[BlackJaw]

Note that I left out about a half-dozen or more diffrent "specail qualities" that a vehilce probably has, including a Bridge with a number of bridge stations, etc.

Ideas:
Saves/Ability scores: A vehilce's Dexterity score is the Pilot's score. A vehilce' reflex save is the pilot's save minus the handling modifier (because it involves moving). I'm currently toying with the idea that the vehilce's Wis and Cha scores are the pilot's score... atlhought those two featers (common even on oozes, constructs, and undead) might be by type. Thus the Will save would be by type/size (and in 99% of cases a vehicle is immune anyway)

Encumbrance. Vehilce should have encumbrance for cargo... and it should probably be listed with cargo bays. The vehicle's STR score can be used and under d20 system, creature size gives a multiplier to this STR listing in the PHB. Problem: when determining the cargo listing do we use light, medium, or heavey. If we allow loads over light load, doe we institute some sort of vehilce slowing and piloting penalty like those with encumbrance? what about the Dex cap... technicaly if we use striat D&D rules here, we'd have to cap the pilot's Dex score and give a skill check penalty (which would include piloting) resulting in large penalties for loading a ship above light load. I kinda like that idea even still. I'd say we only count cargo goods for this ratting and ignore crew. Should a vehilce load up on people (above crew score) then we count their weight as cargo. Remember crew size counts too... 2 small = 1 medium. 2 medium = 1 large... etc. Keeping a dragon in the cargo bay can be a problem. ( I didn't do this correctly in the block above)

Types: mostly vehicle will be of the Construct, Undead, and Plant types... You can also fairly easily make a living organic ship with no inteligence... but if we wanted a living Inteligent ship (some SciFi works that way... ever seen Farscape, Bab5, or a few of the StarTrek shows?) do we have that ship always pilot itself and call it mounted rules (thus no vehilce type, but maybe still use some of the components and special vehilce weapons/etc) or do we have inteligent ships hard ruled that they can't pilot themselves... or what? It seems like a bad idea to tell people that it just can't be done. I kinda like the idea that you can fly an inteligent ship if it lets you... if you grew it so it had controls (instead of just sitting on it and yank a cord to give it orders on where you want to go like in mounted combat) but the ship can always re-assert itself, generlay acts as a copilot, etc... The alternative to this concept is that we require that the Vehicle sub-type removes Int scores/can't be applied to something with an Int score... and again we have the rules simply telling people "No." Couldn't we just look at it as "you can't pilot it unless it has the Vehilce subtype, and if it has the vehilce sub type and an inteligence score then it is a vehilce that can pilot itself." We could even setup a component that gives vehilces Int scores (kinda like an advanced autopilot)??? or do you have another idea how to work this. Just write it out as "if it has an Inteligence score, then you can not pilot it, only ride it?"

Speed, Lift, Glide, manuvering, the works: So your idea for determing these improtant features is this(?):
1) a ship's minum speed is determined by comparing it's Primary Lift againts it's Size. If it's Primary Lift is equal to or greater then its HD, then it's min. speed is 0 (hover).
2)If the ship's Primary Lift is not equal to or greater then its HD, then we subtract the Primary Lift & Speed Lift from the HD, take the resulting number and use that to determine the Min. Speed (but the speed must 30' or more). The vehilce's engines must meet that speed or better to fly in gravity.
3) speed is determiend by adding up all Speed points & glide speed points and comparing it to a table.
4) Glide speed is determiend by adding up all glide speed points (which come from components that do not need power) and comparing that to the same table above.
5) Manuveribilty and Glide man. work in the same way. The table lists clumsy as the worst option for a vehicle/vessel.


How do we do Vehilce STR scores? base amount (by size and/or type) + system based off the vehicle's Speed & lift? Or is it base by size (which assumes the engines/components are that strong to get it airborne) and maybe special components (option in my Engine component desing) increase the Str score spicificaly thus letting vehicles be designed to carry lots of cargo not nessisarily go faster or hover? some other idea?