A Good Death Star?

[Esoomian]

Or you could simply create more of these ships making them effectively Von Neumann probes. That way not only are you saving planets from ELAs you're also amassing a vast and deadly fleet.

Moral dilema is go!
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.

[Bren]

I just like the image of the Asteroid-Devastators saving a world by spitting out a continual stream of the Star Wars equivalent of house hold appliances.

But self-replicating droid probe ships might be an interesting alternative enemy to the Vong. Make them a bit of a cross between StarGate replicators, Daleks, and Saberhagen Berserkers.

[Fallon Kell]

[Bren]

[garhkal]

[dhawk]

Sorry, I know this topic has been dead and buried for a while, but I thought I'd follow up with it, since I thought this was a good idea and decided to adapt it for my Destiny Era idea. Here are the stats for the Guardian Star (have been edited down to a more appropriate level):

The Guardian Star

Craft: Custom Deep Space Defense Station
Type: Deep space mobile defense station
Scale: Death Star
Length: 160 kilometers (diameter)
Skill: Battle station piloting: Guardian Star
Crew: 495,770; gunners: 46,608; skeleton: 128,170/+15
Crew Skill: Astrogation 5D+1, battle station gunnery 5D, battle station piloting 6D, battle station shields 5D+1, sensors 4D+2
Passengers: 1,150,725 (support personnel), 125,000 (troops), 75,860 (starship support staff), 334,432 (support ship pilots and crew)
Cargo Capacity: Over one million kilotons
Consumables: 4 years
Cost: Not available for sale
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x3
Hyperdrive Backup: x20
Nav Computer: Yes
Space: 2
Hull: 9D
Shields: 6D*
* The Guardian Star’s shield generators are designed to be extendable, providing ray and particle shielding to a planet and/or moon it is assigned to defend from orbital bombardment. In addition, it can extend its shields to encompass a nearby fleet. Subtract 3D from the Guardian Star’s shield rating to provide 3D Death Star-scale shielding to a world it orbits, or to any fleet within 3 SU of the Guardian Star.
Sensors:
Passive: 350/1D
Scan: 1,500/2D
Search: 7,500/3D
Focus: 60/4D+2
Weapons:
1,000 Heavy Turbolaser Batteries
Fire Arc: Turret**
Crew: 3
Scale: Capital
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Body: 4D (capital scale)
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 3-15/35/75
Atmosphere Range: 6-30/70/150 km
Damage: 7D
5,000 Point-Defense Laser Cannons
Fire Arc: Turret**
Crew: 3
Scale: Starfighter
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Body: 3D (capital scale)
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-5/10/15
Damage: 5D
5,000 Heavy Point-Defense Laser Cannons
Fire Arc: Turret**
Crew: 4
Scale: Starfighter
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Body: 4D (capital scale)
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 1-7/15/30
Damage: 7D
1,000 Ion Cannon Batteries
Fire Arc: Turret**
Crew: 4
Scale: Capital
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Body: 4D (capital scale)
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 1-3/7/10
Damage: 4D
768 Tractor Beam Emplacements
Fire Arc: Turret**
Crew: 6
Scale: Capital
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Body: 5D (capital scale)
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: 1-5/10/25
Damage: 5D

Starfighter/Support Ship Complement:
-3,600 assault shuttles
-2,840 blastboats
-1,860 drop-ships
-11,016 land vehicles
-7,200 starfighters
-13,000 support ships

** Due to the immense size of the Guardian Star, it is divided into 24 distinct zones, each equally equipped with weapons. Only weapons within the specific zone adjacent to an attacking ship can be brought to bear at any given time; often, the actual number of weapons that can be brought to bear is significantly lower.
Superweapons were heralded early in the Empire’s history as tools of fear and technological might, the cornerstone of the Tarkin Doctrine that dominated its overall strategy for decades. The name “Death Star” was associated with the destruction of Alderaan and subsequently, the rise of the Rebellion that surged after its desperate victory in the Battle of Yavin, and later still, the death of the early Empire at the Battle of Endor. Continuing pet projects threatened the galaxy in the forms of the Death Star Prototype, the Eclipse, the Galaxy Gun, the Sun Crusher and the Darksaber.

The “Empire for Peace” directive instilled nearly a millennia ago by the first Fel dynasty emperor, Jagged Fel, sparked the creative minds at the heart of modern Imperial research, and they peered into the ancient data archives once controlled by the ISB and Imperial Intelligence. The rediscovery of the engineering blueprints for the Death Star left them uneasy, and yet hopeful that in some way, the knowledge twisted to forge such a terrible weapon could be redeemed and used for the benefit of the Empire, and the galaxy at large. Ten years of painstaking funding, engineering, and construction resulted in what would become one of the galaxy’s newest wonders, and a jewel in the crown of Emperor Andon Fel’s achievements.

The Guardian Star is a technological triumph inspired by ancient battle station design, as well as the Star Defender class of warships that emerged in the years leading up to the Yuuzhan Vong War. Instead of utilizing the dreaded superlaser against hostile warships (or worlds for that matter), the Guardian Star is equipped with massive shield generator banks, fully extendable to adjacent objects, but at an epic scale. A planet and/or moon that the Guardian Star orbits can be enveloped by its protective shields, in the form of ray and/or particle shielding, effectively defending a planetary body from orbital bombardment. Warships or fleets of ships adjacent to the Guardian Star can also be shielded from attack. Should this not suffice, the Guardian Star itself possesses an impressive array of anti-capital/anti-starfighter weaponry, as well as over 7,000 starfighters housed and ready for battle.

Also contained with its structure are facilities dedicated to the relief and rehabilitation of worlds that have undergone devastation; animal and plant cloning plants, construction and fabrication equipment, agricultural cultivation bays, advanced medical and recovery facilities, and astrophysical/planetary ecological research labs. The Guardian Star can also temporary house and support millions of refugees should evacuation of a world be deemed necessary.

It is the Empire’s goal that the Guardian Star becomes its centerpiece for the promotion of peace, benevolence, and good will, though the sheer scale and capabilities of the battle station are often seen as a potential threat, especially by members of the Alliance of Outer Rim Worlds.

Note: I reduced the overall hull and shield ratings, as well as the amount of anti-capital/anti-starfighter weaponry. Still might seem excessively powerful for a defense battlestation, but this is the Empire, after all.

[vanir]

My main problem is the hull armour and shields. Going from 2-3D planetary shielding for the Death Stars to 30D is one hell of a leap, and those single purpose armoured battlestations had 15D for the ~150km diameter and 18D for the ~900km diameter versions (actual screen model representative diameters of the DS I and II in the movies). A benevolent administrative deepspace station shouldn't be anywhere near as heavily armoured or purpose built armed. Even planetary shielding in the Dark Empire era of the kind used on Imperial fortress worlds are 10D capital scale or 3-6D planetary scale.

By this measure I'd downgrade weapons array by 90%, the hull down to more like 8D and planetary grade shielding a powerful 6D but the ability to project shielding around a nearby fleet or planet, within 3 SU (close lunar orbit/high satellite orbit of a planet, or a fairly close by fleet effectively in high orbit of the station), at 3D around both the station and the mass being shielded.

Then you could at least pretend it was a defensive and administrative mobile deepspace station without a room full of delegates either laughing at you or tearing up peace treaties in front of you.

And the shields and hull ratings would be a bit more realistic, whilst still extreme. Even 2D planetary scale shielding is nothing to scoff at, that alone would turn whole battlefleets worth of firepower. I can't imagine where you're getting the technology to make 30D planetary scale shielding, it's a game breaker. A whole fleet of Death Stars can't challenge it, and it's 10x the DS II shielding. Ten times. Using RAW that means it would require no less than a fleet of literally thousands of Death Star II's to combine their superlasers at full power to penetrate those shields reliably. Is it powered by a dimensionally gated galaxy core? D&D magic?

Seriously tone it way down and you may have something.

[Guardian_A]

Neat idea. I enjoyed reading your post.

With that said, I think vanir is onto something. A few elements of the stats do feel a little excessive. You might want to take a look at the Death Star and Death Star II and use those stats as a guideline for your own work. While the beefed up stats might be perfect for your own setting, something comparible to what people are familiar with would appeal to the community as a whole a little better.

Do you have any other custom stats? I'd be interested in seeing them.

[dhawk]

Vanir: I appreciate your feedback on this very much! Much of my problem may very well be my lack of familiarity with Death Star-scale rules. The shields do seem rather excessive (as well as the weaponry) for a defensive battlestation, and a lot of the push for the shielding was to off-set its ancestor's superlaser (which was 15D Death Star-scale damage). Superweapons were never a staple in any my campaigns, so this one was a first. I'll make some adjustments to the stats and see if they fit in a little better. Again, thank you for your critique (also, check out the revised stats above and let me know what you think).

Guardian_A: Most of my stat work was to assist Treefrog's Legacy of the Force sourcebook project (http://www.rancorpit.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2670), with the assistance of Forceally. I do have more homebrew stuff in the Ships & Equipment forum, and the Characters forum for the Destiny Era.

[Guardian_A]

Looks like some pretty solid work. Are you interested in contributing to some other projects?

[dhawk]

I have been strapped for time over the past year (real-life getting in the way), so it wouldn't be as frequently as before, but yeah, I wouldn't mind assisting on some of the other projects.

[Guardian_A]

A few of us over on RancorPitBooks have started working on a hand full of community projects. Any help would be welcome.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/RancorPitBooks/

[Whill]

[vanir]

I like the revision much better. The hull gels with something that is heavily armoured, perhaps not as a combat battlestation but as a defensive mobile deepspace station, 9D planetary scale is very very tough, it's asteroid tough to blow away. Then the 6D/3D shielding capability I think falls nicely into top of the line Dark Empire Era mighty power. It would take more than the entire Endor force to even try to take a shot at damaging that, hell it would take the entire Imperial fleets combined. Sounds pretty good, very super tough.

The battle station defensive/offensive capabilities are broken into 24 separate quadrants due to planetoid curvature and fields of fire, so that the total number of guns is divided by 24 to define the maximum number of guns that can be brought to bear on any single force or attack or facing. That means your mains guns have about 40 weapons combined for fleet defence/attack, but your starfighter defence is still up in the region of 210 guns per facing or attacking direction and that still seems over the top. Not for a Death Star but yes for a defensive administrative station.

Given that you have two classes of starfighter scale reaction turbolasers, I should think a total array of around a thousand or less, like your main capital scale weapons would keep it down to manageable levels of some 40 guns per facing or attack direction and maintain a roleplayable statistics listing for a defensive and administrative station not designed for assaults so much as support operations and independent, peaceable galactic government.

One of the big issues that would cross the minds of systems considering allying with your centralised government would be, how can this be used against us, what if this government turns out as bad as the Imperials? And if you're too much like a heavy assault battlestation, even without a superweapon they're still going to think, well you can just seal them off using your planetary shields and besiege them by denying trade and sending landing forces for months on end, with no hope of reinforcement from outside the system.
So you're sort of playing that game between what is effective and possible, and what is acceptable and diplomatic.

[KageRyu]