The Ghtroc AI-class light freighter.

[ebertran]

GMs, here's a crappy ship to give to your players.

I designed this ship after working on a look using the AI Midjourney app. I wanted a corellian style ship with a two-tiered cockpit, but when I got to the final look I was happy with, it looked more like a Ghtroc to me, so that's what I made it.

The AI-class name is obviously a nod to the image being AI generated, and the in-universe joke is that the AI stands for "All-In", as everyone has a role to play in flying this thing, based on the cockpit's crappy layout, as you'll see in the description.

It's a good ship to use when you have the "everyone needs a role on the ship" problem in the party, as this one forces the issue.

Ghtroc AI-class light freighter

The Ghtroc "AI" Class Light Freighter is a lesser-known starship that predates the Ghtroc 580 model by about a decade. It never achieved any significant renown and failed in the commercial market mostly due to its uniquely inefficient cockpit design. Measuring approximately 37 meters in length, it was a disappointment in its time, primarily because the double-decker cockpit configuration and crew requirements made it inconvenient for solo cargo haulers and smugglers. However, it did have one redeeming quality: a notably large cargo capacity and extended operational endurance between resupply needs.

Cockpit Design: The ship's cockpit featured a double-decker configuration. The pilot and copilot were positioned on the upper level, while the lower deck housed sensor arrays, shields, and engineering systems. This design made it inconvenient for solo operators, contributing to its lack of success.

Inefficient Top-Mounted Engines: The ship's top-mounted engines, while intended to provide efficient thrust, often malfunctioned and proved highly temperamental, leading to frequent maintenance.

Large Cargo Capacity: The starship was noted for its generous cargo capacity, making it suitable for freighter pilots with substantial loads to transport.

Extended Operational Endurance: One of its few advantages was the ability to operate for longer periods between resupply and refueling stops.

Large Rear Exhaust: The ship boasts a substantial exhaust system at the rear that's prone to failure, contributing to its temperamental efficiency, but adding to its distinct visual identity.

Legacy
The Ghtroc "AI" Class Light Freighter remains an obscure chapter in Ghtroc's history of starship design. The ship failed to gain traction in the commercial starship market due to its inconvenient double-decker cockpit and the crew requirements that made it unsuitable for solo cargo haulers and smugglers. Despite its lack of success, the ship is occasionally rediscovered by collectors and independent pilots who appreciate its unique quirks and recognize its utility in specific transportation scenarios.

Manufacturer: Ghtroc Industries
Model: AI-series (only model manufactured)
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 37m
Skill: Space Transports; Ghtroc freighter
Cost: 20,000 (used, although this ship is rarely found anymore and parts for it are rare)
Crew: 3-4
Passengers: 6
Cargo: 150 Tonnes
Consumables: 6 Months
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x2
Hyperdrive Backup: x15
Nav Computer: Yes
Manueverability: 1D
Space: 5
Atmosphere: 500/1000kmh
Hull: 4D
Shields: 1D

Sensors:
Passive: 20/0D
Scan: 40/1D
Search: 60/2D
Focus: 2/3D

Equipped With:
Weapons:
Laser Cannon
Fire Arc: Turret
Crew: 1
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Atmosphere Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5km
Damage: 4D

[garhkal]

Looks nice.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Argentsaber]

I really liked this when I saw it on facebook, and it inspired me to make a version of my own for my homebrew game..

Aeh'Eih-class Freighter
Craft: Ghtroc Industries Aeh'Eih-class Freighter
Category: Light Freighter (Civilian)
Scale: Attack Craft (58m)
Crew: 4+1 (Skeleton: 2) + integrated droid
Passengers: 8
Troops: N/A
Cargo: 315 mT
Endurance: 11D+1 (about 6 months)
Hyperdrive: x3
Backup: x15
NavComp: Advanced (+1D for one chosen sector)
Maneuver: 1D+1*
Speed Code - Space: 2D+2*
- Atmosphere: 2D+2*
Hull: 4D+2
Shields: 1D
Reliability: 5D
Sensors: Standard

Weapons and Equipment
Plasma Grenade Turret (all)
FC: 1D Damage: 5D, Munitions (50)
Note: If fired with no ammo, the turret's plasma sheath inflicts only 4D damage, and it loses the munitions perc.
Droid Intelligence
The bridge features an integrated droid, appearing as a small cylinder with a photoreceptor that can emerge from the floor of the upper deck or the ceiling of the lower deck. While the droid itself is quite antiquated, and fairly simple, it can render “assistance” to one bridge station at a time, or may assist the gunner (providing the typical +1D to the die pool of the person it is helping). It's programming was designed to be very neutral and passive, leading to many captains of the ship not making effective use of it, as it would remain out of sight and inactive until directly tasked. In fact, many captains dissatisfied with the relatively primitive fire control systems of the cannon leave it in a fixed state of “gunnery assistant.”
Practically, the game statistics of the droid give it 1D in all attributes, and between 3-5 Mechanical skills at 4D. Every example of these ships have been in service so long, and in areas where wiping a droid's memory is not practical, so many of them have developed additional skills, and even “hobbies.” The droid of one notable craft, Black Phoenix, started collecting the languages of primitive rim species, and his memory logs were purchased for almost seven million credits by Cybot Galactica for integration into their primary line protocol droid's language matrix! This is obviously an extreme case, but a captain who actively engages with his ship's droid often finds it developing a substantial planetary database incidentally.
Secondary Thrusters
When the top mounted thrusters are engaged, replace one die of the ship's pool for any speed or maneuverability with a hazard die. (Any 1 rolled on this die or the wild die causes a malfunction reducing both speed and maneuverability by one pip until serviced) If the ship is run without these thrusters, reduce those die codes by -1D, but this special rule does not apply (resolve the wild die normally).
Adaptive Fuel Pods
The Aeh'Eih carries it's fuel in several independent cells, each of which is equipped with a chemical analyzer and an additive injector. This allows the ship to carry three entirely different types of fuel, any of which can be somewhat nonstandard, so long as the correct additive is also supplied to make the adjusted fuel fall within the fairly wide range the ship's thrusters can tolerate. Most people operating this ship eventually install a small molecular furnace similar to those common to EVS construction droids which allow them to synthesize the additive onboard.
Background: The first ship offered by Ghtroc Industries in what scholars now term the final days of “The Old Republic Era,” about the time when classic designs like the Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser were first introduced, The Aeh'Eih-class freighter was named after the old Bith symbolic/mathematical language word for droid sentience, but the high crew requirement has caused it to be colloquially known as the “All In”, or “AI Freighter.” Designed by a Bith engineering team to compete with smaller tramp ships, but offer both superior range and extensive cargo capacity for a small freighter, it was successful for a time, As the years passed, however, it's unusual cocpit arrangement was found to be much less optimal in practice than on paper, preventing it from being flown by a single pilot at all, and only with difficulty by two. While the designers of the craft never envisioned that it might be operated this way, the realities of small margin shipping often require an operator/owner to occasionally work alone. Still, it's notably large cargo capacity and substantial range (2-3 times that of it's closest competition) allowed it to fill a specific niche, largely supplying widely spaced colony worlds at the far reaches of the outer rim, where few would travel solo due to the well known dangers and hardships of the region. In fact, the rare few ships of this type that are still in service can be found in this region.
While the primary aft thruster and hyperdrive were generally considered efficient and reliable, the four top mounted auxiliary thrusters were far less well liked. While their inefficiency was less of a problem than it otherwise could be sue to the large fuel reserves carried, they were also temperamental, requiring frequent maintenance. Worse, without them, the ship was extremely sluggish, and it's maneuvering capacity was once colorfully described as “like a turtle on it's back.” This meant that while it was possible to rely only on the primary thruster, it was seldom done.
In the modern galaxy, the legacy of the Aeh'Eih-class is virtually non-existent. The few remaining ships that still function are generally operated by small independent crews, often completely outside even the outer rim, stopping back in civilized space only two to three times a year for fuel and overhauls.
Sanbra Sector Game Notes: While it is unusual to see a ship of this type so close to the mid-rim, Three have been hired as search and rescue vessels because of the ongoing hyperspace disturbances, Loreth's Seeker, Lumbering Fambaa, and the aforementioned Black Phoenix. It turns out that the Aeh'Eih is small enough to navigate with reasonable efficiency, and both it's extended operating range and typically large crew has proven extremely useful in this context.


Statistics and background listed here are directly compatible with the Star Wars D6: Infinities fan made edition, and will likely require some amount of translation to use in other versions of the game. The Second Edition (Vader version) Rulebook contains a page of tables to facilitate converting between editions, and it can found republished here.
The crew listing of “4+1 (Skeleton: 2) + droid” means that full crew is 4, plus one gunner, but it can be run by two people in a pinch, just with all difficulty numbers raised by one category. Endurance and Reliability are concepts taken from rancorpit.com (here).
Munitions is a weapon modifier that means “when rolling damage, all dice “explode” on a roll of 6, allowing an additional die to be added to the total (similar to the wild die).”
The droid is intended to use the “assist” rule from first edition. If a player wishes to use the somewhat better “coordination” rule, it should require some method of translation, as I intended the droid to be a “squeeks and whistles” type unless modified. I got the idea from the original name of the ship (obviously), but thinking of the droid as something similar to the one on Luthien Rael's Fondor ship (from the TV show “ANDOR”) will get you into the right headspace.
The Adaptive Fuel Pods are intended to allow characters to refuel out in wildspace/the unknown regions/etc. where standard technologies might not be available. There are similar systems in the tramp freighter's guide if desired for substitution.
Other stats like second ed style 4 stat sensors, etc. can be found on the original design by Enrique Bertran (here), which differs significantly in some ways, but could be a valuable resource in conversion as well as another source of lore to integrate into your own game.
This version of the ship was designed to fill more of a Ghost/VCX size freighter, just without all the armament. It's suitable for a player's hero ship, particularly if a few light lasers are added and the hyper-drive improved (especially with a larger party), and equally useful as a background vessel supplying remote rebel bases.
_________________
"The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest."
G'Kar, Survivors (Babylon 5)

[ebertran]

Very cool!

[Inquisitor1138]

No AI can change the laws of physics.

[ebertran]

You are correct, this should be a Space 3 ship, like the stock 720.
My bad, not AIs.

thanks for the correction.

[Inquisitor1138]

[ebertran]

I love it!
Glad you liked the ship!

I fixed the image a little bit...

https://x.com/newbiedm/status/1718346782558617832?s=20