Ship Construction

Chapter 5: Ship Construction

you’re building this ship for; obviously, high-PL ships will have access to more compact and powerful equipment than low-PL ships.

Designing a large spaceship is one of the most technically challenging feats a civilization, nation, or private enterprise ever faces. Dozens of vital engineering systems from the ship’s drives to its life support systems require extensive, thorough, and complete planning. Navigation, communication, and sensor systems made up of thousands of distinct components and incredibly complex software must be installed, tested, and calibrated. Systems particular to the ship’s mission and role—weapons, hangars, cargo transfer systems, scientific instrumentation, and so on—require the same degree of care and attention. Finally, a crew must be assembled and trained in the operation of the tremendously complex piece of machinery with which they are entrusted. The entire process takes many months, and sometimes years. Fortunately, we don’t have to concern ourselves with the exacting minutiae of spaceship design. For the purposes of this book, ship design basically boils down to a process of resource allocation. Given the constraints imposed by the selection of a particular hull, what is the best combination of firepower, sensor capability, maneuverability, and defense for that ship and its mission? There’s no such thing as the perfect ship; a cruiser that has the armament, armor, and speed you think you need is probably going to end up being much bigger than you thought it was going to when you decided to design a light cruiser.

The ship’s primary defenses against enemy damage are its size and compartmentation. This is reflected by the ship’s damage track and by its toughness, or resistance to enemy fire. The next line of defense is armor. Armor negates some of the damage from each weapon that strikes the ship. It’s a good idea to decide on the type and weight of your ship’s armor at this point, since armor takes up some percentage of your ship’s total hull points.

Ship Design Checklist

Power Plant

Here’s a quick checklist of how you go about designing a large ship with the rules in this chapter. The steps titled in italics are mandatory for any ship, regardless of its mission or armament; other steps may be skipped, depending on what kind of ship you’re building and the technology level of your setting. 1. Class and Hull Selection 2. Armor 3. Power Plant and Fuel 4. Engines 5. FTL Drive 6. Support Systems 7. Weapons 8. Defensive Systems 9. Command and Computers 10. Sensors and Fire Control 11. Hangars and Small Craft 12. Miscellaneous Installations 13. Adding it up

With a few exceptions, any spaceship must have the ability to generate power for its engines, weapons, sensors, and other critical components. Depending on the exact technology available to the shipbuilder, the power plant may require some kind of bulky and expendable fuel supply.

Preparation It goes without saying, but the first thing you need to do is decide why you’re building this ship and what parameters you’re going to observe in the construction process. You should also decide what Progress Level and tech track

Class and Hull The second step in designing a ship is to decide, in general terms, what hull size and type is going to best serve your purposes and budget. The hull is the single most expensive component of the ship construction process, but it serves as a framework into which you can plug all the weapons and systems you’ll need for your ship to perform its basic mission. Choosing a hull provides one of the first resources you’ll need for ship construction: Hull Points.

Armor

Helpful Hint We’ve organized this chapter so you can build a ship by simply proceeding in order with the ship construction process. In other words, first you’ll pick a hull, then you’ll decide on your armor, pick a power system, and so on. You may find it useful to work on a piece of scrap paper or spreadsheet before you fill in a ship record sheet for your newly designed spaceship. Make sure you don’t forget:

• A hull (Table 5–1);

• A power plant, with fuel if necessary (Table 5–3);

• An engine, with fuel if necessary (Table 5–4);

• Accommodations for the crew (Table 5–6);

• A life support system for all critical spaces

(Table 5–6);

• A command deck or cockpit (Table 5–13);

• A communication system of some kind (Table 5–13);

• A sensor system of some kind (Table 5–14).

Everything else is optional, but these systems are the bare minimum necessary to build a spacegoing vessel. .

Engines

Hangars and Small Craft

Engines translate a ship’s power into movement in normal space. Some engines, such as chemical rockets or photon sails, operate with little or no relation to the ship’s power plant. Most high-tech engines rely on a ship’s ability to generate massive amounts of energy.

Carriers and assault ships rely completely on their complement of small craft. In this step, you’ll decide how much of your spaceship is devoted to the storage, maintenance, and deployment of smaller craft.

FTL Drive The acronym ‘FTL’ stands for faster-than-light. If you want your spaceship to be a starship, you’ll want to select an FTL drive and install it in your hull. Generally, only one or two FTL techniques work in any given set of sci-fi assumptions, so make sure you check with your Gamemaster or fellow players before deciding on a FTL system that may be available in your game.

Support Systems The support systems “finish off” the engineering part of ship design with life support, recycling, and other critical systems. It’s a very good idea to purchase some life support for your ship. Crew and troop accommodations are included in this step. Highly automated ships at high Progress Levels (and many civilian ships at any PL) require minimal crews. Assault ships, with their extensive troop lift capacity, must reserve a great deal of space for troop berthing.

Weapons Choose the weapon systems you wish to install in the ship. There are five categories of weapons: beams, projectiles, missiles, and torpedoes, and special weapons. As with FTL travel, some types of weapon border on the fantastic and may not be appropriate for your game.

Defensive Systems Unlike armor, which is based on a percentage of the hull, defensive systems require power and some specific number of hull points. Defensive systems include shields, countermeasures, damage control installations, and special defenses.

Command and Control This is the brain of the spaceship. How well can it gather, process, and utilize information? These systems include communications, command facilities, and—most importantly—the ship’s main computer.

Sensors In this step, you should build the ship’s sensor suite and fire control systems. Detecting targets hundreds of thousands of kilometers away and effectively bringing the ship’s weaponry to bear require extensive sensor systems.

Miscellaneous A number of special capabilities are included in this catchall category. The most common miscellaneous system is a ship’s cargo capacity. Not all cargo ships are civilian vessels; assault ships need to carry vast amounts of military equipment to support their troops planetside.

Adding It Up There are three main commodities you’ll need to keep track of throughout the ship design process: hull points, money, and power points. Hull points represent the sheer size of the hull and the systems you want to install therein. If the systems you install total too many hull points for your hull, you’ll have to reevaluate your design choices. Money may or may not be a consideration for your campaign, but it’s a good gauge of how much ship you’re trying to build and what kind of resources are necessary to manufacture it. Finally, many of your ship’s most important systems demand a source of power; you need to ensure that the ship’s power plant is sufficient to power the installed systems.

Assign Systems and Create Record Sheet Assuming that everything adds up, the last step of creating a ship is to create its damage diagram and fill in a permanent record form so that you don’t lose all your hard work.

Technology

Before you begin building your ship, you should decide what Progress Level and technology types are appropriate for your campaign. It’s entirely possible for a campaign to feature a variety of Progress Levels; some navies might be constructed using the latest PL 9 technology, while others might be barely spaceworthy PL 6 fleets, limited to the defense of their own home systems. It’s not fair, but sometimes PL 6 societies wind up fighting against more advanced societies. In addition to the question of the overall technological level of a society, some cultures or races may specialize in certain types of related technologies. For example, control of gravity not only provides some outstanding engine systems, but it also leads to some sophisticated weaponry and defenses too. These related technologies are described by the “tech track” system, which codes each starship system based on its parent technology.

Progress Level Progress Level is an abstract measurement of the technological capability of a planet or civilization. It’s a pretty good indication of how effective ship systems are likely to be; in general, a PL 7 engine is significantly better than a comparable PL 6 engine, a PL 7 weapon is better than a PL 6 weapon, and so on. The Progress Levels available for ship construction are: PL 5 (Information Age): The first space vessels become possible. This is the “real-world” technology level. Spacegoing warships and viable interplanetary travel are still decades away, so PL 5 is not supported by these ship construction rules. PL 6 (Fusion Age): Fusion power offers cheap, clean, and plentiful energy, making interplanetary travel practical and affordable. Fusion Age ships can be effective warships, but most of the designer’s time and effort goes toward creating a ship that can survive and maneuver in space; weaponry is almost an afterthought. PL 7 (Gravity Age): Control of gravity and mastery of faster-than-light (FTL) travel make interplanetary flight a routine matter, and interstellar travel cheap and easy. This is the beginning of the classic space opera technology. The Basic Rules assume PL 7 as the default for most games. PL 8 (Energy Age): Technologies capable of harnessing the most fundamental structures of the universe come into existence. Warships are capable of spanning dozens or hundreds of light-years in a matter of days. The advent of shield technologies make power, not weaponry, the key to a successful warship design. PL 9 (Matter Age): Extensive control over the very nature of

Tech Tracks in StarDrive If you’re playing a game based on the STARDRIVE Campaign Setting, here’s how the technology tracks break down by the major races. All listed technologies are PL 7 unless otherwise noted. Human: Gravity Manipulation, Dark Matter Tech, Fusion Tech, Quantum Manipulation, Super-materials, Computer Tech Fraal: Gravity Manipulation (at PL 8), Dark Matter Tech (at PL 6), Fusion Tech, Quantum Manipulation, Psi-Tech (except psychoportive drive), Computer Tech Mechalus: Antimatter Tech, Fusion Tech, Super-materials (at PL 8), Computer Tech (at PL 8) T’sa: Fusion Tech, Quantum Manipulation (at PL 6), Super-materials, Computer Tech Kroath: Gravity Manipulation (at PL 6), Dark Matter Tech (at PL 8), Fusion Tech, Super-materials, Computer Tech, and symbiotic hulls N’sss: Gravity Manipulation, Dark Matter Tech (at PL 8), Fusion Tech (at PL 8), Super-materials (at PL 8) Klicks: Gravity Manipulation (at PL 6), Dark Matter Tech (at PL 8), Fusion Tech, and symbiotic hulls Medurr: Gravity Manipulation, Fusion Tech, Quantum Manipulation (at PL 8), Matter Transmission, Super-materials, Computer Tech (at PL 6)

the universe makes impossible feats routine. Some PL 9 technologies are included in case you want to design ships for a race or society with a special edge, but this level of technology generally exceeds the limits of classic space opera.

Tech Track Not every society will develop every technology available in the following system descriptions. While a hull of almost any size can be handled by any spacefaring race, not every culture is going to master artificial gravity, or energy fields, or antimatter-based power generation. The tech track describes certain suites of technology that fit together; for example, gravity tech makes possible artificial gravity, gravitybased weaponry such as the mass cannon, gravity induction engines, and the stardrive. Each ship system described in the rest of this chapter may include a tech track code, indicating the type of technology that must be available to make use of that system. If no code appears, the technology is so basic that any spacefaring race, regardless of technological expertise, can build ships incorporating that system. Note that it’s quite possible for a particular race or culture to possess more than one of these technology tracks, possibly at different Progress Levels. For instance, an alien empire might have Gravity Manipulation at PL 7, Dark Matter Tech at PL 8, and Matter Coding at PL 6. (Unless otherwise stated, assume that most cultures have all technologies at the same PL.) The technology tracks are: Gravity Manipulation (G): The ability to create, project, and control fields of artificial gravity or negate the effects of naturally occurring gravity. Dark Matter Tech (D): We know of four fundamental forces in the universe: gravity, electromagnetics, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force. For purposes of the ALTERNITY game, we’re assuming some tiny portion of the unseen mass that comprises 90 percent of the universe is comprised of a different kind of matter through which a fifth fundamental force can be harnessed. The decay of dark matter into “normal” matter releases immense amounts of energy, and a civilization with this technology can harness it to create mass reactors and weapons of tremendous power. Antimatter Tech (A): The efficient manufacture and storage of antimatter makes a number of high-energy power and weapon systems practical. Matter Coding (M): How does a particle “know” how to be a particle? How does it “know” how to interact with other particles? This technology is based on the principle that subatomic matter may operate under a kind of universal coding system that can be unraveled and manipulated to make matter behave as desired. Fusion Tech (F): It’s possible to create fusion reactions with our current technology—the H-bomb is a great example. Harnessing the power of fusion in safe, economical, and self-sustaining power plants is the next big step in the energy revolution.

Quantum Manipulation (Q): Quantum Manipulation technology is based on the understanding of the forces that control the interactions of the various subatomic particles. The tantalizing quantum-fluctuation (or zero-point) energy source represents the ultimate goal of this line of inquiry. Matter Transmission (T): A civilization with this technology has mastered the teleportation of matter from one point to another. Naturally, this has a number of military and commercial applications. Super-Materials (S): Materials technology is crucial to the design of hull and armor systems in the future. Ranging from tough composites to monofilaments and artificial materials in which every atom has been nanoengineered for maximum strength, advanced materials make incredibly strong hulls possible. Psi-tech (P): Technology that harnesses the power of thought, psi-tech allows a civilization to change reality with willpower and superior mental skill. Energy Transformation (X): Energy Transformation is nothing less than the ability to control the manifestation of matter and energy. A tiny amount of matter can be transformed into an incredible amount of energy. At the higher progress levels, this technology provides the ability to actually change the type of energy. Computer Tech (C): While any spacefaring civilization will possess some amount of computing technology, extremely sophisticated nanotechnologies, sensors, and control systems fall under this category.

Ranging from light freighters and attack ships on up to destroyer leaders, light ships are usually too big to be carried aboard other vessels. Ships such as corvettes and destroyers are the most numerous true warships; a planetary fleet may include hundreds of these vessels.