| By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Sunday, June 07, 2026 - 12:52 am: Edit |
In exactly what step in the Sequence of Play does it state that webs dissipate energy? I know it's mentioned in (G10.41) in the rules. I just don't see it in the SoP.
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 - 04:45 pm: Edit |
We have apparently never had an emblem or symbol or rondell for the Orion civilian government, and of course they have ships. I was asked to create one, and came up with this, which was simple and would be easy to identify and recognize.
| By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 - 11:46 pm: Edit |
Instant first thought, could there be some big-time jerk, maybe an independent pirate who turned the yellowish circle into the "Have A Nice Day" face? 
| By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 - 11:59 am: Edit |
Is there any rule-of-thumb for the "appropriate" ratio for hull boxes to the given number of crew units a given ship or base has?
This is more of a curiosity thing and not an attempt at a ruling.
| By Xander Fulton (Dderidex) on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 - 01:16 pm: Edit |
Quote:Is there any rule-of-thumb for the "appropriate" ratio for hull boxes to the given number of crew units a given ship or base has?
| By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 - 04:06 pm: Edit |
Xander, I saw that, too. It is the bases that go against this. Their population densities are higher. It occurred to me that a facility that could provide recreation facilities for visiting ships' crews or temporary billets for the crews of ships being repaired or upgraded would have more hull spaces to accommodate this.
Oh, well, I'm not trying to get anything changed.
| By Shawn Gordon (Avrolancaster) on Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 12:52 pm: Edit |
What would be a good survey ship for a loyalist Tholian Will during the reformer civil war for the Survey Encounter scenario? I think the only thing published is the neo-Tholian milky way survey cruiser. It would be easy enough to swap particle cannons for disruptors, but is there anything in the canon?
| By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 01:03 pm: Edit |
Fascinating question, Shawn.
Thing is, I don't see the Tholian Will as even allowing Survey Ships.
There are few planets that suit Tholian biological needs and those were all found and occupied millennia ago. That's why they build their Dyson Spheres.
The Will would also not be interested in opening up new frontiers for subject races. Those "New, Frontier" worlds are the places where senses of independence most frequently develop; senses of which the Will is MOST discouraging.
Then again, this is the interpretation of one nutter, based on his biased reading of source material, and could be completely wrong...
| By Shawn Gordon (Avrolancaster) on Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 02:59 pm: Edit |
I can see that for habitation (though planets suitable for habitation being extremely rare for Tholians could make finding them a justification for greater or lesser investment in surveys!), but surveys also look for valuable resources not just habitable planets.
And the Seltorians get one.
| By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 03:37 pm: Edit |
The NSR in Module R9 is the only published Tholian survey ship. It is a conjectural design furnished to make the Tholians campaign-capable for non-historical games. As such it is (subject to checking the SSD) be armed with disruptors. Per (R7.N5E), the Tholian Will did not operate any ships with special sensors, that technology being limited to bases.
| By Shawn Gordon (Avrolancaster) on Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 04:02 pm: Edit |
Ah, R7.N5E settles it then. What's the story for the Seltorians? Do they get a Tholian Will era survey ship?
| By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 11:24 pm: Edit |
There is an M81 Galaxy portion of the Tholian Master Starship Book which might be worth taking a closer look at. However, there is also the prospect of a dedicated old galaxy module, in which M81 as a functional setting could one day be explored in much greater detail.
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For most of the era of Tholian domination over the home galaxy, the degree of paranoia towards the various contracted "enforcer species" - all of whom eventually rebelled - was such that the Tholians were reluctant to pursue, or even permit, most forms of scientific research.
I should note that, in all of the M81 Galaxy, there was exactly one planet which the Tholians could inhabit "naturally": their ancestral homeworld itself. In fact, the only world ever found anywhere in known space where an "open-air" colony could be established is in the Draco Dwarf galaxy - and even it requires a web-based sunshield (among other things) in order to be viable.
Only with the advent of the Seltorians, with their "loyalty gene" seemingly pre-empting yet another "enforcer" rebellion, did the Tholians once again take tentative steps - figuratively speaking, in the case of a "pillar" Tholian - towards renewed innovation.
An example of this is recorded with the as-yet-unprinted survey ship Sojourner. This ship was one of several new designs which appeared in prototype form in the last years prior to the Revolt. However, any further development of such new units was fatally curtailed by the Revolt itself.
Hopefully, there can one day be an SSD provided for the Sojourner - to perhaps include any post-M81 refits the hull might have been granted during its eventful service history.
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Sojourner aside, the pre-Revolt Tholians had certain "civilian" units which were made available to the more restless among their species. A few such types, such as Free Traders, were used both by the more "adventurous" Tholians and by the various subjugated species.
Prime Traders also existed in M81; they were available for use by the Tholians, though I'm not sure if the subjugated species used them also.
Other types of "civilian" craft were strictly for use by the various subjugated species. For example: in terms of searching for new resources, various subjugated species were permitted the use of such units as Free Prospectors and prospecting shuttles. The pre-Revolt Tholians saw such "menial" tasks as beneath them, however.
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In any case, it's possible that, prior to the construction of the Sojourner, any kind of "survey" effort requiring the Tholians to make the effort themselves, and which was beyond the capabilities of a Tholian-crewed Free or Prime Trader to accomplish, would be handled by a standard NCA or NCL.
I suppose the closest point of comparison would be with the Early Years Alpha Octant, where most local empires had to make do without special sensors for ships assigned to survey duties. And even in the case of the Federation, Vulcan ships (with their valuable special sensor capacity) were often assigned to the border fleets, leaving other, less capable hulls to carry out survey missions in their stead.
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Hopefully, as an when a would-be "Seltoain Master Starship Book" is being developed at some point, it in turn can have a dedicated section aimed at outlining how they operated in the Home Galaxy - be it as "enforcers" of the Tholians, and/or as the post-Revolt Seltorian Suzerainty.
I should note that the Seltorian SR was itself marked as being campaign conjectural. So far as I am aware, this has not (yet?) been errata-ed in SFB - though other game systems, such as A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, are somewhat "looser" with the idea, at least for post-Revolt use.
That said, there's nothing to stop the pre-Revolt Seltorians simply using a standard CA or CL for investigative purposes, if needs be...
| By Greg Ernest (Gernest) on Wednesday, August 05, 2026 - 04:49 am: Edit |
Wouldn't the pre-revolt Tholians want a way to study stellar or interstellar phenomenon to determine any level of natural threat? Or find low tech races before they could be found by others and thereby reduce threats?
Special Sensors would be required at least by the former? Would they not?
| By Jack Bohn (Jackbohn) on Wednesday, August 05, 2026 - 08:18 am: Edit |
Interesting question in a galaxy-wide nation where a nova might be about the equivalent of a house fire to a Terrestrial nation. Leaving aside different philosophies on being their brother's keeper, the relative weights of prevention and cure, or options when your number is up, such duties might be non-military, maybe even non-governmental.it's
(Thought on a new spacegoing species as searching for a wasps nest (or beehive, depending on utility), often searching for it out in the cornfield. )
| By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Wednesday, August 05, 2026 - 10:08 am: Edit |
Early Years empires (and even earlier ones) were doing those things before the advent of ship-mounted special sensors (yes, Vulcans, you are special). Obviously all these things are doable without special sensors, they are just much easier and quicker with them.
| By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, August 05, 2026 - 11:32 am: Edit |
Part of the issue was to do with the technology involved.
It's one thing to operate special sensors on a large unit with active positional stabilizers, such as a starbase. It's another to both successfully miniaturize this technology to install onto a regular-sized starship, while also shielding it from the engine flare of the ship it is to be installed upon.
Per the TMSSB, the first "halting" steps towards tackling the latter issues were not taken - not by the Tholians themselves, nor (presumably) by their former enemies in the pre-conquest era - until the last years prior to the onset of the Seltorian Revolt.
In any case, it should be noted that, aside from the occasional rebellion by an "enforcer" species, the most lingering irritant to pan-Galactic Tholian rule was provided by the Nebuline, whose continued existence within various active nebulae helped to support the activities of the various M81 Pirate bands. And since special sensors are practically useless for offensive action into nebular terrain, there would have been no benefit to the Tholians, and/or to the various "enforcer" species, on that front.
| By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, August 05, 2026 - 12:48 pm: Edit |
Alternately, they had "Special Sensors" but these were limited to passive mode only. So no OEW games, lending, turning off seekers, etc.
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