Exavier Macbeth's page

I think it depends on how your players utalize the ship in your campaign. For my campaign I don't do alot of Ship vs Ship combat or I ad-lib alot of it with periotic rolls/decision points because my group is large enough that starship combat takes forever. Since its primarily a mobile base for them the modules they use are generally to support whatever is going on in the campagin rather than directly applicable to the party.

For example:
- Medical Bays: Maybe not needed for the party due to Mystic, it is a useful retreat point for the party to direct civilians, refuges and other NPCs to as a form of "mission support".
- Hanger Bays: Could use docked fighters & NPC Pilots to call in off map fire support against artillary thats shelling the parties position (also from off map)
- Escape Pods: Modified into boarding assault pods to be fired at other ships.

I also tend to give them mission specific bonuses if they have a Module & Cargo Hold with support supplies. Like having the Medbay and 10 tons of generic/trade good salvaged medical supplies from a previous mission. Really depends on what the players or DM can come up with if you have a creative bunch.

Direct use I think my players get the most use out of Guest Quarters on their ship. At 50-100cr per day per customer standard passanger fare its a pretty good way to make extra funds if your "going that way anyway". Especially if you travel alot. :)

I've actually had this issue come up a few times in my campaign. Enough that I had to come up with a consistant houserule for it.

Starship Demo Charge
Cost: I use the "your ordnance is part of your maintanence/BP contract on the ship" standing for how often "Limited Fire 5" weapons can be reused in my campaign. My players can only refil their missile tubes (except the Unlimited Fire Light Torpedo) at a major port so converting one in the field costs them the missle. I prevent stockpiling by having their maintanence contract include an inspection of the ship much like any investment firm would between missions.

Bulk: After the engineering check is performed for the conversion I have the players roll the damage dice of the missle/torpedo used to decide how much bulk they managed to shrink it down to. I may give them bonuses for high engineering checks to reduce it further but this generally means that only "Light" missiles are relativly easy to move around.

Damage: I use the standard Damage Dice times 10 mechanic for using a ship weapon against a surface target. Including the extra times 10 if its a capital missle.

Blast Range: Blast radius I use is generally Destruction (1ft/damage done), Shrapnel/Radiation Pulse (2x Range, 25-50% Damage, Reflex Chance), Concussion Blast (4x Range, 5-10% Damage, Knockdown, Reflex Chance).

This means a light torpedo warhead would max out at 16 Bulk, 160 damage with a 160ft/320ft/640ft area of effect. Larger weapons would probobly be considered war crimes depending on where you detonated them assuming the players even have the equipment to haul them around & escape the blast radius. :)

Gives the players a chance to solve problems with brute application of explosives for use against heavy blast doors or demolition jobs. But also forces them to actually treat them as an industrial blasting charge rather than a tactical ground weapon.