Spacegates & Phase Transceiver

[Warshield73]

DB 2: Phase World, Pg 10 Describes the Spacegates and Phase Transceiver only very briefly. To my knowledge no other book has expanded them so first if there is something in a more recent book that I missed could someone point me in the direction. But, if I'm right and this hasn't been expanded on has anyone created any rules for the Phase Transceivers in their games and if you have...care to share.


Some Basic questions that need answered
1. How big is the PT? (Dimensions, weight, MDC)
2. How much does it cost, and how much does it cost to use it?
3. Who can install them and how difficult is it?
4. How long does it take (how do you keep players from using it every time they are in trouble)?
5. Do you have any limitations? (Do you have to be outside a planets FTL limit, how fast can a ship be moving, etc.)
6. Can it be used to move space stations or other large, non-ship objects.
7. Does it work everywhere or are there places in the Three Galaxies that it doesn't work? (The description says "anywhere" but so much has been changed from the original two books why not this).
8. How many / what percentage of ships have them.

Spoiler:

I created rules for the PT's shortly after DB 3: The PW SB came out almost 25 years ago (wow I'm old) and I haven't changed it much since. Really all I have done is change a few of the rules since the Anvil and Thundercloud books came out.

1. 1X1X1 meters, 250 kg (it is believed to have super dense materials inside but when it is destroyed the scraps of what is left weigh less than 25 kg). MDC-100 (I wanted it small enough to fit in a space fighter, it is the same size as the personal storage locker on a Black Eagle Fighter, but too heavy for PCs to just carry them around.

2. I have the unit itself costing 2.5 million credits but does NOT include a transit, just the device. Each additional transit costs 1.5 million credits. This cost can be mitigated by ships coming through in groups. If you have say 15 ships that are all together less than 10 miles across then the ships can link there PTs and come through as a group. given the 10 mile diameter of a SG it would be possible to move whole fleets of ships in a single transit but the minimum cost per ship 100,000 credits so a fleet of 16 ships would be 1.6 million. Max number of ships is 150, this could be a limit of the technology or a security measure in place by the Prometheans.

Truthfully this is the part I always had a problem with but its hard to come up with a good number, I mean what do you even base it on. I wanted it to be too expensive for PCs just to do it on a whim but still reasonable enough to do it when they need to.

3. I let anyone with basic electronics hook them in but it takes at least an hour and it must be hard wired into the ships power, navigation and sensors. The book specifically says that some people use PTs to bring slower than light ships though the gates so it stands to reason that some people would buy a few dozen PT's on Phase World and then sell them, at a mark up, in distant parts of the Cork but especially in the Thunder and Anvil. This means it can't require a Promethean or Phase Adept to do.

Function:
- Once a PT is properly hooked up it glows blue. This means it is ready to be used.
- When the PT is activated it flashes from blue to white while it is scanning the ship and awaiting clearance.
- If clearance is denied the PT glows blue with an error code in white letters and numbers to give a vague idea why (danger on board and security concerns are the two most common and both vague, they are never specific - this way if I don't want the PCs using the PT, they can't until they find the cause of the error.
- If the PT receives clearance It glows Yellow and the countdown appears in red numbers. In the last 60 seconds it turns red with the countdown in yellow going to all red to indicate zero.
- If the PT can not contact the SG for any reason it goes black. This is what happens when theyare in the shadow of a Blackhole or if it travels to another dimension.

4. The trip is instantaneous but there are only 64 gates for use by 3 galaxies of trillions of people so there is a wait. My system for how long it takes is kind of complicated. From activation of the PT, scanning, and receiving clearance is 1D6 minutes. If they receive clearance they are then given a spot in the queue and a countdown. The time on the countdown is 1D10 X10 minutes plus 1D10 minutes times 1D4. Example: You roll a 6 on D10 (60 minutes), 4 on the second D10 (4 minutes) and a 2 on the D4 (add them together and double it). Total wait time is 128 minutes.

Note: I use the D4 multiplier to indicate how heavy the traffic is.

5. I have the following limitations and rules:
- You need to be the same distance from a gravity well as a Phase Drive. (I did this to stop PCs from just activating them on a planets surface)
- The only people who are able to detect PT or the signal between the PT and the SG are the Prometheans. So you could be following a ship and then 'poof' "gone like a fart in the wind". No radiation, no signal the only hint that you used a PT is that you are gone.
- Your ship must be under power and not a hazard so the ships main body can not be below 15% of it's MDC and 'a' powerplant must be working and at least some thrusters must be active.
- Before the countdown reaches 60 seconds the following must be met, if not the countdown is canceled and you must start all over:
- - Must be flying straight ahead between 500 and 750 KPH
- - Weapons must be offline
- - Shields / phase fields of all kinds must be off

6. Yes, in fact in my game one of the 16 large stations in orbit around Phase World is a CCW station that they built and then brought into the system via the SG and the TGE has another. There versions of leasing a section of the city of Center. Some people bring old space stations to Phase world to be taken apart by the ship breakers. If you can attach enough tugs to station to make it move then you can bring it.

7. I limit where it works as follows: I love the idea that some places in the Three Galaxies are dangerous and made more so by not having an easy way out.
- If you are in the "shadow" of a blackhole, so the blackhole is between you and Phase World you can not connect your PT to the SGs. For normal blackholes this is easily overcome by simply moving your ship a few thousand KM in any given direction.
- To this end there is a whole section of the Corkscrew, part of the unexplored area that is opposite of the Thunder and Anvil, that is simply called the "Shadow" where PTs will not work. This is about 20% of the total galaxy.
- Anvil doesn't have a shadow but I say that PT's have a 75% chance of working in the Threshold and 20% chance in the core, roll every 10 LY's of travel or once for a particular system. Some systems in these two regions can not use PTs at all.
- The thundercloud is a mix. The PT's have a 66% chance of working in the core, roll every 10 LY's of travel or once for a particular system. It also has a very small shadow, 10% of the galaxy that is on the opposite side of the core from the Corkscrew.
- Maximum Range is 150,000 LY. This means it works anywhere in the Three Galaxies and deep into the inter-galactic void as long as you are no more than 150k LY from Phase World.

8. This varies but less than 20% of civilian ships have them as most ships never go to Phase World but most luxury yachts actually include them.
- The CCW equips most long range ships, destroyers and up, and all explorer ships in case of emergency. So roughly 2/3 of the capital ships.
- FWC equips every important ship with one so that they can not be trapped by TGE blockades or patrols.
- The TGE only equips special warfare ships, so less than 5% of the fleet cruisers or smaller, with them to prevent theft or defection by crews. PT's are not allowed on Dreadnoughts for ANY reason unless the Emperor himself is on board.
- The Altess would probably be 90% to 100% because you know they waste money. Naruni are the same.
- I don't have the other blocks worked out but for most I say between 0 and 20%.

So...those are my incredibly detailed rules for the Phase Transceivers, have any of you come up with rules or are they in a book that I missed?