[Spaceships] What are the mechanical consequences of not meeting crew quotas?

[Kale]

Originally Posted by Eukie

As Varyon pointed out, I was primarily concerned with lacking the full complement of workspace technicians, not with lacking crew for primary piloting, sensor/communications, engineering, and gunnery tasks.

I think part of it will be how maintenance-intensive tech is in your setting. Under routine operation the ship could probably go a while under staffed, but in action the ship would definitely suffer. You'd have to decide how much a given system has to be 'pampered' by crew during operation, but a number like -1 per 10% understaffing seems not unreasonable.

Also consider after any stressful situation where the ship is run at max (i.e. combat, landing in a gravity well, atmospheric re-entry, etc) there will probably need to be maintenance or at least detailed systems checks to make sure everything is u to snuff. This will require more crew hours and overworked crew might make mistakes...