On 7/25/17, Tim <xxxxxx@little-possums.net> wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 05:38:17PM -0700, Amber Witherspoon wrote:
>> Positing one change to the jump drive: Jump Exit can take place within
>> up to 100D of an object with natural gravity (assuming, effectively,
>> the gravity tides model, and there is a penalty for the further away
>> from the 100D limit that you aim to jump to), but Jump Entry requires
>> being at or beyond the 1000D limit.
>
> That doesn't really change much, except for one case: time-critical
> cargoes can be delivered somewhat faster, but at substantially greater
> cost if the starship jumps all the way in.  The increased cost comes
> from the fact that the very expensive starship drives have to remain
> idle for another week getting out again.

Sorry, I think my model might have been confusingly worded: you exit
jumpspace at the 100D limit (as normal jump drive), but you can land
further out with a more difficult astrogation roll. This does lead to
a model where you aim for a planet outside the system's 1000D entry
limit to shorten the turnaround time. Since it has natural gravity,
you face a lesser difficulty when plotting the jump.
Interesting implication: warfare. No matter what, any easy course puts
you in a position where you can't immediately run away. Aggressive
naval doctrine is probably the norm: you can't leave without a fight.

>> Bonus Round! Create some variant of the games presumed economics and
>> figure out what the effects of that would be, especially in this
>> model. Such as cheap spacecraft (everything space worthy costs 25% of
>> book)
>
> I think the biggest change toward "starships chug around in system a
> lot longer" would be specifically cheaper jump drives & fuel tanks.
> Under standard rules, any starship is very much more expensive than a
> similar capacity of mere spacecraft.
>
> If you increased outgoing jump limits but dropped jump drive costs
> significantly, then the penalty for having unused jump drives sitting
> around doing nothing insystem is correspondingly reduced.  There would
> be a threshold where the cost for a starship to travel only outward
> drops below the cost of a spacecraft to travel both ways from an
> outsystem port.
>
>
> - Tim
> -----
Good point, I'll take a look at it. Done right, this also allows the
space RV to properly show up.