Lane_S's page

Lane, yes, creative fiction can be creative. Once the rules (um...guidelines) are known, they can be toyed with, tweaked, or even discarded. As a norm, travel denotes a measure of freedom & possibilities. Notice how you have drained travel of both to make it function in genre. It's not just a crew working as guards on a journey, now it's a slog, a gauntlet of attrition where the heroes hardly even know their purpose or what resources there are. The whole backdrop has been altered to suit this need. Awesome, right? But also difficult to juggle, difficult to keep consistent NPC interactions, to build a suite of flavorful settings, all with subsettings within should the PCs search for aid & resources. And since you've implied the PCs have better resources back home, it'll difficult to keep them stuck unless you force them onto a railroad plot. Even in a Noir genre, an RPG needs player choices, even if all the choices are bad or worse.

In the real world travel, or major change in jobs, can be stressful even if it's "better" than your current situation. Other times it's just a change in location, your situation does not change. When I suggested that the characters may have better resources back home it does not mean they are much better off. resources could be as simple as knowing where you will sleep tonight, knowing where to get good prices buying/ selling, people you can count on for help. Why would you leave with no set goal and few resources? In the scenario I laid out it could be to help a family member or even the community, or just as easily payback or atonement for their own actions.

It's possible to have lots of travel without it being the focus. The job may be to deliver a cargo but you may have some leeway in how you accomplish it. In the 1930's a trip from Boston to Vegas would have required a lot of stops. Without major highways and the technology of the time you would be lucky to make a couple hundred miles a day. If your patron was a crime family, rich collector or rare art, or a secret government agency, there is a good chance they communicate faster than you move. You may even meet the same contact at several points along the way. If not you have a way of identifying your connection to get fuel and operating cash. Travel is also a good time to throw in random (or not) encounters and side quests. These encounters and quests may give clues who the patron is or what their goals are. They could also reveal treats to the patron, a rival tries to recruit the characters or an underling NPC may be plotting against the boss.At the last stop you did your regular contact a favor, so why were you met outside of town by someone else and answering questions about it.

On a large story arc like I laid out each stop could be days or weeks long. The party needs to catch a ship in San Diego, due to delays along the way the ship has already left and it will be another 6 weeks until the party leaves. Now the GM can use what looked like a brief stop to flesh out the city, make some side quests and maybe give the party a chance to change the story arc.

Depending on party size I would go Fighter + Interceptor + Shuttle to get a mix of firepower and versatility.

Something I would like to see is a a way to fire side mounted tracking weapons into the forward arc. Either a new frame or a ship mod to apply. The weapons would still move from the side arc but could only target ships in front arc.

Heavy Fighter
Tiny
maneuver good (+1 piloting, turn 1)
HP 40 (increment 5; DT-:CT 8
Mounts
forward 1L
port 1L
Starboard 1L
side arcs must be tracking
side weapons may only fire on targets in the forward arc but move and are affected by damage as normal for side arcs.
expansion bays -
Min crew 1, max crew 2
cost 10

Nine weeks from Boston to Vegas. Nine weeks with three friends, a truck and that mysterious crate. What was so special about it that couldn't go by train. Three times somebody tried to rob us, all different people but twice we were sure it was the same crew. We made the delivery and they couldn't even put us up for the night in a cheap motel. We thought about staying here, land of dreams they say, but when you start at the bottom you just move from one hole to another. At least back home we had people we could rely on. So in three days it's off to Boulder then San Diego to catch a ship to Honduras. Boss doesn't trust the locals, or maybe he doesn't trust the suits we supposed to meet there.

What a dump, never would have believed anyplace could be worse than home. At leas food is cheap and people will do anything to be paid in American dollars. Well except for some of the villages, some look like they only recently discovered fire. Boss was right not to trust the suits, or the local politicians, or the police. We have no idea what is so special about this thing but lots of people are willing to kill over it. If we can make it 100 miles down the coast without being followed there is a fishing boat waiting to take us to Brazil and then a plane back home. Who makes backup plans that far ahead and how rich do you have to be, we'll never know. Word is the payoff for this job is going to be huge. We talked about starting our own shop but who are we kidding, schmucks like us are always going to be working for somebody else.

Just because you get out of your town does not mean you win. In fact traveling can be even worse than home.

For space travel think of it as cross country travel in the 1930's.

The Drift could be vastly different than default Starfinder. Perhaps most travel is along known space lanes. There are always side tracks and you could even go cross country but those would take piloting or navigation checks. Encounters could be a police, or pirate, roadblock. A gravity rift has washed out the space lane and travelers need you to find a way around. A family is sitting on their front porch waiting for help, a bubble of air, a 30' circle of front yard, porch, front door and half the family air car are all that is left of their lives. Think about how travel would be when towns were hours apart and another state was a major journey.

You could limit drift drive range. A medium or smaller ship may only be able to travel within a system with rating 1, and nearby systems with rating 2. For longer trips they would dock with huge cargo ships or space liners. This would allow side adventures while in transit. Combat could be pirates attack the liner and the players need to defend it, their passage was paid to act as security.

EDIT: Forgot this part. Can you get 8d12 on an interceptor? doesn't each weapon require its own slot, you just take less actions to fire them,

I think they meant linked forward and linked turret.

Hard to say if it's an advantage or not. While it allows a potential gain in quantity of weapons they are most likely limited to light class for several levels. There is also a lot of duplicate purchases such as power plants, maneuver drives and drift drives. Where squadrons have an advantage is shields and tracking weapons. Four tier 1 fighters could easily mount a tracking weapon and 50 shields each. While none of the missiles do a lot of damage most ships are not going to stop more than two.

You contradicted yourself, it's either "slaughtering for food" or "pointlessly killing" not both. You sound like the kind of person that would put a "sin tax" on meat and use climate change as an excuse, all so you could impose your views on others. I consider that to be "evil".

It's a setting where killing Space Goblins (barely sentient beings) is perfectly acceptable. Killing animals for food is unlikely to be an issue.

For comparison on the Oma.

I was stationed on a ship that was 175' long, 35' wide and about 80% of space was within 25' height. This was with a crew of 65-70. I would not call that cramped, although it would count as "common" quarters.

Even if the usable internal space is only 50' x 40' x 2 decks that is still 4000 ft^, not at all cramped for a crew of six. Also consider that weapons, shields and countermeasures are most likely mounted externally.

I think a turret is an Arc though.

Reason I say Turret is not an Arc is because it can not be targeted directly. If you take damage in the starboard arc that gives a penalty to hit then the turret suffers those penalty when firing in that arc, but not other arcs.

The way the rules actually read states,

By spending 3 BP, the crew can fit a new light weapon mount in any of the aft, forward, port, or starboard arcs with enough free space.
By spending 5 BP, the crew can fit a new light weapon mount on a turret that has enough free space."

I think you are reading too much into this entry.

To me they say the same thing, you may add a light mount to a location for the listed price. The reason they are separate is that Turret is not an Arc and the price is different.

Sand Caster
class light
range short, first increment only
Damage --
PCU 5
BP 5
Special Increases Damage Threshold by 10 vs laser weapons in the fired arc. May be fired at another ship in which case you select any arc to protect. This effect persists until the protected ship moves from the target hex.
Limited Fire 5

Note: this is not DR, as per DT if the shot does over 10 damage the full damage is applied, after reduction for shields.

The most common tank rounds do not explode inside the target, they are kinetic penetrators shaped charge penetrators. The kinetic converts it's speed into energy when it hits, melting a hole in the armor. most damage is from the molten metal and pieces of penetraror bouncing arround inside starting fires and hitting equipment. Shaped charge use an explosive to create a jet of molten metal that does essentially the same thing.

The layered armor you mention would probably be standard design. It does not work because of the vacuum. A micro meteor is basically a kinetic penetrator. By having a gap you have a place for the molten metal to splash without taking further damage. The gap also means that the meteor has lost some of it's initial energy and now must overcome the hardness of the second layer, rather than just a thicker plate. Modern armored vehicles have a spall plate that serves the first function of the layered design and rumored to have multiple layers without the gap in main armor.

You can only have a single turret.

You can upgrade the weapon mount in the turret.

If the frame does not have a turret, there are no rules for adding a turret to the frame.

The rules do not state specifically if the turret arc is a single location with multiple mounts or several potential mounts.

You can add turret mounts and nowhere says you can not add mounts to an arc not listed in base frame.

The number of turret mounts is limited by the frame size just as any other arc.

Decompression Chambers

I think this is a very poorly balanced idea.

Depending on the class of ship reducing the crit threshold by even a few points is huge. Doing so for the armor cost and only 1 PCU per level is extremely cheap. For example a fighter can spend 3 BP and increase it's crit threshold to 10, since it only has 35 HP it will only take 3 crits before being disabled instead of 4.

I also feel your description and name are poorly done. Decompression implies there is pressure, in space. The nanites would not need to remove the air, since the ship is surrounded by vacuum of space you only need something as high tech as a hole. In fact why have nanites at all, just use a force field. But the biggest flaw is the idea that void spaces in a ships hull are going to make much difference when you have all that space surrounding the ship. An external explosion would probably do most of it's damage from radiant energy and fragmentation rather than blast effect since any shock wave is likely to travel faster than any gas produced by the explosion and in a vacuum there would be nothing but that gas to transmit the shock. An internal explosion would likely be a secondary explosion caused by and energy weapon or projectile and be much less forceful, The weapon producing it would also leave a big gaping hole that sucked the air out of that area.

From a materials science standpoint all metals are crystalline (although mercury melts at a very low temp).

Selecting one feature to compare is not a very accurate comparison.

By your reasoning a fighter is 4 BP cheaper than a shuttle. However for that 4 BP you get better maneuverability, 2 more crew stations and 3 expansion bays. The Light Freighter is probably better than the Shuttle for a party over 4 members despite having worse maneuverability.

A weapon with both broad and point would be nice but doubt we will ever see one. If we do it would have to be a Capital weapon as we already have a heavy point weapon.

Defensive Laser Battery
Size - Capital
Range - short
Damage - 5D8
PCU - 25
BP - 20
Special Point (+16), Broad

Fall starts when night time temps routinely drop below 60F.

Winter starts when Daytime highs drop below 60F.

A Geiger Counter is not exactly a detect radiation spell. The spell will tell you exactly the level of radiation and source. A Geiger Counter will tell you radiation level where you are and you may be able to locate source and it's strength with an engineering check.

I think fabricate tech was specifically meant to create mundane items with similar effects to spells. The tech created is short lived and probably needs to be charged before use. Taking this hack is not mandatory and is taken instead of other options. It could also be viewed as equivalent to a Mystics Connection Spell.

This has come up before, the concept that "everything you want to know is free to download" is overly optimistic. If you have ever tried to do research on obscure subjects you will find that you often run into paywalls or registration/ membership issues.

Use the Secure Data module cost for storage.
Specific - all public data on an individual or item, general data on a corporation or government.
Average - detailed information on the history, economics, policy and culture of a nation or planet. Operations manuals, maintenance and repair of all common personal scale weapons.

I would limit the level of information gained from free data sets. While Wikipedia may allow you to identify writing as Old Norse, and the language database provide a literal translation, you will probably not understand some of the phrases or references. To fully decipher the text you may need access to scholarly research, professional journals etc.Free databases should be limited to the "average" level of questions.

The GM should require skill checks for downloaded databases. Just like the real world you may not even know enough to ask the right questions. The results could be secret or known and allow reroll at each rank gained. Option 1) the check determines the max amount of information it applies to, ie DC 5 10 20 etc. Option 2) max ranks the character can apply when taking 20. Results greater than number of current ranks add +1/ 5 over ranks. Did the character click on the link for the "astronomy' database or did they cross reference with astrophysics, star charts, survey reports, navigational logs etc.
Your Gnome Operator Explorer downloads cultural data on a minor star empire. He has 3 ranks in culture and total bonus of +8. He makes a skill check with a result of 10, probably should have spell checked the name. Using option 1 he would not get information better than basic when taking 20. Using option 2 he could apply 4 ranks (10-3= 8 so +1 rank) meaning the database would be inadequate in a couple levels. When he next takes a rank in the skill he has a bonus of +12 and a total of 29.The database will now give detailed information on obscure subjects or allow up to 9 ranks applied (no need to update for several levels)

Cost for more extensive data could be based on either the max level of information or the effective skill ranks. The higher your skill the more effective taking 20 becomes. A player should not get a huge bonus by simply saying "I download everything about planet XYZ". Likewise what you thought was enough data at 3 ranks in culture is probably inadequate at 15 ranks. Depending on the option chosen it should cost 10cr x max DC or 20-50cr per max rank.

Take something as simple as a Geiger counter. That should probably exist. However, it has the power to replace the Detect Radiation spell. Is that too powerful? And does anybody at the table really know enough about Geiger counters to stat one out without Googling them first?

No it is not too powerful, you have to expend a spell slot of at least first level to fabricate the item. Also consider that many spells would duplicate mundane items.

Yes I could stat up a Geiger counter.

Can I hack into the hanger bay's door control and close the doors to block off the invading hordes?

That depends. Is the door controlled remotely by a computer you can hack? If the door is local control only then you can not hack it from a distance unless you have the class feature.

The Fandroid I would add a hacking toolkit.

The Fapple should cost 4x as much. Complex control modules should cost 30% of device, only available from an authorized Fapple retailer and only for certain devices. It does come with an impact resistant Secure Data module containing a list of all the devices and uses not compatible with your Fapple.

I assume this is a large complex with living spaces, work areas, command center, storage, maybe a vehicle bay. If actual military bunker an armory and security checkpoints.

Rusted catwalk: the lower level of this room is flooded with a foul smelling liquid. A catwalk runs the length of the room and branches in several points leading to various pieces of equipment and into the liquid. Some of the branch catwalks have collapsed. The room is 80' long and 60' wide with a door at the far end of the catwalk. If more than two people are in any 20' span of catwalk it collapses dumping everybody into the water 30' below. This can be avoided with a DC XX engineering check or DC xx perception check. If they fall they take 2D6 damage, reflex for half. If their armor is not sealed they are nauseated for D10 rounds. The water is about 8' deep, murky with fungal islands floating on it. there are enough pieces of equipment and catwalks that they do not have to make swim checks and the broken catwalk can easily be climbed to get out. Visible only from water level is a viewing window, just above the surface, covered with strands of the fungal growth. A DC 15 search check will reveal a submerged door. Forcing it open leads them up some stairs to the observation room. Inside they find a control panel and a desk with personal belongings. A small artistic statue, a faded family photo/ holo cube and some documents. A sign facing the window has some alien writing on it. The bottom side of the family picture as a shortened version of the same writing plus a second line of text.

Last Stand: A corpse crouched in an open doorway near the end of a hallway. Inside the room are a half dozen smaller corpses slumped over a table or laying on makeshift beds. The corpse in the door is wearing badly damaged light armor and holds a now useless rifle. It appears to be wearing some type of bandoleer and one hand if closed around the end of a decorative chain about it's neck. The had holds two items, a decorative medallion and a primed grenade. There are 6 more functional grenades in the bandoleer and two power cells that look they fit the rifle.

Barracks: This complex of rooms has a couple offices, a recreation room, a dining facility and several large bays with rows of bunks, about 60 beds each. Two of these rooms look like they were burned. The last has the bunks overturned and several corpses behind them. None are wearing armor. Searching the barracks will turn up a dozen bodies, some random personal effects from lockers and a security keycard. In one office is a diagram on the wall. Geometric symbols in several colors are connected by lines. Small tags, about 20 total, are placed on symbols or lines. A DC 20 spot check reveals that three of the tags match a symbol on a hat sitting on a shelf. There are also two unique symbols. If the party spends more than 5 minutes in this area they hear noises coming from the walls and ceiling. About 20 CR 1/4 vermin start coming from floor level vents in several places. Five enter the room with the most party members with one in each other room. Additional vermin enter a random room every 2 rounds until all are in play. Using a flame weapon, a grenade in any of the vents or the entire party entering one of the burned rooms causes all the vermin to flee.

Storeroom: Several storerooms are scattered about the complex. Conditions vary from burned to crates/ boxes torn pen and dumped out to mostly empty except a few open and empty boxes. each room has a hatch in the ceiling that leads to a network of tunnels connecting the storerooms and the main vehicle/ loading bay. Beware, something lives up here.

Barricades: Multiple points have makeshift barriers, furniture, crates from nearby storerooms etc. dot the compound. All show signs of a fight with anywhere from 2 to a dozen armored bodies. many of the troops wear medallions like the one at the last stand.

Power plant: A large armored door blocks the end of this hallway, signs of explosives and cutting torches mar the surface. about 30' away in a branch passage are piles of crates, a sheet of armor plate and a hole in the wall.It appears the place once covered the hole but was recently slid aside. Beyond are an office, a control booth, a tech workshop, an entry way at the large door and the generator room. The generator is running and there are signs of recent activity in the control room. In the workshop are two dozen bodies in armor and a few unarmored. Most appear to have died peacefully.

Offices, Civilian quarters: Hidden in a desk or a private room is a pistol and two power cells. The cells are dead but still good as is the weapon.

Command Center:

More machinery spaces: These areas resemble the rusted catwalk but may not be flooded and are generally safe.

Vehicle/ Loading bay:

Why the bunker is here: This could be anything from a shield generator, an orbital defense weapon, a hangar bay, a research lab or a leaders secret hideout. depending on use it has either been looted or destroyed. there are signs of heavy fighting and plenty of dead bodies.

Armory: Located near the barracks and the command center. Lightly guarded as most of the equipment had already been issued. It has long been emptied of all but a few power cells and random ammunition. There may be some repair parts and a tech workshop for this races technology.

Automated turrets: Often placed leading to key areas these gun emplacements may either be destroyed, operating or operating but with recent repairs and current design weapons.

I have noticed an all around limiting of bonus items and magic. Sure you have personal upgrades and a more generous stat gain but those are permanent bonuses. What you do not see is bonus to hit weapons and enhancement spells.

Also of note is damage progression of weapons. As you gain levels your weapons do more damage. Not as fast as your HP ans stamina progress but still makes an equal tier weapon threatening. At level 1 most class/ race combinations will have 10 HP and 7 stamina. A tier 1 projectile long arm does D8 damage (4.5 average) so you can take 3-4 hits. At level 10 you have 64 HP and 70 stamina. Weapons do 3D8 (average 13.5) damage, giving you 5-10 hits. Given that most encounters will have greater numbers of lower CR targets, thus can take fewer hits than the characters, even mid to high level combats will take about the same time as lower level ones, with the same risk.

For simplicity I would say if it is active it uses charges.

Activate in cruising mode, mark off 1 charge at start of each minute. Remains active until turned off or charges depleted. Switch to Normal Flight, mark off 2 charges each round even if flight is not used. No action required to use either flight mode each round, only to activate or switch modes.

Technically the ships computer is free, only the interface has a cost.

The way I see a ships computer is a network of individual systems. The max bonus is a representation of the physical interface and how well the system is networked. The number of bonuses is primarily how well it is networked. For example a Mk 2 duonode has upgraded consoles at all stations and can handle two networked paths at a time. The gunner takes one bonus and the computer links his console to the sensors giving better targeting data and motion prediction. The pilot takes the other bonus linking the controls with the nav computer to more precisely adjust the drive output.

As a house rule you could try allowing the computer to act as any lower model with a lower BP cost. A MK 4 Duo (32) could act as a MK 3 Tri (27) or Mk 2 Tetra (16) but not a MK 3 Tetra (36).

You defeat a (tier 3) pirate ship. Turns out the ship and cargo onboard were stolen. You left it severely damaged. You get a small fraction of the recovery fee. The encounter loot should be handled with contents of the ship, not salvage. If you start placing credit value on a ship you stray into the BP-Credit conversion and that is just a bad idea.

We were typing at the same time.

As for the original question I think he meant sound reduction. Silencers are technically sound suppressors but silencer is the common name.

Flash suppressors probably have more effect on the shooter than observers. You still get a flash visible from long range but not as bright. However the smaller plume and reduced intensity is less likely to interfere with shooters vision. They also may act as a compensator for muzzle movement caused by the shot. It could be assumed any firearm over tier 3 would have a flash compensator as standard equipment.

There are probably a half dozen threads asking the same question.

Without typing the same reply again here is the short version of my suggestion.

Due to several legal concerns (you would not take parts from a car left at side of the road) the party notifies a salvage yard and they recover the wrecked/ abandoned ship. They handle all the legal paperwork and any sale or salvage. Since each of those can take time the funds or parts are not immediately available. This is at least part of the source for Build Points.

Suppressors are a tough one by the rules.

The "hear sound of battle" is DC 0
Under environment factors it mentions the DC to detect people is +1 per 10' in most terrain, some are +1/ 20'. From 600' away it makes the test to hear a battle at least DC 30 and more likely DC 60 however I'm fairly certain you would hear the sound of gunfire from 200 yards unless you actively tried to.

As a comparison most firearms are in the 130-160db range placing them in the range of a jet during takeoff.

A good suppressor will reduce noise up to 30db and even with a subsonic ammo rarely drops noise below 100db. that is comparable to a jet plane at 1 mile.

As a compromise I would say firearms should increase DC to hear by 1/ 200' Reduce DC by 5 if many shots per minute, increase DC by 5 to determine direction. A suppressor would reduce [perception check] range increment by 50'. Subsonic ammo would reduce [perception check] range increment by 50' as well, it would also reduce the weapons range increment by half and reduce the die size by one (D6 becomes D4).

Suppressors have no effect on grenade launchers, magnetar weapons or gyrojet's. Subsonic ammo is not available for launchers or Gyrojet's as they are already subsonic.

----------------------------------------------------

Suppressors and Subsonic Ammo/

Detect gunfire DC 0 +1/ 200'
Detect direction of gunfire DC 5 + 1/200'
Suppressor OR Subsonic Ammo + 1/ 150'
Suppressor and Subsonic Ammo + 1/ 100'

Suppressor tier as weapon +1 with cost 25% of weapon.
Available for all Small arms, longarms and heavy projectile weapons except Gyrojet, Crossbolter, Magnetar and Grenade launcher.

Subsonic Ammo tier as weapon +1 and 150% of normal cost.
Reduce the weapons range increment by half and the damage die by one size.
Available for all Small arms, longarms and heavy projectile weapons except Gyrojet and Grenade launcher.

Bioengineering is advanced technology.

The moon may be rich organically, perhaps a mostly carbon compound comet struck at some point, but certain trace elements may be very hard to find. With no fossil fuels and the materials to make a fusion reactor being scarce they may have resorted to biological means. Tech combined with magic could easily breed creatures that fit their needs. Few if any are likely to resemble creatures we know. Some insects may have shells made of silicon compounds to reduce their organic requirements. Many would be modified so they were less threatening. Spider bites that inject a gallon of venom would be a big problem. A normal ant scaled to 60'would be a huge threat if it accidentally got a chemical signal to harvest, but if the head were reduced in size it would not be as bad. they could even have industrial uses. Clothing made from spider silk could be much longer lasting, reducing bio impact. Another spider breed could continuously extrude a web with carbon nano tubes as smaller creatures wove it into building materials.

Using biological or hybrid means, rather than purely mechanical would be a great way to distinguish them from other races.

Why do they need vehicles?

With trees 1000' tall you could have neighborhoods in a single tree.

Branches or foot bridges would connect trees together. Given the size they are probably spaced a couple hundred feet apart.

While I disagree with you assumption of the Elves being much taller their reliance on running/ climbing would explain why a race on a low gravity world has anywhere near normal strength. Being Elves they would also have an advantage with high Dex giving extra move speed (on the moon) as they could better judge a bounce move. If you gave them a -2 ST adjust they could still carry several times the weight as normal person does on Earth. Base speed on Moon (for them could 60-120'

For larger loads or long distances they could use creatures. Birds, spiders and ants bred for size come to mind. A size Large bird could easily transport 2 people, Huge 4-6, the limit is more space than weight. Spiders could easily climb or use webs to cross long distances, probably making them good ground hunting mounts/ Ants can climb as well and have an incredible strength to weight ratio. An ant the size of a truck (60')could carry train loads.

While rare I have started combat several range bands out in fantasy. Most common adjustments are tracking range off map or use a per square/ hex multiplier. If you have a way of detecting the other ship, or using active scan, you could start with each hex count as ten.

Long range weapons are also good at taking out an opponent that tries to flee.

club are great for meeting contacts,and punishing sinners.

Free clubs are good for punishing sinners.

Cubs for meeting contacts (and sinning) are expensive.

I see nothing wrong with a free set of clothing as most cases it only comes into play when not wearing armor so little advantage.

Full action because it does not require a move before turn or moves between turns.

I think the intention is that in any place with more than 10,000 people you can find a guy that knows a guy that can find a buyer.

Added suggested changes to end of doc. Changed units to be consistent with rules.

Parachute was way off. You can land safely far off target or die on target.

Mechanic with the dabbler/ inkling feat at 5th.

I wouldn't base my Star wars economics on a single comment made by a teenage moisture farmer from a planet in the boonies.

Why have a ground/ hover vehicle? There are a lot of places your space ship can not go. Most likely your ship will only be allowed to land at the spaceport of any mid size or larger city. The thrusters may scorch the ground or start fires. that is likely to make you unwelcome when you land at a farm. It would also leave traces you had been there. I have seen a lot of remote areas where you could park a car but not your 20m x 11m spaceship.

There is also this spreadsheet.

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ukvt&page=2?Custom-Starfinder-Starships

Just say no.

There have been multiple threads dealing with BP-Credit conversions and salvaging ships.

My suggestion, expanded on in other threads, is that the BP you get at each level comes from the salvage of ships you capture or report locations of. Let's say you capture a tier 4 pirate ship. You lay a claim on it and report it to your favorite salvage yard. They handle the recovery and either scrap it or find a buyer. In either case the funds do not come instantly. That ship could provide BP for 4 levels as they sell components or use the to modify your ship.

I can think of several cases where a computer may not have an interface device.

A door lock may have a keypad or retina scanner but no way to enter commands. A hacking tool kit would be better in this case may not be available.

You are on an alien spaceship and the interface device is unusable. It may require darkvision to see or insert a tentacle into a socket.

You access the server room in a corporate HQ and find out there are no terminals.

Your now ex girlfriend changed the password and locked the screen on your comm unit.

In general an NPC ship is allowed to have one crew member with master level skill. this is set at 9 + (1.5 x tier) istead of the normal 4.5 + (1.5 x tier).

Sniping when done properly is not useless.

In many environments the range increments of sniper rifles far out distance the effective spot distances ( terrain effects section). This is countered by the need for line of sight and knowing where the target will be.

Case 1: The enemy has set up camp on a hill in the jungle. The area for 500 yards around the camp has been cleared. The commanders quarters and command post are both obscured however you have found a spot with LoS to the latrine. You set up 1000 yards out and wait. You have one shot because a standard move will take the target out of LoS. After the shot they can not spot you because of distance however they do send out patrols in the direction you likely fired from

Case 2: You are providing cover fire for your team in an urban environment. You set up on a roof top with a view of the entire street and 200 yards away from the shop front the team is at. You are able to fire for several rounds as the opponents chase your team before they take a side street and out of LoS. Normal limits for perception in urban terrain is 2D6x10 feet however you are elevated making it closer to hill terrain. The opponents are able to spot you at this range however it will take them several rounds to reach the building and many more to reach the roof. If you planned well you have multiple exit routes. Even if they do spot you a move action will take you out of LoS and give total cover and concealment.

Both cases give a huge advantage to the sniper but only if the target is in a limited area. As a GM I would require the players to scout the area and find ideal places to set up, using skill checks. These could include perception, survival and stealth. You may want to modify the stealth check by using Int instead of Dex to identify where to hide. It would also be appropriate to limit the snipers field of fire based on terrain. In case 2 he has a fairly large area to fire on but likely to have signs, awnings, civilians etc in the area. He is also looking thru a scope with narrow field of view. In that situation I would restrict them to selecting targets in a single 2D6x10 radius area but allow them to select a new area each round.

It all depends on the party makeup.

With 8 players you could end up with all the specialties covered, or you could have a very combat focused group. How you balance depends on how well the characters enhance each other.

When two or more PC's can take similar skill checks consider increasing the DC. Likewise if you have multiple Envoys giving buffs or spell casters giving support. Say for example the party is trapped in an alley. With 4 players they could old off the attackers and chose between hacking the lock on a door or hacking a security system to close a gate. With 8 players they could hold off the attackers, attempt both actions at the same time and have another player give a buff to one. If you increase the DC the choice becomes risk failing both or perform one at a time with aid another.

Likewise combat adjustment vary with party makeup. A group with 2 envoy and 2 operatives can do a lot of buffs/ debilitating tricks to help out the shooters. Meanwhile a party with 4 soldier/ Solarian/ combat Mechs but only one envoy and operative would balance a lot different. Let's say the AP has 6 opponents. For the Buff/ Debuff party I would use more opponents (8-10) with +1 AC and normal CR. For the firepower party I would use 6 enemy at CR+1 (includes higher AC) and maybe one of them at CR+2. More effective shots is balanced with numbers. Increased number of shots is countered by making the shots less effective. If you were to match more shots with more targets there is a good chance the party would overwhelm the enemy. By adjusting the encounter opposite the party's strength it makes it more challenging and requires them to work together better.

Tell the players that Absalom Station counts as having two Dreadnaughts as it's core. The six large projections are equal to Battleships. In addition there the equivalent of 6 Cruisers and 12 Destroyers. Treat each hex side as both front and rear arcs of a battleship, cruiser and two destroyers. Each ship equivalent acts and can be fired upon independent of any other however shields overlap so damaging even one requires massive firepower for long periods of time. All expansion bays are available for use as power core or fighter/ shuttle bays.

I would assume Cred Sticks are nearly unhackable, the economic effect would be severe. Even hacking the transaction records would probably count as a Tier 5 computer with the alarm countermeasure that activates when read by a credit terminal.

To hack a cred stick you would probably have to hack a transaction terminal first. Security is most likely based on a physical or arcane key. Physical keys could be a molecular structure that when both terminal and stick keys are subject to a certain radiation causes a resonance used to decrypt passwords. Alternately they could use an Aracane Mark as a decryption key.

The balance register of a cred stick is probably protected by multiple layers of encryption each with a wipe, alarm and false shell feature. Failing any one hacking test stores the balance amount in a false register, activates a security feature into the terminal and physically destroys the balance register. It then allows you to continue hacking. Once you think security has been full breached it allows you to modify the false register. The terminal used to hack the cred stick will show the false value. The terminal security feature will prevent an alarm from registering on this cred stick but will set an alarm code on any other cred sticks inserted. This code alerts other terminals of a breach, including time and place, so even if the hacked terminal was isolated the alarm will eventually reach authorities. If the hacked stick is inserted in another terminal the destroyed register is noticed and sets off a silent alarm but still shows the balance in the false register. The terminal then presents false errors to delay the owner. Codes like "Loss of communications, please re insert cred stick to continue", "Unable to save transaction, please exchange at a Cred Stick Vendor". In any event the original balance on the stick is lost and any attempted transactions fail but still deducted from false balance.

Plot Hooks:

The PCs have been paid using a compromised cred stick. Not only have the lost the payment but any attempt to use it will alert authorities and they will come under investigation. Do the party cooperate with police or go after the employer themselves.

Someone is circulating bad cred sticks. Local law enforcement is unable to deal with it. Merchants are loosing business from the delays. Even criminals are upset because nobody will exchange sticks without a terminal.

Operatives edge: add to piloting rolls to determine order of activation instead of adding to initiative.

Associated Skills: Engineering and Pilot. May add skill focus bonus to Starship combat checks.

Specialized Exploit: False Maneuver. Your opponents misread you intentions placing them out of position. Immediately after determining activation order select one opponent that activates before you. If they intend to perform a stunt they must declare two, spend an Resolve Point and chose which of the two they perform. If they do not declare a stunt you MAY spend an Resolve Point to increase their turn distance by two for this combat round.

In Your Sights: Starting at 11th level you may make trick attacks in ship or vehicle combat. Upon activating in the helm phase spend a Resolve Point and declare a target. Make a piloting check with a DC of 20 + target tier. If you succeed you may move normally including any stunts the piloting check would allow. In the gunnery phase you may make a Snap Shot with a forward arc weapon, adding your trick attack damage, even if another crew member takes a gunnery action. This may not be used with array weapons or on targets outside the forward arc.

Operator exploits: Debilitating Gunnery and ship/ vehicle specific debilitating effects.

I think for salvage it would be better to treat like a car than a ship.

If my car breaks down on the highway i can leave it by the side of the road and it is still mine. depending on local laws it may be towed before I can return and would have to pay fees to get it back but is still mine.

If I die before I can return for the car it is still mine and ownership transferred according to my will.

If it is left long enough someone else can attempt to claim title to it as an abandoned vehicle. There may be fees associated with this, wait times, taxes, etc. This is what i was representing with my suggestion.

If I abandon a vehicle that has a remaining balance on the loan it belongs to the bank even if someone tries to claim it as abandoned.

If my car is stolen and I report it as such and is later abandoned it is still mine, although I may have to pay a fee to get it back. Same applies if the bank still owns it.

I somebody abandons a car on my property I still have to file a claim on it. I then have to wait until the process is completed before selling it or remove parts. If it turns out the bank owns it or there is another claim on it I may still be able to charge a storage fee/

The goal here is to allow characters to benefit from recovering another ship, either found or taken in combat, while limiting what they can do with it. It explains both where BP are coming from and why they are not immediately available.

I'm a player, I know how badly I would abuse a GM that allowed us to strip a wreck and sell or use what we found.