2.3: Power Control

While the movies and books make reference to the ability to switch power from one system to another, the roleplaying game has ignored this in favor of simplicity. While adding another level of bookkeeping, the possibilities created by these rules make it so that we recommend using them once you are familiar with the basic rules.

A ship has enough power to run all its systems simultaneously, and has enough rerouting capacity to channel +2D to any system, with the exception of the engines. Since the engines are one of the main power consumers and usually directly connected to the generator/reactor, they can receive +5D in power. This, however, doesn't mean that ships can double or better their speed. Engines also eat power faster than other systems, as explained below.

To transfer power to or from a system requires an action by the appropriate bridge officer. Engineering transfers power from any system to any other system. Shields can transfer power to and from shields, Gunnery Officer can transfer to and from guns, etc.

A gun takes as much power as it has damage dice. A 4D turbolaser takes 4D worth of power. Starfighter scale weapons require half as much power as their damage dice. (5D becomes 2D+2 of power) Each missile weapon takes one pip of power. Shields take as much power per facing as their shield rating. Maneuvering thrusters take as much power as maneuverability dice, and each Move takes 2D of power. Engines can be slightly upgraded by the power system, with 2D of power for the first extra move and 3D of power for the second additional move (hence the 5D max on engines). Sensors take 2D of power and cannot be boosted beyond this. If sensors drops to 1D, consider all fire control ratings 0 on the ship. If it drops to 0, use the visual combat rules as if sensors had been destroyed. Communication takes 1D of power, although it can be boosted to 2D if required to punch through jamming or make long-distance communications in battle. Life support takes one pip per hundred crew and passengers aboard.

Power is rerouted into and from a "power pool" available to the ship with a Moderate roll in the appropriate Capital Ship skill, with a +2 penalty added to the difficulty number for each die of power transferred beyond the first. Capital Ship Gunnery can transfer power to and from ship's guns (even if they are starfighter scale) and the "power pool."

Dice taken from the power pool must be spread evenly over a system, so if energy from the tractor beams is rerouted into the shields and turbolasers along the left side, the power from the power pool must be evenly allocated over all the left arc guns selected for a power increase. To increase power to a shield arc, there must be at least one pip of shield power remaining in that arc.

Power left over must be discharged into the static power buffer, along with lost shield energy. The difficulty to safely discharge the buffer is the combined total of remaining power and lost shield pips, rolled as normal. (See above for details)

For example, a Nebulon-B frigate has entered combat and the captain has ordered extra power to the front shields and weapons. Engineering takes power from the two tractor beams, totalling 8D (4D each) for one action. Engineering again allocates this as follows: 1D+2 to the foreward shields (another action) and 1D to each of the foreward turbolasers (a third and final action). +1 is left in the power pool for another greedy system, or to be dissipated in the static power buffer with lost shield matrices.

Once power is transferred, it stays transferred until routed back to its original destination. Routing it back to its original destination requires another set of rolls.

If a roll fails, the appropriate system takes damage equal to the amount of power rerouted, and the power is dissipated for the turn. It will reappear in the power pool next round, unallocated. Apply damage with the modifiers under the Advanced Targeting Chart.

Power transfers take place immediately, since all systems are wired into the ship's power grid. This replaces the vague rules about power transfers taking time on p.25 of The Far Orbit Project.

An interesting aside to this is that all power from Sensors, Communications, Maneuverability, Move, Weapons, and Shields is rerouted into the hyperdrive motivator for a jump. Life Support is the only system which is not shut down to make a hyperspace jump. This power is needed only to get into hyperspace, so the transfer lasts only a few seconds. Shields are typically the last system to be rerouted so that the ship is certain to escape into hyperspace if in a combat situation. This is in addition to the numerous additional batteries and capacitors storing energy that most starships have. Starfighters have such high power to mass ratios that they can often achieve hyperspace without additional power storage devices. It is no small wonder then that an Imperial-Star Destroyer expends more energy in one jump than entire nations throughout their history use.

To CapitalShipCombat?. To CapShipAmmunition. To Damage Control.