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Overhauls. Besides refueling, atomic engines must be overhauled regularly by an engineer. To determine how much time the overhaul takes, roll a number of d10s equal to the engineer's skill level. Subtract the result of this roll from 60 hours. The difference is the number of hours needed to overhaul the engine.
EXAMPLE: A level 3 starship engineer needs to overhaul a starship's engine. The player rolls 3d10 and gets 15. Subtracting 15 from 60 hours determines that overhauling the engine will take 45 hours.
The Atomic Drive Information Table lists the number of trips each type of atomic engine can make between overhauls.
Multiple Engines. If more than one atomic engine on a ship needs either refueling or overhauling, each must be worked on separately. For example, if only one engineer is aboard a twin-engine ship that needs both overhauling and refueling, that engineer must perform four operations consecutively. This could take several weeks.
Skipping Overhauls. If an atomic engine is not overhauled on schedule and the ship tries to make an interstellar jump, there is a 60% chance the engine will fuse itself into a worthless lump of iron. If a second jump is made, this risk increases to 80%. A third jump cannot be made, and an attempt will automatically ruin the engines. If there is an engineer on board, he has a chance to realize that the engines are about to become
fused. This chance is equal to his Logic score plus 10% x his engineering skill level. A successful roll means the engineer can shut down the engines before they are ruined. However, no further acceleration will be possible until the engines are overhauled.
Drive Programs
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Capacity. A spaceship or space station cannot have more creatures living in it than its life support system will sustain. If for some reason (rescued castaways, stowaways, etc.) a ship has more creatures on board than its LS system can handle, a backup life support system will be engaged. If the ship has no backup, or if the backup's capacity is exceeded, each creature aboard the ship will lose one stamina point per hour, due to
shortage of air.
Obviously, the ship must reach a source of air quickly or its occupants will begin to suffocate. If a creature reaches 0 stamina points, it dies. When enough creatures have died to bring the number of occupants down to the LS capacity, no more stamina points will be lost. At that point, surviving individuals will regain stamina points at the rate of 1 per hour.
Several things can be done to protect passengers in an over-loaded ship. Characters that are placed in freeze fields require no life support while the field is operating. If spacesuits are available, persons can put them on and use the suit's life support instead of draining the ship's systems. Spacesuits are a short-term solution at best.
Backup Life Support Systems
Any ship that has a little extra space can carry up to three backup life support systems. There are two advantages to this.
First, a backup LS system makes it safe for a ship to carry more passengers than the main life support system can handle. It is not hard to imagine any number of situations where a backup Life Support system could save many lives.
Second, a ship with a backup life support system can keep functioning normally if its primary LS system malfunctions or is sabotaged. A disastrous fire, however, will knock out all LS systems because it impairs the computer's ability to control the ship. Losing LS during combat has no effect, because everyone will be wearing spacesuits. The system must be repaired as quickly as possible after the battle, however.
COMPUTERS
All of the rules in the STAR FRONTIERS Expanded Game rule book apply to computers on spaceships. All of the new programs introduced here can be used with any computer large enough to handle the program's function points, whether on a spaceship, station or planet.
As explained in the STAR FRONTIERS rules, each program is sold with the circuitry needed to make it work. In addition, a special spaceship Control Panel is needed. This panel links the drive, life support, astrogation and other essential programs into an easily controlled master panel for the pilot. A master control panel costs 100 Credits.
The computer control panel, containing at least the speech and warning programs, will be located on the bridge or in the cockpit of a spaceship. The rest of the computer apparatus can be installed near the control panel, if space is available, or tucked away in the ship wherever room can be found for it.
Other programs that can be added are listed below, with a brief description of their functions.
Alarm. This program will cause lights to flash, dials to flicker or even sirens to wail if a programed system on the ship begins to malfunction. The program must contain at least one level for each of the ship's engines, with a maximum level of six. (Ships with seven or eight engines may use a 6th level program.)
Computer Lockout. A computer lockout program is designed to prevent unauthorized characters from operating a spaceship's controls. The lockout is a series of codewords which usually are committed to memory, although a written record of the codewords is sometimes left with a ship's first mate, in case the captain meets an unexpected and sudden demise. A lockout program must be of the same level as the ship's computer, A computer expert can get past the lockout by "Defeating Security" or "Bypassing Security."
Damage Control. This program coordinates the crew's and computer's efforts to repair damage that has been inflicted upon a ship. This program allows the ship to use its full DCR; ships without this program can use only half of their DCR. As with the alarm program, it requires one level for each of the ship's engines.
The cost of outfitting anagriculture spaceship is determined by multiplying the base cost of the materials needed to grow and tend the crops by the ship's hull size. The hull, drives, life support and other required systems must be purchased normally.
The Agricultural Supplies Table lists each ingredient that is necessary to start an agriculture ship's crops. Each ingredient is followed by a price; that price must be multiplied by the ship's hull size to determine its actual cost.
AGRICULTURE SUPPLIES TABLE
ItemCost (x Hull Size)Seeds500 CrNutrient Solution1,000 CrFarming Robot3,000 CrSolar Collectors4,000 CrFarming Robots. One farming robot is required for each hull point of the agriculture ship. These level 3 maintenance robots need some supervision. This can be provided by a level 4 or higher Robotics expert on board the ship, or by a robot brain which can be purchased for 17,000 Cr. If a robot brain is
installed on an ag ship, crops can be grown and harvested on schedule without any supervision from living characters.
Growing Schedules. A crop will grow and be ready for harvest after one month. As explained under Spaceship Design, this crop will feed 200 creatures per hull point of the Ag ship for one month. If the owner of the ship puts 10% of his crop back into the "fields," however, he can start growing a new crop without buying additional seeds or nutrients.
Ag Stations. Agriculture space stations are basically the same as Ag ships, with one difference: the cost of each ingredient is multiplied by 10 x the station's hull size. For example, the nutrient solution needed to farm a 10 hull point ship costs (10 x 1,000 =) 10,000 Cr, while the solution for a Type 5 space station costs (5 x 10 x 1,000 =) 50,000 Cr.
Agriculture Programs
An agriculture program regulates the temperature, light and water in the hydroponics tanks of an Ag ship. The Ag program is simply a modified Life Support program of level 1, with 3 function points.
If a robot brain is used to supervise the farming robots, however, a level 6 robot management program is required. This program uses 64 function points, so it costs 64,000 Cr.
FREIGHT TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT
Freight transport is one of the most basic functions of a spaceship, requiring very little specialized equipment. All that is needed is the space in or on the ship, and some mechanical arms for loading and unloading cargo.
Obviously, the space comes with the ship's hull, so the arms are the only additional expense. Each freight hauler will have one or two of these installed in the hold. The bigger the ship, the bigger the arms. The cost of an arm is 1,000 Cr x the ship's hull size. The decision whether to install one or two of them is up to the player designing the ship.
A standard cargo in boxes, crates, bales or any type of bundles can be unloaded by a mechanical arm at the rate of one hull point of cargo per hour. For example, a ship with a hull size of 16 could be unloaded by a single arm in 16 hours. Two arms can accomplish the task in half as much time.
An arm can be either manually operated by a technician, or furnished with a level 2, 4 function point cargo handling program that will accomplish the job automatically.
PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION EQUIPMENT
A successful passenger transporting business requires more than just the fundamentals of life support for the individuals being transported. As explained in the STAR FRONTIERS Expanded Rules (page 49), passengers may travel either First, Journey or Storage Class. Each class has different equipment requirements.
First Class Accommodations
First class passengers expect the best food and the roomiest cabins. For this reason, the amount of life support required by first class passengers is double the amount listed under Life Support Equipment.
A first class cabin must be at least 6 meters square; it can be larger at the ship designer's option. A company may charge higher prices for a larger cabin. Use the ticket prices listed in the STAR FRONTIERS rules as a general guide; they can be modified at the Referee's discretion. The section on Spaceship Deck Plans gives information on how many cabins can be installed on a single deck. Furnishings (beds, chairs, etc.) for each first class cabin cost 2,000 Cr.
Lifeboats or escape pods are required for all first class passengers. Furthermore, these escape devices must be placed on the same deck as the first class cabins. If more than one deck is used for first class, then each deck must have enough escape devices for all of the first class passengers on it.
The cargo space set aside for the luggage of first class passengers must cover at least half as much area as the first class cabins. The hold does not need to be on the same deck as the cabins.
Journey Class Accommodations
Journey class passengers are not paying for the luxurious treatment of first class, so their accommodations are much more "primitive." The amount of life support given to journey class travelers is the standard amount listed under Life Support Equipment.
A journey class cabin must be at least 4 meters square, although occasionally they are as big as 4 by 6 meters. Of course, a larger cabin can be more expensive. The furnishings required for each journey class cabin cost 1,000 Cr.
The only emergency equipment required for journey class passengers is a spacesuit for each passenger. A spaceliner can carry lifeboats or escape pods for these passengers as well, but this is purely the owning company's option. Ship's that carry additional rescue equipment will mention this fact
prominently in their advertising.
The hold space set aside for the luggage of journey class passengers must cover at least one-fourth as much area as the journey class cabins. As with all luggage holds, this need not be on the same deck as the cabins.
Storage Class
Passengers carried in Storage Class require no life support, since they are "frozen" before they are loaded onto the ship. This freezing can be done at any spaceliner terminal, which includes most space stations. The process is completely safe, and it involves no risk or loss of abilities to the frozen character.
Once frozen, storage class passengers are stacked in special berths. One meter of cargo space in the hold is sufficient luggage space for three storage class passengers.
EXPLORATION EQUIPMENT
Very little specialized equipment is used on exploratory missions. Generally, an exploration ship will carry extra supplies of food, water and air, and enough fuel to keep it running for a long time.
The two specialized devices that usually are carried by exploratory missions allow the crew of an exploration ship to analyze planets from a safe distance. The atmoprobe reports on the gaseous makeup of a planet's atmosphere, and a landing drone will send back information about a planet's surface.
Atmoprobes
Atmoprobes are 3-meter-long missile-like objects. An exploration ship can carry one atmoprobe for each point of the ship's hull size. The probe can be launched from anywhere inside a star system and programed to seek out a specific planet or other body. It will travel at 10 million km per hour until it reaches its target.
When the atmoprobe reaches its destination, it will go into orbit around the planet and gradually drop toward the surface. As it enters the atmosphere, it will send back messages to the ship that launched it. After a few dozen orbits (several hours), the probe will burn up in the atmosphere. If the planet has no atmosphere, the probe will crash into the surface.
An environmental specialist aboard the exploration ship has the same chance of analyzing the data from the atmoprobe as he would of analyzing a reading on his vaporscanner: 50% + 10% per skill level. Only a character with environmental skill can interpret the findings of an atmoprobe.
An atmoprobe costs 40,000 Cr. A level 2, 4 function point computer program also must be purchased for each atmoprobe. A guidance/analysis program (level 3, 9 function points) must be used on the ship launching the probes. The program on the ship can be used with any number of atmoprobes.
Landing Drones
Landing drones are more sophisticated than atmoprobes. A drone is about the size of an aircar. It is launched and travels just like an atmoprobe.
When a drone reaches its destination, it slowly descends through the atmosphere (if there is any) and makes a soft landing on the planet's surface. As it descends, it sends reports aboutthe planet's atmosphere to the ship that launched it. When it lands it begins sending geological information as well.
An environmental specialist is needed to interpret the data from a landing drone. This is resolved as if the specialist was using a vaporscanner and a geoscanner. Because of the sophisticated lab equipment in a landing drone, however, the environmental specialist gets a bonus of +10 to each roll.
A drone costs 100,000 Cr, and must be purchased at a Class I or II spaceship construction center. It requires a level 3, 9 function point computer program in order to accomplish its mission. The same guidance/analysis program that directs atmoprobes from an exploration ship can be used to guide and control a landing drone.
A landing drone can be reused if the exploration ship travels to the planet the drone is on, lands on the planet, and remounts the drone. Remounting takes 20 hours, divided by the number of characters helping. Robots can help remount a drone, as long as at least one character is present for each robot.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH EQUIPMENT
The equipment needed to outfit a scientific research ship will vary according to the type of research the ship is performing. In many cases, the Referee will need to invent this equipment and assign costs to it. The items listed below are fairly standard, and might be found on any ship that is designed for scientific purposes.
Laboratory
A laboratory for testing samples is very likely to be carried on a research ship. A ship's lab is able to analyze biological, atmospheric and geological samples, much like an environmental specialist's toolkit. Because the lab is much more sophisticated than a portable toolkit, an environmentalist has a better chance of making an accurate analysis. This chance is 90% + 1% per skill level.
A laboratory costs 100,000 Cr. It also requires a level 3, 9 function point computer program to assist in analyses.
Remote Probes
Probes are often used to examine areas that would be fatal to living creatures, such as the atmosphere of a star or the interior of a highly radioactive cloud. Probes used in research are more sophisticated than those used in exploration.
A probe will send data back to the launching ship, including information on gasses, temperature, radiation, nuclear activity, wave lengths of light, gravitational effects and other potentially interesting or dangerous phenomena. Details about the "other" category are left to the Referee's discretion.
Information relayed by a probe must be analyzed by an environmental specialist. The instruments in the probe allow the specialist to add 10% to his "Analyzing Samples" roll. Gas analysis is discussed in the STAR FRONTIERS rule book, page 16. Information from all of the other areas can be analyzed following the same procedure.
If an analysis roll misses by less than 20, the environmentalist realizes that the probe did not send back useful data. If the roll misses by 20 or more, the Referee should give the specialist information that is false. This might mean reporting that the temperature of a very hot world is tolerable, that a radioactive region is safe, or that an area with little gravity would crush a character that landed there. Note that each analysis (temperature, radiation, gas, etc.) is rolled for separately. Thus, a probe could give accurate information about several things, but be
way off base in another category.
A remote probe costs 100,000 Cr. It requires a level 2, 4 function point computer program to coordinate the analysis and relaying of data. The standard program used in a laboratory can be used to process and categorize the information sent to the ship from the probe.
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