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Okay, so because of how the organized campaign is doing ships, I want to add a little consistency to how I do ships at the table. I came up with this idea that, depending on how the society does ship boons, that I could give a name and background to each of the ships in the fleets of each faction. Obviously there's no mechanical benefit to this and I have to adhere to whatever is in the scenario, but I like the idea that if they offer something generic then I can give that generic thing a background. This is an ongoing thing with me when I do organized play scenarios where if someone hands me something that's "generic" in a scenario with no background, I will try to give a background that fits in with the overall organized campaign as the Great and Wise Compton and the Dread Lord Thursty have demanded. Again, it's never supposed to give a mechanical benefit, I just hate saying "yada yada" at my table. I do this a lot with shopkeepers and weapons you find on your chronicle sheet, I tend to give random loot and NPCs a story. It could be something like a taste maker to make them feel like the thing they have chosen has an actual history. To this end, if you sit at my table and a ship from your faction doesn't have a name, this is what I will give you:
*NOTE, since I haven't seen the ship boons yet, I would either rewrite or discard these but again, I'm just prepping how special your Scenario issued ship should feel. Because it's yours.
Standard Non-Faction Hull
“The Seven Virtues”
Purchased in bulk by a Shireen ship building firm, the Seven Virtues are the core of the Starfinder fleet. Each granted names like “Chastity”, “Diligence” or “Patience”, these are the fleet’s standard issue ship frames and gorgeous examples of the society’s space faring might.
Second Seekers
“Fist of Blakros”
Named for the legendary allies of the old Pathfinders, the Fist of Blakros is a solid, well maintained workhorse vessel originally used as a pleasure yacht but renovated into a gorgeous but deadly addition to the Starfinder Fleet. Fist of Blakros has been deliberately designed to survive a stand up fight with most pirate and raider fleets but to not “look” like a warship. The ship’s weapons are hidden under retractable compartments and it’s armor has been polished to look like luxury carbon shielding. While not necessarily “covert”, Fist of Blakros can double as both a warship and as a diplomatic vessel.
Acquisitives
“The Burning Eye” and “The Last Twilight”
Twin vessels that were custom built for the faction, Burning Eye and Last Twilight are exactly the same with the exception of the paint job, orange and red for the Eye and dusky purple for the Twilight. These two beautiful, flashy ships have the distinction of being the most recognizable ships in the Starfinder Fleet. The Acquisitves are not subtle in their attempts to build their brands, the faction symbols are painted right on the sides of Eye and Twilight.
Exo-Guardians
“The Nighthound”
There is a common complaint among the Pact World Military that the quasi official Exo Guardians always have the nicest gear and the best hardware. Often some of their best “toys” were previously rejected by the Pact Worlds Navy yet they somehow find their way into the hands of the Starfinders and right into the armories of the Exo-Guardians. The Nighthound is proof positive that this stereotype is true. The X-41 Nighthound was a prototype deep space, long range stealth vessel designed to enter enemy territory, drop into the upper atmosphere, and deliver troops as close to the target as possible. Despite praise from every test pilot that interacted with the vessel, Nighthound was soundly rejected in favor of a competing weapon system and the ship’s four prototypes found its way into the Exo-Guardian fleet. Nighthound 1, 2, and 3 are all available for loan out to trusted faction members. Nighthound 4’s current location is highly classified.
“Widowmaker”
Rejected military hardware is one thing but the Exo-Guardians are quick to use the best possible warframes from organizations all over known space. Widowmaker got it’s start as a retired law enforcement cruiser once owned by the Stewards of Verces. Prior to it’s decommissioning, the ship that became the Widowmaker eventually saw action in every sector of Pact Worlds Space before it was sold for scrap due to it’s advanced age. Seeing a chance to “correct a terrible oversight” the Exo Guardians bought and then retrofitted the ship to be used as a pirate denial system. True to it’s name, Widowmaker is full of guns and bad intentions. She offers certain death to any vessel that’s stupid enough to engage her.
The Wayfinders
“Lucky Lady”
Wayfinders have problems that other factions don’t. Unlike other factions that keep their operations closer to home, the Wayfinders can be away from the Pact Worlds for months, even years. For long haul operations in deep space, the Lucky Lady is the perfect choice. Once built as part of the Blue Zephyr Cruise Line’s Private Fleet, the Lucky Lady has swimming pools, luxurious kitchens, a small casino, observation decks, private gardens, fitness rooms, and even a movie theater. But what drew the Wayfinders to purchase the ship was it’s speed. Lucky Lady was built to quickly ferry passengers across the galaxy at extremely fast speeds. For this reason, and because it’s a much more comfortable ship than most, Lucky Lady is a gorgeous addition to the Wayfinder’s long haul cruiser fleet.
“The Long Shadow of Our Blessed Demise”
Wayfinders often have to make use of whatever ship they can find and sometimes that ship isn’t necessarily ideal for the average solid sentient life form. Sold by a Necrovite military contractor to off worlders, Long Shadow is a vessel designed by an undead race for use by living beings and the design is not...ideal. Despite performing perfectly in both combat and exploration, crew members on Long Shadow feel...uneasy. Some have even complained that the ship is haunted and ghosts roam the halls. Sleeping in the ship brings restless nights and complaints of voices whispering in the dark. When questioned about the matter, the ship’s builders merely tent their fingers together and whisper “Yes, all is going according to plan.”
Dataphiles
“Songbird”
For a faction that praises secrecy and surveillance, the Songbird is the perfect fit. The vessel began it’s life as a standard long range freighter with an exterior hull no different than any other “tug ship”. But since being acquired by the Dataphiles, Songbird has been upgraded into a hacker’s dream. The interior of the ship is a high tech web of communications and surveillance equipment, all the ram and processing power that a Dataphile in the field could ask for. Designed to slip in to orbit and access interplanetary communications, Songbird is the perfect marriage of subtly and speed in one powerful high tech package. What’s disturbing, however, is that some of the higher ups in the faction consider Songbird to be “obsolete” and are seeking even better ship based surveillance frames.
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I like these, especially the "ranks" of ships to get a sense of how powerful the Starfinders were.
My only hope is to get a "Murder on the Throaty Mermaid" type scenario. That ship is still my goto for any naval adventure in PFS.
I can't imagine we won't get our own "Throaty Mermaid" at some point. The chance to run a scenario entirely in the halls of some abandoned starship is just too good to pass up.
Starfinder Society Developer
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I can't imagine we won't get our own "Throaty Mermaid" at some point. The chance to run a scenario entirely in the halls of some abandoned starship is just too good to pass up.I like these, especially the "ranks" of ships to get a sense of how powerful the Starfinders were.
My only hope is to get a "Murder on the Throaty Mermaid" type scenario. That ship is still my goto for any naval adventure in PFS.
Stay tuned for September! :D
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Stay tuned for September! :DI can't imagine we won't get our own "Throaty Mermaid" at some point. The chance to run a scenario entirely in the halls of some abandoned starship is just too good to pass up.I like these, especially the "ranks" of ships to get a sense of how powerful the Starfinders were.
My only hope is to get a "Murder on the Throaty Mermaid" type scenario. That ship is still my goto for any naval adventure in PFS.
Called it.