The Starship Armory ยท Chapter 6
Heat and Power
This chapter is optional. A table that uses it tracks two numbers for each vehicle in a fight. A table that does not ignores the Heat and Pwr fields and reads the alternative printed under Cooldown, Heat Surge, and Scorch in Chapter 5.
Power
A vehicle has a Power Capacity. Every system that is running draws its Power: weapons while firing or holding a lock, screens while up, countermeasures while active.
When the total drawn exceeds Capacity, the engineer chooses one:
- Shut a system down.
- Take 1 System Damage.
- Turn the excess into Heat, 2 Heat for each point of Power.
- Make an Average Craft check to hold the load for one round.
Being 1 over for a single round costs nothing.
Heat
A vehicle has a Heat Threshold and a Heat Dissipation.
Heat is added each time a weapon fires, each time a screen stops a hit, and by Scorch. At the end of each round, remove Heat equal to Dissipation.
| Heat is | Effect |
|---|---|
| At the Threshold | Add 1 Boon Die to checks made to detect the vehicle |
| 1 to 3 over | Add 1 Bane Die to the vehicle's attacks. Average Craft check each round or Dissipation is halved |
| 4 to 6 over | Dissipation is halved. Hard Craft check each round or suffer 1 System Damage |
| 7 to 9 over | Suffer 2 Hull Damage each round. Hard Craft check each round or one system shuts down |
| 10 or more over | Severe Craft check each round or the reactor shuts down |
The Engineer's Actions
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Manage Heat | Average Craft check. Remove 1 Heat, and 1 more for each Boon |
| Emergency Vent | Remove Heat equal to Dissipation. Until the end of the next round the vehicle is as visible as if it had fired a weapon with Signature Bloom 2 |
| Reroute Cooling | One named system makes no Heat on its next use |
| Shut Down a System | Free. The system stops drawing Power and making Heat |
Typical Values
| Scale | Power Capacity | Heat Threshold | Heat Dissipation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 to 5 | 6 to 8 | 1 to 2 |
| 3 | 5 to 7 | 8 to 10 | 1 to 2 |
| 4 | 7 to 9 | 10 to 13 | 2 to 3 |
| 5 | 9 to 12 | 12 to 16 | 3 to 4 |
| 6 | 11 to 15 | 16 to 22 | 4 to 6 |
| 7 and up | 14 to 20 | 20 to 28 | 6 to 8 |
A military hull adds about 5 Power, 7 Threshold, and 3 Dissipation to those figures.
What It Does to a Fight
A Scale 3 scout with Power 6, Threshold 9, and Dissipation 2 can fire one Laser Battery (Heat 3) every round and stay level by keeping its screen down. With the screen up and taking hits it climbs 2 or 3 Heat a round and has three rounds before its attacks suffer. That is the choice the chapter exists to create.
Kinetic weapons and missiles make 1 Heat or none. A ship built around them never has the problem, and pays for it in magazines.