FASA's Construction Formulas and Concerns
(this material is primarly raked from forums)
WDF Calculation
Effects From Crew Casualties
The WER, IER, and DPC Formulas
Max WDF For Computers
WDF Calculation
From: "Steve Pugh" <steve@...>
Date: Fri Jul 13, 2001 9:25 am
Subject: Re: WDF calculation
phazotron@h... wrote:
> I am new to the group so if this is off the wall...
> How exactly is the WDF calculated?
It's been over ten years since I worked it out and I've hardly thought about it since, and
of course I have no way of knowing whether this is the 'proper' way of calculating it, but
here goes:
Start with the firing chart. Add up all the to-hit numbers in the chart. e.g. Firing Chart
G would be 7+7+6+6+5+5+4+3+2+1 = 46
Multiply by the damage for torps/the maximum power for beams.
Now divide by 168.
For beams add on
0.03 for each hex of range that adds 1 to the damage.
0.07 for each hex of range that adds 2 to the damage.
0.14 for each hex of range that adds 3 to the damage.
Round to the nearest 0.1 (most of the weapons in the construction manual are rounded up
but some are rounded down...)
If the ship is cloaked multiply by 1.5
Example 1, FH-13, firing chart T, add up all the to-hit numbers and you get 107. Max power
is 8. Does +1 at 1-5, +2 at 6-12 and +3 at 13-18.
So that's ((107 * 8) / 168) + (5 * 0.03) + (7 * 0.07) + (6 * 0.14) = 6.575 rounded up to
6.6 as given in the construction manual.
Example 2, KP-4, firing chart Q, add up all the to-hit numbers and you get 92. Damage is
18.
(92 * 18) / 168 = 9.857 rounded up to 9.9, (construction manual rounds down to 9.8)
Allowing for rounding errors, as in example 2 above, the Fed and Klingon weapons match
this formula. About half the Romulan weapons match it (I don't know how they calculated
plasma bolt WDFs and so don't count them), all but one of the Orion beams match it, the
Gorn beams match, but the Gorn torps don't. Generally the discrepancies are small.
Maybe someone else has a better formula.
Effects From Crew Casualties
From: WALRUSFOLKS@...
Date: Tue Dec 11, 2001 9:30 pm
Subject: Re: [STCSDesignConsortium] Effects From Crew Casualties
bjecko2000
OK. Let me dust off the old book here (cough!)
Each point of superstructure that is lost does a % of crew casualties, and that percentage
is directly related to the total number of superstructure the ship has.
Lets use the Baker class as an example.
A Mk II Baker - as listed in the Federation Starship Recgonition Manual, has a total
superstructure of 15 points. According to the chart on page 37, that coresponds to 6% crew
casualties per superstructure point. Some hits do no crew casualties, while some hits do
double crew casualties. (According to the rule book it balances out, but I doubt it!)
SO! If your Baker got hit on, lets say Shield Arc 2, you'd roll your damage and check the
chart. If you got a 4, 5, or 6, then you'd suffer 3% crew casualties for each
superstructure point lost. (C x 1/2).
If you rolled a 7, though, you'd suffer double casualties - 12%. (2C).
Same goes for a 0/10 - Bridge hit. Double Casualties.
Now I can't speak for everyone, but I have had 2 instances where my crew was wiped out,
but the ship was still in fairly good shape. I kept rolling 7's and 10's. In four turns, I
had no viable crew left, and was forced to concede the ship. A little frustrating.
From: "ncc2012" <NCC2012@...>
Date: Wed Dec 12, 2001 9:59 pm
Subject: Re: Effects From Crew Casualties ncc2012
What we did in our group was to limit casualties to a max of 10% per 5 points of damage,
and damage was always broken down into units of 5 points or less. So, a 20 point torpedo
would have 4 rolls of 5 points, and it would be rare to get something like 4 lucky rolls
of 7s and/or 10s and wipe out the crew leaving the ship almost as good as new, which is
kinda unlikely with the weaponry used. The cap just keeps it a little more realistic.
Todd
The WER, IER, and DPC Formulas
From: "ninjaelf" <ninjaelf@...>
Date: Thu Dec 13, 2001 9:07 pm
Subject: Re: Anyone Have The WER, IER, and DPC Formulas? ninjaelf
> Does anyone have formulas to calculating the WER
> for Warp Engines, IER for Impulse Engines, and DPC
> for Shield Generators? SER, I gather, is simply the
> Shield Generator's power to shield point ratio.
The closest I can get to the Shield Generator DPC values listed in the Shield Charts is by
using this formula:
Max Shield Power x 1.45 x Shield Ratio (2/1=2.000, 1/1=1.000, 2/3=0.667, 1/2=0.500,
1/3=0.333, 1/4=0.250) and rounding down to the nearest 0.5.
Does anyone know of a better formula?
Elfy
From: "ninjaelf" <ninjaelf@...>
Date: Fri Dec 14, 2001 1:27 pm
Subject: Re: Anyone Have The WER, IER, and DPC Formulas? ninjaelf
> Does anyone have formulas to calculating the WER
> for Warp Engines, IER for Impulse Engines, and DPC
> for Shield Generators? SER, I gather, is simply the
> Shield Generator's power to shield point ratio.
The same formula can be used for the WER and IER values as well, but the Ratio multiplier
is inversed:
Max Engine Power (of both engines, if Tandem) x 1.45 x Engine Ratio
(7/1=0.143, 6/1=0.167, 5/1=0.200, 4/1=0.250, 3/1=0.333, 2/1=0.500, 3/2=0.667, 1/1=1.000,
1/2=2.000, 1/3=3.000, 1/4=4.000) and rounding down to the nearest 0.5.
This formula, as well as the one for DPC, seem to produce values that are either spot on
with what is in the construction manual or with in +/- 0.5 of the listed value.
SER is the Shield Ratio inverted:
(2/1=0.500, 1/1=1.000, 2/3=1.500, 1/2=2.000, 1/3=3.000, 1/4=4.000)
Max WDF For Computers
WALRUSFOLKS@...
Date: Mon Dec 24, 2001 4:44 pm
Subject: RE: [STCSDesignConsortium] max wdf for computers
bjecko2000
"ulfgardzook" <ulfgardzook@...> wrote:
>can anyone help me find out how to find the max wdf for a new
>computer type i'm trying to convert a list of equipment from a
>different game system and would like to use them in my campaign.
Well, most of the time, we go from one system that's from Star Trek to another. That
usually makes it easy, as you can just take what ever numbers you get for the
"Enterprise" class ship and make that a base for your other calculations. But it
sounds like you have a totally different system your incorporating.
Your best rule of thumb is to keep things within 10 to 20% of the established totals for
the three major races. If your WDF ends up being higher, make sure your computers weight
is also higher. Same for the weight of the weapons. This helps keep things limited. There
isn't a "pre-set" formula for weight to WDF (although if you'd like me to try
and figure one out, I'd be happy to. I have all the info in a spread sheet and it's just a
matter of a formula or two.)
When ever your creating any components, remember that things need to be balanced. Each
race might have a slight advantage in one area, while a slight disadvantage in another.
This keeps the game fun. (If one side has too much of an atvantage, then they simply roll
over the other side, and it very frustrating for your opponent. BUT! If you opponent has,
say better shields, while having weaker weapons, that keeps things somewhat balanced.) It
is hard to create things from scratch, though. I'm on holiday until Thursday, but would be
willing to help you or anyone else figure out some general guidelines to component
creating. Hope that helps a little.