GURPS: Mass Effect, Part Eight
Moving on, I looked over the ME wiki with regards to space combat and found this:
Ship mobility dominates space combat; the primary objective is to align the mass accelerator along the bow with the opposing vessel's broadside. Battles typically play out as artillery duels fought at ranges measured in thousands of kilometers, though assault through defended mass relays often occur at "knife fight" ranges as close as a few dozen kilometers.
Most ship-to-ship engagements are skirmishes between patrol vessels of cruiser weight and below, with dreadnoughts and carriers only deployed in full-scale fleet actions. Battles in open space are short and often inconclusive, as the weaker opponent generally disengages.
Once a ship enters FTL flight the combat is effectively over; there are no sensors capable of tracking them, or weapons capable of damaging them. The only way to guarantee an enemy will stand and fight is to attack a location they have a vested interest in, such as a settled world or a strategically-important mass relay.
For the most part, this isn't going to be a problem, I think, because I was planning on trying to really emulate the ME games in which space combat is relegated to really cool cinematics where the ships show and blow crap up, but eventually, it probably will matter in some way (e.g., the Battle of the Citadel, when Saren & Sovereign and the Geth arrive ... although there, I'm leaning toward having the PCs already on the station for some reason so they have to help repel Geth assaults.)
Something else to consider, I guess.
Ship mobility dominates space combat; the primary objective is to align the mass accelerator along the bow with the opposing vessel's broadside. Battles typically play out as artillery duels fought at ranges measured in thousands of kilometers, though assault through defended mass relays often occur at "knife fight" ranges as close as a few dozen kilometers.
Most ship-to-ship engagements are skirmishes between patrol vessels of cruiser weight and below, with dreadnoughts and carriers only deployed in full-scale fleet actions. Battles in open space are short and often inconclusive, as the weaker opponent generally disengages.
Once a ship enters FTL flight the combat is effectively over; there are no sensors capable of tracking them, or weapons capable of damaging them. The only way to guarantee an enemy will stand and fight is to attack a location they have a vested interest in, such as a settled world or a strategically-important mass relay.
Knowing that, I'm not entirely sure how best to handle potential space combat in GURPS. I've reviewed the Basic Space Combat rules in GURPS: Spaceships, but frankly, its more complicated than I want to jack with, especially since I'm wanting to go for fast and exciting not "do you have a degree in calculus?" I suppose I could just use the basic Chase rules or the equally abstract Mass Combat system (which I've gotten a lot of use out of in Casus Belli, but that could take a bit of time as well.
For the most part, this isn't going to be a problem, I think, because I was planning on trying to really emulate the ME games in which space combat is relegated to really cool cinematics where the ships show and blow crap up, but eventually, it probably will matter in some way (e.g., the Battle of the Citadel, when Saren & Sovereign and the Geth arrive ... although there, I'm leaning toward having the PCs already on the station for some reason so they have to help repel Geth assaults.)
Something else to consider, I guess.
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