Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Starships of the Galaxy
As soon as heroes get their hands on a Starship, they want to modify it. The desire for faster hyperdrives, more weapons, better shields, and possibly even some space for smuggled goods generally comes even before the first payment to a Hutt loan shark is due. Modifying a Starship gives players a sense of ownership that makes them more connected to a campaign, and it serves other useful purposes as well.
Heroes who want to improve a Starship have a built-in reason to take risks to earn credits (or the help- and use of the repair bay- of a grateful military group). Although Star Wars focuses on heroic action-adventure rather than the act of cobbling together credits for tinkering with a ship, many characters are simply more motivated if they know there's a material reward on the line. Furthermore, a Starship acts as a good base of operations, allowing heroes to have a place that seems like home even as they gallivant across the galaxy. Finally, as the heroes gain levels, a better-equipped ship prepares them for greater challenges.
A Gamemaster should find these rules also useful for enhancing Starships flown by friends and foes of the heroes as well as for creating new Starships to represent the thousands of different models of spacecraft found throughout the galaxy. Though designing a new model of Starship is a lengthy process, it gives you a completely new class of Starship from which you can build yet more variants.
Starship Systems[]
A Starship's systems can be upgraded, replaced, and modified many times throughout the ship's operational lifetime. Each system has a number of factors that affect its cost and availability, detailed in the table that accompanies each section.
Emplacement Points: This value is the number of Emplacement Points required to install the system in a Starship without incurring an additional cost or delay.
Availability: Some Starship Modifications have limited availability or are strictly regulated (see Restricted Items). A Starship System that is normally available without restriction is categorized as common.
Size Restriction: Some Starship Systems can be placed only in Starships of a certain size. Systems are normally limited to ships of a given size or larger, and some systems can function only in smaller ships.
Cost: Sometimes a Starship System has a flat weight or cost. Often the Cost is determined by multiplying a base number by the Starship's Cost Factor, which is determined by its size. If a cost is given as "Base," you must multiply it by the Cost Modifier for the Starship's size (see Cost Modifiers, below). If the Cost is just given as a number of credits, the Cost is the same no matter what size Starship you add the system to.
A Starship System falls into one of four categories:
Using Starship Modifications[]
At its core, this section is a catalog of new options to add to a Starship. Though it includes rules for figuring out the cost of a new system, what resources the system needs, and how long it takes to install it, these are secondary concerns. Some players love carefully calculating how many quad lasers they can add to a freighter before they have to sacrifice some cargo space, and the rules are here for them to do that.
There's nothing wrong, however, with just choosing a new system and asking the Gamemaster what it will take to add it to your ship. Acquiring new starship components can be as easy as doing the right job for the right patron or paying a professional to bring your ship up to par with your needs. The GM might not make everything available when you want it, but eventually you should see improvements become available without having to count every credit and every day in the dock.
Similarly, if you're a Gamemaster, you don't need to worry about these details any more than you want to. If the heroes' ship seems underpowered compared to other Starships of an appropriate Challenge Level, you might add an extra system or two (perhaps contributed by a patron, friend, or even a bounty hunter who steals their ship and modifies it before the heroes get it back). This section should be a jumping-off point for more adventure and excitement, not a chore in number-crunching. The style of campaign you're running is going to impact the relative value of any Starship so much that no hard-and-fast set of rules could tell you for sure what to allow for the heroes, anyway. Simply use your best judgment: if it turns out that a ship is overpowered, simply arrange for a new system to short out when the Starship next moves down its Condition Track. Make sure you provide an explanation to your players, though- faulty parts, incompetent labor, and sabotage are all reasonable possibilities. Each of these reasons can spark new adventures as, for example, the heroes track down the crooked outlaw tech who sold them a shoddy engine motivator.
Cost Modifiers[]
It costs more to build a hyperdrive that can move a Capital-Class Starship than one for a Starfighter. Bigger Starships are simply costlier to improve or modify. Thus, each size of Starship has a Cost Modifier, which is applied to the base cost of Starship Systems added to Starships of that size. For example, Regenerating Shields have a base cost of 5,000 credits. When added to a Colossal Starship, this price is multiplied by the ship's Cost Modifier of x5, for a final cost of 25,000 credits. If added to a Colossal (Cruiser) Starship, the modifier is x500, for a final cost of 2,500,000 credits.
| STARSHIP SIZE | COST MODIFIER | |
|---|---|---|
| Colossal (Station) | x5000 | |
| Colossal (Cruiser) | x500 | |
| Colossal (Frigate) | x50 | |
| Colossal | x5 | |
| Gargantuan | x2 | |
| Huge | x1 |
A Note on Costs[]
All costs given are, by necessity, approximate. The Star Wars galaxy is a vast market, and it's impossible to create a system that realistically represents the thousands of factors that could affect a major purchase's final cost. As a result, the Gamemaster should feel free to modify these prices up or down as much as necessary to suit the plot of an adventure, the storyline of a campaign, or even personal preference.
Emplacement Points[]
You must meet certain size, bracing, and power requirements before adding a system to a Starship. Often, it simply isn't practical to add numerous new systems to an existing Starship. Emplacement Points represent the numerous factors that combine to limit how many systems a single Starship can have.
Each Starship Modification or new system has a rating in Emplacement Points to represent the effort required to add that feature to an existing Starship. The more Emplacement Points a Starship Modification requires, the greater its demand in terms of room, bracing, power, and integration with other systems.
If you lack the Emplacement Points to support a system, you can still install it; however, more time and credits are needed to add the subsystems that enable your new systems to function. For every Emplacement Point you lack for a system, add 2 days to the base installation time, 5 to the Mechanics check DC to install it, and 20% to the system cost. Additionally, any Starships that have Starship Modifications installed in this manner are automatically considered "Used" (see SotG Starship Adventures), and any systems added without sufficient Emplacement Points are damaged beyond repair if the Starship is disabled. This represents the harder work of finding ways to route power to your system, squeeze through already jammed conduits, and overcome the limitations of your overstuffed Starship. Additionally, Gamemasters should feel free to rule that some Starship Modifications cannot be installed without sufficient Emplacement Points, such as a Passenger Conversion when no cargo space is available.
Gaining Emplacement Points[]
A ship can gain additional Emplacement Points in one of three ways. Existing systems can be removed, making their Emplacement Points available for new systems. Thus, if a smuggler decides he needs a Laser Cannon, Quad more than he needs Maneuvering Jets, he can remove the Maneuvering Jets and gain the Emplacement Points needed to install a Laser Cannon, Quad. Removing systems in this way takes half as long as installing them would take and involves no associated cost. In fact, the old system can normally be sold for 1/4 of its original value (assuming it's in good working condition and you can find a buyer).
Alternatively, a Starship can give up cargo capacity to gain more Emplacement Points (a favorite tactic among pirate and Rebel engineers). The freed space makes it much easier to reroute power lines, add small power generators, and securely lock new systems into the ship's superstructure. It takes a number of tons of cargo capacity equal to a Starship's Cost Modifier for size (see Cost Modifiers, above) to equal 1 Emplacement Point. For example, to gain an additional 4 Emplacement Points for a Corellian Corvette, you must sacrifice 200 tons of cargo capacity: 1 ton x 50 for a Colossal (Frigate) Starship for each Emplacement Point.
Finally, a Starship of Colossal or larger size can gain Emplacement Points by removing Escape Pods, gaining 1 Emplacement Point per 10% of the Escape Pods removed. However, doing this is illegal on anything other than a Military Starship, and it takes only a DC 10 Perception check to notice. A first offense might lead to a fine of 1,000 credits, a second 5,000 credits, and a third offense results in the ship being impounded and the captain's Accredited License being revoked. A decent bribe and a Persuasion check might avoid this unpleasantness, however, particularly in a seedy spaceport on a backwater planet- and some such spaceports don't bother with safety inspections in any event.
Unused Emplacement Points[]
Any off-the-rack Starship has some unused capacity, allowing some modifications to be made more easily. A standard, unmodified Starship design generally has 1 unspent Emplacement Point. In some case, this capacity is later used for a "Standard" upgrade. For example, an unmodified V-19 Torrent Starfighter has 1 unspent Emplacement Point, but it become standard practice to use this to install a Hyperdrive in later models of the Starfighter.
Some stock ships are renowned for being easily modified. In part, this is the result of extra attachment points, power outlets, access hatches, and unused carrying capacity left over after the ship's core systems are installed. Such ships have even more unused Emplacement Points, allowing multiple systems to be added without removing anything or dealing with additional expenses. (Stock Starships designed by the Corellian Engineering Corporation have 5 unused Emplacement Points unless otherwise specified.) For ships with more than 1 spare Emplacement Point for the Saga Edition Core Rulebook and from the SotG Starship Codex, see the table below.
| STOCK SHIP | UNUSED EMPLACEMENT POINTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Action VI Transport | 3 | |
| Baudo-Class Star Yacht | 2 | |
| Blockade Runner (CR90 Corellian Corvette, Foray-Class Blockade Runner, etc) | 5 | |
| Citadel-Class Cruiser | 3 | |
| CloakShape Fighter | 2 | |
| DP20 Corellian Frigate | 5 | |
| Dreadnought (Dreadnaught-Class Heavy Cruiser, Kandosii-Type Dreadnought, etc) | 3 | |
| Dynamic-Class Freighter | 6 | |
| Firespray-31 Patrol Craft | 3 | |
| Ghtroc 720 Freighter | 3 | |
| J-Type Star Skiff | 2 | |
| Consular-Class Cruiser | 5 | |
| Cutlass-9 Patrol Fighter | 3 | |
| Star Galleon-Class Frigate | 4 | |
| YT-Series Space Transports (Corellian YT-1300 Transport, Corellian YT-2000 Transport, Corellian YT-2400 Transport, etc) | 10 |
Nonstandard Modifications[]
Rare or Nonstandard modifications (including those deemed by the Gamemaster to be ill suited for installation on a given ship) require substantially more effort to install, doubling the number of Emplacement Points required and multiplying the cost by 5. A Starship Modification is Nonstandard if the Starship does not have any similar system in its stock version. For example, adding a Hyperdrive, Starship Shields, or a Passenger Conversion to a TIE Fighter would be Nonstandard, but adding new Laser Cannons (or replacing its existing Laser Cannons) would not. The GM is the final arbiter of what systems are sufficiently dissimilar to qualify as Nonstandard, and particularly unusual combinations may be forbidden altogether.
Additional Nonstandard Modifications[]
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Web Enhancements (Jedi Counseling)
Q: My players have discovered that they can make very good warships by modifying freighters, turning all that extra cargo space into Emplacement Points. I can't find anything wrong with it in the rules, but it looks like a converted freighter could overpower a Star Destroyer! Am I missing something, or is this intentional?
A: You are missing something. Under Nonstandard Modifications (see above), you'll find this little catchall rule: "The GM is the final arbiter of what systems are sufficiently dissimilar to qualify as nonstandard, and particularly unusual combinations may be forbidden altogether."
In other words, no modification is legal unless you specifically say it is.
What you're describing- turning a freighter into a big pile of Emplacement Points to hold high-end capital-ship weaponry- skids right past nonstandard ("Sufficiently Dissimilar" Systems) and smacks right into the middle of forbidden ("Particularly Unusual Combinations"). The rules as written not only empower you to veto such an absurd design, they expect you to do so.
If your players object, tell them that they have to prove that the proposed modification is not "Particularly Unusual" by providing a few examples of similar cases. If they can't find any such example... well, "Unique" is pretty unusual, isn't it? We've certainly seen freighters with extensive modifications (The Millennium Falcon, The Outrider, The Wild Karrde, The Ebon Hawk), but none have had anything remotely approaching what you describe. In fact, the Gallofree GR-75 Medium Transport is specifically described as being frequently modified for many different functions, but the idea of turning it into a "Pocket Battleship" never seems to have crossed the Rebels' minds.
You can use the following guidelines to help you adjudicate these sorts of unusual cases, but keep in mind that guidelines are just that: guidelines. They aren't hard-and-fast limits, and they aren't substitutes for good GM judgment and common sense. Very generally speaking, if any of the following are true, the modification is probably nonstandard. If two or more are true, the modification is probably not possible at all (unless there are counterexamples that show otherwise, of course).
- The Starship does not have any similar system in its stock version, or if the system is specifically described as nonstandard for that type of Starship (such as a Hyperdrive on a Starfighter).
- The modification would increase the Starship's Speed, Hit Points, or Shield Rating by more than 50% or the number of weapons, passengers, or carried craft (measured in Hangar Space) by more than 100% compared to the starship's stock version.
- If the Starship has gained Emplacement Points equal to or greater than its Cost Modifier by converting cargo space, all further modifications are Nonstandard except for volume-heavy modifications such as Cryogenic Chambers, Escape Pods, Extended Range, Hangar Bays, Medical Suites, Passenger Conversions, and Smuggler's Compartments.
Installation[]
Installing a new system, or modifying an old one, is normally a matter of work force, time, and a Mechanics check. This assumes the Starship in which you are installing the system is otherwise fully functional, the system to be installed is freely available, and you have the tools and space needed. Remember that making Mechanics checks aboard a Starship that has moved down the Condition Track incurs the normal penalties associated with that spot on the track. Under less optimal conditions, the time, money, and Mechanics check DC required could be increased by as much as 100%, and the Gamemaster may decide that modifications are impossible in these circumstances. Frequently, a given Starship Modification might be possible only if the heroes get hold of the system directly, such as stealing a Starship Shield Generator from a Trade Federation shipyard, recovering a mothballed fighter from an old Imperial supply depot, or trading rare spices to a Hutt crime lord for the last known example of a particular Hyperdrive component. Whenever possible, a GM should make modifying the heroes' Starship as much an adventure as a design issue.
Installation Work Force[]
The bigger a ship, the more people it takes to make modifications. For Starships of Gargantuan size or smaller, a single person can do everything necessary (though it's often much easier with help). For Colossal Starships, the minimum Work Force is larger: Colossal, 5; Colossal (Frigate), 10; Colossal (Cruiser), 20; and Colossal (Station), 50. The minimum Work Force can make a modification or add a new system in the normal Installation Time (see below). It isn't practical for a smaller Work Force to make changes to such big ships, regardless of how much time the workers have. If your Work Force is bigger than your minimum, the installation can go faster, but the maximum Work Force that can be used on any given installation is 10 x the minimum Work Force for the Starship's size.
Installation Time[]
The base time needed to add a Starship Modification or system is calculated as follows:
Time (In days) = (Emplacement Points) x (Starship's Cost Modifier) / (Number of workers)
In many cases, a new system can be added to a Starfighter with just a single day of work. That is possible because many systems are modular, allowing different Hyperdrives, weapons, and computer systems to be easily removed and new ones slotted in. Even something like Reinforced Bulkheads represents a predesigned kit of clamps and brackets that bolt on to existing hull plating. Still, some installations take large amounts of time unless a huge Work Force can be brought to the project.
Installation Checks[]
Proper installation requires a Mechanics check at the end of the Installation Time. The base DC for such a check is 20, +1 for each point of Emplacement a system or modification uses. If the check fails by less than 10, the installation is a partial failure. You must spend half as much time and money to try again, and gain a +5 bonus on your next Mechanics check to install the system or modification. A check that fails by 10 or more is a total failure- all the time and money spent is wasted, and you must start over from the beginning.
Stock Starships[]
See also: Starship Designer
If you need to design a ship from scratch, rather than modify an existing ship, simply start with one of the following Stock Ships. Each Stock Ship has a cost and basic description for a generic, no-frills version of a Starship of that size. To improve the design, use the Starship Modification rules to add and improve the systems and abilities you need. A lone character can't design a Starship from scratch without the Starship Designer Feat, and even then normally needs the aid of a shipyard to build one.
Once you have determined all the systems you want to add to your Stock Ship, you can determine its Initiative, Perception, Base Attack Bonus, Grapple, attacks, Damage Threshold, and Fighting Space using the standard rules for these values (see Vehicle Combat). Remember to select a Crew Quality when determining these values.
There is no hard and fast rule to determine the Challenge Level of a new Stock Ship. The easiest way to do so is to compare the new Stock Ship to comparable ships and use that as the basis of a CL, adjusting as necessary for the Crew Quality of the ship.
| STOCK SHIP | SIZE | STRENGTH | DEXTERITY | INTELLIGENCE | SPEED | HIT POINTS | DR | ARMOR | COST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHARACTER SCALE | STARSHIP SCALE | |||||||||
| Battlecruiser | Colossal (Cruiser) | 100 | 12 | 18 | - | 2 sq. | 2,000 | 20 | +16 | 20,000,000 |
| Cruiser | Colossal (Cruiser) | 94 | 14 | 16 | - | 2 sq. | 1,500 | 20 | +14 | 10,000,000 |
| Frigate | Colossal (Frigate) | 60 | 16 | 16 | - | 2 sq. | 800 | 15 | +12 | 2,000,000 |
| Corvette | Colossal (Frigate) | 58 | 18 | 16 | - | 3 sq. | 600 | 15 | +12 | 1,000,000 |
| Heavy Freighter | Colossal (Frigate) | 56 | 10 | 12 | - | 1 sq. | 400 | 15 | +12 | 500,000 |
| Gunship | Colossal | 50 | 14 | 16 | 12 sq. | 3 sq. | 150 | 15 | +12 | 200,000 |
| Shuttle | Colossal | 46 | 14 | 14 | 12 sq. | 3 sq. | 120 | 15 | +12 | 50,000 |
| Light Freighter | Colossal | 42 | 10 | 12 | 12 sq. | 2 sq. | 120 | 15 | +12 | 20,000 |
| Bomber | Gargantuan | 46 | 18 | 14 | 16 sq. | 3 sq. | 150 | 10 | +8 | 50,000 |
| Superiority Fighter | Gargantuan | 42 | 22 | 14 | 16 sq. | 4 sq. | 120 | 10 | +7 | 50,000 |
| Interceptor | Huge | 38 | 24 | 14 | 16 sq. | 6 sq. | 90 | 10 | +3 | 100,000 |
| Light Fighter | Huge | 34 | 20 | 14 | 16 sq. | 5 sq. | 60 | 10 | +3 | 30,000 |
Speed: This entry gives the Stock Ship's fly speed in squares, first for Character Scale and then Starship Scale. If the Character Scale value is given as "-,"the ship does not function at Character Scale.
Armor: The Starship's Armor bonus to Reflex Defense.
Cost: The cost for the Stock Ship's basic frame. This does not include the cost of Hyperdrives, cargo space, Weapon Systems, or Starship Shields. It does include the basic systems required for a ship to function, including ion drives, life support, and basic facilities. The given cost assumes a typical new Starship from a typical production facility. Do not multiply the costs for Stock Ships by the Cost Modifier for ships of that size. All multipliers for the basic Starship frame have already been included in these costs.
| STOCK SHIP | CREW | PASSENGERS | CARGO CAPACITY | CONSUMABLES | EMPLACEMENT POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlecruiser | 20,000 | 5,000 | 20,000 Tons | 2 Years | 200 |
| Cruiser | 5,000 | 1,000 | 10,000 Tons | 2 Years | 100 |
| Frigate | 1,000 | 200 | 5,000 Tons | 1 Year | 50 |
| Corvette | 50 | 200 | 2,000 Tons | 1 Year | 20 |
| Heavy Freighter | 10 | 10 | 100,000 Tons | 6 Months | 5 |
| Gunship | 4 | 4 | 5 Tons | 1 Month | 20 |
| Shuttle | 4 | 8 | 20 Tons | 1 Month | 5 |
| Light Freighter | 2 | 6 | 100 Tons | 2 Months | 5 |
| Bomber | 2 | 0 | 50 kg | 2 Days | 10 |
| Superiority Fighter | 1 | 0 | 50 kg | 2 Days | 5 |
| Interceptor | 1 | 0 | 50 kg | 2 Days | 5 |
| Light Fighter | 1 | 0 | 50 kg | 2 Days | 2 |
Emplacement Points: If you worsen a Stock Ship's starting value in a category by 25%, you gain a number of Emplacement Points equal to 10% of the ship's stock Emplacement Points (or twice that many if you worsen it by 50%). For the purpose of the crew required to operate a Starship, worsening means increasing the crew required (by 25% or 50%). Any Emplacement Points gained in this way may be kept as spares or used to purchase additional cargo capacity, adding tons of cargo capacity equal to the Stock Ship's Cost Modifier for each Emplacement Point spent.