How do I build this ship?

[ninja42]

Hi there! I recently joined my very first Star Wars d6 game, and I must say that this dusty old game has to be the best game I have ever tried! However, as I basically only own the 2nd edition SWRPG and most pages from Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters in a ring binder, I am afraid that I may not be as up to speed on some of the rules as I might like, so I am going to go ahead and ask some basic questions about what I don’t know and/or don’t understand about the game in the appropriate forums.

First things first; My character is build after a homemade template, but with a smugglers background, and thus I started play with a ship of my choice, and after careful consideration I chose the Ghtroc 580 Light Freighter, as it seemed to have more potential as a smugglers vessel than any other, due to its huge capacity and the fact that most of the systems on it that sucks are replaceable. However, there is a few of the things that I want to do to my ship, henceforth referred to as The Shooting Star, which I simply don’t know the rules for. Here is a short list:

1) As the Ghtroc 580 is an old vessel, I want to refurbish her completely so I won’t have to deal with the quirky and unreliable nature of an old ship. I am guessing that I need a lot of parts, access to a workshop that has capacity for freighters, and a lot of credits worth of new parts. How do I go about this?

2) I want to either upgrade the existing cockpit or replace its interior completely, in order to accommodate an optional co-pilot. I do this because I want to give every character in the party an active job on my ship so that no one gets bored, and to increase the usefulness of some of the other systems that I will be adding later. How do I go about this?

3) I want to add a number of weapons to The Shooting Star in order to keep pirates off my back, and perhaps take up privateering myself at some point. The weapons I want to install are:

- The laser cannon in the vessels ventral turret are replaced with a pair of fire-linked heavy laser cannons. No probs here, I think I know how to handle this.

- Install a dorsal turret containing a pair of fire-linked heavy laser cannons. The entry in Tramp Freighters lists the price of the weapons themselves, but I have no idea how hard or expensive t is to add a dorsal turret. Ideas?

- Install a forward firing pair of fire-linked Comar f-9 heavy ion cannons. Straight forward procedure, no problems expected.

- Install a forward firing pair of fire-linked Incom W-34t Turbo Lasers. I want to install these on a retractable weapons mount, so that my ship won’t be identified as illegal on sight. Furthermore, I want to be able to fire them separately in order to be able to shoot once per round, as well as fire-linked for when I need to be able to hurt capital ships or the like. How do I go about that?

4) I will install a sensors array from another ship, that can detect other ships at ranges that corresponds to the turbo lasers max range. I might as well use the range now that I have it. How hard and expensive would it be to fit an array from a Lone Scout-A onto a Ghtroc 580?

5) The ship will also have its sublight drives and main hyperdrive replaced, as well as it will have a ghost transponder code installed.

Do I need any more equipment or upgrades for my ship, or do I have all bases covered?

On a side note, I am not willing to have the ship modified in such a way that I need to roll on that mishap table at all, as it simply seems too dangerous. I will be pumping enough CPs into my Space Transports Repair checks to ensure that all upgrades are done properly, and I might even pay for the assistance of a proper engineer.

I am really looking forward to see how active this forum is. I love this game, and I would love to discuss it with others!

[Jedi Schrute]

First off, are you a PC in a game? The GM with a character, or are you just musing about character templates and ships, etc. (I do this a lot, have a catalogue of unused characters saved on my hard drive.)

1) Quirky and unreliable! That's what old beat up smuggling ships are all about! What would the Millenium Falcon be if it didn't break down every now and then? Serious upgrades require serious maintenance, and unless you spent a ridiculous sum of money on professional engineers and parts, you're gonna have quirks in your ships. It makes for good roleplaying! The parts and workshop can be found through most any contacts you could develop in-game, and the credits...well, you're a smuggler, so smuggle.

2) Depending on what each character specs in, they might not have a lot of use on a starship. That being said, people with low D in MECH could find themselves operating communications, or starship shields or sensors if everyone else is piloting/gunning or fixing the ship.

3) That's a LOT of weapons. First of all, all that weaponry would require a huge amount of power, meaning you'd have to replace your ship's power core with something that could handle the load. It sounds like you're building an assault gunboat more so than a smuggler's ship.

4) Shouldn't be that hard to install or find, just need to find a scrapyard with some scouting vessels in it.

5)That's fine, but again, it takes a LOT of credits to replace sublight drives and hyperdrives, especially if you want the real good stuff.

-You've got, pretty much all your bases covered, and by that I mean, your ship's what I would call, if I were a GM, overpowered. If you're the GM, by all means, play however you like to play. But, I would be surprised if you could swindle a GM into letting you have all those modifications before the game started (If you do you've got a real life Con of like, 20D). That sounds like a life list of modifications and credits needed.

-Remember, the game's all about balance and mishaps happen, especially if you've got a myriad of weapons and various systems to keep up with and maintain.

Good luck! Oh, and I'll PM you with a link to a bunch of pdf's I'm sure you'll find useful.

[ninja42]

And I thought being a smuggler was all about taking a hughe loan from the hutts and then run like hell, evading bounty hunters for the rest of my characters life.

First off, I have no idea wether I will be a player or a GM in this game yet, I just found this SWd6 stuff on a garage sale not too long ago, and I fell in love instantly. My gaming friends are reading it through as I write, and hopefully one of them will want to run something, otherwise I have to run this until I at least get them hooked. In other words, Im just messing around with this character and ship to get a feel for the game.

I might have went a little overboard on this ship, as I used the Millenium Falcon as a benchmark for what a succesful smugglers ship should be capable of, and too late I realized that the stats for the Falcon is based on what the ship did in the movies rather than what is actually póssible to do with a YT-1300. I WILL make an assault freighter some other time, but with this character will stick to smugglingand free trading.

On your remark about unreliable ships being fun to roleplay with, I have to disagree. The Milennium Falcon might not have been the same without occational mishaps, but either Hans player had a diffrent mishap table or he was rolling mishaps with a loaded dice, because all the Falcon ever did was to loose a few subsystems and require repair rolls in flight, she never imploded, decompressed or blew up. When a ship has to roll on the mishap table, it is simply too big a liability in my eyes, the risk of loosing the ship and killing the party is simply overshadowing the potentially fun elements.

Ive come up with a new list of modifications that will make my Ghtroc 580 a great smugglers vessel. Like the old list, I dont enspect to be starting with these modifications, it is more like a 'things to do' list.

1) A complete refurb.. to make up for the fact that the ship is not avaliable as new.

2) Cockpit upgraded to accept co-pilot. Everyone will have to put at least 2D into something that is useful on a starship, seeing as a significant part of the game will take place on the ship.

3) I still need weapons, though I will save the big guns for when I make an assault vessel. Here is a revised list of weapons to be added:

- The laser cannon in the vessels ventral turret are replaced with a pair of fire-linked heavy laser cannons.

- Install a forward firing proton torpedo launcher.

4) I just saw the deck plans on the Ghtroc 720, which largely resemples my ship, and those escape pods were HUGE! I will only need one for my crew, so Im going to go ahead and permanently attach the other to the hull, rempve engine and controls from it, and use it as an extra room in hich I intend to install a medical bay complete with two beds and a medical droid. How much would a bacta tank cost by the way?

5) Systems to be replaced (in time, when my financial situation calls for it):

- Sublight drives upgraded to that GT-evader drive, that gives me a space rating of 8.

- Hyperdrive upgraded from x2 to x1.

- Shields upgraded from 1D+2 to 3D

- 1x ghost transponder code installed.

6) A hidden, scannerproof smugglers compartment will be installed somewhere. I havent determined how much cargo it will hold yet, but not more than 1 or 2 I think.

Now, is the ship still overpowered? Or do I need something that I have overlooked?

Thanks for the pdf's by the way, they are great

[Phalanks Balas]

well Ninja42,

let me give you some tips
I find your ship overpowered especially for newbie player. You want too much weapons power on this small starship. The cost will be all the available cargo space and a lot of money.
You want turbolasers, heavy laser canons, ion canons, quicker sublight drives, strong shields and better sensor suit. All these equipments are greedy in power !
Aren't you afraid to lost power when at flank speed with shields raised you use the turbolaser cannons ?

This ship unbalance the game play... what enemi will you put in front of your playing team ? a swarm of tie fighters will make your players to yawn instead of been stressed.

I suggest you to review a bit the equipement of your ship.
a speed of 6 for sublight drive is already very good (standard for civilian ships is 3 or 4).
Weapons should be laser cannons or blaster cannons with 4D to 5D damage code and 1D to 2D for fire control.
If you want more dice code damage, concussion missiles or torpedos are better for game balance (limited ammo and short range).
2D for shield is very good (most freighter have 1D).
Sensor suit can be raised as you want (I suggest a maximum range of 75 for the begining).

Remember if your player team begin with the best of the best equipment, you will have difficulties to propose a good balanced opposition. Do you think they can stand Boba Fett ?
It's better to start with junk equipment and one or two good pieces (I call them "furuncle") in order to give player the time to build their character during several adventures, else the game play can be very bad and make everybody to be frustrated in the game.
_________________
Phalanks

A day you will be facing the guns of the Black Pearl. You will know what means damned pirates !

[ninja42]

I am way agead of you

Should I become the DM of this game, I will let the one of the players start out with a stock freighter of a type that he likes, and let him do whatever he want to do during the game. The ship posted above is what I will want to work towards if I become a PC myself, and then again only maybe. As I said, Im only messing around to get a feel for what the system can do for me in regards of custom built ships.

And even in cas e of the blastboat I posted first, the equipment will still leave a whooping 161 metric tonnes of cargo capacity left for me to play with, and the second setup will leave me with a capacity around 180t, or about twice as much as the average freighter out there. That Ghtroc 580 must be a forgotten engeneering masterpiece.

I found no rules on how much a power core can actually pull, does such rules exist? Without rules in that area, a 3D shield generator is just plain better than anything else, and a must have for anyone who has the credit to buy and install it, and so are every other piece of equipment. Also, is my second setup also over the top, or would you allow a player to own such a ship?

[Ankhanu]

I don't think there's an official rule drafted for power cores, no. But a good, creative GM will use good judgment and play around with an overdraw of power... especially on a complication roll.

As for the complication tables... you don't need them. They're great for suggestions, but they are a supplemental rule set (even if they were core rules, the GM can choose to use them or not... part of the fun of being a GM). For mishaps and such, the GM's imagination is better than any random table. With that in mind, the idiosyncrasies of a temperamental ship can certainly be an awesome addition to the players' lives. Unreliable equipment makes for great adventure hooks. Yeah, you won't always succeed... but where's the fun in always winning?
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[Phalanks Balas]

I never see a rule regarding star ship power core generator. it is just a question of common sense and game ballance.
_________________
Phalanks

A day you will be facing the guns of the Black Pearl. You will know what means damned pirates !

[jmanski]

[garhkal]

Try this i got from a gamer in england..
6. Power


6.1 Select Fusion Reactor

The fusion reactor powers the systems of a starship and should be large enough to power-up all major system of the starship at once. It is not necessary to have one large reactor, it can be split into several smaller ones in order to avoid collateral damage and increase the survivability in case of an accident.

Add the power consumption of the following systems:

3.1 Hull
3.2 Maneuverability
3.3 Sublight Drive
3.4 Hyperdrive
4A.2 Weapons
4A.5 Pods
5.1 Communications Equipment
5.2 Sensors
5.3 Electronic Warfare
5.4 Countermeasures
5.5 Shields
8.12 Mining Equipment

= Total Power Demand


Starships normally have a in-built redundancy in their reactors. This makes it easier to upgrade power-hungry systems without having to install a larger reactor and it also increases battle survivability.

Civilian starships normally have ten to twenty percent more power than necessary while military starships can have as much as four times the power needed.

Multiply Total Power Demand with a factor between 1.0 to 4.0. The result is the Power Rating. This rating is the output of the reactor per hour, measured in Power Units (PU).


Fusion Reactor Mass: Power Rating / 1000
Fusion Reactor Cost: Power Rating^0.5 x 200

Note: It is possible to build a reactor with a lower output than necessary, but this makes it impossible to have all systems working at the same time.


6.2 Add Batteries

Batteries is a must if you want to have some form of power when the fusion reactor is either stopped, damaged or destroyed.


Emergency Batteries: This type of batteries can only sustain the life support of a ship for five minutes.

Mass: Number of persons carried x Consumables, in days / 1000
Cost: Number of persons carried x 50

Note: The number of persons used in the formula must be the same as in chapter 8.2: Life Support.

Backup Batteries: In the event of a fusion reactor failure, these batteries are the only power source available to run the ship. They can also be used to boost the amount of power available to the systems in a ship.

Mass: Number of Power Units / 1000
Cost: Number of Power Units x 5

Example: You want to have 1000 PU (Power Units) in backup batteries. Mass becomes 1000 / 1000 = 1 Ton, while the cost is 5000 credits.



6.3 Determine number of Fuel Cells

The number of fuel cells sets the upper limit for how long a starship can travel, fight etc. The formulas below gives a generic number for how many fuel cells a starship has, but it is always possible to increase/decrease the number available.

Starfighters:

Number of Fuel Cells: Consumables, in hours / 12, rounded up
Mass: Number of Fuel Cells / 20
Cost: Number of Fuel Cells x 1000


Starfighter-scale ships:

Number of Fuel Cells: Total Mass Limit / 5, rounded up
Mass: Number of Fuel Cells / 10
Cost: Number of Fuel Cells x 250


Capital-scale ships:

Number of Fuel Cells: Total Mass Limit / 100, rounded up
Mass: Number of Fuel Cells
Cost: Number of Fuel Cells x 250


Fuel Consumption Table

TASK FUEL CONSUMED
Entering Hyperspace 1 Cell
6 hours in Hyperspace 1 Cell
Month of RealSpace ops. 1 Cell
Hour of Combat Maneuvers 1 Cell
Hour of atmospheric flight 1 Cell

Fuel Cell Recharging:

RATE OF CHARGE COST PER CELL/CREDITS
Trickle (1cell/day) 5
Standard (1 cell/hour) 10
Fast (4 cells/hour) 50
Emergency (20 cells/hour) 500*

* At this rate they’re not recharging the depleted cells, but replacing the with freshly charged ones.

Note that the fuel consumption table is really only usable for starfighters and starfighter-scale starships, and should not be used for capital-scale starships.



6.4 Select Alternative Refueling Capability

There are several methods to refuel a starship in flight. Below are the most common ones listed. The Recharging Rate is the number of fuel cells recharged per hour. Example: 5 cells/hour.

Fuel Scoop: Fuel scoops makes it possible to refuel from gas giants or planets by dipping into the atmosphere or seas and removing gases which are processed into fuel.

Mass: Recharging Rate x 3
Cost: Recharging Rate x 3000



Inflight refueling probe&receptacle: This type of equipment can only receive fuel from specially equipped ships (tankers).

Fuel Probe: A probe can only use the hose&drogue method of inflight refueling.

Mass: Recharging Rate / 5
Cost: Recharging Rate x 100

Note: This is a fixed probe. If you want a retractable probe, mass and cost is multiplied by 1.25.


Receptacle: A receptacle can only use the pivoted flying boom method of inflight refueling.

Mass: Recharging Rate / 10
Cost: Recharging Rate x 300

Inflight refueling gear: This type of equipment makes it possible to transfer fuel to starships specially equipped with fuel receiving gear.

Hose&Drogue: A hose&drogue is a flexible cable towed after a starship (commonly called tanker) which can be connected to a fuel probe on another starship in order to transfer fuel.

Mass: Recharging Rate / 5
Cost: Recharging Rate x 300

Pivoted Flying Boom: A pivoted flying boom is a stiff rod several meters long attached to a starship (tanker) which can be connected to a fuel receptacle on another starship in order to transfer fuel.

Mass: Recharging Rate / 5
Cost: Recharging Rate x 500



Solar Converters: Solar converters are huge, molecule-thick solar-absorbent sails. The closer to a sun the ship is, the faster is it refueled. The recharging rate out-system is determined by how fast the solar converter recharges in-system. It is a slow method and the recharging rate is measured per day, not per hour.

Mass: Recharging Rate, in-system x 3
Cost: Recharging Rate, in-system x 3600


The formula is:

Recharging rate out-system = Recharging rate in-system / 4

Example: (20/5) means that it recharges 20 fuel cells per day
in-system, 5 fuel cells per day out-system.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[jmanski]

[Jedi Schrute]

Too much information...looks like witchcraft to me...

And what do we do with witches...?

[masque]

[Jamfke]

[garhkal]

[Doomhead]

You waterboard witches, don't you?
_________________
"Well hello Mister Fancypants. Well, I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things, right now: Jack and s**t... and Jack left town." - ASH

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