Star ship Basics

While the Force was the most complicated aspect for incorporating
into d20 Modern rules, star ships have been the most challenging. Do to
simply figuring out how to calculate the purchase DCs for the various
craft but otherwise take them directly as is, or do a reconstruct of them
using the rules given in d20 Future? While taking star ships directly from
the core rulebooks is by far the easiest option, it really doesn't lend
itself to balance very well. Take, for instance, personal weaponry. in
the movies, personal weaponry doesn't seem capable of doing more than
destroying the paint job of a ship, yet with the rpg stats a single storm
trooper can destroy a small craft without even having to reload. This
fact alone was almost enough to decide which option to use. Add to that
fact that the various sources on the capabilities of Star Wars ships varies,

in some cases by an almost insane amount, and i'm left with having to
reconstruct a multitude of craft. As i had been hoping to avoid such a
workload, i sighed in defeat. Fortunately for me, d20 Future already has a
large variety of pre constructed ships, and a plethora of rules for
modifying them. Now all that remained was deciding on the base ships, and
how i would modify it into the appropriate craft. i have broken the list
of ships into different categories to help with finding what your
adventure calls for. if you're trying to decide what kind of fighter
support that neutral colony world is using, you don't want to have
capitol ships interspersed throughout them. i have also had to create a
few rules adjustments and ship systems. As these are universal changes, not
for specific ships, they are posted below.

Star-ship Costs: The star-ships listed in d20 Future are a little

overpriced for the universe. To properly represent ship prices, reduce
the base purchase DCs of the star-ships by one-third, rounding fractions up
(eg, a purchase DC 52 would become 34.667, rounding to 35). Star-ship
weapon costs are all reduced by one-half (rounding fractions up) before
any other modifiers. All other subsystems remain unchanged, and final

star-ship prices are calculated as normal (convert into dollars, or

credits in this case, add together, then convert into a final purchase
cost). Whenever a sub-light engine type is specified, and by all physical
appearances, it seems that star-ships use some variant of an ion engine.
Being as they seldom seem to need refueling (and when they do the process
is soon over), we can assume that it is not the engines, but the fusion
reactor that powers the ships that need the fuel. That said, we can treat
all star-ships engines as particle impulse engines, but still use the stats
from other engines to represent differences between performance ratings
and manufacturers. Star-ships are also fitted with repulsor lifts for
landing and take off. This functions similar to an induction engine, but
only has a movement of 500 ft (one square) a round. While moving with this
drive, a ship does not get a 500 ft adjust as normal. Also, due to the slow
speeds at which it is traveling, the pilots dexterity modifier does not
apply. Repulsor lift drives are included on all spacecraft, even ones
that have no drive listed. This is either so that they do not damage
spaceports and hangers, or to allow adjustment in orbit.

Weapons: No combat is complete (or even possible) without weapons.

In the universe, almost every spacecraft has at least some form of
armament. Blaster technology scaled up to immense proportions make up
the majority of the offensive measures employed by the galaxy at large.
Blasters (or lasers, as they are sometimes called) can be represented by
laser, neutron, and particle weapons from the d20 Future book. Keep in
mind that some alien species use divergent technologies, so other types are
around, but likely quite rare. When ray shielding proves too much for
your guns to deal with, you switch to missiles and torpedoes. These will
generally have the benefit of being able to follow a target, which can
make taking down an enemy craft that's close to a friend a bit easier.
Concussion missiles can easily be represented with the nova burst missile.
Proton torpedoes are best represented with star-load missiles. They
represent the destructive capability best, and are also able to be
mounted on most star-fighters.

Defenses: With all this destructive power coming at you ship, you'll
want some way of averting it. Armor, shields, and stealth options all
come in handy. As armor is fairly basic, all PL7 an below armor is
available at the listed costs. Autopilot systems are nice additions, but
few ships come with them per-installed. Point defense systems seem to be
non-existent in Star Wars, at least among the factions we've seen fighting.
it's quite probable some sectors utilize them, but the galaxy at large
seems to decide that other systems are more critical for the cost.
Particle shielding, mostly used to keep micrometeorites from damaging ship
systems, also provides protection against missiles. Magnetic fields
represent it the best. Ray shielding is a little more sensitive of an area.
While a particle field best represents it, it does not wholly capture it's
capabilities. Angling shields allows for greater protection from one
direction, but leaves the rest unprotected. This has been a tricky issue to
deal with, but the mechanics do work out. As a move action, a character
may make a Computer use check (DC 15) to provide an additional +2 bonus
against one specified target, but against all other targets the shield
bonus does not apply. A second Computer use check (DC 15) is required to
stabilize the deflectors. Damage control systems are generally not used
during combat, as it requires a move action for the ship, and thereby
lessens it's combat capabilities. They are frequently used outside of
combat, as star-port repair charges add up over time. Top of the line
ships are frequently fitted with repair drones, although star-fighters
rarely have them, as such a system makes them too costly. Decoys, stealth
screens, and other concealment devices are illegal in most civilized
systems. Possession of one is commonly punishable by death, on assumption

of piracy or hostile military action. of course, unless a ship is heavily

inspected, such a system will go by undetected unless used. Cloaking
devices, such as the cloaking screen, are incredibly large and cannot be
installed on ultralight star-craft. As this technology is also advanced
and rare it's final cost is doubled, making it (15 + one-half the base
purchase price of the star-ship

+ 5 for advanced technology) x 2.