tgsofgc
11/15/03 07:14 AM
67.4.201.139
|
Researched in late 3036 by well known engine manufacture Pitban the Pitban 300 pulse engine is a true oddity. The engine as intended on paper was meant to pulse output at time of key need so that mechwarrior could get all the power they need, even if for only a few seconds. Unfortunately of the 2 versions made neither worked as promissed. The best results acheived was an engine that was highly unstable and pulsed frequently making predictions about its output virtually impossible.
The Pitban 300 Pulse Engine (aka: Pitban 300-P) is a true oddity and is only vailable in the single engine rating (300).
Stats:
Special: Before the unit mounting the Pitban 300-P moves it rolls 1D6, till next turn treat the mech as if it had an engine of rating of the result x100. In addition to this the Pitban 300-P tends to flux heat and so the sheilding is largely ineffective, as a result the unit mounting the Pitban 300-P also accumulates heat equal to the die roll for that turn. At the end of any turn in which the Pitban 300-P behaved as an engine higher than a 300 rating (on a roll of 4, 5, or 6) roll for critical hits with a modifier based on the engine's output (+1 for 4, +2 for 5, and +3 for 6). Any critical hits rolled are dealt directly to the engine as it destroys its sheild and begins to collapse.
Weight: 20 tons (normal 300 weighs 19.0 tons)
Criticals: Same as a standard engine
An example for all those curious about what this engine could do on the battlefield....
Mech is a generic level 1 50 ton 6/9er to demo
Tonnage: 50
Tech Level: I.S. Level 1 +homebrew tech
Engine: Pitban 300-P
Walk MP: 2(at 100), 4 (at 200), 6 (at 300), 8 (at 400), 10 (at 500), 12 (at 600)
Run MP: 3,6,9,12,15,18
Jump MP: 4
Internal: 5.0
Armor: 10 tons
Gyro: 3 tons
Cockpit: 3 tons
Heat Sinks: 12
Weapons and Equipment:
No Hand Actuator RA
Large Laser RA 5 tons 2 crits
Jump Jet x2 RL 1 ton 2 crits
Jump Jet x2 LL 1 ton 2 crits
Well is it balanced, and think about it for a sec, what if only with level 1 tech....?
A final touch of lore:
The one prototype Pitban 300-P was lost during a raid on Pitban's Labs. The raiders, whom were well, organized made off with aproximately a lance of medium test mechs (one of which had the Pitban 300-P installed in an easy access mount for quick and safe removal). To date none of the component parts of the Pitban 300-P which are all either unique or bear Pitban's normal prototype markings have turned up on any legitimate markets.
And one last tidbit I'm considering though not sure about:
when determining critical hits the engine takes a result of 15 (12 +3 from rolling a 6) results in a cataclysmic explosion equivalent to a 600 rated engine exploding.... muhahahaa
I find that 'pinpoint' accuracy during a bombing run increases proportionally with the amount of munitions used.
-Commander Nathaniel Klepper,
Avanti's Angels, 3058
|
Cray
11/15/03 08:48 AM
67.8.168.19
|
Fusion engines do not explode well (they shouldn't explode at all, but thanks to Stackpole...), so I'd avoid the explosion risk.
Your proposed idea is cool, it just it results in a lot of quickly trashed engines. To minimize the extreme variability of the engine and make it a bit more useful, I'd do the following (or something like it):
1) The engine operates like a normal 300 until the mechwarrior triggers the pulsing feature
2) For the first...oh...three turns...roll 1d6, multiply by 100 to determine rating. Accept no roll less than 3.
3) From the fourth turn and on until the mech is shut down, keep rolling 1d6. Accept any result.
On turns when the engine is running higher than 300, roll for a critical hit at -2. (You don't want to trash a fusion engine too often).
BTW, how does this compare to a "super charger" from MaxTech?
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
|
tgsofgc
11/15/03 01:31 PM
67.4.192.23
|
About explosions: Yup I know, though I forgot to make the arbitrary: "if you play with the optional maxtech rules for exploding fusion reactors, pg 19."
In comparision to the super charger:
The bonuses are much less (treat as masc), meaning the best movement bonus run at double walking speed should generally be less than whats possible with this. This generally is like the mech moving 1 speed faster but as you can see in the diagram because the rating changes you can get super high speed bonuses out of this, the test mech changes by two base movement points for each 100 rating and so can get up to walk +6 and approximately run +9.
Ok working with your suggestions, proposed revisions:
1) ok t has a switch to turn on the pulsing
2) Once the system has entered pulse mode it can't easily be taken out of it until after the mech has a chance to perform a complete reboot, must shut down for one turn.
3) For the first three turns the mech is in pulse mode the engine will always behave like at least a 300 rated engine: If the 1D6 roll results in a 1 or 2 simply treat this as a 3.
4) the determining criticals for running over a 300 rating, the roll is also modified by a -2 for a net modifier of (400 = -1, 500 = 0, and 600 = 1). In addition to this the number is modified for the number of criticals the engine has taken (1 = +1, 2 = +2).
The problem with this engine is of course the oppurtunities it presents to be abusive, which are extremely high. For instance a 50 ton mech moving 12/18 could just run across the map and then shutdown.
Tell me if these changes make it feel better, balance ways. Oh ps. if playing with engine explosions change the end result to read on a determine criticals result of 13 (12+1) now, in case you were wondering the engine explosions were included here cause I like the idea of this tricked out homebrew tech monstrous custom mech just self destructing cause it got really unlucky, and of course accidentially doing alot of damage to other units.
I find that 'pinpoint' accuracy during a bombing run increases proportionally with the amount of munitions used.
-Commander Nathaniel Klepper,
Avanti's Angels, 3058
|