Hi.
With version 2 of the Omega Playtest Rulebook uploaded to e23, I wanted to start a new thread, to take up the reins for discussing the Omega project.
For those of you who have a copy of v1, I recommend going to e23 (or waiting for the update email) and picking up this version instead. For anyone who hasn't yet taken a look at what the Omega Octant has to offer, I hope that if you do give it a look, that you like what you may see.
Comments, ideas, feedback etc all welcome.
One thing I should note about the v2 file; one of the ships, the Iridani Galleon-B, has been subbed out and replaced with the standard Galleon. I have a separate file for the GLB (with the historical modules which Sir Bonnaventure used on his ill-fated Quest), but it seemed wiser to present the more common "broad-siding" GL in the playtest file itself.
Omega Conversion Project (version 2)
Moderators: mjwest, Albiegamer
Omega Conversion Project (version 2)
Last edited by Nerroth on Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
In case anyone is interested, a pic Alvin Belflower did up for Captain's Log #22, showing five of the Maesron Alliance's member species, is up.
Also, for some reason, this board really doesn't like the "ae" grapheme...
Also, for some reason, this board really doesn't like the "ae" grapheme...
It's a scandal, I tells ya!
So, I figured I may as well post a little more about what has gone into the v2 file.
First off, I tried to re-organize things into what I hope is a cleaner and more representative file. At the start, I added some historical infomation, which I hope will give those who aren't already familiar with the Omega setting a better idea of what the place is all about.
For the new rules, I made a number of changes, fixes, edits and suchlike. The rule numbers have been re-ordered, with the phaser types consolidated; there's a common number for Omega phasers, and a specific letter for each type. This allows the three current types (quantum, radiation, wide-angle) to be grouped together, while leaving room for other types which exist over in SFB to have space available for them if/when the time comes for them to pop over. I edited the tachyon missile upgrades based on Barry's advice, added in rules for the Federal Republic's short-range cannon (based on the new rev6 anti-drones) and clarified the situation with Iridani modules (i.e., they are incorporated into the ship as presented on the Ship Card; rules for DIY modularity might be best left for BoM, if ever).
The background entries for the five empires have also been reorganized, and re-written to (hopefully) have more of an FC-ey feel; I've listed the eight playtest ships in the file proper, and mentioned the Ship Cards published in other sources to this point.
I added in a trio of scenarios; two of them are conversions from SFB, the third cut from new cloth.
The Ship Cards themselves are cleaned up, with the color pallettes changed to better match the CMYK template ADB uses for formally-published ones.
There's a v2a file I have sent in, which I hope will be uploaded to e23 soon (ish); it tidies up a couple of formatting errors (such as the borders on the left-side pages) and adds a 54th page which offers a couple of notes on how the five empires should play in FC. Plus, it makes for an even fifty-four pages to print together.
I hope the file as it has progressed so far is to your liking, though if course there is still some way to go.
So, I figured I may as well post a little more about what has gone into the v2 file.
First off, I tried to re-organize things into what I hope is a cleaner and more representative file. At the start, I added some historical infomation, which I hope will give those who aren't already familiar with the Omega setting a better idea of what the place is all about.
For the new rules, I made a number of changes, fixes, edits and suchlike. The rule numbers have been re-ordered, with the phaser types consolidated; there's a common number for Omega phasers, and a specific letter for each type. This allows the three current types (quantum, radiation, wide-angle) to be grouped together, while leaving room for other types which exist over in SFB to have space available for them if/when the time comes for them to pop over. I edited the tachyon missile upgrades based on Barry's advice, added in rules for the Federal Republic's short-range cannon (based on the new rev6 anti-drones) and clarified the situation with Iridani modules (i.e., they are incorporated into the ship as presented on the Ship Card; rules for DIY modularity might be best left for BoM, if ever).
The background entries for the five empires have also been reorganized, and re-written to (hopefully) have more of an FC-ey feel; I've listed the eight playtest ships in the file proper, and mentioned the Ship Cards published in other sources to this point.
I added in a trio of scenarios; two of them are conversions from SFB, the third cut from new cloth.
The Ship Cards themselves are cleaned up, with the color pallettes changed to better match the CMYK template ADB uses for formally-published ones.
There's a v2a file I have sent in, which I hope will be uploaded to e23 soon (ish); it tidies up a couple of formatting errors (such as the borders on the left-side pages) and adds a 54th page which offers a couple of notes on how the five empires should play in FC. Plus, it makes for an even fifty-four pages to print together.
I hope the file as it has progressed so far is to your liking, though if course there is still some way to go.
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Savedfromwhat
- Commander
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:38 pm
Something I don't get is you keep mentioning 3 empires a lot. Hivers, Souldra, and the Aurorans. Isn't the largest empire the maesrons? I haven't been able to find anything about the Souldra or hivers but I only have the base Omega set, am I missing something because these sou.d like minor empires that are only moderately relevant to the Octant.
I was mentioning the Hivers and Souldra in the other thread because those two are noted as being hybrid carrier fleets, albeit for different reasons.
The Hivers, being giant bumblebees, build their ships two sizes smaller than the average. Their heavy cruiser is the size of a destroyer, for example. For them, their fighters, the various types of Barbs, are frigates, while their "destroyer" is the size of a gunboat. So, their fleets include a swarm of fighters (and to a lesser extent PFs) as a matter of course.
The Souldra have a hybrid carrier doctrine, but for a very different reason. They are dark energy beings from another dimension; their ships are giant flying crystal lattices, which use dark matter weaponry to disable their foes. A key aspect of their dynamic involves the use of Shards; fighter-analogues that they use in various roles. Most common, and most sinister, is the Black Shard; which they attach to the hulls of enemy ships (or the surfaces of inhabited planets) in order to literally drain the life energy from their foes. Indeed, the more life energy they drain, the more they are able to repair any damage done to their own shields.
The Hivers are one of the major powers in the east of Omega, where they square off against many foes (mainly the Alunda, Vari, Drex and Worb, and later the as-yet-unpublished Echarri Dynasty). The Souldra are like the Andros, in that they are invaders from beyond; they manage to drain all life from the home planets of two empires, came all too close to doing the same to a third, and caused more then their fair share of trouble for everyone else. They were only defeated when the most ancient power in the Omega Octant (the faerie-like Loriyill) threw everything they had at the Souldra's key logistical node (the Black Sun, a system deep in the Void between the Allpha and Omega Octants).
As for the Aurorans, they are small, but still have a significant impact despite their size. Plus, from an Alpha perspective, they are the closest to home from a design perspective, since they directly inherited much (but not quite all) of their technologies from several Alpha Octant empires.
On the wider issue of who counts as a major Omega empire and who doesn't, it's worth bearing the highly volatile nature of Omega history in mind. Yes, the Maesron Alliance was by far the largest empire for several decades; but the devastating Civil War and Collapse changed the political landscape significantly. Four of the five published maps for Omega are on the website; you can see just how radically things have changed over time. (The fifth map, for Y210, is on the back of SFB Module Omega 5; it shows the state of play for the surviving empires, as they struggled to re-build in the wake of the Andromedan and Souldra Invasions.)
The Hivers, being giant bumblebees, build their ships two sizes smaller than the average. Their heavy cruiser is the size of a destroyer, for example. For them, their fighters, the various types of Barbs, are frigates, while their "destroyer" is the size of a gunboat. So, their fleets include a swarm of fighters (and to a lesser extent PFs) as a matter of course.
The Souldra have a hybrid carrier doctrine, but for a very different reason. They are dark energy beings from another dimension; their ships are giant flying crystal lattices, which use dark matter weaponry to disable their foes. A key aspect of their dynamic involves the use of Shards; fighter-analogues that they use in various roles. Most common, and most sinister, is the Black Shard; which they attach to the hulls of enemy ships (or the surfaces of inhabited planets) in order to literally drain the life energy from their foes. Indeed, the more life energy they drain, the more they are able to repair any damage done to their own shields.
The Hivers are one of the major powers in the east of Omega, where they square off against many foes (mainly the Alunda, Vari, Drex and Worb, and later the as-yet-unpublished Echarri Dynasty). The Souldra are like the Andros, in that they are invaders from beyond; they manage to drain all life from the home planets of two empires, came all too close to doing the same to a third, and caused more then their fair share of trouble for everyone else. They were only defeated when the most ancient power in the Omega Octant (the faerie-like Loriyill) threw everything they had at the Souldra's key logistical node (the Black Sun, a system deep in the Void between the Allpha and Omega Octants).
As for the Aurorans, they are small, but still have a significant impact despite their size. Plus, from an Alpha perspective, they are the closest to home from a design perspective, since they directly inherited much (but not quite all) of their technologies from several Alpha Octant empires.
On the wider issue of who counts as a major Omega empire and who doesn't, it's worth bearing the highly volatile nature of Omega history in mind. Yes, the Maesron Alliance was by far the largest empire for several decades; but the devastating Civil War and Collapse changed the political landscape significantly. Four of the five published maps for Omega are on the website; you can see just how radically things have changed over time. (The fifth map, for Y210, is on the back of SFB Module Omega 5; it shows the state of play for the surviving empires, as they struggled to re-build in the wake of the Andromedan and Souldra Invasions.)
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DKeith2011
- Lieutenant Commander
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:49 pm
- Location: Oklahoma
Just a note; a slightly revised and tidied up version of the Omega playtest rulebook is now on e23; the current version 2a file is up to 54 pages (as opposed to v2's 53; page 54 has a couple of tactical notes on the five current playtest empires... or, at least, on how they should work, if I haven't made a total mess of the rules for them!)
Those of you who bought the older version can get the new one for free; anyone making a purchase from this point on will get v2a right off the bat.
Those of you who bought the older version can get the new one for free; anyone making a purchase from this point on will get v2a right off the bat.
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DKeith2011
- Lieutenant Commander
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:49 pm
- Location: Oklahoma
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Carthaginian
- Lieutenant SG
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semperatis
- Lieutenant Commander
- Posts: 276
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 1:19 pm
- Location: Glasgow,Scotland
Just ones named in given scenarios; including a few I named myself.
(If I ever had the opportunity to name the Republic's DNs, I'd choose to call them Unity, Justice and Freedom; in honour of the FRG's motto. But again, it's not up to me; and they may not have even built three of them to be named in the first place, so...)
Personally, I like the idea of naming some of their ships with the Federal Republic of Germany in mind; but that's just my own thought on things.CLA: Berlin
CVS: Typhoon
CL: Honor, Virtue, Andoria, Mars, (Leinster*)
FF: Guardian, Vindicator, Bremen, Lubeck
FFE: Hessen
FFS: Thompson
CR: Throne of Ozymondas
*The Leinster left Aurora to try and go back to the Federation; it may or may not have been turned into an Auroran CL (as opposed to a Star Fleet CL) before it set off in Y132.
(If I ever had the opportunity to name the Republic's DNs, I'd choose to call them Unity, Justice and Freedom; in honour of the FRG's motto. But again, it's not up to me; and they may not have even built three of them to be named in the first place, so...)