| Phoenix: Starships - Full Rules | |
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Starships Stellar Navigation Worlds Scanning and Evasion Interaction and Trade Exploration Building
Outposts
and
Starbases Maintaining
Ships Links to
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StarshipsIntroduction Starships (also referred to as spaceships, space vessels, or simply ships) are vehicles capable of travelling through space. Ships come in all shapes and sizes, which in Phoenix are defined by the items that go into their construction. There are two basic parameters to a ship, from which the general concept of the ship is derived. These are the type of hull used in their construction, and the quantity used. Hull TypesThere are four types of hull that span a range from large volume but thin and weak through to small volume but thick and able to withstand damage.
Ship SizeThe quantity of hulls multiplied by the internal capacity of the hull determines the size of the ship. It can therefore be seen that a ship constructed out of 100 light hulls will be much larger than a ship constructed out of 100 heavy hulls. IntegrityIntegrity is a measure of how resilient the hull type is to day-to-day stresses. As a ship can only be constructed out of one type of hull, this value will determine how often a ship will have to be patched up. This multiplier is applied to the stress level of any action to determine loss of integrity. Therefore, a ship constructed out of heavy hulls performing the same actions as an xtra light ship will suffer integrity losses at a rate of 1/8th that of the xlight ship. This is a very important factor when considering the type of ship to assign to a certain task. Internal ItemsThe hulls of a ship are the bare bones. A ship needs items installed within it to make it functional. There are a number of basic items required in order for a ship to be serviceable. ISR Drives – these propel a ship through interplanetary space. Without them it would take a ship from months to years to get from one planet to another. Jump Drive – this is used to move a ship from one planetary system to another (see chapter on Stellar Navigation). Thrust Engines – these are used in order to perform manoeuvres in gravity wells such as around planets. ISR drives cannot be used in these circumstances due to interference with the ISR field. Quarters – crew and life forms need to have a number of basic living requirements satisfied. Quarters cover everything from sleeping booths through to mess halls and limited recreation facilities. Bridge – while this is optional, not having one places a greater burden on the crew. As very small ships can easily have more crew than are needed, they can often go without a bridge and accommodate the drop in running efficiency. Sensors – these are the eyes and ears of the ship. They use a battery of scanning techniques in order to observe the region of space near the ship. Further, they are used for specific actions such as scanning for minerals or other ships. Cargo Bays – these are used for the transport of items (see section on Interaction and Trade) Crewing a StarshipAs well as a number of basic items installed into the ship, there are several other requirements. The most important of these is a crew to run the ship. Each item installed in a ship requires someone to look after it. This is known as the crew factor requirement. For a ship all these requirements are totalled giving an overall crew factor requirement. In order for the ship to run at normal operating efficiency (100%) the ship requires a crew whose total crew factors equals or exceeds this requirement. While crew are the most able at running ships, other troops can also be used. The table below gives the crew factors provided by various troops. Veterans (troops that have gained experience) are better than normal troops.
Ship designs generally assume that crew will be used to run a ship, therefore it is most often the case that there will not be enough quarters to run a ship using other types of troops. As space is a premium on ships, more advanced items, if available, such as bunks or cryogenic booths can be installed instead of quarters. This increases the life capacity of the ship per installation space used. Ships designed for war, for example may encounter boarding actions. For this reason it is better to use marines as they are suited to close-quarter fighting. But as warships are made out of heavy hulls in order to resist damage, space is tight. As a result they will often install bunks, instead of quarters. These are both more resilient to damage and cram more life forms into the same space as quarters. Bunks though are both restricted technology and require the use of expensive minerals. As such they are generally considered a frivolity on a lighter hull ship. EfficiencyMost orders performed by the ship take time - normally a set amount for a specific order. This however is adjusted by the efficiency of the ship. If there are insufficient crew factors to meet the requirements of the ship, then the time to perform the orders is increased accordingly. Taking shore leave, i.e. a visit to a recreation complex gives a boost to efficiency that means that actions take less time. This boost to efficiency however is short lived. There is no other normal way of boosting efficiency beyond 100%. Having more crew factors available than the requirement does not make the ship run more efficiently, it merely means that other penalties such as a surly crew (one that has not had shore leave for over 30 weeks), not having a bridge or attempting to fly an alien ship for example can be overcome, allowing the ship to run at optimal efficiency (100%). CaptainsA ship has a rank associated with it. This is generally captain. Under normal circumstances the captain is non-commissioned officer, i.e. one of the crew. With time however a crewmember could be given a commission, using the ‘Create Officer’ political order (See political position rules for more information). Once created, the new officer (a unique item in the game) will begin to accumulate experience that will aid in combat, and also give a boost to the crew factors provided by each crewmember. It is important to note that the rank is associated with the ship, not the officer. As such there is no reason why a ship without a commissioned officer cannot have a rank of admiral, although the lack of experience may well deter an affiliation from promoting a ship to this rank. If the ship’s rank is increased, the ship will be able to have greater autonomy over its choice of actions, including which enemies it can select. Captains can only attack pirates and support and defend their own affiliation’s positions (see appendix, Orders – add to enemy, add to support, add to defend). WagesWages are paid every week. These are drawn either from the player’s political position, or from the individual ship if the player does not own a political position. Standard weekly wages are equal to one stellar per troop (crew are classed as troops). The captain is also paid 5 stellars per week, such is the price for having somebody more experienced than the standard crew. If there are insufficient stellars to pay the crew they will start to be less efficient. Should a player so desire, they can set the wages to be less than the standard amount. The primary reason for this is if the ship is transporting troops. In such cases there will be vastly more crew factors than the requirement of the ship. As such the drop in efficiency will not prove to be problematic. At times however due to various events such as combat there may be a shortfall in crew factors. This would normally mean that the ship is running at less than 100% efficiency. Setting the wages to greater than 1 stellar each per week can be used to increase the efficiency. For example, setting the wages to double will double the crew factors available. It is important to remember that having more crew factors than necessary - either through extra troops or by paying extra wages - will never increase the efficiency of the ship above 100%. Only a recreation visit will do this. When a crew visit recreation complexes they will spend some of the wages that they have been paid over the last six months. The quantity of recreation complexes present, as well as the amount of stellars they own, will determine the amount of stellars that they will spend in any one visit. All the stellars spent in the recreation complex visit go to the starbase owner. It is therefore in the interest of the starbase governor to build lots of complexes and entice ships to visit their starbase. They may offer incentives to visit their starbase instead of another. For example, a warship with a crew of 200 marines will have a wage bill of 5200 stellars over 6 months. Even if the crew blow only a quarter of their wages in a single visit, this is still well over a 1000 stellars, or enough stellars to run 50 complexes for a month! Few governors are going to pass up on this. |
Mass
In
Phoenix, the term mass unit (usually written as mu – pronounced: em
you) is used to represent a combination of volume, mass and inertia. A single
mu cannot be truly expressed in terms of cubic metres or even kilograms, it
is a kind of compromise. It also takes into account other factors. For
example a single life form is classed as one mu. As well as the physical mass
of the life form the mu also accounts for living space required by the life
form, possibly tools of trade such as weapons and even an environmental suit.
An mu of ore on the other hand will include some kind of suitable storage
device or cargo pod. Items Items
along with mass (mu’s) have a vast number of other parameters. These
determine what the item can do or be used for. Each specific item has a
unique number for example . Metals = 1, while Human Crew = 505. Items
that have a number of common parameters or functions are grouped together.
This is known as their item TYPE. This determines what the item can be used
for, e.g. Metals has the item type ORE, this means that it used in building
many other items. Hulls on the other hand are used in the construction of
ships and are therefore given the item type SHIP HULL. TROOPS are used to run
ships, control ordnance and fight battles. Certain items also have a subtype.
Time Each
week is broken up into 5 days during which turns are processed. This is
normally Monday to Friday. This allows for some freedom to move processing
days to accommodate bank holidays and general internet disasters. Where a day
is lost the weekend will be used to bring the game back into line. During
a standard processing day, orders submitted for positions, including any
pending orders, will be run. Any special actions will be dealt with and
standard maintenance checks for appropriate positions will be performed.
After these are all finished, battles will be conducted. Finally, the results
of all of these orders, known as TURN RESULTS, will be emailed to the
appropriate players.
As
stated each week consists of 5 days and each day is broken down into 60 TIME
UNITS (TU’s). This means that there are 300TU’s in every week. Each
action performed by a ship requires a set number of TU’s. In order to make
life simpler for the player however ships are able to stack TU’s for up to a
week, effectively performing up to 300TU’s worth of actions in one set of
orders. For
example, a ship could buy some items, leave orbit of a planet, travel across
the star system and enter orbit of another world and deliver the items it has
just bought to a starbase situated on the world. Where
a player issues a number of orders that overrun the total available TU’s, the
remaining orders are NOT deleted. They
will be saved. These saved orders are known as PENDING ORDERS. A list
of the pending orders will be shown at the bottom of the turn result for the
ship. THESE
ORDERS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED UNTIL THE SHIP HAS 300TU’S AVAILABLE! This
means that the week following the first turn, another turn will be sent to
the player with the next 300 TU’s worth of the pending orders completed – or
all the remaining orders. If there are still orders pending this will
continue week after week until all the orders have been completed.
As
stated above a ship can perform 60TU’s worth of actions per day. This means
that a player can if they desire merely send in orders totalling up to 60
TU’s and have a turn sent back to them every day. In
fact if a player sends orders in, a turn will always be generated. This
means that even if there are orders pending, sending in more orders will
trigger the ship to attempt as many of the pending orders as time allows. For
example, if the ship has performed 300TU’s worth of actions and still has
some pending, sending in more orders 3 days later will mean that the ship
will attempt to perform another 180TU’s of the pending orders.
Stellars Stellars
(in-game money) are one of the most important aspects of Phoenix. It is used
for wages of troops and employees, it is gained from goods sold to world
populations. A
stellar is a unit of currency. It is defined by a number of basic assumptions
in the universe of Phoenix.
It
has a standard value equal to 1mu of luxury goods sold to a planetary
population on the same planet as the goods originated.
It
is the standard weekly wage paid to a troop or employee in a starbase or crew
on a ship.
It
is the production cost of 1mu of an item. This does not include the base
mineral cost.
From
these defining factors, the relative value of any object or service can be
determined.
A
stellar is not a physical item, but a rating of credit agreed upon by the
Extragalactic Economic Monopoly (EEM). Every position willing to trade or
perform any service registers (an automatic part of the game) and all stellar
transactions are passed via the EEM. Phoenix
is a game not an accounting package. One generic currency has been opted for
to make life simpler for the player – this feature is a game mechanic that
cannot be circumvented or cheated. The EEM do not normally interact with
the game on any other level, nor can they be swindled or cheated.
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Scanning and EvasionAs has been noted under Rogue Asteroids and Comets in the section above, not everything is immediately visible to the sensors of the ship, even if they are close by. Scanning works on three principles, these are range of detection, scanning power and the profile of the object being scanned. Range of SensorsThe first principle, Range of sensors is a fairly simple concept. Space is large, so it is the case that the ship actively scanning may not even come within range of an object in the first place. The larger the volume of space, the lower the chances of happening upon an object. When moving around a system from one quadrant to another, the chance of coming within sensor range of all objects in the orbital quadrant is roughly proportional to the orbital ring. Further, only the location moved into is checked, i.e. moving from Alpha 10 to Beta 10 will give a 10% chance of happening to get within sensor range of each object present within orbital quadrant Beta 10. When moving across a system, from one orbital to the next (inwards or outwards) as a much smaller area is crossed, so the chance of happening to get within range of an object is roughly equal to the square of the orbital being scanned. Again it is the orbital being moved into which is scanned, i.e. moving from Alpha 9 to Alpha 10 gives a 1% chance of happening to get within sensor range of every object present within Alpha 10. Thus, it is much more effective when patrolling a system, if ships follow circular paths around the system. Sensor RatingThe total output of the sensors of the ship produces a value called the sensor power. This is based on the total output of the sensors installed on the ship. Increasing sensor numbers gives diminishing returns, so the sensor power of 20 sensors is not double the sensor power of 10 sensors. The conversion of output to power is then translated into a value called the sensor rating and is measured as a percentage. This is the chance of detecting an object with a sensor profile of 0%. Even a single sensor will give a positive sensor power resulting in a sensor rating greater than 0%. It is possible to achieve sensor ratings greater than 100%. Sensor ProfileEvery object, including ships, starbases, worlds and ground parties have a sensor profile. This can be a large negative to a large positive. If an object cannot normally be missed it will have a sensor profile greater than 100%. Sensor profile is largely determined by surface area. The lighter hull ships are designed to have maximum volume for cargo. As such they have large surface areas when compared to ships that are built from the same number of hulls, but incorporating a heavier hulltype. The table below gives an indication of the basic sensor profile of a 50 hull ship for varying hulltypes. Under normal circumstances, an xlight hulled ship is easily spotted, even at this small size.
As increasing the number of sensors installed in a ship will increase the sensor power of the ship, so too are there ways of decreasing the sensor profile of a ship. Korondite PlatesAs detailed in the combat and ship design sections plates can be layered onto a ship during construction. Certain types of plates counter scanners. These effectively reduce the sensor profile of the ship. As the number of plates that can be fitted to a ship is proportional to the hull type, heavy hull ships can utilise the most plates. The table indicates the results of using standard korondite plates for each hull type.
This means that a ship that gets within sensor range of a heavy hull ship (50 hulls) needs a sensor power of at least 44% in order to have even a basic chance of detecting it. There are even more advanced versions of korondite plates that will reduce the sensor profile of the ship even further. CloakingRelated to scanning and detection is the ability to cloak. All cloaking devices are advanced technologies, but as they are not uncommon their use is described here. Cloaking devices make the ship completely undetectable irrespective of the sensor power of the scanning position. They also effectively make the cloaking position blind while cloaked, i.e. the cloaking position cannot scan. All cloaking devices can operate for a limited amount of time. After this, the position has become charged with exotic particles. These do not interfere with the normal running of the position but are easily detected, which means that the position cannot be cloaked again until the charge dissipates. This normally requires 300TU’s to pass since the last activation. All cloaking devices work on an optimum surface area that can be cloaked. In ships, this equates to total installation space (quantity of hulls multiplied by internal capacity). If the size of the ship attempting to cloak is greater than this value, the cloak will not last as long due to the increased rate of exotic particle build-up. Locked in CombatWhenever a ship is scanned, a combat check will be automatically initiated. If a ship is registered as an enemy, it will be attacked. The attacker will attempt to get close enough to the target ship that it can effectively prevent the formation of ISR fields or disrupt attempts to land or leave orbit. This will be successful only if the attacking ship has a superior combat speed. While combat is covered in more detail in the combat section, this point is very important for scanning. If a ship is pinned and therefore forced into combat, it loses all hope of trying to remain unnoticed. As such the ship, an in fact any other position involved in combat immediately has sensor profiles of 100% and the standard sensor range check is ignored. If a position is pinned, it cannot perform the cloaking action (see combat section on combat options). Therefore it cannot leave combat through the use of stealth of any kind.
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Scanning Overview If a scanning ship comes within sensor range of an object there is a chance of scanning the object. The sensor power of the ship is added to the sensor profile of the target object. This is the percentage chance of the ship scanning the target object.
Modifications to Sensor Profile Certain locations will decrease the sensor profile of a ship, these include nebulas, the optical depth of a world’s atmosphere and in fitting of special plates to the hull of the ship during construction. Similarly starbases and outposts can build cave complexes that will hide mass from sensor scans. As the sensor profile of the starbase/outpost is based on observable mass, this decreases their sensor profile.
Places to Hide Hanging around the outer edge of the system will reduce the risk of being observed in the first place.
Landing on a large planet with a high optical depth will decrease chances of being scanned.
Combat Combat alerts every position in the location. All positions involved in combat will always be scanned.
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Interaction and TradeOne of the key elements to Phoenix is the relocation of items. This will be done for many reasons such as trade, colonisation, war, empire expansion and so on. It is generally the role of the ship to accommodate this transfer. This is where the cargo section of the ship comes in use. While most items can be carried in general cargo bays, dedicated transportation bays can be installed. There are restrictions placed on each type. There are a number of types of cargo
Transaction TypesThere are four basic transaction types. These are pick-up, deliver, buy and sell. All of these transfer items from one position to another. If the quantity of an item specified in an order is greater than the quantity available, then the amount transferred will be automatically decreased to the amount available. Should there be none of the item present then the action will fail. The ship will still be charged the standard number of TU’s for the action even if it failed. Transferred items are placed by default in the cargo section of the destination position. Should there be insufficient cargo space for the specified item in the destination position, the amount of item transferred will be decreased to the maximum amount that will fit. If the installation option has been selected then the transferred items are not placed into cargo but an attempt is made to install the items, bypassing cargo space. Again if insufficient installation space is available the amount installed will be reduced to the maximum possible. The program will then attempt to transfer the remainder to cargo space as detailed above. (see below) Buy and sell deal with starport markets. These will involve an automatic stellar transfer based on the price of the item. Should there be insufficient stellars in the purchaser’s account then the quantity of items transferred will be decreased in order to keep in line with the stellars available. Pick-up and deliver normally require the use of security codes for the position being interacted with. If the same player owns both positions, the security code is automatically assumed to have been given, and so a player does not need to specify these in their orders. InstallingWhen buying or picking-up items, presuming there is sufficient installation space available, the items can be selected for direct installation into the ship. This will always decrease the integrity of the ship. If the ship falls below 20% integrity it will not be allowed to install further items until it has performed a maintenance complex visit to restore lost integrity. If an item cannot be installed, such as crew, trade goods and such then the order will ignore the install indicator in the order and attempt to place the items in the relevant cargo section. Only ships have an installed section, so when delivering to non-ship positions, there is no need to use the install option. Pick-up AuthorisationsHaving the security code for a position effectively allows any items to be pick-up without the consent of the position’s owner. As such it is generally the case that instead of giving out the security code, the position owner will give out authorisations. These effectively limit the range of items that can be pick-up without the need for the security code. The exact range of pick-up authorisations can be found on the order. Examples include allowing free access by all within the affiliation or possibly a single item to be picked-up by a specific ship. Transactions using Item TypesWhile transactions are normally for a specific item number, such as Basic Elements (2), they can also be for item types such as Ores. The advantage of using item types is that a number of items can be accounted for in the same time period. If an outpost on the edge of known space is mining a few different ores, then ships are not particularly fussy which ores they are picking up as all the ores present will be eventually shipped off to a starbase. As such the ship will issue the order to pick up item type “ores” equal to the amount of cargo space present. By doing it this way the ship does not need to specify which ores to pick-up and if there are more than one ore type present, the action will only take the time of a single pick-up. An even better example of the use of item type is salvaging debris. By using pick-up and deliver item type “anything” a cargo ship can be ordered to undertake shipping runs effectively hoovering up the debris and delivering it to a starbase or other position. Important Note– deliver item type “anything” does not deliver any item which provides crew factors. This is to stop the delivery of crew which would render the ship useless. It will however deliver every other type of item from the cargo including space fighters, ammunition and such, so should be used with some discretion by warships. Transactions that use the item type parameter always start with the item present in the largest quantity. Once this has been transferred up to the maximum number of mu’s possible then other items are considered. For example, picking-up “anything” from the debris of a destroyed ship may attempt to pick-up hulls first until the space present in the cargo section of the ship falls below 100mu’s (the mass of 1 hull), then it may pick up quarters and attempt to fill the remaining cargo space and finally pick-up some gattling lasers and troops until there is no cargo space remaining. All this will cost the standard TU’s of one pick-up. Planetary EconomiesA player running only ships need not concern themselves with the ins and outs of planetary economies, but understanding the basics of trade is very important for making a profit and paying crew wages. Many planets produce unique trade goods, life forms and drugs. By unique it means that although the item falls into an item type, the item itself cannot be produced on any other world. As these are freely accessible to the planetary population the demand for the unique items is quite low on the planet. On other worlds the planetary population will pay more for the item. The increased value of the item is based on the purchasing population and the distance from the origin. As such, buying unique items from one starbase and selling them to another (either in another star system, or a distant periphery) can earn the ship a lot of stellars. However, as the ship cannot sell directly to a population, they have to negotiate a purchase price with the owner of the starbase they are intending to sell to. A small population will only be able to cope with a small mass of drugs and trade goods on a weekly basis, while a largely uninhabitable world will have few people wanting to colonise it. This should be taken into account by the freighter captain when scouting out deals. As such it is generally the case that small shipments of very expensive goods should be sold to starbases on worlds with low populations. Huge shipments of low value goods should be sold to starbases on worlds with larger populations, and probably many starbases in competition. Also, where possible a round trip should not be ignored. Swapping cargo or taking part payment in goods will mean that stellars are to be made in both directions. A clever captain with a number of contacts could easily make good profits with only a small ship, ferrying goods across the galaxy from one small starbase to another. Rapid Trade RunsAs each ship can accumulate up to 300TU’s a number of
ships in strategic locations can be used as a relay in order to get a
perishable shipment from one location to another before the weekly attrition
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Cargo A
ship has a maximum installation capacity. Certain items such as cargo bays
and quarters can be installed into this space. Once installed they provide
room for items that are not normally installed, such as life forms or trade
goods. Items
in cargo can be loaded and unloaded without danger to the integrity of the
ship. Items
can either be picked-up and delivered through the use of the specific item number
or through item type. The latter will allow for multiple items to be
transferred at the same time, but with the costs of a single transaction. Important If
item type ANYTHING is used for a delivery or a sell, items with crew factors
will not be considered. This is to prevent delivering all the crew from the
ship by accident, which would render it useless!
Where
a number of transactions are carried out and there is uncertainty over the
amount of item present, it is standard practise to use quantities greater
than would be possible to pick-up, e.g. a ship with 500mu cargo space may
attempt to buy 500mu photon guns, 500mu luxury goods and 500mu metals. The
theory is that photon guns are the primary purchase. After buying as many of
these as possible, the ship will then attempt to fill any remaining space
with preferably luxury goods, but failing that “metals will do”, thus
hopefully ensuring that the ship fills its cargo hold to capacity.
HIPORTS Starbases
and outposts can build links from the ground into orbit. If a
starbase/outpost has a hiport, a ship can perform all transactions while in
orbit (but not complex visits).
Planets
purchase items from starbases. The amount they pay for standard items can be
determined by the economy scan of the planet. The
only way to actually sell to the world is through a starbase built on the
world. Even a planet without a population may have a life form market. This
is the case for habitable worlds where the starbase is effectively being paid
to act as a colonisation facility.
As
a starbase determines the items on its market, a ship owner will often have
to contact the owner of the colony in order to strike up a deal for the
purchase of specific items.
An
economy scan can be used in order to give a basic value for an item sold to
the planetary population by the starbase on the world. Further it will also
state the standard weekly mass that will be purchased by the population.
Perishables Certain
trade goods are classed as perishable. These items go off. In game this is
accounted for by a weekly mass attrition. Each week there will be a drop of
up to 5% of the mass. When trading in perishable masses it is imperative that
this loss is taken into consideration on all trade deals. If the goods are
going to be in transit for a few weeks this could vastly reduce the profit
margin.
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ExplorationExploration is an important part of Phoenix. It is used to search for new resources as well as determine where to build outposts. Resources can be classified under three headings. These are mineral based, special and planetary population. Searching for Mineral ResourcesProduction converts ores into finished items. As such, new and better sources of minerals are always desired. Mineral deposits can also become exhausted over time, thus forcing searches for new ore sources. Scanning a planet for minerals is known as Geological Probability Indication (GPI). What this gives is the likelihood of minerals of the type specified being present. The sensor power of the ship also gives an error range in the mineral abundance present. Increasing the sensor power of the ship will reduce the error range, giving a more accurate indication of the ore present. There are number of ways to GPI a world. The first is a GPI of the entire planet. This takes the average of the ore scanned for over the entire surface area of the world. On a large world, the low general background will swamp a small number of localised deposits. A GPI scan of a designated area can also be conducted. This can be done in order to look at the average over the area. A series of these can be used on large worlds in order to quickly zoom in on a localised deposit by a series of overlapping GPI scans. Scanning rows will allow a ship to sequentially GPI scan every sector in a row for the range of rows indicated. This is slow but does have the advantage of being thorough. Finally a GPI scan can be conducted for a single specific sector. ProspectingOnce a sector is designated as a location likely to contain one or more minerals, a second operation can be carried out. This takes much longer than a GPI and can only be conducted while landed in the designated sector. It involves taking samples of the rock, soil, subsurface (or even ocean floor) and determining the exact yields of various ores present. It determines the vein, which is the mass or ore present. Finally the prospect also determines the accessibility of the vein. This is the number of mines that can exploit the vein at maximum output. There will be a 10% drop in the output of the mines for every multiple of this number, e.g. the table below shows a yield of 100mu’s and a 10% drop of 15.
From this it can be seen that if the yield is high but the 10% drop is very low, setting up a large outpost to tap what seems like a good yield on the surface may well prove to be a poor investment. Another table, this time for a yield of 150 but a 10% drop of 3.
For the first 15 mines this outpost will out-produce the previous one, but this all changes when larger quantities of mines start to be considered. A good explorer will take these finds into consideration when searching for a site for an outpost. When looking at minerals it is also a good idea to look at the range of minerals that can be produced in the sector. It is often the case that a sector will have a number of overlapping ores or even possibly more than one source of a single ore. In the above example, the two ore veins may have existed in the same sector. This means that construction of an outpost would allow it to exploit ore from the 150mu yield to begin with, and then with increasing numbers of mines start exploiting the 100 yield once the return on the 150 fell below 100. Each deposit has its own unique identification number (ID#). This is only revealed by the prospect order. This ID# is used by the outpost in order to exploit the deposit. When considering where to construct an outpost, the vein has to be considered. There is little point in building an outpost in a sector where all the ores will be exhausted in a few months! Searching for Special ResourcesSpecial resources are those that cannot be found through standard actions and require the ship to perform special actions. These are always processed by a human moderator and as such have a real money charge of £1.50 per special action associated with them. Once a special resource is discovered however, it is added to the data for the game and given a unique identity number (ID#). Once this ID# has been discovered, it can be used by any outpost or starbase in order to exploit the special resources, there is no further need to conduct special actions. As such starbase owners are often prepared to pay for ships to explore the planet for them, rooting out new special resources. Conducting an expedition to discover special resources is fairly simple. Mapping the surface of the world will produce a map of the various terrains present on the surface of the world. For simplicities sake all terrains of a specific type are considered to have similar ecologies. There may be a few exceptions, although these will be obvious from the results of the explorations. Armed with a map, ships can then land in each terrain type and perform a “Surface Exploration”. This will give a description of the terrain surrounding the ship. This may include where appropriate simple descriptions of the flora and fauna or possibly native activity as well as geological features. A surface exploration will not normally reveal any special resources. Once a surface exploration has been conducted, specific investigations of the features noted in the surface exploration can be conducted. What is believed to be worth investigating is very much open to interpretation by a player. A general rule of thumb though is that abundant special resources are generally obvious. As more and more investigations are carried out, the likely yield and 10% drop for the special resource are likely to drop. Example of a series of investigationsThe player first landed in a forested region of the planet and performed a surface exploration. From this the player then decided to investigate the trees and the creatures present. These led to further areas that the player thought might be interesting. In the table below, the bold type is the title of the special action presented by the player (they may have put a note about how they intended to perform the investigation). The italics are the results written by the referee.
In the example it can be seen that new avenues can be further investigated. There are the streams to look at, possibly some soil samples to take. Further investigation into the other arboreal creatures. A player may even be interested in collecting seeds from the Trath Plum Tree and seeing if they can be planted on other worlds. This though invariably requires the use of research facilities, i.e. the assistance of a starbase or outpost. The player may even sell the information about the Trath Plum Trees to a starbase built on this world. This will require the two players to contact each other and work out some kind of deal. Typical World SurveyThis is an example of the method used to survey a world. Following this will give a very good indication of what is to be exploited on the world. Planet Scan – gives map showing various terrains to explore. GPI World (all ores) – reveals some basics of what can be exploited. Orbital Scan – always good to check for anomalies. Low Pass Scan – as above, may also reveal some important features. GPI areas, rows or sectors for minerals. Land at each terrain type – then perform the following: Surface Exploration – gives some idea what to investigate. Subsurface Scan – geological surveys can prove useful. Investigate XXX – where XXX is some interesting aspect as revealed by the previous special actions. Prospect – only if the sector has revealed itself to contain minerals in abundances worth exploiting. Non-Standard Special ActionsFrom time to time there will be questions that need to be asked that do not fall into the basic special actions such as investigation. These may include speaking to natives found on the planet or attempting to perform an action that just isn’t covered by the normal selection of orders such as rounding up some natives and forcing them into slavery. These special actions are however dealt with in the same way as investigations. The player should write what it is that is being attempted. The referee will then read the special action, take into consideration parameters appropriate to the situation and give a response. When writing special actions use the following guidelines: All special actions should have a single goal. Keep special actions brief. Avoid any ambiguity. Never attempt to circumvent standard actions. This is an example of a player attempting to round up a few peaceful and pacifistic natives on a backward world and force them into slavery.
The player writing the above special action may have already discovered that the natives were peaceful and without adequate weaponry so felt confident to pull-off the action with little or no problems. Had the natives been hunter-gatherers or slightly better defended, the referee may well have given a very different result. NB-While Phoenix does not attempt to enforce morals on players; overly extreme actions will generally be toned down or glossed over. Phrases such as ‘brutal things were done to the slaves’ will be used. This is a game and therefore should not be offensive to players. Special Action FulfilmentIt is sometimes the cases that a special action or investigation will grant a chance of achieving a goal as long as a set of parameters are fulfilled. This is fairly generic and should be explained by the special action. Example: Example: TerminologyWe try to explain things simply but over the years, there are a few terms that have slipped in and become, if not common, certainly infrequent. One-off: This means that the special action can only normally be performed once. Subsequent attempts at the same action may result in failure or at best a reduced return. This is sometimes tied to a location or a position, i.e. in the above cave system example, each outpost or starbase in a mountains sector can make a single use of the special action. Exhaustive: This means that the item specified is deleted. The action presumed that the use of the item is such that it can never be recovered afterwards. This word is normally only used in conjunction with Principles, Techs and Blueprints. When seeing this word, make sure before proceeding with the special action that the results are actually worth the investment. Not everything is a bargain! If the position does not have the items to be exchanged or used may have to wait until it has before performing the special action.
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GPI Scans
GPI
scanning is normally conducted from orbit. If the position is landed, then it
can only GPI the sector it is located in.
Ores
fall into a number of categories. When GPI’ing the player has to select which
ore type is being scanned for. Only known ores will be scanned for.
Common – Metals, Basic Elements,
Hydrocarbons. Excellent Yield – 170+ Good
Yield – 150+ Poor
Yield – 100- Uncommon
– Thorlium, Pulac, Rare Earth Elements, Strion, Korondite, Precious Metals, Precious Gems. Excellent
Yield – 110+ Good
Yield – 90+ Poor
Yield – 60-
Rare – Collidium, Celesium, Fibrillium, Jacium, Excellent Yield – 15+ Good Yield – 10+ Poor Yield – 5-
Very
Rare – Gravitron,
Moxa, Degenerate Matter, Zionite Excellent Yield – 5+ Good Yield – 3+ Poor Yield – 1- Dispersion While
a deposit is considered to be situated in a single sector, it often extends
into the surrounding sectors. This is known as the dispersion factor of the
deposit. The dispersion value is the multiplier per sector to the original
yield per sector distance from the origin. A dispersion of 0 means that the
deposit is truly a point source and can only be exploited from the specific
sector. The other extreme is 1. This means that the yield is a planetary one
and can be tapped from anywhere on the world. It is generally the background
level and when present is usually very low in yield. A
dispersion of 0.5 means that a yield of 100 for example would be 50 in an
adjacent sector, 25 in the one next to that and so on. A
value of around 0.6 is common.
Special Resources They
have the same parameters as mineral resources and once discovered are
generally treated in pretty much the same way. They
generally also have a ‘restock’ value. This is the amount of increase in the
‘vein’ each week. Where a yield is excellent, but the vein is poor, a decent
restock may well allow an outpost to exploit one resource for a period of
time until it has exhausted the resource, then swap to another, allowing the
first resource to replenish itself.
Origin Certain
items producible by special resource complexes are classed as unique. This
means that they are not found on any other world. As such they have an
origin, this being the world they are produced on. Items
with origins have a variable value when sold by a starbase to a planetary
population. The price that the planetary population are willing to pay is
proportionate to the distance between the origin and world where they are
being sold.
Standard Investigations As
well as Surface Exploration and Investigation, there are a number of other
special actions that are routinely undertaken.
Surface
Exploration – This
is conducted while landed on a world. The special action will explore the terrain.
To keep things simple, it is assumed that all terrains of the
same type are approximately the same. Investigate
XXXX – where
XXXX is a specific feature of either a previous exploration or investigation. Subsurface
Scan –
This again is conducted while landed and will reveal some aspect of the
geological processed involved in the formation of the terrain. It also might
reveal some minerals that are not revealed by standard GPI’ing. Orbital
Scan – This
is conducted while in orbit. It will generally reveal something about the region
of space close to the world. It will detail rings if they are
present as well as other anomalous features. Low
Pass Scan – This
is again conducted while in orbit. It will reveal some general aspects about
the surface and where appropriate the atmosphere. It will also check
for anomalies on the surface.
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Building Outposts and StarbasesWhile trade is capable of supporting the wages of a ship’s crew, at some point it is likely that a player will want a more permanent source of stellars. This may be from a regular mineral or special resource that the ship can then sell to markets of other starbases. It may be the case that the player has grander schemes and actually want to build more ships and create a shipping fleet – or a war fleet. Starbases cannot be built directly; a ship has to first construct an outpost. The outpost can then issue an order to be converted into a starbase. A short overview of both installations and the method of construction follow. OutpostsAn outpost is an installation that consists of one of more complex. A complex is an immovable structure that performs a specific task or has a specific role. A command centre for example ensures a chain of command in order to maintain efficiency. A mine strips and processes minerals from the sector in which the outpost is built. Special resource complexes tap the world ecology. Along with complexes, an outpost contains many other items needed for their smooth running. Employees are required to run the complexes. Troops and ordnance are often present in order to provide defence from ground attacks. Orbital defence platforms may have been built to counter-attack anything attempting to perform orbital bombardments. For all this though outposts are considered second-rate and as such all the troops and employees present in an outpost demand double the normal wages, this being 2 stellars per week.
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Political Requirement Running an outpost or starbase requires the player to first have a political position. (See rulebook on Political Positions)
Political Positions generate a weekly report. They also have weekly cost of £1.00.
Outposts Outposts only generate a turn on request. When a printout is requested, the player is charged £2.00. Orders can be sent in without the necessity to request a printout.
Starbases Starbases automatically generate a report every week. This report costs £2.00.
Battles If the outpost/starbase is involved in battle, a battle report will be generated at zero cost.
Unusual Locations While it is normal to build an outpost on the surface of a world in order to exploit planetary resources, it is not strictly necessary. An outpost can be constructed either in orbit or even in space. In such cases the outpost is generally referred to as a space station. It has all the parameters of a standard outpost although for obvious reasons it will not normally have any resources to exploit. There will also be other constraints such as not being able to build certain complexes such as cave complexes. |
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StarbasesStarbases are effectively fancier versions of outposts. Along with everything that can be done by an outpost, starbases can also perform the following: Factory Production – Factory complexes build items from minerals. Merchandise – Merchandising complexes trade with the world population and can directly generate stellars. Market – Starbases can have markets allowing ships to buy from them and sell to them. All interactions with outposts can only be either pick-up or deliver. Starbases also have the benefit of only having to pay 1 stellar per week.
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Construction of an OutpostNormally outposts are built on a mineral deposit discovered through exploration and planetary surveying. If the outpost is destined to become a starbase, with production facilities, it is preferable to build the outpost on a good metals deposit with ready access to a reasonable basic-elements source as these are the primary two minerals used in building most items. If it is to remain an outpost, then exploitation of an uncommon or rare mineral deposit is perfectly reasonable. Careful consideration of the maximum potential growth should be undertaken as once a complex is constructed, it cannot be dismantled, only demolished. At 1000mu’s each, setting up an outpost for a few months is not normally commercially viable. Thorlium while uncommon is used extensively in the construction of ordnance and other items that have to withstand considerable stresses, including ship hulls. Again, if the outpost is destined to be upgraded to starbase status with factory facilities, having a source of thorlium either on the planet or within easy shipping distance is definitely preferable. The order to construct an outpost requires the nomination of the first complex to be built. This complex will be constructed out of the modules present in the cargo section of the ship. This means that the ship needs sufficient modules present that are suitable for the complex designated (see Starbase rulebook appendix – Complex Module Requirements). Providing that sufficient modules are present and the location of construction is viable, i.e. not on top of another facility and the designated complex can be constructed, an outpost will be created. This will have its own unique number and one complex. Once constructed a free update of the outpost will be sent out. This will detail the outpost, listing the single complex as well as other data such as mineral resources that can be tapped and the position present in the starport, i.e. the ship that built it. A standard approach is to build an outpost as the last action making sure that there are plenty of TU’s remaining for the ship. This way the update and the ship turn will arrive the next day and the ship will still have TU’s it can use. The ship will then have TU’s available to deliver some employees to the outpost (at least 10 to run the single complex) and possibly some other basic items such as more modules and employees to run them. After these deliveries it is then a case of issuing orders
for the outpost directly, running it as a separate position (see Starbase
rulebook). |
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Maintaining ShipsPerforming actions such as taking off, or entering wormholes and suchlike causes stresses in the hull of the ship. These stresses and micro-fractures will eventually lead to the ship falling to pieces if ignored. The current state of the ship is known as its integrity, this is a measurement of its peak state. A ship straight out the construction yard will have integrity of 100%. Weekly Integrity AttritionMerely having a ship running day in day out will take its toll on integrity such that even if a ship never moves, its integrity will slowly decrease over weeks. The hull type used in the construction of the ship dictates the ship’s resilience to integrity losses, both weekly and due to undertaking actions that place stress on the hull. Heavy hulls are the most resilient. Ships constructed out of heavy hulls only normally lose 0.5% integrity per week. Ships constructed out of xtra light hulls will lose 4% integrity per week.
ManoeuvresAll actions have a chance of reducing the integrity of a ship. The chance can range from 0% through to 100%, i.e. some will never actually reduce the integrity of a ship under normal circumstances. Each action also has a maximum integrity loss. This means that should the action trigger an integrity loss, the integrity of the ship will drop by a random amount up to the maximum integrity loss. Before this loss is applied to the ship however, it is first multiplied by the ship’s integrity modifier. For example, a ship landing on a planet may incur a maximum integrity loss of 2%. For a ship constructed out of heavy hulls, the maximum loss will be 1% but for a ship constructed out of xtra light hulls this could be as much as 8%. Zero IntegrityOnce a ship falls to zero integrity, it will break up and no longer be a ship. It will be reclassified as debris, effectively consisting of a list of remaining items. Debris can be picked up by anyone as long as they have the debris position number. Low IntegrityEven if a position has not dropped to zero integrity, it has a chance of blowing up but only if involved in combat. If a ship has suffered over 50% hull damage then each damaging hit has a chance of forcing an integrity check to avoid blowing up. The chance of forcing an integrity check is proportional to the total damage sustained by the ship. An integrity check to avoid blowing up is based on the current integrity of the ship up to a maximum of 80%. Therefore having integrity of at least 80% will ensure the greatest chance of avoiding blowing up in combat. Installing/Uninstalling ItemsBoth installing and uninstalling items will reduce the integrity of a ship. This is based on the quantity of items and not the size of them. Jettisoning the items avoids the integrity drop but has the unfortunate side effect of destroying the item. The theory is that the item is cut out, leaving the ship intact while uninstalling the item removes the installed item intact at the cost of the hull. RefitIf a ship is replacing items that are specified as being part of the ship in the ship’s blueprint, then a refit order will be invaluable if the ship requires many items to be installed. A refit order, conducted while in a starport will attempt to install items in order to return the ship to its original design. Presuming that the starbase/outpost has patches, these will be automatically used to counter the normal integrity loss caused by installation. Restoring IntegrityA maintenance visit will restore the integrity of a ship back to 100%. This will require the starbase/outpost to expend a number of patches based on the size of the ship and the amount of integrity restored. The ship will be charged for the quantity of patches used based on the market report. A maintenance visit will also recharge any shields, restoring shield factors lost in combat. Restoring DamageCombat damages hulls, armour and items. If an item suffers
more damage than its mass, it will be destroyed and removed from the ship’s
itinerary. A repair visit will use patches to remove damage. The quantity of
patches used is determined by the damage taken to the hulls and the armour of
the ship. A repair visit will also repair any items that have been damaged
but not destroyed. Destroyed items have to be replaced by either installing new
items or performing a refit visit. |
Integrity
Zero
integrity causes the ship to be reduced to debris.
Debris
cannot perform any actions.
Debris can be picked up by anyone even without using a security code. Life forms will be classed as prisoners if no security code is used.
Debris suffers attrition. This is normally a maximum of 5% per week. This means that up to 5% of the items present in the debris will be lost forever.
Installing Items Due to integrity losses only ships with current integrity greater than 20% will be allowed to have items installed in them. At any time current integrity falls below 20% any further attempts to install items will fail.
Integrity in Combat Warships and vessels likely to see sustained combat should aim to have integrity values of at least 80% to avoid unnecessary chances of blowing up during combat.
Ship Use Due
to the regular loss of integrity suffered through taking off an landing on
worlds, survey ships should be made from heavy hulls, or possibly normal
hulls.
Complex Visits All
complex visits have to be conducted while in a starport. This is a location
of the starbase or outpost designed to accommodate ships and other docked
position.
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