I have a question about how the new ship creation rules interact with the group creating their ship and Tiers.
So basic creation rules say an items design is it’s base plan, plus 1 upgrade per class level.
A groups starting starship is class 2, with a cargo bay, shields, crew quarters, and presumably a reactor to power it.
Under the new rules, all these are now upgrades. I assume that they are part of the “base” plan of the ship, and as a class 2 ship the group would pick 2 further upgrades?
But also, do the base upgrades count for determining the Tier of the ship? That would make a starting vessel count as a Tier 2 ship, and not be able to land planetside.
sub.
Sorry for not replying sooner, trying to get back on top of my backlog after a long illness. Also G+ just ate my long reply so I’m now retyping this argh.
Anyway, as to your question:
The rules in basic Uncharted Worlds were always intended to be “quick and dirty” approximations. The Vessel rules in FBH don’t really interface with them, but rather replaces those rules. If you’re using the more granular vessel construction, then ignore the whole “Class 2” stuff, it doesn’t really correspond in a one-to-one fashion.
Off the top of my head, I’d say that the average “PC” starship would be a bog-standard Tier III with:
– Reactor
– Jump Drive
– Life Support
– Quarters
– Cargo
– Workspaces
– Turrets
– Sensors
– Shields
And yeah, it’s risky as hell and really energy-guzzling to land a Tier III or Tier IV starship (i.e. any Jump-capable ship) on rough terrain. So the crew is encouraged to find the flattest, safest spot to use as a landing spot. It’s why shuttles, land vehicles, and away missions are so important when exploring alien worlds.
Sean Gomes , I’m curious as to your design choice, but why the break away from the core book Class design system? The Basic Plan +X upgrades, to me, at least, seemed a very elegant way of designing items.
Sean Gomes , the FBH starship design rules do make it challenging to make a ship like Firefly or the Millennium Falcon. Both would probably be Tier II ships based upon their landing ability, but you can’t completely fit their components in anything under a Tier lll size if I understand the design standards properly.