DRAGON’S TEETH
UTOPIA SHIPS
(DTR1.1) HEAVY CRUISER (CA):
The Utopia Heavy Cruiser formed the backbone of the Utopia fleet during its middle years. A formidable vessel for that time period, the Utopia Heavy Cruiser was armed with three Reactor Torpedoes, one Plasma Drone Rack, six Offensive Phasers, and three Defense Phasers. Due to the arming requirements for the Reactor Torpedoes, the Utopia Heavy Cruiser was laden with Auxiliary Power Reactors, combined with ample quantities of Impulse Power, Warp Power, and Reserve Power. History notes that the Utopia Heavy Cruiser did not possess the strongest Shields compared to her opponents, a disadvantage that Utopia Captains were well aware of. The Utopia Heavy Cruiser would undergo various Refits over time and several Variants of her design were later produced.
DESIGNER NOTES:
The Utopia Heavy Cruiser formed the beginning of Dragon’s Teeth, so it was important to get it right. Alpha Sector Phasers provided the solid foundation needed for balance. I wanted the first heavy cruisers in Dragon’s Teeth to fall somewhere in-between a Destroyer and a Light Cruiser, certainly not the size of a General War heavy cruiser. The Dragon’s Teeth would consider this design to be Middle Years, because it is more advanced than Early Years but not as advanced as General War levels.
It was easy enough to implement Plasma Drones. They just needed to be updated to General War capabilities. Plasma Drones were chosen because they provide a different and intriguing tactical alternative to standard Drones.
However, per the Dragon’s Teeth Design Paradigm, the Utopia Heavy Cruiser needed a brand new Heavy Weapon. I needed something as stable and balanced (in terms of gameplay) as a Photon Torpedo. The new Heavy Weapon became the Reactor Torpedo. The Reactor Torpedo combines elements of the Photon Torpedo and the Tachyon Gun. It is a flexible, powerful weapon that requires power from the Auxiliary Power Reactors during the arming process. Playtesting will ultimately determine if the Reactor Torpedo is balanced on the battlefield against other Dragon’s Teeth adversaries.
All in all, the Utopia Heavy Cruiser is a great start to Dragon’s Teeth. The ship design is simple to understand and use, but still requires tactical proficiency to be victorious with. In some ways, I believe the Reactor Torpedo exceeds the gameplay functionality of both the Photon Torpedo and the Tachyon Gun. Plasma Drones open the doorway to other tactical possibilities, all of which will be explored in the future. The Utopia Heavy Cruiser is the seed from which many different stems and branches will grow.
REACTOR TORPEDOES (REAC):
* Requires two turns to arm
* The first turn of arming must always be two points of energy. The second turn of arming may be two, four, or six points of energy (at the player’s option). Each turn of arming requires at least one point of power from an Auxiliary Power Reactor (combined with energy from other power systems to fulfill the arming cost for that turn). Without this point of power from APR (on each turn), the Reactor Torpedo may not be armed.
* Reactor Torpedoes may be held for half the total cost of energy armed. Therefore, four total arming energy requires two points of energy to hold each turn, six points of arming energy requires three points of energy to hold each turn, and eight points of arming energy requires four points of energy to hold each turn. Holding energy does not have to be from APR.
* Use the Reactor Torpedo Table to determine Hit and Damage based on Range and Total Armed Energy.
* Reactor Torpedoes are destroyed on TORP Hits on the DAC.
Treat Reactor Torpedoes as Photon Torpedoes in all other respects not noted above.
PLASMA DRONES (PDRN):
* The basic Plasma Drone is Space=1, Damage = 4, Warhead = 8, Endurance = 3, Speed = 20
* Plasma Drone may be Enhanced with one point of energy. The enhancement increases the warhead to 12. If an Enhanced Plasma Drone is not launched by the end of the turn, the energy is lost.
* Plasma Drones may be Super Enhanced with two points of energy. The Super Enhancement increases the warhead to 16. If a Super Enhanced Drone is not launched by the end of the turn, the plasma drone is lost. The plasma rack will remain undamaged.
* Plasma Drone Racks carry five Plasma Drones with two sets of Reloads. One Plasma Drone may be launched per turn, not within 8 impulses of a prior launching.
* Plasma Drones may be launched as Scatterpacks (including Enhanced and Super Enhanced Plasma Drones).
* Plasma Drone Launchers are destroyed on DRONE Hits on the DAC.
Treat Plasma Drones as Drones in all other respects not noted above.
PHASER-1 (PH-1):
This works exactly as described in the Basic Set.
PHASER-3 (PH-3):
This works exactly as described in the Basic Set.