FTL:
The a space combat game of faster than light travel and
slower than light sensors.
The Setting:
It is 1017.83726 secondsa A.B. (After
Baryons), and space warfare has become really weird. About 20.2 gigaseconds
ago researchers with the Herjekith Imperial Doctrine developed what was to
be the last word in space combat, neutronium armor. By building their ships
with even an exceedingly thin hull of pure neutrons the Doctrine ships became
nigh unstoppable. There were a few minor problems, however. The ships were
made so heavy by this hull that you couldn't bring two such ships too close
to each other, or anything else of comparable size. This caused the ships
to fall uncontrollably onto each other. Until but a few scant gigaseconds
ago this was the only way to destroy such a ship. Then a great discovery
was made, this time by the Yurity Free Implication. Negative energy particles
when projected at a neutronium ship hull caused the neutronium to become
hydrogen gas, leaving the ship in the middle of a new mini-star. Only one
problem there, no sensor can detect the neutronium ships faster than light,
and no one has ever found a way to fire negative energy particles slower
than light.
The Game:
What you need:
- A hex grid, preferably numbered.
- Some tokens (I suggest
dice, and you need dice for the 3D variant)
- Paper, pens, and optionally
pencils.
How to play:
- Start each ship (represented
by the dice) at least 3 hexes apart.
- For each three hexes separating
the ships each player records a move (see below). This number of moves is
called the delay, and is always equal to one third of the distance separating
the ships (round down). At the end of each turn each player must have at as
many moves recorded as the delay and may not alter them afterwards.
- Each player makes their
next move, as recorded. These moves happen simultaneously, so yes you can
blow each other up at the same time.
- Record moves as above,
until one or both ships is destroyed.
Moves:
Each move a ship travels by its
velocity (a value from 0 to 3 in a hex direction). This means a ship with
2 velocity left moves two hexes left in a move. (Note: a velocity of 3 is
the speed of light, so our ships are really traveling no faster than 2.99993412
velocity, which we will consider as 3 for our purposes.) Before each move
you may accelerate or fire. If you fire, detonate a location on the hex grid
as the target. If you accelerate you may change your velocity using three
acceleration points a turn. You may change the value of your speed by 1,
or turn the direction one hex facing for a number of acceleration points
equal to the current velocity of the ship.
Damage:
There are two ways for a ship
to be destroyed in the game, first if you are in a detonated hex, when it
is ignited, your ship becomes a star, end of story. If any two ships end
up within two hexes of each other, they collide and become a black hole.
Additional Options
More ideas to hurt your brain
with.
Ship Designs:
As the ships get larger, the generators
an be made larger, allowing more shots to be made, but reducing the mobility
of the ship.
- Large: the default ship
listed above.
- Extra Large: Gain two acceleration
points a move, and may expend one to fire. (i.e. can fire up to twice a move).
- Extra Extra Large: Gain
one acceleration point a move, or may fire up to three times.
Debris:
Lots of things are lying around
in space, including the debris of your foes.
- Stars: Natural or just confirmed
kill, getting too close is as risky as another ship, and with the same results.
- Black Holes: Even worse,
for each additional ship mass past the first add an extra hex of no man's
land (minimum two ship's masses, so minimum radius of three hexes). In no
man's land each move your velocity is 3 towards the Black Hole, and you cannot
accelerate.
- Planets and Smaller Bodies:
Can't hurt you, and tend to orbit you if you get within a hex or so. And make
a neat thump if you hit them.
3D Combat:
Warning this makes the game take
much longer.
First each ship starts with
a height indicator (using the die value). Each hex also gains an up and a
down face. Turning into or out of either face costs double your current velocity,
and may be spent over two consecutive turns. When you fire you must also
select the height of the hex to be detonated. Vertical motion simply alters
the height indicator, which is also measure in hexes, so, for example if
you are one height and one horizontal hex away from a ship you both collide
as normal.
Tournament Rules:
- Each side has five ships
(alter to taste).
- All bouts are one on one.
- After a win, the losing
side if having any ships left adds one to an appropriate starting location.
The winner must keep all moves already recorded.
- After a tie, both sides
add ships to valid starting locations and begin.
- Which ever side is destroyed
first loses. (Obviously)
a) You really think people would use years to measure time
after the Solar System is gone?
© 2001 Mendel Schmiedekamp