G
gloriousbattle
Guest
I never found a set of Traveller ship combat rules that I really liked. The original rules were no fun. High Guard s****d. Mayday was okay, but not very tactical, and was only useful for smaller ships anyway. By the time Brilliant Lances came out, I was so demoralized that I never bought it.
But I found something that I think was well worth it. Ground Zero Games' Full Thrust was fun, tactical, and simple, and somehow just had a better science fiction "feel" (to me, YMMV) than sandcasters and spinal mounted meson guns.
Full Thrust is still available for free at GZG's website http://www.groundzerogames.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=50
Here are my conversion rules, which are very simple. Maybe a better set exists somewhere:
Traveller(C) and Full Thrust: Combining the Systems(C)
Introduction
The following rules will allow a simple integration of the Full Thrust(c) starship combat game as a set of starship creation and combat rules within a Traveller(c) campaign. For all purposes other than those listed below, all Traveller rules for space travel (such as fuel, mis-jumps, etc.) remain in force.
Ship Design, Cost and Creation
All Full Thrust rules are used for creation of Traveller vessels. The only conversion needed is that 1 Full Thrust Point Cost = 200,000 Traveller Imperial Credits. All of the ships listed in the rules are considered standard designs, and allowed the appropriate Traveller discount. Traveller weapon systems are replaced with Full Thrust weapon systems.
FTL Travel
Full Thrust ships that possess an FTL drive have a jump number equal to their thrust rating.
Player Characters Affecting Ship Performance
Each player character can roll once per turn in any battle to "boost" the system to which he is assigned. The boost has different effects, based on the system:
Firecons: Roll Dexterity (bonus equal to gunnery skill level) or less on 2d6 to reroll all attack dice controlled by one firecon this turn (second roll is final, even if it is worse than the first). Failure to make the roll causes the character 1d6 damage and causes critical damage to one firecon.
Normal Space Drive: Roll Dexterity (bonus equal to pilot skill level) or less on 2d6 to gain a bonus of 1 to the ship's thrust rating this turn. Failure to make the roll causes the character 1d6 damage and causes critical damage to the normal space drives.
FTL Drive: Roll Intelligence (bonus equal to navigation skill level) or less on 2d6 to reroll damage checks for ships entering or leaving the table under FTL. Failure to make the roll causes the character 1d6 damage and causes critical damage to the FTL drives.
Hull: Roll Intelligence (bonus equal to one of engineering, mechanical, OR electronics skill level) or less on 2d6 to repair one critically damaged system. Failure to make the roll causes the character 2d6 damage and the system on which the repair was attempted cannot be repaired other than at a class A or B starport.
Player Character Battle Damage and Ship Destruction
In addition to damage for failed ship performance rolls, all player characters must make an Endurance check to avoid 1d6 damage when their ship hits a threshold level. In addition, if their ship is destroyed, all player characters must make an Endurance check each round to make it to a life pod. Each round of failure causes 1d6 decompression damage, though he can keep trying until he either makes it to a pod or goes unconscious.
The fate of lifepods is completely within the referee's discretion.
But I found something that I think was well worth it. Ground Zero Games' Full Thrust was fun, tactical, and simple, and somehow just had a better science fiction "feel" (to me, YMMV) than sandcasters and spinal mounted meson guns.
Full Thrust is still available for free at GZG's website http://www.groundzerogames.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=50
Here are my conversion rules, which are very simple. Maybe a better set exists somewhere:
Traveller(C) and Full Thrust: Combining the Systems(C)
Introduction
The following rules will allow a simple integration of the Full Thrust(c) starship combat game as a set of starship creation and combat rules within a Traveller(c) campaign. For all purposes other than those listed below, all Traveller rules for space travel (such as fuel, mis-jumps, etc.) remain in force.
Ship Design, Cost and Creation
All Full Thrust rules are used for creation of Traveller vessels. The only conversion needed is that 1 Full Thrust Point Cost = 200,000 Traveller Imperial Credits. All of the ships listed in the rules are considered standard designs, and allowed the appropriate Traveller discount. Traveller weapon systems are replaced with Full Thrust weapon systems.
FTL Travel
Full Thrust ships that possess an FTL drive have a jump number equal to their thrust rating.
Player Characters Affecting Ship Performance
Each player character can roll once per turn in any battle to "boost" the system to which he is assigned. The boost has different effects, based on the system:
Firecons: Roll Dexterity (bonus equal to gunnery skill level) or less on 2d6 to reroll all attack dice controlled by one firecon this turn (second roll is final, even if it is worse than the first). Failure to make the roll causes the character 1d6 damage and causes critical damage to one firecon.
Normal Space Drive: Roll Dexterity (bonus equal to pilot skill level) or less on 2d6 to gain a bonus of 1 to the ship's thrust rating this turn. Failure to make the roll causes the character 1d6 damage and causes critical damage to the normal space drives.
FTL Drive: Roll Intelligence (bonus equal to navigation skill level) or less on 2d6 to reroll damage checks for ships entering or leaving the table under FTL. Failure to make the roll causes the character 1d6 damage and causes critical damage to the FTL drives.
Hull: Roll Intelligence (bonus equal to one of engineering, mechanical, OR electronics skill level) or less on 2d6 to repair one critically damaged system. Failure to make the roll causes the character 2d6 damage and the system on which the repair was attempted cannot be repaired other than at a class A or B starport.
Player Character Battle Damage and Ship Destruction
In addition to damage for failed ship performance rolls, all player characters must make an Endurance check to avoid 1d6 damage when their ship hits a threshold level. In addition, if their ship is destroyed, all player characters must make an Endurance check each round to make it to a life pod. Each round of failure causes 1d6 decompression damage, though he can keep trying until he either makes it to a pod or goes unconscious.
The fate of lifepods is completely within the referee's discretion.
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