Starship Modifications
"She'll make point five past . She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself." -Han Solo
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Starships require fuel cells to operate their reactors, engines, hyperdrives, and other systems. Light freighters such as the YT-1300 often use the Mark IV Fuel Cell (first described in Star Wars Adventure Journal #5, West End Games), which holds about 1 kg of starship normal fuel cells.
Different sizes of starships use different sizes of fuel cells for their reactors:
|
Ship Size |
Fuel cell holds |
Cost to refill fuel cell |
|
IV StarFighter/ SpaceTransports (max 50m) |
1 kg |
50 credits |
|
V Med Space Transports (51-100m) |
10 kg |
500 credits |
|
VI CapShip (101-250m) |
100 kg |
5,000 credits |
|
VII CapShip (251-500m) |
1,000 kg (1 ton) |
50,000 credits |
|
VIII CapShip (501-1,000m) |
10,000 kg (10 tons) |
500,000 credits |
|
IX CapShip (1,000-2,500m) |
100,000 kg (100 tons) |
5,000,000 credits |
A starship has one fuel cell for every day of consumables it carries. Thus, a starship with one week of consumables (10 Galactic standard days) would have 5 fuel cells, a starship with one month of consumables (35 Galactic standard days) would have 35 fuel cells, and a starship with one year of consumables (368 Galactic standard days) would have 368 fuel cells.
A single fuel cell will provide power for any of the following:
- one jump to lightspeed
- one hour of combat, sublight travel (all-out speed), or atmospheric flight
- six hours of hyperspace travel or sublight travel (high speed)
- one day of sublight travel (cruising speed)
- one week (five days) of sublight travel (cautious speed)
- one month (35 days) while stationary or in orbit
Example 1: An X-wing (with one week of consumables) has 5 fuel cells, so it can jump to lightspeed, travel for six hours, engage in a combat raid for up to one hour, jump to lightspeed, and travel six hours to return home. This limited range is quite similar to that shown in the X-wing series of novels.
Example 2: A Venator -class Star Destroyer (with two years of consumables) has 736 fuel cells. Deploying a single Venator from Coruscant to the Outer Rim sieges during the Clone Wars requires a jump to hyperspace and an average of about 30 hours of hyperspace travel (assuming you get a decent Astrogation check result), which will empty six fuel cells (costing 30 million credits). Bringing the ship back to Coruscant would require as much fuel as remaining in orbit over a planetary battlefield for six months. This is one reason that Obi-Wan and Anakin didn't travel back to Coruscant very often during the Clone Wars -- moving a fleet of capital ships is very expensive, even for the Galactic Republic.
Starfighters can carry external drop tanks that increase their fuel capacity. One drop tank costs 1,000 credits and includes one fuel cell, and a starfighter can carry drop tanks with extra fuel equal to double their normal fuel cells.
For example, an X-wing could carry up to 15 fuel cells -- five internal and 10 external -- at a cost of 10,000 credits for the tanks. Unfortunately, drop tanks can seriously hinder the maneuverability and acceleration of the starfighter: Reduce maximum speed in space by 1 (minimum 1) and apply a -1D penalty to all Maneuvering checks for every two drop tanks carried.
Furthermore, external drop tanks make the starfighter more vulnerable to serious damage; each extra fuel cell added reduces the starfighter's effective Hull Rating by 1D. As a action, the pilot can jettison any or all drop tanks.
In addition to fuel, all starships have to periodically restock food, water, oxygen, and other mundane consumables. The cost of restocking the ship's stores is 10 credits per person per day of consumables being replaced. For example, replacing one month of consumables (35 days) for a crew of eight would cost 2,800 credits.
Recharge Rates:
In addition to the cost to simply charge the cells, if the Captain wants to charge them faster or slower, then there's an additional fee.
|
Additional Cost Per Cell |
|
|
Trickle (1Cell per day) |
-20 cr |
|
Standard (1 Cell per Hour) |
0 cr |
|
Fast (4 Cell per hour |
50 cr |
|
Emergency (20 cell per hour) |
500* |
*They're not charging the cells, they're replacing them with previously charged cells
Finally, every starship needs an occasional tune-up to continue functioning properly. The exact maintenance schedule is determined by the starship's class:
- Starfighter: Once every month or four hyperspace jumps (whichever comes first)
- Space transport/Medium Transport: Once every six months or 20 hyperspace jumps (whichever comes first)
- Capital ship: Once every two years or 100 hyperspace jumps (whichever comes first)
Maintenance cost is the same as 10 fuel cells for that starship (for example, 500 credits for a Small space transport), and it requires 8 hours of work as well as a Difficulty of 15 to Repair checks. You can skip this maintenance if necessary, but doing so adds 5 to all Repair checks for that starship for every skipped tune-up, and any failed Repair check imposes a -1D cumulative penalty to all Piloting checks. These penalties remain until the starship receives a tune-up at the higher Repair Difficulty.
to wait several days for the part (while at the same time having to dodge bounty hunters who have vowed to turn them over to a loanshark.) Have them go to starship parts yards, make deals with proprietors, check with mechanics to get the work done. As always, only use these situations when they make the game more fun and exciting---players will get bored quickly if they always have to search out a mechanic, but occasionally this type of roleplaying can be a lot of fun.
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
10% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
15% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Difficult |
20% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
35% |
Flight control includes the sublight drives and the maneuverability.
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
5% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
10% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Difficult |
15% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
25% |
*Doesn't include replacement any sensor packages other than FST and EPR, any others would need to be replaced at the normal purchase price.
Shields or other Defensive Systems
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
10% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
15% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Difficult |
20% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
35% |
When a drive or generator is destroyed, a Difficult repair roll is necessary to replace it with an identical unit and its cost is 35% of the vehicle's cost.
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
15% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
25% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Difficult |
35% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
75% |
Navigation and FTL systems are very complex and intricate systems and therefore very expensive.
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost** |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
15% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
25% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Very Difficult |
35% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
Varies |
**Cost is based on the original cost of the weapon, not on starship cost. To determine weapon's value, check out the Starship Weapons Chart below.
If a weapon is destroyed, you will need to buy another one to replace it. If you are trying to fix it, remember parts are controlled and therefore difficult to find.
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
5% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
10% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Difficult |
15% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
25% |
Life support parts are actually pretty easy to find and cheap at most Hyperspace-capable planets.
Power Systems and Damage Control
|
Damage Level |
Difficulty |
Cost |
|
Lightly Damaged |
Easy |
25% |
|
Heavily Damaged |
Moderate |
45% |
|
Severely Damaged |
Difficult |
65% |
|
Destroyed |
Replace the part (Difficult) |
80% |
Power Systems are very critical to a starship's functioning and are usually deeply embedded in a ship's structure, so it is difficult to fix and replace.
If your ship's mechanic wants to keep spare parts in case of damage, ask them what level of damage do they want to be ready for. Once the level of damage is given, look on the appropriate chart for the cost of the parts. Most parts fall under a ton. But if you aren't sure, use the cost percentage applied against the weight of a replacement part.
"It's amazing what you find on junk yard planets!" -Jim owner / operator of free traders platform
"It may look bad, but she's got it where it count's kid" -Han Solo
Modifications
Stock light freighters are built to be reliable (if uninspired) transportation. When originally sold, they are slow, difficult to maneuver, and lightly armed. Most freighter captains put a good deal of their profits back into their craft, making them faster, more agile, and tougher; the major advantage of a stock light freighter is its potential for improvement.
The player characters will certainly want to improve their ship over the course of the campaign. Ship modifications are by no means inexpensive, and paying for the improvements will almost certainly become one of the player characters' major motivations for going out and getting into as much trouble as possible.
Game masters are encouraged to give the player characters enough credits to allow them to keep improving their ship - but never as rapidly as the players would like. Make them work hard for their credits.
Ship improvements are limited by the competency of the technicians and engineers involved. The design limitations of the craft being modified and the amount of ready credits the owner has to throw into the refit.
Players may be amazed at the costs of upgrading their starships. however, players (and game masters) must remember exactly what the players are doing.
They are not merely repairing a damaged system: they are redesigning a given system to do things its designers never intended. The characters have to buy (or manufacture) custom parts, refit and reprogram computers, and do a million other things to even have a chance of getting the systems to do what they want it to do. And even then there's a good chance the whole deal may malfunction when these systems are pushed to their limits.
To get a ship to perform like the Millennium Falcon, the characters are going to have to take the chance that it may become as temperamental, too.
Modify or Replace?
For every system, the tramp freighter captain has two options: modify the existing system or replace it with a new one. Tramp freighter captains will find system replacement to be cheaper and safer in the long run, but many characters will choose to take the easy route and simply modify their current systems.
The following section describes modifications that can be made to existing systems aboard freighters. The prices listed for the modifications described below are for new parts and do not include installation costs. Characters will need fully equipped starship repair bay (rental costs tend to run around 100 credits per day with prices varying with availability).
If the characters hire someone to perform these modifications, the cost is usually between 20% -50% of the cost of the modification. Many independent repair technicians can be bargained with in order to reduce their price, but corporate technicians are usually inflexible in their pricing. If the player characters do not want to pay a licensed tech for modifications, the tech will simply walk away - there are countless other freighter captains that will pay the tech's prices.
Characters may wish to use reconditioned or used parts for their modifications and repairs - as for repair parts, these parts may cost half the price of new parts (if they are available, of course).
Sometimes a shipyard will purchase a used part from a ship after it installs a new one, but they will never offer more than 25% of the listed cost of a new part (if that). If the part is at all damaged, they will offer only salvage price for it, around 5% of the list cost.
The exact time a modification requires is entirely up to the game master, but it is suggested that the time be related to the sophistication of the work.
Repair and modification times can be cut in half if the player characters pay for overtime and/or substantial bribes (which is normally about double the normal cost for the work). Such a procedure is tremendously expensive, but if the traders need to make a quick getaway they may not have much choice.
|
Difficulty of Modification |
Suggested "Time Taken" |
|
Very Easy |
1 hour |
|
Easy |
6 hours |
|
Moderate |
1 day |
|
Difficult |
2 days |
|
Very Difficult |
1 week |
|
Heroic |
1 month |
Weight and Cargo Space Taken Up
Modified systems have one tremendous advantage over replacement systems: they do not take up extra space. In game terms, as long as the characters are modifying an existing system, the ship's cargo capacity is unaffected.
Product Liability Information
Most stock light freighters can be modified (and often are), though virtually all manufacturers' disclaimers state something along the lines of "modification of the space transport beyond its original design specifications is dangerous, unreliable and not recommended. Such modifications invalidates any and all product warranties and service contracts."
Most freighter captains ignore such warnings, and proceed to tool their ships far beyond design specs, ignoring the potential danger. Unfortunately, these warnings are not without basis; modifying a space transport too far past its original design specs can lead to catastrophic systems failure at inopportune moments.
In game terms, stock light freighters experience difficulty in direct proportion to the extent of the ship modifications; a vessel that has increased its hull strength by +1 is much less likely to suffer a catastrophic failure than a ship with a hull that has been upgraded to +1D or more. Conversely, ships with fewer modifications do not gain the benefits that heavily upgraded craft experience (at least, when the blasted contraptions actually work).
Game masters should keep track of which systems that player characters have modified and by how much. A system that has been modified experiences a malfunction if the player character is using a modified system, rolls a one on the wild die and the game master chooses to use a complication instead of just subtracting the character's highest die.
The game master should roll one die to determine how serious the malfunction is, adding modifiers as indicated under the modification rules to find out what happens.
Then, the game master should roll on the " Modified Starship Mishap Table " to see exactly what happens. Game masters are encouraged to design custom mishap tables to fit specific starships - every ship has its own "personality" (an unnerving hum whenever the hyperdrive is engaged, or a tendency to lose all fire control if the ship does some fancy maneuvering).
|
Weapon |
Fire Control |
Damage |
Cost |
Weight in Tons |
|
Light Laser Cannon |
2D |
2D |
1,500 |
2 |
|
Laser Cannon |
2D |
3D |
2,000 |
3 |
|
Dual Laser Cannon |
2D |
4D |
2,500 |
4 |
|
Heavy Laser Cannon |
2D |
5D |
3,000 |
4 |
|
Quad Laser Cannon |
3D |
6D |
4,000 |
5 |
|
Lght Blaster Cannon |
1D |
1D |
1,000 |
1 |
|
Blaster Cannon |
2D |
3D |
2,000 |
2 |
|
Turbolaser* |
3D |
7D |
9,000 |
5 |
|
Light Ion Cannon** |
1D |
2D |
1,000 |
½ |
|
Medium Ion Cannon** |
2D |
3D |
1,500 |
1 |
|
Heavy Ion Cannon** |
4D |
4D |
3,000 |
2 |
|
Proton Torp Launcher |
2D |
9D |
2,500 |
2 |
|
>>Replacement Torp |
- |
- |
800 |
- |
|
Concussion Missile |
1D |
8D |
3,500 |
3 |
|
>>Replacement Misl |
- |
- |
500 |
- |
|
Quad Turbolaser-Cap |
4D |
10D |
12,000 |
8 |
|
Mine Layer |
0D |
6D |
3,000 |
3 |
|
>>Replacement Mine |
- |
- |
1,000 |
- |
|
Point Defense Laser (cap ships only) |
4D |
4D |
3,000 |
4 |
| Concussion Mine (Seismic Charge) Deployer |
0D
|
Blast Radius (2/4/6/8)
Damage: 8D/6D/4D/2D |
7,000
|
5
|
| >>Concussion Mine Replacement |
-
|
-
|
1,700
|
-
|
| >>Replacement Space Bomb/Proton Bomb | - |
11D-13D Cap Scale |
2,000 |
|
| >>Replacement Heavy Rockets | - |
8D Cap Scale |
1,000 |
|
| >>Replacement Heavy Bombs | - |
10D Cap Scale |
1,500 |
|
| Ion Missiles / Mag Pulse Torps | 2D+1 |
Space Range: 1/3/7 Atmosphere range: 50-100/300/700 Damage: 7D (ionization damage or weapons disabled) |
3,000+ |
|
Weapon |
Fire Control |
Damage |
Cost |
Weight in Tons |
|
Maser Cannon |
3D |
5D |
10,000 |
6 |
|
MegaMaser |
2D |
7D |
20,000 |
15 |
|
AP Cannon |
3D |
8D |
15,000 |
10 |
|
Mass Drivers |
2D |
10D |
20,000 |
20 |
|
Point Singularity Projectors |
3D |
20D |
1,000,000 |
50 |
|
Plasma or Pulse Cannon (Cap Ships Only) |
2D |
7D |
8,000 |
10 |
|
Volley Laser |
4D |
6D |
4,000 |
12 |
|
EMP Cannon |
2D |
5D (damages electronics only) |
5,000 |
9 |
|
AG Mass Packets |
2D |
5D (Each successful hit, will increase manuever diff's based on dmg, speed reduce) |
10,000 |
14 |
|
Lightning Array |
2D |
5D/7D/9D |
15,000 |
20 |
|
Chromatic Pulse Driver |
2D |
5D (add +3 for every round weapon charged before firing. ) |
10,000 |
10 |
|
Magma Gun |
3D |
8D (plasma) |
4,000 |
8 |
|
Hyper Graviton Blaster |
3D |
5D (Add spare pips to dmg while subtracting space, armor is bypassed) |
8,000 |
20 |
|
Tri-Optic Pulsar |
1D |
7D (armor bypassed) |
7,000 |
12 |
|
Hyperplasma Cutter |
2D |
10D (plasma) |
8,000 |
12 |
|
Weapon |
Fire Control |
Damage |
Cost |
Weight in Tons |
|
Triple Blaster |
1D |
2D+2 |
1,000 |
1 |
|
Large Bore Projectile Cannons |
1D |
6D |
2,000 |
5 |
|
Percussion Repeater Cannons |
1D |
5D |
3,000 |
6 |
|
Atomic Compression Bombs |
2D |
10D |
4,000 |
10 |
|
Antimatter Pods |
1D |
8D |
3,000 |
5 |
|
Matter Cannon |
2D |
10D (every 3 rds) |
5,000 |
20 |
|
Static Ion Field Dischargers |
1D |
4D (4km) |
500 |
2 |
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Additional Sensor Packages Hyper-Spectral Imager (HSI): 1,000 cr Inverse Synthetic Aperture (ISA): 500 cr Moving Target Indicator (MTI): 550 cr Phased-Array Sensors (PAS): 800 cr Suicide Switch: 1,000 cr Crystal Gravfield Traps (CGT): 10,000 cr Dedicated energy receptors (DER): 700 cr Hyperwave Signal Interceptors (HSI): 5,000 cr Towed Sensor Array (TSA): 8,000 cr
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Countermeasures Communications Jammer (CJ): 4,000 cr Optical Shield ( OSH ): 6,000 cr Cloaking Device (CLK): Priceless False Target Generator (FTG): 8,000 cr
Special Terrain Following Sensor Suite (TFS): 1 ton, 10,000 cr, 4D piloting; 15,000 cr, 5D piloting
Stealth Gear Sensor Baffling: Sensor countermeasure coating, 20,000cr per starship scale Hull dice, ignoring pips; 50,000cr per capital ship scale Hull dice, ignoring pips. 1 coat = 1D versus sensor rolls, 2 coat =2D. Max of two coats. Sensor Mask: electromagnetic/holographic transmitters to blend the ship with surrounding space background. 150, 000cr per Hull die, starship scale, 300,000cr per Hull die, capital scale. When activated, adds 2D to defend from enemy sensor roll, maximum of 3D. Sensor Decoys, Jammers, and Baffled Drives
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