Approved Starship VASRS-class Frigate

[Arage Bao]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create an advanced series of frigates to be used by agents of Arcadia Pharmaceuticals.
• Image Source: x
• Canon Link: /
• Primary Source: /

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Didact Defense Solutions.
• Affiliation: Arcadia Pharmaceuticals (x)
• Model: VASRS-class Frigate
• Production: Semi-Unique
• Material: Nightshadow, Reflec, Alusteel, Glasteel.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Mobile HQ
• Length: 500 meters.
• Width: 75 meters.
• Height: 166 meters.
• Armament: High
• Defenses: Low
• Hangar: Low: 1
• Maneuverability Rating: High
• Speed Rating: Very High
• Hyperdrive Class: Very Fast: 0.3

STANDARD FEATURES

• All standard features

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

• Full Stealth Suite: From a stygium cloak module to thrust trace dampers and even gravitic modulators, the frigates are insulated from many forms of detection. Both from sensors and visual contact.
• AI: The advanced frigates have a shackled AI units that increase its capabilities on and off the field. This ranges from faster calibration, cleaner sensor read-outs to efficient atmosphere filtration and more. The AI units can also provide strategic intel during missions.
• Advanced sensory equipment: Is highly capable of detecting and processing information, data and packages all around it.
• Advanced ECM / EWS systems.
  ​NEEDLE Remote Slicing Unit. One of the main systems these frigates possess is a souped-up NEEDLE unit. This allows the ship to enhance and execute remote slicing operations. From ships to facilities and computer systems the NEEDLE is a powerful tool that gives the opportunity to breach even highly fortified electronic systems.
• Codebreaker. Allows for swapping out IFF, transponder codes when one needs to get somewhere covert-like.

[*]Hyperwave signal interceptor.
[*]Hyperspace Orbiting Scanner. This system enables the frigates to receive, record and process hyperspace shadows while it is located in hyperspace. Then it is capable of reconstructing these shadows into the data actually being transmitted.
Strengths:

• Stealth Suite: Very comprehensive and mitigates against many conventional detection technology.
• Speedy: Fast and agile in space. It outpaces many other ships of its class.
• Powerful: Its main guns pack quite a punch.
• Spy Ship: It detecc.

Weaknesses:

• Defenses: If the ships are detected or caught uncloaked, they are only capable of withstanding a number of direct shots, before they are crippled.
• Hangars: They only have a limited amount of space for squadron support. This means the frigates usually operate without meaningful space support.
• Overload: State-of-the-art exhaust systems are supposed to keep the thrust profile to a minimum. Sadly these systems have been calibrated with short flight procedures in mind, these ships aren't meant to full stealth from one edge of the galaxy to the other. Push it too hard? It can fry the stealth system. If you are lucky anyway, sometimes it goes boom.
• Ventral: Only has marginal ability to return fire from that angle. Needs to reorient itself to become a threat, which breaks speed and momentum. It takes precious moments to return fire.
• Stealth: Gemcutters can still detect them, when they reverse out of hyperspace in range of their sensory equipment.

DESCRIPTION
They do not have more than a prototype name.

VASRS.

Very Advanced Stealth/Recon Ship. Yeah. Didact didn't exactly bring their creativity to bear when it came to this project. The Company didn't want nor need them to. When you stamped names on your things? You got attached to them. The last thing that the Company needed was a cutsy name that got their operators attached. These things were tools. Made to be used and then discarded, if that was necessary for the mission.

There would always be another ship, no?

It focuses primarily on speed, spying and a strong assault to get the job done.

The tight timeschedule left a few bugs in the system though. They couldn't resolve the power requirements from the host of advanced systems and having a state-of-the-art shield projector, so instead they focused on a strong hull. It made it more expensive. But at least it could take a few turbolasers shots, without immediately being destroyed. It can take a few shots now. Not a lot of them though.

Furthermore the hangars had been converted to a remote strategic nerve center. This increased field operation efficiency, but minimized the amount of squadrons the ship could possess.

Gemcutters, exhaust that needs to be slowly filtered, ventral guns..... there are a host of issues with this speed job. But the Company seemed to be happy with it for now. Didact was getting paid either way.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Hollow"], this rating scheme doesn't balance out, especially including the very fast hyperdrive.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Gir Quee"]

I was under the impression that the old rating and balancing system was no longer necessary with the new factory system?

I have no issue tweaking, but I assumed that this was no longer something being looked at.

Could you please clarify?

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Hollow"], the Starship Template examples are still in existence, and there have been some updates. However, these sentences are still at the start of the Starship Template:

For technical statistics start with all values at Average for a Mass-Produced vessel. For every increase either:

• Reduce the Production Value
• Reduce another statistic (e.g. increase speed, decrease defensive rating)
• Provide balance with genuine weaknesses

The squadrons available in a given hangar rating are dependent on the size of the vessel.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Hollow"], I just went for a run, which jogged some thoughts that I thought I'd share with you and the community at large.

If you don't edit it, that's fine. I'll stamp it and send it to the approved starships section in a heartbeat even with no changes.

I'm not the balance gameplay gatekeeper keeper any more: I'm the clean-up crew in this new system.

The initial balance gameplay judges are now the average community members who run across this sub. They can either comment on it before we send it off to the approved section to give you input, or they can report it once they encounter in a roleplay if they think it's unbalanced or otherwise unfair. Then it comes back to the Factory staff.

If this happens enough times, or if you do something particularly egregious in a single sub, you get a factory ban.

In other words, there's more personal freedom and less nitpicking in subs now, but there's more personal risks and consequences as well.

There's enough rope out there to hang yourself on, depending on how generous and lenient the community members you interact with are.

I likely won't be commenting any more on balance for your future subs. I'll look at the screenname and think I guess he's willing to run the risk...well, that's not my problem now, stamp it, and see where the dice fall in the future.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Gir Quee"]

First of- I would like to say that I appreciate the amount of work you always put into the Factory. Both from a balancing standpoint, but also from a genuine desire to try and help people improve on their submissions. I think you always did a good job at both those aspects.

As for the submission here-

I feel you.

Thing is, the stuff I am making with Arcadia? I am not really planning on using a lot in a PVP setting. It is more a lore building exercise than anything else. I am still planning on roughly adhering to the balancing principles of the former Factory incarnation, when I make things that are geared towards a lot of PVP interaction. But seeing as this is not that, I am going to lean towards letting the ratings as they are. No matter what they are, I am not the type of writer to start using the submission as a hammer against people.

So I don't think this will be an issue.

 

[Gir Quee]

Approved.