 December 29, 2016 - 12:41pm | Robot carrying carrying capacity inspired this http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/9452?#new hover trailer- basically a small trailer you might tow behind your car or cycle. Probably two sizes small for cycle and medium for car. what stats would we put to these? How much can one carry? How do trailers degrade a vehicle's performance? My thought is that this item could be interesting to toss into a game like say volturnus campaign- ideal for characters to load it up but they have to drag it along themselves or yoke a loper to it. it also would allow a team to drag into the field significant equipment with just a over car or even a hover cycle. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 29, 2016 - 8:28pm | How do trailers degrade a vehicle's performance? Acceleration & top speeds are sapped, maneuverability takes a big hit, and braking is all but annihilated. You also need to gain an extra operating level to maneuver them in reverse. I utilize them in my game, here's one example from the Chit Factory project (an all wheel drive ground truck with trailer):  From my Ground Vehicles Revisited article in the House Rules Wiki project: Utility Trailer: +200% cargo space -10 accel/turn and -20 decel/ top speeds for each trailer added Cost: 250(cycle)/750(car)/2500Cr(transport)Cr |
 December 29, 2016 - 11:39pm | How do trailers degrade a vehicle's performance? Acceleration & top speeds are sapped, maneuverability takes a big hit, and braking is all but annihilated. You also need to gain an extra operating level to maneuver them in reverse. I utilize them in my game, here's one example from the Chit Factory project (an all wheel drive ground truck with trailer): From my Ground Vehicles Revisited article in the House Rules Wiki project: Utility Trailer: +200% cargo space -10 accel/turn and -20 decel/ top speeds for each trailer added Cost: 250(cycle)/750(car)/2500Cr(transport)Cr This could be a good general rule. But I think towing capacity is also a result of the robustness of the vehicle's design and the power of its engine. If you use the engine power modifications that were printed in a Star Frontiersman magazine issue (Shadow -- you wrote one of them, if I'm not mistaken), then the towing capacity could be far in excess of 200% of cargo space. Just think of a semi-tractor trailer combination or your typical F-250 towing a large yacht as an example. But today's mid-size cars typically can only tow a 1,000 pound (453 kg) trailer. That would be the weight of the trailer plus its cargo. If Frontiers cars are supposed to be the equivalent of a stripped down 1980s car with a battery in it, one would think it could still tow a small trailer and cargo (450-500 kg). Anyway, that's my two cent idea. How you would convert that into a mathematical formula? I haven't figured that part out yet. Joe Cabadas |
December 30, 2016 - 8:06am | Ideally ground vehicles will be the only ones towing trailers. I was thinking though that a hover trailer would be useful item for an adventure like Volturnus campaign in that it lets the PCs haul a lot of supplies or even injured characters- which would let them still heal naturally even while on the move. Are there any numbers we can put to Kg carried in a trailer? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 30, 2016 - 10:13pm | For hover vehicles, I like Shadow's formula for determining trailer cargo carrying capacity. Joe Cabadas |
January 1, 2017 - 10:51am | My system could use refining, after all it stands to reason wheels-to-the-ground can translate a lot more torque than a hoverfan so both systems shouldn't share a common formula. After all there are two methods of moving a hovercraft: downward fans that tilt fore/aft/left/right for maneuviring or stationary downward fans coupled with rear fancing turbo-fans and ailerons. The latter would pretty much decimate anything put into a trailer, and if you want more power from the former you'll be gaining altitude along with forward thrust, thus translating to more of an air car than a hovercar. |
January 1, 2017 - 11:58pm | My system could use refining, after all it stands to reason wheels-to-the-ground can translate a lot more torque than a hoverfan so both systems shouldn't share a common formula. After all there are two methods of moving a hovercraft: downward fans that tilt fore/aft/left/right for maneuviring or stationary downward fans coupled with rear fancing turbo-fans and ailerons. The latter would pretty much decimate anything put into a trailer, and if you want more power from the former you'll be gaining altitude along with forward thrust, thus translating to more of an air car than a hovercar. Ah, you made me think of something. In the Star Frontiersman issue 15 where you had an article about vehicle modifications there was an accompanying story by Larry Moore that mentions something called the "variable hover vehicle" (see page 29 under "Altitude Conventions Table") with a maximum flying altitude of 5 km. Does anyone know what this variable hover vehicle was supposed to be? No rules were suggested for it. Joe Cabadas |
January 2, 2017 - 12:00am | Also, concerning hover vehicles, they might be limited based on the powerplant. A Frontier vehicle using a parabattery wouldn't be as powerful as, say, a Clikk war tank with an atomic powerplant. Joe Cabadas |
January 2, 2017 - 7:41am | Larry's been MIA for a long time now. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 2, 2017 - 12:24pm | I do miss the l00nie posts, and it bums me out how he's become a m00t point. I also find it disturbing at how easily I have slipped into his role lately... |
