Starships.pdf

Xo*

David Eckelb

Sclence Flctlon Rolcplaglng Gome

illiar

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Chapter 1

- =

Remember that spaceships. like guns

or high-tech gear, are just tools and

props for the Gamemaster and players

to advance a fun story. While they may

be some of the coolest gadgets in sci-

ence fiction roleDlwina. don't let them

This chapter presents a collection 0

rules that address the use of space-

ships and starships in your campaign.

They deal with subjects as varied as

special tactics, new methods of FTL

travel. and how ships perform r-51

unusual circumstances-incluc

when they suffer damage.

Starships begs for an active reade1

and an active player.

STVLE

The firstquestion that comes to mind

when you bring spaceships into your

game sessions is how you and your

players will use them. What role will

spaceships fill in your campaign?

Ships can take on any number of

roles in your campaign setting. They

can be titans of military strength. pio-

neers in the field of discovery. or risky

endeavors into the fields of venture

capital. These represent just a few of

the options you have before you as

you consider what purpose or purpos-

es ships will perform in your cam-

paign. Of course. off-stageand off-

camera they may fulfill many more

roles than you explore with heroes. But

what matters most is how you inte-

grate them into your campaign model.

While this accessory can't hope to

consider every campaign model that

you may use, a few of the more com-

mon ones bear some consideration.

. - ".

become the sole subject of your game.

In other words, spaceships can make

fine stages for action-but they can't

replace the necessary actions of

heroes. around which all stories

revolve.

The most likely sources of inspira-

tion for how to use spaceships lie in

science fiction universes of paper and

celluloid with which you're already

familiar.Books and movies have prob-

ably helped to create the setting you

play in, and they'll have something to

say about how you use ships in your

campaign. It's difficult to contemplate

an exploration-based style without

thinkina of the classic series Star Trek.

With so many varied topics. most of

the sections in this chapter can be

considered independently of one

another. This means that the

Gamemaster can choose to apply cer-

tain rules while ignoring others. It's

your game, after all. and even a clev-

erly-written rule may not add anything

to the fun of your game session.

Finally, you can use a pick-and-choose

method to slowly introduce your play-

ers to all the diversity that spaceships

have to offer.

Begin with a simple reading of the

chapter. Consider making a few notes

in the margin about something you'd

like to expand on, underlining a few

important sections you like, or even

striking through something you don't

want to use. More than any accessory

that has been released for the game,

The epic battles of Star Wars suggest

many useful implications of how to

integrate the actions of heroes into a

military model. Pick up just about any

SF book or movie that features a

spaceship. and you'll find a starting

point of how to integrate them.

A Historical

Perspective

That said,thinking about some of the

analogues to space travel that human

histoxy already contains can provide

additional ways of thinking about how

to add ships to your game. (It might be

interesting to consider other species'

history too, hut that information still

proves difficult to come by at present.)

Interested in a story that revolves

around exploration? Consider the dis-

covery and investigation of the New

World in the fifteenth and sixteenth

centuries. These years held many

intrepid sailors who set out to points

where mapmakers feared to tread. to

seas that said "beyond here there be

dragons!' Your heroes can sail on the

futuristicdescendant of Columbus'

' ..

SYSTEMS OF

1 A

1= tearless or the desperate.

Following history's path, after the

explorers come the protitsen. The New

World proved hslntible to men meek-

ing gold, men willing to exploit or even

exterminate native populaces. While

your campaign may not have such dark

consequences, it

voyagers make their journey by

choice or by force will alw shape how

they view the spaceships on which

they travel.

Still other, more

Sunfa Maria or Magellan's ?kinidad.

Thi. mcdd can work especially well

for a campaign

PLAY

In which exploration

and etarship. are still in their infancy,

a anky prospsd dared only by the

modem times may

have something to add. For a military

campaign. conaider the rugged

After determining the style you wlll

use. you must consider how you and

your players will roleplay

act of

controlling starship. in your cam-

paign. When It comes to actually

using spcrceships and starships during

your game, you have a fewdecitaions

to make. The GamsmasferGuide

the

B-52

bomber, home to several crewmen.

Their stations of pilot. navigator, radio

operator, bombardier, and gunner

could easily mimic those of a twenty-

fourth-century wanhip.

The

same

pres-

ents two reasonable, middle-of-the-

road options for representing ship

movement. eapecially as it reganin

ship-to-ship interaction: narrative

combat and visual combat.

In the next mction, a brief discus-

sion of these two systems highlights

their differences, and why a player

might choore one over the other. In

addition, the section presents three

new systems for representing space-

ship Interactions:

still hold many

similarities to historical events.

may

rugged heroism that circulate

concerning the crew of

tales

the Memphis

of legends your

matter the erathe themes

of dealing

with 1.u advanced sentient tapecise

and with new resources on foreign

worlds under the light

Belle could be the sort

IL-)

own heroes spawn.

Even more recently, the culture of

19%

have something to

say about the future. Imagine a time in

which starships are as common as

automobile&and possess all

America

alien stars

hold untold adventures. Your heroes'

spaceship cun take part In such a dol-

lmdriven call into the unlolown. or it

could

may

of the

magical symbolism of the hot rods and

cool riders of this time. It's all about

having the fastest. hottest ride in the

galaxy.. .maybe even with fins.

History holds many other models

that you con follow for using starships.

Consider the state of

pari of a government attempt

to ensure that the eyes

)usticsextend

to those on distant shores.

Naturally, with profiteers &ng

wealth and raw reaources back to

more civiliwd regions. some will seek

to make a profit on the

3-D vector combat,

action combat, and off-stage combat.

Thew represent different points

on the

spectrum of realism. providing

Gamemmters with a number of

options for this facet of the game.

Depending on the circumstancda.

you may want to use one system dur-

ing one encounter, then another system

later on. There'e nothing wrong wiih

that, as

others.

Varioullycalled pirates or privateers,

the morallty of thew sailors varied

dramatically, yet their influence on

popular memory outlmted the three

centuries when they were most active.

Fortunaiely forwould-be pirate ships.

the frontierof space is limitless. and

the opportunities

tranrportcltion

work of

or during the

great dayof locomotive dominance in

America, and how you could adapt

these to an era of space travel.

Whether you chwee to take inspira-

tion

afterthe fall of

Rome,

from

one of the ideas mentioned

your playen can adapt

to the change. For example, you may

decide to quickly pass through a akir-

mlsh between two mutships wlth the

mivesystem. mer,when a pair of

comeltes and a few space fightera

engage in a more serious battle, you

could use a more pdse sysiem.

long an

up with your own. the impor.

tant thing is that you

or come

how

society deals with spaceships on a

regular bash.

thus endless.

Mer, the colonist. followed the

profiteers. All ~orts

consider

of models-

English. Spanish, and French me

or .

Spacerhips

k mined for ideas about

how to use spaceships and how well

the colonlnts get along with native

populations.

mind-can

Starwhipm?

Throughoutthe introduction to this

product, the

Narrative tombac

The ncmotive system is the simpler of

the two standard 0pti0~. With broad

categorleB

The colony tapece.hip

idea wuld provide especially interest-

ing stories, with a setting defined by

the ship's outer hull for months or even

years. Even an drive capable of ten

times the sped of light would demand

long months of tmvel. In this model.

the ship provides a stage on which the

Gamemaster cantell many stories

History alw holds another variant

of this concept: the pilgrimage. The

progress of pllgrims from one land to

another-auch as the exodus of Jews

from Egypt, the homesteading wag-

oneers heading west to California, or

the trail of Native Amsricas forced to

march from Georgia to Oklahoma-

may germinate idea8 for your own

spaceborne caravan on a journey to a

new home. BatfleatarQaJacUco

explored such an Idea. Whether the

terms have bean used

almost interchangeably. Generally

"spaceships"refen to ships of an inter-

planetmy natum-shipa that can trav-

el between the Earth, Mar& and even

Neptune, but can't as a practical mat.

ter reach Alpha Cent&. The typical

PL 6 vessel ln a spaceship.

Stmshlps. on the other hand.

two

of movement broken down

of whether to break, om.

hold, or clone, your herws can give the

Gamemaater a good wnae of what

they wish to accomplish.At the same

time. you won't be encumbred by any-

thing more than your imagination.

The narrative system shows its

weakness when players begin to ask

about positional relatloluhip.

between ship. that they can take

advantage

the choice

have

some means of traveling between the

stam. ?tpically. this 1s an FlX

engine

that

manages to break or

drcumvent the barrier of light speed.

In the average campaign. a stamhip is

at lecnt PL 7 technology.

hapitothe title of thin accessozy, it

contains Infonnatlonaugmenting both

kinds of vessels.

somehow

or when the

Gamemaster has difficulty tracking

the movements of multiple ships in his

or her memory. It maken

of,

pretenn

about ignoring the gmticulara of

three-dimensional movement in space,

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