the UWW. I realistically hope to have this done in a week or two for submission to Rifter #34... just days before I run Phase World at Open House.

argos wrote:Couple of things:

Why not build a dreadnaught? Mages tend to have a flair for the dramatic, whats more dramatic than a huge dreadnaught? As was stated earlier, they wouldnt be able to build many, heck maybe only one, but it would be more for psychology than actual battle. Also, one must account for the coolness factor of a huge magical dreadnaught. Cmon, you know it would be sooooo cool.

Cool factor is one thing. When a carefully planned fleet mops up the floor with your cool dread, it is another.

Second, the question of how to counter magic came up. Again, more creativity needs to be used. How would YOU counter magic? Force fields prove especially effective; cant teleport beyond them and magic cant be cast through them.

Wrong. Force fields do stop phase tech, but nothing in canon says that
they stop magic like teleportation. I admit, they are supposed to stop
fireballs and lightning.

So when battling UWW ships, larger ships with more powerful force fields would be good.

Except one solid hit from a Rift cannon teleports it... somewhere it
space, time or another dimension.

These larger ships carry larger weapons, does the UWW have the resources to build massive ships? Probably not enough to keep up with the other power blocs.

But since their ship do last for millenia...

Even tech ships with magic mods take extra time. So waht do u do when ur fighting a mage? Blitzkrieg em and over power them. That seems to be very Kreegor like to begin with.

And then you die. A single, giant swallowing rift will take a good portion
of your fleet.

Countering my idea of the mystic portal soldiers is easy. Being exposed on the surface of a ship means being exposed to fire from point lasers, enemy PA and fighters, and maybe more deadly ally fire from starships.

That said, the Silverhawk is still a capital ship's nighmare.

And just cuz you can get into a ship easier doesnt mean you can take it easier or even at all. Your a strike team in enemy territory and they have a ship full of personel. MILITARY PERSONEL. A mage could surely teleport into the heart of the TE and launch an attack if he wanted to. wouldnt survive very long but he could.

Yeah, when you are talking about those Ley Line Walker dudes from
Rifts Earth.
But take a look at the DMB3, Warlock Marine Power Armor, insert a
squad or even a platoon on - say - a TGE Smasher, and guess again.

Enity missles are a cool little thing, but whats to prevent them from attacking their former enslavers once they take over a gun turret, or a possessing enity from jus fleeing. Jus cuz entities are released doesnt mean they will do what you want.

Say, a Control&Enslave Entity spell? Remember the fluff text mentioning
the tectonic entities summoned into a CS outpost?

Besides, entities are probably happily will play the role of a warhead,
since it is very close to what they do as a hobby.

A starfighter with cloak of darkness (or even invisibilty) would be hard to see, if you didnt have gravitronic sensors, heat sensors, motion sensors.

Read again. Invisibility superior. Not even footprints.

Starfire cannon. Big powerful mama-jamma. Good things star flares are predictable. What? They arent? So the fire might not travel a straight line and hit the target i wanted, instead hitting my ally, or doubling back and hitting me!!! damn GM made the star that the rift opened on go nova, now we're all dead.

Dunno... I recall a magic flamethower with the Horrific Illusion
spell in it. It looks like magic is not just able to direct it, but
can actually SCULPT it.

My point is nothing you can always find a weakness or a counter. If your especially crafty, you can even work their advantage against them. A starfighter with invisiblity on doesnt expect hes been seen. So while he waits for you to come into his range, your coming into his. He isnt likely to react as fast if he thinks he cant be seen. Its all about the creativity when it comes to magic.

Agreed. For example the CS anti-magic procedures are very
well thought.

In the case of the TGE and the CCW, they have their appropriate
member races for anti-magic... And both the Noro, and the Shilouette
had millenia to work on magic/psionic-countermagic methods.

Adios
KLM

ps: I am working on answers to Carl (or Mr. Gleba if you like )

i had a thought. Why build a giant super-carrier with hundreds of fighters, when I could just build a ship with a built-in dimensional portal, and rift in hundreds of fighters?

Yeah... that's pretty much exactly what I had in mind... though I in no way even considered ripping off the good folks at Blizzard.

If the Splugorth can do it, and the UWW was founded on ruins of a now-lost fifth Splugorth Kngdom, then the Warlock navy should have some access to all of the Sploogs tricks... like rifting in troops.

The Star Elven did not have starships, yet they colonised
several planets. Therefore, they do not need Sploogie
tricks for a planetary invasion.

Adios
KLM

Carl Gleba wrote:

KLM wrote:Upgraded ships: The text of the Dwarven Iron ships mentions several systems as recent additions. It does not have to be bigger. Moreso,
it does not have to be more enchanted - just the design enables
the magic officer to cast any spells on the craft.
It does not have to be bigger - instead, I would go for indistinguishable
ships.

I'm talking a total redesign. Sure it may have some new modern systems, but from a game and real life perspective there is a lot that could be done and I'd start with the book of magic. Actually I'd probably create two versions, one similar to the original, and one that was totaly tech.

You mean two new cruiser classes? Why not... But in this case
there must be an explanation why the WN keeps the old ones.
Introducing several upgrade packages, stating that the one
in the DMB3:PW SB is just one of them is logical, since those
ships predate the UWW. Of course this must conform the rules
of starship design, if one (Braden) decides to write them.

Rewriting the Dwarven Iron Ship? I guess you do not meant
it, since your reluctance regarding the Shadow Bolt.

KLM wrote:As for Gate Crasher, it is exactly covered by the Mage Star IMO.

Mage Star is not ringing a bell, and of late I've been digging through all of the 3G books for research. Care to elaborate?

DMB6, Page 84., the Techno Smithy OCC mentions that they
spend years on Mage Star.

That is the canon. (Yeah, I am telling it to the right guy )

What was an extrapolation (and I missed it with canon) that
the "Mage Star" is kinda an Asteroid Eater, specialising in repairing
and maybe building WN ships (after all, the Smithies must train)
and it has the capability to open the massive rift neccessary to
send hundreds of ships to battle (as per the Battle of the Newcomers).

Or for moving the Mage Star, for that matter.

KLM wrote:Stealth fighter: The shadow bolt is already a stealth fighter. Slap
in Invisibility Superior (instead of shadow melt), and here you go.

As a writer I wouldn't take something already written and say here it is but modified. I like to bring new things in, not stuff that is rehashed. Thats just me.

Actually, one does not have to alter...

For one, the Shadow Bolt does not have Shadow Meld. I missed it
again.

On the other hand, enchanting a vehicle to Invisibility: Superior
is cheap penny compared to price of a PW starfighter.

KLM wrote:Dreadnought: Since the current Rift cannon is able to take out
a ship (OK, "Just" teleports it away, maybe forever), the UWW
would not like to place so much eggs into a single basket.
Plus their loose federation.

Still, do not molest an Asteroid Eater with a puny little Doombringer.

While your logic is sound, what fun is that Any large ship with super heavy weapons is going to be one heck of a loss. But who knows what kind of heavy weapons Braden could come up with for a UWW dreadnought. I say go for it Braden!!

What fun? Well, it is kind of fun, when one goes against a vastly
bigger ship with only smaller ships at his disposal and with a
reasonable chance of success.

Be the big bruiser a Borg Cube, a Death Star (or a Super
Star Destroyer), the flagship in the Last Starfighter...
...or the Enterprise (when you fly a Bird of Prey).

Of course, if the UWW is the bad guy, drop in the Mage Star
(it is probably bigger than a Dominator ship).

KLM wrote:Alternate ammo for bottled demon launchers is a must.

Agreed I'm trying to come up with some variants myself.

As a matter of fact, an updated missile chart is long overdue
to the Three Galaxies, in general.
First, it would be a pity, if the new CS missiles would outperform
a CG driven K-Hex warhead, guided by the latest NE AI.

Second, missile prices. Mutants in Orbit and Manhunter sell missiles
on a rock bottom price. Rifts Earth prices do not seem to be
appropriate in the Three Galaxies - after all, this market seems
to be saturated.

Braden, we expect a progress report prior to the big event! Otherwise you'll find a pair of Oni thugs at your door. They have orders to duck tape you in front of your computer and stay until you're finished
Carl

Oh, and two unshaven, stinking MALE Oni thugs, for that matter.

Adios
KLM

The Golgan are now done.

Their new battle ship is SPIFFY: it can lay 960 mines a minute!

Their fighters are specially designed to be used by two Zebuloids, giving it 14 maneuvers per round, and another 14 shots per round with its guns!

They have no antimatter, and use nuclear torpedos!

Fun, fun, fun.
_____________________________________________

And the UWW have a new missile called a "limpet": it can pass through forcefields, and crashes into the hull of an enemy vessel, where it casts Negate Mechanics. How's that?

If you go looking for science in this article, you'll be looking for a loooong time.

But here, from the Altess section:
______________________________________

Armoria Weapon Notes

The technology employed by the Altess fleets is highly advanced, and very powerful. There is a reason that the Armoria has never seen fit to build a vessel of Flagship-size or greater: they don’t need to. Their starship weapon systems are not built with cost efficiency in mind. They are designed to cripple the shields of an enemy vessel at great range, and destroy the enemy’s hull in the shortest time possible (one or two volleys is optimal). The following things should be kept in mind when deploying the Armoria into combat.

Armoria Missiles: every missile fired from an Armoria starship is a smart bomb. From point defense mini-missiles, to nuclear long-range missiles, each and every one will be a K-hex warhead with built-in robotic drone intelligences (+5 to strike, +4 to dodge, 2 attacks per melee). Also, all of these missiles have twice the range as their normal counterparts.

Armoria Cruise Missiles: called a Nezsam torpedo, these heavy-hitters exemplify the theory that ultatech weapons may not necessarily do more damage than conventional ones, but will be far more accurate in delivering their yield. Nezsams inflict as much damage as a standard antimatter torpedo, but are driven by an advanced robotic targeting and maneuvering system. Each torpedo is +2 to initiative, + 6 to strike, +8 to dodge, and has 4 actions per round!

Power Systems: each Altess starship uses a power source not known by anyone else in the Three Galaxies. They are run not by anti-matter, but by compressed quark nuggets, or so-called “strange matter”. A quark nugget has 14 times the charge of a single proton, and 170 times the mass. By compressing it in a magnetic field, the Altess ships are able to tap unimaginable amounts of power. Quark nuggets are what allow for the potency of the beam weapons onboard the Yannar and the Zhokil.

Magnetic Photon Arrays: powered by strange matter reactors, these energy beams are unique to the Altess Armoria. Dazzling purple in color, and with twice the range of comparable HI-Lasers, magnetic photon beams are designed to interfere with variable force fields. They do double damage to all kinds of shields, technological or magical, but inflict the listed damage when fired at any other kind of solid material (ships, planets, people, ect). As well, the power of the photon arrays can be cut in half, turning them into incredible point defense guns. CosmoKnights still take 1/100th damage from these beams.

Braden, GMPhD wrote:The Golgan are now done.

(...)
Their fighters are specially designed to be used by two Zebuloids, giving it 14 maneuvers per round, and another 14 shots per round with its guns!

The Republican Guard is supposedly full golgan, not other races
allowed. But adding a local AI, like the one in the Anti Juicer Armor
from Uprising

They have no antimatter, and use nuclear torpedos!

Err... No antimatter reactors? For a once superpower?
Hard to beleive, since some commercial spacecraft
have AM power.

Fun, fun, fun.
_____________________________________________

And the UWW have a new missile called a "limpet": it can pass through forcefields, and crashes into the hull of an enemy vessel, where it casts Negate Mechanics. How's that?

Sounds good for start.

Adios
KLM

Phalanx wrote:Or Mage Star is one of the member worlds of the UWW.

That still can mean an Asteroid Eater, you know.

Besides, I have the impression that a major fleet
repair base is needed when training to Techno Smithy,
and most shipyards are in space...

Now, if we have a major shipyard, why not give it
the ability to rescue ships from anywhere? The UWW
has the means for it, and it is more convenient
than to tow in a gutted Iron Ship from like 100 parsecs.

Now, with this capability, we can insert a fleet anywhere
it is needed.

If we can open a planet sized rift, the facility can escape.

But we add some guns to it, since we do not want it to
flee from like a lone Vacuum Wasp. But since it is big,
we can add quite an array of weapons.

Now, we have the Mage Star.
-----

Of course it can be a planet... Just it limits the amount of
raw materials aviable, plus the size of the ships to be
built, and it is not mobile, so in case of an attack, it will
be lost more easily.

Plus the cool factor

Adios
KLM

I don't think this has been mentioned before, but ever thought about what goes inside the ship? Everything is always about stats and whats on the outside(guns, armour, sheilds) what about internal defenses?

For internal defenses, incase of boarding the UUW and other magic/technowizardy ships have it made. There are so many things one can do. Random portals at the opening of doors(or in elevator shafts that swallow the whole elevator) illusionary walls(backed up by force feilds to give it substance) to create sort of a maze. Imagine walking into a 50X50 "room" and its nothing but a long twisting corridor with many dead ends. Phantom Illusions chasing boarding parties, some sorta masking aura spell to confuse the heck outta anyone thats trying to use a spell to track the defenders, the always useful phantom enviorment. Can't think of any spells right now, to early in the morning. But you get the idea.

As for teleportation, isn't there a ritual spell in Palladium thats a teleport spell? I can't remember. If not, just make one. It would be mostly a one way teleport where one casts the spell away from the ship and is taken straight to the teleport room where there would be the usual ritual spell stuff(candles, chalk/salt/magic powder) drawing on the floor. Even better would be using it as an alternative to ejecting outta your heavily damaged fighter, provided your in range of the carrier. Could use it to quickly refit and resupply, bring reinforcments to a ship thats being boarded, or needs to be evacuated.

Nope. They can do 4 completely different things at once if they want to (light a smoke, brew some coffee, paint a picture, and type out a novel).

or they can focus on one thing, I guess, and get "14 melee actions or attacks per round!" (Anvil Galaxy, pg. 63)

So go Golgan Argosy!

Phalanx wrote:

argos wrote:8 Fighters equipped with cloak of darkness. In the middle of space, would be impossible to find. Ultimate sneak attack.

Just some possible ideas aside from the obvious aatack spells.

That's proven to be damned effective in my Pax Atlantea game I'm running.

Easier to find than you might think...

Think about invisibility while underwater - there is a "hole" in the water.

In the case of the cloak of darkness, the ship still occludes stars and anything else behind it...so, make sure you are not directly between your target and a luminous object like a quasar, galactic core, or nebulae!



In any case...

Broaden... Don't forget that a significant number of worlds in the UWW don't use magic...they use tech just like the Consortium or others. In fact, they probably have purchased and "upgraded" several decommissioned CCW ships. A good 1/3 (I believe I remember seeing somewhere) of the UWW fleet would be 100% tech.

Then consider, what do the UWW dwarves and such do when they have completed mining an asteroid and move to another? Why not mount weapons, engines and shielding on it?

As for dreadnaughts, personally I don't really see the UWW going in this direction. As have been mentioned before - "too many 'eggs' in one basket. ESPECIALLY where the "high-end" TW ships are concerned... After all, TW ships cost more to build, take LONGER to build, and are harder to repair. The biggest I personally can see the UWW going is a super cruiser type ship. Besides, with something like 0.01% of the fleet's crews being dragons and godlings...dragons and godlings I might add that are patriots.

Anyway - take a look at the spell lists available for the elvish and dwarvish (in particular) peoples, and think about how each offensive spell can be used to effect. (Or if it could even work in a vacuum!) After all, what damage could a missile that can pass through tech shielding and "shotgun" a couple Annihilation spells at the ship's hull do?

UPDATE:

The UWW will now have a dreadnought-sized vessel. These are 30,000 year old Elven colony ships that were turned into battleships to fight the Splugorth.

now everyone should be happy...

That four zeroes would wreak havoc in the timeline...
(Not that it is not already messed up).

But yeah, if they are used in a similar fashion like
the Royal Navy uses Ro/Ro transports as aircraft
carrier/amphibious assault ships... Well, there is
potential.

Adios
KLM

Elven civilization dates back to before the War against the Dominators... that's 50,000 years.

And I have them hiding for a long time after that before they start poking about the Anvil Galaxy once more. Besides... the big ships have Metropolis cast on them, so they regenerate. All the ships are good as new 30 millennia later.

Ooo...self reparing ships...

Hmmm...sounds remarkably like a certain Xenophobic race in the Anvil Galaxy.

Just do not make them too resembling to the Eldar Craftworlds from
Warhammer 40K.

Adios
KLM

KLM wrote:Just do not make them too resembling to the Eldar Craftworlds from
Warhammer 40K.

No worry there. the Star Elves have no wraithbone.

The thing with Elves in any setting is that, as a mythology, we have to have certain things. They are always an older race than humanity. They are always skilled beyond mortal reckoning. They are aloof, distance themselves from other races, and their goals in life are really hard for others to comprehend.

As for the big ship (it's called the Brightwander-class), what the Elves would do is load up everything they needed to start a new colony into it, fly it up into the clouds, then "look at a star and go there". The ships ley line phase along the cosmic ley lines that tie all planets and moons and stars together. Thus these big vessels have the closest thing to a space fold drive that there is.

Later, the Warlocks, turned them into makeshift space carriers to fight the Splugorth by putting conventional drives and such into them.

When you read the fluff, ti should all work out. Nothing is too jarring from what has already been established, and I like to think that it all flows together quite smoothly.

just because they're older doesn't mean more advanced though.
and 'skillful' doesn't apply to everything.

i rather like the idea that in the 3G's, elves are the reletive newkids on the block, and that humanity has been tooling around the stars for centuries longer.

Something else to keep in mind re: the age of Star Elf civilization... for a species that lives 1000 years or more, the War agasint the Dominators is only fifty generations past.

A long time for us (50,000 years ago we were learning to walk upright), not so long for the long-lived races in the universe.

Err... You have to rewrite the timeline. Drastically.
I feel uneasy when someone kicks up preset "facts"
but go for it... Maybe it will make sense.

Plus 50.000 years ago we were happily wiping out the
Neanderthals, and were walking for like a couple of million
years...

Adios
KLM

try a G based system.

at 1 g of accelleration (about 10 meters per second per second), and assuming your accelleration halfway, and decelling the other half...

1 AU in ~70 hours.

at 2 g's, it would be more like 49.5 hours
at 4 g's, 35
at 8 g's24.7

and so on.


at 1 g of accell, after 8760 hours of accelleration, you'd be pushing the speed of light. (that would be a gravitic drive only thing though, most high yeild drives would trail off before 1/2C when they reach the same velocity as their exhaust.



for a partially fluffed out g based system...

Dr. Hellstromme wrote:OPTION: Teleporter: every magical missile can be given this feature. The missile senses when it is about to hit a non-magical force field and teleports forward only a few meters. This will get the missile behind the shield. Chance of success is only 75 %, a failed roll means the teleportation happened at the wrong time, and the missile hits the force field. Magical force fields and phase fields give protection from teleportation.

Unfortunately, even technological FFs will stop a teleport. However, if you change it to opening a very short ranged wormhole / rift, it might work as per current FAQs.

Borast wrote:
Unfortunately, even technological FFs will stop a teleport. However, if you change it to opening a very short ranged wormhole / rift, it might work as per current FAQs.

Where was it mentioned?

Adios
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