THE PRIME SECTOR
FAIR FOLK SHIPS
(PMR6.1) HEAVY CRUISER (CA):
The Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser was noted for its outstanding maneuverability, strong shields, deadly direct-fire weapons, and reflective defenses. With Two Fireballs, Two Tachyosonic Beams, Five Sonic Pulsers, and Three Flame Shields, the Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser was a capable opponent for any Prime Sector adversary. But what made the Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser nearly unbeatable was its mysterious and magical Fairy Rings. These unusual devices allowed the Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser to turn when it should not have been able to, to disappear and reappear elsewhere, and even to become invisible! Had the Fair Folk been bent on the conquest of the Prime Sector, they may well have succeeded.
DESIGNER NOTES:
The Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser existed on another website of mine years ago. It took a bit of work to properly import it into the Prime Sector. Not only did the SSD need to be reworked, but there were balance and gameplay issues to consider as well.
The Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser combines Loriyill and Singer technology. This is not a bad thing, as it creates a truly unique empire. Mainly a direct-fire empire with no seeking weapons, the Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser utilizes Fireballs to wear down the opponent’s shields, Tachyosonic Beams to hit over and over like an ISC PPD, Sonic Pulsers as Phasers, and Flame Shields for defensive purposes. Loriyill ships have strong shields and swift maneuverability, factors that remain in the Fair Folk design. Clearly, one of the things lacking in the Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser is crunch power.
But even with all these attributes, I wanted to give the Fair Folk a device that would make them tactically different than just another fast direct-fire empire. This device became the mysterious Fairy Ring. Fairy Rings can produce 3 different gameplay effects, none of which alone are unbalancing. However, taken together, because the Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser has more than one Fairy Ring and they can have a cumulative effect, the Fairy Rings create Tactical Possibilities never seen before in a single empire.
As a result, the Fair Folk may turn out to be the single, most powerful empire in the entire Prime Sector. Similar to the Andromedans in the Alpha Sector, the Fair Folk possess strange abilities that set them apart from everyone else and make them very difficult to defeat in battle. It’s a good thing the Fair Folk don’t have any plans for galaxy wide domination…or do they?
The Fair Folk Heavy Cruiser fits right in with the rest of the Prime Sector. But the very existence of the Fair Folk raises some questions. Are they related to the Loriyill? Are they related to the Singers? Both? Did they come to the Prime Sector from somewhere else? Have they always been there from the beginning? Are they the ancestors of the Loriyill? Or are they their future progeny? Are they a separate independent faction? Are they enemies to the Loriyill and Singers? Was their technology stolen? These are questions that will be answered as the Prime Sector is detailed. For now, these questions will remain unanswered. For who knows how the politics of Fairy Government really works?
FIREBALLS: These function as described in Omega-1.
FLAME SHIELDS: These function as described in Omega-1.
TACHYOSONIC BEAMS: These function as described in Omega-3.
SONIC PULSERS: These function as described in Omega-3 except for the following:
The Fair Folk use “Phaser” Capacitors (which are actually Sonic Capacitors), developed specifically to solve the issue with arming the Sonic Pulsers. Each Sonic Pulser counts as a PH-1 when calculating the max capacity in the Sonic Capacitor.
FAIRY RINGS:
Fairy Rings are armed over two turns.
Each Fairy Ring requires two points of energy on the first turn and two points of energy on the second turn.
Fairy Rings may not be held, but a rolling delay may be used by paying two points of energy each turn.
Each Fairy Ring may be activated during any impulse throughout the turn, at the owning player’s discretion. Each Fairy Ring can produce one of three possible magical abilities. The exact magical ability (out of three) is chosen at the time of activation.
Magical Ability #1: The starship can teleport to any one of the six adjacent hexes surrounding the starship. Original facing is maintained. This is treated as a Self-Displacement with no chance of error or inaccuracy. Note the timing during the play sequence when this occurs as explained under (G18.312) in Module C2.
Magical Ability #2: The starship can turn 60 degrees in either direction. This works outside of all normal turn mode requirements and has no effect on turn mode tracking at all.
Magical Ability #3: The starship can fade into the Faerie Realm for 1 impulse. During this impulse, the starship cannot fire and cannot be fired upon. Seeking weapons lose their tracking for 1 impulse, but regain it the next impulse. If a seeing weapon is about to strike, it remains in the same hex as the starship until the next impulse. No seeking weapons or shuttles may be launched while the starship is faded out. Tractor beams are immediately broken by the fade out. There is no delay in the fade out/in period; it happens instantly. The fade out happens at the very beginning (before anything else) of the impulse and ends at the very beginning (before anything else) of the next impulse. The starship is still visible to all other starships in the area.
The Activation of Magical Abilities may be Combined. Note the Sequence of Play and when each Magical Ability takes effect.
Example #1: A Fair Folk Starship teleports 1 hex backward (One Fairy Ring) and then fades out into the Faerie Realm (One Fairy Ring).
Example #2: A Fair Folk Starship turns 60 degrees (One Fairy Ring) and then teleports 1 hex forward (One Fairy Ring).
Example #3: A Fair Folk Starship turns 120 degrees (requiring two Fairy Rings), teleports 1 hex backward (One Fairy Ring), and then fades out into the Faerie Realm (One Fairy Ring).
Example #4: A Fair Folk Starship remains faded out in the Faerie Realm for 4 impulses by activating 4 Fairy Rings.
Fairy Rings are destroyed on FLAG Hits on the DAC.
Fairy Rings are treated as Displacement Devices and Dimensional Phase Devices in all other ways not referenced above, depending on the situation and usage.
