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rferries
2018-09-17, 03:07 PM
I’ve recently browsed the Starfinder Wiki for Pathfinder, and found myself a bit inspired. Here’s an alternate take on starships, more in line with 3.5 mechanics and hopefully slightly more intuitive in that respect.

Table of Contents
1. Abstractions, Table: Starship Size & Statistics
2. Creating A Starship (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23392574&postcount=2)
3. New Feats: Non-[Starship] Feats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23392585&postcount=3)
4. New Feats: [Starship] Feats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23392587&postcount=4)

Abstractions & Subsystem Rules
More so than even regular D&D, starship rules involve abstractions. Here are some things to keep in mind for this subsystem.

Starship Acquisition
A starship is a fabulously expensive item, effectively priceless. It is assumed that the starship gained from the Starship Captain feat was gifted, granted command of, commandeered, inherited, salvaged, crafted, or otherwise obtained without needing to pay for it.

Similarly, whenever a starship gains levels or feats, it is assumed that the ship was either upgraded or traded for a new vessel at no cost.

Ability Scores
A starship’s ability scores function similarly (but not identically) to those of player characters.

Charisma: This ability is generally useful only for starships with the Artificial Intelligence feat, and even then only for Charisma-based skill checks.

Constitution: This ability reflects a starship’s physical mass and power supply for the purpose of resisting attacks (e.g. hit points and temporary hit points from the Shield Generator feat, etc). Starships are constructs with Constitution scores; they heal naturally each day so long as they have at least one crew member aboard to make repairs.

Dexterity: This ability reflects a starship’s agility in combat and the accuracy of its weaponry (e.g. Maneuver and Stealth checks, ranged attack rolls, etc.).

Strength: This ability also reflects a starship’s physical mass and power supply, but for the purpose of making attacks (e.g. ram attempts, grappling attempts from the Tractor Beam feat, weapon attacks from the Capital Ship feat, etc.).

Wisdom: This ability reflects the accuracy of a starship’s sensors and the insight of its Artificial Intelligence, if any (e.g Sensor checks, Sense Motive checks, etc.).

Intelligence: This ability reflects the breadth and depth of a starships’s inherent programming and databanks (i.e. skill points, Knowledge and Craft checks, etc.). Note that a starship may unlock an Intelligence score from the Computer Core feat, but is not truly intelligent unless it also has the Artificial Intelligence feat. Starships gain skill points even if they are mindless.

Ranges, Sizes, and Speeds
Starship encounters use three different ranges (see below), similar to those used by spellcasters. These ranges apply to a starship’s sensors, attacks, and certain other abilities. Note that depending on the scale of the campaign and the DM’s imagination, the units of these ranges might represent 5-foot spaces, cubic light-years, or anything in-between (or beyond!).

Close: 25 units + 5 units per 2 Hit Dice of the starship.

Medium: 100 units +10 units per Hit Dice of the starship.

Long: 400 units + 40 units per Hit Dice of the starship.

A similar abstraction applies to the relative speed and size of a starship e.g. a Fine starship might be a one-person fighter, a microscopic drone, a luxurious space-yacht (that is still merely the smallest class of starship available in that setting), and so forth. Starships rarely engage in melee (and even then, only when using the ram special attack), so their precise dimensions are not mechanically relevant. If necessary it can be assumed that a Medium starship occupies 1 unit space, doubling/halving that space for every step that a starship is larger/smaller than Medium.

For the aforementioned reasons, no minimum or maximum crew complement is given for starships. A starship can hold an arbitrary number of creatures, subject to GM approval.

Starships & Player Characters
As described above, starships and player characters generally operate on vastly different scales. They should rarely (if ever) come into direct combat against each other – starships are generally treated as invulnerable to the attacks of player characters, but similarly are incapable of attacking individual non-starship creatures.

Instead, creatures aboard starships command their starship in combat. However, during an encounter (and with the GM's permission, and the aid of teleport spells or the Transporters feat) it may be possible for a party to board an enemy starship to usurp control.

Autonomy and Allowed Actions
Starships without the Artificial Intelligence feat are incapable of acting independently – they instead act at the behest of their captain and crews. They cannot take actions or use feats or skills unless commanded to by a friendly creature.

Furthermore, starships generally operate far outside the normal scale of adventures. They can move, attack, and perform any other actions described in this subsystem, but are obviously incapable of most traditional actions (e.g. drinking potions, making trip attempts, etc.).

Incorporating Items
It is possible to incorporate certain magic items into a starship. A party may permanently forfeit such an item to grant its benefits to their starship, typically whenever the starship is docked for repairs. Any number of items may be incorporated but bonuses overlap (do not stack).

A periapt of wisdom may be incorporated into any starship.

An amulet of natural armour may be incorporated into a starship with a bone, dragonscale, or ironwood hull (see the Improved Hull feat).

A cloak or resistance and/or ring of protection may be incorporated into a starship with the Shield Generator feat.

A headband of intellect may be incorporated into a starship with the Computer Core feat.

A cloak of charisma may be incorporated into a starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat.

Other items might be incorporated, subject to GM approval.

Skills
Starship skills differ from character skills in their applications. A starship cannot use any skill other than those listed here or under certain [Starship] feats, and unless otherwise specified can make skill checks only at the behest of its captain or crew. Again, note that starships gain skill points even if they are mindless.

Bluff (Cha)
During a starship encounter, a starship captain or a starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat may use this skill to feint in combat (before a ram attack), create a diversion (to allow a Stealth check even while being observed), or to send a secret transmission (as a player character might send a secret message).

Diplomacy (Cha)
At the start of a starship encounter, a starship captain or a starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat may use this skill to bolster crew morale as a free action. The starship and its crew gains a +1 morale bonus on attacks, saves, and skill checks for every 10 points of the check, lasting for the remainder of the encounter. This is an abstraction (and so overcomes the standard construct immunity to morale effects).

Intimidate (Cha)
At the start of a starship encounter, a starship captain or a starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat may use this skill to demoralise the crews of enemy starships as a free action. The check is opposed by each enemy starship independently, and gains a +4 size bonus (or -4 size penalty) for each size category an opposing starship is smaller (or larger) than the initiating starship. On a successful check, an enemy starship (and its crew) suffers a -1 morale penalty on attacks, saves, and skill checks for every 10 points of the check, lasting for 1d4 rounds. This is an abstraction (and so overcomes the standard construct immunity to morale effects).

Maneuver (Dex)
This skill is used for any challenge that would thematically require a Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Jump, Ride, Swim, or Tumble check. For example, navigating through an asteroid field, escaping a tractor beam, “swimming” through the atmosphere of a planet or the gravity field of a singularity, or moving between enemy ships without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Perform (oratory) (Cha)
A starship captain or a starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat may use this skill exactly as described for Diplomacy (see above).

Sensors (Wis)
This skill is used for any challenge that would thematically require Listen, Search, Spot, or Survival checks. For example, detecting a cloaked enemy, scanning an area of space in detail, following the energy-signature “tracks” of a starship, or finding habitable planets at which to make repairs and collect provisions.

Sense Motive (Wis)
During a starship encounter, a starship captain or a starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat can use this skill to oppose Bluff checks (see above), as normal.

Stealth (Dex)
This skill is used for any challenge that would thematically require Disguise, Hide or Move Silently checks. For example, mimicking the sensor profile of another starship, “muting” one’s energy emissions, or hiding in a nebula to avoid detection by another starship.

Table: Starship Size & Statistics
Many of a starship’s statistics vary according to its size, as shown below.



Size
Str
Dex
Con
AC
Size
Grapple
Stealth
Ram
Speed
REC (%)


Fine
-10
+8
-2
+0
+8
-16
+16
4d4
60 (perfect)
90


Diminutive
-10
+6
-2
+0
+4
-12
+12
6d4
50 (good)
80


Tiny
-8
+4
-2
+0
+2
-8
+8
6d6
40 (good)
70


Small
-4
+2
-2
+0
+1
-4
+4
8d6
30 (good)
60


Medium
+0
+0
+0
+0
+0
+0
+0
8d8
30 (average)
50


Large
+8
-2
+4
+2
-1
+4
-4
10d8
30 (poor)
40


Huge
+16
-4
+8
+5
-2
+8
-8
10d10
20 (poor)
30


Gargantuan
+24
-4
+12
+9
-4
+12
-12
12d10
20 (poor)
20


Colossal
+32
-4
+16
+14
-8
+16
-16
12d12
10 (clumsy)
10



Str/Dex/Con: Apply these adjustments to a starship’s physical ability scores.

AC: Apply this as an armour bonus to the starship’s armour class. Starships with a bone, dragonscale, or ironwood hull (see the Improved Hull feat) gain this bonus as a natural armour bonus instead.

Size: Apply this as a size bonus (or penalty) to the starship’s attack rolls, Armour Class, and Maneuver checks.

Grapple: Apply this as a size bonus (or penalty) to the starship’s grapple rolls (see the Tractor Beam feat).

Stealth: Apply this as a size bonus (or penalty) to the starship’s Stealth checks.

Ram: A starship deals the indicated damage during a ram attack.

Speed: This is the starship’s fly speed (in the aforementioned abstract units) and maneuverability. Note that a starship in a vacuum cannot simply choose to fall (except towards a nearby significant source of gravity), and moves up and down at its normal speed (rather than half or double, respectively).

REC (Random Encounter Chance): Although smaller starships are more agile, they lack the sustained engine power of larger starships and take correspondingly longer to get to their destinations, resulting in random encounters when travelling. These random encounters are in addition to any encounters (random or otherwise) determined by the GM.

rferries
2018-09-25, 09:59 AM
Creating A Starship
A starship is the ultimate vessel, capable of traversing the depths of space between worlds. It may be as small as a one-person fighter or as large as a dreadnought with a crew of hundreds of thousands – the exact shape and layout are determined when the ship is first crafted.

A starship is typically programmed to understand Common and any bonus languages it gains from its Intelligence bonus (even mindless starships retain these bonus languages), and any languages it learns through the Speak Language skill.

Size & Type
A starship is a construct creature of a size determined by its captain.

A starship with the [Divine Aegis] feat gains either the [Evil] or the [Good] subtype.

Hit Dice
A starship’s Hit Dice are equal to its captain’s character level.

Constructs have Constitution scores (they do not gain bonus hit points according to their size).

Initiative
A starship uses its own initiative or the initiative of its captain (while she is aboard), whichever is better.

Speed
A starship has a fly speed and maneuverability that varies according to its size (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics).

Armour Class
A starship has an armour bonus that varies according to its size (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics).

Attacks & Damage
As a construct, a starship has a base attack bonus equal to three-quarters of its Hit Dice.

A starship may make ram attacks (see Special Attacks) but has no other attacks of its own. Instead, it gains attacks through various [Starship] feats (see New Feats).

A starship’s grapple modifier is used only for the Tractor Beam feat (see New Feats).

Special Attacks
A starship possesses the following special attack, plus any it gains from [Starship] feats.

Ram (Ex)
As a full-round action a starship may move in a straight line up to Close range, ramming into any starships in its path. A ram attack deals bludgeoning damage according to the starship’s size (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) + 1½ times its Strength modifier.

Rammed starships can attempt attacks of opportunity, but these take a -4 penalty. If they do not make attacks of opportunity, rammed opponents can attempt Reflex saves (DC 10 + ½ ramming starship’s Hit Dice + ramming ship’s Strength modifier) to take half damage.

Rammed starships deal damage to the ramming starship according to their own size (but not including their Strength modifier, and only half damage if they succeeded on their own Reflex save). Damage dealt by and to starships during a ram attack ignores hardness.

Once a starship has made a ram attack, it may not make another for 1d4 rounds. A starship need not actually attack another starship during a ram (it may simply make a ram attack as a way to move quickly).

Special Qualities
A starship possesses all of the following special qualities, plus any it gains from [Starship] feats.

Comms (Su)
Starships (and creatures aboard them) may communicate with each other through audiovisual transmissions out to Long range. This does not allow communication if there is no common language, though a starship with the appropriate Speak Language skills may serve as a translator even if it mindless.

Construct Traits (Ex)
Starships have construct traits (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#constructType).

Escape Pods (Ex)
If a starship is destroyed its captain and crew can flee in escape pods, suffering random encounters and sidequests at the GM’s option (assuming the pods are not captured or destroyed by the victorious enemy starship). A captain that loses her starship gains a new one the next time she gains a level.

Hardness (Ex)
A starship has hardness 10. Energy damage and damage from ranged weapons is not halved or quartered before applying this hardness. Do not apply this hardness against force damage or damage from ram attacks.

Life-Support (Ex)
A starship provides the basic short-term necessities for supporting most living beings (air, light, warmth, gravity, etc.). It does not supply food, drink, or sleeping areas. Creatures that sleep aboard a starship are fatigued the next day.

Sensors (Su)
A starship may make Sensor checks to observe things out to Long range.

Saves
As a construct, a starship has Poor Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves.

Abilities
A starship’s ability scores are determined as for a normal player character (e.g. 32 point-buy etc.) and adjusted according to its size (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics).

A starship without the Computer Core feat loses its Intelligence score, but still gains feats and skill points (and may still make Intelligence-based skill checks at the direction of another character).

A starship without the Artificial Intelligence feat has a Charisma score of 1 and cannot make Charisma-based skill checks.

Skills
As a construct, a starship has skill points = 2 + Intelligence modifier per Hit Die (minimum 1, with quadruple skill points at first level). Its class skills are Maneuver, Sensors, and Stealth, plus any it acquires through various [Starship] feats.

A starship can use the Aid Another action to assist friendly creatures aboard it with skill checks.

Feats
Starships are highly restricted in the feats they may select.

A starship may select [Starship] feats and any of the following feats: Dodge, Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude, Hover, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, or Wingover.

A starship with the Artificial Intelligence feat may select the Improved Initiative, Negotiator or Persuasive feats.

A starship may select Skill Focus for any of its class skills (Maneverability, Sensors, Stealth, or any class skill it has gained through a [Starship] feat).

At the GM’s option, a starship may gain a single bonus [Starship] feat at 1st level, or may even gain bonus [Starship] feats using the same progression by which a fighter gains fighter bonus feats.

rferries
2018-09-25, 10:03 AM
New Feats: Non-[Starship] Feats
These feats are designed for player characters in a starship-based campaign. At the GM’s option their prerequisites might be waived or they might even be granted as bonus feats.

Replicant
Although you are organic and appear fully human, you are in fact a bioengineered android.

Prerequisites
Human, must be selected at first level.

Benefits
Choose one of the specialisations listed below. You gain the associated ability score adjustments.



[B]Specialisation

Ability Adjustments


Academic
+2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity


Commercial
+2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution


Martial
+2 Constitution, +2 Strength, -2 Wisdom



You treated as both a human and a construct, whichever would be less advantageous for you at the time.

Special
You may select this feat up to twice at character creation, choosing two different specialisations. Its effects stack.

It is sometimes possible to discern your true nature (even if you are unaware of it yourself). A special test administered by a trained investigator (DC 30 Sense Motive check while speaking to you) reveals your inhuman psychology. A Spot check (DC 30) in dim lighting reveals your eyes reflect a characteristic beautiful (yet inhuman) inner light.

Starship Captain [Fighter]
You are the captain of your very own starship.

Prerequisites
Character level 6th, Charisma 12.

Benefits
You are the captain of a starship of Medium or smaller size. The starship’s Hit Dice is always equal to your character level; whenever you gain a level you may upgrade your starship or even trade it in for an entirely new one of an appropriate level.

At 9th level and every three levels thereafter you may instead select a starship one size category larger (to a maximum of Colossal at character level 18th).

Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Perform (oratory), and Sense Motive are always considered class skills for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in those skills when you select this feat.

You gain two extra skill points per level (with quadruple skill points at first level). These skill points may only be spent on the above skills.

Special
A fighter may select Starship Captain as one of his bonus fighter feats.

If your starship is particularly large, it assumed that you and your allies are still able to operate it (whether through redundant control systems, a loyal crew of followers as if from the Leadership feat, or other means).

Starship Upgrades [Fighter]
You have purchased, devised, salvaged, or otherwise obtained upgrades for your starship.

Prerequisites
Starship Captain (or allied with a character with Starship Captain).

Benefits
Choose two [Starship] feats for which your starship would otherwise qualify. Your starship gains them both.

A fighter may select Starship Upgrades as one of his bonus fighter feats.

Medical Officer
You are a healer serving aboard a starship.

Prerequisites
Starship Captain (or allied with a character with Starship Captain), Wis 12.

Benefits
Heal is always considered a class skill for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

You gain a +2 competence bonus on Heal checks and a +2 enhancement bonus to your caster level when casting Conjuration (Healing) and Necromancy spells. These bonuses increase to +5 while you are aboard a friendly starship, or to +10 while you are aboard a friendly starship with the Sickbay feat.

While you are aboard a friendly starship with the Sickbay feat, you may revive dead creatures as if by raise dead by making a successful Heal check (DC 30). Such creatures suffer no level or Constitution loss but may not have been dead for more than 24 hours before being raised.

Chief Engineer
You are a miracle-working artificer serving aboard a starship.

Prerequisites
Starship Captain (or allied with a character with Starship Captain), Int 12.

Benefits
Craft, Disable Device, Open Lock, Search, and Use Magic Device are always considered class skills for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in those skills when you select this feat.

You gain two extra skill points per level (with quadruple skill points at first level). These skill points may only be spent on the above skills.

Once per starship encounter you may make a level check (1d20 + your character level) as an immediate action. You may substitute this check for a single attack roll, saving throw, or skill check (Maneuver, Sensors, or Stealth only) made by your starship during that encounter. Alternatively, you may heal your starship for hit points equal to the check result, granting any excess healing as temporary hit points that last until the end of the encounter. You may do this at any time - even rerolling a failed roll or even if your starship is about to be destroyed by damage (hopefully preventing that destruction).

While you are aboard a friendly starship with the Engineering Room feat, you may participate in the creation of magic items. While you are participating, you may substitute your character level for your caster level and you may ignore all crafting prerequisites other than time, gp costs, and XP costs.

Starship Navigator
You are the pilot and guide of a starship.

Prerequisites
Starship Captain (or allied with a character with Starship Captain), Dex 12.

Benefits
Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Search, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Tumble are always considered class skills for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in those skills when you select this feat.

You gain two extra skill points per level (with quadruple skill points at first level). These skill points may only be spent on the above skills.

You may substitute your Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Jump, Ride, Swim, or Tumble checks for your starship’s Maneuver checks.

You may substitute your Hide or Move Silently checks for your starship’s Stealth checks.

You may substitute your Listen, Search, Spot, or Survival checks for your starship’s Sensors checks.

While travelling aboard a starship, your chance of an additional random encounter (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) is halved (minimum 5%).

Science Officer
You are the chief scientist aboard a starship.

Prerequisites
Starship Captain (or allied with a character with Starship Captain), Int 12.

Benefits
Decipher Script, Knowledge (all skills), and Spellcraft are always considered class skills for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in those skills when you select this feat.

You gain two extra skill points per level (with quadruple skill points at first level). These skill points may only be spent on the above skills.


Tactical Officer [Fighter]
You are the chief warrior aboard a starship.

Prerequisites
Starship Captain (or allied with a character with Starship Captain), Str 12.

Benefits
Intimidate and Sense Motive are always considered class skills for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in those skills when you select this feat.

You gain two extra skill points per level (with quadruple skill points at first level). These skill points may only be spent on the above skills.

While you are aboard a friendly starship, it may use your base attack bonus on attack rolls and grapple checks in place of its own, and you may make Intimidate and Sense Motive checks in place of your captain.

Special
A fighter may select Tactical Officer as a fighter bonus feat.

rferries
2018-09-25, 10:05 AM
Starship Feats
These feats may only be selected by starships.

Armoured Hull [Starship]
Your hull is particularly durable.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Your armour bonus (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) increases by +8.

Capital Ship [Starship]
You size makes your weaponry is brutally effective.

Prerequisites
Starship, Strength 12, Starship Weaponry or Tractor Beam, size Large or larger.

Benefits
You may use either your Strength modifier or your Dexterity modifier (whichever is greater) on ranged attack rolls.

Comm Array [Starship]
Your communications system is particularly advanced, capable of reaching across deep space..

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Gather Information is always considered a class skill for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

You gain a +10 competence bonus on Gather Information checks. This bonus increases to +20 at character level 5th and to +30 at character level 9th.

Your Comms special quality allows communication even beyond Long range; such communication is limited to short messages by distortion from the interstellar depths. Treat this as the ability to use sending once per day. At the GM’s option, replies may be delayed by hours or even days.

Special
If you possess the Replicators feat, you can produce small communicator devices for your crew. These devices allow them to contact you and each other through your Coms ability even while they are not aboard you.

Computer Core [Starship]
You possess a functional onboard computer.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
You gain the Intelligence score determined for you at your creation (which may cause you to gain or lose skill points).

Your base Will save increases to equal one-half your Hit Dice + 2.

Special
You are still effectively mindless; your Intelligence score is useful only for determining bonus skill points and Intelligence-based skill checks.

Database [Starship]
You have an extensive database.

Prerequisites
Starship, Computer Core.

Benefits
Knowledge (all skills) is always considered a class skill for you and you may attempt Knowledge checks untrained. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

Universal Translator [Starship]
You allow free communication between your crew and all other lifeforms.

Prerequisites
Starship, Computer Core, Database.

Benefits
Speak Language is always considered a class skill for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

You gain 10 bonus skill points, an additional 10 at 5th level, and 10 more at 9th level (for a total of 30). You may only spend these skill points in Speak Language.

All friendly creatures aboard you or communicating through your Comms special ability understand all languages you know, as if by tongues.

Improved Computer Core [Starship]
Your computer core is highly advanced.

Prerequisites
Starship, Computer Core.

Benefits
You gain +2 Intelligence, gaining skill points retroactively.

If you possess the Artificial Intelligence feat, you also gain +2 Charisma.

Special
A starship may select Improved Computer Core multiple times. Its effects stack.

Artificial Intelligence [Starship]
You possess a functioning personality.

Prerequisites
Starship, Computer Core.

Benefits
You gain the Charisma score determined for you at your creation.

Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive are always considered class skills for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in those skills when you select this feat. You may use those skills in combat (e.g. to feint or to demoralise an enemy starship and its crew) or on behalf of your captain in unconventional circumstances (e.g. during a peace conference held aboard you).

You are autonomous and may make skill checks or otherwise operate without needing explicit guidance from your captain or crew.

Special
You have a soul, and gain an alignment matching that of your captain - which may bring your loyalty into question. At the DM’s option you may be subject to soul bind and similar magic, or might even be a valid target for raise dead and similar spells.

Cloaking Device [Starship]
You possess a functioning cloaking device and can thereby shroud yourself from detection.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
As a standard action you may activate your cloaking device, gaining a +10 enhancement bonus to Stealth checks. While cloaked you may make Stealth checks even if you are currently being observed by another starship.

You may remain cloaked indefinitely. While cloaked outside of combat, your chance of additional random encounters (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) is halved (to a minimum of 5%).

While cloaked you cannot attack and the benefits of the Shield Generator feat are suppressed.

You may decloak as a move action.

Docking Bay [Starship]
You have a hangar for carrying and launching smaller starships.

Prerequisites
Starship, size Diminutive or larger.

Benefits
You can carry smaller starships - shuttles, fighters, or even larger ships depending on your size (see below). You may carry any valid combination of sizes as well (e.g. 1 starship two sizes smaller than yourself and 2 starships three sizes smaller than yourself).



Starship Size (relative to you)

Maximum # of Starships



Same size or larger
0


1 size smaller
1


2 sizes smaller
2


3 sizes smaller
4


4 sizes smaller
8


5 sizes smaller
16


6 sizes smaller
32


7 sizes smaller
64


8 sizes smaller
128



This feat does not grant you actual starships (barring the GM’s permission); merely the capacity to carry them. Your captain and crew must gain these other starships independently.

Evasive Maneuvers [Starship]
You can better evade starship weapons.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Your base Reflex save increases to one-half your Hit Dice +2.

Improved Evasive Maneuvers [Starship]
You can dodge even the deadliest and most accurate starship weaponry.

Prerequisites
Starship, Evasive Maneuvers, size Small or smaller.

Benefits
Whenever you succeed on a Reflex save against a starship weapon (including ram attacks) that deals half damage on a successful save, you ignore the effects of the starship weapon entirely.

Enchanted [Starship]
You have been imbued with powerful magic.

Prerequisites
Starship, character level 3rd.

Benefits
All your weapons (including your ram special attack) gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls (per die of damage) and are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

You gain a +1 enhancement bonus to your Armour Class and damage reduction 5/magic. This damage reduction only applies against ram attempts and physical weapons (typically the natural weapons of space-faring monsters).

Special
You may select Enchanted multiple times. Its effects stack.

Divine Aegis [Starship]
You are blessed (or cursed) by the gods themselves.

Prerequisites
Starship, Enchanted, character level 6th, good-aligned or evil-aligned captain.

Benefits
If your captain is good-aligned, you and all friendly creatures aboard you gain the benefits of protection from evil. You gain the [Good] subtype and your damage reduction is now only overcome by evil-aligned weapons. Your weapons (including your ram special attack) are treated as good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

If your captain is evil-aligned, you and all friendly creatures aboard you gain the benefits of protection from good. You gain the [Evil] subtype and your damage reduction is now only overcome by good-aligned weapons. Your weapons (including your ram special attack) are treated as evil-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Engineering Room [Starship]
You possess a fully-equipped engineering bay.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Craft (all skills) is always considered a class skill for you and you may attempt Craft checks untrained. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

You may duplicate the effects of fabricate once per day as a spell-like ability (caster level = your character level), using either your own ranks in Craft or those of a friendly creature aboard you.

At the end of every encounter, you regain hit points as though you had rested for a night.

Habitation Deck [Starship]
Creatures can live and work can live more or less comfortably aboard you.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Profession (all skills) is always considered a class skill for you and you may attempt Profession checks untrained. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

You have living quarters aboard you (of a level of comfort permitted by your GM). Creatures that sleep aboard you are not fatigued the next day.

Special
Any Profession checks you make either reflect the work of NPCs living aboard you, or are used to grant the Aid Another action to friendly creatures aboard you.

Entertainment Facilities [Starship]
You have holographic arenas, stargazing restaurants, or similar recreational areas.

Prerequisites
Starship, Habitation Deck.

Benefits
Perform (all skills) is always considered a class skill for you and you may attempt Perform checks untrained. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

You gain a +10 competence bonus on Perform checks to entertain creatures aboard you. This bonus increases to +20 at character level 5th and to +30 at character level 9th.

Replicators [Starship]
You are equipped with miraculous machines capable of conjuring up solid matter.

Prerequisites
Starship, Habitation Deck.

Benefits
You can conjure food and items (typically clothing) at will as if by create food and drink and major creation. Created matter is permanent (though food is still perishable) but generally cannot be sold, except perhaps to primitive cultures. This feat simply allows you to feed and clothe friendly creatures aboard you and provide them with minor items.

When conjuring a complex item, you may use either your own ranks in Craft or those of a friendly creature aboard you.

Transporters [Starship]
You possess a functional transporter room.

Prerequisites
Starship, Habitation Deck, Replicators.

Benefits
Once per round you may transport up to one willing creature per Hit Dice from your interior to a point within Close range, or vice versa. This ability otherwise functions as greater teleport.

You cannot transport creatures to or from a starship with the Shield Generator feat, unless the temporary hit points from that feat have already been depleted.

Normal
Without this feat your crew must land, dock with other ships, or carry shuttlecraft in order for your crew to enter and exit you (unless they have independent access to teleportation magic or somesuch).

Improved Hull [Starship]
Your hull is fashioned from a particular special material.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Choose one of the following special materials. Your hull and infrastructure is fashioned from that material, granting you the associated benefits.

Adamantine
Your hardness increases to 20 and applies during ram attacks against non-adamantine ships (whether you are ramming or rammed).

Bone
You gain cold resistance 10 (stacking with your hardness) and a +2 bonus to your Dexterity score. You regain hit points every hour rather than every day, even if you are unmanned. You are treated as an undead creature for the purpose of death ray and sunburst weapons and similar effects. Your armour bonus (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) is treated as a natural armor bonus instead.

Cold Iron
You gain spell resistance equal to your Hit Dice + 5. Unless otherwise specified this spell resistance functions against the beam and projectile weapons of other starships, as well as tractor beams (the caster level of all such attacks is equal to the attacker’s Hit Dice).

Dragonscale
Choose an energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic). You gain immunity to that energy type. You regain hit points every hour rather than every day, even if you are unmanned. Your armour bonus (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) is treated as a natural armor bonus instead.

Ironwood
You gain fire resistance 10 (stacking with your hardness) and a +2 bonus to your Dexterity score. You regain hit points every hour rather than every day, even if you are unmanned. Your armour bonus (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics) is treated as a natural armor bonus instead.

Mythril
Your hardness increases to 15 and you gain a +2 bonus to your Dexterity score.
Antimagic Field [Starship]


You can generate a field that suppresses all magic.

Prerequisites
Starship, Improved Hull (cold iron).

Benefits
As a full-round action you may activate an antimagic field out to Close range. Beam weapons, projectile weapons, cloaking devices, shields, and tractor beams within the field are suppressed. You cannot fire any of these weapons while the field is active.

Dreadnought [Starship]
You are unstoppable, even by disintegration.

Prerequisites
Starship, Improved Hull (adamantine), size Large or larger.

Benefits
Your base Fortitude save increases to equal one-half your Hit Dice +2.

Maneuvering Thrusters [Starship]
Your size belies your agility.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
During an encounter you are treated as one size smaller (to a minimum of Fine) or your actual size, whichever would be more favourable for you for a given statistic (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics, as well as Starships and Relative Sizes).

Prepare For Ramming Speed! [Starship]
Perhaps today is a good day to die!

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
The range of your ram attacks increases to Long.

You deal double damage during ram attacks. Do not multiply the damage you receive from rammed ships.

Sensor Array [Starship]
Your sensors are more powerful.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
You gain a +10 enhancement bonus on Sensor checks made within Close range.

Your weapons gain the seeking property.

Improved Sensor Array [Starship]
Your sensors have unparalleled strength.

Prerequisites
Starship, Sensor Array.

Benefits
You gain a +10 enhancement bonus on Sensor checks made within either Close or Medium range.

Your weapons gain the distance property.

Shield Generator [Starship]
You can generate a protective field of force around yourself.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
At the start of each encounter, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution bonus (minimum +1) multiplied by your Hit Dice. These hit points are lost first to damage and last only until the end of the encounter.

While you have at least temporary 1 hit point from this feat, you and your interior are protected as if by dimensional lock.

Special
You may select Shield Generator multiple times. Its effects stack.

Sickbay [Starship]
You have an onboard treatment facility.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Heal is always considered a class skill for you. Regain any cross-class skill points you have already invested in that skill when you select this feat.

Friendly creatures aboard you are always treated as having sufficient material (bandages etc) at hand to make Heal checks.

Friendly creatures aboard you gain the constant benefits of resistance and slow poison. They may recover from ability drain as though it were ability damage, and can regenerate body parts (as the spell) while receiving long-term care.

Friendly creatures aboard you may be placed into (or removed from) temporal stasis at will. Corpses stored aboard you are preserved as if by gentle repose.

Starship Weapons [Starship]
You can fire missiles, torpedoes, or similar projectile weapons.

Prerequisites
Starship, minimum character level (see below).

Benefits
You gain one of the weapons listed below for which you meet the prerequisites. You may fire that weapon as a standard action.

Beams
Beam weapons may be fired once per round. Unless otherwise specified they require a ranged attack roll to hit.

Projectiles
Projectile weapons may only be fired once every 1d4 rounds. Unless otherwise specified they do not require attack rolls; they are fired at a target space and affect all starships within Close range of that space. This makes it dangerous to fire a projectile weapon within Close range of yourself, as you will be caught in the area of effect. Affected starships are allowed a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ your Hit Dice + your Strength modifier for half damage).

Force Missiles
You fire a projectile that deals 1d4+1 points of force damage. You fire additional projectiles per round at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level; multiple projectiles may be fired at different targets but all targets should be within Close range of each other.

Energy Rays
You fire a beam that deals 4d6 points of damage of a particular energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic), chosen when you select the weapon. You fire additional beams per round at 7th and 11th level; multiple beams may be fired at different targets but all targets should be within Close range of each other.

Energy Bolt
You fire a beam that deals 1d6 points of damage per Hit Dice (maximum 10d6) of a particular energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic), chosen when you select the weapon.

Energy Burst
You fire a projectile that deals 1d6 points of damage per Hit Dice (maximum 10d6) of a particular energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic), chosen when you select the weapon.

Death Ray
You fire a beam that deals 1d8 points of negative energy damage per Hit Dice (maximum 25d8). The beam damages starships with dragonscale or ironwood hulls and heals those with bone hulls (see the Improved Hull feat), but does not otherwise harm a starship. Instead, it damages (or for undead crews, heals) all creatures aboard the starship. This is an exception to the starship-player character abstraction rules. Affected starships and creatures may make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your Hit Dice + your Strength modifier) for half damage.

If all creatures aboard a starship are slain and the starship does not possess the Artificial Intelligence feat, that ship is effectively defeated. You may board and capture it at the GM’s discretion.

Disintegration Beam
As a full-round action you fire a beam that deals 2d6 points of force damage per Hit Dice (maximum 40d6). A starship you hit with this beam may make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your Hit Dice + your Strength modifier) to instead take 4d6 points of force damage.

Sunburst
You fire a projectile that deals 6d6 points of force damage to all starships within Medium range (rather than Close range) of the target square. Starships with bone hulls (see the Improved Hull feat) instead take 1d6 points of force damage per Hit Dice (maximum 25d6), as do all undead creatures aboard starships in the blast radius. The latter is an exception to the starship-player character abstraction rules. Affected starships and creatures may make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your Hit Dice + your Strength modifier) for half damage.

Energy Swarm
You fire four projectiles that each deal 6d6 points of energy damage. The projectiles may be fired at the same or different targets.



Weapon

Minimum Hit Dice

Type

Range



Force Missiles
1
Projectile
Medium


Energy Rays
3
Beam
Close


Energy Bolt
5
Beam
Medium


Energy Burst
5
Projectile
Long


Disintegration Beam
11
Beam
Medium


Death Ray
15
Beam
Long


Sunburst
15
Projectile
Long


Energy Swarm
17
Projectile
Long



Special
You may select Starship Weaponry multiple times. Each time, you gain an additional weapon of a type you already possess or an entirely new weapon.

Charge Weapons! [Starship]
You can empower your weaponry.

Prerequisites
Starship, Starship Weapons.

Benefits
Choose a weapon you gained through the Starship Weapons feat. You may choose to fire that weapon so intensely that it deals +50% damage. Whenever you do so, you must wait 1d4 rounds before firing that weapon again.

Special
You may select Charge Weapons! multiple times, choosing a different weapon each time.



Precise Beam [Starship]
Your beam weapons have surgical precision.

Prerequisites
Starship, Starship Weapons (beam weapon).

Benefits
Choose a beam weapon you possess. You may make ranged touch attack rolls (instead of ranged attack rolls) with that weapon.

Self-Replicating Mines [Starship]
Your projectile weapons can be set to lie in wait.

Prerequisites
Starship, Habitation Deck, Replicators, Starship Weapons (projectile weapon).

Benefits
Choose a projectile weapon you possess. You may choose to fire that weapon as a mine, which does not detonate immediately upon reaching the target space. You may specify a delay of any amount of time (even “permanently”); the mine will not detonate until the specified time elapses or until a starship enters the target space. In this way, you may blanket a large area of space with such mines over time.

At your option, the mines replenish each other. Whenever a mine detonates it is replaced after 1d4x10 minutes, provided there was at least one mine of the same type in an adjacent space.

Special
If you possess the Cloaking Device feat, you may choose to have your mines cloak themselves (DC 30 Sensor check to detect them).

Tracking Projectiles [Starship]
Your projectile weapons can attempt to track enemies.

Prerequisites
Starship, Starship Weapons (projectile weapon).

Benefits
Choose a projectile weapon you possess. When you fire that weapon, you may make a ranged attack roll to hit a particular target. If successful that target is not permitted a saving throw against the weapon. If unsuccessful the weapon detonates in the target’s space as normal.

Weapon Array [Starship]
Your weapons can fire simultaneously.

Prerequisites
Starship, at least two Starship Weapons.

Benefits
Choose a weapon you possess. As a full-round action, you may fire one of your weapons plus any number of your other weapons that you have chosen for this feat.

Special
You may select Weapon Array more than once, choosing a different weapon each time.

Wide-Field Beam [Starship]
You can fire a beam weapon as a deadly spray.

Prerequisites
Starship, Starship Weapons (beam weapon).

Benefits
Choose a beam weapon you possess. When you fire that weapon, you may instead choose to fire it as a line or cone. If you do so it automatically hits all starships in the area, but allows a Reflex save for half damage (in addition to any other saves it permits).

The range of a beam weapon you fire as a cone is reduced by one step (e.g. from Long to Medium). If this would reduce its range below Close, all starships in the cone get a +4 bonus on their Reflex saving throw instead.

Tough Little Ship [Starship]
You are surprisingly durable for a starship of your size.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
During an encounter you are treated as one size larger (to a maximum of Colossal) or your actual size, whichever would be more favourable for you for a given statistic (see Table: Starship Size & Statistics as well as Starships and Relative Sizes).

Special
You are treated as being one size larger for the purpose of Capital Ship and other feats.

Tractor Beam [Starship]
You can ensnare enemy starships with a beam of pure force.

Prerequisites
Starship.

Benefits
Once per round as a free action you may make a ranged attack roll to hit a starship or object within Long range. If successful, you may automatically attempt to start a grapple with that starship without provoking an attack of opportunity. This works differently from a standard grapple, as described below.

If you succeed on the grapple check, your target cannot move for that round (though it is still free to take other actions, including attacks). You may move it up to Close range in the direction of your choice (or simply hold it immobile).

You may make another grapple check against a tractored starship each round without needing to make another ranged attack roll. A starship that succeeds on the grapple check automatically breaks free of the tractor beam.

You are not considered grappling while you have your tractor beam engaged. You are free to attack, move (bringing a towed starship with you), or take other actions without penalty.

Your target may substitute a Maneuver check for its grapple check. If it succeeds on the initial check in this way, it is assumed it was able to evade the tractor beam. If it succeeds on a subsequent check, it is assumed to have simply broken free of the beam.

Tractor Pulse
Whenever you succeed on a grapple check against a tractored starship, you may choose to hurl the starship in a straight line directly away from you, out to Long range. Doing so automatically breaks the grapple.

Special
You may select Tractor Beam more than once, gaining an additional tractor beam each time. If you hit the same target with more than one tractor beam, you gain a +4 bonus on grapple checks against that target for each engaged tractor beam beyond the first.

You may also use this feat to tractor friendly or helpless starships, unattended objects up to Colossal size, or even spacefaring monsters.

If you possess the Docking Bay feat, you may bring a tractored ship (of an appropriate size) aboard yourself.

rferries
2018-09-25, 10:09 AM
I have some other stuff percolating for this subsystem but that's plenty for now.

Incidentally, does anyone know the default font this forum uses?

noob
2018-09-25, 03:07 PM
It is in the world of dnd(and not just d20 seeing it can provide protection against evil and other stuff like that) so usually there is tons of ways to make anything mechanical easy to create so since it is priceless(and so supposed to be impossible to mass produce or else it would no longer be priceless) what is someone supposed to say when I want to cast fabricate on a tiny one for getting multiple tiny space ships or other similar behaviour(you said it had no cost but fabricate care about volume and not cost)
Someone pays around 150000000000 gold for a 1000 feet by 1000 feet by 1000 feet stonghold made of adamentine that have an automatically resetting meteor shower trap(Actually the price was calculated with the assumption the stronghold would be made without costs reducers such as some spells such as flight which would reduce considerably the cost since height would no longer increase the cost that much also I assumed all the floors would have the same cost as the highest floor so if we do the actual calculation for that cost we could get way better) and an at will plane shift system and an at will greater teleport system so those strongholds are a serious competition to space ships since they are not priceless and therefore cheaper.
By the way the mentioned fortress is perfectly within the wbl of a level 80 person and by virtue of stronghold rules it could with income sources provide 5% of its cost in income per year with only 100 employees(I have no idea how it works).

aimlessPolymath
2018-09-25, 03:19 PM
Verdana, size 10.

Goaty14
2018-09-25, 03:53 PM
Your REC is inconsistent with what's normally used (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0145.html), apparently. Remove all percentages and replace them with "1".

rferries
2018-09-25, 05:16 PM
It is in the world of dnd(and not just d20 seeing it can provide protection against evil and other stuff like that) so usually there is tons of ways to make anything mechanical easy to create so since it is priceless(and so supposed to be impossible to mass produce or else it would no longer be priceless) what is someone supposed to say when I want to cast fabricate on a tiny one for getting multiple tiny space ships or other similar behaviour(you said it had no cost but fabricate care about volume and not cost)
Someone pays around 150000000000 gold for a 1000 feet by 1000 feet by 1000 feet stonghold made of adamentine that have an automatically resetting meteor shower trap(Actually the price was calculated with the assumption the stronghold would be made without costs reducers such as some spells such as flight which would reduce considerably the cost since height would no longer increase the cost that much also I assumed all the floors would have the same cost as the highest floor so if we do the actual calculation for that cost we could get way better) and an at will plane shift system and an at will greater teleport system so those strongholds are a serious competition to space ships since they are not priceless and therefore cheaper.
By the way the mentioned fortress is perfectly within the wbl of a level 80 person and by virtue of stronghold rules it could with income sources provide 5% of its cost in income per year with only 100 employees(I have no idea how it works).

Priceless on this sense means literally without price - you can't get one without the GM's permission. It's intended for a sci-fi (or very high-fantasy) campaign where starships are common. Definitely not suitable for campaigns that take place on a single planet, especially with the Transporters feat!

However I've been thinking of making a facsimile via magic items - may brew up a magical house/train/steamship/castle/galleon along the lines of the airships I did in the past haha.


Verdana, size 10.

You are a lifesaver! Thank you, Word failed me. :)


Your REC is inconsistent with what's normally used (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0145.html), apparently. Remove all percentages and replace them with "1".

Haha indeed. In this case though, REC is the chance of an additional encounter. The party would have 1 baseline random encounter (using the GITP example), plus a chance for another one based on their ship size -and it only gets more dangerous from there for campaigns with higher chances of random encounters. It might slow the plot down but that's the risk when travelling in a smaller ship.

Goaty14
2018-09-25, 06:52 PM
Haha indeed. In this case though, REC is the chance of an additional encounter. The party would have 1 baseline random encounter (using the GITP example), plus a chance for another one based on their ship size -and it only gets more dangerous from there for campaigns with higher chances of random encounters. It might slow the plot down but that's the risk when travelling in a smaller ship.

Ok, but why does it have to be this way? Do you have a specific grudge against smaller ships like how Mike Mearls hates sorcerers? My biggest problem with this is:
1) The rules tell the DM how the DM should run the campaign (aka, "You should have more random encounters in your campaign because of a player decision. What's that, you don't want more encounters? Too bad, those are the rules")
2) There is no mechanical need to have the rules this way (aka, "Smaller ships aren't OP or better compared to other ships, but we should probably hit it with the nerf-bat anyways just to be sure")
3) It influences IC decisions via OOC knowledge (aka, Player: "Hey guys, I'm thinking we should take a smaller and speedier ship to <planet>, but I don't want more random encounters, so I think we'll be better off with a larger ship" remember, shouldn't each ship be relatively balanced with each other?)

Oh, and before you get on me like "If the DM doesn't like it, he can houserule it away", know that the DM's ability to houserule the game is not an excuse for bad design. *cough*Truenamer*hack**cough*

Schattenbach
2018-09-25, 07:41 PM
Large starships possibly being more of a deterrent as compared to much smaller ones does make a certain amount of sense, though, especially for military ones (pesky pirates wanting to raid the space version of a cruise ship is a thing). Mass being less of a problem in space (as opposed to getting into space in the first place) and higher capacity for carrying fuel/large engines/etc., at least some large starships might be more travel efficient, too. Their sheer bulk protects them better against various space hazards, too (it’s a bigger target, though).

noob
2018-09-26, 05:15 AM
People can make a non magical fortress carved in a tree(if they manage to not kill it) then awaken it so that it have only one pool of hit points then they enchant it with all the fortress enchants they want and have something even more similar to your space ships than the previous fortress I designed.
Or someone can go even more epic and make in a golem body(before enchanting) a fortress(since they do not specify that the golem body must not contain a fortress and you can make a golem body contain a fortress and still fit the description) then turn it into a golem.
Oh now I know why there is humanoid giant robots in space in so many anime: they are in fact golems with fortresses in their body and it is all inspired by dnd!

rferries
2018-09-26, 01:51 PM
Ok, but why does it have to be this way? Do you have a specific grudge against smaller ships like how Mike Mearls hates sorcerers? My biggest problem with this is:
1) The rules tell the DM how the DM should run the campaign (aka, "You should have more random encounters in your campaign because of a player decision. What's that, you don't want more encounters? Too bad, those are the rules")
2) There is no mechanical need to have the rules this way (aka, "Smaller ships aren't OP or better compared to other ships, but we should probably hit it with the nerf-bat anyways just to be sure")
3) It influences IC decisions via OOC knowledge (aka, Player: "Hey guys, I'm thinking we should take a smaller and speedier ship to <planet>, but I don't want more random encounters, so I think we'll be better off with a larger ship" remember, shouldn't each ship be relatively balanced with each other?)

Oh, and before you get on me like "If the DM doesn't like it, he can houserule it away", know that the DM's ability to houserule the game is not an excuse for bad design. *cough*Truenamer*hack**cough*

It was primarily a thematic decision, based on Star Wars, Star Trek, and similar sci-fi (e.g. TIE Fighters and shuttles lack the stamina of Star Destroyers and Galaxy-Class ships when travelling long distances, even if they're more agile in combat).

I was also concerned that smaller ships might be a bit too strong in this subsystem; if that's not the case then the REC could be removed or even reversed.


Large starships possibly being more of a deterrent as compared to much smaller ones does make a certain amount of sense, though, especially for military ones (pesky pirates wanting to raid the space version of a cruise ship is a thing). Mass being less of a problem in space (as opposed to getting into space in the first place) and higher capacity for carrying fuel/large engines/etc., at least some large starships might be more travel efficient, too. Their sheer bulk protects them better against various space hazards, too (it’s a bigger target, though).

Yes, that was my reasoning. A larger ship is unwieldy in combat, but can go at maximum warp/through hyperspace/whatever outside of combat. A smaller ship runs circles around a capital ship in a fight, but doesn't have enough fuel/energy/dilithium/etc. to travel at maximum speed for long.


People can make a non magical fortress carved in a tree(if they manage to not kill it) then awaken it so that it have only one pool of hit points then they enchant it with all the fortress enchants they want and have something even more similar to your space ships than the previous fortress I designed.
Or someone can go even more epic and make in a golem body(before enchanting) a fortress(since they do not specify that the golem body must not contain a fortress and you can make a golem body contain a fortress and still fit the description) then turn it into a golem.
Oh now I know why there is humanoid giant robots in space in so many anime: they are in fact golems with fortresses in their body and it is all inspired by dnd!

Haha! Sounds cool :)

Goaty14
2018-09-26, 07:30 PM
It was primarily a thematic decision, based on Star Wars, Star Trek, and similar sci-fi (e.g. TIE Fighters and shuttles lack the stamina of Star Destroyers and Galaxy-Class ships when travelling long distances, even if they're more agile in combat).

Yes, that was my reasoning. A larger ship is unwieldy in combat, but can go at maximum warp/through hyperspace/whatever outside of combat. A smaller ship runs circles around a capital ship in a fight, but doesn't have enough fuel/energy/dilithium/etc. to travel at maximum speed for long.

That's a thematic justification that in no way whatsoever addresses what I've set out as problems. (you know, OOC problems, not IC or suspension of disbelief problems) :annoyed:

If you're really that concerned with realism and travel distance, then limit the maximum distance a single tank of fuel can take them. That way you don't have a dinky lil starship traversing multiverses easily, but doesn't affect things OOC.


I was also concerned that smaller ships might be a bit too strong in this subsystem; if that's not the case then the REC could be removed or even reversed.

Then give it a different nerf, plain and simple.

Schattenbach
2018-09-27, 05:45 AM
Thematic reasons are obviously a good argument for providing advantages/disadvantages, especially if they make sense; they’re important part of the design decision, after all. Though it might indeed look better from a players point of view if, instead of "small starships suffer disadvantages", it turns more into something like "big starships get advantages", which should by easily achievable by inverting the scheme in such a way that big starships (scar away monsters/faster/shorter travel times/etc.) have fewer encounters. The simplest way to do so might be to tie encounters to "unit of transversed space"/"time of space travel", with bigger ships requiring less of that overall and possibly also having the chance to scare small fries away.

Other systems (one of the more typical examples of that would be D20 Future) also use the obvious reason of fuel capacity/insufficient space for advanced engines to somewhat limit the travel speed due to refuel needs/engine limits (or even worse, the actual practical travel range) for smaller starships. Though to be fair ... higher technology levels do provide options for long distance travel (i.e. small crafts being transported on a Carrier, using warp gates and/or space efficient/miniaturized engines and such).

Edit: It might actually be a good idea to something similar to what D20 otherwise often uses for big fliers and such ... big fliers being typically at least as fast (possibly even faster) than smaller fliers, but being much less agile/maneuverable; you’re already using some of the maneuverability part and agile part (with Dex), so it might be a good idea to expand on that here (when it comes how difficult it is to turn, to evade/dodge/etc.) even more.

rferries
2018-09-27, 09:07 AM
That's a thematic justification that in no way whatsoever addresses what I've set out as problems. (you know, OOC problems, not IC or suspension of disbelief problems) :annoyed:

If you're really that concerned with realism and travel distance, then limit the maximum distance a single tank of fuel can take them. That way you don't have a dinky lil starship traversing multiverses easily, but doesn't affect things OOC.

Ok, my apologies for not addressing your issues directly.


1) The rules tell the DM how the DM should run the campaign (aka, "You should have more random encounters in your campaign because of a player decision. What's that, you don't want more encounters? Too bad, those are the rules")
2) There is no mechanical need to have the rules this way (aka, "Smaller ships aren't OP or better compared to other ships, but we should probably hit it with the nerf-bat anyways just to be sure")
3) It influences IC decisions via OOC knowledge (aka, Player: "Hey guys, I'm thinking we should take a smaller and speedier ship to <planet>, but I don't want more random encounters, so I think we'll be better off with a larger ship" remember, shouldn't each ship be relatively balanced with each other?)

1) If the GM and players agree a rule isn't fun, it can easily be ignored. Neither I nor WOTC will be reporting anyone to the police haha. I included the REC to counterbalance smaller ships potentially being broken (see below).

2) At low and mid levels in this subsystem, having a smaller ship is an advantage (Dexterity and size bonuses to attacks, AC, and Stealth virtually make them SAD).

ACF would be a good example to use here. The game designers felt that arcane spellcasters + armour was a broken mix, so they introduced ACF. A mechanical effect with a thematic justification ("armour restricts spellcasting gestures"). Again, if everyone agrees smaller ships aren't underpowered, then sure I'll eliminate the REC.

3) In the same way that players might choose different armours, feats, even classes based on what is more useful at the time? Again, I'm approaching it from the idea that "smaller ships have an advantage in combat, so they needed an out-of-combat downside".

Also, that's not necessarily OOC knowledge. More like "we should upgrade our ship when we get the chance. Every starfarer knows bigger ships are safer for long journeys, even if they're slower in combat." In the same way a wizard might say "I shouldn't wear full plate, I won't be able to gesture properly for spells."

Finally, although smaller ships are speedier in combat they aren't necessarily speedier when travelling between star systems. They may have great maneuvering thrusters, but poor warp engines (to use Trek as an example).


Then give it a different nerf, plain and simple.

I had an possible alternative houserule:


Starships and Relative Sizes
Larger starships have trouble pinning down smaller starships. When two starships of different sizes are in an encounter, the smaller starship gains a cumulative +1 dodge bonus to its Armour Class and a cumulative +1 circumstance bonus on Reflex saves for each size category it is smaller than the larger ship. These bonuses apply only against the larger ship’s attacks.

Larger starships are easier to hit, but also more capable of weathering the attacks of smaller starships. A starship deals one-half damage to ships at least two size categories larger than itself, and one-quarter damage to starships at least four size categories larger than itself. Apply hardness and energy resistance before halving or quartering damage in this way.

...I just worried it'd be too complicated (especially in combat involving multiple ships).


Thematic reasons are obviously a good argument for providing advantages/disadvantages, especially if they make sense; they’re important part of the design decision, after all. Though it might indeed look better from a players point of view if, instead of "small starships suffer disadvantages", it turns more into something like "big starships get advantages", which should by easily achievable by inverting the scheme in such a way that big starships (scar away monsters/faster/shorter travel times/etc.) have fewer encounters. The simplest way to do so might be to tie encounters to "unit of transversed space"/"time of space travel", with bigger ships requiring less of that overall and possibly also having the chance to scare small fries away.

Highlighted for emphasis, these both sound good. I suppose I should make a distinction between the combat ranges (Close, Medium, Long) and the interstellar ranges (e.g. Starfinder has a little "random travel time" table for how long it takes you to get somewhere).


[QUOTE]Other systems (one of the more typical examples of that would be D20 Future) also use the obvious reason of fuel capacity/insufficient space for advanced engines to somewhat limit the travel speed due to refuel needs/engine limits (or even worse, the actual practical travel range) for smaller starships. Though to be fair ... higher technology levels do provide options for long distance travel (i.e. small crafts being transported on a Carrier, using warp gates and/or space efficient/miniaturized engines and such).

I want to avoid worrying about fuel - ideally a starship would be self-sustaining, and use its feats to help provide for the party. You're absolutely correct, I'd just personally prefer if "we need more fuel" were a GM plot hook rather than a mechanical necessity.


Edit: It might actually be a good idea to something similar to what D20 otherwise often uses for big fliers and such ... big fliers being typically at least as fast (possibly even faster) than smaller fliers, but being much less agile/maneuverable; you’re already using some of the maneuverability part and agile part (with Dex), so it might be a good idea to expand on that here (when it comes how difficult it is to turn, to evade/dodge/etc.) even more.

I suppose bigger ships could have their speeds bumped up, same as with true dragons (more maneuverable when smaller, faster when bigger). I'm not going to touch maneuvering beyond what is already described in the rules for aerial combat though, way too lazy haha.

Goaty14
2018-09-27, 10:44 AM
1) If the GM and players agree a rule isn't fun, it can easily be ignored. Neither I nor WOTC will be reporting anyone to the police haha. I included the REC to counterbalance smaller ships potentially being broken (see below).

Oh, and before you get on me like "If the DM doesn't like it, he can houserule it away", know that the DM's ability to houserule the game is not an excuse for bad design. *cough*Truenamer*hack**cough*

Ahem.


3) In the same way that players might choose different armours, feats, even classes based on what is more useful at the time? Again, I'm approaching it from the idea that "smaller ships have an advantage in combat, so they needed an out-of-combat downside".

Which is my main problem with this: You're applying a nerf to an area of the game that doesn't need to be nerfed. Nothing about REC makes smaller ships worse at combat, nor larger ships better at combat, and you have thusly failed at your goal to balance the two equally (since OOC and IC stuff has different value to different people).

As an observation, changing nothing makes "aircraft carriers" (i.e big ships carrying multitudes of little ships) the meta for this subsystem.


I had an possible alternative houserule:
...I just worried it'd be too complicated (especially in combat involving multiple ships).

Then give them static bonuses rather than dynamic ones. Giving a scaling dodge bonus to AC and REF to smaller ships, and a scaling bonus of DR to larger ships. Sure, you might not equate the exactly 1/2 and 1/4 targets that you want (for who-knows-why), but the whole point of having dice is to have randomness in the game, so not being exact should be fine.

rferries
2018-09-27, 02:50 PM
Ahem.

Yes, but the rules place many limitations, doesn't mean they're railroading the GM. If none of the players are spellcasters, does that mean the GM can't run campaigns involving planar travel? If demons are described as "always chaotic evil", does that mean the GM can't run a campaign with one or more good demons?


Which is my main problem with this: You're applying a nerf to an area of the game that doesn't need to be nerfed. Nothing about REC makes smaller ships worse at combat, nor larger ships better at combat, and you have thusly failed at your goal to balance the two equally (since OOC and IC stuff has different value to different people).

All weapons in this system use either ranged attack rolls or Reflex saves, meaning that they are Dexterity-based. In conjunction with the size modifier, a smaller starship can quickly pile on substantial bonuses in fights against larger ships. This would obviously require playtesting to confirm, and I really am willing to waive the REC, but I don't want smaller starships to be the obviously better choice.


As an observation, changing nothing makes "aircraft carriers" (i.e big ships carrying multitudes of little ships) the meta for this subsystem.

Sure, and I figure once players tire of using a Milennium Falcon at lower levels they'll want a Star Destroyer. They still have to acquire the little ships somehow.


Then give them static bonuses rather than dynamic ones. Giving a scaling dodge bonus to AC and REF to smaller ships, and a scaling bonus of DR to larger ships. Sure, you might not equate the exactly 1/2 and 1/4 targets that you want (for who-knows-why), but the whole point of having dice is to have randomness in the game, so not being exact should be fine.

Scaling hardness was my original idea, yes. However, for symmetry with 3.5 I wanted to keep the hardness the same as the relative special materials (10 for iron (base ships) and ironwood, 20 for adamantine, etc). Might need some editing for bone and dragonscale though.

Plus, when it comes to fighters vs capital ships I felt the fighters should be almost inconsequential (e.g. a geometric decrease in damage rather than an arithmetic decrease). However that might have been too extreme, hence not including the houserule yet.

Goaty14
2018-09-27, 07:42 PM
All weapons in this system use either ranged attack rolls or Reflex saves, meaning that they are Dexterity-based. In conjunction with the size modifier, a smaller starship can quickly pile on substantial bonuses in fights against larger ships. This would obviously require playtesting to confirm, and I really am willing to waive the REC, but I don't want smaller starships to be the obviously better choice.

Gee, if you make everything DEX-based, then of course things that have better access to DEX will be better off. Has it not crossed your mind to not make everything DEX based? It wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to use other stats for to-hit, such as...

STR: The blast is so forceful, you practically don't need to aim.
CON: The blast is squeezed out some extra oomph, making the blast wider, thus somewhat removing the need to aim
INT: You know so much about the enemy's tactics, ships, etc, that aiming is a cakewalk
WIS: You can accurately track the enemy's movements, allowing you to lead your shots, thus resulting in a higher hit rate
CHA: You scream the name of your late comrade, anime-wuxia style, and smash the "fire" button. The DM likes your roleplaying and force of personality so much, you hit more often.

And then introduce mechanics that force FORT/WILL saves. To be clear,
FORT: Used against attacks that hit, but have an additional nasty effect that could be structurally avoided. I.e <weapon> pierces the hull, causing 5 members of the crew to possibly get sucked out! FORT Negates
WILL: Used against effects that target the system instead of the structure. I'm thinking of mainly hacking attempts, but a spell/effect that physically messes with the ship (i.e raging orc barbarian forcing pushing guns so they miss) wouldn't be out of the question, either.

Schattenbach
2018-09-27, 08:14 PM
Wouldn’t most of the by more powerful attacks of Starships be slightly AOE in nature to begin with? Sure, shockwaves and such are pretty much mostly ineffective in space as far as large scale AOE goes (which makes nukes simple radiation bombs so to speak) and there’s not really any air or such to heat up, but I imagine various futuristic attacks still being able to affect entire areas at once or to saturate fire thousands/million shots at once at an entire area. So making use of that a bit (large scale starship weapons are more likely than not to be powerful, after all) to make the lives of small ships (or rather ... that of the small weapons they use) harder might not be a bad idea. Such large scale attacks (besides attacks that somehow deeply penetrate within the large starship) might even be necessary to properly damage big ships due to their sheer bulk. Anyway, big things are typically more difficult to destroy by design because of all the force (gravity in particular) that otherwise would reduce things to rubble under its own weight to begin with. So one other obvious alternate option to go at those things would be to give bigger starships just that much more HP.

One interesting suggestion might thus be to make use of a combination of two separate pools of HP, Hull Points/Structural!HP (I’m using the later in my games when it comes to damage to objects/buildings/massive objects/planets/etc. alongside Object!HP and BESM 3e’s Armour Attribute, which works quite nicely together) and Object!HP (calculated based on some basic formula size-based formula - which might even be as simple as the one used in the pathfinder vehicle rules (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/vehicles/) for vehicle HP ... I don’t remember starfinders rules for that, maybe they’re similar ... using something "occupied square based" and material-based would be one of the better simplifications, I guess - and the material used).

You could also improve upon the tracking capability (as that would something that seems quite obvious and cost effective to use against pesky small targets if one doesn’t want or is unable to "bomb"/"nuke" an entire area due to lack of methods or due to some space station/planet being to close by; modern warfare has a long while ago moved to being even more precise, though that’s also due to urban warfare being increasingly common ... see also the note about supercomputers below) or more strongly integrate stuff actual modern warships use in combat: Sensors and methods to divert/mislead/etc. missile attacks. They also have plenty of space to use compartmentalization (i.e. independent sections that can be sealed off) so that a simple breach of hull isn’t anything problematic for them (not sink or otherwise threaten the ship), though a blast within might still mess some things up. I don’t see why big starships should be unable to fit several supercomputers into themselves that support all that targeting/attack distracting technology, either, when one ignores the cost factor, that is.

Big ships being able to carry more weapons, more powerful weapons, more ammunition/ordnance (rockets/"guided missiles"/"torpedoes"/material or other ammunition for mass weapons/etc. ... though I guess some of that stuff is somewhat expensive compared to some "reactor"-powered energy attack that runs on GM-fiat), more defensive features, more offensive features, etc. ... besides cost (which is an obvious hurdle for creating most big things, including warships and skyscrapers) due the sheer resources including metals, electronics and workforce and required construction time (all of which result in opportunity cost, as one could construct lots of smaller starships instead), I don’t see where the issue is. At least when it comes to combat.

rferries
2018-09-28, 02:03 PM
Gee, if you make everything DEX-based, then of course things that have better access to DEX will be better off. Has it not crossed your mind to not make everything DEX based? It wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to use other stats for to-hit, such as...

STR: The blast is so forceful, you practically don't need to aim.
CON: The blast is squeezed out some extra oomph, making the blast wider, thus somewhat removing the need to aim
INT: You know so much about the enemy's tactics, ships, etc, that aiming is a cakewalk
WIS: You can accurately track the enemy's movements, allowing you to lead your shots, thus resulting in a higher hit rate
CHA: You scream the name of your late comrade, anime-wuxia style, and smash the "fire" button. The DM likes your roleplaying and force of personality so much, you hit more often.

And then introduce mechanics that force FORT/WILL saves. To be clear,
FORT: Used against attacks that hit, but have an additional nasty effect that could be structurally avoided. I.e <weapon> pierces the hull, causing 5 members of the crew to possibly get sucked out! FORT Negates
WILL: Used against effects that target the system instead of the structure. I'm thinking of mainly hacking attempts, but a spell/effect that physically messes with the ship (i.e raging orc barbarian forcing pushing guns so they miss) wouldn't be out of the question, either.

Dex was maintained for ranged attack rolls to maintain 3.5-to-this-subsystem transparency (at least as far as possible, as was the goal of this post); the attack rolls can also be made Str-based via the Capital Ship feat (again, a way to let larger ships "catch up" to the power of smaller ships).

All of your suggestions are flavourful haha. Starfinder has a hacking mechanic so I might port that in, and your Int- or Wis-based ideas, and Fort saves have already been incorporated (see the Starship Weapon feat, specifically Death Rays and Disintegration beams).


Wouldn’t most of the by more powerful attacks of Starships be slightly AOE in nature to begin with? Sure, shockwaves and such are pretty much mostly ineffective in space as far as large scale AOE goes (which makes nukes simple radiation bombs so to speak) and there’s not really any air or such to heat up, but I imagine various futuristic attacks still being able to affect entire areas at once or to saturate fire thousands/million shots at once at an entire area. So making use of that a bit (large scale starship weapons are more likely than not to be powerful, after all) to make the lives of small ships (or rather ... that of the small weapons they use) harder might not be a bad idea. Such large scale attacks (besides attacks that somehow deeply penetrate within the large starship) might even be necessary to properly damage big ships due to their sheer bulk. Anyway, big things are typically more difficult to destroy by design because of all the force (gravity in particular) that otherwise would reduce things to rubble under its own weight to begin with. So one other obvious alternate option to go at those things would be to give bigger starships just that much more HP.

One interesting suggestion might thus be to make use of a combination of two separate pools of HP, Hull Points/Structural!HP (I’m using the later in my games when it comes to damage to objects/buildings/massive objects/planets/etc. alongside Object!HP and BESM 3e’s Armour Attribute, which works quite nicely together) and Object!HP (calculated based on some basic formula size-based formula - which might even be as simple as the one used in the pathfinder vehicle rules (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/vehicles/) for vehicle HP ... I don’t remember starfinders rules for that, maybe they’re similar ... using something "occupied square based" and material-based would be one of the better simplifications, I guess - and the material used).

You could also improve upon the tracking capability (as that would something that seems quite obvious and cost effective to use against pesky small targets if one doesn’t want or is unable to "bomb"/"nuke" an entire area due to lack of methods or due to some space station/planet being to close by; modern warfare has a long while ago moved to being even more precise, though that’s also due to urban warfare being increasingly common ... see also the note about supercomputers below) or more strongly integrate stuff actual modern warships use in combat: Sensors and methods to divert/mislead/etc. missile attacks. They also have plenty of space to use compartmentalization (i.e. independent sections that can be sealed off) so that a simple breach of hull isn’t anything problematic for them (not sink or otherwise threaten the ship), though a blast within might still mess some things up. I don’t see why big starships should be unable to fit several supercomputers into themselves that support all that targeting/attack distracting technology, either, when one ignores the cost factor, that is.

Big ships being able to carry more weapons, more powerful weapons, more ammunition/ordnance (rockets/"guided missiles"/"torpedoes"/material or other ammunition for mass weapons/etc. ... though I guess some of that stuff is somewhat expensive compared to some "reactor"-powered energy attack that runs on GM-fiat), more defensive features, more offensive features, etc. ... besides cost (which is an obvious hurdle for creating most big things, including warships and skyscrapers) due the sheer resources including metals, electronics and workforce and required construction time (all of which result in opportunity cost, as one could construct lots of smaller starships instead), I don’t see where the issue is. At least when it comes to combat.

You have put an intimidating amount of thought into this :D For now I'm lazy enough to rely on "bigger ships get more Constitution" and "projectile weapons (and the Wide Beam feat) deal AOE damage". This subsystem wasn't intended to overwrite Starfinder, so much a provide a more 3.5-symmetrical section for strships (using feats, skills, weapons etc mimicking the mechanics of player characters).

The Energy Missiles weapon was intended to be an anti-fighter weapon (and originally auto-hit targets a la magic missiles).

Hish
2018-10-04, 05:37 PM
Looks good. I noticed a couple things:

I'm concerned about the non-[Starship] feats which give permanent class skills. Class skills are generally pretty hard to get via feats; many of those feats would be great even if the characters never see a single starship. Maybe treat the characters as having double the ranks when on board the ship or in comm contact with the ship?

Divine Aegis: Why can't the Aegis be lawful- or chaotic- aligned?

To weigh in on the REC question: If the goal is to discourage the use of small ships over long distances, I think a slow speed over long distances makes more sense. After all, shouldn't a small ship be harder for pirates to spot? I understand wanting to avoid mechanics for fuel use too, so small fuel tanks probably isn't the answer.

I'll check combat numbers soon (using math!).

rferries
2018-10-06, 06:34 PM
I forgot to say, thanks everyone for the comments!


Looks good. I noticed a couple things:

I'm concerned about the non-[Starship] feats which give permanent class skills. Class skills are generally pretty hard to get via feats; many of those feats would be great even if the characters never see a single starship. Maybe treat the characters as having double the ranks when on board the ship or in comm contact with the ship?

This was something I did a huge amount of dithering over. I had multiple (often conflicting) goals, including:

1) Feats that would be useful regardless of your class.

2) Feats that gave a benefit to the character as well as the starship (so that they were still useful outside of starship encounters).

3) Feats that rewarded particular archetypes (e.g. Starship Doctor for divine casters/healers).

I considered multiple options - one version where the feats were simply roles (a la Starfinder, where a PC doesn't have to take any feats to serve as a capatain/science officer/etc), one where if you had certain feats (Alertness, Mobility, etc) you granted those feats to your Starship as well, etc, etc. I may post those later for comparsion.


Divine Aegis: Why can't the Aegis be lawful- or chaotic- aligned?

I included those originally (and they can be restored), but as it is I'm actually considering scrapping the feat or reducing the effects, as much of it (aligned weapons and damage reduction, the protection effects) are often useless in this system.


To weigh in on the REC question: If the goal is to discourage the use of small ships over long distances, I think a slow speed over long distances makes more sense. After all, shouldn't a small ship be harder for pirates to spot? I understand wanting to avoid mechanics for fuel use too, so small fuel tanks probably isn't the answer.

Agreed! In fiction, a small ship is traditionally is able to escape detection when it comes to entering a particular starsystem (as represented by the size bonus to Stealth checks in an encounter). However in the large scale (travelling between starsystems/encounters), a shuttle's warp/hyperdrive/whatever engines (as opposed to the maneuvering thrusters used in combat) can't provide the sustained thrust that a capital ship's can, so they take longer to travel (resulting in more random encounters).



I'll check combat numbers soon (using math!).

Haha I'm nervous about what you'll find! I tried to adhere to 3.5 mechanics (size modifiers, weapons that effectively duplicate scorching ray and other spells, etc), but given the inherent skewing towards ranged combat, the inherent hardness, and my various feats I'm not sure the results are balanced.