Pilot Ejection Table - For those who want some risk in their game!

[saab]

Oh dear... with each release there are new ways to die, and more dire consequences for dying!

My dear co-pilot decided it was a great idea to attack a surface installation while I was scouting ahead in the Taipan.

Rolled the dice: 2. Wipe save.

Down the drain: all my collected engineer materials, all my upgrades, all my Engineer reputation, and of course... my co-pilot!

 

[mossfoot]

Oh dear... with each release there are new ways to die, and more dire consequences for dying!

My dear co-pilot decided it was a great idea to attack a surface installation while I was scouting ahead in the Taipan.

Rolled the dice: 2. Wipe save.

Down the drain: all my collected engineer materials, all my upgrades, all my Engineer reputation, and of course... my co-pilot!

Doh! Make sure you learn to give orders like Hold Your Fire next time!

Hope you make up for lost time quick!

 

[mossfoot]

I'm considering a new condition under Combat. Currently they are:

COMBAT RELATED CIRCUMSTANCES (Best Guess)
Each Enemy Pilot In Battle -1 (max -5)
Each Friendly/Neutral Pilot In Battle +1 (max +5)
(Note: in Conflict Zones these can be assumed to cancel out)
Low Intensity Conflict Zone (both sides) +2 (assumes non-combat rescue ships present on both sides to pick up pilots)
High Intensity Conflict Zone (underdogs) +1 (marginal failure can be assume captured as POW instead of death)
High Intensity Conflict Zone (favored forces) +3 (marginal failure can be assume captured as POW instead of death)


But I'm thinking, much like being stranded in space under Non-Combat circumstances, there are times where you're trying to escape combat, are heavily damaged, but have more than enough time to plan a proper ejection scenario. For example, your drives have been shot out and you're drifting in space, but the enemy behind you keep pecking away at you trying to keep up... something like that can go on for minutes.

So what about those situations where, as opposed to your ship's emergency auto-eject working, you instead have the time to calmly plot in an escape trajectory and hit the eject button yourself? I figure that should give a small bonus (+1) but require you to do something like type "EJECT EJECT EJECT" in the comm panel first (so an honor issue there, but then the whole thing is honor based)

 

[InsanityOvrload]

This is awesome. Time to make another commander and try this out!

- - - Updated - - -

I'm considering a new condition under Combat. Currently they are:

COMBAT RELATED CIRCUMSTANCES (Best Guess)
Each Enemy Pilot In Battle -1 (max -5)
Each Friendly/Neutral Pilot In Battle +1 (max +5)
(Note: in Conflict Zones these can be assumed to cancel out)
Low Intensity Conflict Zone (both sides) +2 (assumes non-combat rescue ships present on both sides to pick up pilots)
High Intensity Conflict Zone (underdogs) +1 (marginal failure can be assume captured as POW instead of death)
High Intensity Conflict Zone (favored forces) +3 (marginal failure can be assume captured as POW instead of death)


But I'm thinking, much like being stranded in space under Non-Combat circumstances, there are times where you're trying to escape combat, are heavily damaged, but have more than enough time to plan a proper ejection scenario. For example, your drives have been shot out and you're drifting in space, but the enemy behind you keep pecking away at you trying to keep up... something like that can go on for minutes.

So what about those situations where, as opposed to your ship's emergency auto-eject working, you instead have the time to calmly plot in an escape trajectory and hit the eject button yourself? I figure that should give a small bonus (+1) but require you to do something like type "EJECT EJECT EJECT" in the comm panel first (so an honor issue there, but then the whole thing is honor based)

I currently play on both PC and xbox; typing anything is pretty much impossible on xbox to do before you explode. I like the idea though but may change it to typing eject once and just manually going to self destruct ( and counting that as a manually programmed eject).

 

[Bantha]

I LOVE this idea. Full respect to the Op, and those who have taken the time to add to this and write programmes etc...
But, what a shame you have had to do this.
I remember the original Elite, I played on the Spectrum, and the actual requirement to own an Escape Pod, and activate its release before your ship blew up, was the most immersive part of the role playing experience for me, by a mile. If you don't eject, you die. Then watching your ship explode above you as your escape pod floated away - brilliant!
But with Elite Dangerous, all that excitement, that adrenalin rush, that realism, all gone...
I just can't deal with the current game when my ship is destroyed and all that happens is I lose a few credits - it's nonsense and my small little mind can't cope with it.
I play Iron Man exclusively, have done for the past two years. Yes I clearly have issues, I'm a middle aged married businessman who spends his spare time playing Elite - of course I have issues - but please, please, please Frontier - BRING BACK ESCAPE PODS

 

[pippo]

Been using this table alongside a good old 1d20... Very good Sir.

Sitting in a Sidewinder as typing this (not the first time that would happen, guess it's a good thing I don't visit casinos).

 

[KellyR]

I LOVE this idea. Full respect to the Op, and those who have taken the time to add to this and write programmes etc...
But, what a shame you have had to do this.
I remember the original Elite, I played on the Spectrum, and the actual requirement to own an Escape Pod, and activate its release before your ship blew up, was the most immersive part of the role playing experience for me, by a mile. If you don't eject, you die. Then watching your ship explode above you as your escape pod floated away - brilliant!
But with Elite Dangerous, all that excitement, that adrenalin rush, that realism, all gone...
I just can't deal with the current game when my ship is destroyed and all that happens is I lose a few credits - it's nonsense and my small little mind can't cope with it.
I play Iron Man exclusively, have done for the past two years. Yes I clearly have issues, I'm a middle aged married businessman who spends his spare time playing Elite - of course I have issues - but please, please, please Frontier - BRING BACK ESCAPE PODS

I think there should be an Iron Man mode. Say you can have two commanders; one is ironman mode exclusively, other is standard mode. The problem is the griefers. There are those out there who will kill you just to see the 'splosion. Compared to them, you are an extremely sane and well adjusted individual, sir. But it's people like that who are responsible for the current form of the game, i.e. no escape pods. And this game is so expansive and vast, the developers have to prioritize. There is just so much to do and only so many people to do it.

 

[Darkphoenix]

I still think that this is one of the best ideas for house rules that I have seen. With any luck maybe the powers that be will see this as a popular option and find a way to incorporate this in game as a new mode as surviving all the time, every time is unrealistic to say the least. Hopefully after a fully fleshed out C&P system.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I'm going to try this for my next save. Cheers.

 

[mossfoot]

I still think that this is one of the best ideas for house rules that I have seen. With any luck maybe the powers that be will see this as a popular option and find a way to incorporate this in game as a new mode as surviving all the time, every time is unrealistic to say the least. Hopefully after a fully fleshed out C&P system.

Thanks wonder if Obsidian Ant would ever mention it?

 

[Peter Thompson]

This is a great post! I might consider this for a second account, specially with 2.3 coming but... I might convert it to a d10 system (too much cyberpunk 2020 hammered me into a reroll master).

 

[mossfoot]

Now that I have a PS4 account, I decided to go all-in with my own ejection table. Normally because of the progression I've made I've been playing a "lighter" version of it in which a "dead" result just means I get rid of all my money and ships and start from sidewinder. Due to things like Engineers and the difficulty involved, my Keelback would go into storage until I earned enough to A-Rate a Keelback, then I would just assume I had it modded to the original KB's stats and take my old ship out of storage. Kinda wussy.

Not so on the PS4. For this account, I'm playing the table 100% straight. If I die, it's a new CMDR. Let's see how it goes I've already had to use it once (I got complacent in my Engineered ship, plus my HOTAS button mapping isn't exactly the same as my PC setup)

 

[Darkfyre99]

"Easy, there, Commander, you're safe. We tried to warn you off of trying to boost off of ol' Ackbar, but it was already too late. That damn white dwarf's jets are too short to pull off a stunt like that. You're lucky to be alive."

Commander Inga Stevenson stared at the remains of her Imperial Courier, Elegence of Virtue, on the holofac in the medical bay of Shatalov Gateway. She had thought she was dead when her attempt to boost off of LHS 235 had gone horrifically wrong, the jets kicking her right into the exclusion zone. Her canopy had shattered, her engines and FSD offline, she had resigned herself to death.

Instead, those same jets had kicked her dying ship far enough from the white dwarf that a nearby ship had been able to rescue her unconscious body. Her ship had been recovered, and would eventually be repaired. She may have lost millions in exploration data, but she was ALIVE. And at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

 

[DukeIronHand]

Too bad there is not a toggle in the game to implement this system automatically.
I use it but, mercifully, it has been a while since I had too!

 

[Aashenfox]

Sorry for the resurrect, it is entirely purposeful, as I had never heard of this, so here's a free bump for an excellent bit of RP for those that like that kind of thing.

I love the idea, and tbh, it likely wouldn't change much for me, I've only had 6 deaths in 2 years, but man, there is nothing you can say that would make me want to reset my save. Unlock Palin again? You MUST be joking. lol.

 

[Stealthie]

I love the idea, and tbh, it likely wouldn't change much for me, I've only had 6 deaths in 2 years, but man, there is nothing you can say that would make me want to reset my save. Unlock Palin again? You MUST be joking. lol.

Same here.

If somebody told me I might have to give away all my ships and start again with Cr1000, I'd be cool with that but re-doing the naval rank and engineers grind?

 

[mossfoot]

Change made to reflect Thargoid combat:

COMBAT RELATED CIRCUMSTANCES (Best Guess)
Each Enemy Pilot In Battle -1 (max -5)
Each Thargoid in Battle -2 (max -8)
Each Friendly/Neutral Pilot In Battle +1 (max +5)


This is to reflect the tendency for certain Thargoids factions not leaving survivors around, and how they tend to scan wreck sites thoroughly (which would presumably include your escape pod).

Feedback on whether this is too high or low would be appreciated.

 

[mossfoot]

Same here.

If somebody told me I might have to give away all my ships and start again with Cr1000, I'd be cool with that but re-doing the naval rank and engineers grind?

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/2013/06/nope.gif

That's why I've added other options to the table, including rules for less severe punishments (ie, willingly wiping out your fleet and money, starting from Sidewinder, but keeping your ranks/progress intact)

Ultimately it's meant to be scaleable to the individual, based on what they feel is fair.