The only good rule I've seen for ramming in space combat was the one from Attack Vector Tactical, where, if you want to ram, you have to give a speech.
Different situation. This is not a tabletop wargame. And, unless I'm mistaken, a majority of Aurora games involve a single player against computer NPRs.
Have you read all three pages of this thread/discussion? I ask because you seem to be overlooking some important points and counterpoints which were brought up.
- Ramming has tremendous story potential for roleplaying. You can't deny that.
- Ramming should not be something that you survive. It's a bold sacrifice.
- There is historical precedent for naval ships and aircraft to ram an enemy out of desperation.
- What prevents Steve from seriously gimping ship ramming so it's not very exploitable?
- What would be wrong with making player ship ramming an SM Mode option?
...with the explicit intention of making ramming rare and memorable. I can't see any way to implement that...
Making ramming "memorable" is up to the players' imagination and/or ability to write a good story. However, I think we can all agree that it needs to be rare. That would help make it more memorable. Anyway, if a lot of ramming is going on, then it is obviously being exploited.
As for the how: Just make the cost/benefit ratio low such that ramming isn't very tempting. Though, if it was restricted to SM-Mode, I think the temptation of using it becomes a moot point. As others pointed out, we can already using SM Mode to play god with our games.
Most community games would probably forbid ramming. But, if it was allowed, I would imagine that the player wanting to ram must convince the moderator/players, probably by giving good reasons (e.g., a ship heavily damaged and no weapons left) and a willingness to roleplay it.
...frankly, ramming doesn't make much sense when you look at the math.
Tell the NPRs that, then, because they ram all the time. As I asked in my OP: Why do NPRs get to ram, while players can't? That's neither reasonable nor believable.
Which math are you referring to? If you are referring to the difficulty of ships in the vastness of space, traveling at insane speeds, hitting another ship, consider: Missiles in Aurora do this all the time. Consider the difficulty of an AMM trying to impact (or approach within close proximity of) an enemy missile. Granted, missiles may be a lot more maneuverable than a ship. But they're a heck of a lot smaller, too.
...If this could really possibly leave NPR ships too defenseless, then all you'd have to do to fix it is make sure all NPR ships except for specialized FAC or smaller such vessels are equipped with a single, armored, turreted laser or particle beam or railgun or something. Maybe even plasma carronade. That way you can expect depleted missile ships or carriers to at least pose a measurable threat when out of ammo/parasites, without turning them into a supervessel-ending KKV supertorpedo that can engage from rather arbritrary ranges (why oh why is a ship with lower speed and worse initiative interception rating able to ram-engage a ship that should be able to kite it out? Argh)
Good points. And these suggestions sound reasonable to me.
