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| Starship Basics |
| While the Force was the most complicated aspect for incorporating into d20 Modern rules, starships have been the most challenging. Do I simply figure out how to calculate the puchase DCs for the various craft but otherwise take them directly as is, or do I reconstruct them using the rules given in d20 Future? While taking starships directly from the Star Wars core rulebook and Starships of the Galaxy is by far the easiest option, it really doesn't lend itself to balance very well. Take, for instance, personal weaponry. In the movies, personal weaponry doesn't seem capable of doing more than destroying the paint job of a ship, yet with the rpg stats a single stormtrooper can destroy a small craft without even having to reload. This fact alone was almost enough to decide which option to use. Add to that fact that the various sources on the capabilities of Star Wars ships varies, in some cases by an almost insane amount, and I'm left with having to reconstruct a multitude of craft. As I had been hoping to avoid such a workload, I sighed in defeat. Fortunately for me, d20 Future already has a large variety of preconstructed ships, and a plethora of rules for modifying them! Now all that remained was deciding on the base ships, and how I would modify it into the apropriate craft. I have broken the list of ships into different categories to help with finding what your adventure calls for. If you're trying to decide what kind of fighter support that nuetral colony world is using, you don't want to have capitol ships interspersed throughout them. I have also had to create a few rules adjustments and ship systems. As these are universal changes, not for specific ships, they are posted below. |
| Hyperdrives: A critical starship system that can turn a game upside down if not handled properly. This is one starship system that I am not changing, excepting to get a price for those wishing to upgrade their craft. The starship travel times from the Star Wars core rulebook work quite well, though if you are running a capmaign with only a few planets, you might want to make a table of specific travel times between them. Astrogation checks remain unchanged, except that the skill is called Navigate (hyperspace). A hyperdrive can be installed on any sized craft (you see the range from an A-Wing to the Death Star), as long as it has a sublight drive. To find the cost of installing one on a ship that does not already have one, or the difference in cost to upgrade, use the following chart: Hyperdrive Class Purchase DC x1 15 + one-half the base purchase DC of the starship x2 10 + one-half the base purchase DC of the starship x3 10 + one-quarter the base purchase DC of the starship x4 5 + one-quarter the base purchase DC of the starship x8 Included in the starships purchase None Decrease starships base purchase DC by one |
| Starship Costs: The starships listed in d20 Future are a little overpriced for the Star Wars universe. To properly represent Star Wars ship prices, reduce the base purchase DCs of the starships by one-third, rounding fractions up (eg, a purchse DC 52 would become 34.667, rounding to 35). Starship weapon costs are all reduced by one-half (rounding fractions up) before any other modifiers. All other subsystems remain unchaged, and final starship prices are calculated as normal (convert into dollars, or credits in this case, add together, then convert into a final purchase cost). |
| Engines: Whenever a sublight engine type is specified, and by all physical appearances, it seems that starships in Star Wars use some varient of an ion engine. Being as they seldom seem to need refueling (and when they do the process is soon over), we can assume that it is not the eniges, but the fusion reactor that powers the ships that need the fuel. That said, we can treat all starships engines as particle impulse engines, but still use the stats from other engines to represent differences between performance ratings and manufacturers. Starships are also fitted with repulsorlifts for landing and take off. This functions similar to an induction engine, but only has a movement of 500 ft (one square) a round. While moving with this drive, a ship does not get a 500 ft adjust as normal. Also, due to the slow speeds at which it is travelling, the pilots dexterity modifier does not apply. Repulsorlift drives are included on all spacecraft, even ones that have no drive listed. This is either so that they do not damage spaceports and hangers, or to allow adjustment in orbit. |
| Weapons: No combat is complete (or even possilbe) without weapons. In the Star Wars universe, almost every spacecraft has at least some form of armament. Blaster technology scaled up to immense proportions make up the majority of the offensive measures employed by the galaxy at large. Blasters (or lasers, as they are sometimes called) can be represented by laser, neutron, and particle weapons from the d20 Future book. Keep in mind that some alien species use divergent technologies, so other types are around, but likely quite rare. When ray shielding proves too much for your guns to deal with, you switch to missiles and torpedoes. These will generally have the benefit of being able to follow a target, shich can make taking down an enemy craft that's close to a friend a bit easier. Concussion missiles can easily be represeented with the nova burst missile. Proton torpedoes are best represented with starload missiles. They represent the destructive capability best, and are also able to be mounted on most starfighters. |
| Defenses: With all this destructive power coming at you ship, you'll want some way of averting it. Armor, shields, and stealth options all come in handy. As armor is fairly basic, all PL7 an below armor is available at the listed costs. Autopilot systems are nice additions, but few ships come with them pre-installed. Point defense systems seem to be non-existant in Star Wars, at least amoung the factions we've seen fighting. It's quite probable some sectors utilize them, but the galaxy at large seems to decide that other systems are more critical for the cost. Particle shielding, mostly used to keep micrometeorites from damaging ship systems, also provides protection against missiles. Magnetic fields represent it the best. Ray shielding is a little more sensetive of an area. While a particle field best represents it, it does not wholly capture it's capabilities. Angling shields allows for greater protection from one direction, but leaves the rest uprotected. This has been a tricky issue to deal with, but the mechanics do work out. As a move action, a character may make a Computer Use check (DC 15) to provide an additional +2 bonus against one specified target, but against all other targets the shield bonus does not apply. A second Computer Use check (DC 15) is required to stabalize the deflectors. Damage control systems are generally not used during combat, as it requires a move action for the ship, and thereby lessesn it's combat capabilities. They are frequently used outside of combat, as starport repair charges add up over time. Top of the line ships are frequently fitted with repair drones, although starfighters rarely have them, as such a system makes them too costly. Decoys, stealth screens, and other concelment devices are illegal in most civilzed systems. Possession of one is commonly punishable by death, on assumption of piracy or hostile military action. Of course, unless a ship is heavily inspected, such a sytem will go by undetected unless used. Cloaking devices, such as the cloaking screen, are incredibly large and cannot be installed on ultralight starcraft. As this technology is also advanced and rare it's final cost is doubled, making it [(15 + one-half the base purchase price of the starship + 5 for advanced technology) x 2]. |
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| Officers have been promoted posthumusly. |