Magitech "Hybrid: Starships

[Kage2020]

So, I'm looking for advice/inspiration on (re)creating the "Hybrid Starships" of the Equinox setting. The setting is a combination of Shadowrun-esque technology (with a limit on AI) and Earthdawn-styled magical "stuff" being everywhere ("Nethertech").

Hybrid ships are the only things that can "fold space" into astral space and through a "fold" into another star system. The ships themselves are otherwise technological creations built of traditional materials, but also "biomechanical metal" (self-healing shenanigans) and "arcanium" (magical stuff like, say, orichalcum). They fly within systems using conventional drives, have conventional technology, but each ship has a "Spirit Core" (a possessing spirit) that allows them to travel to other worlds. It also provide san overall "personality" to the ship (personalising it with special powers etc.) and specific sub-systems might work with spirit guidance from than non-sentient AIs.

Basically, it's a mess. But I'm here with the hope of converting setting, not system.

Clearly Spaceships is going to be important, but I've taken a look-see and have not found a perfect match between I (Spaceships), VII (Divergent and Paranormal Tech), and VIII (Transhuman Spacecraft).

This seems like a Control System and a Propulsion system, right? That can be created, but what about the broader ship boosts by the spirit? What would you advise there?

More questions to follow when I've got some sleep.

Edit: FWIW this is an example of a thread that is not hyper-detailed in terms of GURPS mechanics. I wish there were more!

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Kage2020

. . . what about the broader ship boosts by the spirit? What would you advise there?

Look for things at higher TLs than your mundane technology, rationalised by the spirit? Design the abilities the spirit provides using the character design system and apply them by fiat to the ship?

[Taneli]

Sounds a bit like you have a magitech star drive powered by a magical power system.

[Varyon]

How you represent the vessel's ability to fold space, as well as its controlling mind, is up to you. Being possessed by a Spirit Core may have no mass associated with it at all, being something like an enchantment on the ship. You'll most likely still need a Control Room, however - not only is this where the control stations for the crew are typically located, but the Control Room system is also where the maneuver systems (gyros, attitude thrusters, etc) are accounted for, and in fact if you treat the default array as a -2 to SM Enhanced Array (which is where the stats line up), assume the Control Stations have roughly comparable mass (and 10x cost, as per the cost savings for leaving them out) to an equal amount of Passenger Seating, and assume the onboard computer is basically one of the options from Ultra Tech, you end up with 70+% of the mass and cost of the Control Room unaccounted for... implying the maneuvering systems actually make up the bulk of the mass and cost of a Control Room. So unless the Spirit Core can maneuver the vessel on its own (via something akin to telekinesis, perhaps), you'll absolutely need a Control Room.

[thrash]

Originally Posted by Varyon

So unless the Spirit Core can maneuver the vessel on its own (via something akin to telekinesis, perhaps), you'll absolutely need a Control Room.

Alternatively, you could use a Sapient Brain system (Spaceships 7, p. 18) to house the Spirit Core, with or without a Control Room. (The extra damage might represent fragile crystal components rather than squishy gray matter.) Combine it with the Power Plant, Magical (caged spirit) (ibid., p. 13) for a total of six magical power points.

[Kage2020]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Look for things at higher TLs than your mundane technology, rationalised by the spirit? Design the abilities the spirit provides using the character design system and apply them by fiat to the ship?

Again, the setting in question (Equinox) is really vague about such things. The bound spirit has to be powerful enough to act as the magitech drive (bigger the ship, the more difficult that this is), but the spirit can also control the ship. But there are other spirits and other technological control systems.

TBH, my thoughts are currently:

• Create the ship as normal. It is, after all, a technological device with AI/etc.
• The spirit is an add-on, but I'm not clear how to handle the power boosts to the ship. I can see how an "Air elemental" could boost, say, manoeuverability, but how to make that happen? I'm not sure that coupling it to an invisible tech boost works.
• I was initially wondering if damaged sections would make the ship "go dark" for the spirit, but that's the same for the other control systems. Reminder to self: K.I.S.S.

Originally Posted by Taneli

Sounds a bit like you have a magitech star drive powered by a magical power system.

True. The spirit is providing the "star drive", true. It is also the power for that drive that is unrelated to the other power systems.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Being possessed by a Spirit Core may have no mass associated with it at all, being something like an enchantment on the ship.

Setting-wise the only thing that I was thinking about was the inclusion of specialist materials.

Originally Posted by Varyon

You'll most likely still need a Control Room, however...

Of course. It's spot on in terms of the setting and its conventions--very Firefly but where there's another smartass contributing to the discussion. Or, you know, Holly.

I think that what you're showing me is that this should just make the Control Room a little bit more expensive because of specialist materials.

Originally Posted by thrash

So unless the Spirit Core can maneuver the vessel on its own (via something akin to telekinesis, perhaps), you'll absolutely need a Control Room.

Of course. The spirit is there as a magitech drive and someone that can do other things. There's very little guidance in the setting on what this means, though.

Originally Posted by thrash

Alternatively, you could use a Sapient Brain system (Spaceships 7, p. 18) to house the Spirit Core...

Thank you. That seems to be the thing that I missed.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Kage2020

The spirit is an add-on, but I'm not clear how to handle the power boosts to the ship. I can see how an "Air elemental" could boost, say, manoeuverability, but how to make that happen? I'm not sure that coupling it to an invisible tech boost works.

Depends on if the spirit is something the characters have to pay for when they get the ship. "I really wanted an Air Elemental to boost the ship's handling, but I couldn't afford that and just went with a stock Aether Elemental. It can't do much beyond fold space, but that's all I really need, y'know?"

If they don't have to pay for it - or if they do but there's no difference in cost between the different options - you can just assign any bonus you want. You may want to try to balance the options, of course, so that none are obviously superior to the others.

If they do have to pay for it, an option would be to have it either function as a system or upgrade existing systems. Perhaps a Light Elemental makes the basic array that comes with a Control Room function as an Enhanced Array, or grants a +1 to any existing Enhanced (/etc) Array. A Fire Elemental may simply provide one or more PP, make existing power plants provide more PP (say, +50%), or give ~x3 to output for energy weapons (10 MJ becomes 30 MJ; 30 MJ becomes 100 MJ; etc). And so forth. In this case, you could work out how much it would cost to add systems that would have the same effect, then double (or more) that cost to account for it being massless (for upgrades that could apply to multiple systems at once, you may want to only let it apply to one at a time - your Fire Elemental can only enhance one weapon per space combat round, for example... or charge more for elementals who can enhance multiple systems at once, based on how many they can).

[Kage2020]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Depends on if the spirit is something the characters have to pay for when they get the ship.

There's actually very little information on the notion of these hybrid ships in the setting books at hand (Equinox), so talking through this is incredibly valuable to me. Thank you.

All that is really know about them (more or less) is:

• They're expensive, requiring "biomechanical metal". (Nanocomp Armour, Starships, p.12?)
• Summoning a spirit takes energy, time, and a group of mystics working together. (Ritual Magic, group.)
• The spirit core takes an active role in controlling the ship and is used to coordinate any other Spirit-Tech devices.
• The larger the ship, the more "complex" it is to get a Spirit Core, but there's a balance between large ships and those small enough to be able to work in the "Earth Belt" (Earth was destroyed and turned into an asteroid belt. Woot.).
• There are still "mundane" control systems for when things go squirrely.
• The ships can be old/found, or new/built.
• The players in the game trend towards the cast of [i]Firefly/i].

Some things that spring to mind include:

• I can see some of the more "advanced" rituals for summoning spirits for Hybrid ships being incredibly proprietary. At it's heart, though, it will just be a (very) hard Path Magic (Conjuring) ritual.
• The same applies to other SpiritTech devices.
• I imagine that if you can Summon you can also banish a spirit in a Hybrid ship to, as it were, "vacate the premises" for a new spirit?

Originally Posted by Varyon

"I really wanted an Air Elemental to boost the ship's handling, but I couldn't afford that and just went with a stock Aether Elemental. It can't do much beyond fold space, but that's all I really need, y'know?"

I cannot quite imagine Captain Reynolds bargaining over the type of spirit but, well, that's probably because I need time to think about it and get used to the idea because it does sound interesting.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Perhaps a Light Elemental makes the basic array that comes with a Control Room function as an Enhanced Array, or grants a +1 to any existing Enhanced (/etc) Array.

This is kind of what I was thinking when reading through the materials, yes.

Rats... Family calls!