Rocketship Empires 1936 the Gunslinger Betty

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Rocketship Empires 1936™

Player Starship

The Gunslinger BettyStarship Feature Book No. 1

by

Edward M Kann



Rocketship Empires 1936

The Gunslinger Betty

B-25B Mitchel Assault

By Edward M Kann

Featured Artist: Mike Doscher

CreditsX-41HistoryandOverviewCrewPositionsNoseCompartment K3-LCamera

Nav.Computer EmergencyO2 ArmoredGreenHouse .50Cal.HellionNavigatorDutiesCockpit Autopilot EngineerControls EjectionSeats

HullPatchKitEngineerDutiesCaptain/PilotDutiesCutawaySchematicCargoHoldandQuarters CargoCapacityRadarCompartment RemoteBarbette CXAMSensor

RadioUnitWrightCyclone-PrimaryDrivesPrattandWhitney-SecondaryDrivesBallTurretTailGunnerPositionLandingGearStarshipRecord

pilot and

operationalmanual

North American Spacecraft Co.

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WelcomeaboardTheGunslingerBetty,the

toughestlittletransportthissideofthecorridors.

Sheshouldmakeaswellbaseofoperationsforyou

andyourpartnersforwhateverbusinessventures

youhave inmind. Fromexploration andsurvey

worktomercenarydutyandevenblockaderun-

ning.There’spreciouslittleshecan’ttacklewith

therightcrewandtherightCaptainatthehelm.

This book is more than a quick overviewofasinglestarship.Inalmostanysciencefictionnovelorfilmthestarshipfigureslargelyintheun-foldingdrama.StarshipsinsciencefictionoccupyaspotasvitalasanycharacteronscreenandyeteventhebestshipsareprovidedwiththemerestofcursoryoverviewsinmostRPGsourcebooks.

Thisstarshipfeatureserieshasbeenpro-ducedasatoolformakingthisstarshipthemostimmersiveexperiencepossible for youandyourplayers.Significanteffortshavebeeninvestedintothisresourcebooksoitwillprovidegamedirectorswith dozensofplot hooks,adventure ideasandtonsoflittledetailswrittentoenrichtheirgame.

Mydreaminwritingthisbookformyowngroup of playerswas a ship operationsmanualwhich practically dripped rocket fuel and oozed

engineoil.

Systemless

RocketshipEmpires isasystemlesscam-paign setting. You will need the rules for yourfavoritegamesystem touse thisbook,althoughwhenever possible we try to facilitate its usethroughsimplechartsandplentyofdetail.

IrecommendthatyoupickupacopyoftheRocketshipEmpires1936:corecampaignbooktofurtherfacilitateyouruseofthismaterial.

Credits

Manythanksgotothepilotandcrewof“OldGlory”,oneofthelastoperationalMitchelsflyingintheworld.Itwasmypleasureandprivilegetovisitthisamazingaircraftandspendmostofanafter-

noonaskingquestionsofherownersandtakingphotographstouseastechnicalreferences.

Artist Credits

MikeDoscherFeatureArtist

ChadDuLacBettyNoseArtwork(Cover)

AdditionalArtwork:JonnyLedfordandEd-wardKann

Author Credits

EdwardM.KannAuthorandCreator

Photography

ManythankstotheUnitedStatesAirForceandNavalarchivewherephotographsandpostersproducedbytheUSgovernmentduringtheWWIIeraweremaintainedonpublicrecord.Allphoto-graphsandpostercontentusedinthisdocumenwerecreatedbytheUnitedStatesgovernmentfo

officialpurposesandremainapartofthepublicdomain.

Legal

Allpersons,corporationsandgovernmentsmentionedinthisvolumearepartoftheRocket-shipEmpiresuniverseandarecompletelyfiction-al.RocketshipEmpires1936isnotaffiliatedwithanygamesystemorgamecompany.

Weenthusiasticallysupporttheproductsoseveralcompanies.WeadvocateforthesalesofqualityRPGproductsandthegrowthoftheindustryasawhole.

AtStoryArtwefirmlybelievethatwearenoincompetitionwith anyonebut ourselves inoudesiretoproduceexcellentbooksforourfavoritesettings.


The

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Betty



The X-41

In 1934 the United States Rocket Forcessubmitted a request to a variety of U.S. manu-facturingfirmstoconstructanewFastTransportclassvesselwhichcouldoperatesuccessfullyinawidevarietyofroles,fromfastattackbombertomilitarytransport,toreconnaissancevessel.

InFebruaryofthatyearTheNorthAmericanSpaceCorporationmettherequestwithadesignforaprototypestarshipwhichtheydesignatedasspecialprojectX-41.

TheX-41wasthebrainchildofNASCsci-entistReginaldHollywood, a brilliant and some-timeseccentricyoungengineercreditedforthreeofthelastfivesuccessfulNASCprototypefighter/bomberdesignssincehisjoiningthecompany’sR&Dteamin1929.Onlythirtyyearsoldin1935,ProfessorHollywoodwascountedasoneoftheyoungestscientistsworkinginAmericanastroga-tionasaleaddesigner.

Followingsuccessfulflighttrialsduringthesummerof1934,ProfessorHollywoodvanished.HisdisappearanceremainsamysteryandNASCcontinuestoexpendresourcesinanattempttolo-catehim. Rumors aboundregardingthenatureofHollywood’s disappearance. Themostpopu-larstorycirculatingisthatHollywoodbecameob-sessedwithayoungstarletnamedRitaAngelesbutwentintoseclusionaftertheromanceturned

sour.TherearealsorumorsthatHollywoodleftEarthinoneofhisprototypestarfightersandflewofftowhoknowswhere.Somebelievehewaspicked upby theReich and now labors some-whereinasecretReichlab,othersbelieveheisstill out thereexploring the far reaches beyondtheedgeofcolonizedspace.

NorthAmericanSpaceCorporationcontin-uestoofferasubstantialrewardforinformationleadingtohiswhereaboutsandhissafereturntoEarth.

Plot Point

TheverynightthatDr.Hollywoodvanished

thisverystarshipwassittingpartiallyassembled

ontheNASCassemblyfloor,afewfeetoutsideofHollywood’soffice.

Overthecourseoftheship’shistorycertain

mysteriousindividualshavemadeattemptstogain

access to theshipandsearch it as though they

expectedsomethingofvaluetobehiddeninside

her.

Whatvitalpieceofinformationortechnolo

gymightbesealedinsideoftheBetty’sbulkheads

awaitingdiscovery?Whatmightbethetruthbe-hindDr.Hollywood’smysteriousdisappearance?

Theexactdetailsofthisplotpointrestinthe

handsoftheGameDirector.

A Ship is Born

ThestarshipthatwouldbeknownasB-25B21-NCUSRFs/n44-30018NorthAmericancon-

structionnumber108-33923andlaterbedubbedtheGunslingerBetty rolled off of theNASC assemblylinesinDetroitonOctober31st,1934.

ThefirstUSRocketForcescontractcalledforfiftyofthenewX-41s,whichreceivedtheofficialfleetdesignationastheB-25Mitchel.OutofthefirstfiftyB-25MitchelstwentywereearmarkedtofulfilladesperateneedintheUnitedStatesTer-ritorialMarshalsService.TheMarshalsrequired




newfastmilitarytransportstohandlerisingborderconflictsbetweentheFederalTerritoriesandCon-federationPrivateers. TheBetty’sfirstdutywasintendedtobethatofaFederalprivateerandcom-merceraider.

The grim reality of the Great Depression

putthebrakesonplacingherintoservice.Forfivemonths the entire productionorder sat in hang-ers or neglected on the airfield associated withtheNASCassemblyplantinFlint,Michigan.Ulti-matelytheFederalgovernmentwasforcedtocuttheiroriginalordersignificantlyandonlytenofthevesselsearmarkedforFederalservicewerepur-chased.TheremainderlanguishedinhangersforanotherthreemonthsbeforeNASCwasforcedtoauctionthemtoprivatebuyersinordertorecoversomeportionoftheirinvestmentinthedesign.

All branches of the USmilitary, includingthe Rocket Forces have faced major spendingcuts in1934and 1935. Americanship buildershavesoughttosurvivetheeconomichardtimesbymodifyingtheirdesignsforcivilianproductionas much as possible. Sales of starships whilenowherenearboomingcontinuetomoveforwardsufficientlytokeepmostof thecurrentnamesinAmericanstarshipproduction inbusiness, albeit

with reduced factory personnelandshorter pro-ductionruns.

Out of the forty Mitchels sold at auctionnearly half were purchasedby foreign concernssuchas theKingdomofHollandandBritishStarEmpire.Theremainderweresoldtoprivatebuy-ers,amixtureofexplorers,adventurers,mercenar-iesandthosewhocouldbenefitfromasufficientlyfastandheavilyarmedtransport.

B-25 Mitchel Starship - Overview

TheB-25Mitchelwasconstructedwitha(atthetime)newhybridenginedesignwhichsepa-rates the primary impulse star drive andgravitydrivesystemfromthetacticaldrive.TwoWrightCycloneHybridClassCdrivesaremountedclosetothefuselagewhileapairofstrippeddownPrattandWhitneyTypeBdrivescontainingonlyastar-

ship impulsedriveprovideadditional thrust fromthetail.Thetwinenginesmountedunderthewingsaredesignatedasthestarship’sprimaryengineswhilethetwoenginespositionedonthestarship’stail are designated as the starship’s secondaryengines.TheB25serieswasoriginallybuiltwiththePrattandWhitneyTypeBdrivesastheirsole

primary engines but speed performance duringcombattrialsprovedtobedisappointing.Withanallotmentoftheenginesonhand,NorthAmericanSpacecraftmadethedecisiontostriptheenginesandtestthemasboosters.

The Pratt and Whitney drives on the taireduceweightanddragtothespacecraft,provid-ingaboosttospeedwithoutthesameincreaseinweightforinstallingfour“TypeC”drivesinavessethissize.ToolateitwasdiscoveredthatthePrattandWhitneydrivesdevelopedissuesinretainingheat,mountedastheyaredirectlyinthebackdraftofthelargerengines.Heatissueswiththesecondaryenginesiscoveredindetailonpage40.

TheBetty’squadengine,highwingandtri-cyclelandinggearconfigurationmakesforacrispand clean, aerodynamic configurationduring atmosphericflight.

Crew Positions and Weapons

ThestarshippilotandengineerareseatedintandeminalonggreenhousestylecockpitsimilartothatseenonearlierMartinB-10spacecraft.ThenavigatorisseatedinafullyglazednosewhichallowsforexcellentforwardanddownobservationThisforwardobservationpositionprovidesanex-cellentlocationformountingtheship’scamerade-signedforplanetarysurveyandcartographyworkandmilitaryreconnaissance.

Thewideangleofviewinthenoseispar-ticularly important since navigation is limited tosimpledirectionalguidanceprovidedbythemar-tian navigation computer. The martian systemwillhelpashipreachadestinationsafelybutthesystemhasnocomputerizedlibraryorencyclope-diatoprovidedetaileddataaboutdestinationsys-tems.InsteadthestarshipCaptainandNaviga


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tormustrelyonacollectionofgeneralmapsandtraveljournals stored attheNavigator’sstation.IntheRocketshipEmpires1936universe,naviga-torsmustrelyonmapsandphysicallandmarksonanewplanettofindtheirwaytothestarportor

colonythatistheirfinaldestinationandnewspa-pers, radio broadcasts, printed journals andoldfashionedrumorstoresearchanyspecificdetailsaboutadestinationcolonyorplanetarysystem. The navigator is provided with a singleBrowning.50Cal.mountedinaflexiblehardpointin thenose. Four fixed forward firing Browning.30’shavebeeninstalledinmountsoneithersideofthehullfacingforwardandareoperatedbythepilot.Apowereddorsalturretisintendedforusebythevessel’ssensor/radiooperatorwhohascontrolsforthisremotecontrolbarbetteathissta-tion.Afifthcrewman,usuallyanengineerormedi-calofficercanbeassignedtohandlethetwin50slocated in the tail turret whilea dedicated turretgunnerhandlestheventralturretofthestarship.

TheB-25canfunctionsafelyduringpeacetimewithacrewofeight.Aminimumoffourcriti-calstationsmustbemannedtwentyfourhoursa

solardayandtoprovidethiscoverageduringlongspacevoyagesatwoshiftortwoteamcrewisre-quired.Duringcombatfivecrewmemberscanfillallofthenecessarycombatstationswhiletheremainingthreeprovideadditionaldamagecontrolandmedicalsupport.

Eachgun inTheB-25hasbeendesignedtocarry500roundsofspeciallydesignedhybridammunition. Thehybridammunitionfor the .50Cal.islesslikelytojamcomparedtostandard.50Calammunitionusedinhumanweaponrybutisexpensiveandcanbedifficulttofindfarfromma- jorspacestationsandsupplydepots.

Ammo Purchase Price

Purchase price for a 500 round belt of.M2000Hellionammunitionis$100.00.Advancedammoisexpensive,useitwisely.

The gun’s load-out of 500 rounds of am-munitiongreatlyimprovestheB-25’sammoloadcomparedtoearlierstarshipsofthesameclass.This includes such starships as theMartinB-10andNorthAmericanSpaceCo.’sownB-47.

The500roundbeltallowsfortwentybursts

ofweaponsfirefromeachweaponsuppliedwithsuchanammobelt,twicetheusualammocapac-ityforolderships.

Inapinch,theBetty’s.50noseweaponcanbeloadedwithnon-hybridammunitionalthoughitwillnotfireinspaceandwilltendtojam.Thenon-hybridmunitionswillalsoinflictvehicleclassdamageandnotstarshipclassdamage.Jamsoccuronanaturalrollofa1ora2ratherthananaturalone.(Ifcriticalmissresultsandrulesareusedin

yourgamesystemofchoice.)

WhenloadedwiththeproperhybridammotheBetty’sgunswillnotjamonasinglenaturalrollofa1.Arollofa1mustbeaccomplishedtwiceinarowforoneoftheBetty’sgunstojamwhenusingtheproperM2000Hellionammo.

Thefirstproductionrunof theX-41( the


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B-25A)featuredapairofPrattandWhitneyHybridClassBengineswhosetacticalperformancewassomewhatdisappointing,cominginataspeedofonly2,000feetpercombatround.Theseengineswerereplaced(almostimmediatelyintheB-25Bmodel)withWrightCycloneswhoseimprovedper-formanceandtuningboostedthespeedoftheB-

25Btoatacticalspeedof2,500feetpercombatround.

TheBettywasoneoftheveryfirstB-25B’sto roll offof theassembly line. Thefirst opera-tional group to fly the new spacecraft was the17thBombardmentGroup.The17thisbasedatChorusFieldinthePearlstarsystemandcurrent-lyperformssystemdefensepatrolsinthatsector.The17thfinallyreceived20oftheB-25BAssaultsfittedwiththenew,topsecret,NordenBombsightinOctoberof1935. NASChasseizedontheB-25BasthenextshiningstarinFastTransportclassspacecraftandhaspushedintoproduction some250additionalB-25B’sforbroadsaleontheinternationalmarket.ThesemodifiedB-25B’slacksomeofthemilitaryrefinements installed inMitchels supplied to theFederal government. Most notably the “civilian”versionsof these vessels are supplied with the

majorityof theirstandardweapons strippedandabsentthetopsecretNordenBombsight.

PlansarealreadyonthedrawingboardforimprovementsinaB-25Cmodelforthewinterof1936.SmallshipmentsofthenewbombershavebeenpromisedtothebesiegedKingdomofSpain,TheKingdomofHollandandtheFrenchRepublicdespite loud protests in the LeagueofNations.Ashortlistofexclusiveprivatebuyershavealsomadeordersforthenewspacecraft.

ThechancesofrunningintoaB-25Bduringtheearlypartof1936isslim.AtpresentonlythirtyB-25B’sareinthehandsofprivateoperators,oneofthesebeingTheBetty.ThisraritymakesTheGunslinger Bettya sure head turner atanystarportandinparticularatforeignportsofcall.ThenewownersofTheBettywillneedtotakethisintoaccountandinsurethatcuriousorgreedyindividu-

alsdonotattempttomakeoffwiththeirvaluablenewstarship.

Captain’s Walkthrough

Astarshipcaptainmustknoweverynutand

bolt,everywire, fuse,vacuum tubeandglowingmartianglyphonboardhisorhership.

Thiswalkthroughwillprovideyouwithallsignifi-cantoperationaldetailsofTheBettyso thatyouandyourcrewwillbefamiliarwithherfromtoptobottomandstemtostern.

TheCaptain’swalkthroughbeginswiththenavigator’s compartment located in the nose othe starshipandmoves fromcrewcompartmen

tocrewcompartmentthroughtheshipandendinginthetailgunner’sposition.Schematicsofeverypositionareprovidedtoyouasareference.

UnlikehersistervesselstheBettycomesintothehandsoftheplayerswithherweaponryintact.ShedoesnotpossessthetopsecretNordonbombsightasshehasbeenfittedoutasare-conandsurveyvessel.Herheavyarmamentandsturdinessincombatmakehertheperfectvesseforanactiveadventuringpartywithamoremilitarymindset.

Nose Compartment

Ourwalk-throughwillbegininthenoseotheBettyandmovethroughtheshiptoendinthetailgunner’sturret. Wewillreviewalmosteverysystemonboardinsideandout,howthesesystemsfunctioningametermsandwhatlifeislikeonboardforhernewcaptainandcrew.

Civilian Modifications

Under the direction of the U.S. RockeForcestheprimarycomponentsofthetopsecretNordenBombsight have been replacedwith theexpensiveandtoprateK-3Lcamerasystem.

TheK-3Lisdesignedperformphotographic


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surveysand create photographicmapsofunex-ploredplanetaryregions.TheK-3LCamerawasconstructedundercontractbyTitanOpticsfortheUnitedStatesGeologicalServicein1931.Itwasdesignedasaplanetarysurveycamera but hasbeenmadenightcapableinthehopesofservingasanewreconnaissancecamerafortheUnited

StatesRocketForces.

Onlytheoriginalbombsightmount,brack-et,bomber’sseatandopticalglassremaininthenosecompartment.

The K-3L Camera

The optics on theK-3Lcamera allow thenavigator to zoom in clearly on ground targets.

Theviewfinderenablestheoperatortoobtainex-cellentclarityonbuildingsandterrainataltitudesofupto5,000feetdependingonatmosphericcon-ditionsandvisibility.

Thecameraloadsfromtheoperator’ssidewithablackmetalboxoffilm.

Eachfilmcartridgeprovidestwentyexpo-suresbeforereloadingbecomesnecessary.Theusedfilmcan remain safely enclosed in its car-

tridgeuntiltheNavigatorfindsthetimetodevelopitusinghisdarkroomequipment.

TheNavigator’sworkareaisequippedwithablacklightandthelargelockerdoortotheleftofthenavigator’splottingtablecontainsthechemi-calsandequipmentnecessaryfordevelopingfilminto photographs for study and sale. The darkroomcabinetcontainsfivecartridgesoffilmforatotalofsix,ifyoucounttheonealreadyloadedandreadyinthecamera.

Thenavigator’scompartmentisfilledwithasimpledarkolivecurtainwhichcanbesnappedintopositiontocompletelycovertheglassofthenavigator’sgreenhouse. The curtainandblacklight provides the navigator with the dark roomnecessaryfordevelopinghisphotographs.Duringflightoperationsthenavigatorcantakeadvantageofhiscurtaintodimhiscompartmentwhenheor

shedesiresalittlewellearnedshuteye.Thecur-tainislargeandwaterproof.Itcanberemovedfromthecompartmenttobeusedasanadditionamakeshiftcoverforatentorwaterprooftarpwhennecessary.

Planetary Surveys

Aplanetarysurveyismostvaluableif it isconductedona planetary body that ishabitable

andwhichhasnotbeensurveyedpreviously.Acompleteplanetarysurveyincludesbothairborneworkcomprisedofsomefortytofiftyphotographsoftheregionandatleastoneaccuratetopographicmap.Anaccuratetopographicmapnecessitatesthat the survey party landand hikemost of themajorgeographicfeaturesonfootusingstandard1930’s humansurveyingequipment. Few teamsshoulder the major expense of hybrid planetary


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surveyequipment.Martiantechnologyhasbeenadapted for use by a human planetary surveyteambuttheequipmenthasanequivalentvalueintradetomostdecentstarships.Ninetynineoutofonehundredsurveyteamswalkeveryfootoftheregionofthesurvey,carryingheavysurveyingequipmentandmakingmeasurementsandtaking

both geological and horticultural samples whichwillbenotedontheteam’ssurveymaps.

Standard survey practices require twelvesetsofgeologicalcoresamplescollectedatdiffer-entpointsaroundthesurveyarea.Eachsetshouldcontainatleasteightcoresamplesforstudy.

Coresamplesrequiretheuseofamotor-izeddrillcapableoftakingacoresampledowntoadepthofapproximatelyonehundredfeet.

TheBettydoesnotcurrentlyhavethenec-essarydrillingtoolstogathergeologicalcoresam-ples.Itremainstheonlycriticalpieceofequip-mentthatthevessellacksforconductingofficial/LeagueofNationsapprovedplanetarysurveymis-sions. TruthbetoldpreviousownershaveusedtheBettyforotherpurposes,primarilyasanarmedtransportforvaluablegoodsandblockaderunner.TheBettyhasearnedsomethingofareputation

foritselfincertainquartersasasmugglervessel.Thenewownersmayormaynotbeadvisedofthissituation.

Florasamplesmustbecollectedattwelvedifferentlocations.Astandardsurveycontainsatleastfiftydifferentexamplesofnativeflora,cata-loguedandpreservedforstudy.

Afinishedplanetarysurveyhasaconsider-ablemonetaryvalue.Starshipcrewsmakeareg-

ularlivingexploringnewlydiscoveredplanets.Asinglesurveymayearnateamfrom$2,000.00upto$10,000.00(ahugesumby1936standards)de-pendingonthesurveyqualityandwhatisfound.A singlesurvey covers an area of one hundredsquarekilometerssomany,surveysmaybecon-ductedonasingleplanetarybodybeforethepo-tential for survey money is exhausted. Privatebuyers(corporationsandprivateindividuals)are

essentiallyinterestedinwhatcanbefoundinunexploredorun-surveystarsystemsoffofthemajortradelanesorbeyondtheedgeofexploredspaceSurveyinganalreadyoccupiedplanet,eveninalocationnotpreviouslyexplored,bringsinconsid-erablylessrevenue.Earningsfromsuchprojectsaregenerallyhalved.

Planetary Surveys and Colonial Claims

Sincetheexpansionofthenationalizedcorridors,resistancetoLeaguechartersonthefloooftheLeagueofNationshaswaned.TodaystasystemssomewhatremovedfromthemajortraderoutesbutstillwithinLeaguecontrolledspacemayturnatidyprofittothosewillingtoexplorethem.

Amemberstateof theLeagueofNationsmayclaimterritoryonanewlyexploredplanetarybodyforwhichmemberstatehasobtaineddocumentedsurveyinformation.ThesurveymustbesubmittedandapprovedbytheLeagueofNationscouncilonEarth.Todayplanetarysurveyreportsare routinelyauctioned tothehighestbidder. InsomecasestheawardoftheLeaguechartergoestoaprivateorcorporatesponsorshipratherthantoagovernment.

Member states are forbidden to placeclaims on, to explore, or travel to star systemsthathavebeenexpresslydeclaredtobeMartianrestrictedzones.TheHegemonyclaimsthatMartianrestrictedzoneshavebeenestablishedforthesafetyofhumanity,andshouldnotbetamperedwith.

Navigator’s Computer

The Gunslinger Betty is equipped with aNaz’oktSeptnavigationcomputer.Thecomputerisbuiltintothesurfaceofthenavigator’splottingdesk.AlighttablefeatureandafoldupscreenallowtheNavigatortoworkwiththesystemwhichhas itsmain components protected insideofanarmoredboxboltedwithinthedeckbeneath theNavigator’s feet. The brains of the navigationcomputer can only be reached by unbolting anaccesshatchmarked “WARNINGSecurity Area


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DoNotOpen”setintothedeckoftheNavigator’sworkspace. Thebio-mechanoidcomponentsofthenavigationsystemarehighlysensitiveandthesystemcaneasilybedamagedbytheclumsyef-fortsofahumanoperatorwithoutclearknowledgeofwhattheyaredoing.

A charactermust possess the skill Xeno-TechorMartianInsighttopossesstheknowledgetoworkdirectlywith thisaliencomputersystem.Rememberthatcomputerprogrammingskillsareextremelylimitedevenamidstengineersandsci-ence team members in the human community.Conceptsofcomputersystemhackingarealmostcompletelynon-existentinthehumancommunityof1936.

Shouldthesystemrequireanupdatetoitsdatabase of routes and star systems the entirecasecanbeunboltedandcarriedinits(heavyandshielded)suitcase toanappropriateshopwithintheMartiandistrictofamajorcolonyorstarport.

TousethesystemthenavigatorreferencesalargehardcopybinderdistributedbytheInterna-tionalAstrogator’sAssociationonasemiannualbasis. Thismanualcontainsflightpathinforma-tionlistedalphabeticallyforallexploredstarsys-

tems and also for approximately 300 additionalstarsystemsincludedinwhatthemartiansrefertoasthe“Hegemonysphereofinfluence”.EachIAAentryendswitha seriesofMartiansymbols thatmustbeenteredinsequenceintotheNavigator’scomputer.Thesemarkingscalibratethecomputertoplota safe course from the starship’s currentpositiontotheintendedplanetordestination.

Updates to the manual should be pur-chasedeverysixmonthstoinsurethattheship’s

computerisusingthemostup-to-dateinformationavailable.

Thecostforanupdatetothemanualrunsbetween$75.00and$150.00USandanupdatenecessitatesthattheentireunitbeleftwithaMar-tiantechononeofthemajorcolonyworlds.Run-ningafullupdateintothesystemusuallyrequiresafulleighthourstayfortheunitattheshop.

Thenavigatorplotsacoursebyinputtingaseriesofdefinedglyphsintothefaceofthenavi-gationcomputerandthenlockingthecourseinbypressingaseriesofkeyboardcommandsequences. Thiscourse isfed intothepilot’s instrumenpanelwhereapairofgaugessimilartoanaircrafthorizonindicatorshowthepilotwhetherthestar

shipisoncourseornot.Autopilotsystemsareextremelylimitedonboardhumanstarshipsandmuchof thepiloting fromoriginto destination isconductedbypilotsorco-pilotswithhandsonthecontrolsofthevessel.

The navigation system automatically ad- justscourseplots for themovementofplanetarybodiesandcontainsarecordofbillionsofpotentialnavigationhazards,asteroids,comets,anddebrisThenavigationcomputerisveryreliableandcanbedependedupontosetasafecourseforapilofrompointAtopointBsolongasthenavigatorfollowstheinstructionsprovided.Plottingacourserequires the navigator to investat least10min-utesworkingwiththecomputerandthenavigationmanual. The navigatormustmakea basicskilrolltoinputacourseforawellknownsystemandgreaterdifficultyforplottingacoursetosystemsthathavenotbeenfullysurveyedbefore.

Failureindicatesthatthestarshipfollowsacoursethatisnotexactlytrue.Thenavigatorcanspotaproblematiccoursebymakingabasicnavigation skill roll onceeveryeighthours. Varyingfromcourseisnotusuallyaseriousproblembutitmaycausethepilottoeventuallyinputacoursecorrectionandburnupseveralhoursworthoffuebeyondthatnormallyrequired.

Unexploredsystemsmayonlyhavebasicplanetary locations inputted. Planetary informa-

tion fromancientHegemonyrecordsmaybe in-complete and many features such as asteroidbelts,cometsandsmallplanetsormoonsmaynoberecordedatall.TheNavigator’sflightbookhasinstructionsforhowtorecordtheseitemsintothenavigationcomputerfordownloadwhentheyre-turntoanestablishedcolonyworld.TheMartianspayaflatrewardof$1,000USforsignificantup-datesofdataintosystemswherethatinformation


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waspreviouslymissing.

Astarsystemsurveythatisfairlycompleteplusatopnotchsurveyofapreviouslyunexploredhabitableplanetcanearnasurveyteammorethanseveralthousanddollarsfromaninterestedparty.

Emergency Oxygen Reserve

Beneaththenavigator’sdesk isanemer-gencyoxygenreservetank.Thispieceofhybridtechnology contains a charge of oxygen that isnormallysufficient for one hour. Thescrubbersenclosedinaremovablemoduleontheinterioroftheemergencytankcan(however)refreshthecar-bondioxideproducedbyauserintofreshoxygenformany,hours.Withfreshscrubbersthisunitcan

provideitsuserwithseventytwohoursoflifesup-portwhenpluggeddirectlyintoaspacesuit.Intheeventthatalifesupportsuitisnotavailabletheunitcanbeopenedupandallowedtorecycletheatmosphereenclosedinthenavigator’scompart-mentsolongasthecompartmentremainssealed.Thisoption reduces theeffectivenessof theunittosixtyhoursofemergencylifesupportbutallowsthenavigatortoworkwithoutbeingencumberedbytheirspacesuit.

Replacingthescrubbersiseasysolongasafreshunitisavailable.Freshscrubbersfortheseunitsarefairlycommonandinterchangeablebe-tweenhybridmodels.Areplacementchargetypi-cally hasapurchase price of $10.00US at anywellsuppliedspaceport.

Theoxygentankcanbeunboltedusingatool fastened underneath the navigator’s chair.Thereservetankcanthenbecarriedorstrappedtothebackofthenavigatorwhileheworksinhisspacesuit.

Intercom

Onthecabinettotheleftofthenavigator’sworkstationisanintercomthatcanbeusedasahandheldorpluggeddirectlyintothehelmetofthenavigator’sspacesuit.Theintercomallowsdirectcommunicationwiththecockpit,sensoroperator’s

positionsandallturretgunnerpositions.Thein-tercominthenavigatorssectionoperateseitherasanopencircuit toalllocationsatonceorcanbetoggledtospeakpersontopersonwiththecock-pit.TheBetty’sintercomisonaclosedhardlinecircuitandcannotbejammedbyexternalcom-municationsjammingdevices.Usingtheintercom

doesnotviolateorderstomaintain“radiosilence”asthesoundcannotbedetectedoutsideofthespacecraft.

Navigator’s Parachute

A backpack is stowed just to the left oftheemergencyoxygenreservebeneaththenav-igator’sdesk. It contains the navigator’s escapeparachute. TheBettyisequippedwithstandard

human-gear parachutes at the navigator, radaoperator,cockpitandallgunnerlocations.Thesechutesareputonbypersonnelduringaircombaorflakinatmosphere.Shouldthecrewmanneedto bail out these U.S. manufactured chuteswilopencorrectlyinthevastmajorityofcases.Fail-uretosuccessfullyactivateachuteortobethrownoutofthecraftwithoutone,indicatesthattheactorwilllikelyplummettotheirdoom.Suchisthelifeofanaviatorin1936.

Armored Green House

Thenavigator’ssectionhasbeenfittedwithagreenhouseconstructedfromahybridmaterialintroducedtotheHumansbytheMartiansin1920.Thematerialiscalledglass-steel,anditreplacestheglassinstalledinallspacecraft.

Theglass-steelinstalledinthenoseoftheBettyisseveralgenerationsimprovedoverprevi

oustypes.Thenavigatorisprotectedbya90mmarmoredwindscreencapableofwithstandingpoinblankroundsfrommostsmallarmsandevenre-sistingthefirepowerofmany lightvehicleweap-ons.Thebracingofthegreenhouseprovidesadditionalstrengthandthenavigatorisprotectedbyabonustotheirresistancetodamageshouldthenosepositionbehitwithacritical.

Statsforthecrewposition’sprotectionisin-


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dicatedbelow:

90mmGlass/SteelMEDIUM(++)8mmArmorPlatingLIGHT(-)

Thesetwolayersofprotectionstackwhendeterminingthetotalprotectionaffordedthenavi-

gator versus a direct hit to his or her compart-ment.

Emergency Pressure Door

A large yellow button is set into the floorofthenavigationareaprotectedbyametalkickplatethatcanbenudgedorkickedopenbyabootandthebuttonstomped.Thebuttonactivatestheemergencypressuredoorforthenavigator.The

pressuredoorsealsthenoseofffromtherestoftheshipincaseoftheshiptakesinternaldamage.Thenavigator’sdoorcanbeover-riddenbytheco-pilot’spositionwhereamastercontrolforallpres-suredoorsonthestarshipislocated.

ApressurealarmontheBettyimmediatelysoundswhentheshipexperiencesahullbreachofanysize.Thisalarmismeanttoalertcrewmem-berstoactivatetheirkickplatesandsealtheircrewcompartmentsfromdecompression.Averylarge

breachmightbesufficienttodecompresstheen-tirevesselfasterthanthecrewcansealtheircom-partments.Forthisreasonmostshipsbuttonupindividualcompartmentspriortoenteringcombatorriskyareassuchasasteroidfields.

.50 Caliber Hellion

The nose mounted .50 Cal. has a benchseatforthenavigatortooccupywhenusingthe

weapon. Thenavigator’s .50Cal. is linked intotheship’sCXAMSensorSystem.Agreenmono-chrome screen mounted between the weapon’sgripsprovidesafuzzyimageofenemytargetsouttoarangeof100kilometers.BeyondthatrangeandouttoadistanceofoneAUthesystemshowstargetsasglowingblipswithcorrespondingcodesandnumberswhichidentifyeachtargetandreflectrelativerangetothestarship.

Thehybrid.50CalM-2hasamaximumef-fectiverangeof5,000ft.andismoreorlessamod-erateweaponnotsuitedforcombatwithamilitaryvesselinthecapitalshiprange.

ShouldtheCXAMtargetinglinkfail(intheeventofacriticalhitthattakesoutthesensors)the

gunnermustdependonvisualtargeting.Rangeandtargetingaregreatlyimpactedwhenagunneisforcedtorelyonmereeyeballing.Duringcom-batmostvesselsrundarkandtheyareextremelydifficulttomakeoutintheblacknessofspaceun-less they are firing their weapons or employingcertaintypesofenergyshield. The .50 Cal has a flexible mount but re-mainsaforwardarcweaponincapableoffiringintothestarboard,portorreararcsofthespacecraftThenavigatorpositionisadecentsecondarygunnerpositionforcoveringtheshipduringlandingsorwhileon thegroundas thegreenhousepro-videsawideangleofobservation.Thebellytur-retisperhapsthemosteffectivegunfordefendingtheshiponthegroundwithitsthreehundredandsixtydegreemotorizedtraverse.Thelittleballturrethasalimiteddegreeofvisibilitytotherearandmightbenefitfromaspotterinthenosetocallouttargets.

Theforward.50CalontheBettyretainsitsfullloadof500roundsofM2000HellionammoAnammocratecontainsanadditional500roundsandislocatedinalockedpositionintheundersideoftheshelftotheimmediateleftofthenavigator’sdesktop.Asecondammocanpositionisemptybutcouldreceiveanadditionalloadof500rounds.Itisstoredinapopupcontaineratthenavigator’sfeetwhenseatedattheweapon.

TheM2000ammoisinstalledonabeltsystemthathasbeenimprovedagreatdealoverear-lier feeds. Unlike otherbelt fedweaponswhichrequireanentirecombatactiontoreload,the.50CaliberM2000Hellionrequiresonlyahalfactiontolockandloadiftheammoisreadyandplacednearthegunner.


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Navigator Skills

Belowisalistofskillsthatarecentraltothedutiesofastarshipnavigator.Everystarshipnavigatorshouldpossessatleastsomeskillintheseimportantareas.

NavigationForwardObserver(VisionorPerceptionBonuses)AlertnessPlanetarySurveyCartographyPhotographyKnowledgeSkill:Technical-HumanGearKnowledgeSkill:Technical-HybridGearKnowledgeSkill:Astrogation(PlanetsandStar

Systems)RepairStarshipGunnery

OtherskillswhichmightbehandyforaNavigatorincludemedicalskills,firearms,brawling,driveandanytech.orientedskillsortraining.

Preflight

Duringastarship’spreflighttheNavigator

isresponsibleforcheckingtoinsurethatallofhisflight books are available, that his navigationalcomputerappearstobeworking,thathis.50cali-berislockeddownandinasecurepositionfortake-off and thateverythingin thenosecompartmentissecuredsafelypriortolaunch.Priortotake-offthe Navigator shouldcheck all planetary surveysupplies,filmstoresanddevelopingsuppliesandcheckthecameratoinsurethatitisworkingandthattheopticsaresecured.

System Test

Acommonpracticeamongnavigatorsistolayinatestcoursetoanearbymoon,asteroid,planet,orbitalbase,etc..toinsurethattheship’snavigationsystemisworkingcorrectly.Bettertorunthroughatestonthewayoutthensuddenlyre-alizewhenyouarriveinthenextsystemthatyoursystemismalfunctioning.

Even thebestsystemshaveachanceobreakingdown.Considerrollingacumulativeonepercentchanceofthenavigationsystembeginningtoslipup.Oncethesystembeginstobreakdownitwillbecomesteadilyworseeachtimeacourseplotislaidin.

Spottingtheproblemwithadiagnostictesrequiresthenavigatortomakearepairorelectron-icsroll.Spottingasystemproblemrunningatestcoursemakesfindingtheproblemeasierandpro-videsabonustothenavigator’sdiagnostictest.

Laying in a course Layinginacoursevariesindifficultydepend-

ingonthenavigator’sgoal.LayinginthegenericcourserightoutofthemartianreferencemanualsinsuresthatthevesselwillfollowthemosttraveledspacelanesfrompointAtopointB.Anypiratesorenemyshipswillhave thesespace laneswelscouted.InLeaguespaceandwellpatrolledstasystemstravelingtheknownspacelanesisnotaseriousconcern.Partneringwithafriendlyshipotwoonthewayoutcanhelpreducethechanceoftroubleforthosewithsomeconcernfortheirsecu-


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rity.

Layinginasecondarycourseisalittletricky.Asecondarycourserunsparalleltoanestablishedroutebutplacestheship’strajectoryseveralthou-sandkilometersoutsideoftheestablishedspacelane.Stepthedifficultyforthiscourseupanotch.

Finally the navigator can “take the scenicroute”. Takingthe scenic route implies that thenavigatorlaysinacoursetoadifferentdestina-tion,adeadmoon,anasteroidbeltorsomeotherfeatureandmakesanapproachtothefinaldesti-nationfromanunexpectedandunuseddirectionoftravel.Thenavigatormustinsurethattheshiphassufficientfueltomaketheroundabouttrip,mustestimatethetimeinflightandrelaythatinforma-tiontotheCaptain.Thenavigatormustworkoutacoursethatmaybelistedonlyinfragmentsandclues.

Failure

Failureatanavigationrollusuallyresultsinthelossofanhourorperhapsafewhoursoftraveltimeandthelossofsomefuel.Acriticalfailuremightbringavesseltoadestinationinthegeneraldirectionoftheirtravelbuttoanunexpectedloca-

tion.Unexpectedlocationsmightincludeaminorplanetormoonthepartydidnotoriginallyintendtovisitbutwhichorbitssomewhereintheirgeneraldirectionoftravel,arogueasteroidorevensomehazarddependingontheDirector.

Plot Point

Failing a navigation roll while attemptingtoplotarouteofftheusualspacelanescanbea fun opportunity for a side adventure. Maybethecharactersencounteraderelictspacecraftorabandonedspacestationinapartofspacenoonewouldotherwisetravelexceptonaccident.

Maybe the ship slips into a natural wormholeandwarpstoanunexpecteddestinationstarsystem.Maybetheshipdiscoversarogueaster-oidwithanancientalienruinonitssurfaceoradepositofvaluablelookingcrystals.Perhapsthe

characters stumble upon a secret black markespacestationoperatedby theQin ShadowEmpire.

Primary Route

Basicnavigationskillroll.

Secondary RouteBumpthedifficultyupanotch.

Scenic Route

Twentyminutestolayinthecourse.Bumpthedif-ficultyupacoupleofnotchesoverthebaseroll.

Star Dive

Thestardiveisthecrucial, jawclenching

momentwhenastarshipfiresitsthrusterstowardsaflamingsuninordertodiveintothestar’sgravitywelltoactivatetheship’sgravitydrive.

Layinginthecorrecttrajectorytokeepthevesselonisinthehandsofthenavigator.Thank-fully thesetrajectoriesare alreadyplotted foral-mosteverystarsystemthecharacterswilltravelinwhileoperatinginsidethebordersoftheHege-mony.

Flying the ship and keeping it locked oncourseduringthestardiverestsinthehandsothepilotandco-pilot/engineer.Astardiveisnotanautomatedaction.Theship’spilotmustmain-tainfirmhandsoncontrolovertheship’ssticktokeepittravelingalongthecorrecttrajectory.

Goodjumpsbeginwithsoundnavigationacomputations.Feedingthecourseintothenaviga-tionalcomputerandlockingitintotheinstrumentpanel in the cockpit requires tenminutesandasuccessfulskillroll.Ifthenavigatorisnotpressedfortimetheymayalwaystakeadditionaltimetoinsurethatthecoordinatestheyinputarecorrect.

Acriticalfailurewillresultinthewrongjumppointbeingfiledintothepilot’sinstruments.Theywillflythevesselintothewrongtrajectoryandtheshipwilljumptooneoftheotherstarsystemsclos-esttotheircurrentlocation.Ifonlyonestarsystem


13



isavailableasanoptionthevesselwillultimatelyreachitsintendeddestinationbutatacostofanadditionaldayorsoinjumpspace.

Plot Point

Criticalfailureofajumpmightindicatethat

thevesselhasslippedinto“darkspace”wherethecrewwillexperienceadirectencounterwithwhat-everevillurksbetweenthestars.

AnambitiousDirectormayplotoutamod-uleorencounterindarkspaceandholdthisinafolderspecificallyforatimewhentheactorsexpe-rienceafailurewhenenteringjump.

Freezer Time - Navigator Duties

Whiletheshipisinjumpspacethenaviga-torisresponsibleforkeepingtheiceundercontrolinthenosecompartment.Freezingtemperaturesonboardcantakecondensationfromthecrew’sbreathe and slowly layer the ship’s instrumentsandequipmentinice.Eachcrewmanisrespon-sibletokeeptheirparticularpartoftheshipfunc-tional.

Outsideofthatresponsibilitythenavigator

playsagameofwaitandseeorperhapsspendssome time in prayer or catching up on work orreadingastheshiphurtlesthroughthevastblackbetweenthestars.

System Transit

Oncethecourseislaidinandtheshipisintransitthroughastarsystemthenavigatoristhevessel’sforwardobserver.Thenavigatorcanuse

thesensorlinkinthe.50cal.tosweeptheareainfrontoftheshipforanythingthattheship’ssensoroperatormayhavemissed.

Meteors,debris,suspiciousshipsarehope-fullyspottedlongbeforetheycomecloseenoughtocausetheshipanyrealproblems.Outsideofactingasaforwardobserverduringtransittimesthenavigatorisfreetoworkonotherprojects,de-velopfilmfromthelastsurveymission,workon

maps,updatetheirpersonalflightlog,takeninven-toryofship’ssupplies,whateverneedsdoing.

Combat

During combat the navigator’s place is athe.50caliberweaponmountedinthenosecom-partment.

The Cockpit

The cockpit contains the duty stations oftheship’spilotandtheship’sengineerorco-pilot.ThepilotistypicallytheCaptainoftheshipaswelbutthisisnotalwaysthecase.Starshipsareexpensivevehiclesandthereareplentyofexampleswhere the ship’s ownerand“Captain” hashiredaprofessionalpilottoflytheirshipfromplacetoplace. Inadditiontotheusualgaugesandinstru-mentsanadditionalhorizonstyleinstrumentindi-cateswhethertheshipisoncourseduringspace

flight. Course information from the navigator’scomputerislockedintothepilot’sinstrumentsbythenavigatorfromtheirstationinthenose.

Autopilot Systems

AutopilotsystemsintheBettyarelimitedtothemostprimitivesortsofflybywireequipment.In fact devices like autopilots are altogether un-usualonboardstarshipsflownbyhumanpilots


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Inmostcasesapilotmustremainatthehelmoftheshipthroughoutstarsystemtravel.Onlyafterenteringjumpdoesthevesselcontinueforwardonanintendedcoursewithoutinputbythepilot. Infacttravel through jumpspacehasbeen likenedtoridingtherailsofasteamengine.Onceashipsetsoutinjumpspacethecourse,destinationand

arrivaltimearelocked.Evenifthepilotwantedtochangecourseenginemaneuverswouldbeuse-less.Apilotcouldcutouttheprimarydrivesalto-getherandthevesselwouldstillarriveatitsfinaldestinationafterenteringjump.

Simple A-3 autopilots are available in amodest number of commercial starships. Themilitary’sC-1autopilotisstillinprototypeandwillprobablynotbeavailableuntil1937.Atbestau-topilotsintheRocketshipEmpiresCampaignSet-tingwillallowashiptoflystraightandleveloref-fectminorchangesincourseduringflightduringsystem transit. Even thebestautopilots containnocomponentsthatallowashiptododgeenemyattacks.Pilotsandco-pilotsinTheBettymustflyhertheoldfashionedway,sleepinginshiftsanddrinkingalotofblackcoffeeduringthelong,coldflightsthroughthedarkheartofspace.

Controls

The pilot controls one of two control col-umns(sticks)inthecockpit.Theco-pilotoren-gineer’sstickisremovedinthetechnicaldrawingonthefollowingpagesothenosecompanionwayaccesscanbeseen.

Theengineerisresponsibleformonitoringa number of panels and gaugesmeasuring theoperationofdifferentvitalsystemsthroughoutthestarship.Meanwhilethepilotisresponsibleforfly-ing.Thiscanbeafairlystraightforwardtaskoutin deepspacewhen days of stick time can blurtogether.Pilotingbecomesmorechallengingandinterestingduringtakeoffandlandings,duringat-mosphericflight,duringanysortofstarshipcom-batandmostespeciallyduringthestardiveimme-diatelyprecedingastarshipjump.

Engineers Controls

Theengineer/co-pilothasaccesstoawidevari-

etyofsimpletoggleswitchesthatcanturnon/offmostofthesystemsonboardshipremotelyfromthecockpit.

Should a breaker blow, themain breakeboxforthestarshipisinstalledimmediatelytotherightandjustbehindtheengineer’susualseatposition.Reachingdownandslappingtheseatad- justment bar can allow theengineer to push hisorherseatfarenoughbacktoaccessthispaneleasilyandalsomoveoutofthewayofthenaviga

torwhomightwantroomwhenmakingtheirwayupoutofthenosegangway.

A specialized fire extinguisher that func-tionssafelyzero-gravityiscloseathandandtheengineer’stoolsetisstowedinahandycompartment immediatelyunder their feet in the floor othecockpit.

Engineer Toggle Controls

TheEngineerhasimmediateon/offcontrooverthefollowingship’ssystems.

Lights

CockpitInteriorLampSingleSwitch-AllinteriorshiplightsRedLamp-CockpitRedLamps-ShipInterior


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Navigator’sInteriorLampAllExteriorRunningLightsNoseFogLights

Heaters

WingandFlightSurfaceDe-Icers

CockpitWindscreenDe-IcersAllcrewspaceelectricheaterson/off

PoweredMotorsandEquipment

LandingGearDorsalTurretMotorVentralTurretMotorCargoLiftPoweron/off NavigationComputeron/off(restart)PoweredAirlockDoorson/off EmergencyPressureHatcheson/off FireControlSystemon/off StarboardEnginesMasterPoweron/off PortEnginesMasterPoweron/off SecondaryEnginesMasterPoweron/off StarboardFuelPumpson/off PortFuelPumpson/off FuelProcessingEquipmenton/off MasterPowerCut-OffSwitchon/off*

*MasterPowerCut-Offkillspowertoeverysystemintheship.Systemsoftenrequireindividualre-startswhichmaytakeuptoanhourtoperform.

Emergency Life Support

Thepilotandco-pilotseatseachcarryanemergency life support tank in a mount on thebackoftheirflightseat. Theseemergencytanksareidenticaltotheonefoundinthenavigator’scompartment.Theycanprovide72hoursoflifesupporttoasubjectthatissuitedupinaspacesuitandcanalsobecrackedopenandadjustedtoprovideatmospheresufficientforthesealedcockpitareaforsixtyhourseach.

Ejection Seats

Attherequestofthemarshal’sservicethe

cockpitwasupgradedwithapairofhybridejectionseats.Controlsonthefarleftandrightsideofthecockpitallowthepilotandco-pilottoactivateeachejectionseatindependently.Achargeoverheadblowsopenaroofhatchwhenthechairsarede-ployed.Eachchaircontainsitsownparachute.

Thesystemisdesignedtorefusetodeployunlessboth occupants are seated in their flightseat and secured in their space suits, with thechair’semergencylifesupporthookedin.

Withtheoccupantssafelyinspacesuitstheejectionsystemcanejectthepilotandengineeclearoftheshipintospaceorclearoftheshipinatmosphere. The undersideofeach flight chaihasaparachute installedthat isdesigned tode-ployduringatmosphericbailouts.

Weapons Locker

Ahatchinthefloorbehindthepilot’schaiprovidesaccesstosomeofthewiringandship’ssystems contained in the hullof the ship belowdecks.Containedbeneaththishatchisalockinggunsafethatcontainsacacheofweaponsforthepilot,co-pilotandnavigator.

The cockpit weapons locker contains twoColt 1911 autoloader pistols and a ThompsonSMG1928navalmodel.Eachweaponisstoredwith rounds loaded and two additional clips foeachweapon.

Hull Patch Kit

A hull patch kit is located in a lunch boxsizedkitwhichcanbequickly removed frombe-

neath the engineer’s seat. The patch containsapalm sizedadhesive gunandfoldedpressurepatchesthatcansealasmallhullbreachquickly.

Theadhesiveinthegunisformidableandcanonlyberemovedwithasolventcarriedintheship’smechanic’stoolkitstowedinthecargocom-partment.Theadhesivebondsinsecondssoanoperatormustbecarefulnottogluethemselvestothepatch,tothehullortotheadhesivegunduring


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theprocess.

The patch kit in the cockpit contains sixpatcheswhichcansealabreachinthehulluptothesizeofaquarter.

BreachSize RepairDifficulty

PinHole SimpleSmall(Penny) ModerateMedium(Quarter) DifficultLarge(SilverDollar) VeryDifficultCatastrophic(Baseball+) ForgetIt*

*Catastrophichullbreachescanonlyberepairedafteralloftheatmospherehasventedandsome-oneinaspacesuitworksforseveralhoursatleasttocloseupthehole.

Areplacementkitforthepatcheshasapurchasepriceof$50.00US.Anewhullpatchkithasapurchasepriceof$100.00USandcanbefoundatanystarport.

Engineer’s Duties Belowisalistoffundamentalskillsthatev-ery ship’sengineer shouldbe familiarwith toatleastsomedegree.

StarshipPilotingCraft:ElectronicCraft:MechanicalCraft:WeaponsmithCraft:EngineeringKnowledgeSkill:Technology-HumanGearKnowledgeSkill:Technology-HybridGearRepairForwardObserverSpaceSuit-EVA

Inadditionaship’sengineermaywant topossessskillsinvariousvehicles,mechanic,elec-trical,chemical,firearmsorbrawling.Theship’sengineermaywishtodoubleupontheplanetarysurveyskillsothattheengineerandnavigatorcantaketheleadwhenthecrewisfacedwithsurveyandexplorationmissions.Awidevarietyofsci-enceteamskillssuitanEngineerwell.

Preflight

The ship’s engineer is busy during star-shippreflight.Theymustinsurethattheshipisproperlyfueledandthatallfueltanksarecoveredandsecuredafterfueling.Theymustcheckallofthehydraulicsystemsonboardtheshipandrun

throughatestofeverysingleswitchandsystemtheyhavecontroloverfromthecockpit.

Priortotake-offtheengineerisresponsiblefordoingafinalwalkaroundtheship,checkingtheintegrityofthelandinggearandtiresandlookingforanypotentialproblemsintheship’sstructure.Starshipsarecomplexvehiclesandhavemanysystemsandmovingparts.Theship’sengineerisfacedwithaconstantchallengeinkeepingupwith

thewearandrepairofthesesystems.

Everytimetheshipisused,evenforshorhops,thereisacumulativechance(definedonthefacingpage)thatasystemwillbegintoexpe-riencemechanical, electrical or other problemsThiscumulativechancedoesnotgoawaythemomentonesystemexperiencesafailure.Theper-centagecontinuestoriseuntiltheshipundergoesaperiodoffocusedrepairandrefitknownasthe“starshipoverhaul”.

Replacementandrepairofship’ssystemsistimeconsumingandexpensive.Thankfullyshipsystemsdonotfalloffthemomenttheybegintoshowsignsofwear.

Plot Point

Whyalltheemphasisonshipwearandteaandengineering?Whatsciencefictionshowhaveyouwatchedwherethemaintenanceandupkeepofthestarshipdidnotfigurelargelyinsomeshapeorformoverthecourseofthefilm?

WhenplayersunderstandthattheshiphasacumulativerateofweartheywillbemoreinterestedinearningthemoneynecessaryforupkeepShippilotsandcrewswillbefacedwithdecisionsaboutputtingtheshipintospacedockforatherepairofasystemorforgingforwardwiththeadven-


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turewithoneoranothersysteminaquestionablestate.

Somegamesystemsalreadymakeallow-ancesforthiselementinasciencefictionsettingandinthatcasegowiththenativegamemechanictothesystemyouhavechosentoplay.Eitherway

thisoptionalapproachisalsoavailable.

Starship Wear and Tear Table

OnthetablebelowIhavedevisedastarshipwearandteartable.AnytimetheDirectorrollsasystemproblemduringpre-flighttheyshouldrolltodeterminewhichsystemfacesapotentialproblemandincreasetheseverityonthechartbyonelevel.

Duringtheengineer’swalkaroundtheshiptheymayortheymaynotspotthepotentialproblemTheengineerfacesaskillchecktonoticeprob-lemsastheyraiseinseverity.Equipmentin“thegreen”isDifficulttonoticewhileanproblemwithapieceofhardwarebecomeseasierandeasiertonotice (rollsbecomeeasier) themoreadvanced

theproblembecomes.

Whenapieceofequipmentisintheredonlyanearsightedandsomewhatdistractedengineerwouldmisstheproblem.(Oronethatignoreddo-ingtheirregularchecksoftheship.)

ApieceofequipmentthatbecomesFUBARnolongerfunctions.Thatisprettydifficulttomiss


19

Starship Wear and Tear Table

Roll Skill Equipment Green Yellow Red FUBAR RepairDif-ficulty

1 Engineering PortMain Difficult

2 StarboardMain Difficult

3SecondaryEngines

Difficult

4 Weaponsmith .30cal. Easy

5 .50cal. Easy

6 BallTurret Moderate

7 AmmoFeed Moderate

8 Electrical RadioUnit Moderate

9 Sensors Difficult

10 CockpitControls Moderate

11 Lights Easy

12 BarbetteRemote V.Difficult

13 Mechanical LandingGear Moderate

14 PressureHatch Easy

15 WingDe-Icers Easy16 BallTurretMotor Easy

17 WingHydraulics Moderate

18 TailHydraulics Moderate

19MartianSystems

LifeSupport XenoTech

20 Navigation XenoTech



foranyonewhoattemptstousetheequipment.

Equipment repairs are cheaper the ear-liertheproblemiscaught.Aniteminthegreenmightberesetcompletelywithasuccessfulrepaircheck.Anitemintheyellowmightbesetbackonesteptogreen.Iusuallyallowanengineertopush

backtheadvanceofwearonestepforonepieceofequipment.Afterthat theequipmentwillcon-tinuetoprogressasaproblemwhenitisrolledonthechartuntiliteithergoesFUBARortheentireshipgoesintooverhaulandalloftheequipmentisresettostartinglevels.

Starshipmanufacturing can have amajorimpactontheseverityofequipmentproblemswithaparticulartypeofstarship.Amanufacturewithapoor rating inengineswill automaticallybeginthewearandteartablewithoneslotnotchedoffagainst them(in thegreen). Manufacturers thatconstructcomponentsorsystemswith“wretched”qualityratingsfaceanautomatictwostrikestart-ingpointforthesystemsthatreceivethewretchedqualityrating(startintheyellow).

To repair or not to repair...

Engineerscanusuallyrepairaship’ssys-

temonestepaslongastheyhavethetools,thetime,andtheproblemisinthehumanorhybridcomponents.

Performinganoverhauldoesnotresetthecumulative chanceof the erosion of ship’s sys-tems.Thusashipcanaccumulateaten,twenty,forty,eightypercentchanceofasystemadvanc-inginwearandtearovertimeeachtimetheshipgoesintotheair.

Table Key

Green Status

Theequipmentisintopshape.Unlessitisdamagedincombatorthroughsomeaccidentitwillnotmalfunctionduringflight.

Yellow Status

The equipment is showing signs of wearReplacementpartsforwornpartsmayvarywide-lydependingontheequipmentinquestion.WeleavethespecificdetailsofthemalfunctioninthecapableofhandsoftheGM.

Ifleftdamagedthesystemwillcontinuetofunctionandhasa05%chanceofsufferingamalfunctionduringflight.

Red Status

The equipment is showing signs of seri-ouswearandtheengineermayhavehadprob-lemswithitalreadytosomedegree.Repaircosts

increase.Ifleftdamagedthesystemhasa10%chanceofsufferingamalfunctionduringflight.

FUBAR

TheequipmentisFUBAR.Itisbrokenandnoamountofrepairisgoingtofixit.TimetobuyanewoneCaptain.

Repair Difficulty

ThisisameasureofthedifficultyforrepairingapieceofequipmentonceithasreachedYEL-LOWstatus.Asdamageprogressesthedifficultyformakingtherepairshouldrise.Keepinmindthatrepairingabrokenpieceofequipmentishard-erthantearingtheunitoutandreplacingitwithanewone.Astraightreplacementofaunitshouldhaveamoderatedifficultyinmostcases.

Ship Status Report

Theship’sengineercansubmitastatusre-portimmediatelypriortoembarkingonavoyageoruponarrivalthestarshipCaptain.

It takes 5minutes to properly check onebroadclassofequipmentontheship(allelectricasystemsforexample)andaroundthirtyminutestoperformaproperinspectionoftheentireship.


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Thewearandtearchartcanbecopiedandturnedintoatrackingformformonitoringthecur-rentstatusoftheship.Onecopyshouldbemain-tainedbytheEngineerandtheothercopywiththeactual system information should bemaintainedconfidentiallybythegameDirector.

Malfunctions

At theGM’soptiontheymaymakeasys-temmalfunctioncheck.Irecommendthatthesearemadeeveronceinawhileduringshipopera-tions(aboutonceajump)orwheneverthevesselisplacedunderconsiderablestrain.

Rollforanyequipmentthatisintheyelloworred.Thechanceforapieceofequipmenttomalfunc-

tionislistedonpage19underthetablekey.Ifamalfunction occurs roll again on the oppositetable.

FUBAR TableRoll Result

1-5Ayellowwarninglightcomesonin

thecockpit,nothingmore.

6-8

Ayellowwarninglightcomesonin

thecockpitand1d20minuteslaterthesystembeginstomakearattleorbangingnoisefromaloosepartbutotherwisenothingelsehappens

9-10Nowarninglightcomeson.Thesys-temsimplybeginstoshortormakenoisebutnothingelsehappens

11-12

Ayellowwarninglightcomesonfol-lowedbyaredidiotlightapproximate-lytenminuteslater.Yetthesystemhangsinthereanddoesnotfail.

13-14

Ayellowlightcomesonandthenaredidiotlight.Thesystemwillbegintostutter,workingforafewmomentsandthensputteringoff.Itneedsre-

pairtofunction.

15

Ayellowlightcomeson.Twentyminuteslateraredlight

comeson.Tenminuteslaterthesystemimme-diatelyceasesworkingandmustbe

repaired

16 Ayellowlightcomesonthesystemsputtersandthendies.Itmustberepaired.

17ThesystemgoesupinsmokewithnowarningandisimmediatelyFUBAR

18

Ayellowlightcomeson,thenaredlight.1d6minuteslatertheentire

systemshorts,jamsorbreaksdownandmustberepaired.

19Thenexttimethesystemisturnedon,itdoesn’tturnonandmustbe

repaired.

20Thenexttimethesystemisturnedonitdoesn’tturnonandisFUBAR

Jury Rigging

Juryrigginginvolvescobblingadevicebackintoworkingconditiontemporarilyusingwhateverhappenstobeonhand.Aship’sengineermayfindthattheyareforcedtojuryrigaship’svitalsystemthathasbeendamagedduringcombatoknockedoutbecauseofasystemmalfunction.

JuryriggingwillNOTrepairadevicethatisFUBAR.Noamountofcursing,kicking,throwingmoneyatthedevice,prayernoranythingelsewillgetaFUBARdevicebackonline.

Juryriggingadevicerequires10minutesx 1d6 to complete. The time involved includesscrounging aroundthe ship for parts, duct tapebubblegumorwhateverelseisnecessarytocob-blethedevicebacktogether.

Ifanyportionof thedevice isexposedtospaceor constructed onto theouter hullof thevesselthereisachancetheengineerwillneedtoputonaspacesuitandgooutsidetheshiptoper


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formtherepair.

Space walks are possible in jump spacebutthecostishigh.Suitsdonotprovidesufficientprotectionfromradiationtoallowatechniciantosurvivetheexperienceandsettingfootoutsideofastarshipduringjumptravel,whilenotresultingin

immediatedeathisaguaranteeddeathsentencefromradiationsickness.

Juryriggingrequiresarepairroll.Theengi-neerortechnicianmayreceivehelpfromanothercharacterormaymakeacomplimentaryskillrollbeforebeginningworkiftheyhaveasuitableskillthatspecificallyappliestotheproblemathand.

StatusofDevice RepairDifficulty

BattleDamage-Minor EasyBattleDamage-Serious ModerateBattleDamage-Catastrophic DifficultMalfunctionfromYellowStatus ModerateMalfunctionfromRedStatus DifficultFUBAR Impossible

Jury Rigging - Duration

A jury riggeddevicewillnot remain func-

tioningforever.Every1d8hoursthatthesystemis juryriggedthesystemmustmakeasystemcheckorbreakdown.

Anytimetheshipishitwithanattack,suf-fers a collision orperforms radicalmaneuveringperformasystemchecktoseeiftherepairsholdtogether.Asystemcheckcanbeassimpleasas-signingapercentilechanceoffailure.Thechanceisuptothedirector.

Themanufacturingqualityofasystemcanprovideabonusorpenaltytothedurationthatjuryriggingonthesystemwilllast.Addorsubtracttheappropriate system quality modifier listed belowbasedonthemanufacturingmodifierofthestar-shipinquestion.

ManufacturingQuality Modifier

Excellent +2HoursGood +1HourAverage +1HoursPoor -1Hour

Wretched -2Hours

Scavenging

Pullingpartsoffofahulkinajunkheapofloating abandoned in space is called scavenging.ScavengingforpartscansaveashipCaptaina considerable amount ofmoney in operationacosts.Thebighitchofcourse,iswhetherthepartswillbecompatiblewithwhatisonboardtheCap

tain’sship.

Attackingashipsoyoucanblast it tobitsinordertoscavengeitforpartsiscalledpiracy,incaseyouwereunclearonthatsmalldetail.

Hybrid Systems - Martian Components

At the core of every hybrid system aremartian bio-mechanoiddeviceswhichmake the


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devicework.Thesedevicesaredesignedtobemodular so damaged pieces can be easily re-moved and replaced. The core components toanyhybridsystemhavea75%percentchanceofbeingcompatiblefromsystemtosystemnomatterwhomanufacturedthestarshiporthefinalpieceofequipment.

Hybrid Systems - Human Components

Componentsbuiltbythesamehumanman-ufacturingconcernforthesamedevicewillhavea95%chanceofbeingcompatibleevenbetweendifferentmodelsofships.Componentsfromdif-ferent manufacturers but from the same nationwillhavea40%chanceofbeingcompatibleandcomponents from different manufacturers from

differentnationswillhavea10%chanceofbeingcompatible.Theseguidelinesalsoapplytopurelyhuman devices such as automobiles, bi-planes,toastersandwalkie-talkies.

Ship Overhauls

Overhaulingashipistimeconsumingandexpensive.Ashipmustbeataspaceportororbitalstationinabirthorhangerbeforeashipoverhaulcanbegin.Shipscannotbeoverhauledintransit

orwhilefloatinginspaceawayfrommajorrepairfacilities.

Thetimerequiredandcostofanoverhaulvariesdependingonthesizeandclassoftheship.ThetablebelowwillprovidedetailsforGM.

ShipClass/Size Time Repair

Starfighters 24HoursMedium

FastTransports 48HoursMediumAtmo-Capable 72HoursDifficultLightClass 1WeekDifficultMediumClass 2WeeksV.DifficultHeavyClass 1MonthV.Difficult

Time requirements listed here are for ateamofthreetechnicians.Additionaltechnicianswillshavefivehoursoffthetimerequiredforeachadditionaltech.Addingtechs.thatarenotplayer

characterswilladdtothecost.

Captain’s Duties

BelowisalistoffundamentalskillsthateveryCaptain/Pilotshouldbefamiliarwithtoatleas

somedegree.

StarshipPilotingCraft:ElectronicCraft:MechanicalKnowledgeSkill:Technology-HumanGearKnowledgeSkill:Technology-HybridGearRepairStarshipGunnery

Inadditionaship’spilotmaywanttopos-

sessskillsinvariousvehicles,tradeskills,firearmsorbrawlingandhavesomesocialskillstoassistingettingtheshipandcrewpastredtapeoren-tanglementsimposedbygreedymerchantsorbu-reaucrats.Theship’spilotmayalsowishtohaveskillsinspacesuit-EVAandzerogravityfighting

Piloting Littlehasbeenintroducedinmanysci-firpgs

regardingthelittledetailsofdaytodayshipopera-tion.TheemphasisinmanybooksisoncombatIwouldliketoputforwardthatsomeofthemostgrippingsequencesinsciencefictionfilmshavetodowithmaneuveringintightspaces,takingofforlandingindangerousweatherorfiercestorms,ig-noringwarningsfromanenemycontroltowerbe-foretakingofffromtherunwayanyway.

MuchofthishasbeenglossedoverinpreviousworksbutIwouldliketoincludethemhereNotbecauseeverydirectorwillwanttousetheseideas in every scenario but so game director’shavethesematerialstoaddtotheirtoolboxforbringingnon-combatactionsaboardastarshiptolife.


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Preflight

Whentheshipisinport it isthecaptain’sresponsibility todeal with the port authority, se-cureabirthfortheship,payforanyfeesandsetthegroundrulesfortheshoreleaveofthecrew.

Priortotakeoffthecaptainworkswiththeengineertorunthroughtheship’spreflightchecklist.Hetestsallofthecontrolsurfaces,runstheenginesandfuelpumpsthroughatest,personallyteststhefuellevelsmanuallytoinsurethatfalsereadingsongaugesdon’tplacehiminspacewith

ahalfaloadoffuelandcontactstheradiotowertogetinlinefortake-off.

Allofthisactivitymeansthatthepilotisverybusyduringpreflightandwillnotwanttobeboth-eredwithproblemsthattherestofthecrewshouldsortoutforthemselves.Atleastuntiltheshipissafelyunderway.

Taking Off

Pilotswillfacetwodifferentscenarioswhenembarking.Inthefirstandmostcommonscenariothepilotwillbetakingofffromaplanetarysurface.Inthesecondthepilotwillbelaunchingintospaceoutofaconfineddockingplatformatanorbitalordeepspacestation.

Atmospheric Take Off

While taking off is safer and easier thanlandingitstillholdsitsownrisksandchallengesFirstandforemostthepilotmustdecidewhethertheyarewaitinginlineforclearanceoriftheyareignoringthetowerandtakingoffanyway.

If thepilot is takingoffwith theblessingsofthetowertheywillhaveaclearflightpathoffoftheirrunwayouttoadistanceoftwentytofiftykilometers as longas theydon’t deviate from astraightclimb.

Ifthepilotdecidestoignorethetowerandtakeoffimmediatelytheyfacethedangerofapos-siblecollisionwithaninboundspacecraft.

Roll on the table below for results. If aninboundspacecraftisencounteredthepilotmusmakeapilotingrolltoavoidacollision.

Spaceport/ColonySize Inbound

VerySmall/Outpost 01%Small 03%Medium 05%Large 08%

Enormous 10% It isuptotheGMtodefinewherethestaportorcolonyfallsintherangeslistedabove.

When taking off from remote locations(away from runways and spaceports) and aftetake-off from standard spaceports the pilot wilwanttoclimbtheirshiptoasafealtitudeforflight.Asafealtitudeisconsideredonewherethepilothastimetorecoverthestarshipintheeventofanenginefailureorotherproblem.

Safe Operational Altitudes

Agoodoperationalflight altitudetoreachis3,000feet.Below3,000feetanddownto1,000feetthepilotsuffersanegativemodifiertotheirpilotingrolltopulloutofaspinorstallshouldtheshipencounterproblems.Starshipsandstarfight-ersoperatingbelow1,000feetsuffera-2penalty


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andshipsoperatingbelow500feetsuffera-4pen-alty.

Weatherconditions,turbulenceandvisibil-ityareallchallengesthatapilotfaceswhenflyinginatmosphere.

Making a safe take-off encompasses thetime fromwhen thewheels leave theground towhentheshipiscruisingatitsoperationalaltitude.Theops.altitudeissetbythepilot.

The pilot faces risks of heavy turbulence,radicaldropsinaltitudeandlossofcontrolwhen-everheisflying.Therisksduringtake-offareout-linedbelow.

Piloting Table Key Theresultsrunningacrossthetopofthepilotingtablereflectthepilot’ssuccessorfailureattheirpilotingroll..Flightisadynamic,every-thingishappening“rightnow”and“whatareyoudoingaboutit,rightnow”sortofactivitysopilots

maynottakeextratimetogainabonustotheirskillroll.

Table results:

Smooth

Yourflyingisassmoothasglass.Notevenabumpallthewayfromthegroundtoyouroperationalaltitude.

Light Turbulence

A few minor bumps here and there bunothingtoworryabout.CrewmemberswalkingthroughthecraftmayneedtomakeanchecktokeepontheirfeetiftheytrytomovearoundduringLightTurbulence.

Bumpy

Okthingsarealittlerocky.Crewmembersandpassengerswithathingaboutflying(fearof


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Piloting Roll vs. Weather Conditions

Weather VeryBad Failure Success Good Excellent

CalmandClear

Bumpy LightTurbulence

Smooth Smooth Smooth

WindyandClear

HeavyTurbulence

BumpyLight

TurbulenceSmooth Smooth

Foggy OffCourse BumpyLight


PeaSoup Lost OffCourseLight


Rain BumpyLight

Turbulence Smooth Smooth Smooth

StormForcedtoLand

HeavyTurbulence

BumpyLight

TurbulenceSmooth

SnowForcedtoLand

LostLight


Tornado Crash CrashForcedtoLand

HeavyTurbulence

Bumpy




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Totheleftisafullcutawayschemat-icoftheGunslingerBettyproduced

aslargeaswecouldmakeitforthissourcebook.

Thisschematicfeaturesapartialcutawayviewofoneoftheprimaryenginesandwinginternalstructureshowingthelocationsoffueltanks,hydraulicsandflaps.

WhatIhopetoconveythroughMikeDoscher’sincredibleimagehereisthatlifeaboardmoststarshipsintheFastTransportclassisrathercramped.

WhiletheBettydoespossessalimitednumberof“creaturecom-forts”comparedtotraversingastarsysteminastarfighterorsnubfightersheisstillfairlysmall.

Thetricyclestylelandinggearfea-turedontheBettyisthemostcom-montypeoflandinggearproducedonstarshipsofthisclass.Thevastmajorityofthesestarshipsrelyonatleastsomesortofrudimentaryland-ingfield,evenadirtfieldorroadwillsufficeinapinch.



flying)willstarttogetworried.Crewmembersandpassengers attempting tomovearoundthe shipwillfaceacheckanytimetheyattempttomovearoundtokeepontheirfeet.Lightobjectsunse-curedaboutthecraftmayjostleandfall.

Heavy Turbulence

Theshipispitchingandyawinglikeashiponthehighsea.Pilotandcrewmemberswilllikelywanttokeepthemselvesstrappedintotheirseats.Unsecuredcargoincrewareasorthecargoholdmaybecomedislodged.Crewmemberswhoat-tempt to move around face amore challengingrollanytimetheyattempttomovetokeepontheirfeet.

Failingtherollforcesthepassengerorcrewmembertotakeapointofdamagefromfallingorbeingbatteredaround.(There’sthatlightdamageclassforyou.)

Off Course

Poorvisibilityhasyouoffcourse.Evenus-ingyourinstrumentsyouarealittleconfusedandflyinginthewrongdirection.Rollaspotrolleveryfiveminutestofindyourwaybackoncourse,or

climbupoutofthefog,rainorbadweather.Inverypoorconditionsyoumaybeforcedtoriseoutofatmocompletelyandstage yourselfin orbituntilconditionsclear.

Lost

You are lost. Not only do you not knowwhichdirectionyouareheadedyouarenotsurewhetheryourareclimbingordescending.Make

animmediatepilotingrollandifyoufailbadlyyoumaywind upcrashing theship intoahill,build-ing,mountain,radiotowerorsomeothertallob-stacle.Ifyousucceedyoumayclimboutofthebadweatherorfog.

Forced to Land

Youareforcedtolandtheshipimmediate-ly.Ifyoujusttookofforwerelandingthenyouare

luckyandmayimmediatelyreturntolandatyoupointoforigin.Otherwiseyoumustmakearolltospotanopenfieldorothersuitablelocationwhereyoumightbeabletosetdownyourcraft.Ifyoufaitospotafieldorothersuitablespotyoumaybeinforaveryunpleasantcrash.

Crash

Flyinginsevereweatherhasitsrisks.Youaregoingdown.Whetherawindsheerhastornoffoneofyourwingsortail,astrokeoflightninghasjustblownoffoneofyourenginesandmostofyourwingoryouhavesetherintoaflatspin,youaredonefor.Noamountoffancytricksisgoingtorecoveryourbirdnow.Choosewhetheryouaregoingtogivetheordertobailoutandhittheeject

buttonorwhetheryouaregoingtorideherdownintothedirt.You’velostcontroloftheshipandthereisnorecoveringher.Goodlucktoyoumate,shewasagoodshipandgodsaveyouandyourvaliantcrew.

Atmospheric Flight

During atmospheric flight make a roll onthepilotingtableonceevery1d4hours.Starshipsmustusetacticalflightanytimetheyareflyingin

theatmosphere.Attemptingtousesystemdriveswhileflyinginanatmosphereisabadidea.Itwillresultinanimmediateandmassivebuildupoffric-tion,heatandstructuralstresswhichwillteartheshipintoteeny,tinypiecesandscattertheremainsovermany,miles.

Allstarshipshaveafailsafesystemthatin-suresthatthesystemdrivecannotengageanytimeanatmosphereisdetectedaroundthegravity

drive.

Flying into and out of confined spaces

Soyouwanttopilotyourstarshipintotheicecavernsofthatasteroidandweaveyourwaythroughthetunnelsinordertoshakethosesnubfighters.Wellflyboy,suchthingsarepossiblebutshouldnotbeattemptedbyrookiepilotsorthosewithweakhearts.


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Therealtricktoflyinginandoutofconfinedspaces is your starship speed. Of course youmustbeflyingattacticalspeedsinordertohaveanyrealmaneuverabilityinthefirstplace.

Flyingintoadockingbayatextremelylow

speedsissafeandjustaboutanyrookiepilotcanpullitoff.Spiralingbetweengianticeshardsatyourmaximumcombatspeedisanotherthingal-together.

Asusualwe’vecreatedasimpletableforDirectorstoreferencesotheyhavesomesimpletoolsonhandfordealingwiththesespecialcasesituations.

StarshipSpeed PilotingDC500ft.percombatround NoRoll1000ft.percombatround EasyasPie2000ft.percombatround Easy4000ftpercombatround Moderate6000ftpercombatround Difficult8000ftpercombatround VeryDifficult10,000ftpercombatround Ridiculous12,000ftpercombatround GodlikeBeyond15,000ftround ImpossibleEvenwithseriousaugmentationsitisimpossible

foranyspecies,human,oralientoflyinconfinedspaces at speeds greater than 15,000 feet percombatround(assumingthecombatroundis10seconds long) without taking an enormous dirtnap.

The System Drive

Thenavigatorwillinputcourseinformationintotheircomputerwhichwillinturnlocktheinfor-mationintoyourinstruments. Inspace itisyourresponsibilitytokeeptheshipflyingoncourse.

Engagingtheimpulsedrivetakesaboutafullminuteoncethedrivehascooleddownandisreadytogo.Whenashipleavessystemtraveltoengagetacticalspeedsthegravitydriverequiresanhourofsystemrecoverytimebeforeitisreadytore-engagethesystemdrive.

Course changes when flying at impulsespeedsareverygradual.Evenifyouthrowthestickhard to the side your coursewill alteronlyslightlyoveralongperiodoftimeandoveravasdistanceofspace. Dramaticmaneuversare impossiblewhentravelingwiththesystemdriveen-gaged.Carefulcourseplots,planningandhop

ping backdown to tacticalspeeds tomakeanymajorcoursechangesisvital.

When flying at system speeds your onlyrealconcernasthepilotishowandwhenyouwanttopunchoutofsystemspeedsanddropbackintotacticalformaneuvering.

Tactical Drive

A starship’s tactical drive allows the star-shiptomaneuver,dogfight,dockwithaspacestation,enterorbitorlandonaplanet’ssurface.

Whenapilotengagesthetactical drive iimmediatelycutsouttheship’simpulsedrivesys-tematarangeof5,000to10,000kilometersfromtheirintendeddestination.

Keepinmindthattheshipishurtlingalongat1,700kilometerspersecond.Atadistanceof

5,000kilometersthestarshipisliterallysecondsawayfromblazingpastordrivingrightintotheiintendeddestination.

Allnavigationcomputershaveanautomat-edcutoutfortheship’ssystemdrivesystemsothe shipwill safely leavesystemspeeds10,000kilometers from its intended destination. Somehotshotpilotswilldeactivatethissystemandattempt to cut out thedrivemanuallysothey canperformahotburn intotheirdestination.Hotburnmaneuversareusuallyperformedbysmugglers,pilotswhowishtoeliminateasmuchtacticaldrivetimeaspossible toavoid interceptionormilitarypilotsattempting toachieve thegreatestlevelofsurpriseduringanattack.

Hot Burn

Performing a hot burn requires the pilo


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makeadifficultpilotingroll.Failureonthisrollin-dicatesthatthepilothaspunchedoutearlyorlate.Rolltwodifferentcoloredd10.Onedieisposi-tiveresultandtheotherisnegative.Comparethedifferencebetweenthetworollsandthatishowmanysecondsthepilotpunchedoutearlyorlate.Iftherollsareequalthepilothaspunchedouton

timebutmorethroughsheerluckthanskill.

MercifulGM’sthatweare,alatepunchoutmerely indicates that the pilot has missed theirdestinationanddoesnotrequirethatthepilotrolltoavoidburyingthenoseoftheirstarshipintothesideofthespacestationtheywereintenttohotburnnear.

Example:

StarfighterPilotValerieperformsahotburninherHurricaneStarfighter.Thetargetdistanceshewantstopunchoutatis1,000kilometers.Atthatdistanceandflyingatherstarfighter’stoptac-ticalspeedofMach2,shewillbeuponhertargetinjustunder24minutes.Ifshepunchesoutasec-ondlateorearlyshewillstillbeingoodshapeatthatdistance.

UnfortunatelyValerieblowsherroll,punchingout

perfectlyisadifficultmaneuverafterall.Sherolls1d10forearlyand1d10forlatetimesandrollsafiveforherearlytimeandatwoforherlatetime.The differencebetween the two rollsplacesherpunchingoutthreesecondsearly.

Valerie’s actual distance punching out is1,700kilometersX3+1,000kilometers(hertargetdistance)or6,100kilometersoutfromhertarget.

AttopspeedValerie’sstarfighterwill take

welloverthreeandahalfhours toreachhertar-get.

Jump Space Travel

Star Diving

Martiangravitydrivetechnologyreliesuponthepresenceofamassivegravitybody,suchasa

star,orinsomecasesasupergasgiantorgasgianttoslingshotastarshipintoanalternatespace-timestateknownasjumpspace.

Theship’snavigationalcomputerwillplotacourseforthepilottofollowthatprovidesthecor-recttrajectoryforthestarshiptofollowduringthe

stardive.Acountdownallowstheco-pilotorengi-neertoactivatethestarship’sgravitydrivesystemattheoptimummomenttoeffectajump.

Duringastardivethepilotlowersaseriesofarmoredblastplatesthatcoverthegreenhousenoseandalloftheexposedglass-steelsurfacesofthevesselsocrewarenotexposedtothedirecglareofthestar.

Blastcoveringsareloweredapproximately24hourspriortothestarshipmakingjumpwhilethestarshipremainsreasonablydistantfromthestar.Flyingastarshipblind,usingtheinstrumentstoguideyouwhilethestarshipexperiencesrisinginternal temperatures despite the best efforts otheship’slifesupportsystemcanbeabithairrais-ing.Allpilotsflytheirshipbyinstrumentthrough-outastardive.

During a star dive Starships have been

known(rarely)tohavetheirgravitydrivefail.Thisoccasionaldisaster results in stories ofdoomedshipswithaileddrivesflamingoutintotheheartoastar.Thankfullytheseoccurrencesarerarebuswapping stories about the FlyingDutchman oBoydRukkerman’sdoomedLuckyGamblerhelpsto pass the time, particularly when rookie crewmemberscomeaboard.

Performing a star dive in the GunslingeBettyrequiresthepilottomakeaneasypiloting

maneuver.Afailureindicatesthatthestarshipisslippingoffcourseandalthoughthejumpwillgothroughthestarshipmayappearalmostanywhereinthetargetstarsystemratherthanattheusualre-entrypointapproximatelyonequarterAUfromthetargetstar.Roll1d10forthenumberofAU’sdistantthere-entryoccursfromthetargetstar.

Acriticalfailureindicatesathreatofajump


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systemfailure.Theengineermustmakeamoder-atestarshipengineeringrollamidstagreatclamorofalarmsandsystemwarningstomanuallyacti-vatethejumpdrive.Otherwisethejumpdrivefailstoactivateandthepilotmusttheneffectanemer-gencymaneuvertoabortthestardive.

Theemergencymaneuvertoabortthestardiveiscalledanescapemaneuver.Thepilothasoneandonlyonechancetomakethismoderateroll. At thispoint the vessel ishurtling into theheartofthestar.Surfacesinsidetheshiparebe-comingmorethanwarmtothetouch.Theedgesaroundthearmoredplatesloweredovertheship’sviewportsarebeginningtoglow.

Failuretomaketheescaperoll leavesthepilotwithonlyonelastoption.Theymust activatethe ship’s gravity drive and hope to be thrownclearofthestarandintojumpspace.TheresultsofthisattemptareleftsolelyuptothegameDirec-tor.Eitherthestarshipburnsupinthefieryheartofthestarorthestarshipentersjumpspaceandemergesinanysystemwithin2d10lightyears.

Alternatively a Director can opt to havethevesselappearinadistantpartofunexploredspacewithjustenoughinformationintheirnaviga-

tionbookstoplotacoursefromsystemtosystembacktowardshomebutnootherinformationwhat-soever.Theplayersmayencounterallmannerofadventuresduringtheirattempttobringtheirshipbacktocolonizedspace.

Cargo Hold and Crew Staterooms

ThisSpartancentralchamberonTheBettyservesasbothhomeandcargohold.Thecar-

goholdandcrewstateroomsareaareseparatedbythecockpitcompartmentemergencypressuredoorononeendandtheradarroompressuredooron theother end. Both of thesedoorsarekeptsecuredduringroutinespaceoperations.

Eachcrewstateroomhasfourhammockswithonlytwostrungintopositionatthesametime.The extra hammocks are rolled up and stowedagainstoneofthebulkheadssocrewmatesdonot

needtosharehammocksbutcanrearrangethingsdependinguponwhoison-dutyduringaflightandwhoisoff.

Accommodations are available for eighcrewsoTheBettycancarryanadditionalscien-tist,medicalofficer,engineerorevenapassenge

alongwithitssevenpersoncrewcompliment.Aleasttwocrewmenareondutyevenwhentheshipison the ground (usually standingwatch) whentheothercrewmenrest.ShouldthecrewevergearealbreakandfindthatTheBettycouldbese-curedinahangerfacilitytheymightenjoytheeve-ningofftheshipcompletely.Avoidmakingitim-possiblefortheentirecrew(orleastalltheplayercharacters)toleavetheshiptobeinvolvedinanadventure.Hangersshouldbeavailablewithsuf-ficientsecuritytokeeptheshipsafeinmostportsWheresecurityisquestionableitcanbebribedorpurchasedtoinsurethattheshipisnottamperedwith.Nobodywantstoshowuptoagameandspendtheentireadventuresittingintheshipwhileeveryoneelsegoesofftoexplorethealienruinsorthepiratebunker.

Realshoreleaveisahighpointforanystar-shipcrew.Crewmateswantabreak. Every crewman has their own full sized

locker for stowing personal itemsand a secondtemperaturecontrolledminilockeroverheadwhereperishablescanbestoredbetweenflights.Anadditionallockerforeachcrewmanislocatedintheradioroom.Thisbringsthetotalpersonallockerspacetotwolargeandtwosmalllockersforeverycrewmanonboardtheship.

Emergency Oxygen Tanks

Apairofemergencyoxygentanksidenticatothosefound intherestoftheshipare locatedunder the deck ineach crewstateroom. Thesecannotberemovedoropenedeasilybyunboltinganaccesspanelintheflooroftheship.Acrewmaninaspacesuitcanrestinahammockwhileplugging in to the emergency oxygen supply storedhere.


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Smuggling

One smugglers trick is stowing illegal orcontrabandgoodsinsideofthedrum-likehousingoftheemergencyoxygentanksstowedbeneaththefloorplatesofthestarship.Asmugglercangainseveralgallonsofhiddenstoragebygutting

twooftheemergencyoxygencontainersandcon-vertingthemoverforthisuse.

Inflatable Life Raft

A standard United States Navy inflatablerubberliferaftisstowedinanoverheadcompart-menthere.Theraftislargeenoughtoaccommo-datesixcrewmenandincludestwooars,acom-passandsmallsurvivalkit.

Elevenlifepreservesarelocatedonboard,oneundereachchairinthecockpit,oneunderthenavigator’schair,oneundertheradar/radiooperator’schair,oneineachturretandfourmorestowed in various marked locations around thecargobay.

The Crane and Lift

Thecraneispowerfulenoughtoliftupto20

tonsofequipment.

Cargo Capacity and Trim

Thecargoholdhasapostedmaximumca-pacityof25tons.TheBettybeginshandlingalittleheavyinthestickstartingaround15tons.

Startingat15tonsandforevery5tonsofadditionalcargoTheBettyloses500feetoftacti-

calmovementandsuffersa–1toinitiativebonusincombat.

Flying over the cargo limit

ItispossibletoflyTheBettyoverherpost-edloadlimitbutshebecomesextremelylubberlyandslow.Foreverytonoverherpostedmaximumcargoweightaddapenaltytoallpilotingmaneu-

versincludingtake-offandlandings.

Example:

TheBettyispackedwithmachinecompo-nentsthatcanbepackedtightlybutwhichcomprise some significant weight. The total cargo

weightcomesto30tons.30tonsexceedsthe15tonlimitbeforeimpactingflightperformanceby15tons.Everyfivetonsbeyond15reducesthetacticalspeedofTheBettyby500feetsoTheBettyisreducedtoamaximumtacticalspeedof1,500feetpercombatround.Thisisevenwithburningboththe primary and secondaryengines at full burnToavoidanengineburnoutinthesecondaryen-ginesthepilotwilloperateTheBettyataspeedo1,000feetpercombatroundunlessanemergencyoccurs.

Exceedingthe25tonmaximumcargolimiby5tonsstacksa–5pilotingskillpenalty.Everypilotingmaneuverincludingtake-off,landing,stardiveandcombatmaneuveringthepilotfacesa–5penaltyforoperatingthevesseloveritsmaximumcargocapacity.

The Radar Compartment

Ship’s Head

Beyondthecargohold’spressuredoor istheship’shead.Thetoiletcanbemodifiedtobeused in zero gravity should artificial gravity failThe ship’s artificial gravity generator allows theheadtobeusedintheusualmannerduringnor-malflightoperations.

Theship’scentrallifesupportunitandpri

marygyroscopearebothlocatedintheradarcom-partment.Theradar/radioman’sseatisdesignedtoslidebackandforthbetweenallofthecontrolsfortheship’ssensorsandthemainpanelforthelifesupportsystem.

Recycling Unit

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ship’shead.Thisrecyclingbio-mechanoiddevicenotonlyeliminateswasteproducts,itshuntstheproductsthroughaseriesoffiltersthatallowsthewatertobereused.Wasteproductsareshuntedintotheengine’sfuelprocessorswhichcanbreakdownanycarbonbasedmaterialintofuelfortheengines. The fuel producedby recycling ship’s

wasteisnegligibleandisonlymentionedherebe-causewasteproductsareburnedupratherthanstoredforremovallater.

TheBettycontainsasinkwithamedicinecabinetthatissharedbytheentirecrew.Captainandcrewmustusethesinktowashupthebestthattheycanduringflightops.TheBettydoesnotcontaintheluxuryofashowerstallwhichistypicalforFastTransportclassvessels.

Barbette Magazine

and Barbette Controls

ThedorsalturretofTheBettyisaremotecontrolleddual.50calibergunturret.Acamerasystemandradargunneryscreenattheradarop-erator’sstationallowstheoperatortoactasthegunnerforthisremoteturretduringcombat.Fourmagazinesof500roundsofthe.50caliberM2000Hellion ammunition are stored inammo feeders

overhead.ThisallowstheBarbettetofire2,000roundsor80individualauto-fireattacksbeforere-loading.Thedorsalbarbetteisbyfartheweaponsystemwiththelargestammunitionload-out.Theweaponhasa360degreearcoffireallowingtheguntoassistthetailgunnerincoveringtherearoftheship.Thedorsalgunsarenotabletocoverattacksfrombelowthevessel.

Crew Lockers

Immediatelybeyondtheship’sheadaretwobanksof lockers thatflank the passage into theradaropsworkstation. Ametalmeshoverheadstowspersonal itemsand allows crewmemberstohookhangersforholdingflightsuitsorperson-alclothing itemswhiletheydress.Apairoffolddownseatsprovidesasmallmeasureofcomfortwhileusingthisareatochange.

Thelockersaresetupwithsufficientlockespacetoprovidesixcrewmemberswithonethreefoottallbyonefootwidebytwofeetdeep,mediumlockerandasmallertwofeettall,onefootwideandtwofootdeeplockerspace.

The smaller security locker is equipped

withafairlyadvancedlockingsystemkeyedtothecrewmemberspersonalidentificationcardorplas-tickeycard.Personalidentificationcardsarecon-structedfromathicklayerofBakelite.Thesecu-ritylockercanbesealedandtemperaturecontrolsallowitemsstoredtheretobecooled.Thesmallockerwillnotactually freezeitemsstowedherebutitcanbesetuptofunctionasasmallpersonacooler for beers,suppliesorpersonal itemsthaareofaperishablenature.

The cockpit contains an override toggleswitch which will automatically unlock all of thesmallersecuritylockerssimultaneously.

Medical Locker

Themedical lockerisafullsizedcontain-erthatisfivefeettall,onefootwideandtwofeetdeep.Theequipmentintheship’smedicallockerprovidesatrainedmedicorphysicianwithabonus

ontreatingwoundsandmostcommoninfectionsorailments.

TheBetty’smedicalequipmentiscurrentlyall“HumanGear”andcontainsnospecializedhy-bridequipmentforautohealingwounds,burnsoautodiagnosingillnesses.Bandages,splints,painmedicationandalimitedsupplyofantibioticsisthecurrentlimitofthemedicalbay.

Itisuptothecharacterstoinvesttime,en-ergyandresourcesintoexpandingthemedicalca-pacityonboardtheBettyiftheyfeelthedesiretodoso.

The CXAM Sensor System

TheCXAMsensorsysteminstalled in theBettynolongerholdsthetopspotformilitarymod-el sensors used by North American Space Co


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ThecurrentcuttingedgesensorinstalledbyNorthAmericanSpaceCo.istheType–11.

TheCXAMhoweverisawelltestedandde-pendablesensorsystemthatcanbefoundinmostmilitaryspacecraftofthisclassproducedbyNASCpriorto1933.

The CXAM has an impressive maximumrangeof1AU.Clearresolutionsanddetailssuf-ficient for identifying objects can beobtained atrangesof1,000kilometersorlessdependingonthesize,shapeandmassofthetarget.

TheCXAMdrawspowerfromtheenginesduring routine operation but is equipped with aback-upbatterysecuredintheunit’sinterior.Thiscanprovideadditionalpowerfortheunitforuptotwentyfourhoursofcontinueduse.

The CXAM provides the operator with nobonusinspottingandidentifyinghybridtargets.Itcanidentifyhumantechnologytargets(incomingaircraftinatmosphericflight)withasmallbonus(+2). TheCXAM faces a penalty (-2) when at-temptingtoidentifyanddetectspacecraftthataremadewithpurelyMartianoradvancedAlientech-nologies.

The CXAM emits sensor patterns thataredifficulttodetectbyearliermodels.Sensorsconstructedpriorto1931faceapenaltywhenat-temptingtodetectthesystemwhileinoperation.ThenewestType-11sensorandequivalentRa-darDetectionunitshaveabonusfordetectingtheolderCXAMsystemwhileitisinoperation.ThenewermodelsofSensorDetectorsbeinginstalledbytheReichintheirlatestshipsalsohavethisbo-nus(+2)todetecttheCXAMsystemwhenitisin

operation.

Hybrid Radio Unit

TheRadarOps.Stationincludesthebasestationforthestarship’shybridradiosystem.ThegutsoftheradioissecuredtotheupperrighttopoftheCXAMSensor.Theradioiswireddirectlytothecockpitfordirectcommunicationswiththepilot

orco-pilot.TheRadarOpsofficerdoublesasacommunicationsoperatorandcanmakefinetuningadjustmentstotheradioinanattempttoreachdistantvesselsorbreakthroughanenemyradio jammer.

Martian Tech. Components

TheCXAMasahybridunitcontainsinternaMartiancomponentsthatallowtheunittofunctioninafashionsimilartoastandardpieceofhumanradarequipment.

Humancrewmemberswithbasicmechanical skillshave sufficient training towork onandmake repairs tomost of the sensorsystem,bumustswapouttheMartiancomponentswithnew

replacements.

TheMartiancomponentsintheCXAMarefairlytypicalforhybridequipment,inthattheyaredesignedtobemodularandcanberemovedbyahumantechnicianwithlittlefuss.Humantechni-ciansmay not repair the bio-mechanoidMartiancomponentswithouttheXenoScienceskill.

CXAM - Screens

TheCXAMfeaturestwoscreens.Thelargecircularscreenistheprimarysensordisplay.Thedisplay functions in the same fashion as typicahumanradarsystems,onlywithamuchimprovedrangeandcapabilityforidentifyingtargets.

TheCXAMhasasmallerviewscreenwheretheoperatorcanattempttoanalyzethesensorsonenemyshipsoperatingintheregionandattempttoadjustthecarryfrequencyoftheCXAMsothat

itismoredifficulttodetectbypossiblefoes.

Passive Sensor Detectors

TheCXAMalsoincludesalimitedpassivesensordetectioncapability.Thisallowstheopera-tortotunedowntheactivesensorsonboardtheshiporevenshutthemdowncompletelyandscanpassivelyfortheoutboundsignalsofenemyshipsoperatinginthearea.


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Thetworeddialsonthetopleftofthesys-temindicatethedetectionofactivesensorsinthearea.The top indicatorcandetectthepresenceofapurelyMartiancarrierwavethelowerdialcandetectthesignatureofastarshipasitjumpsintooroutofastarsystem.

ThepassivecapabilitiesoftheCXAMareprimitiveatbest.Theydonotfunctioneffectivelywhenthesensorisoperatinginactivemode.AnyattemptsbytheoperatortousetheCXAMinitspassivecapacityfacesattheminimumaDifficultskillattempt.

ThereddialonthebottomoftheCXAMin-dicatesthepresenceofastandardhybridsensorinoperation.TheCXAMhassufficientcapabilitiestodetectactivesensorsatarangeofupto.10AU.

Humanradarsystemsareeasiertodetect.TheCXAMcandetectahumangearradarsysteminoperationatarangeof.10AUwithabonus(+4)todetectandidentifythetarget.

Sensor Masking and Sensor Burn

The Radar Operator can sacrifice a pointfromtheirchancetodetectatargetobjectinordertomaketheirownsystemmoredifficulttodetect.

TheRadarOperatormaysacrificeuptofivepoints at a singletime inorder tomasktheop-erationoftheirsensorsystembutwillfacegreaterand greater difficulties in using the system suc-cessfully.

Converselytheoperatormaygaina+1bo-nus to theirsensorscans byburning some bat-terypowertoboosttheirsignal.Uptoa+3canbegainedbutenemyunitsgaina+2todetectthesystem for every +1 the operator gives himselfduringthesensorburn.Everyfullcombatroundthesensorsareoperatedinthisartificiallyboostedfashiontheoperatordrainsafullhourofbatterytimeoutofthesensor’sreservebatterysupply.

The Wright Cyclone

Class C - Gravity Drive

TheWrightCycloneGravityDrivepartiallydismantledandillustratedonpage31isamod-ulardesignthatallowseasyaccesstoalloftheengine’smajorcomponents.

Manyoftheitspartsaremadefrommartianmaterialswhichhavebeenformedintostructuresthatmirrorfamiliarhumantechnology.Mostmechanicsfeelcomfortableworkingwiththetechnologyintheseengineswiththeexceptionofthecorecomponentswhichare far too sophisticated andalien toapproachwithout very specialized train-ing.

The upper structure of the engine is theengine’s jump drive super charger. The supechargerisnecessaryfortheFah’ZolGravityDriveenginenacellebelowtomakethetransitionfrommaximumsystemspeedstojumpspace.

The stripped Pratt and Whitney Type-Bdrivesmountedonthetailhavetheirsuperchar-gersandrelatedcomponentsremoved.Theremovalofthesuperchargersandsomeoftherelat-edinternalcomponentsgreatlyreducestheweight

oftheseengines,althoughnowtheyfunctiononlyasimpulsedrives.

Engineers at North American Space Cohaveinstalledanenginecowlingwhichallowsthepilot to vent heat from eachof the four enginesmore effectively during atmospheric flight. ThisfeaturewasaddedlateinproductionaftercombattrialsdemonstratedheatproblemsinthePrattandWhitneyengineswhenoperatingatfullcapacity.The introduction of the modified enginecowlingwasanattempttosolvethisdesignflawbutithasmetwithonlymoderatesuccess.

Manypilotsrunthismodelofstarship’ssecondaryenginesathalfthrottletotakeameasureof thework loadoffof theprimaryengines dur-ingflightbutotherwiseavoidpushingtheengineshardduetoconcernsaboutoverheatingorover-taxingthem.


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Pratt and Whitney Engines and Heat

If theBetty iscaught inasituationwherehersecondaryenginesmustbepushed(thestar-shipismadetotravelatmaximumtacticalspeedforfivecombatroundsconsecutively)theengineermustmakeamoderateengineering roll tokeep

the secondaryengines from overheating. Eachadditionalcombatroundthattheenginesmaintainfulltacticalspeedtheengineerfacesanincreaseddifficultytothetargetroll.

Iftheengineerfailsintheirrollthenoneoftheengines (roll randomly)will begin tored lineandsmoke.Ifspeedisnotreducedfromfullin1d4combatroundsthentheenginewillburnoutandfail.

Aburnedoutenginewillresult intheBet-ty losingmovementoff ofhermaximum tacticalspeed.Continuedpushingoftheremainingsec-ondary may result in the second engine failing.ThankfullyintheBettythisdoesnotresultinthestarshipsufferinganyotherhardshipthanalossofspeedbutthismayproduceaserioushazardforavesselattemptinganescapefromprolongedcombat.

The Ball Turret

Theballturretgunnergainsentrytothispo-sitionthroughahatchthatcanbesecuredwithitsownatmospheretightseal.Theturretspinsusinganelectrictraversemotoroperatedbythegunnerfrom their seat inside theball. Agyroscope in-stallednexttotheturret’soxygentankworkswiththecontrolsandmotortoswingthegunandturretintopositioninresponsetothegunner’scontrols.

Thebellyturretreliesontheradaroperatororoneoftheothergunnerstosecurethemintotheirposition.Theturretdoormustbeboltedintopositionbyfasteningaseriesoflockingboltsthatcanonlybelatchedorunlatchedfromwithinthespacecraft.Theinteriorhatchfromtheshipintotheballturretmustbelockedinthe“closed”posi-tionbeforethegunswillcomeonlineorthemo-torwilltraversetheturret.Thisisasafetyfeature

which protects both the gunner when climbingdown into theball fromaccidently traversing theturretandnearbyshipsorstructuresfromanaccidentaldischargeoftheweaponswhilethegunnerisclimbinginandoutofthisextremelytightspot.

A gunner fitted with a parachute requires

onefullcombatroundtosqueezedownintotheturretandintoposition.Asecondcombatroundisrequiredtosecurethelockingboltsintoplacesothattheballturretbecomesactive.Agunnerwithoutachutecandropdownintotheturretwithmorespeed(halfacombatround)butthehatchstillrequiresthesameamountoftimetosecure.

Communications within the belly turret ismaintained through the ship’s intercom systemThegunnerdoesnothavecontrolovertheirinter-comotherthantotoggleitonoroff.

Theschematicshowsoneoftheturret’s.50caliberHellionsremovedfromitsbracket.Whenthegunisinstalledintheturretthefeedcoveronthetopofthegun,receiverandfrizzenarelocatedinsideoftheturret.Thegunnerhasfullaccesstotheguntodropanewmagazineintoitforreload-ing.Theballturretisnotlargeenoughtocontainmorethanonereserve500roundbelt.Thegun-

nermustcalltoanothercrewmanduringcombathavetheirturrethatchunboltedandhavethenewbeltpassedintotheturrettoreloadshouldtheyrunout.Thiseventisunlikely.ItisfarmorelikelythattheBettywillbedestroyedifacombatlastssolongthatthebellygunrunscompletelyoutofbothitsstandardandreservebelt.

Reloading in the ball turret is such acrampedandslowprocess(3FullCombatRoundswith help!) that most experienced gunners wil

conservetheirammunitionandavoidrunningtheigunsdryearlyinacombat.

Asecondaryaccesshatchislocatedintheundersideoftheballturret.Thisescapehatchisconstructedasthebackoftheseatthatholdsthegunner curled into position. An emergency re-leasebuttonprotectedbyametalplateislocatedoverthegunnershead.Smackingtheplatetothe


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sidearmstheemergencyrelease.Punchingtheredemergencyreleasebuttoncyclesalightfromgreen to yellow to blinking red to releasing theemergencyhatch.

Theemergencyhatchisdesignedtoallowtheball turretgunnerto topplebackwardsoutof

thegunsothey canbail out if thespacecraft isgoingdowninaplanetaryatmosphere.Theballturretissosmallthatgunnerscomplainthattheycanbarelyfitinsideofthedevicewiththeirpara-chute.Withoutaparachutetheemergencyhatchmaysavethegunnerfromburningaliveinashipgoingdownbutwillcertainlynotsavetheirlife.

Tail Gunner’s Position:

ThetailgunpositionintheBettyisaccessedbythelastemergencypressurehatchintheship.Thetailgunneroperatestwolinked20mmS9can-nons.ThecannonsreplacetheB-25A’srear.30calibergunsandsignificantlyimprovescoverfortherearofthespacecraft.

ThetailpositionfeaturesarangeindicatorthatislinkedwiththeCXAMsensorsystem.Thisspecialrangeindicatoremitsasoundpulseintotheheadsetofthetailgunnerwhenapotentialtar-

getmovesintothereararcoffire.Thegunnermayeitherclearthistargetorallowittoremaindesignatedasanenemytargetwiththeflipofathumbtoggle.

Therisingandfallingtoneinthegunner’sheadsetprovidesasecondarycluewhichcoupledwith the range indicator’s digital readout helpsidentifytheoptimumfiringrangefortheexplosiveroundsfiredbythecannons.

ThetailturretisequippedwithtwostackedmagazinesfortheS9s.Thisprovidestheweaponwitha1,000roundammunitioncapacityprior torequiringreloadingoruptotwentypullsofthetrig-ger.

Reloadingthe20mmcannonsistimecon-sumingandfranklyimpossibletoperformduringflightwithoutperformingaspacewalk.Toreload

the20’sanengineerorgunnermustaccessthefeedbeltandfeedcoversfromtheexterior,under-sideofthecraft.

The20mmcannonsare loadedwith highexplosiveroundsthatarefusedtoexplodeeitheuponimpactorautomaticallyatarangeof3,000

feetbehindthespacecraft.

Proximityattacksthatmisstheintendedthetargetbyamerepointortwoonthetohitrollstiinflicthalfdamagefromtheround’sproximityex-plosion.

Tail Gunner Armor

Thetailgunnerisprotectedbyballisticplate

armorinstalledin the tailand thestrengthof thetailturret’sglasssteel.

A small electric cooling fan helps keeptheaircirculatingthroughthetailandkeepsthecramped compartment a little more comfortableforthetailgunnerduringatmosphericflightoperations.Amodestelectricheaterhelpskeepthetaigunnerwarmerduringjumpoperationsalthoughthe tail gunposition andother turrets are rarelymannedduringjumpspacetravel.Asfarasany

oneisawarestarshipsdonotencounteronean-otherinjumpspaceandnothing“natural”livesorgrowsinjumpspacetobeathreattoavesseltrav-elingthere,atleastnotviaanoutsideattackonthecraft.

Turrets and the tail gunner position aresomeofthefirstlocationstobecomequitecoldMany B-25B commanders seal off these areasduringjumpdrivetravelandconcentrateship’slifesupportresourcesintothecentralandvitalcom-partmentsoftheship.

Other Features

Landing Gear TheBetty’stricyclelandinggearrequiresaleastamodest,primitivelandingfieldtobepre-paredforasafelanding.Landingthestarshipin




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an openfield risks damage to the landing geartiresortothestrutsthemselves.

TheBettyhasaruggedundercarriagethatcanwithstandafairamountofabuseontake-offand landing but she is far from being a verticaltake-offandlandingcraft.

PilotsofTheGunslingerBettymusttake-offandlandthestarshiptheoldfashionway

Belly Landings

TheBettyiscapableofeffectingabellyland-ingon thegroundorinwater. TheBettywillnotremainonthesurfaceofabodyofwaterforlongfollowingabellylanding. Thecrewmustevacu-

atetheship,makinguseoftheship’sescapeboatandvestswithinfivecombatroundsoflandingonwaterbeforeTheBettybeginstosink.TheBettycanremainwatertightbelowthewater’ssurfaceforalongtimesolongasherhullremainsintact.ChancesarequitegoodthatwhateverdamagedtheBettysufficientlytoforceawaterlandinghasviolatedtheintegrityofherhullandthatmuchofherwillfillwithwater.

Starship Record: The Gunslinger Betty

B-25BMitchelAssaultHeavyFastTransportClass

Cockpit 03SlotsNoseHardpoint 04SlotsDorsalHardpoint 05SlotsVentralHardpoint 04SlotsLeftWing 05SlotsRightWing 05Slots

Fuselage 13SlotsTailHardpoint 07Slots

EquipmentandLocations

Cockpit 1Slot FireControlSystem 1Slot EmergencyPressureDoor System 8mmArmoredPlate 30mmArmoredWindscreen

(GlassSteel) 1Slot DualSeatEjectionNose 1SlotNavigator’sLabwith Darkroom 1Slot 90mmArmoredWindscreen (GlassSteel) 8mmArmoredPlate

2Slots.50CalHellionDorsal 4Slots2x.50CalHellioninremote controlbarbette 1Slot AdditionalAmmoSupplyVentral 4Slots2x.40CalHellioninBelly TurretLeftWing 4SlotsWrightCycloneEngine 1Slot 1,000LitersFuelRightWing 4SlotsWrightCycloneEngine 1Slot1,000LitersFuelFuselage 1Slot MediumAirframe 3SlotsCXAMSensorSystem 1SlotHybridRadioSystem 2SlotsCrewQuarters 1SlotRadar/RadioLab 2Slots25Tons 1Slot1,000LitersFuelTail 4Slots2x20mmS9Cannons 1SlotExpandedAmmoMagazine 1SlotsStrippedPrattandWhitney 1SlotsStrippedPrattandWhitney

Tonnage 150TonsTacticalSpeed SingleEngineModerate(+) TwinEnginesFast(-) AllEngines Fast(+)*Fuel 3,000Liters

*Remember engine burn out rolls are requiredwhenallfourenginesarefiringatfullpower.WhenallfourenginesarefiringtheBettyisconsideredto

be“runninghot”makingheraneasiertargettode-tectwithenemysensors.

Introducing the “Heavy” class vessel

TheBetty isanexampleofaHeavyFasTransport. Heavy Fast Transports possess be-tween 40 and 60 available slots which may bepushedand pulled into different locationswhendesigningspecificstarshipmodels.


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Any heavyclass ofvessel will tendtobebumpeduponefulltonnagelevelonthevehiclesizechartsrelatedtoenginesandengineperfor-mance.ThustheBettywhichwouldhavenormallybeenspec’doutasavesselaround50tonsjumpsupintothe101-500Toncategory.

Heavy atmo-capable transports likewisebegintenslotshigherincapacitythantheirstan-dardatmo-capablecousins.Heavyatmo-capablevessels are still limited to the upwards tonnagerangeinsizebuttendtobemoreheavilyarmored,armedanddurablethantheirlightercounterparts.

Thanks to our Readers

Manythanksforpickingupthisfirsteditionofourseriesspotlightingstarshipsdesignedspe-cificallyasprimaryvesselsforplayercharacters.IhopeyouenjoyedreadingthroughthesepagesasmuchasIenjoyedwritingthemforyou.

AveryspecialthankyougoesouttoMikeDoscher whose creative genius with the penbroughttolifemostoftheillustrationsfoundwithinthisvolume.Mike,thanks!Icould-not-havepro-ducedthisbookwithoutyou.

Please visit our web site and forums fre-quentlyatwww.rocketshipempires.com.Wehaveat least twomore books planned for release inFebruaryof2008andmanyotherexcitingREproj-ectsonthehorizoninthesecondquarterof2008.Whynotdropbyandmakeyourrecommendationsforhowwecanimprove,whatstarshipsyouwouldliketoseemodeledinfuturebooksorsharewithusnewsfromyourpersonalRocketshipEmpirescampaign.

Iwouldlovetohearfromyou.

ThisisEdward...signingoff.


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Coming Soon!

In fury triumphant February

Starship Collection No. 1 February

The Madrid Run Adventure March

Starship Feature book No. 2 March

For King and Country April

The Kingdom of Holland April

Starship Collection No. 2 May

Roma Region Book May

CominginFebruary2008

WeareproudtopresentourfirstregionbookinFebruaryof2008.

“InFuryTriumphant”cov-ersthestarsystemspresentwithinthebordersofSpain’snationalizedcorridor.

Thisbookpresentsdozensofplothooksandadventureideas,starsystemmaps,en-countermapsandthedetailsoftheunfoldingcivilwarin

Spain.

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Rocketship Empires 1936 the Gunslinger Betty

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