This website contains a frames-enabled database of the unique starships of the Fledgling Empire sector. If you would like to view it, follow this link and make sure you maximize your browser window when you get there. Hey, you might want to switch to full screen mode as well. This section optimized for 800x600 resolution and you must be able to view frames. This section works bets with Internet Explorer 4 or better, but I am hard at work to make it better for Netscape users.
I have written and currently use the following rules for starfighters. 10 durability ships just weren't doing what I thought they should do in my games, so I modified them a bit. If you play with these, email me and let me know how it goes for you. We do a lot of spaceship combat and use a hex grid for mapping the engagements. It helps that many of my players also play Babylon 5 Wars, huh.
A ship of 8, 10, or 16 durability can be designated as a starfighter, if the designers wish. If so, they are bound by the bonuses and restrictions below. For starters, all starfighters are considered Good toughness, so more weapons can harm them, especially in atmospheric flight. Secondly, a pilot who wishes to evade for the entire turn gains a one step action check bonus for that turn, making a good roll into an amazing action check result, for instance.
If an 8 surability starfighter hull is designed, it benefits from an additional -1 maneuver bonus, which is figured after acceleration and cruise speed is calculated.
Basic ship weapon systems are large, amazing damage dealing pieces of heavy equipment. They are designed to target and damage large, relatively unmaneuverable targets. Against starfighters they are extemely difficult to score a hit with, due to the banking, rolling, and other maneuvers possible with a smaller, lighter ship. To represent this, all range penalties to hit with a ship weapon against a starfighter are doubled (eg. +2 at medium range, +6 at long range.) When they hit, though, the damage is increased by one class, ordinary does good damage, good and amazing do amazing damage.
Any weapon system may be adapted to serve as an anti-starfighter weapon. In this instance, it costs the same but is one durability less massive. All starfighter weapons are considered to be in a cupola or wide path mount, so they can fire into two arcs without a turret and all six with one. The damage they deal is the same, but is good quality, so it would be downgraded when hitting a normal starship. These weapon systems do not suffer the extra penalties when firing on a starfighter at range. Starfighter-scale weapons may not be overpowered. Missile systems can be starfighter-scaled, but grapples and minelayers can not. Most of the time, the starfighter scale weapon will simply be called Light - whatever the type was, like Light Mass Cannon or Light Missile Rack.
Starfighters themselves may mount either scale of weapon on their hulls, but will suffer similar penalties when using more powerful weaponry.
Unless intended for long range patrols of more than a 12 hour duration, no life support systems are necessary aboard a starfighter. The crew is considered to have self-contained devices to accomplish these tasks for them.
This is a very small missile system designed to be carried aboard a starfighter and used against large targets. It saturates a hex with small warheads with a short delay before detonation. It can only be mounted on starfighters. The standard launcher holds enough ammo for 12 shots. Capacity for 8 more shots can be added for 45,000 Cr and 1 durability. Reloads cost 1,500 per shot expended.
PL: 7
Avail: Mil
Cost: 100,000 Cr
Dur: 2
Power: 1
Acc: 0
Range: 2 / 6 / 10
Type: HI (g)
Damage: 1d4s / 1d6w / 1d4m
Actions: 2
This weapon system fires a cluster bomb into a location, flooding an area of space with debris in the hopes of damaging a starighter flying through the area. This system targets a hex within range and fires a warhead into it. The cost of the platform includes a simple cupola enabling the system to target any hex, regardless of facing. The debris cloud remains for 1 full turn before disbursing, and anything flying through it is hit. If a missile or mine ends up in the same hex as the cloud, it is detonated instantly, which dispurses the cloud. The degree of success when rolling to-hit determines the exact location of the cloud. Amazing hits land exactly in the hex chosen, good hits scatter one hex and ordinary huts scatter two hexes in a random direction. More than one SDP clound can be active in a hex at one time, increasing the damage potential. Enough ammo for 6 shots is carried in the system itself. Additional capacity for 2 more shots can be added for 50,000 Cr and 1 durability. Ammo costs 2,000 Cr per shot for a reload.
PL: 6
Avail: Com
Cost: 200,000 Cr
Dur: 2
Power: 1
Acc: 0
Range: 3 / 6 / 12
Type: LI (*)
Damage: (G) 3d4w
Actions: 2
This class of weapon can be fitted as missile warhead. It detonates into a quantum singularity of minute duration, but with a mass of four or five times that of the Sun. This weapon does not need to hit exactly to have an impact on the ship, because it can disrupt course and heading for anything within 3 hexes on the phase that it explodes. They scatter like the cluster warheads of the starfighter defense platform (above.) Anything out of the original hex of the impact is turned one facing toward the impacted hex, but speed is not affected, although the direction of thrust is turned one facing, as well. Missiles in this area have a 4 in 6 chance of detonating. If the missile is not detonated by this disruption, it must be targeted again using the gunners original skill, although this does not count as an action. The missile will attempt to lock onto the nearest target in the front arc. Ships caught in the hex of the explosion will be torn apart by the gravitic chaos running across the hull. Damage is assigned to a compartment as normal. Adjacent compartments take damage one step degraded (a good hit does ordinary damage to the one or two compartments next to it on the hit chart.) This secondary damage can be further degraded to the next adjecent compartments if the original hit was amazing! The ship is also brought to a dead halt regardless of speed and spun to face a random direction. Armor is effective against this damage, but shields, screens and other defensive adaptations are not.
PL: 7
Avail: Con
Cost: 225,000 Cr per missile
Dur: --
Power: --
Acc: -1
Range: 12 / 18 / 24
Type: HI (p)
Damage: 1d4w / 1d6+1w / 1d8+1w
Actions: --
By combining several small laser optics into a tight gatling-type formation, a weapon is able to produce a hail of fire very quickly. Accuracy is sacrificed, though, but that is sometimes not much worry. The pulse laser is fired a little unlike other weapons. It can only target one thing per turn. When fired, the gunner gets a one step action check bonus for his firing. Each shot after the first one in a turn gets a cumulative 2 step penalty to hit. So, a Good action check yields a normal shot in the Amazing phase, a shot in good at +2, a shot in ordinary at +4 and a shot in marginal at +6. This weapon will always get its maximum number of shots per turn, regardless of the number of actions by the gunner.
PL: 7
Avail: Mil
Cost: 300,000 Cr
Dur: 3
Power: 3
Acc: special
Range: 3 / 6 / 9
Type: En (b)
Damage: d6s / d4+2w / d4m
Actions: 4