d20 Ronin Arts Future Starship 01 - The Nova Star.pdf - Ronin Arts - R5700

Requires the use of the d20 Modern™ Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

THE NOVA STAR

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Ronin Arts’ Future: Starship 1 –

The Nova Star , the first in a new series of PDFs for

use with futuristic D20 System campaigns. This

series makes some assumptions about your cam-

paign; the starship designs in this series will be

most useful in campaigns in which the following

statements are true:

be printed separately and added to your binder. The

schematic and silhouette page is designed to be

used as a player handout – it’s what flashes up on

their ship systems when they attempt to ID a ship –

and GMs need only give the players the page when

they encounter a ship from this series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Philip Reed has been working professionally in

the roleplaying game industry since 1995. In that

time he has worked for such companies as West End

Games, Privateer Press, and Steve Jackson Games.

Today Philip spends his days at home running

Ronin Arts, writing and designing new games, and

reading whatever books interest him at the time. To

learn more about Philip Reed – and Ronin Arts –

please

• The campaign is not a “hard” science setting.

Campaigns that are more space opera/adven-

ture movie are the intended target for this

series.

• Starships are not rare or unusual. All of the

starships in this series assume that space

travel is a standard and common occurrence

– individuals either fly their own ships or

ride on passenger ships. Starships and space

travel are as common for characters as a

plane ride is for people of our reality.

• Space combat is not uncommon. It’s just

another exciting adventure when the player

characters have to engage the enemy while

fleeing from some world or other.

• The campaign is packed with action. If things

aren’t exploding, how much fun can the

game really be?

visit

www.creationcrash.com

and

www.roninarts.com.

E-FUTURE TILES: STAR FREIGHTER

The Nova Star design is based on SkeletonKey

Games’ e-Future Tiles: Star Freighter tile set.

While this PDF can be easily used on its own you

will get a lot more use out of it in your game ses-

sions if you construct the ship – at miniatures scale

– using the printable tiles. The only tiles you will

need that are not available in e-Future Tiles: Star

Freighter are the wings – which have been thought-

fully included at the end of this PDF.

To learn more about SkeletonKey Games please

visit their website at www.skeletonkeygames.com.

Most of the starships in this series are designed

to fill 4 pages. This is so that you can print the pages

– back-to-back if you wish – and drop them into a

binder. This introduction, and the page of new star-

ship equipment and assorted information, can also

THE NOVA STAR

NEW RULES AND IDEAS

N EW S HIP S YSTEMS

The following are new items that have been

installed on the Nova Star. They are included here

so that you may easily use them to modify existing

starships or when designing your own original

ships.

Purchase DC: 25 (Huge), 30 (Gargantuan), or

35 (Colossal).

Restriction: Military (+3).

I LLEGAL C ARGO I TEMS

While many of the freighters in service in the

galaxy run honest, legal goods, a number of pilots

use their ships to transport illegal substances, gear,

and other objects between worlds. The following

are just a small sampling of possible illegal cargo

items a pilot could agree to transport.

Weapons: On worlds undergoing civil war or

rebellion, those in control will do their best to limit

the introduction of new weapons to the world.

Pacifist worlds, resort worlds, and governmental

complexes will also have restrictions on weapons of

any type. The risk in running weapons, while great,

is usually not life threatening.

Drugs: Not the medical type. Sci-fi tales are

packed with various illegal substances – spices,

beverages, hypnotic devices designed to induce

euphoria, all are “drugs” to be delivered.

Slaves: Only the most morally corrupt of pilots

agree to transport slaves between worlds. Some

pilots even go so far as to become slavers, landing

on isolated worlds and rounding up the locals to sell

on some other planet.

GRAVITIC ENHANCEMENT DRIVE

(PL 7)

This engine upgrade – usable with PL 6 and PL

7 engines only – reroutes the ship’s power through

a gravitic flux module that slightly boosts the

engine’s power output. A gravitic enhancement

drive is an activated system that must be turned on

– counts as an action – in order to operate. The drive

requires 1d4 rounds after being turned on before it

begins to have an effect on the engine’s power; after

1d4 rounds the ship’s tactical speed is increased by

+500 ft. (+1 sq.). Unfortunately, gravitic enhance-

ment drives are unreliable devices – each round

after the drive first boosts the ship’s speed there is a

chance that the drive will fail and burn out the

ship’s engines, leaving it without power. This

chance is equal to 10% + 5% for each round after

the first that the gravitic enhancement drive is left

running. A DC 25 Repair check is required to repair

an engine that is burned out by a gravitic enhance-

ment drive.

Minimum Ship Size: Huge.

Tactical Speed Bonus: +500 feet (+1 square).

Purchase DC: 30 + one-half the base purchase

DC of the starship.

Restriction: Licensed (+1)

S TARSHIPS AND

P URCHASE DC S

According to the rules as presented, starships

are extremely expensive pieces of equipment. This

is appropriate for many types of games but, when it

comes to a space opera setting where several people

own and operate starships, the printed purchase

DCs are far too high.

To make starships more prolific in a campaign

setting, especially one in which it’s preferable for

the player characters to own their own starships,

reduce the printed purchase DCs of all non-military

starships by 15. This change brings starship pur-

chase DCs to a range closer to that of civilian land

vehicles in a Modern campaign.

This is an optional rule and one that must be

approved by the GM.

PUNISHER TARGETING COMPUTER

(PL 7)

This military-grade targeting computer was first

installed in battleship’s and cruisers. A starship

equipped with a Punisher targeting computer gains

an equipment bonus on attack rolls depending on

the ship’s size: Huge +4, Gargantuan +5, Colossal

+6. This system replaces the ship’s existing target-

ing system..

The purchase DC of the improved targeting sys-

tem depends on the size of the ship.

THE NOVA STAR

BASIC INFORMATION

Throughout the galaxy, light freighters travel the

spacelanes. These small ships are mostly involved

in running legal and illegal cargo between the

numerous populated worlds of the known universe.

Freighters – many of them decades old and with

more stories behind them than the most grizzled of

out-of-work spacers – are typically heavily cus-

tomized by their owners. It’s not an uncommon for

two freighters of the same model to, after a few

decades of service, look nothing alike.

The Nova Star is a Comet-class freighter origi-

nally manufactured on the high-industry world of

Diaophin Alpha Six. First used in the Byssanian

Mercantile Wars, the Nova Star saw extensive com-

bat as she transported medical supplies, foodstuffs,

and water to a remote Byssanian outpost in the

Xixith Asteroid Belt. The captain and owner of the

Nova Star during the Mercantile Wars, a human

named Stavros Rennelli, started the first in what

was to eventually become many custom modifica-

tions to the ship’s Comet-class design.

Rennelli lost the Nova Star to the mechanical

bounty hunter VtX-09a shortly after the Mercantile

Wars. Since that time, the ship has had almost a

dozen different owners, each one of which has

made some modification or other to the ship’s orig-

inal design. The ship’s last owner, Cryyss the

Dishonest, upgraded the ship’s engines with a

gravitic enhancement drive and the ship’s armor to

cerametal.

The starship lot where the Nova Star is current-

ly being displayed for sale also made a new modifi-

cation to the freighter: a military-grade “Punisher”

targeting computer was mounted in place of the

ship’s original targeting system. Where the starship

lot owners found a “Punisher” is unknown, but

they’re proud of the improvement to the ship (and

they’re charging for it).

The Nova Star would make an excellent “home

base” for a team of star heroes. The ship is armed

and armored and has enough cargo space to make it

an excellent tool for smuggling, pirating, or honest

trade.

GAME STATISTICS

T HE N OVA S TAR (PL 7)

Type: Ultralight

Subtype: Light freighter

Defense: 7

Flat-footed Defense: 5

Autopilot Defense: 5

Hardness: 30

Hit Dice: 16d20 (320 hp)

Initiative Modifier: +2

Pilot’s Class Bonus: +3

Pilot’s Dex Modifier: +2

Gunner’s Attack Bonus: +2

Size: Colossal (-8 size)

Tactical Speed: 3,000 ft. (6 sq.),

3,500 ft. (7 sq.) with gravitic

enhancement drive activated

Length: 102 feet

Weight: 400 tons

Targeting System Bonus: +4

Crew: 3 (trained +4)

Passenger Capacity: 3

Cargo Capacity: 270 tons

Grapple Modifier: +16

Purchase DC: 53

Restriction: Military (+3)

Attack: 2 fire-linked heavy lasers –3 ranged

(12d8) and 2 fire-linked rail cannons –8 ranged

(9d12)

Attack of Opportunity: None

magnetic field, radiation shielding, sensor

jammer

Sensors: Class II sensor array, Punisher target-

ing computer

Communications: Laser transceiver, radio

transceiver

Weapons: 2 fire-linked heavy lasers (range

incr. 4,000 ft.), 2 fire-linked rail cannons

(range incr. 3,000 ft.)

Grappling Systems: Grapplers

NOVA STAR DESIGN SPECS:

Engines: Ion engine, thrusters, gravitic

enhancement drive

Armor: Cerametal

Defense Systems: Autopilot system, shielded

cargo hold, damage control system (1d10),

THE NOVA STAR

STARSHIP KEY

1. Cockpit: The Nova Star’s cockpit seats three

– a pilot, co-pilot, and navigations/communi-

cations specialist. This cramped cockpit is

typical of light freighters. The cockpit door

can be closed with the touch of a button and

is quite durable (hardness 20, 50 hit points)

and has a sophisticated lock (DC 40 Disable

Device check required to open the door

when locked).

2. Personal Cargo: This small hold is used for

passenger and crew cargo. In an emergency

the space could be used to carry more pas-

sengers – previous owners of the Nova Star

have been known to stack bunks in this small

space so that they could ferry survivors and

refugees.

3. Med Suite: This compact medical facility

houses a cryosleep chamber and a minimal

selection of basic drugs, bandages, and med-

ical supplies. Treat Injury checks made while

in the Med Suite gain a +2 equipment bonus.

4. Galley: The ship’s galley carries enough

foodstuff to feed up to six people for a two-

week period.

5. Lavatory: A typical shipboard restroom facil-

ity.

6. Sleeping Quarters: These double bunks can

fit up to 8 comfortably.

7. Weapon’s Storage: The ship’s personal

weapons and armor are stored in this area.

The weapons are kept in wall-mounted

cases, each one locked (DC 35 Disable

Device check required to break into these

cases).

8. Engineering 1: This area offers access to the

ship’s port engines, the translight drives, and

various other technical components of the

Nova Star . A secondary gunner’s station here

is tied to the ship’s rail cannons. Firing the

weapons from this position does not give the

firer the ship’s targeting system bonus (the

Punisher is only wired into the cockpit con-

trols).

9. Engineering 2: Identical to engineering 1

except without the gunner station and allow-

ing access only to the starboard engines.

10. Passageway: This area is usually kept clear.

It can be used to store more cargo if the Nova

Star’s primary cargo holds are filled to

capacity.

11-12. Cargo Holds: Large bay doors allow

access to these two large cargo bays.

ADVENTURE HOOKS

HEY, THAT’S MY SHIP!

Shortly after purchasing the Nova Star, the play-

er characters are confronted by a man claiming that

the ship was stolen from him. He manages to pro-

duce evidence of ownership and the local authori-

ties approach the group, arresting them for starship

theft.

The individual is an experienced con man who

spends his time traveling between worlds and run-

ning this same scheme. How the PCs clear their

names, and re-acquire their ship before the real

thief escapes off-planet, should prove to be an

exciting evening of game play.

Alternately, the individual is telling the truth.

The Nova Star was stolen from him several months

ago by thieves working for the starship lot where

the PCs purchased the ship. How the PCs deal with

dishonest starship salesmen should be fun to watch.

MORE FUN THAN A CARGO HOLD

FULL OF BENNIAN HOUNDS

A wealthy noble requests that the PCs transport

her prized bennian hounds to the upcoming canine

show on Teirjon Theta Seven. The pay is adequate,

the job seemingly simple, and the temptation too

great to pass up.

Unfortunately for the player characters, the

woman forgot to mention that bennian hounds are

prone to space-sickness and very, very loud.

Throughout the trip the PCs must deal with sick

dogs, noisy dogs, and dogs always underfoot – no

matter how hard they try to keep the hounds con-

fined to the cargo hold they find a way to escape.

The woman has promised a bonus if the dogs

are safely delivered to the show. This annoyance

should be a fun diversion during the course of a

more serious adventure.

d20 Ronin Arts Future Starship 01 - The Nova Star.pdf

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