So, we continue with vehicles. Actually, we have a brief section on how to use land vehicles. No driver's license is included, however. Basically, you have to roll to see if the vehicle has some sort of breakdown; a base 11+ throw means something's broken, although there are DMs for driving skill, the terrain, and the overall condition of the vehicle. The same 11+ throw can be used for any terrain difficulties, or you can just use animal encounter tables from (I assume) later in the book. Oh, and the local law level also applies to getting caught in speed traps or with traffic violations. All ground vehicles can be refueled from a starship's power plant; I guess they don't use enough to worry about draining the ship's tanks.
Next up, Air Vehicles. The rules mention (briefly) primitive stuff like gliders and hot air balloons, as unique local things on low-tech worlds. Your character's Air/Raft skill can be used to pilot the rest of the air vehicles listed here. Without that skill, you're not flying anything.
The first air vehicle on the list is the 'primitive biplane.' World War I technology, basically, tech level 4. It's...well, it's a biplane. It's not going to last long in a dogfight against anything else except a hot air balloon.
Fixed-Wing Aircraft are next (tech-5). This is the jet-version, which can fly at...600 km/h. Come on; that's not even Mach 1. There are mentions of seaplane versions, hardpoints for ordnance or auto-cannon, or larger versions. Still, that's a lame speed for this kind of plane.
Helicopters (tech-6) are next. They, like the fixed-wing craft, cost a cool million credits and do what you would expect a helicopter to do. You can get a twin-engine version for twice the price, and these things fly up to 250 km/h with a range of 600 km.
Then there's the Air/Raft (tech-8), or 'flier.' This one uses 'solid state null gravity modules' for lift and propulsion. It's got four of these (which cost a million credits each). The craft itself costs 6 million, and while it's limited to 100 km/hour, it's got unlimited range and endurance. They are usually open-top fliers, although you can get pressurized versions, and they take weapons and other optional extras.
Last, there's the gravity belt (tech-12/C). It's a personal version of the Air/Raft, with the same speeds and restrictions. But it only costs a million credits. Yay. Still, it's a very familiar (to pulp readers, at least) technology for science fiction.
Like the land vehicles, the air vehicles have to make regular maintenance checks at 11+, with a -1 DM for missed maintenance.
And that wraps up this page; we'll continue with more vehicles next time.
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