Starship weapon mount size-smaller weapon

[Adder007USA]

Can't find the exact answer to this in the rules, but hopefully this should be relatively straightforward.

Can you "under mount" a weapon slot on a starship? That is, if you're short on BP or power, can you put a small weapon in a heavy slot, or put a small or heavy weapon in a capitol slot?

[Gary Bush]

Because the mounts are specific for the size of weapon, I don't think this would work.

[Lane_S]

This would fall under the refit rules.

You can remove or downgrade systems and get a refund on BP. Say you want to downgrade a heavy mount in the forward arc to a light mount. Since it costs 4 BP to upgrade from light to heavy you would get a refund of 4 BP. You could then install a light weapon in that mount.

[Everae]

Lane_S wrote:

This would fall under the refit rules.

You can remove or downgrade systems and get a refund on BP. Say you want to downgrade a heavy mount in the forward arc to a light mount. Since it costs 4 BP to upgrade from light to heavy you would get a refund of 4 BP. You could then install a light weapon in that mount.

I'm not sure of the exact context of the OP question, but I don't think this works in cases where the frame starts with a heavy mount. The Transport starts with a heavy forward mount, so I don't think you would get a 4 BP refund for sticking a light weapon onto a 15 BP frame.

I tend to agree in terms of refits after you level, just not the initial shipbuilding stage.

[A Martinez]

Actually, my group has that very same question on their minds regarding refits at Tier 1.

On page 305 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook, under Refitting Systems it states, "If the PCs want to alter their starship before receiving additional Build Points... ,they can do so... If they replace a system or option with one that costs fewer Build Points, they can immediately spend the excess Build Points."

So my question is, what if Tier 1 players wish to entirely remove any original mounts and reallocate the resulting Build Points? ("Nothing" in a mount definitely costs less.)

Would this be permissible?

Would the return on Build Points be a function of what is listed on page 305 under Upgrading Systems: 4 BP to upgrade a light weapon mount to heavy (aft, forward, port, or starboard); 3 BP to to fit a new weapon mount (aft, forward, port, or starboard)? If not, then what would be the algorithm for calculating their return on Build Points?

Admittedly, it's an attempt to game the system, but they are a 4-party team, with only one gunner and a desire to squeeze as much performance out of the one mount they'll be able to shoot during ship combat.