We started the campaign with the assumption that the crew's ship would be stock vessel selected from the core Coriolis rules. The reason being that it would give us minimal lead time into the game and, as everyone was new to both the setting and rules, we removed the risk of making uneducated choices when designing our own ship that we might regret later down the line.
The players agreed on a Class IV mining vessel (fitting in with the group's Explorer concept) and we were set.
....then we had a well documented set of delays in actually getting the game off the ground, accompanied by a lot of conversational emails about the characters, setting, campaign concepts etc. Now, at the end of the second proper session of play, the crew have boarded their ship and set off. As the ship hasn't really entered play, and we as a group understand things much better now and have a fair idea of where we are heading with some of this, it was suggested that we do a minor retcon and take the chance to make the ship a custom one.
To avoid taking up play time with the ship building I set up an online survey (using a popular primate based survey service..) taking the players through the ship construction steps as outlined in the rules I then consolidated the survey responses I received, selecting the most popular choices as the basis of the ship, crunched the numbers and this is the vessel we came up with (collectively);
The Alqizam Al'ahmar
Class IV Mining ship from the Darkos shipyards of Kua (hull was originally laid down in 35 CC)
Maneuver -1, Modules 20, Energy Points 6, Hit Points 10, Signature +2, Armour 5, Speed 1.
Problem - An eccentric ship intelligence ("Huli")
Modules (18/20):
Docking Station, 3x Cargo Holds, 2x Standard Cabins (40 berths), 1x Suites (high class cabins for five), Stasis hold (64 stasis beds), 2x Escape pods (8 pods in total, each with a four person capacity), Medlab, Service Station, Workshop, Mining Station, Smuggler's Stash, Chapel, Weapon System - Counter Measure Dispenser & Torpedo and Mine System.
Current ordnance:
1x Ion Torpedo, 2x Conventional Torpedoes & 2x Conventional Mines
Features:
Atmospheric Entry, Ship Intelligence & Research Computer.
Total cost: 3,594,625 birr
Total debt: 1,797,312 birr (due over twenty Coriolis Cycles)
Repayment due each Segment: 9,985 birr
History and appearance:
The ship is old and worn, yet somehow, beneath the stains, corrosion and flaky paint there are hints of past glory and grandeur. The pipe work and cabling looks archaic, yet it remains reliable. The gravity drive whines when it starts, but it is surprisingly efficient for it's age. This is a ship with a past, and possibly a colourful one at that.
The records that the crew have been able to see so far are incomplete, and Huli, the Ship's Intelligence, has been wiped and reinstated so many times it's own records (much like it's general demeanor) are fractured and eclectic.
From what thy can glean the ship was laid down, possibly as a bespoke craft, at the request of a wealthy emir or dar. It may have been intended as a royal yacht, but more likely, and considering it's functional nature and "homely" appearance, it was probably built as a commissioned vessel for some explorer or researcher that the noble granted patronage to. It can easily be imagined that some rich Zenithian tasked a crew with reaching out into the Horizon on the search for a treasure or some scientific proof that, in turn, would either sate the noble's idle curiosity or by it's success confer increased status and reputation upon him or her.
What is less clear is how, in 49 CC the vessel then came into the hands of one Taureq Shamir; a somewhat notorious smuggler, shyster and con artist. Many tales are told of Taureq, almost none of them true. Some hold that he found faith towards the end of his days, repenting of his crimes, repaying all he had stolen and swindled (with interest) and became a model citizen. Whatever the truth of it the ship was his for a time, during which it worked a pilgrimage route; taking the devout and those seeking enlightenment or miraculous signs across the Third Horizon. Whether related or not it is also true to say that the Captain's chair still contains the holes were someone shot a previous occupant in the back...
The players agreed on a Class IV mining vessel (fitting in with the group's Explorer concept) and we were set.
....then we had a well documented set of delays in actually getting the game off the ground, accompanied by a lot of conversational emails about the characters, setting, campaign concepts etc. Now, at the end of the second proper session of play, the crew have boarded their ship and set off. As the ship hasn't really entered play, and we as a group understand things much better now and have a fair idea of where we are heading with some of this, it was suggested that we do a minor retcon and take the chance to make the ship a custom one.
To avoid taking up play time with the ship building I set up an online survey (using a popular primate based survey service..) taking the players through the ship construction steps as outlined in the rules I then consolidated the survey responses I received, selecting the most popular choices as the basis of the ship, crunched the numbers and this is the vessel we came up with (collectively);
The Alqizam Al'ahmar
Class IV Mining ship from the Darkos shipyards of Kua (hull was originally laid down in 35 CC)
Maneuver -1, Modules 20, Energy Points 6, Hit Points 10, Signature +2, Armour 5, Speed 1.
Problem - An eccentric ship intelligence ("Huli")
Modules (18/20):
Docking Station, 3x Cargo Holds, 2x Standard Cabins (40 berths), 1x Suites (high class cabins for five), Stasis hold (64 stasis beds), 2x Escape pods (8 pods in total, each with a four person capacity), Medlab, Service Station, Workshop, Mining Station, Smuggler's Stash, Chapel, Weapon System - Counter Measure Dispenser & Torpedo and Mine System.
Current ordnance:
1x Ion Torpedo, 2x Conventional Torpedoes & 2x Conventional Mines
Features:
Atmospheric Entry, Ship Intelligence & Research Computer.
Total cost: 3,594,625 birr
Total debt: 1,797,312 birr (due over twenty Coriolis Cycles)
Repayment due each Segment: 9,985 birr
History and appearance:
The ship is old and worn, yet somehow, beneath the stains, corrosion and flaky paint there are hints of past glory and grandeur. The pipe work and cabling looks archaic, yet it remains reliable. The gravity drive whines when it starts, but it is surprisingly efficient for it's age. This is a ship with a past, and possibly a colourful one at that.
The records that the crew have been able to see so far are incomplete, and Huli, the Ship's Intelligence, has been wiped and reinstated so many times it's own records (much like it's general demeanor) are fractured and eclectic.
From what thy can glean the ship was laid down, possibly as a bespoke craft, at the request of a wealthy emir or dar. It may have been intended as a royal yacht, but more likely, and considering it's functional nature and "homely" appearance, it was probably built as a commissioned vessel for some explorer or researcher that the noble granted patronage to. It can easily be imagined that some rich Zenithian tasked a crew with reaching out into the Horizon on the search for a treasure or some scientific proof that, in turn, would either sate the noble's idle curiosity or by it's success confer increased status and reputation upon him or her.
What is less clear is how, in 49 CC the vessel then came into the hands of one Taureq Shamir; a somewhat notorious smuggler, shyster and con artist. Many tales are told of Taureq, almost none of them true. Some hold that he found faith towards the end of his days, repenting of his crimes, repaying all he had stolen and swindled (with interest) and became a model citizen. Whatever the truth of it the ship was his for a time, during which it worked a pilgrimage route; taking the devout and those seeking enlightenment or miraculous signs across the Third Horizon. Whether related or not it is also true to say that the Captain's chair still contains the holes were someone shot a previous occupant in the back...
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