More Starship Modifications!

[Claxon]

I was just sitting here thinking about what kind of spaceship modifications everyone would like to see in the future.

I was thinking about a "cloaking" system like the Normandy possessed from Mass Effect, where the ship stores all of it's heat internally, preventing it from being detected easily by sensors, or visually (since you would need to be close to actually see it with the naked eye).

Another that I would like to see is some sort of mine laying system. Perhaps with magnetic mines that attach to the hull before exploding.

[Nickela]

I am so looking forward to whatever first supplement has more ship stuff. Ultimate Starship, or the like.
More ship models and manufacturers, more frame type, more GUNS, better descriptions for guns, different types of guns. Guns that shoot other guns that shoot bombs. Maybe a gun that shoots a ship that has guns ON IT. I don't know. The sky's the limit. Or not, because outer space.
Also, some internal starship layouts. Gimme the grids, baby!
Maybe some sort of expansion on crew members and their abilities during combat.

[AnimatedPaper]

Building on what Nickela was saying, I specifically want to see more Minor crew actions, so that when we eventually have fighters and mechas flying around, they're not as restrained in what they can do in combat.

[Claxon]

Yeah.

My group (though we haven't started to play yet) we already have once person who really wants to be the main spaceship pilot.

However, my Android technomancer is also planning on being highly capable of piloting and I'm seriously consider whether its viable for us to eventually have a fighter that is launched and piloted by my character during combat.

But I'm also curious if we can have things like drone fighters. Seems like it could be a thing, to remotely control small fighters.

[LeeSw]

DC based on Mass

Some ideas from my thread on attempting stronger maneuvers by taking higher DC on try, might give you some ideas.

My idea puts the sweet spot on Medium to Large ships.

Keep the ideas coming.

[Claxon]

LeeSw wrote:

DC based on Mass

Some ideas from my thread on attempting stronger maneuvers by taking higher DC on try, might give you some ideas.

My idea puts the sweet spot on Medium to Large ships.

Keep the ideas coming.

To be honest, this thread isn't about modifying the rules of Starship combat.

I will admit there are some problems with the current Starship combat rules, but I also don't really want to see the DCs depend on mass either. I'm not sure what I want it to depend on honestly.

Mass might makes sense for piloting checks, but only for those.

Anyways, that's not what this thread is about. This thread is about what kind of options you would like to see available for starships, such as the afore mentioned remote control drone fighters.

[Hithesius]

Drone fighters should already be possible:

It does create some hazy rule areas, and making them viable is another matter entirely. A starship has a computer with a tier half the starship's own, which can be equipped with normal computer things, though the options explicitly given for spending BP are somewhat more limited, though, so if you want something that is purely and inarguably permitted by RAW we're not quite there yet. In any event, the control module gives starships as an example of what they can control, so you can either make a ship control another ship or make a ship control itself.

There are limits to this. A computer has a total skill modifier of 2.5*tier, but no word on what ranks it has in the skill - this matters most for AC and Gunnery, and in the latter case, it doesn't even have a clearly defined base attack bonus either. Just a total attack bonus equal to its tier, which will be lackluster out the door and only increasingly so as the overall level increases.

Pricing is fairly straightforward - 10% of the controlled ship's price, paid for in BP because ships are priced in BP. Autonomous drones do run into a slight hiccup, in that the control module then becomes part of the price of the ship, which arguably means you need to account for its price as well, therefore increasing the price of the control module. There's not an actual loop here, because 10% rounded down will eventually increment the price by less than 1, but I'd not include the control module's price in determining that control module's price. That just gets silly.

Action economy is where it gets weird. How many actions does a computer get? Does it get one action per round? Then drone fighters are no better than single-person craft, and typically worse. Does it get one action for each thing it controls? In that case, you'd want multiple control modules, each dedicated to specific systems, and a fully automated drone fighter would have a lower skill ceiling than a normal crew but would have an edge in that it could take as many actions as there are systems. It's even going to be cheaper than the drone with a single module for an entire ship, because you're taking 10% of the price rounded down for each system individually, giving many more opportunities to shave off a credit here or there.

That being said, this merely means it is possible to make drone fighters already. Explicit, well written rules for drones would be a welcome addition, and they could use some relevant expansion bays just to deal with silliness like how much larger a ship must be to house even a single smaller one.

What I'd most like to see barring an overhaul would be something that gives magic an actual role in space. Have you noticed that everything is technological? You have computer checks for the science officer, engineering for the engineer... I suppose the Technomancer will be at home as a science officer, given their particular approach to magic, but what shall the Mystic do? If magic and technology are both integral to the setting, why is one of them completely irrelevant in a such a significant part of the game?

[Mark Carlson 255]

Note: I do understand that in a core book you have a lot of ground to cover and may not have the page count to address the following but the OP asked for a wish list.

A) IMHO, make sure fluff is more represented in the rules.
1) So for undead ships reduced cost since they have no environment systems, waste systems, etc but they have increased cost if they want to add those things to ships that do not have the infrastructure.
Note: I forget the name of the ship but the fact that it says "feature X" is on the craft but no one knows why, really got me wondering why would it be there if no one knew why. People just do not put things on ships (or other things unless there is a reason) ie my house does not have a tracktor bucket on it.
2) Ship yard/faction specific build benefits, ie undead found hulls might have more of less HP than constructed hulls.
B) I have been seeing some options expressed on ships that are not in the Core so I would guess that they are from another source. And without looking at the other material I cannot comment on them. But in general I have liked what I saw and thought they should have been included in the Core book.
3) Unfortunately I cannot just throw out ideas but in general things that make ships more unique and or things that provide benefits with some drawbacks. ie advanced med bay (higher cost and power requirements but bigger bonus to rolls and reduced healing time.) is a classic idea that can be adapted to may other areas or types of bays.

MDC

Edit: I hope that helps a little to get the ideas flowing.

[Dragonchess Player]

Cross-posting this.

Personally, I'd like to see something like this:

Interceptor Bay

Essentially a scaled-down shuttle bay, an interceptor bay can be installed only in a Large or larger starship and takes up two expansion bays. An interceptor bay provides space for a single Tiny starship to dock.

PCU 10; Cost (in BP) 4

You still need to leave at least 6 PCs/NPCs on the "mothership" (as Large starships have a minimum crew of 6) but using multiple PC attack craft becomes a bit easier to justify.

[ghostunderasheet]

Modulated ships think the jedi ships that detach from thier warp systems. But extended to other things. Would work well for junkships need to travel to another system just attach your warpcore. Traveling long distances but cant afford a fancy long distance hualer just attach a crew quarters. And if you know your going to get in a fight just detach said extra modules in a safe or hidden place.

[AnimatedPaper]

Hithesius wrote:

What I'd most like to see barring an overhaul would be something that gives magic an actual role in space. Have you noticed that everything is technological? You have computer checks for the science officer, engineering for the engineer... I suppose the Technomancer will be at home as a science officer, given their particular approach to magic, but what shall the Mystic do? If magic and technology are both integral to the setting, why is one of them completely irrelevant in a such a significant part of the game?

I was just thinking about this today. The question evading answer is that some Mystics can already make effective pilots, gunners, or captains depending on their focus. But I wouldn't mind seeing a few options added for Mysticism, although to be honest the most obvious options are again piloting or gunning like the Skywalkers, or motivating a crew using an empathic sense. So... maybe not.