SSDS Errata

There a couple of items which weren't correct in the published SSDS rules. They are:

• To calculate the armour value which appears in the USP, take the armour value decided upon in step 3 (paras 3 & 4), convert that to a USP value using the chart on page 107, and then multiply the result by 10. This gives the value for the USP which is compatible with the rules in T4.
• The figures on page 103 for basic and standard life support are a bit messed up. First off the columns should be headed Size, Mass, Volume, Power and Price. Second all of the values should be multiplied by 14. They were calculated based on the ships volume in tonnes when it should have been cubic metres.
• There is a fault in the order of calculation of weapons USPs. The correct order is:
  1. Multiply the listed weapon damage by the number of weapons.
  2. Convert the damage value to a USP Rating.
  3. Add in any rate of fire bonus, remembering not to add more than the existing value. Note the penalty for a ROF of 10. This solves the difference between QSDS laser power requirements and SSDS ones.

  Rate Of Fire Table

  ROF	Modifier
  10	-1
  50	0
  100	+1
  200	+2
  400	+3
  800	+4

• The Surface Area for Power Plants should be ignored. It was an idea presented in the first draft, which was later proved to limit designs too much.
• On page 74, the calculation of engineers for drives should refer only to volume as the base figure.
• If you have weapons controlled by Master Fire Directors, they do NOT need to have individual gunners. They only need a gunner at the MFD. However, if your MFD gets knocked out and you don't have individual gunners ...
• Spacecraft with a final mass of more than 15 times their hull rate (in displacement tonnes) should recalculate their accelerate based on actual thrust-to-mass ratio, dividing thrust (in tonnes) by mass (in tonnes) to determine acceleration in Gs. [From FFS p69].

This document was produced by James Dempsey. Last updated on 7 May, 1997.