Epik Space Now In Alpha

Not Lego but still Lego.

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dilanski
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Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by dilanski » Mon Nov 11, 2013 5:23 pm

I have finally finished the first alpha edition of the Epik Space Rulebook. When I say 'Alpha' I mean the rule set fully works, but isn't fully tested, balanced or optimised, some things will change between this and the Beta. It is also incredibly rough around the edges, with many sections written just to get the mechanics down, and many little 'authours remarks' around the place, a lot of expamples I wanted to add are missing, and I have a backlog of pictures to get through, I am however releasing it in this state, as it is the important for the upcoming Bavarian story-arc, with the possibility of this rule set being used for a silly big battle, and I do mean silly big.

So what makes Epik-Space different? Well it's LDD optimised, scale optimised, and forum battle optimised. It is also designed to be as 'balanced' as possible within classes, meaning most of the constant 1-up-man-ship that happens constantly, is mostly negated, while still leaving some tactical flavour. there isn't however yet any points or easy way to balance between different players groups.

I am posting to ask for feedback less on the mechanics (but if you notice any loopholes, please do shout), but on balance, and also on the writing, what does and doesn't make sense and what needs to be rewritten. As I wrote it all, all of it makes sense to me, as I subconsciously substitute in what I meant to say, so help with that would be appreciated.

What I Do Not want help on is:
"Why haven't you got rules for this" - As either balance, or to streamline, or as I will add them later (see the empty sections)
"I don't like this mechanic as it gives me fewer options" - Making the game optimised for the 3 factors mentioned is more important, trust me, I do like options normally
"But according to my canon..." STOP RIGHT THERE. I don't care about your canon, or what you think your ship is capable of, if you can't do it within the confines of these rules, then save it for a special objective, or simply don't use it.

OK so without further ado:
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Last edited by dilanski on Wed Mar 26, 2014 2:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Epik Space (Pre-Pre Alpha)

Post by Theblackdog » Tue Nov 12, 2013 6:59 pm

A couple thoughts:
--Giving weapons unlimited range discourages movement. In general I think it's a poor idea. The range bands help a little but I feel like they add more complexity than a set range limit would.

--I like the dice pool idea, it should make combat go quickly.

--I think an easy way to balance the ship designs would be to split each class into hull types, as in EVE. I actually used this in an older version of my microspace rule set. So, for instance, capital hulls could be split into interceptor (bonus to movement, penalty to armor/hitpoints) assault (More weapons slots, penalty to movement) or EWAR/logistic (more special ability slots, penalty to weapon slots) types.
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Re: Epik Space (Pre-Pre Alpha)

Post by dilanski » Sun Dec 29, 2013 2:06 pm

I has update! Gaze upon Epik Space 0.0.5!

I am currently after feedback primarily on the only 'feature complete' chapter, 4 - Fleet Structure & Management, firstly on how well the two worked examples (blue text) work to explain the concepts. Chapter 1 is also for the chopping block to be integrated into chapter 2, unless anyone can think of a better use for it.

Also, Once chapter 6 is completed, I plan to host battles in chat, while streaming the LDD program live. I will be announcing here a day or so beforehand, but if you would be interested in taking part, do have a fleet ready and available on the old wiki.
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Re: Epik Space (Pre-Pre Alpha)

Post by cleanupcrew » Sun Dec 29, 2013 2:10 pm

Holy shit, someone still remembers the Gamma Corps.

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Re: Epik Space (Pre-Pre Alpha)

Post by dilanski » Sun Dec 29, 2013 2:35 pm

The ships look too good not to use somewhere. I figured these are some of the few Gamma Corps left, still defending some long forgotten outpost somewhere, this Brittanian ship was leading a mission to eradicate them for the Immortals, but their will to survive was sorely underestimated.
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Re: Epik Space (Pre-Pre Alpha)

Post by The Shadowscythe » Sun Dec 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Colette wrote:Holy shit, someone still remembers the Gamma Corps.
First Scythian ally, still mentioned every now again in my writing.
-- WARNINK -- LINK BELOW IZ KNOWN TO CAUZE HEMMORAGE --
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I WARNED YOU, DIDN'T I WARN YOU?! BLAME RAYHAWK DAMNIT.
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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by dilanski » Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:43 pm

Bump with Alpha version.
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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by cleanupcrew » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:40 pm

Now that you've proven yourself superior to stubby, I demand a play test.

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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by Theblackdog » Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:26 am

This looks good and I like the squadron-based combat and different weapon systems. But the interdiction rule seems confusing. Looking at it... it seems like this is what it boils down to:

--An attacker shoots a mix of missiles, fighters, and beams/projectiles at your squadron.

--The escorts alone roll survivability against the missiles and fighters, reducing the oncoming damage.

--The entire squadron, including the escorts(?), rolls against the remaining total damage.

--Escorts roll survivability(?) again to destroy the enemy fighters.

You should explain all of this in one place, so that the player can get a complete Overwatch of what happens in the combat phase and in what order, instead of having to scroll down to interdiction and then even further down to fighter interdiction.

It's also not clear how dogfighting works. Each fighter deals fixed damage, but does that damage automatically kill the enemy fighters? Does each fighter have 1 survivability? Fighters having the same survivability as an escort is kind of weird.

AoE doomsday seems every bit as OP as in EVE, but I'm not sure about the scale of your battles. If 30 units is a 'short' distance, it might be okay.
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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by cleanupcrew » Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:58 am

Theblackdog wrote:AoE doomsday seems every bit as OP as in EVE, but I'm not sure about the scale of your battles. If 30 units is a 'short' distance, it might be okay.
Seems a tad too big. The cross below is the area of effect:
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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by Whiteagle » Tue Mar 04, 2014 2:15 am

Meh, these rules aren't for me...
For instance, the Conifer won't even classify as a Super Capital, and the lack of rules for Fixed Weapons makes my Rail Frigates sub-par to my Beam ones...

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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by dilanski » Tue Mar 04, 2014 9:20 am

Whiteagle wrote:Meh, these rules aren't for me...
For instance, the Conifer won't even classify as a Super Capital.
1. Grease an 18cm square cake tin.

2. Put the milk, sugar and butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Heat slowly, stirring all the time, until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted.

3. Bring to the boil and boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring all the time.

4. When the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (115°C on a sugar thermometer), remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

5. Beat the mixture with a spoon for a few minutes until it starts to thicken and the gloss disappears.

6. Pour into the prepared tin and leave to set at room temperature (do not put it in the fridge).

7. Once set, cut the fudge into small squares and store in a sealed container.
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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by Maverick » Tue Mar 04, 2014 9:55 am

Fuck. Dilanski just fudged IRL.

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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by Gorthaff » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:44 am

I've been looking at this for a while, and find it very promising, but it has one problem. Guns make no sense. Having two tier teo railguns is the same as having one tier two. also hits are guaruanteed. Two changes I'd suggest, is intruducing misses, with either an accuracy or a agility roll, and a redo of the weapons to make them easier to fit. This is what i thought up:
power grid requirements are one fourth of the normal.

----------------------4"-10"------------8"-12"------------10"-16"-------6"-14"--------------------0"-3"---- These shouldn't be inches, I know
System type:---Short ranged---Medium ranged---Long ranged---All'round---Indirect---interception---Hangar---Double HP---Double Speed---(Double Agility/Accuracy)
Power/1dmg:---------3-------------------4------------------5-------------6-----------1-----------8/1d6---------20----------Half the total-------------------Half the total

This is not playtested, and is just a suggestion. I'd like to hear what do you think.
I couldn't come up with anything smart, original or funny, so <=THIS=> is what you get.
ENJOY IT!!!

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Re: Epik Space Now In Alpha

Post by dilanski » Wed Mar 26, 2014 2:04 pm

Gorthaff wrote:I've been looking at this for a while, and find it very promising, but it has one problem. Guns make no sense. Having two tier teo railguns is the same as having one tier two.
Yes, there is a very good reason for that. There are no 'guns' just a total tier for the ship as a whole. From my notes from the live stream test battle:

Code: Select all

Scythian Emperor: Large Capital - 3 Tiers of directed Energy weapons

Code: Select all

Praetorian Heathen Advanced: Large Capital -3 tiers high energy material, and 4 tiers of missiles.
Whether the Emperor had 5 large batteries, or 10 small ones is of no concern.

Also as for introducing misses...
Epik Space believes that bigger is better, so these rules are optimised for LDD.
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