Post by unclejoe on Aug 16, 2010 13:43:22 GMT -5
OK, so we've started playing again with some of the House Rules listed on that forum. One thing that we have noticed in comparing fleets is that very few people ever bother to climb the Orbital Manufacturing above 3/4 and same with Conventional Weaponry.
For Orbital Manufactoring, the ONLY benefit that you get out of level 5 is being able to got to 10 armor on a size 5 ship. And pretty much the same for OM4 - it's really only useful for a very few designs that wont always be present.
The same logic holds for Conventional Weaponry. The only thing you get at the top is access to a weapon that very few ships will use.
By contrast:
High levels of Anti-matter Manipulation benefits ALL of your ships via the cheaper Delta.
High levels of Laser Weaponry gives access to better shields and PD for all ships and allows a role for DDs.
High levels of Fighter tech gives MUCH improved Fighters (in the standard rules) and more options for Fighters in our House Rules
High levels of Quantum Manup gives access to arguably the most powerful weapon in the game, although even with this tech line, we tend to be almost all-or-nothing.
But for those first two tables, we rarely see above 4 and almost no one has put a 5 in either without the caveat that they know they are deliberately accepting a disadvantage for 'flavors' sake.
Given that, some rough ideas to throw out:
At Orbital Manufacturing 5, armor is discounted 'x'%. Maybe 5 or 10% more?
At Conventional Weaponry 5, ammo costs 1 less? Too powerful? Maybe 10% less? 15?
Possibly allow Scout CLs somewhere in Quantum Manip? Maybe with a 10% or 20% increase in cost?
Dunno if there are other small perks that could be tossed in there to spice up those trees. Again, while currently this only impacts 'pick and play', once there is a campaign with any form of tech progression, there are going to have to be good solid reasons for a player to march down a given path.
For Orbital Manufactoring, the ONLY benefit that you get out of level 5 is being able to got to 10 armor on a size 5 ship. And pretty much the same for OM4 - it's really only useful for a very few designs that wont always be present.
The same logic holds for Conventional Weaponry. The only thing you get at the top is access to a weapon that very few ships will use.
By contrast:
High levels of Anti-matter Manipulation benefits ALL of your ships via the cheaper Delta.
High levels of Laser Weaponry gives access to better shields and PD for all ships and allows a role for DDs.
High levels of Fighter tech gives MUCH improved Fighters (in the standard rules) and more options for Fighters in our House Rules
High levels of Quantum Manup gives access to arguably the most powerful weapon in the game, although even with this tech line, we tend to be almost all-or-nothing.
But for those first two tables, we rarely see above 4 and almost no one has put a 5 in either without the caveat that they know they are deliberately accepting a disadvantage for 'flavors' sake.
Given that, some rough ideas to throw out:
At Orbital Manufacturing 5, armor is discounted 'x'%. Maybe 5 or 10% more?
At Conventional Weaponry 5, ammo costs 1 less? Too powerful? Maybe 10% less? 15?
Possibly allow Scout CLs somewhere in Quantum Manip? Maybe with a 10% or 20% increase in cost?
Dunno if there are other small perks that could be tossed in there to spice up those trees. Again, while currently this only impacts 'pick and play', once there is a campaign with any form of tech progression, there are going to have to be good solid reasons for a player to march down a given path.
