My players just traveled through the drift and are approaching Verces.
I find myself wondering, since they are on a simple 6 person junker, where they will be putting their ship! Is there anything such as docking station rules or maybe even some sort of homebrew solution?
I was wondering if maybe I should simply make them dock on Skydock for a fee with some sort of parking facility...
Thoughts?
Well, if they're docking in the ritzy parts of Verces, there would likely be docking fees. If they can get clearance. They could also land in the boonies of Verces, in the desert and then hike to town through the harsh environments.
Pact Worlds has a bunch more information on the pact worlds (gasp!), as well as planetary maps if you wanted to pick a city for them to dock in. Unfortunately sharing such things would violate copyrights and the OGL.
Well, if they're docking in the ritzy parts of Verces, there would likely be docking fees. If they can get clearance. They could also land in the boonies of Verces, in the desert and then hike to town through the harsh environments.
Pact Worlds has a bunch more information on the pact worlds (gasp!), as well as planetary maps if you wanted to pick a city for them to dock in. Unfortunately sharing such things would violate copyrights and the OGL.
Yeah I have all the books and it doesnt really say much about docking... But they did mention the Skydock in pact worlds.
What sort of fees sound reasonable to you? I was thinking like a 5 credits fee for dock and 5 cr for leave and an optional 1/2 a credit per batery for a battery recharge station next to the ship.
I'd probably run it similar to lodging in the CRB. 1-10 credits a day as long as they're docking depending on the where. So roght in the heart of Verces where the traffic would be highest 10 creds a day. If they know they're staying a while maybe a 30% discount if they're docking the week. Alternatively if they wanna dock in say a business-centric area there may not be a discount cause they want to keep the turnaround high for imports.
Could have a scene where if they stay too long or forget to pay they get towed and have to do a few encounters to get the ship back, or use it as an excuse if they want to alter the base frame, make a new one.
I'd probably run it similar to lodging in the CRB. 1-10 credits a day as long as they're docking depending on the where. So roght in the heart of Verces where the traffic would be highest 10 creds a day. If they know they're staying a while maybe a 30% discount if they're docking the week. Alternatively if they wanna dock in say a business-centric area there may not be a discount cause they want to keep the turnaround high for imports.
Could have a scene where if they stay too long or forget to pay they get towed and have to do a few encounters to get the ship back, or use it as an excuse if they want to alter the base frame, make a new one.
I hadn't thought about the discount for long periods... I like that Idea.
I normally didn't get into so much detail with my groups. Docking fees are the same like "every day food" or "normal cloth" for me, the player simply have it.
Besides such things only really bother low level groups. As soon as you are higher level, thanks to the broken economy in DnD/SF/PF, these kind of expenses become obsolet.
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So there's a catch here.
You could figure out a docking fee. But why? Either it's so small it doesn't matter, or it's substantial and now you have to add loot to balance it. To me, docking fees fall under the "ship upkeep" category, and Starfinder hand-waves most of that away for the sake of the setting.
Now, under exceptional circumstances, sure you could make it a thing and part of the story. But for routine stuff? I wouldn't bother. You don't charge for food, fuel, or ship consumables. I wouldn't sweat docking fees.
Agreed with Tryn and Wingblaze.
The docking fees are included with "ship upkeep/upgrade" pool that basically has it's own separate pool from character wealth.
Unless you specifically want there to be a plot point about the absurdly high docking fees, I'd just ignore it and tell the players they pay a nominal fee out of their ship's operating budget.
1 dead feather renkroda per day.
Really turn the screws on people who just leave their ship up on cinder blocks.
I find myself wondering, since they are on a simple 6 person junker, where they will be putting their ship! Is there anything such as docking station rules or maybe even some sort of homebrew solution?
Considering starship transit is a common thing, I'm pretty sure the cities have enough resources to land almost anything of large or smaller sizes. Everything bigger, park on orbit and call a space-uber to bring you down.
Unless you planned for something to happen during such an operation, I'd just describe the landing and move on.
But let's quote from the book:
Page 290
Go into Orbit or Land (1d2 Hours): It takes only a short amount
of time for a Large or smaller starship to lift off from a planet’s
or planetoid’s surface and enter orbit, or to make a controlled
landing from orbit. Huge and larger starships can be placed in
orbit around only a planet or planetoid, and the crew requires
a shuttle or other conveyance to reach the surface.
Closest I could find:
Page 235
Suborbital Flight
For quick trips from point to point on a planet, the fastest
option is generally a suborbital flight. The price assumes a
single seat and a small common area for storage; larger seats
or even small cabins cost five to 10 times as much.METHOD - PRICE (in credits)
Suborbital flight - 1 per 25 miles
There are several possibilities around a given world, but these are the likely patterns.
Highport/Downport - A highport is an orbital station designated as an official port. It will be armed, and have gunships.
Docking fees there will be. Also, refueling facilities, lodging, trading/legal facilities, bars, and low-G repair facilities. Often, highports will be the only ports offered to non-resident starships, and access to the surface or even downports will be limited.
Personal travel and cargo transport will be solely to a designated set of downports by licensed shuttle fleets. Occasionally, other technologies will be in use to move cargo. This is done for security reasons, as well as economic ones.
Cityports - On planets allowing surface landings (at least for residents) there will typically be a cargo field near each city, generally (but not always) on the low-value real estate. Some form of heavy transport will be available to move matériel into the urban center. Most starship services are available in a cityport, usually including heavy repair yards and starship construction. Some will even have older, rocket-based heavy-lift launch facilities.
In such cities, the wealthy will tend to build homes around central, shared landing strips, thus allowing them to also compare/gloat/seethe over each other's craft. Also, very convenient for travel between cities. The ratio of homes-to-landing zone varies widely according to local laws and real estate prices.
Military Starports will generally be separate high- and downports from civilian ports, with dedicated transports.
Sparsely populated worlds and outposts will generally only have downports. These downports will vary in quality from advanced military bases to a marked patch of rock with a transponder. Most commonly, an outpost downport will have refueling facilities and a basic repair yard. The welcoming committee will generally vary in temperament and armament.
Best of luck, Starfinder!