Please e-mail any addition to this list to (chriscox@ix.netcom.com) with the "FF&S errata"
in the subject.
(Jun-23-98)
The Definitive
Sensor Rules (http://www.missouri.edu/~ccjoe/traveller/house/sensor.rules.html), by Bruce Alan Macintosh, make fixes and addition to
those in FF&S.
(The Definitive Sensor Rules are on Joe Heck's Traveller, Science Fiction
Adventure in the Far Future pages)
Stuart C. Squibb has an FFS Equations Web page
(http://www.vectis.demon.co.uk/traveller/FFSEquations.html), with the equations laid
out in a clearer fashion than those in Fire, Fusion & Steel (T4 Edition)
Dave Golden, one of the designers of Fire, Fusion & Steel (T4 Edition), has a FF&S2 Designers' Notes page
(http://www.pcisys.net/~goldendj/Traveller/Admiralty/Shipyard/FFS2Notes/FFSNotes.html)
This version of the Errata and Addendum list included some comments from Charles R Hensley
that aren't actual errors but suggest fixes, changes or additions. Charles' comments are those
proceeded by a line asterisks "************************************"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Horny Toads! What's the deal with all those <->s in the formulas???
Well, the deal is that somewhere between the time the formulas where created in
Microsoft Word and the printing of Fire, Fusion & Steel all the
multiplication signs ended up looking like this "<->", a short line with an
arrow on each end. Now, if you just treat the <->s as if they were
multiplication signs the formulas should work fine, except, of course, if they
are listed below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 11
The example uses an incorrect value for material toughness: 1.2.
The correct value is: 1.71 The corrected example should read as follows:
Let's create the hull for a 100,000Td monitor--a large, non-jump warship
intended to defend critical points in the system. We need a 1,400,000m3
asteroid, which costs us MCr1.4 to tow into the inner system. We'll use a
metallic asteroid, just like the hundreds of others in the belt, to hide from
invaders. We want to be able to pull 6Gs, the structural factor is 7,360, and
the toughness for metallic bodies is 1.71, so we have to leave at least
77,474m3. However, we want this to be fairly well armored, so we'll leave half
of the asteroid. That's 700,000m3 times Cr100/m3, or MCr70 for the tunneling.
The surface area is 60,521m2. 1/3 of the material left acts as armor, or
233,333m3. Divide that by the surface area, and our average armor thickness is
3.85m. That equates to an armor factor of 658.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 11
The Drives section states: "Beginning at TL12, the reactionless thruster plates
become available." while Table 163: Advanced Thrusters lists the TL for Thruster
Plates as TL 11. David Golden, one of Fire, Fusion & Steel (T4 Edition)'s
authors, feels that TL 11 is what should be used.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 11
Equation 1:Standard Thrust Requirements
Incorrectly reads: Thrust=Accel (Volume (10kN
The Correct equation is: Thrust=Accel x Volume x 10kN
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Page 12
The delta-V formula should be:
delta-V=ln((Mtot/(Mtot-Mfuel)) * 3600/(FC*FD)
delta-V in G-hours is equal to delta-V in m/s divided by 36000
Mtot is Total Vehicle Mass
Mfuel is Fuel Mass
FC is Fuel Consumptio in m3/kN/hour
FD is Fuel Density in t/m3.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 15 Sickbays
Here are some comments fom Guy Garnett, one of FF&S2's designers, about sickbays
and how they relate to Low Berths:
"A FF&S2 "sickbay" is one of several different types of medical facility.
They are lumped together for convenience (3 dtons, and cost 0.8MCr). The
sickbay supports a staff of two, at least one of whom would normally be a
Medic-3 or better (doctor, surgeon, or medical specialist) to get the full
benefit of the facility. The designer determines the exact purpose of the
sickbay (outpatient care, medical specialty treatment center, critical care,
surgery, nurse's station, etc.) when it is designed and installed. Some
facilities may have multiple installations, so that (for example) you could
equip a hospital ship with an emergency room, surgery, pharmacy, trauma
unit, critical care unit, radiology department, medical lab, and so on.
My thinking about low berths and sickbays is that low berths already
have the required equipment, drugs, and other supplies for reviving the
occupant as safely as possible - thus, the presence of a sickbay won't affect
the low berth survival roll, since there's nothing the sickbay can supply
that's not already available. However if a sickbay is present, someone who
has failed their revival roll could be transferred there, and sickbay care
may help the patient recover from the results of a failed roll (since the
sickbay is probably qualifies as a TL-11 or better medical facility). This
is unlikey to be practical, except in the case of a Naval frozen watch.
A sickbay, like the other labs and shops, provides specialized equipment,
tools, information, and other needed supplies to excercise certain skills.
For tasks where the availability of this stuff makes a difference, there
should be some type of reduction in the difficulty of a task, based on
the availability of this equipment. The "game effects" listed for each
type of facility gives the referee some guidelines on what this might be.
The presence of the facility won't help tasks that aren't affected by
the availability of appropriate equipment."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 16
Add the following note to the section on Drop Tanks:
Note: In the Third Imperium, Jump Drives capable of using Drop Tanks are not
developed until around 1090 and can only be manufactured on TL-15 worlds.
However, Drop tanks can be manufacture on most world capable of building hulls.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Page 30
suggestion: minimum cartridge case length should be
Len(ccmin) +caliber. Len(ccmin) calculates the length needed to contain only
the propellant, cartridge needs to also contain a portion of the bullet for
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Page 31
Ammunition Volume(mm^3) = Mod(ctype) x Area(base) x Ammunition Length
(to get m^3, divide by 1000^3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 36, Equation 22: Single Shot Recoil:
This equation as printed is illegible. The equation should be:
MODrss=[([0.15 x sqrt(Emuzzel)]/MASSloaded)+MODenergy] x MODrecoil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 36, under Gauss Weapons the equation for ammo mass is incorrect and should
be Cal cubed and not Cal squared.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 40, Equation 34: Single Shot Recoil:
This equation as printed is illegible. The equation should be:
MODrss=[([0.15 x sqrt(Emuzzel)]/MASSloaded)+MODenergy] x MODrecoil/2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 41, Equation 37: Explosive Warhead Burst Radius
MODbrwhtype should be MODbrwtype to match Table 76:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Page 42
Warhead volume equation will only work for a 2cm warhead. A better equation
would be
(caliber (cm) / 100)^3 x 5.
Most heavy weapon warheads are 5 calibers in length due to instability in flight
of any rifling spin stabilized round above 6 calibers in length. The shorter
the barrel the worse the instability. The suggested equation uses a square base
thus should be considered a storage volume. FSDS type rounds are considerably
longer, but a large portion of the length is buried in the powder casing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 42, Equation 43: Chaff Burst Radius:
MODillumtl should be MODchafftl
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Page 43
cpr gun propellant volume? This would be important for tanks and artillery to
determine how much ammunition can be carried. Note: the U.S. Army is/was
developing a liquid propellant system forartillery that would not require a
propellant casing, the neededpropellant would be stored in a tank and feed
directly into the breachblock. (development of ETC?)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 43, Equation 44: Rifle Grenade Range:
Here's something different, an equation that as printed is illegible.
The equation should be:
Rrg=(D/MASSgrenade)xMODwtech
Also D is not defined: D is the Traveller Damage value of the rifle or carbine
firing the grenade.
And finally MODwtech should be MODgtech.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 43: Nuclear-Pumped X-Ray Lasers
This paragraph is incorrect and should read.
See Tables 93 and 94 for short- and long-range detonation lasers.
Short-range detonation lasers have a maximum range of 15,000km. Long-range
detonation lasers have a range of 30,000km at TL-16 or less and a range of
60,000km at TL-17 or above have.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equation 45 Len(barrek) is barrel length of the CPR gun
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 45, Equation 51: MD Muzzle Energy:
The equation as printed is incorrect. The correct equation is:
Emuzzle = MASSwarhead*Vmuzzle^2/2,000,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 46, Equation 55: MD Direct Fire Range:
Would you believe another illegible equation. The equation should be:
Rdshort=5 x [(Vmuzzle/20)+Cal+20]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 47, Equation 61: Single-Shot Recoil:
I hope that this is the last equation that was illegible (except of course where
these equations are repeated in the back of the book). The equation should be:
MODrss=([150 x sqrt(Emuzzel)]/MASSloaded) x MODrecoil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Page 48
Equations 63 and 64
F = ma therefore
(thrust required) = (mass average) x (acceleration designed)
or
(thrust required) = (mass average) x (velocity max) /(burn time)
New Equation 63:
(thrust required (N)) = (mass average (kg)) x(velocity max (kph)) x 60^2 /
(1000 x (burn time (sec)))
New Equation 64: (thrust required (N)) = (mass average (kg)) x
(acceleration design (m/s^2))
Battlefield missiles or rockets with a flight time of more than a minute should
be designed as a two stage missile. First stage (main charge)designed with New
equation 63, burn time is time to achieve max velocity. Second stage
(sustainer) use New equation 64, determine sustaining acceleration by the
following table.
New Table 119 Missile sustaining accelerations:
Speed (km/hr) Acceleration (m/s^2)
<350 Acc = speed / 700
350< speed <3,485 Acc = ((speed - 350) / 350) + .5
3,485< speed <4,685 Acc = ((speed - 3,485) / 120) + 10
4,685< speed Acc = ((speed - 4,685) / 60) + 20
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Page 49
The delta-V formula should be:
delta-V=ln((Mtot/(Mtot-Mfuel)) * 3600/(FC*FD)
delta-V in G-hours is equal to delta-V in m/s divided by 36000
Mtot is Total Vehicle Mass
Mfuel is Fuel Mass
FC is Fuel Consumptio in m3/kN/hour
FD is Fuel Density in t/m3.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 50: Replace the paragraph on Intensity with the following:
Intensity: Intensity is equal to discharge energy for ranges up to effective
range. For ranges greater than the effective range, intensity is calculated
using the following equation:
I = DE / (R /Reff)^2
I=Intensity; DE=Discharge Energy; R=Range; Reff=Effective Range
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 50: the equation for Damage value "DV=25(I^.5)" is incorrect the correct
equation is:
DV=3.6(I^.5)
DV= Damage Value; I = Intensity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 50: ROF says, Rates higher than one shot every 10 seconds require extra
cooling and ventilation to avoid damage to the focal array.
It should read "20 seconds".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 52: Replace the paragraph on Intensity with the following:
Intensity: Intensity is equal to dischare energy for ranges up to effective
range. For ranges greater than the effective range, intensity is calculated
using the following equation:
I = DE / (R /Reff)^2
I=Intensity; DE=Discharge Energy; R=Range; Reff=Effective Range
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 52: the equation for Damage value "DV is 5 times the square root of the
intensity times the damage modifier calaculated above" is incorrect the correct
equation is:
DV=7.1*DM*(I^.5)
DV = Damage Value; DM = Damage Modifier calculated above; I = Intensity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 54: Replace the paragraph on Intensity with the following:
Intensity: Intensity is equal to dischare energy for ranges up to effective
range. For ranges greater than the effective range, intensity is calculated
using the following equation:
I = DE / (R /Reff)^2
I=Intensity; DE=Discharge Energy; R=Range; Reff=Effective Range
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 54: the equation for Damage value "DV is 5 times the square root of the
intensity times the damage modifier calaculated above" is incorrect the correct
equation is:
DV=7.1*DM*(I^.5)
DV = Damage Value; DM = Damage Modifier calculated above; I = Intensity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 54: the equation for Damage value "DV is 5 times the square root of the
intensity" is incorrect the correct equation is:
DV=7.1*(I^.5)
DV = Damage Value; I = Intensity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 65: replace sequence 6. Stealth with the following:
At TL8-9, only one level of stealth maybe applied, and this
stealthing has no effect against TL10+ sensors. At TL10-11, only two
levels of stealth may be applied. At TL12+ ships may have up to three
levels of stealth. Regardless of armor thickness stealthy hulls have a
minimum cost. For convenience the effects of stealth are summarized below
(rounded off slightly for convenience)
Level Minimum Component Component Armor Min Cost Signature
TL vol mult area mult cost mult (MCr/m2) Mod
1 8 1.1 1.25 x5 0.005 -0.5
2 10 1.2 1.56 x25 0.025 -1.0
3 12 1.3 1.95 x125 0.125 -1.5
Component vol mult=multiplier for volume of all surface-area-using
components (except drives and radiators), such as weapons, sensors, etc.
Component area mult=multiplier for surface area of all surface-area-using
components
The additional volume and area represents waste volume and area required to
make components stealthy and dose not effect any other the other characteristics
of the component such as mass, price, etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 65: Hull Coatings
The discount for for "Bare metal" hulls of 0.01MCr/m3 is incorrect. the correct
figure is 50Cr/m2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Page 72
TL9+ crewstations/workstations require a computer or they act as TL8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pages 71-72
Table 185: Control Systems is missing from the book but is included below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pages 72-74: Sensors
See instead the "Definitive Sensor Rules" by Bruce Macintosh
(http://www.missouri.edu/~ccjoe/traveller/house/sensor.rules.html.)
In particular, active sensors no longer use twice
the range factor, but instead use a modified detection chart.
The range factors given in the examples should be increased by 6.
Sensor Options: Folding arrays: ignore the "double the volume."
Instead, folding arrays multiply the cost by 1.2 and reduce the required
surface area to 10% of normal. Note that the spacecraft cannot evade while
the folding array is deployed. At TL10+, PEMS arrays can operate while
folded, at a penalty of -1 to sensitivity.
Passive Sensors:
Resolution: Resolution is in meters. To calculate resolution
at any other distance, use the following formula:
resolution = R * (D/50000km)
where R is the resolution given in the table and D is the distance
in km.
Active sensors: delete "twice" in "twice the range factor".
Vehicle Active Sensors:
(see new table below.) Note that TL6-7 active sensors are missing
and will be added later. The only TL6-7 passive sensors available
are those in the "Portable Visible and Infrared Light Sensors" table.
Rules for specialized TL-6 and 7 trackers will be added later (but
will only rarely be used, since there are no TL-6 or 7 beam weapons
to require fire control.)
Jammers:
Active sensor jammers are divided into two types, "area jammers" and
"deceptive jammers". Detailed rules will appear in the next edition
of the Definitive Sensor Rules.
Area jammers blanket an entire region with electromagnetic
interference to reduce sensor sensitivity. All sensors within a
active jammer's range and in a 30 degree arc from the jamming ship have their
sensitivity reduced by 0.5 for both detection and fire control.
Area Jamming enemy sensors is a Staggering task,
reduced one difficulty level for every tech level the jammer exceeds the
sensor (One DM for every two tech levels in TNE.)
Jamming sensors one TL higher is an Impossible task; sensors more than
two TLs higher cannot be area jammed.
Deceptive jammers protect a single ship by attempt to mimic
radar/AEMS signals hitting the jammer-equipped ship to disrupt fire control
locks (but not detection.)
Fire control locks against a ship equipped with
a deceptive jammer, by a sensor within that jammer's range,
have sensitivity reduced by 0.5. Deceptive jamming is a Formidable task,
reduced one difficulty level for every tech level the jammer exceeds the
sensor (One DM for every two tech levels in TNE.)
Jamming sensors one TL higher is an Impossible task; sensors more than
two TLs higher cannot be area jammed.
Passive sensor jammers also operate to prevent fire control locks.
(The name is something of a misnomer since they actually do emit radiation.)|
Fire control locks against a ship equipped with
a passive jammer, by a sensor within that jammer's range,
have sensitivity reduced by 0.5. Deceptive jamming is a Impossible task,
reduced one difficulty level for every tech level the jammer exceeds the
sensor (One DM for every two tech levels in TNE.) Passive jammers can only
be used against sensors that have been detected by the jamming ship.
Sensors of higher TL cannot be jammed. The next DSR edition will include
rules for using passive jammers to blind or deceive enemy sensors (generally
only possible for sensors of lower TL than the jammer.)
Decoys: Active sensor decoys and LIDAR decoys are also available. They
require 0.1 m3 per m2 of the ship's surface per decoy bundle, mass
2 tons per m3 and cost MCr 5 per m3. The launcher requires 0.01 m3 per m2 of
surface area, masses one ton per m3 and costs MCr 0.1 per m3.
(Separate decoys and launchers are required for active sensors and LIDAR.)
They reduce the signature of the deploying ship by 0.5. Decoys of all types
are only effective against sensors of equal or lower tech level. Successfully
operating decoys is an Impossible task,
reduced one difficulty level for every tech level the jammer exceeds the
sensor (One DM for every two tech levels in TNE.)
TL6-7 decoys cost one tenth as much as normal decoys.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 75: under Crew, workstations
All Gunners require workstations. However, if a bridge is needed only MFD
Gunners will need bridge workstations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 75: Maneuvering Crew (CMn)
The equation for calculating Manuvering crew for military vessels,
3 x log(CM x ship size) rounding fractions up, is incomplete. The complete
equation is: 3 x log( CM x Volume / 140 ) rounding fractions up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 77; a clarification regarding accommodations:
Seats are not required for crew members. Seats are already included in the
figures for workstations and crew stations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 8: Labs and Workshops. The columns for Power and Price are reversed. The
correct table appears below
Volume Mass Power Price
Type (m^3) (t) (MW) (MCr)
Electronics Shop 84 40 1.0 0.6
Machine Shop 140 120 120 1.0 2.0
Laboratory 112 50 0.8 5.0
Sickbay 112 50 0.8 5.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 20: Envelop Cost. The Cost of (MCr/m3) is incorrect and should be (Cr/m3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Table 37 Bullet Length (add)
Carbine 2 x Caliber
Rifle 3 x Caliber
Rifle, high power 4 x Caliber
Rifle, SLAP 4 x Caliber
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Table 39 Ammunition Type Modifier
(add)
7 Straight (semi-caseless) .007
7 Necked (semi-caseless) .009
(semi-caseless uses a metallic cartridge one caliber in length with the
remainder of the case made of nitrocellulose, paper, and resin. This is
used for the 120mm rounds for the M1A2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 83:Chaff TL Modifier:
MODillumtl should be MODchafftl
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
New Table 119 Missile sustaining accelerations:
Speed (km/hr) Acceleration (m/s^2)
<350 Acc = speed / 700
350< speed <3,485 Acc = ((speed - 350) / 350) + .5
3,485< speed <4,685 Acc = ((speed - 3,485) / 120) + 10
4,685< speed Acc = ((speed - 4,685) / 60) + 20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 160: Hull Shape Modifiers; the information for a Wedge configuration
should be:
Streamlining
Surface Cost Modifiers Dimension Modifiers
Configuration Modifier USL SL AF Length Width Height
Wedge 1.52 0.5 0.7 1.5 2.52 1.73 0.72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 166:
Replace the current table with the following:
TL Type Thrust Price Fuel Ftype
kn/m3 MCr/m3 m3/hr/kN
5 Liq 300 2.00 1.28 LRF
6 Hyp Liq 850 1.83 1.22 Hyp
6 Liq 500 1.50 1.16 LRF
6 HDLiq 650 1.50 0.86 Perox
7 Hyp Liq 930 1.20 1.22 Hyp
7 Liq 850 0.67 1.19 LRF
7 HDLiq 1,080 0.53 0.86 Perox
7 LH Liq 650 2.00 2.54 HRF
8 Hyp Liq 1,320 1.00 1.14 Hyp
8 Liq 770 0.83 1.06 LRF
8 HDLiq 1,250 1.00 0.80 Perox
8 LH Liq 730 2.67 2.40 HRF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 167: Nuclear Rockets
Replace the current table with the following:
TL Type Thrust Price Fuel Ftype
kn/m3 MCr/m3 m3/hr/kN
7 NTR 80 8.00 5.94 LHyd
8 NTR 100 10.00 5.90 LHyd
8 AdvNTR 120 12.00 4.17 LHyd
9 GCNTR 50 16.67 2.52 LHyd
9 Exp. Fusion 30 3.50 0.0072 LHyd
10 Fusion 90 0.35 0.0035 LHyd
10 AND 1,100 0.80 0.034 D/T water
AND is the Advanced Nuclear Drive, a low-efficiency/high-performance lightweight
fusion rocket, using tritium-enriched heavy water, for use in missiles. The
exhaust (and the whole engine after more than a few seconds of firing) is
moderately radioactive; it can only be used in expendable vehicles. Missiles
using this drive are "kicked" a few tens of meters away from the launching ship
by the launcher or by a explosive charge in the launch cannister.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
Table 168: Exotic Drives
Daedalus drive uses lasers for fuel detination thus should have a power
requirement (although very small)
********************************************************************************
and a couple of optional drives:
TL Type Thrust Mass Price Fuel Rate Fuel Type PowerIn
(kN/m^3) (t/m^3) (MCr/kN) (m^3/hr/kN) (MW/kN)
7 ArcJet 1.5 5 0.04? 3.5 LHyd 20
7 ArcJet 2.4 5 0.04? .5 L Ammonia 10.4
surface required 6m^2/m^3
ArcJets are simular to ion drives but use lower density propelant and
more electrical input
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 171:
AZH rocket mode should have a fuel consumption of 2.4m3/kN/hr
(an increase of x112 from the turbojet mode per m3 of engine.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 173: Fuels
Type Density (t/m3) Cost (Cr/m3) Comments
D/T water 1.167 20,000
HRF 0.33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 180: Weapon Stabilization
Price heading MCr should be kCr
Mass is in kg/ton of weapon; Price is in kCr/ton of weapon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 184: Computer Power and Price
The Price for TL-11 should be 0.05 and not 0.29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 185: Control Systems
TL Type Power(MW) Price(MCr) Maximum Airframe
4 Primitive Mechanical -- 0.000007 Simple
5 Basic Mechanical -- 0.000015 Fast Subsonic
6 Enhanced Mechanical 0.000015 0.000022 Supersonic
7 Electronic (FBW) 0.000038 0.000038 Hypersonic
8 Electronic Linked 0.000038 0.000057 Hypersonic
9 Computer Linked 0.000038 0.000075 Hypersonic
10 Dynamic Linked 0.000075 0.000112 Hypersonic
13 Holographic Linked 0.000075 0.000150 Hypersonic
17 Synaptic Linked 0.000075 0.000188 Hypersonic
21 Advanced Synaptic Linked 0.000075 0.000225 Hypersonic
Note: All values per m3 of hull Automation: all values are for
Standard automation. For Low, multiply by 0.95. For High, multiply
by 1.10.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 189: Terrain-Following Avionics
the volume for TL-9 should be 0.2 and not 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 190: Radio Communicators
The price for 1,000AU .15 kCr is incorrect the correct price is 150 kCr
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 195: Detection Probability
SIGNAL active detection passive detection
task task
<0 (target cannot be detected under any circumstances)
0 Impossible Impossible
0.5 Average Staggering (TNE: Formidable)
1.0 (automatic detection) Average
1.5 Easy
2.0 (automatic detection.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 196: TL8-9 Scanners
Sensor mass is 1 ton/m2, not m3.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 197: TL8-9 Trackers has several errors the correct table is:
Areas by TL (m2) Resolution
Sensitivity Max Range Diameter 8 9 at 50,000km
13 50,000 1.5 2.0 1.0 20m
13.5 150,000 5.0 20.0 10.0 5m
14 500,000 15.0 -- 100.0 1.5m
14.5 1,500,000 50.0 -- 1000.0 0.5m
Sensor mass is 1 ton per m2, not per m3.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 198: PEMS Arrays
Change the "firing range" column to read
Sensitivity Firing range (km)
12.5 50,000
13.0 160,000
13.5 500,000
13.5 1,600,000
14.0 5,000,000
14.5 16,000,000
15.0 16,000,000
15.5 16,000,000
PEMS mass is 1 ton per m2, not per m3.
PEMS power is 0.001 MW per m2, not 0.001 kW/m2.
Footnote: * indicates "limited by diameter. PEMS15.5 and 16 may be built with
larger than listed diameter; multiply resolution and maximum range by
(diameter/300m), to a maximum of x3 for PEMS 15.5 and x10 for PEMS 16.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 204 is mislabeled: Table 204: LIDAR Volume
The correct title is: Table 204: Converting to FF&S1/QSDS/SSDS
Also the entire table should be replaced with the following tables from
the Definitive Sensor Rules
Table 204a: Passive Sensor Conversion Table:
FFS range(hexes)
or T4 rating Sensitivity
0.01-0.1 13.0
1-2 13.5
3-4 14.0
5-6 14.5
7-8 15.0
Table 204b: Active Sensor Conversion Table:
FFS range(hexes)
or T4 rating Sensitivity
0.01-0.1 11.5
1-7 12.0
8-16 12.5
Table 204c: LIDAR Sensor Conversion Table:
FFS range(hexes)
or T4 rating Sensitivity
1 13.5
2 14.0
4 14.5
6 15.0
8-16 15.5
LIDARs are considered "Trackers", and can only be used for fire control locks
or for maintaining contact with previously detected targets.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add the Active Jammer Table:
Range Area by TL (m2)
8 9 10-11 12-13 14-15
11 500 100 50 25 10
12 5,000 1,000 500 250 100
13 50,000 10,000 5,000 2,500 1,000
14 --- 100,000 50,000 25,000 10,000
15 --- --- --- --- 100,000
Active area jammers have area given by the above table. They have
a volume of 5m3 per m2, a mass of 2 tonnes/m3, and require 5 MW per m2.
They cost MCr 5 per m2.
Active deceptive jammers have 1/10 the area given above. They have
a volume of 2m3 per m2, a mass of 2 tonnes/m3, and require 0.1 MW per m2.
They cost MCr 5 per m2.
Passive jammer table:
Range Area by TL (m2)
8 9 10-11 12-13 14-15
13 1 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1
14 10 5 2 1 0.5
15 100 50 20 10 5
16 1000 500 200 100 50
PEMS jammer volume is 2m3 per m2 of area. Mass is 2 tonnes per m2.
They require 0.1 MW per m2 and cost MCr 5 per m2.
Table 205: Vehicle Active Sensors:
Sensitivity Area by TL Typical
8 9 10-11 12-13 14-15 Range
6.5 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 0.002 16
7 0.1 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 50
8 0.25 0.10 0.05 0.02 0.010 160
8.5 0.5 0.20 0.10 0.05 0.025 500
9 1.0 0.50 0.20 0.10 0.050 1,600
Volume: sensor volume is 1m3 per m2 of area at all TL. Mass is 2 tonnes per m3.
Power required is 0.05 MW/m2. Price is MCr 1 per m2.
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Table 208: Life Support A; the stats for minimal life support are all "??"
Table 208: Life Support A
Volume Mass Power Price
TL Type (m3/m3) (t/m3) (MW/m3) (MCr/m3)
5 Overpressure 0.001 0.001 - 0.0001
5 I (Minimal) 0.001 0.002 --- 0.0002
5 II (Basic) 0.005 0.005 0.0001 0.0003
6 III (Standard) 0.008 0.008 0.0002 0.0005
7 IV( Extended) 0.016 0.015 0.001 0.001
Volume is required volume of life support per m3 of enclosed hull volume.
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Table 209: Life Support B; the entire price column is "??"
Table 209: Life Support B
Volume Mass Power Price Min
TL Type (m3/m3) (t/m3) (MW/m3) (MCr/m3) Persons
5 Oxygen tanks & Masks 0.01 10 - 0.01 -
8 V-a (Endurance) 100 50 0.01 0.1 25
9 V-b (Endurance) 200 75 0.02 0.2 30
10 V-c (Endurance) 500 125 0.05 0.5 40
10 V-d (Endurance) 1,500 200 0.05 1.5 75
All values are per person supported.
Volume is required volume of life support per person
Min Cap: Due to their nature, endurance systems have to be built to support
a minimum number of people.
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Table 212: Food Storage needs clarification:
The volume required for food is included in the Food Storage volume.
For example: A 2.4 m3 TL-8 refrigerator will store 2 m3 of food internally;
in other words, the food space is included in the 2.4 m3 volume.
This seems both reasonable and consistent with an actual TL-8 refrigerator
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Table 215: Power Plant Scale Effiecies:
On the 4th row of the table the Min Volume multiple of x1,000 is incorrect.
The multiple should be x10,000
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Just below Table 221: Antimatter Power Plants
The unlabled mystery table located just underneth Table 221 is the
Photoelectric Cells table
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Some addenda that didn't make it into the first draft, but ship designers
might be interested in:
Sensor Options:
High or Low-powered active sensors.
Active sensors may be designed to trade off required input power for size -
achieving greater sensitivity in a small package by use of a higher-powered
beam, for example. High-power active sensors of a given sensitivity have
the price as a normal sensor of the same sensitivity, but the designer
may decrease the surface area
by any factor between 2 and 5, increasing the power consumption by the same
factor. High-power sensors have a volume of 10m3 per m2 of area.
Similarly, low-power active sensors decrease the input power by a factor of
2 to 5, increasing the surface area by the same amount. Low-power
sensors have a volume of 2.5 m3 per m2 of area.
Continuos sensor formula (handy for spreadsheets):
Mathematically inclined users can calculate the area of sensors of arbitrary
sensitivity by using the following formula:
Area = Base Area * 100 ^ (sensitivity-13) (the ^ signifies exponentiation.)
The base area is found on the following table:
TL PEMS base area AEMS base area
8 50,000
9 10,000
10-11 2 5,000
12-13 1 2,500
14-15 0.5 1,000
The minimum diameter and firing range (for PEMS) is taken from the nearest
PEMS on table 198. Sensors may not be constructed with greater or lesser
sensitivity than those on Table 198 and Table 201 at a given TL.
Exotic Sensors:
There are three types of exotic sensors available: Neutrino sensors,
Gravitic Sensors, and Neural Activity Scanners.
Neural Activity Scanners detect and classify life forms based on brain
activity. They are extremely short-ranged, expensive, and fragile.
At each TL two basic models are available - a lightweight (portable)
model and a somewhat larger ranged device.
TL Range MW Vol MCr
13 0.010 0.004 0.002 0.02
13 0.100 40.0 50.0 20.0
14 0.050 0.005 0.002 0.02
14 0.200 50.0 50.0 20.0
15 0.100 0.006 0.002 0.02
15 0.400 60.0 50.0 20.0
Range: Typical range in km
MW: power required in MW
Vol: volume in m3. All NAS mass 2 tonnes per m3
Antenna area (m2) = MW x 100
Neutrino scanners attempt to detect neutrinos emitted by nuclear power plants.
Practical high-efficiency neutrino sensors are made possible by the
increasing mastery of nuclear forces at TL12; however, they are generally
too short ranged to be useful in starship combat. In addition, they function
only as scanners - detecting targets but not providing a precise enough
position for fire control.
Neutrino scanner volume is given by the following table:
Sensitivity Volume by TL Typical Range
12-13 14-15
8 10.0 5.0 50 km
8.5 50.0 20.0 160 km
9 500.0 200.0 500 km
9.5 50000.0 20000.0 1600 km
Neutrino scanners mass 2 tonnes per m3 and cost MCr 5/m3. They require
0.1 MW per m3. They require no surface area.
For detection purposes, neutrino signature can be calculated by totaling
the power of all nuclear
(fusion, fission, and fusion+) power plants on the vehicle and comparing
to table 13. At TL13+, power plants can be constructed with neutrino
shielding. Neutrino shielding requires 0.1 m3 per m3 of power plant
volume, masses 1 tonne per m3, cost MCr 1.0 per m3 and require 0.01 MW
per m3, and reduces the neutrino signature by 1.0.
Gravitic scanners detect both static gravitational fields and gravitational
radiation. The ability of grav sensors to detect
static fields is limited to strong fields or anomalies such as those caused
by large mineralogical anomalies, or large astronomical objects.
Their ability to detect gravitational radiation, however, gives them
some sensitivity to the gravity waves produced by thruster plates and
contra-grav propulsion. Like neutrino scanners, they are not accurate
enough to provide a fire-control solution, and are somewhat short-ranged.
Despite the impressions of certain science-fiction authors, gravitational
radiation travels only at the speed of light.
Gravitic scanner volume is given by the following table:
Sensitivity Volume by TL Typical Range
12-13 14-15
7.0 --- 0.01 5 km
7.5 0.5 0.05 16 km
8 5.0 0.50 50 km
8.5 100.0 5.0 160 km
9 5000.0 100.0 500 km
9.5 500000.0 2000.0 1600 km
10.0 --- 200000.0 5000 km
Mass is 2 tonnes per m3. Price is MCr 8 per m3. Power required is 0.01 MW
per m3. Antenna area is 0.5 m2 per m3.
Gravitic sensors operating on a planetary surface or on a ship with
active thruster plates have their sensitivity reduced by 0.5
The gravitic signature of a vehicle may be calculated from the following
table:
Thrust (kn) Signature
1 - 10 -2.0
10 - 100 -1.5
100 - 1,000 -1.0
1,000 - 10,000 -0.5
10,000 - 100,000 0.0
100,000 - 1,000,000 0.5
1,000,000 - 10,000,000 1.0
10,000,000 - 100,000,000 1.5
100,000,000 -1,000,000,000 2.0
(As a rule of thumb, thrust in kn = (G-rating)*(size in Td)*(100.)
Vehicles propelled by contra-grav instead of thruster plates have their
signature reduced by 0.5.
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This page is maintained by Chris Cox