Charles Marshall's page

Just when you think you're ready to post some ship designs, over 6 months of crap gets in the way. I'll wait until I get the Ship's Operation Manual before In Thrust We Trust 319 Pact Worlds Aerospace Expo Special: The Ships, just in case any of my frames, systems, etc. gets included.

While I'm making ships for In Thrust We Trust, a recurring question appears again in my mind: How do you build a "stealth" ship in Starfinder? How high a Mark would the defenses have to be? Would you need special systems to foil ship sensors? Any help would be appreciated.

OK, this isn't really new, but I'd rather put it on the end of this thread than include it in In Thrust We Trust's 319 Pact Worlds Aerospace Expo Special: The Ships, coming shortly.

Tiny Crew Quarters

BP costs are the same as those on larger ships, and PCU costs are still negligible. Common crew quarters are basically one or two bunks, a small bathroom with a shower stall, and a mini-galley with a mini-fridge and and mini-oven. Good and Luxurious crew quarters for Tiny ships aren't bigger, just made with higher-end materials and appliances.

And now for Corsair17 again. It might take a while for our team of artists to work on your crew chief's poster of Fleeta (especially since I've got to find a team of artists first), but I can describe Fleeta's looks in case you have some artistic talent.
Picture a 3" tall version of Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island fame at her prime, with pointy ears, bobbed dark hair, and usually in a skin-tight racing space suit. That pretty much sums Fleeta up.
And now unless someone later on has a question about anything mentioned on this thread, I've got to be working on In Thrust We Trust's 319 Pact Worlds Aerospace Expo Special: The Ships, hopefully out sometime next week.

Damnit, I forgot one thing about the heavy dropship's weapons layout. It's also for ground assaults.
Anyway, the dropships were never meant to replace the other transports in the game, but to supplement them. That's all.

I was going to get to the dropship question, so here it is. The comments made by ITWT's reporters aren't fluff, but accurate descriptions of frames, parts, etc. Dropships are used by militaries to transport vehicles or siege robots, or other big battle machines to a planet's surface. Militaries still use civilian freighters to carry infantry or power armor troops (there is something to be said about cost effectiveness), but civilian freighters are barely able to haul military vehicles and their crews. The Heavy Freighter can barely carry two Huge vehicles, and their crews have to hitch a ride on another transport. That's why I came up with dropships (or maybe I should just call them Military Transports to clear things up).
In order to be anle to carry more stuff, military transports have to be a little bigger than civilian transports (compare, say, the C-5 or C-17 with the 747). And the weapons layouts on military transports are different than those on full-on warships. A frigate or destroyer has to deal with fighters, patrol craft, and other warships, while the military transport mostly deals with any fighters or patrol craft that somehow got through the tramsport's escorts. That's why they don't carry heavy weapons. Actually, I was surprised about how little the destroyer was armed; if I designed the core rulebook frames, the destroyer would have had 2 light weapons or 1 heavy weapon on their port and starboard arcs.
I should have mentioned in Vehicle Bays that they also have ramps that allow vehicles to enter or leave the transport, though.
"If they're so good, why weren't they in the core rulebook?" Well, until Empire of Bones, we didn't know supercolssal ships existed, either, but the description of the Eoxian ultranought states that they had them before the Gap. The same is true with these frames.
We just didn't notice them.
And as I mentioned in the reporter's comments, militaries are about the only ones with sufficient vehicles to justify dropships/military transports (unless you're a corporation that makes vehicles rhat needs to ship them to other worlds).

Now about this "invalidation" business.
First, I'm only comparing starship frames you can buy at any shipyard, rather than space creatures like oma or statiketes (BTW, which book has the statikete stats?), because I don't know how you do uour campaigns, but in my campaigns, shipbuilders don't have pens of oma swimming near their shipyards.
Sexond, with the exception of the Mini-Shuttle, these new frames are military frames, designed to be used in warships, and in the case of the Dropships, military transports. They're supposed to have more HP, weapon mounts, and so on, than their civilian counterparts.

I'd like to see better rules for vehicles and starships in SF2, particularly how they can fight each other when a starship's still in a planet's atmosphere. And also, an official vehicle building guide would be a plus.

And finally, time for the aftershow!
First, for Corsair, who wants a poster of Fleeta; the problem is, I haven't described her looks yet, so you and your crew chief might have to wait a while.

And now for Dryad. Actually, you were right on a few things. The CT on the Mini-Shuttle and the Heavy Dropship did need some rework, 9 BP was too cheap for a Patrol Craft frame, and 30 PCU was inadequate for the Micron Micro. Revised stats below.

Mini-Shuttle
SIZE: Tiny
MANEUVERABILITY: Perfect (+2 to Piloting, Turn 0)
HP: 25 (Increment 5)
DT;-
CT: 5
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 1 (usually Cargo Holds or Passenger Seating)
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 2
COST: 5

Patrol Craft
SIZE: Small
MANEUVERABILITY: Good (+1 to Piloting, Turn 1)
HP: 45 (Increment 5)
DT:-
CT: 9
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (2 light), Port Arc (1 light), Starboard Arc (1 light), Turret (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 3
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 6
COST: 11

And maybe the BP for the Light Dropship was too low....

Light Dropship
SIZE: Medium
MANEUVERABILITY: Average (+0, Turn 2)
HP: 75 (Increment 10)
DT:-
CT: 15
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (2 light), Port Arc (1 light), Starboard Arc (1 light), Aft Arc (1 light), Turret (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 6 (usually mostly Vehicle Bays)
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 9
COST: 18

Heavy Dropship
SIZE: Large
MANEUVERABILITY: Average (+0, Turn 2)
HP: 100 (Increment 20)
DT:-
CT: 20
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (2 light), Port Arc (2 light), Starboard Arc (2 light), Aft Arc (1 light), Turret (2 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 10 (usually mostly Vehicle Bays)
MINIMUM CREW: 9
MAXIMUM CREW: 16
COST: 45

Micron Micro
SIZE: T
PCU: 35
BP: 3

NEW WEAPON MOUNTS

Sponson Turrets
Admiral Masterson: "Sponson turrets have been part of naval design back when navies still ruled the seas. Now they've made a come back for space-going naval vessels. They have less rotation than full turrets (they only have three arcs of movement rather than the 360° rotation of full turrets), but even with this limitation, sponson turrwts are still uswful, because theu allow patrol craft and larger vessels to concentrate their firepower."

Sponson Turrets
COST: 4 BP per light weapon, 10 BP per heavy weapon (capital weapons can't be mounted in Sponson Turrets). Weapons in Sponson Turrets automatically have the Broad Arc special property, but with no penalty for firing at the adjacent arc. Tiny and Small starships are still limited to 2 weapons per Sponson Turret, Medium and Large ships are still limited to 3 weapons per Sponson Turret, and Huge and bigger ships can only mount 4 weapons per Sponson Turret. Sponson Turrets can be mounted in any firing arc (Forward, Port,Starboard or Aft). Sponson Turrets can't be retrofitted to an existing vessel.

Spinal Mounts (for non-Supercolossal ships)
Upgrade 1: "When the first ultranoughts with spinal-mount weapons were launched [in Dead Suns 5/6: Empire of Bones - C.M], the modder and custom community took notice, not to shrink those superweapons down to fit normal-sized ships, but to allow those ships to carry bigger weapons than they normally could. These smaller Spinal Mounts are still connected directly to the power core, and they're still limited to the forward firing arc only, but you don't have to wait for one to charge up, either. The major shipbuilders caught on to this, and now you get them straight from the shipyards."

Spinal Mounts
For 10 BP, a Tiny or Small starship can Spinal Mount a Heavy Weapon in place of 2 Light Weapons. For 15 BP, a Medium or Large starship can Spinal Mount a Capital Weapon in place of 2 Heavy Weapons, BP and PCU permitting. Spinal Mounts can only be mounted on the Forward firing arc, and can't be retrofitted to an existing vessel.

Sen: "Well, there you have it, the choicest components, the best new systems, and so much more! Stay tuned to the aftershow, where Executive Producer Charlie Marshall answers all your questions, coming up next! And don't forget, as if you ever could, the ITWT team goes through all the ships the Pact Worlds Aerospace Expo has to offer later this week!"

NEW EXPANSION BAYS (Comt.)

Vehicle Bays
Upgrade 1: "These bays are the heart of any dropship, allowing vehicles or robots to be stored, repaired, and so on."

Vehicle Bays
MEDIUM: Stores vehicles like motorcycles or enercycles. BP: 1, PCU: 3, takes up 1 expansion bay.
LARGE: Stores othwr Large vehicles. BP: 2, PCU: 5, takes up 2 expansion bays.
HUGE: Stores Huge vehicles. BP: 4, PCU: 4,takes up 4 expansion bays.
GARGANTUAN: Stores Gargantuan vehicles. BP: 10, PCU: 20, takes up to 8 expansion bays.
COLOSSAL: Stores Colossal vehicles. BP: 20, PCU: 60, takes up 12 expansion bays.

NEW WEAPONS

Light Gravity Gun
Tweek "The Tweeker": "They've finally made the Gravity Gun into a light weapon! Now smaller ships can capture and tow other small ships, or asteroid miners can tow chunks of asteroids to processing centers."

Light Gravity Gun (Light Weapon)
RANGE: Medium
DAMAGE: 3D6
PCU: 20
BP: 15
SPECIAL PROPERTIES: Tractor Beam

Heavy Mining Laser
Tweek "The Tweeker": "And how are these ships going to saw off pieces of those asteroids? With THIS baby!"

Heavy Mining Laser (Heavy Weapon)
RANGE: Short
DAMAGE: 4D6
PCU: 20
BP: 10
SPECIAL PROPERTIES: Burrowing

NEW EXPANSION BAYS

Mini-Shuttle Bay
Twerk "The Tweeker," Ysoki male ships systems reporter: "With the popularity of mini-shuttles, it was inevitable that there would be an expansion bay to accommodate them. While a standard shuttle bay can accept two mini-shuttles, many ship owners only need one. And besides, with a delicated mini-shuttle bay, even a Medium-sized ship can house one (or another Tiny ship, like a fighter)."

Mini-Shuttle Bay
2 BP, 5 PCU, takes 1 expansion bay. A Mini-Shuttle Bay can only be installed on a Medium-sized ship or larger.

Variable-Class Passenger Seating
Rebeka Terapin: "Well, passenger liners do it all the time, why not join them?'

Variable-Class Passenger Seating
Common: As in Core Rulebook, Pages 299-300. BP:0, PCU:0.
Good: BP:2, PCU: Negligible.
Luxury: BP:5, PCU: Negligible.
All Variable-Class Passenger Seating takes 1 expansion bay.

NEW SYSTEMS

Variable-Sized Cockpits
Fleeta Padfoot: "When most ship designers start to fire up their computers, they generally design their vessels around human or humanoid-sized races, making it difficult for smaller or larger races to fit inside. Luckily for me, my racers were customs, but Varitech, a Sanjaval Spaceflight Systems subsidiary, is known for making versions of racers, interceptors and fighters (Sanjaval models in particular) with cockpits that fit smaller or larger races better."

Variable-Sized Cockpits
Character Size. BP per Seat
Small 1 (for 2 seats)
Medium 0
Large 1
For Racers, Interceptors and Fighters only. Variable-Sized Cockpits can't be retrofitted.

Ejectable Cockpits
Upgrade 1: "When crews and passengers of large ships have to abandon ship, they can usually board escape pods. Even many smaller ships carry them. But what about single or two-seat craft? Very often, they have to use their ejector seats, which were designed to be used in an atmosphere. What if you have to eject into space? Unless you're an android like me, your life expectancy is limited to the amount of oxygen in your space suit. But help is at hand! Now the cockpits of fighters, interceptors and racers can eject from their soon to be destroyed ship, and they can be used as a makeshift escape pod. Of course, it won't be as deluxe as a regular escape pod (for instance, instead of a working toilet, Ejectable Cockpits supply 'waste disposal bags'), but they do increase you chances of survival. And since the Stewards made it a requirement for their fighters, practically manufacturers everywhere are revamping their designs to make use of them. Even many Eoxian shipbuilders are using them (have YOU priced the training and resurrection of an Eoxian pilot?).

Ejectable Cockpits
Adds 1 BP, 1 PCU per seat. Converts a Racer, Interceptor, or Fighter cockpit into an Escape Pod (see Core Rulebook, Page 297) when activated. Ejectable Cockpits can't be retrofittwd.

NEW POWER CORE

Micron Micro

Upgrade 1, asexual android ship systems reporter: "When Ringworks decided to make a mini-shuttle version of its popular Wanderer, they found that the Micron Light that powered the Wanderer was too powerful (and too expensive) for the new mini-shuttle. Micron, however, came through with an even smaller 30 PCU version of the Light, and now the new Micro is the power core of choice for low-end mini-shuttles."

Micron Micro
SIZE: T
PCU: 30
BP: 3

NEW THRUSTERS

T-16 Thrusters
Fleets "Fleetfoot" Padfoot, halfling female racing reporter: "Just when the racing community thought that the T-14 wouldn't be surpassed for years, along comes the T-16, and it's a gamechanger! Although Infinite Driftworks snapped up the first 250 thrusters for their new racers, the T÷16 is appearing on more and more custom racers, too."

T-16 Thruster
SIZE: T
SPEED (IN HEXES): 16
PILOTING MODIFIER: -3
PCU: 45
BP: 8

Vectored Thrusters
Upgrade 1: "Vectored thrusters are used to improve the maneuverability of a ship, one factor that was hard to improve."

Vectored Thrusters
Vectored Thrusters upgrades maneuverability by 1 rank (for example, from Average to Good, or from Good to Perfect), or if the ship's maneuverability is already Perfect, they add +1 to its Piloting bonus.
Vectored Thrusters add 5 to PCU requirements, and raises thruster BP by half (rounded up to the next whole number). Vectored Thrusters are only available on T, S, M and L thrusters, and can't be retrofitted.

NEW FRAMES (Cont.)

Frigate/Corvette

Admiral Masterson: "Frigates and corvettes are the workhorses of any navy worthy of the name. In smaller government, corporate or religious fleets, they're usually the flagship. In larger fleets, they're not only effective against fighters and patrol craft, but also against other smaller ships as well. In Steward use, they're called cutters, and are given independent duties. Corvettes are frigate-sized ships, usually equipped with M-12 thrusters for fast strikes.

Frigate/Corvette
SIZE: Medium
MANEUVERABILITY: Good (+1 to Piloting, Turn 1)
HP: 75 (Increment 15)
DT:-
CT: 15
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (1 heavy, 1 light), Port Arc (1 light), Starboard Arc (1 light), Turret (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 4
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 7
COST: 16

Light Dropship
Admiral Masterson: "Landing an army onto a planet is a risky job. True, the infantry can use, and have used, civil transports with upgraded weapons, but armies also have recon vehicles, transport vehicles like trucks, fighting vehicles like hovertanks and self-propelled artillery, not to mention siege robots or even AHAVs. Many militaries have found out that ordinary freighters are ill-equipped to
carry these across space. Therefore, the dropship was born. Light dropships are the more common of the family, being welcomed in mid-sized government, corporate, religious, and even the better mercenary units."

Light Dropship
SIZE: Medium
MANEUVERABILITY: Average (+0 to Piloting, Turn 2)
HP: 75 (Increment 10)
DT:-
CT: 15
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (2 light), Port Arc (1 light), Starboard Arc (1 light), Aft Arc (1 light), Turret (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 6
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 9
COST: 16

Heavy Dropship
Admiral Masterson: "In the Pact Worlds, only the Veskarium, and the bigger corporate and religious fleets use heavy dropships, but if you need one, they're a pretty handy vessel for carrying assaults from above."

Heavy Dropship
SIZE: Large
MANEUVERABILITY: Average (+0 to Piloting, Turn 2)
HP: 100 (Increment 20)
DT:-
CT: 26
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (2 light), Port Arc (2 light), Starboard Arc (2 light), Aft Arc (1 light), Turret (2 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 10
MINIMUM CREW: 9
MAXIMUM CREW: 16
COST: 45

NEW FRAMES

Mini-Shuttle
Rebeka "Revved Up" Terapin, human female, freighter specialist: "The personal spaceflight trend has worked its way into cargo hauling. Now it seems like every small shop, freelance mage or what have you, instead of trying to negotiate with the freight lines or with indies like me, has got their own mini-shuttle, taking their goods around the planet, to the nearest space station, or even other worlds in the system."
"These mini-shuttles are the smallest spacecraft to carry an expansion bay, just a single 25 ton one. But of course, using the same types of expansion bays as bigger craft, mini-shuttles are about as diverse."

Mini-Shuttle
SIZE: Tiny
MANEUVERABILITY: Perfect (+2 to Piloting, Turn 0)
HP: 25 (Increment 5)
DT: -
CT: 7
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 1 (usually Cargo Holds or Passenger Seating)
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 2
COST: 5

Patrol Craft
Admiral Trig "Triggerman" Masterson (Ret.), human male space combat and tactics reporter: "Gunboats, torpedo boats, system defense boats, call them what you want, they were a large part of sea-going navies, and they're still a key component of space-going navies as well. Positioned between fighters and frigates or corvettes, patrol craft back up fighters for planetary or system defense, or, equipped with drift engines (patrol craft with drift engines are called ships, those without are called boats), they're used to protect fleets against swarms of fighters. With the latest in weapon mounts, like Sponson and Spinal Mounts, they xan alao make captains of frigates and corvettes a little nervous.

Patrol Craft
SIZE: Small
MANEUVERABILITY: Good (+1 to Piloting, Turn 1)
HP: 45 (Increment 5)
DT:-
CT: 9
MOUNTS: Forward Arc (2 light), Port Arc (1 light), Starboard Arc (1 light), Turret (1 light)
EXPANSION BAYS: 3
MINIMUM CREW: 1
MAXIMUM CREW: 6
COST: 9

INTRODUCTION

Sen Hiriko, human male host: "Welcome ship enthusiasts, to In Thrust We Trust's coverage of the 319 Pact Worlds Aerospace Expo. The normally crowded space around Absalom Station is even more crowded this week, as the Pact Worlds' biggest aerospace show graces the station. Just about every starship and component manufacturer, most of the top modders and custom designers, lots of recent graduates from flight academies, as well as from crew and engineering schools, and courting them, of course, are navies from almost all governments, corporations, and religious orders, shipping lines both huge and tiny, and many others. In fact, the only faction I don't see here are the Corpse Fleet, like anyone here would want them to show up, anyway!"
"This year, the trend is toward 'personal' space transportation. Now, even mid-level execs are torn between a luxury land cruiser and a Tier 1/4 or 1/2 starship. And the starship builders are doing their best to accommodate them, from well-known names like
Sanjaval, ATech and Ringworks, to newcomers like Infinite Driftworks, who in a couple of years, has made a name for itself in the luxury market."
"Many of these new ships feature new frames, components, weapons and the like. Here we're featuring the latest and greatest systems this year, so let's get started!"

Thanks to everyone replied. Watch Homebrew tomorrow for "In Thrust We Trust's 319 Pact Worlds Aerospace Expo Special: What's New"!

In Thrust We Trust

ITWT began as a show about new starships, similar to Galactic Touring. In fact, the original cast moved to Galactic Touring after a few incidents with Jezza and the Ysoki.

After they were fired, ITWT's producers decided to hire a more authoritative cast. And so they hired Fleeta "Fleetfoot" Padfoot (halfling female), three-time winner of the Absalom Run, and one of the top circuit racers; Tairon (Lashunta Korasha male), noted explorer of the Drift; Rebeka "Revved Up" Terapin (human female), freighter pilot and former star of the reality show "Terapin Express"; ship designer and modder Upgrade 1 (asexual android), and "it's" tech, Tweek "The Tweeker" (Ysoki male), to xover the latest in ship's systems and weapons. And for combat experience, they chose Katara "The Gatecrasher" (Vesk female), one of the top fighter squadron commanders of both the Vesk War and the battle against the Swarm, and Admiral Trig Masterson (human male) (Ret.), fleet admiral of the AbadarCorp and ATech fleets during both wars, and who led many assaults against the Swarm.

After surpassing Galactic Touring in the ratings, In Thrust We Trust branched out into special episodes, spaceship sim games, sites on most Pact Worlds infospheres, and is now its own network, with not just the main show, but separate shows with each cast member covering the latest developments through their own area of expertise, coverage of both circuit and endurance racing.

Ever since Sunday, almost every time I click on a Starfinder message board, I keep getting directed to the home page. Only say, one out of ten clicks get me onto the particular board I'm looking for.

I'm in the process of publishing a list of new starship frames, systems, mods, etc., as well as new starship designs. I've got two questions.

1. Say I'm adding a heavy weapon to say, an explorer's front or turret. Do I really have to buy a light weapon mount first, and then upgrade it, or can I just buy a heavy weapon mount?

2. I'm planning to showcase the frames, systems and so on in Homebrew. Would it be a good place to post the ship designs as well, or is there a better place for them?

Thanks to everyone who replies.

OK, in my original post, I mentioned that it would be targeting vehicles (and forgot to mention cities, massive monsters and the like). What would be the best weapons for a "ground attack" fighter or dropship/gunship?

I've been making ships for quite a while, but I'm still a little stumped over which starship weapons would be best in planetary assaults against say, tanks, walkers, etc.