Starship Deck Plans for Hopper Alternates (Star Smuggler)

I came up with three alternates for Ship's Boats. One is a completely new product, an Orbiter, which takes up 50 CU inside a 60 CU cargo bay. It really not a good choice for the Antelope, but it can be done.

The Orbiter is roughly 25% bigger than a Hopper Ship's Boat. It is able to carry a skimmer. This ship is big enough to provide it's own Life Support just like a Starship. Even though it has enough cargo space for guns, there is no way to mount them due to the wing configuration. It is always unarmed.

The second ship is a regular sized Hopper, but reconfigured for longer trips. It does not provide Life Support, so some cargo will have to be used for that.

The third ship is called an Interceptor, because... well, it's an interceptor. It has integrated guns. They can be upgraded or downgraded, but never removed. It has a dedicated space for Fuel and Life Support Units. These spaces can't be used for other things, just like the gun space.

Each and every one of these ships have the ability to break out of gravity wells. See r214b. The Orbiter must use it's cargo for fuel to escape, while the other two ships can do it with just their fuel tanks. The Orbiter has a max power of 15, the Fast Boat has a rating or 16 and the Interceptor has a rating of 20.

In order to boost to a speed of 20, the Interceptor must purchase external fuel tanks on the planet is is leaving. Each tank holds just enough fuel to break orbit from that planet and are jettisoned on take-off. These tanks can be purchased for standard price 500 each and are available from ground based areas which offer offer Hypercharges (eg. e025). These tanks are extraordinarily dangerous and can only be stored on a planet or on a military vessel, like a carrier. They are never available at space stations.

All three of these items can be purchased or sold from e034 or e035. They can never be found in the Ruins.

Prices are:

Orbiter, e034. 1800 secs. base price. e035 is 2400 secs.
Fast Boat, e034. 1000 secs. base price. e035 is 1500 secs.
Interceptor, e034. 2500 secs. base price. e035 is 5000 secs.

Starship Deck Plans for Antelope Alternates (Star Smuggler)

A few weeks ago, I brainstormed an Antelope-class starship alternate. I inked out a Buffalo-class starship. I really didn't like how it looked, but did like some of the ideas.

Last night, I busted out the Wacom Tablet and gave it another go. It turns out I am really not good with either Inkscape or a Wacom Tablet and had to resort to mouse and keyboard. However, the results were nice. I came up with one new design I call a Blockade Buster, which is designed to fight and fly. It is more than twice the size of an Antelope-class starship and has a couple of different options for cargo and ship's boats.

First, the ship. The Antelope-class has 126 CU of space. The Blockage Buster has 256 CU of carrying capacity, but some of it is limited. The Boat Bay, Cargo Bay 1 and turrets are identical to those of the the Antelope-class.

However, the Blockade Buster has two turrets. Engineering, and Pilotage is twice the size of the Antelope's. There is a Bay for an orbiter, which is a larger shuttle that can carry a skimmer. The Cargo Bay 2 is specifically designed for consumables. It can hold one skimmer and has 36 racks for any type of consumable unit, such as Life Support, Repair or Fuel. In the corner is space for 4 Utility Suits. There is a locker for weapons near the officer's quarters. On the opposite side of the ship is a large suite of rooms for crew quarters. The Blockade Runner holds 12 hypercharges.

Special Rules for this ship: There are no hidden storage places. Cargo Bay 2 cannot be reconfigured to hold other items, the racks are a part of the hull. The ship has no installed Stasis Units. This ship has 12 hits.

If you would like to incorporate this into Star Smuggler, I have pricing and other information here to mix into e001 and e036.

Next post, we'll look at the Alternate Hopper Class Boats. I will also post some generic deck plans for any game system.

Strictly (Duke) Springer - Day 032

Today is Feb 1st. It makes me wonder what sort of calendar they had in mind for this game. Not important. It’s day 32, records day and shopping day because I plan of trouble in the next few weeks. 

Let’s look at the ship first. The non-cargo hold areas are: 

Crew Quarters: 16 CU, reduced to zero by the Stasis Units. These 8 Stasis Units hold a total of 8 people. That is my max crew. I have two more crew slots here. The pilotage holds one 2 CU Stasis Unit. It can hold two people at a time, but there is no reason to do that. There are two crew slots here. The turret holds a 2 CU Stasis Unit, which means only one person can sit here. There are no slots available. Engineering holds a 2 CU unit, which takes 3 CU of space. That area is down to 3 CU of storage. 

A ship with a lot more space.

As I mentioned, my current crew is 7. My max crew size is now 13 or 14, but one of those people won’t have stasis protection. So, 13 then. 

I need a boat and more RU, LSU and FU. I’ll get more chances for these things at the Spaceport, so off we go. 

I get an 11, 10, 8 and 5 by mid-day. That is a pilot/navigator, an engineer or gunner, U-suits or RU and a ship’s boat. I pass on the crew people and take 10 RU, 8 U-suits and the ship’s boat. The suits were 15 each, a premium, but I don’t want to waste anymore time, so I pay it. That’s 1030 secs. 

In the next series of rolls, I manage to get both LSU and Fuel Units, so I buy 10 of each. That is another 20 secs. spent. 1050 secs. total. 

I also want to distribute gear. Duke, Emily, Lefty, and Deadeye get a heavy sidearm each and a regular sidearm. Ratchet gets a regular sidearm. Everyone gets a u-suit and PS-bot. This is a record keeping nightmare as all of my characters are now storing items in the hold because of those blasted stasis units.

Damn. I forgot to buy hypercharges.  

1 Antelope starship, which I owe 118,300 secs. in principle.

1 Hopper with boat guns, TL-1. 

1 set of boats guns, TL-3. 

2 CU Status unit in Cockpit and Engineering, 8 1 CU Status units in Crew Quarters and 1 1 CU unit in Gunnery. 

10 Fuel Units (in Ship’s Boat). 

12 Repair units,

14 Life Support Units,

1 U-bot,

7 PS-bots, 1 per character,

6 Heavy Hand Weapons for sale, 4 for characters use, 

205 Side Arms for sale,

13 U-suits, 7 for the crew, 5 for sale.  

and the ship is fueled with 3 hypercharges. 

I have 5,031 secs. left over. 

February Freeze - Star Smuggler - The One About The Crew

Ok, we've run through 31 days of game play with Star Smuggler and the crew as appeared very infrequently. So, let's talk about them.

In order of appearance, they are Duke Springer, Emily, Ratchet, Doc, Left and Deadeye. Each character has a "class" or set of abilities. Let's focus on the "pure" NPC characters, then I will touch on Duke.

Emily - Captain's Heir

Emily is a Pilot/Navigator. She can fly the ship, drive a skimmer and fire a side arm. She can defend herself in hand to hand combat, but will avoid it. She cannot make repairs or fire the ship's guns. She can operate the ship's radio, which is a distinction between "the ship's necessary crew" and "crew that happen to ride on a spaceship".  Should she die, a payment of 200 secs. will be made to her family.

Emily - Pilot/Navigator
Marksmanship: 4
Hand-to-hand: 4
Endurance: 4

Equipment: Sidearm, TL-1; Heavy Side Arm, TL-1; U-Suit, TL-1; PS-bot, TL-1.
Money: 80 secs.
Salary: 15 a week, due to working in a Status Field generator.
Deathpay: 200 secs.

A note on equipment is important. Whatever Duke gives to his crew becomes their personal property. Emily can and will take this if she leaves the crew. Her money cannot be counted towards the Duke's pool of cash. 

I added a rule for this online play through, Emily is the designated heir to Duke, she will receive the ship if he dies and continue on. I have also added a second house rule, if Duke is offered something at a price that an NPC can afford, they may purchase their own stuff. Say a heavy hand weapon, tech level 5, verses the standard side arm, tech level 1 that Duke gave her. It's more paperwork, but reasonable.  

Ratchet - Ship's Engineer

Ratchet is an engineer. He can perform repairs and preventive maintenance. He can drive a skimmer, fire a sidearm and can engage in hand-to-hand combat, but avoids any combat he can. He can operate the ship's radio, which is a distinction between "the ship's necessary crew" and "crew that happen to ride on a spaceship" Should he die, a payment of 80 secs. will be made to his family.

9 times out of 10, they shouldn't travel with Duke because they can get killed up.

Ratchet - Engineer
Marksmanship: 5
Hand-to-hand: 3
Endurance: 4

Equipment: Sidearm, TL-1; U-Suit, TL-1; PS-bot, TL-1.
Money: 75 secs.
Salary: 15 a week.
Deathpay: 120 secs.

More notes on the characters. Almost all characters will have two values for salary listed, one if their workspace is covered by a Stasis Field, and one without that protection. I figure the NPCs are being paid so little that there is no point and role playing renegotiated salaries based on the addition or loss of that stasis field . Duke provides things to them and will want to restore broken items his ship and make improvements. If that benefits the crew, so be it. 

Engineer's repair and preventive maintenance require a day of rest or RRR to do. If you use anything over T-1, you are either adventuring every other day, or taking a risk. Maintenance adds a bonus to breakdown rolls, it doesn't eliminate them. This is hard to track and the game doesn't say what happens if you maintain something then place it in storage. I assume that the bonus is "sticky" and is only used up when the item is actually used. Stuff does not breakdown until the end of the day. 

Doc - Ship's Doctor

Doc can patch people up and not much else. He cannot drive, operate a weapon or use the ship's radio. Did I mention, all he does is heal people.

Doc - Medic
Marksmanship: 0
Hand-to-hand: 1
Endurance: 3

Equipment: U-Suit, TL-1; PS-bot, TL-1.
Money: 40 secs.
Salary: 10 a week.
Deathpay: 80 secs.

Medics are cheap, they don't receive a sign on bonus nor much in death pay. I don't like that, because they are invaluable. They can't shoot and will avoid hand-to-hand combat. 

These guys can patch you up should you get hurt. 9 times out of 10, they shouldn't travel with Duke, because they can get shot up. In all cases, it is better to bring a PS bot with you. They can't be hurt and can instantly save a life. 

Bones - Ship's Medic

Doc can patch people up and not much else. Like Doc, she cannot drive, operate a weapon or use the ship's radio.

Bones - Medic
Marksmanship: 0
Hand-to-hand: 1
Endurance: 6

Equipment: U-Suit, TL-1; PS-bot, TL-1.
Money: 20 secs.
Salary: 10 a week.
Deathpay: 80 secs.

Medics are cheap, they don't receive a sign on bonus nor much in death pay. I don't like that, because they are invaluable. They can't shoot and will avoid hand-to-hand combat. 

These guys can patch you up should you get hurt. 9 times out of 10, they shouldn't travel with Duke, because they can get shot up. In all cases, it is better to bring a PS bot with you. They can't be hurt and can instantly save a life. 

Lefty - Gunner's Mate

Lefty is one of two gunners I have on the ship. Gunners are in my opinion better than bodyguards and should be hired in pairs. They have the exact same stats as a bodyguard, but can fire the ship's guns, boat guns and skimmer guns in addition to side arms. They cost more, but can do far more.

Lefty - Gunner's Mate
Marksmanship: 6
Hand-to-hand: 2
Endurance: 4

Equipment: Sidearm, TL-1; Heavy Side Arm, TL-1; U-Suit, TL-1; PS-bot, TL-1.
Money: 40 secs.
Salary: 15 a week.
Deathpay: 100 secs.

Deadeye - Gunner's Mate

Except for stats, Deadeye is a clone of Lefty.

Deadeye - Gunner's Mate
Marksmanship: 5
Hand-to-hand: 1
Endurance: 5

Equipment: Sidearm, TL-1; Heavy Side Arm, TL-1; U-Suit, TL-1; PS-bot, TL-1.
Money: 40 secs.
Salary: 15 a week.
Deathpay: 100 secs.

The TEK - January 2020 Stats

Despite having a massive update to Kobold's Folly and The Compass Rose Inn Minisetting, sales and downloads were bad. However, as a bright spot, up to 250 people potentially received brand new files this month. One thing that probably hurt me was the fact that I replaced ads for my own products with DriveThruRPG's charity bundles for the wildfires down under. They need it more than I do. 

January 2020 Downloads via DriveThruRPG:
AD&D Character Sheet For Use with Unearthed Arcana - 1
Compass Rose Inn Minisetting - 3
Kobold Folly Minisetting - 5
Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners - 3
Swashbucklers Character Class - 6

Webstats were much better.

Webstats (Updated):
Google Analytics Pageviews - 1,608
Google Analytics Sessions - 1,034
Pageviews per Session - 1.56

Pageviews were up by 19.55% over last month. That's amazing.

What did I do last month? I started a daily post format for Strictly (Duke) Springer, a play through of Dwarfstar's Star Smuggler solo game. I implemented different ads, which doesn't seem to be working as intended. I also joined minds.com which is another outlet for communication. Earlier this month, feedmegames.com folded. So, I lost one and gained one.

You would think that the code used for my ads would attract bots, and you may be right. However, I can't see them in my statistics. I was looking for a sudden and unexplained uptick in visitors from off signal countries like China or Russia, but that hasn't happened, for which I am grateful.

What is on the agenda for February? Not much. Fewer but better ads. I would like continue working with Matt Jackson on his Collaborative Dungeon Project. My D&D campaign has been on hiatus due to me returning to school this semester. I expect to be back on it soon enough, but maybe not before February ends.