Megaunit Design and Combat

Definitions

Megaunits are (im)mobile machines that are substantially larger than Avatars. Spaceships (both civilian and military) are the two most commonly encountered megaunits, though land dreadnoughts and large naval craft would also be considered megaunits. The most fundamental difference between Avatars and Megaunits is that the latter are host to an actual crew as opposed to a single pilot. Consequently the stat effects of the captain or commanding officer is somewhat changed relative to Avatars. The differences are summarized below.

• Body doesn't cap agility like it does for Avatars - Megaunits are much more sluggish than Avatars and will often include internal gravity and the like. Instead, BOD increases the hit points of all systems designated as Vital; the crew can continue to fight for longer.
• Reactions is used for evasion like Avatars, though this only really applies at Long/Extreme range. REA is also used for some defensive systems, such as morphic focus shield generators.
• Perception functions identically as it does for piloting an Avatar.
• Knowledge also functions identically as it does for piloting an Avatar.
• Psyche is changed from Avatar piloting; as Megaunits have shared responsibilities the difficulties of using neural interfaces are minimized. Instead, Psyche represents grim-faced determination to carry on the fight and consequently every round a megaunit may 'soak' a number of HP equal to the captain's PSY. This may not save items that are destroyed and at least 1 HP of damage will always 'leak' though. Finally, damage done to Hardening may not be soaked in this way.
• Cha functions identically as it does on Avatars.

The Strain pool for Megaunits is BOD + PSY + CHA, not psyche x 2. This represents that megaunits have crews that need to work together efficiently.

Design Basics

Megaunits are designed like Avatars, with the specific differences noted as relevant. An important difference is that of scale; equipment is not cross-compatible between Avatars and Megaunits.

External Components

A fundamental difference between Megaunits and Avatars is that Megaunits can stack as many External Components as they want at progressive penalties to agility and stealth. Furthermore, adding external components increases the Strain pool, representing greater crew to spread workload.

Hulls

All megaunits are made out of Hull components, which provide the structural framework and all the basic requirements to function. Some Hull components may have Hardening, which represents compartmentalization and generally redundant systems and non-critical structure. This acts identically to Component Armor on Avatars, ie, any critical hits must first be applied to the Hardening.

An effectively infinite number of hull components can be used to build a megaunit, though in practical terms the following size ranges are typical.

1: Superunit such as a Supertank or a Super Robot. (relative size)

3: Typical Avatar frigate (2 Avatar bays)

3-4: Typical light warship or megatank.

5: Typical Assault Ship (4 Avatar bays)

5-7: Typical Cruiser (may have 2 Avatar bays) or Planetary Siege Unit ('giga'tank)

12: Typical Main Battle Carrier (16 Avatar bays)

10-15: Typical Dreadnought (may have 0-4 Avatar bays)

20+: Ultraheavy warship

Standard Hulls are what makes up most megaunits. They can be pretty much any shape desired, ranging from the hulls of warships to the primary turret on a megatank. Most megaunits are made up of multiple standard hulls.

Cost: 0

Base Durability: 6

Component Space: 15

Base Criticals: Hardening (4), Crew (10), Internal Structure (20)

Strain Pool Bonus: +2

Agility Penalty: -1

Pods are simple, functionally unarmored hulls that are essentially just big boxes. They are most commonly used as cargo holds, though they can also represent missile clusters or fast-deployment racks. All Pods double the agility penalty from Armor cladding.

Cost: 0

Base Durability: 4

Component Space: 20

Base Criticals: Internal Structure (10)

Strain Pool Bonus: 0

Agility Penalty: -1

Engineering Hulls are internal hulls, safely nestled inside the various outer layers of armor, shielding, weapons, cargo, etc. Consequently they cannot be targeted and damaged except by weapons that overpenetrate any other hull component first. Consequently they are (generally) unarmored, relying on the outside bulk to protect them. A megaunit may have 1 Engineering hull out of every 5 full Hulls it has (ie, 0-4, no engineering, 5-9, 1 engineering, etc).

Cost: 0

Base Durability: 6

Component Space: 12

Base Criticals: Internal Structure (20)

Strain Pool Bonus: -2

Agility Penalty: -1

All Engineering equipment (power and propulsion) costs 1/2 spaces.

Bay Hulls are specifically designed to support

Cost: 0

Base Durability: 6

Component Space: 10

Base Criticals: Hardening (2), Crew (10), Internal Structure (20)

Strain Pool Bonus: +2

Agility Penalty: -1

Avatar and Drone bays require 1/2 the space and Strain (round total up).

Armor

Unlike Avatars, Megaunits may have different armor for different external components ("Hulls"). For example, the Engineering section that houses the spin generator and nanogauge wormhole generators may be heavily armored while the hangar pods may only be lightly armored. Each Hull must have armor, and all modifiers are (unless stated otherwise) per section - add them to the section's stats.

Due to the low Surface Area:Volume ratio of smaller megaunits, anything with 5 or less hull components suffers an extra -1 Agility penalty to any Heavy or Superheavy cladding, and anything with 6 to 10 hull components suffers an extra -1 Agility penalty to any Superheavy cladding. This is, as usual, per item.

In addition, the sheer volume available to Megaunits allows for defense in depth and consequently more robust armor types will often provide Hardening. This stacks with any Hardening intrinsic to the Hull.

Unarmored: This represents having no intrinsic defenses above and beyond the basic structural steel/hyperdiamond/weberfoam of the megaunit in question. This suffices against everyday hazards such as solar radiation, micrometeor impacts, etc. It is here for completeness and is treated as a valid armor type.

+0 Durability

Cost: 0

Light Armor: Relatively thin layers of armor provide decent protection against typical battlefield weapons without imposing a substantive mass penalty on the megaunit in question.

+2 Durability

Cost: 1 MBP

Medium Armor: Increased armoring further improves the ability of the megaunit in question to absorb damage.

+4 Durability, +2 Hardening

Cost: 6 MBP

-1 Agility Penalty

Heavy Armor: Heavy, multi-layer composites provide excellent protection against most weapon strikes. This level of armoring is typically reserved for megatanks or dreadnoughts.

+6 Durability, +4 Hardening

Cost: 11 MBP

-2 Agility Penalty

Superheavy Armor: Simply forging the huge thicknesses of armor demanded by superheavy cladding can tax many industrial bases. Its immense weight imposes substantial movement penalties.

+8 Durability, +8 Hardening

Cost: 20 MBP

-3 Agility Penalty

Smart Skin: Integrated electronic and photonic pathways along with nanoprocessors and other systems make Smart Skinned components ideal for handling electronic warfare equipment. The bonuses to Electronics only apply to equipment in the same hull component.

+2 Electronics, +1 Durability

Cost: 2 MBP

Stealth: While megaunits are intrinsically difficult to hide due to their size, some (such as covert attack boats) are fitted with stealth cladding to reduce the emissions generated by megaunit. Note that patchwork stealth armor has reduced effect and the stealth bonus is reduced by the ratio of stealth clad components to the total components.

+3 Stealth (Divided across total number of hull components, rounded down)

Cost: 2 MBP

Internal Components

Internal components are the "meat and potatoes" of a machine, as they provide most of the functionality. Without any internals, a design is essentially useless.

Engineering and Structure

Enhanced Hardening: A series of internal braces, compartmentalization and reinforcement that adds to the ability of a system to withstand damage. No Hull component may have more than 2 Enhanced Hardening.

Cost: 4 MPB

Size: 1

Criticals: Hardening (+2)

Durability: 1

Power: 0

If a body part with Hardening is hit, criticals must first be allocated to Hardening before any other allocations are made.

Structural Reinforcement: Thicker skeletal struts, more durable materials, and additional shielding provide increased durability.

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: N/A

Power: 0

+2 Internal Structure critical to the component it's mounted in. Structural Reinforcement cannot more than double the number of IS criticals a component has.

Compact Spin Generator: Functionally identically to the the lightweight spin generators found in super robots. Most have a mass of about 100,000 tons.

Cost:

Size: 6

Durability: Infinite (functionally indestructible)

Power Output: +24

Strain: 1

Agility Penalty: -12

When allocating damage, no damage can be allocated to the spin generator.

Negates up to 4 points of hull-based Agility penalty.

Light Spin Generator: Standard generator for Avatar Support Frigates, sufficient to stabilize and support a pair of nanogauge taps. Typically in the 1 megaton range.

Cost:

Size: 12

Durability: Infinite (functionally indestructible)

Power Output: +60

Strain: 2

Agility Penalty: -14

When allocating damage, no damage can be allocated to the spin generator.

Negates up to 8 points of hull-based Agility penalty. Multiplies Distortion Drive cost and power demands by 2.

Medium Spin Generator: Enhanced spin generator commonly fitted to assault ships and cruisers. Normally 2-2.5 megatons relativistic mass.

Cost:

Size: 16

Durability: Infinite (functionally indestructible)

Power Output: +125

Strain: 2

Agility Penalty: -16

When allocating damage, no damage can be allocated to the spin generator.

Negates up to 12 points of hull-based Agility penalty. Multiplies Distortion Drive cost and power demands by 4.

Heavy Spin Generator: The largest singularity power systems outside of rare custom designs, heavy generators are limited to capital ships. They normally mass 4-5 megatons, though some models (typically those intended for carriers) actually use paired mediumweight singularities to better stabilize a large number of nanogauge taps. Both variations use the statline as presented below.

Cost:

Size: 24

Durability: Infinite (functionally indestructible)

Power Output: +250

Strain: 2

Agility Penalty: -18

When allocating damage, no damage can be allocated to the spin generator.

Negates up to 20 points of hull-based Agility penalty. Multiplies Distortion Drive cost and power demands by 8.

Spin Augmenter: This system enhances the rate at which power is extracted from a singularity. Compact generators may only have one, Lights two and Medium/Heavy generators may have as many as desired.

Cost:

Size: 3

Durability: Infinite (functionally indestructible)

Power Output: +10

Strain: 0

Agility Penalty: -1 (counts as hull-based Agility penalty for spin generator penalty reduction)

Nanotap: The additional equipment required to support an Avatar. Normally connected to a spin generator, stand-alone nanogauge wormholes powered by external power systems (typically fusion) do exist. For externally-powered nanotaps, if the power required for Stabilization Cost is ever interrupted the wormhole is destabilized and must be shut down, rendering it disabled for the duration of the tactical scenario. Interruption to Power Transfer cuts power to the Avatar but does not destabilize the wormhole.

Cost:

Size: 3

Durability: 15

Power Transfer: -8

Stabilization Cost: -7

Strain: 1

Agility Penalty: -1 if the host unit doesn't feature a Spin Generator.

Damage done to the Nanotap renders it unusable and cuts the power to the connected Avatar.

Fusion Generator: Most megaunits that don't have spin generators instead use large fusion cores for power. Without the extreme volumetric constraints of Avatars, these powerplants can be built much larger and consequently run much more efficiently - though still much less efficient than a spin generator.

Cost:

Size: 3

Durability: 2

Power: +6

Strain: 1

Auxiliary Generator (Antimatter): Antimatter colliders go sizzle pop.

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 3

Power: +10

Strain: 1

If destroyed, the entire housing component is automatically destroyed (due to the antimatter blowing up), though emergency containment fields protect any other components from suffering damage. However there's still a giant hole the armor and a distinct lack of power . . .

Superconducting Battery: Superconducting Batteries add limited duration power to a machine. These are generally used for fast interceptors, but may also be used to allow a machine to fire extremely large and power-hungry weapons.

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 1

Power: up to +10

A superconducting battery stores 10 power and may provide up to +10 a round. Superconducting batteries can be recharged by any other power source at a 1-1 ratio.

Distortion Drive: The only way to move a multi-megaton singularity is by controlled gravitic distortions of the singularity itself. This equipment represents the machinery that induces these distortions. For every 4 drives, the power requirements double (ie at 1-4 drives its 1 power per, at 5-8 drives its 2 power per, etc).

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 1

Power: -1

+1 Agility

Only usable on megaunits with Spin Generators.

Reactionless Thruster: Fusion torches are used for propulsion on non-singularity spacecraft. For every 4 drives, the power requirements double (ie at 1-4 drives its 2 power per, at 5-8 drives its 4 power per, etc)

Size: 2

Durability: 1

Power: -5

+1 Agility

Only usable on megaunits without Spin Generators.

Reaction Thruster: Fusion torches are used for propulsion on non-singularity spacecraft. For every 4 drives, the power requirements double (ie at 1-4 drives its 2 power per, at 5-8 drives its 4 power per, etc) and space per is increased by 1.

Size: 3

Durability: 1

Power: -2

+1 Agility, -2 Stealth

Only usable on megaunits without Spin Generators.

Support and Electronics

Avatar Bay: A hangar to launch support one (1) Avatar. Comes with ammo bins, supplies, spares and a combat faber.

Cost:

Size: 8

Durability: 5

Power: 0

Strain: 2

Drone Bay: A smaller hangar to support various drones, such as recon wisps, combat wasps and interceptors.

Cost:

Size: 4

Durability: 3

Power: 0

Strain: 1

Internal Automation:

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: N/A (built into ship's structure)

Power: 0

Strain: -2

Added Crew:

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: Backup Crew (4)

Power: 0

Strain: -3

Enhanced Sensor Grid:

Cost: 7 MPB

Size: 1

Durability: 3

Power: -1

Strain: 2

+4 Electronics, halves enemy stealth modified (round down), -1 Stealth

Integrated C3I Complex:

Cost: 7 MPB

Size: 1

Durability: 3

Power: -1

Strain: 2

+3 Electronics, +1 Electronics to all allied units, -1 Stealth

Onboard Faber:

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 2

Power: 0

Strain: 0

Provides 2 MPB of repairs per week (?).

Weapons

Some Megaunits may mount weapons that can strike to Extreme range. These tend to be large, power-hungry weapons that are simply impractical to mount on conventionally-sized mecha.

Burst Cannon: Multi-barrelled particle guns capable of laying down a withering barrage of fire at medium range.

Size: 1

Durability: 6

Power: -2

Strain: 1

Accuracy:

Penetration: 7 (Scatter: 4)

Range: Medium

Fusion Lance: Yamato cannon charged

Size: 5

Durability: 10

Power: -10

Strain: 1

Accuracy:

Penetration: 15 (Devastating: 6)

Range: Long

Against non-Megaunits, the Fusion Lance hits all external components once.

Blast Cannon: A powerful particle cannon capable of extreme-range bombardment.

Size: 2

Durability: 6

Power: -8/shot

Strain: 1

Accuracy:

Penetration: 10 (Devastating:3, Scatter:3)

Range: Extreme

Can buy an Alpha Capacitor at X cost per, each of which provides one additional shot (rechargeable)

Mass Cannon: These long-barrelled (~40 meters) gravitonic accelerators can propel half-ton slugs across vast distances and even shell targets using ballistic fire in a gravity field.

Size: 4

Durability: 6

Power: -6

Strain: 1

Accuracy:

Penetration: 10 (Devastating:4, Scatter:4)

Range: Extreme

Defenses

Deflectors

Dynamic Field Locus:

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 3

Power: -5 and an additional -1 per 5 Hull Spaces

Strain: 1

+4 Shield Bonus

Enhanced Dynamic Field Locus:

Cost:

Size: 2

Durability: 3

Power: -10 and an additional -1 per 3 Hull Spaces

Strain: 2

+8 Shield Bonus

Barriers

Barrier shields add to a megaunit's overall armor rating via attenuating and weakening incoming attacks, rather than attempting to outright deflect incoming fire. Barrier shields are not cumulative-multiple generators add backups in case of destruction but have no other effect. In addition,

Scattering Field:

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 3

Power: -10 and an additional -2 per Hull Component

Strain: 0

+4 Durability to all components

Heavy Scattering Field:

Cost:

Size: 1

Durability: 3

Power: -20 and an additional -3 per Hull Component

Strain: 0

+6 Durability to all components

Quantum Buffer Field:

Cost:

Size: 0

Durability: 3

Power: -5

Strain: 0

Provides 2 'Quantum Buffer' criticals; any critical damage must be allocated to this before any is inflicted on the megaunit proper.

Quantum Buffer Recycler:

Cost:

Size: 0

Durability: 3

Power: -5

Strain: 0

Regenerates 1 'Quantum Buffer' critical a turn.