d20 Future Starship Hit Dice

[FolcoTook]

OK, I've read the Starships section twice and skimmed it a few times without coming up with an answer to the following question:

How did they determine how many hit dice a given ship has?

I'm thinking there isn't any hard-and-fast system and that I'll just use the given ships as a model for making my own, but if there is, I'd love to know it.

-FT

 

[Johnny Angel]

I notice that in a significant number of cases the number of hit points in d20 Future ships is ten times the number of hull points of ships with the same or similar classification in the Alternity Warships system. That system was based on a progression of hull points by eight for civilian hulls and ten for millitary ones. It looks like some classifications have been shifted to different places in the hull point spectrum. Otherwise, it looks like the hit points are derived from Alternity.

Chequez vous

 

[FolcoTook]

Yeah, I was made aware of the Alternity Warships pdf earlier today by a very helpful soul and I noticed that too. I think in the end, I'll just use those hit dice given as the base hulls (as per the Alternity rules) and if I need any others (probably not, but maybe), I'll use the Warships pdf to map over appropriate hit dice.

And I had another epiphany as I was reading over the starships chapter for the 235th time: The purchase DC listed is (I think) just for the crew and basic ship. It does not include the standard equipment listed. That makes a huge difference (I was thinking that the cost included everything so I didn't have a base-line cost to work from). I still wish there would have been a cost for just the basic ship (no crew), but I can work around that.

-FT

 

[trancejeremy]

I have to say, the Starships chapter is one of the more confusing I've seen in a book. At first I thought you couldn't build ships from scratch, but then someone on the wizards board said you could, just pick a hull size and fill it with equipment. But I don't understand how you determine the hit dice and the cargo/passenger capacity. So I'm re-reading it yet again.

 

[FolcoTook]

trancejeremy,

I would suggest getting the Warships pdf for Alternity and taking a look at that. Since the underlying concepts for the ships came from that, it helped me understand some of the assumptions not listed directly in the text. The one on Alternity.net had an error on my computer, but do a quick Google search and you'll find it.

As far as building a ship, start from one of the given subtypes listed. The hit dice and cost are for the bare hull (if you look closely, it tells you that the base purchase DC does not include all kinds of stuff). Add to that whatever you want from the engines, weapons, defense systems, etc. within the cost (if you are keeping track) and space (x weapons per x hit die, etc.) limitations.

As far as adding crew areas, hangers, etc., I'm still digesting the Alternity information to see how it can apply. Hopefully there will be a web enhancement that covers this and makes our lives easier (any wizo's reading this... hint hint ).

-FT

 

[Johnny Angel]

What I can't suss out is how they make the decisions to translate between the Alternity step die system to the dice of damage of weapons and the damage of armor. Maybe somebody else can clue me in here?