Your family business has a hard time, it's almost bankrupt. You're the only hope left for your father, can you brainchild - the design department - safe the day? Let's find out! Design space ships, meet people, and become famous!
This is my second try at this after I reworked the rules. Want to see the first one? Look here!
The planet of Temaris is located in the Mid Rim, down the Corellian Run. To get there, one must turn off the Run and take a small jump towards the local hyperspace route named The Angel's Passage. Temaris had seen better days. It was still suffering from the big Mid Rim Economy Crash fifty years ago. Since then, the planet had barely managed to recover. Not much different from the rest of the Temaris Sector or, generally speaking, secondary systems in the Mid Rim.
The only thing that made this system different from most other systems could be found in its orbit, the shipyards owned by your family. Not many systems could say that they had their own yards, even if your family yards only built ships under license and did repairs for locals.
But now, even that was in danger.
You turned your back to the planet that sat below you and looked at your father. The man you always thought looked so strong had grown old. His face showed the worry he was feeling. And the fire in his eyes was almost gone. He sat where he always sat, in his chair behind the expensive desk your great-grandfather had bought when times had been better.
"How long?"
"A year? Maybe two if we get another order for a new build. At most three if I fire everyone who isn't essential." He chuckled grimly and took another sip of his drink. "Trust me, I've been over the numbers more than once. Then I had these numbers checked by experts. We will go under, that is certain."
"Why are you telling me all of this now?"
"To warn you and because it is your right to know. You're my only child. People will assume that you know about it. And even if I did my best to shield you from the consequences of my failure, I fear that I can't take all of it. Some will be laid at your feet, even if you're completely innocent." He then set his glass down and grabbed a pad lying before him. He held it up so you could see it. "And then there is this. You remember what this is?"
Your father held a proposal you had made several years ago. It took a moment before it clicked in your head. Slowly, you nodded. "Yes. I suggested that we start to build our own ships, seeing as it would be more profitable for us in the long run."
"And do you know what I told you then?"
"'We've built ships under license since the founding. It has always been good enough, and it will be good enough in the future.' And that new ships were expensive, risky. A risk you weren't ready to take. Not if the livelihoods of our workers were on the line."
Your father put the pad down and sighed heavily. He looked defeated as he nodded. "Yes, that is what I foolishly said. I was too proud to see my mistakes. We had some money problems already, but I thought I could manage. If we just did what we had done for years, it would all be okay, I told myself. That it was just a phase, the market always has some fluctuation… I was wrong. Now my only hope is your idea. If we can pull this off, get it at least rolling, I can get enough credits to hold us afloat. Hopefully, long enough to earn some credits with our own design. Do you think you can do it?"
"I don't know, father, but I will do my best."
"Good. I will give you all the credits we can scrape together. You're our only hope!"
[ ] Write-in Name
You're a human…
[ ] of male sex.
[ ] of female sex.
Choose one Trait:
[ ] Heavy Freighter (+10 on rolls for Heavy Freighters)
Your family mostly built heavy freighters in the past. Even if these were all made under license, you're most familiar with how these ships work.
[ ] Light Freighters (+10 on rolls for Light Freighters)
Your family mostly built light freighters in the past. Even if these were all made under license, you're most familiar with how these ships work.
[ ] Modifications (+10 Research rolls)
If someone wishes to order a custom rebuild or a simple modification for their ship, they come to your family's yards.
[ ] Cheap Labour (-5 Starting Cost)
Thanks to the recession and other historical factors, production in the Temaris system has always been cheap. This will help when you start producing your own design.
[ ] Well Connected: Temaris Sector (???)
Your family knows half of the sector personally, or so it feels sometimes. This could come in handy.
Action
The number of actions you can take is limited by the Budget you have. You need to funnel the Budget down to the different departments to work. In the departments, you choose what actions these departments take.
Budget
The Budget is represented by a number given at the beginning of a turn. You will need at least 1 Budget in any department to keep it running. Any additional Budget can be used for actions. You can spend more than 1 Budget per action to get another d100 if you want, showing priority projects.
You get more Budget the better the Company performs, meaning how good your designs are.
Departments
Your company is made up of different departments that have different purposes. Each of them needs money to work properly. In the beginning, you only have a few departments. You can gain other departments later on. The starting departments are:
Design
Research
Production
More can be added. This is useful if you want to perform more specialist tasks. For example, a Department of the Research branch dedicated towards Engines or a Production Department just for Weapons and so on.
Rolls
Only a single d100 will be rolled per action, with added modifiers if they exist. The result will add to the Progress Counter, which needs to be filled for an action to happen. If it isn't filled with a single roll representing a complex action, a delay has occurred, or the task is too complicated to finish in a single turn.
Traits
These are modifiers that come into play during specific steps, with the specifics listed in the description of the trait. They can be positive or negative when added to a roll result.
Ship Stats
Depending on the parts chosen, different ships will be built. Each part of it has an influence on the performance of a ship. These stats are:
Compartment
Speed
Maneuverability
Weapons
Special Compartment
Cost
These will be modifiers for ship rolls that come into play when tested. Each stat starts at 0. The different numbers go up or down with each part added, depending on the part chosen.
I hope that I will see many of my old players here again, at my second attempt. I've polished the rules a bit so it won't create a mess like last time. With a d100 system, things should be clearer.
I don't really care about the other votes, but I do want to go for the mystery box. Though that line about modifications is interesting. Can we pick up smaller gigs that are just tricking out existing ships?
[X] Wrex
[X] of male sex.
[X] Well Connected: Temaris Sector (???)
Your family knows half of the sector personally, or so it feels sometimes. This could come in handy.
[X] Gilbert Belschmied
[X] of male sex
[X] Heavy Freighter (+10 on rolls for Heavy Freighters)
Your family mostly built heavy freighters in the past. Even if these were all made under license, you're most familiar with how these ships work.
Well, time to vote for being the same person as last time, because I really enjoyed the last version of this quest (and was made very happy when I saw the announcement that there was a sequel).
[X] Dovar Frox
-[X] of male sex.
[X] Well Connected: Temaris Sector (???)
[X] Charles Descoteaux
[X] of male sex
[X] Cheap Labour (-5 Starting Cost)
Build cheap + sell high = Profit.
Be it me, i would go for easy mode and cheats. Preferably with some crow of enginners to make it more cheaper to manufactur, another to lower maintence of the yard and to build your own supply chain with undermarket prices of metals. but all that in future.
Connecting with people is good but it's always two way road so more benefits/riches to give to receive somethin in exchange and its risky game that ends with your luck of benefits to give or being cut off from ancles when competitor gives more or political shift happens, its unreliable in my experience.
Well, it won't pay to make small modifications. But if someone wishes to rebuild his Action IV squadron for say "convoy protection" then the can come to you. The Trait you mean is mostly what your family has done in the past and gives them a bit of an edge.
They can be used as transporters but aren't classified as such. But if you would mod one to be a freighter he would fall into the Light Freighter category.
Well, it won't pay to make small modifications. But if someone wishes to rebuild his Action IV squadron for say "convoy protection" then the can come to you. The Trait you mean is mostly what your family has done in the past and gives them a bit of an edge.
They can be used as transporters but aren't classified as such. But if you would mod one to be a freighter he would fall into the Light Freighter category.
The Trait is mostly useful for Research rolls. It shows that your family's workpast has much to do with improvisation or building costume modifications. Your company is used to thing out of the box, so to speak.
The real question is why the hell you would try to mod a warship into a freighter? The other way around makes a poor man's warship but a warship as a freighter ... sounds stupid, to be honest.
