Ship Qualities
Qualities are add-ons to ships that allow for a specialized or broader array of jobs that the ship is suited for.
General Qualities
Advanced Research Lab (-1) A lab suitable for investigating alien xenolife, planetary geology, esoteric technology, and other mysteries of the cosmos. The lab contains cold sleep pods adequate to contain alien samples, viro-shielded research cells, high-energy lasers, and other requisite tools.
Advanced Nav Computer (-1) An upgraded nav computer with a limited AI that assists with the calculations for transitioning into the Plane of Positive Energy and back again when the ship has reached it's destination.
Amphibious Operation (-1) Submerged ships cannot be detected with conventional planetary traffic sensors and require military sonar and naval sensors to fix their position, resources often unavailable on less developed worlds. So long as the ship stays away from military naval craft and bases, it is almost impossible to track while submerged.
Armory (-1) Rather than maintaining lengthy lists of ship equipment, a captain can simply buy an armory. There is enough gear available to outfit the entire crew for normal use, but giving it away or losing it in use may deplete it.
Boarding Tubes (-1) Armored tubes equipped with laser cutter apertures can be used to forcibly invade a hostile ship, provided the target’s engines have been disabled. Ships without boarding tubes have to send invaders across empty space to either make an assault on a doubtless heavily-guarded airlock or cut their way in through the hull with laser cutters and half an hour of work.
Cargo Space (-1) The ship is designed with cargo space to carry goods and items. When in transit these spaces are often sealed so that a ship's life support doesn't have to work so hard, meaning any container transporting a living organism would be indivigually powered.
Cold Sleep Pods (-1) These stasis pods can keep a subject alive for centuries provided that the ship’s power doesn’t fail. Each installation allows for keeping a number of people equal to the ship’s maximum crew in stasis indefinitely.
Colony Core (-2) The ship has been designed to act as the core of a future settlement. Once this fitting is engaged, the ship ceases to be operational as a starship, and builds out into a set of habitats, hydroponic gardens, fusion plants, and living spaces sufficient to support up to five times its maximum crew, including enough fabrication and workshop facilities to keep the settlement operational under normal conditions. The settlement can be a deep-space hab, orbital installation, or planetary settlement. In the latter case, the ship must land to form the settlement. Once activated, a colony core cannot be re-packed.
Drive Upgrade (-1) The ship has undergone retrofitting to improve it's drive out put and increase it's thruster speeds, making it faster.
Hanger Bay (-1) The ship has a hangar capable of carrying ships three or more Size categories smaller than it. For example, a Colossal ship can have a Hangar Bay able to carry ships up to Large size. The Hangar Bay has all of the necessary equipment for maintenance on the ships it can contain.
Hidden Compartments (-1) The ship has hidden compartments designed for smuggling or otherwise concealing cargo from inspections or borders.
Hydroponic Production (-1) Some ships are designed to produce food and air supplies for the crew. Selecting hydroponic production allows for the indefinite supply of a number of crewmen equal to the ship’s maximum crew. This option may be taken multiple times for farm ships, in which case each additional selection doubles the number of people the ship can support.
Improved Stores (-1) The ship is capable of stocking supplies for extended travel for its crew and a number of passengers equal to half its optimal crew listing.
Luxury Amenities (-1) The ship has especially fine or luxurious accommodations including acceleration couches, a fully stocked bar and galley, exercise facilities, and more, adding 1000cr to the cost to maintain the ship. The crew can eliminate the increase to cost by losing this quality.
Maneuverable (-1) The ship is fast and maneuverable, considered one Size category smaller than its actual Size for tests to change range, to evade attacks, and for chases. This usually amounts to a +1 bonus to those tests. Highly Maneuverable (-1) The ship is effectively two Size categories smaller.
Medical AI System (-1) The ship’s medical facilities include a medical artificial intelligence system—also known as an “autodoc”—able to provide treatment like a trained character with the Cunning (Medicine) focus with a +2 bonus. It can diagnose conditions, dispense pharmaceuticals from drug-banks, and provide other treatments, along with issuing instructions to human crew members on how to provide treatments it cannot, such as setting a broken bone or relocating a joint. Advanced Medical AI System (-1/-5) Your ship has an advanced autodoc, granting an additional +1 bonus, to a maximum of +5
Self-Destruct System (-1) The ship has an onboard system that can be programmed to drop the containment on the ship’s Lyrium Drive, causing an explosion that annihilates the ship and anything on board. The self-destruct can be set on a countdown or a dead-man’s switch that activates automatically when a control is pressed or released.
Sensor Qualities
Advanced Sensor Package (-1) The ship’s sensor package and associated software are upgraded, providing a +1 increase in the ship's Sensors score. Advanced Sensor Package (-1/-6) Your ship has an advanced sensor suite, granting an additional +1 bonus, to a maximum of +6 The Sensors score usually maxes out at 6, unless the GM chooses to make an exception.
Defense Qualities
Hull Plating (-1) The ship has a +1 bonus when determining its Hull total against damage (see Hull Total under Ship Combat). A ship can have this quality multiple times, at an additional -1 build point each time.
Stealth (-2) The ship has an light-absorbing surface coating and powerful internal heat-sinks. While the ship is at rest, with its drive inactive and using only passive sensors, it is effectively invisible and undetectable to ship sensors.
Weapon Qualities
Grapplers (-1) Although not a weapons system as such, military ships—and pirates even more so—use magnetic grapplers to attach to a target ship and pull in close enough for a boarding action. Grapplers, electromagnetic pads on long tow-cables, are also fired to grab and reel in nearby objects.
Point Defense Cannons (-1) Point defense cannons (or PDCs for short) are rotary Gatling-style guns firing streams of Teflon-coated tungsten slugs. They are the most common ship-mounted weapons, primarily intended as a defensive measure to shoot down incoming attacks or to destroy micro-meteors or other debris that might pose a threat to the ship. PDC's do 2d6 damage. The ship has a bank of PDCs to cover the ship’s forward arc, roughly 180 degrees from the amidships forward. PDC Network (-1) Additional gun banks provide PDCs to covers all angles around the ship.
Laser Cannons (-1) Laser cannons are turret mounted, powerful light based weapons. Laser cannons are used as both offensive and defensive weaponry. Originally designed to target and slag floating debris in a ship's path. Unlike Plasma cannons laser based weapons don't lose as much power over distance and are medium range weapons. While the beam of the laser itself is invisible, a colored targeting beam is typically added to assist in visual targeting. Laser Cannons do 2d6 damage. The ship has a set of forward facing laser cannons. Aft Laser Cannons (-1) Your ship has and additional, rear facing set of laser cannons, allowing you to fire at ships behind you.
Rail Gun (-1) The ship must be at least Medium-sized. Rail guns are useful out to Medium Range, after which their shots are easy to evade. A rail gun attack can only be made against a target in the gun’s firing arc, either in front of or behind the ship (for spinal-mounted rail guns) or along one side of the ship (for turret-mounted rail guns). A rail gun hit does 3d6 damage. Each additional railgun costs -1 build points.
Plasma Cannon (-2) The ship must be at least Medium-sized. This spinally mounted cannon (usually along the underbelly of the ship) use miniaturized Jump Drive technology to pierce the Plane of Positive Energy and allow it to bleed into our plane through the weapon's barrel. When the positive energy meets the material of out plane an enormously powerful beam of pure plasmatic energy erupts from the weapon. The miniaturized Planar syphon can malfunction and fail catastrophically without warning if not well maintained. A catastrophic failure results in an explosion of pure energy that sublimates all matter for a hundred foot radius. They deal 3d6+4 damage on a successful hit. On a Snake Eyes roll, the weapon fails catastrophically. A character onboard can make a Technology (Repair) test vs. TN 11. One a success the uncontrolled energy release is harmlessly discharged, resulting in the weapon being destroyed but no damage done to the ship. On a failure, the plasma cannon explodes, dealing 2d6 damage to the ship.
Torpedo Launcher (-1) The ship must be at least Medium-sized to mount a single torpedo launcher. Each additional Size category adds capacity for one launcher (two at Large, three at Huge, and so on), each one costing -1 build points. Plasma Torpedoes (-1) Requires: Torpedo Launcher. The ship is equipped with plasma torpedoes, designed to burn through hulls and inflict focused damage. The torpedo does 1 die less damage, but the targeted ship also reduces its Hull score by one category against it.