Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne
I think the thing I really want is a system that leads to nice in-universe explanations for why ships are built the way they're built.
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I have always been partial to the
Knight Hawks rules of the
Star Frontiers RPG. In addition to a fast-playing but fairly detailed spaceship board wargame, plus a massive wartime military campaign, it is an expansion of the RPG into spaceships and has a complete spaceship-design system, down to the complete list of programs in the ship's computer and the number of airlocks. It not only has costs for everything, but also lists all the spaceship construction centers in the Frontier, the time you have to wait to get into one, and the time it takes to build your ship.
There's no superscience artificial gravity in
Star Frontiers, so decks are arranged vertically, and there's only a sense of gravity when the ship is accelerating or decelerating (it turns around to decelerate). Except for the imaginary FTL method, the setting tries to stick to fairly hard science-fiction.
Here's a sample spaceship built using the system.
Constructed at a Class I Center.
Hull Size: 3 (150,000 credits)
Length: 50 m
Diameter: 8 m
Hatches: 1
Engine Mounts: 2
ADF (acceleration deceleration factor): 3
MR (maneuver rating): 3
Engine Size: A
Engine Type: Atomic
Number of Engines: 2 (400,000 cr)
Atomic Fuel Pellets: 3 (30,000 cr)
Standard Crew: 6
Life Support Equipment: 5 kg (500 cr)
Backup Life Support Equipment: 5 kg (500 cr)
Astrogation Equipment: Basic (15,000 cr)
Videocomm Radio: 2 m^3 (1,000 cr)
Videocomm Screen: 0.5 m^3
Subspace Radio: 3 m^3 (20,000 cr)
Intercom Panel: 1 m^3 (50 cr)
Intercom Speaker/Mic (3): 1.5 m^3 (30 cr)
Radar Unit: 5 m^3 (10,000 cr)
Portholes: 5 (250 cr)
Camera System: 10 m^3 (25,000 cr)
Escape Pods (3): 40 m^3 (90,000 cr)
Laser Battery: (3,000 cr)
Reflective Hull: (1,500 cr)
Interior Hull Size: 1
Computer Control Panel: (100 cr)
Computer Level: 3 (20 kg)
Total Computer Program Function Points: 64
PROGRAMS:
Drive: Level 4, 32 Function Points (32,000 cr)
Life Support: Level 1, 2 Function Points (2,000 cr)
Backup Life Support: Level 1, 2 Function Points (2,000 cr)
Astrogation: Level 4, 24 Function Points (24,000 cr)
Laser Battery: Level 1, 4 Function Points (4,000 cr)
Alarm: Level 2, 2 Function Points (2,000 cr)
Damage Control: Level 2, 4 Function Points (4,000 cr)
Star Frontiers and Knight Hawks are available in PDF form at DriveThruRPG.com.