Vorlon Star Dreadnought (Babylon Five):

As a warship this ship has no peers; although it is only about a kilometer long (0.621 miles) the technology of the Vorlon race is at least a million years ahead of that of the younger races. For its size this is easily the most powerful ship in the galaxy.

The ship is armed with a large Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon for its primary weapon. This weapon is capable of destroying just about any known ship with a single volley. The large firing arc in front of the ship helps too. Supplementing this are 60 Quantum Gravitic lightning guns for engaging smaller craft. The Vorlons have no missile launchers on any of their ships. Apparently they think they have enough firepower to do without them.

Apparently they`re right.....

The entire ship is semi alive: it is a mixture of both organic and mechanical features. The entire hull of this ship is organic and can both repair itself and can adapt to attacks to reduce damage. No attack does full effect on the hull more than once.

Backing up this mighty armor are powerful shields consisting of interwoven energy fields and layers of gravitational distortion. These shields are capable of absorbing nearly any attack, be it pure energy or kinetic in nature. The only way to overload the shields is by pouring a massive amount of energy into them in a short time. In a battle against the Shadows, A Shadow cruiser fired its Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon into the shields of a Vorlon dreadnought and depleted them, but without actually damaging the ship itself. These shields are also more powerful that the shields carried on any ship in the Three Galaxies.

The ships sublight propulsion consists of a powerful gravity drive system and a form of ion engines. Apparently the ion engines supply main thrust and the gravity drive supplements this and is used for maneuvering, giving the ship the maneuverability found in light cruisers of the younger races. ( The gravity drive is not used for main drive because the Vorlons are Very conservative and often use older but incredibly perfected technology rather than use technology which is still new to them. They have had grav drive for millennia, but Vorlons live a LONG time!! ) The ship has a jumpgate generator for faster than light drive, but this might actually not be the same kind of jump engine the younger races use: the color of the vortex it forms going in and out of hyperspace is different, suggesting a different operating mechanism.

Since the ship is "alive" it has an intelligence similar to that of a sentient AI and so can perform difficult maneuvers on its own. Despite this it still needs a crew for maximum performance. On sensor readings the ship will read as built out of organic materials rather than the metal alloys that most starships are built out of. When its ECM is engaged it is very hard to detect.

If one of these ships is met on the border of Vorlon space, the Vorlon ship will attack any ship attempting to enter Vorlon space unless the other ship has a specific mission that has already been approved by the Vorlons. If the other ship stays clearly outside Vorlon space and just transmits a message, it will not be molested but otherwise, the Vorlon ship will destroy any other ships on the Vorlon boarder even if it is a case of serious engine trouble. You would do well to remember that to Vorlons different things are important than to most other races.

Notes of game conversion:

For purposes of game balance, there are two different versions of the starship. One is designed with accelerations in terms of gravities (G) which can better interact better with other Babylon 5 ships such as Earth Force and the Narn military. The other is written to operate within the Three Galaxies and operated with Consortium and Kreeghor vessels.

Phase world version uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor fighters. This version is recommended if you with to put them into Phase World as among equals. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Moderate version uses Gs of acceleration but does not have reduced weapon ranges except for missiles. This version is useful for Mutants In Orbit, Phase World if used as a lower tech race, used with my Earth Force ships conversions for B-5, and as a possible crash on Rifts Earth. Listed is the formula to allow player and game masters to calculate the fighters velocity and distance traveled.

Velocity = Acceleration x Time + Initial Velocity

Distance Traveled = Acceleration x ½ x Time ² + Initial Velocity x Time

1 G = 32 feet (9.8 m) per second ²

Model: Vorlon Dreadnought
Crew: Unknown, needs one Vorlon to function but does need crew for maximum performance. Actual Crew size unknown (For game terms assume that the ships has a crew of around 400 - Boarding parties will have trouble due to the fact that a Vorlon is about as powerful as a low powered supernatural intelligence)
Vehicles: 40 standard Vorlon fighters, more vehicles presumed but unknown.

M.D.C. by Location:

	Quantum Gravitic Lightning gun (60):	1,000 each
	[1] Forward Boom (4):	150,000 each
	[2] Bridge:	120,000
	[2] Auxiliary Bridge	120,000
	[3] Ion Engines (4):	100,000 each
	[4] Gravity Drive Lobes (4):	100,000 each
	[5] Main Body:	550,000
	[6] Variable Force Field:	25,000 a side (150,000 Total)

Notes:
[1] Destroying one of the booms means that the Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon can no longer be overloaded and imposes a -1 penalty on hit rolls. Destroying 2 booms means the beam can only fire once per melee at -2 penalty. Destroying 3 or more and the gun will be destroyed.
[2] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s armor. This ship has a auxiliary bridge. If both bridges are destroyed the ship will fly itself, guided by telepathic commands from any crew member, but is -2 to dodge and -1 to hit with all guns.
[3] Destroying one Ion engine means that sublight acceleration is reduced by 20 % and maneuvering by 5 %. Add on damage per engine up to 80 % loss and 20% loss respectively if all four are destroyed..
[4] Destroying a gravity drive lobe causes sublight acceleration to be reduced by 5 % and maneuvering by 20 % (also gives a -1 penalty to dodge). All penalties will be accumulated for additional destroyed lobes (This means that both drive systems have to be destroyed before the ship becomes a floating hulk. Even then it can enter hyperspace to escape but has no propulsion to move so must be tractored to move!)
[5] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will destroy the Dreadnaught, putting it out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck. Both the hull and the ships systems have the ability to repair themselves. The ships hull and ships systems regenerate damage at the rate of 2D6x100 M.D.C. per minute. The ship can only repair up to half the total M.D.C. of a system or the main body.
[6] Shield positions are variable and can be combined into one shield. The shields regenerate at a rate of 5% (7,500 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight:

Phase World Version: Combined use of Ion and Gravity drive allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. The ship can accelerate/decelerate at a rate of 1.2 percent of light per melee.

Moderate Version: The Vorlon Dreadnought does not have an effective top speed but is limited by acceleration. The Dreadnought can reach a top acceleration of 12 G but standard is 6 G to reduce stress on engines.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is mach 2. Can enter atmosphere and leave but was not designed for atmospheric flight.
Stardrive: Uses a hyperdrive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 150 light-years per hour. This means that the Dreadnought can cover the three galaxies in about 4 weeks. The ship enters hyperspace by means of a jumpgate. This ship can use an already made jumpgate or can form its own jumpgate. Ship can also enter or leave hyperspace within an atmosphere but the ship must have very precise coordinates or it will open the hyperspace gate within the planet itself and the ship will destroy itself.

The Dreadnought has enough power to open a jumpgate every round if so needed. Unlike the jumpgates of the younger races, this gate is not only formed, but also traversed after which it closes, all within one single round.
Maximum Range: Unlimited by all drive systems. It is not known how much supplies it carries with it, but it is safe to assume several years worth.

Statistical Data:
Length: 3283.3 feet (1000 meters)
Height: 820.8 (250 meters)
Width: 820.8 (250 meters)
Weight: 22 million tons (20 million metric tons)
Power System: Hyperspace Tap with an unknown duration.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 500,000 tons of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition
Market Cost: Unknown, any culture in the Three Galaxies would pay hundreds of trillions of credits for an undamaged working model of this ship.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

One (1) Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon: This weapon is made up of the 4 forward booms on the ship. When firing energy flows from the tips of the booms and converges in between them. From the point of convergence the Coherent Gravity beam is fired. The weapon is focused and aimed through the manipulation of gravitic fields between the booms. This gives it a very large field of fire (a cone of 120 degrees in front of the ship) and makes it possible to swing the beam through the entire field of fire in a single melee turn. This weapon system functions by firing a beam of coherent gravity waves at a target, which disrupts the very molecules of the target at a quantum level. Any target area hit by the beam is literally torn apart at the subatomic level, reducing the affected area to a very hot cloud of quarks and mesons. If the hyperdrive is shut down and its energy is used to power the beam the weapons output is hugely increased but only one target can be selected in this case. Also the hyperdrive needs 3 minutes to recharge. This weapon does have standard penalties to use against small targets such as fighters.
Due to the weapons nature, it does full damage to any target protected by the spell “Invulnerable to energy.”
Maximum Effective Range: 187 miles (300 km) in an atmosphere and 187,000 miles (300,000 km) in space.
Mega-Damage: Standard: 2D4x10,000 M.D. Overcharge: 8D6x10,000 M.D.
Rate of Fire: Special, Beam can only fired once per melee but can be directed at up to three different targets. If the cannon is directed at one target at the entire melee, damage is tripled. When cannon is Overcharged, the cannon can only be directed a one target.
Payload : Effectively Unlimited.
Sixty (60) Quantum Gravitic "Lightning" Guns: Virtually identical to the weapon found on the Vorlon Fighter, These cannons are used to defend the ship against whatever cannot be hit with the big cannon (or is not`t worth the attention!). These guns are part of the ships semi-organic hull and can actually move around on it or when not needed are simply absorbed into the hull !! This means that when not under attack all guns are retracted into the skin, making them impossible to hit. Also this means that the guns may be distributed over the ship in whatever numbers the crew like. Rearranging the distribution can be done during combat, but during this the guns that are being moved cannot fire. Movement rate is one melee per 200 meters of hull to be transversed. Guns are -2 to hit during movement phase. Up to 5 guns can be linked into one attack. Power setting is determined at beginning of melee round. At maximum power the weapon does have standard penalties to use against small targets such as fighters. At medium power, the weapon has a penalty of -2 against small targets but does not suffer from size penalties. At Minimum setting, the cannon has +2 bonus to hit small targets and does not suffer from size penalties.
Due to the weapons nature, it does full damage to any target protected by the spell “Invulnerable to energy.”
Maximum Effective Range: 12,000 miles (19,300 km) in space and 120 miles (193 km) in atmosphere.
Mega-Damage: Maximum: 1D6x1,000+1000 M.D. each. Medium: 3D6x100 M.D. each. Minimum: 1D6x100 M.D.
Rate of Fire: Maximum: once per melee. Medium: 3 times per melee. Minimum: 5 times per melee.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.

Special Equipment:

Adaptive Hull: The Dreadnought has the ability to adapt to attacks on it. Once a specific attack has been used against the ship, it will adapt to that attack and any attack of that type that is encountered afterwards will only be at twenty percent effectiveness in the next engagement. Variable frequency weapons such as variable frequency lasers can be reset to do full damage once this is discovered. The adaption takes about five hours to be completed.
Advanced Sensors: As a member of the first ones, the Vorlons have some of the most advanced senors ever designed. The Sensors are so advanced it is assumed that the Vorlon ship’s sensors ignore all forms of non magical cloaking and ECM. This includes cloaking and ECM from Phase World and other alternative universes as well as all forms from the Babylon 5 Universe.
ECM: The Star Dreadnought is, like all Vorlon ships, fitted with advanced ECM. This ECM prevents targeting systems from ships of the younger races from being able to lock on. An attacker would be at -10 to strike the ship and only if within visual range (approximately 500 miles). Missiles would have a 95% chance of being unable to achieve a lock on target as well. Rifts Earth and Mutants in orbit would be treated to be at the level of technology of most of the younger races. The only exceptions among the younger races are the Minbari and Centauri races who are far more advanced than any of the younger races but are still no where close to the First Ones level. The Vorlon Dreadnought would be detected as little more than a ghost on either races sensors and they would have penalties of -8 to strike beyond visual range and -4 to strike at visual ranges. Missiles would also be more effective, at first engagement missiles would have a 80% chance of being unable to achieve a lock, but after several engagements, the jamming could be partially adjusted for, with missiles being able to achieve lock with a 30 % chance of being unable to achieve lock. Phase World, Macross 2, and Robotech sensors would be treated to be at the level of technology of the Minbari and Centauri. Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and Star Wars would also be treated to be at this level of technology. The sensors of the races of the First Ones would not suffer any penalties and would be able to strike normally. This included the Minbari / Ranger White Star class and the Drahk Raider as well.
Sentient Ship: The Dreadnought is alive, and is quite aware of what it is and what its doing. It will not take orders from a non Vorlon. The ship should be considered to be a powerful neural intelligence in terms of Rifts. This computer can pilot the ship at 98%, can fire all weapons with half normal attacks, and has +10 to strike, +4 to dodge, and +4 to initiative (these include all bonuses). If a full crew is onboard it will be able to fire all weapons at will and will have +12 to strike, +6 to dodge and +7 to initiative.

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Technical information sourced partially from Babylon 5 Technical Manual!

Writeup by Mischa (E-Mail Mischa) and by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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