Second Sphere Ship Construction Rules

Articles

Hardpoints
Ship Construction Test Builds
Ship Construction Test Builds (old)

Systems Overview

General Systems

Arrays

Arrays represent a set of small-caliber, rapid-fire weapons set up to give spherical (or nearly spherical) coverage against strike craft and missiles. While capable of inflicting damage on warships via volume of fire, arrays are limited by the low caliber of their weapons and they are far better suited for defense against small craft.

Turrets

The standard weapon for most warships, turrets represent several armored turrets arranged for wide coverage. Most commonly this is set up for overlapping arcs of fire along the 'equator' of the ship. In combat, ships will normally roll along their axis to bring these broadsides to bear. Overall turrets provide an effective balance of capabilities, being capable of engaging both small attack craft and warships.

Anti-Ship Turrets

Fitting large and powerful weapons and normally only mounted on battleships, anti-ship turrets are specifically designed to inflict heavy damage through the powerful defenses of capital ships or fortifications. While effective in this role, they have reduced value against more agile but lightly-armored escort-weight ships and are ill-suited to providing more than a nominal amount of air defense.

Spinal Mouts

The most massive weapons built by man, spinal mounts are generally more technical curiosities than battlefield weapons as they require the entire ship to be designed and built around them. Nonetheless they can find use in situations where nuclear weapons are problematic or ineffectual.

Missile Cells

While most light missile launchers are classed as arrays, missile cells are special in that they have a limited number of shots and effectively infinited rate of fire - they can fire one, two or however many shots they desire until their ammunition is exhausted. This gives them immense alpha strike ability at the cost of no sustainability. Note that larger salvos are less efficient in delivering attacks, even though they are more effective.

Kinetic Weapons

Electrothermals/Massdrivers

These weapons - though different in fundamental technologies - are generally similar in effects, namely firing a heavy shell at relatively low velocities. The momentum of these shells makes them particularly effective at bashing through multiple layers of defenses and a number of advanced warhead and shell options are available. The weakness is that they have relatively low effective range and accuracy.

AUtocannon Array

A set of bog-standard rapid-fire guns firing semi armor piercing shells. They have respectable anti-armor ability.

Flak Cannon Array

Either a set of small-caliber gatling guns or large guns firing area-effect shells. More capable of engaging fast-moving targets (via volume of fire) than autocannons, but with noticeably less ability to penetrate armor.

Capital Gatling Turret

200 RPM with a six-barrel, eight centimeter bore gatling doesn't seem terribly impressive to me. What's the big fuss?

Sarrevans still use imperial for bore sizes. That's eight inches.

Oh.

Injected-Plasma Weapons

Injected-plasma weapons use specially-designed shells with onboard controls and tiny vernier jets to conduct midcourse guidance, fueled by an internal reservoir of high-temperature plasma 'loaded' into the shell just before firing. This substantially improves the long-range accuracy of the fired shells but unfortunately drives up the cost of the weapon proper due to the requirements of a local plasma source.

Injected-Plasma Scatterlauncher

The scatterlauncher takes the general injected-plasma concept and turns it towards dedicated anti-air by loading multiple submunitions which can independently attack a target. This makes it dangerously effective against attack craft but the lightweight projectiles are much less effective against warships.

Railguns/Electromotives

Railguns use electromotive technologies to launch relatively light projectiles at high velocities; their technical maturity and effectiveness make them a favored choice for many militaries. Most large-caliber railguns also have the option to load submunition packets ("Open sheaf") to further increase their effective range and hit likelyhood at the price of reduced deep-structure penetrative ability.

Autorail Array

A set of midcaliber railgun turrets capable of laying down a lethal barrage of ceramic slugs at good range.

Coilcannon Array'

Coilcannons are electromotive weapons optimized for extremely high velocities, firing special slugs capable of improved anti-armor ability. This essentially lets them 'snipe' effectively, even in the anti-air role. Unfortunately internal vibration dampening and cooling requirements means they have a relatively slow rate of fire.

Linear Cannon

The anti-ship version of coilcannons, linear cannons are large, long-range kinetic-kill weapons with impressive ability to punch through physical armor.

Mercurion Rails

Theotechnological kinetic-kill weapons, 'mercurion' rails are essentially posthuman momentum-transfer drive systems turned inside out. In addition to propelling their projectile via space-time modulation instead of magnetism, they can be built to essentially 'sheath' a properly-constructed slug in a boundary layer of bose-einstein condensates. This greatly improves their ability to penetrate physical armor, but unfortunately shield systems will strip this condensate off.

Energy Weapons

Lasers

Lasers are the oldest battlefield energy weapons, having been in use in one form or another since the early 21st century. While useful in specific roles, compared to modern dust-derived particle guns they are clunky, cumbersome, inefficient and with poor penetrative ability. They do, however, have exceedingly impressive range and require no 'exotic' technology to manufacture.

Particle Weapons

Having taken much longer to mature, dust-derived particle accelerators are the de facto standard for energy weapons in the 22nd century. While not as effective at penetrating armor as railguns, particle weapons are more precise and bury more of their equipment inside the ship's main hull, leading to smaller turrets.

Burst Gun Array

Burst guns are essentially gatling-format multibarrel particle guns, designed for rapid fire. Like most pulse weapons their armor penetrative abilities are mediocre.

Beam Sweeper Array

A continuous-fire enrgy weapon, beam sweepers can essentially 'lash' at even highly evasive targets. The downside is this sweeping nature gives them particularly poor penetrative ability.

Beam Gun Array

Beam gun arrays use relatively powerful but slow-firing beam guns for anti-air, giving them good range and penetrative ability. However with their slow rate of fire they have difficulties against elusive targets.

Pulse Cannons

Pulse cannons are the largest of the rapid-fire particle weapons, featuring good accuracy and decent, if unspectacular anti-armor ability. Their effective range is below the norm for turrets, though.

Electron Flux Whip

A drone-derived particle weapon, ELFs use a trick of vaccum arcing to deliver a scouring blast of high-energy electrons to a target, ionizing its hull and inflicting damage.

Plasma

Plasma weapons are derived from Velan feral drones, the techniques and designs copied or at least inspired by those used (grown?) by the ancient robots. Plasma weapons all have short range and a slow rate of fire, but have exceptional ability to penetrate physical armor.

Theotech

Theotech weapons are all heavily derived from posthuman technologies. The most famous are ZOCU's 'mega particle' guns, though shield-penetrating 'needle' beams have been a topic of development in some nations.

Scattering MP Array

The scattering mega particle array is generally made of a small number of turreted emitters that fire a conical blast of coherent matter beams. This gives them a dangerous area of effect while retaining some of the armor-penetrative abilities of mega particle cannons.

Needle Beams

Jacketed particle beams can be set up to punch through defensive shield systems at minimal loss to penetrative power. Or so the theory goes; in practice, it has proven much more difficult to get a truly effective weapon system out of this.

Ship Hulls

All Ships have a base of 1 space, with every expansion adding +1.

Hull expansions physically increase the size of the ship, improve the internal design, etc and consequently can be used for any module.

Power expansions represent improvements done to a ship's power system. Consequently they may only be used for non-missile weapons, shields and propulsion.

Hangarized expansions act like Hull expansions except they also automatically fit a Hangar Bay in addition.

Main Combatants

Patcom

Hull coefficient: 1

Engineering Coefficient: 1

Weapon Coefficient: 1

Craft Coefficient: 2

PIP cost break: -50

CIP cost break: -50

Escort

Hull coefficient: 2

Engineering Coefficient: 2

Weapon Coefficient: 2

Craft Coefficient: 4

PIP cost break: -100

CIP cost break: -100

Cruiser

Hull coefficient: 4

Engineering Coefficient: 4

Weapon Coefficient: 4

Craft Coefficient: 8

PIP cost break: -200

CIP cost break: -200

Battleship

Hull coefficient: 8

Engineering Coefficient: 10

Weapon Coefficient: 8

Craft Coefficient: 16

PIP cost break: -200

CIP cost break: -400

Carriers

Light Carrier

Hull coefficient: 6

Engineering Coefficient: 4

Weapon Coefficient: 2

Craft Coefficient: 10

PIP cost break:

CIP cost break:

Starts with 40 Craft Space

Fleet Carrier

Hull coefficient: 12

Engineering Coefficient: 10

Weapon Coefficient: 4

Craft Coefficient: 20

PIP cost break:

CIP cost break:

Starts with 100 Craft Space

Aviation Combatants

Aviation Combatants use Hangarized Expansions instead of Hull Expansions.

Aviation Escort

Hull coefficient: 2

Engineering Coefficient: 2

Weapon Coefficient: 2

Craft Coefficient: 4

PIP cost break: -50

CIP cost break: -100

Aviation Cruiser

Hull Coefficient: 5

Engineering Coefficient: 4

Weapon Coefficient: 4

Craft Coefficient: 8

PIP cost break: -200

CIP cost break: -200

Aviation Battleship

Hull coefficient: 10

Engineering Coefficient: 10

Weapon Coefficient: 8

Craft Coefficient: 16

PIP cost break: -200

CIP cost break: -400

Parasite Warships

Parasite Warship

Hull coefficient: 1

Engineering Coefficient: 2

Weapon Coefficient: 2

Craft Coefficient: N/A

PIP cost break: -50

CIP cost break: -50

Takes up 2 external hardpoints

Heavy Parasite Warship

Hull coefficient: 3

Engineering Coefficient: 4

Weapon Coefficient: 4

Craft Coefficient: N/A

PIP cost break: -100

CIP cost break: -100

Takes up 4 external hardpoints

Equipment

Any equipment with the notation "Size: Medium" requires a minimum coefficient of 2, and if fitted on a ship with coefficient 1 takes up 2 spaces and costs double.

Any equipment with the notation "Size: Large" requires a minimum coefficient of 4, and if fitted on a ship with coefficient 2 takes up 2 spaces and costs double.

Any equipment with the notation "Size: Super" requires a minimum coefficient of 8, and if fitted on a ship with coefficient 4 takes up 2 spaces and costs double.

General Equipment

Hangar Bays

PIP cost: 3

CIP cost: 2

Cost coefficient is equal to the number of deck points each bay provides.

External Latches (cost is per)

PIP cost: 50

May buy one latch point for every 2 points of Hull Coefficient without requiring a construction slot.

Hull Equipment

Belted Armor

PIP cost: 25

Scattering Field

PIP cost: 5

CIP cost: 20

Delta Dust cost: 10

Flash Field

PIP cost: 5

CIP cost: 25

Delta Dust cost: 20

Bubble Field

PIP cost: 5

CIP cost: 20

Delta Dust cost: 10

Habitation

PIP cost: 10

CIP cost: 5

Size: Large

Electronics (long range targeting)

PIP cost: 5

CIP cost: 30

Delta Dust cost: 10

Additional External Latches

PIP cost: 40

1 Latch point per point of Hull Coefficient; may buy partial

Engineering Equipment

Thrusters

PIP cost: 25

CIP cost: 15

Azipods

PIP cost: 20

CIP cost: 25

Jump Drive

CIP cost: 5

Delta Dust cost: 10

Does not require a construction slot

Weaponry

Flak Guns

PIP cost: 20

CIP cost: 10

Autorails

PIP cost: 15

CIP cost: 25

Burst Guns

PIP cost: 5

CIP cost: 30

Delta Dust cost: 10

Cluster Missiles

PIP cost:

CIP cost:

AAMs

PIP cost:

CIP cost:

Electrothermal Cannons

PIP cost: 20

CIP cost: 10

Size: Medium

Railcannons

PIP cost: 30

CIP cost: 15

Size: Medium

Pulse Cannons

PIP cost: 10

CIP cost: 30

Delta Dust cost: 15

Size: Medium

Beam Cannons

PIP cost: 15

CIP cost: 25

Delta Dust cost: 15

Size: Medium

Mega Particle Cannons

PIP cost: 8

CIP cost: 30

Delta Dust cost: 75

Size: Medium

Anti-Ship Electrothermal Cannons

PIP cost: 35

CIP cost: 5

Size: Large

Anti-Ship Railcannons

PIP cost: 45

CIP cost: 5

Size: Large

Anti-Ship Beam Cannons

PIP cost: 20

CIP cost: 25

Delta Dust cost: 20

Size: Large

Anti-Ship Mega Particle Cannons

PIP cost: 15

CIP cost: 30

Delta Dust cost: 85

Size: Large

Multistage Cannon

PIP cost:

CIP cost:

Size: Super

Siege Driver

PIP cost:

CIP cost:

Size: Super

Converging Beam Cannon

PIP cost:

CIP cost:

Size: Super

Positron Cannon

PIP cost: 20

CIP cost: 100

Delta Dust cost: 50

Size: Super

Superlaser

PIP cost:

CIP cost:

Size: Super

Antishipping Missile Bay

PIP cost: 10

Shots equal to weapon coefficient

Leap Missile Bay

PIP cost: 10

CIP cost: 5

Shots equal to weapon coefficient