Star Ship Templates by race

jedion357's picture
jedion357
January 4, 2013 - 9:34pm
Found this poking around the web:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060201b&page=1

I've actually seen that before but at the time D&D 3.5 was leaving such a bad taste in my mouth that I never really considered its content other than to adimer the art work of the ships.

this time I missed the label D&D 3.5 and began to consider the content

There is something here, the idea of using a template to over lay standard ships to tweek them to represent the race that built them.

for example a yazirian ship template might say swap one heavy weapon (cannon level weapon) for a Torpedo, swap one ADF for MR etc.

the idea is to yazirian-ize or vrusk-ize a Khs ship. to add some spice or change up a scenario.

thughts?
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!
Comments:

Shadow Shack's picture
Shadow Shack
January 4, 2013 - 10:34pm
I would think their ships might compensate for their species shortcomings...for example a yazirian (who is naturally more dextrous than strong) would have more HP in lieu of speed & maneuverability, while dralasite vessels would go the opposite route and exchange HP for speed/maneuverability.
I'm not overly fond of Zeb's Guide...nor do I have any qualms stating why. Tongue out

My SF website

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
January 5, 2013 - 5:02am
Templates or at least basic design features for each race in their ship building. But have to disagree with Shadow, in that large pieces of equipment are built less to compensate for a races disadvantage then to amplify their advantages which may not be entirely based on physical attributes. Also military equipment tends to follow current idea of fighting style versus the suspected enemy. 

So many examples hard to pick
WWII Tanks-Sherman: cheap easy to build from a government arming many different armies a little complicated to handle        
                   T-34: cheap easy to build from a government who had millions of men to waste and believed in just throwing men and equipment at the enemy easy to use since the peasant army may not be too technically inclined
                    Tiger: a big monster built when resources were getting scarce to protect a quickly dwindling pool of man power with heavy armor and the best weapon of the war hopes that staying power and accuracy would win out over mass attacks

Do not forget that militaries especially can be very tradition bound. Such as the insistance on building battleships when the carrier had clearly replaced it.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 5, 2013 - 7:36am
I think all races would go for efficiency of design for the assigned task and therefore would have a tendency toward the same diaspora of ships as humans.

As for their appearance, while there might be some peculiarities in design, based mostly upon the race's view of the relationship of form and design, I find it overkill (to put it in polite terms) for the design to represent the feature of the race as depicted in d20 Future Tech.

Drals might design ships that transform, without too much concern for aesthetics, but hapless/formless/bulbous design (as with the Dralasite destroyer) is not likely. No one would value shape more than a Dral who imitates and modifies shape. Every appendage would have a balanced and specific purpose to them and every ship would be shaped best for its function and unique from every other ship, not because they value uniqueness, but because they value purpose.

Vrusks designing ships that look like two-eyed bugs with wing casings is beyond the realm of believability. While a species that lives on a world of giant insects might be inclined to design the ship in the shape of a bug, the two-eyed look (Vrusk destroyer) would not be imitated. And Vrusk, being more logical, would seek to make the most efficient design, not giving the appearance of having cased wings when it has no wings. (As with the Vrusk starfighter.)

Yazirians designing ships that look like Yazirians (ala, the Yazirian destroyer) is also unlikely. While they might imitate a wing-flap design, (such as the Yazirian starfighter,) they are not likely going to form the entire ship in the shape of a flying Yazirian any more than a human would design a ship in the shape of a flying human or anything resembling a human.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

jedion357's picture
jedion357
January 5, 2013 - 7:34am
First off I'm not a fan of KHs even though I roll with it.

I dont think each race would copy the UPF designs we have, I think ship designers would be influenced by values of the race

Yazirians might prefer a ship with a hard hitting punch and therefor push the ship to have more heavy weapons to get in and end the combat fast

Dralasites being more philosophical would be more of a Captain Picard and want to talk about things and evalutate stuff so would value a ship with more HP to give it an edge to survive a sneak attack.

No ideas about the vursk right now- perhaps speed but a warship design will not likely have a business element to it. I suppose they build beautiful ships and the asthetics are important to them.

Its not per se about efficiency in design is design philosophy.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 5, 2013 - 7:50am
Gunships are dextrous, powerful, flexible and capable of blitzkrieg (Berserk attack). I think it would be the Yazirian ship of choice in combat. Thus, they would have a lot of them. But beyond that, I don't think they would sacrifice efficiency in combat to maintain a philosophy. Being combat oriented, they would want the most efficient combat designs to accomplish the purpose for which they are built. The Yazirian ships in d20 Future Tech are certainly too streamlined for Yazirians regarding their weapons. They would certainly value having an offensive capability akin more to the T'sa or Vrusk ship depictions.

Vrusk would value diplomatic vessels more than combat vessels. Thus, I think they would be inclined toward caravaning with diplomatic vessels and several small military escorts in tactical positions.

You may be correct about the Drals, particularly given their penchant for bad humor.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 5, 2013 - 8:10am
When you consider the Yazirians further, I think they would have a very enlightened and developed philosophy regarding their life enemies. They would be taught not just to choose any old life enemy or a whole race or faction as their enemy, but would be instructed to choose their enemy wisely, defining specifics. For instance, if in war, they would not choose the other side as their life enemy, but because someone specific killed one of their kin they loved, they seek after their kin's killer(s), thus the person or squad responsible for their death. Nor would they be quick to choose the first possible life enemy that comes along, but wait patiently for the time when it is obvious who their life enemy is.

Applied to ship design, I think there would be a market to Yazirians for deadly personal transports of all manner of purpose based upon the vulnerabilities of their chosen life enemy. The ships of a squadron would be designed to attack a specific weakness in an enemy. While humans have something similar, Yazirians might be more pinpoint in this matter. The same goes for larger Yazirian capital ships.

Yazirians would also want ships that permit them to adapt and be cunning, because Yazirians aren't going to sacrifice their future to kill their life enemy in bold ways. They are going to get rid of their life enemy in a way that permits the Yazirian to escape detection. Thus, they would be very tactical, elusive, premetitated and surprisingly effective.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 5, 2013 - 8:26am
Regarding Vrusk, I think their tendency toward cold logic would make them bad warriors. They would not be very adaptable and their ship design would reflect a very methodical design, with an efficiency geared to operability more than combat readiness. Assuming they do indeed come from a planet of large insects, their weapon designs might be limited and specific on each ship, related to a specific insect with offensive powers, most of which are aft-mounted. They would limit the variety of weapons on their ships to all-purpose weapons, seeing no point in multiplying weapon types.

Their defenses would have to compensate, but again, be geared more to all-purpose efficiency. And regarding effeciency, weapons and defenses would only be active when necessary. Thus, they may have a tendency toward delayed actions at the start of combat, often being caught flat-footed so-to-speak.

The placement of their defenses and weapons would also be about energy efficiency and visual access rather than effectiveness.

But then again, maybe because of these tendencies, Vrusk would logically plug up the holes that cause them such vulnerabilities.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

Shadow Shack's picture
Shadow Shack
January 5, 2013 - 12:00pm
One of my pre-UPF ships is a yazirian relic that has a "world devastator" type of design. Massing HS:19 it had a mega-cannon that fires a cone shaped beam at a short range (IIRC it has a range of 5 hexes but can affect any/all ships in one hex at max range). The weapon was intended to be fired from orbit and take out an entire city in one shot.

It was quickly made obsolete by ground defenses, at which time they tried it out in space against other ships to discover the cone effect at max range. It also had a pair of standard laser cannons with KH stats mounted in larger scale batteries, and a pair of 4 salvo rocket batteries. It was slow and clunky, but packing more HP than normally allotted (120, same as a modern battleship). The ship currently resides (decommissioned and disarmed) as part of the Star Fighter Corps sim-gun training grounds near Morgane's World.


Their post-UPF contribution is a scout carrier, a converted HS:6 freighter that ferries six fighter craft in its central bay. Sporting light hull armor and decent ADf & MR (stock 3/3 but 36HP instead of 30) and a single laser battery, it can quickly get a squadron of fighter craft to the scene more efficiently than the larger/slower assault carriers.

Alas, that's the extent of race-designed craft in my game...for the most part my game has a "universal design".
I'm not overly fond of Zeb's Guide...nor do I have any qualms stating why. Tongue out

My SF website

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
January 5, 2013 - 12:26pm
Although Yazirians have life enemies thier primary ship building motivation would be clan. They are the race who moved across the stars to find a new home. Most likely in very large ships holding entire clans. This would mean big ships for battle also organized along clan lines with possible variations from clan to clan.

When did Vrusk become the Vulcans of the Frontier? Quote from the AD says:

Vrusk also love beauty, harmony and order. The

goal of most Vrusk is to become wealthy, collect art,

and live in peace. Their love for beauty makes them

unwilling to get into fights that do not involve their

company. However, Vrusk that are defending their

company will do anything to remove the threat

permanently.


Do anything to remove the threat permanently means these guys are the most ruthless of the core four when it comes to dealing with an enemy. Plus their ships would be very pretty.

Dralasites get into fights but do not seem well suited for actually starting them. Too much time spent talking. Also ships are hard to make tranformers out of but multipurpose seems to fit the Dralasite way of thinking better. Their ships would be Jack of All Trades Masters of None but have great communication gear.

Humans would have more variety in their ships designs given their attitude of doing alot of different things.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
January 5, 2013 - 12:41pm
@ rattraveler: you make the vrusk ships sound like a fem fatale; beautiful but deadly. The general trend has for years has been to view the vrusk as the Vulcans of the frontier and I've gone along with it despite being unhappy with it.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
January 5, 2013 - 1:18pm
@jedion Vrusk as serious emotionless logical beings? Really they are supposed to be high culture business beings just like our friends at Enron, Halliburton and Lehman Brothers. All total logic guys there.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 5, 2013 - 4:49pm
I always viewed them as more logical because of their LOG bonus. I always felt they loved beauty because they were logical. Beauty comes from mathematical precision. The less organized, the less symetrical, the less color coordinated, the less effective, then the less beautiful it is. Logic dictates beauty. Chaos dictates disorganization and is ugly.

Money-hungry isn't in the Vrusk description either, yet you compare them to the most corrupt railroad companies of the modern era. (That is, modern Union Pacifics.)

People who truly love beauty also love peace and the environment and wish to spread beauty where they can, which would be at odds with the cut-throat bottom line of the modern US corporate mentality, which despises beauty for everything but its profitability and is thoroughly corrupt through and through.

The Vrusk description does not exactly paint them as fascist criminal technocrats.

Efficient design doesn't have to lack beauty. In fact, as machines become more efficient they also become more beautiful.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

Karxan's picture
Karxan
January 5, 2013 - 8:43pm
From all of the yazirian stuff I have read, I get the impression they would be more interested as a whole in piloting fighter craft into battle. A yazirian that goes into battle rage with a fighter is more believable to me than one in command of a destroyer. Of course that is a generalization, but if combat is something they seek, it would be more personal from a fighter craft or maybe something small like the Defiant in DS9. I could see the yazirian having been the ones to come up with the assault scout. Small, fast, powerfull, all around good fighter craft. 

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 5, 2013 - 8:54pm
I agree that they would have more fighter craft than anyone else and have a lot more attacks based upon their use, but I don't think it would be their primary attack. As you said, the assault scout is likely a Yazirian design. I can agree to that and it fits in with my estimation of them as preferring gunships. A gunship can be as small as a fighter or as large as an assault scout. I could even see them having ships similar to the Last Starfighter. The lotus blossom attack is awesome and perfect for Yazirians.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

Karxan's picture
Karxan
January 6, 2013 - 2:19am
Maybe a yazirian destroyer/carrier. Something similar to SS scout carrier, but with more punch even after the fighters leave the bay. 

Vrusk ships should be beautiful, efficient, and deadly. If they were to protect their interest from another corporation of vrusk I can see them creating more efficient weapons to destroy each other, why waste ammo and energy. One beautiful beam to destroy your opponent and you have done it efficiently and defended yourself. It just occured to me, maybe the vrusk in their enlightenment from their past hive wars would find war not so desirable. Maybe they developed non-lethal ways to attack each other. The loser gets taken ove by the winners corporation. Maybe they developed ship weapons along a similar track. Non lethal to take over anothers ships. That seems more effecient and if the other ships are as beatiful as theirs, they would not want to destroy it either.
Then along come humans and yazirians who destroy each other and anyone else. So they have to adopt similar weapons to keep up with the neighbors. Just another line of thought. 

vmnjn's picture
vmnjn
January 10, 2013 - 10:25pm
I could definitely see the yazirians prefering carrier hybrids.  Maybe the armament is rocket/missile/torpedo focused?  As in a more physical feel to combat instead of shooting beams of light all about.  The assault scout being the smallest ship they couldn't squeeze a fighter or two into.  So its got to look mean and lean too.  Generally prefering lighter, more agile, warships in general.

Now what about the Vrusk?  Maybe have them, as rather bulky beings, actually dislike fighters.  Instead adding light batteries to cope with attacks by lighter craft, and heavy cannon to focus on heavier targets.  Prefering energy based weaponry to minimize ammunition stowage and costs.  Focusing on larger ships to give them more potential knee and elbow room to work with and less worried about agility.

Now the dralasites are who I could see pushing the least lethal weaponry possible.  I would suspect the disruptor cannon is a dral creation.  Its mentioned how it can do a lot of electrical damage.  Perhaps knocking an enemy combatant out of the fight without having to completely destroy them.  Maybe focusing on batteries for the most targetting flexibility possible.  I wouldn't expect the dral to go to big with their ships either.  They want to avoid intimidating their enemies.

Finally I figure the humans are pretty much all over the map.  As at home in fighters as they are in battleships.

Ascent's picture
Ascent
January 11, 2013 - 4:51am
I don't think Vrusk size would have a bearing upon whether they have fighters or not. It would only bear upon their positioning within the fighter. Vrusk would tend toward laying on their bellies instead of being seated like humans. And really, fighters come in many sizes, not just single-/double-seaters. "Fighter" merely describes its purpose. (Fast, light attack craft.) Though, I would imagine that Vrusk would tend toward drone combat rather than manned fighter combat.
View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write.
"It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi
"That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi
Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild)

Shadow Shack's picture
Shadow Shack
January 11, 2013 - 8:32am
If the vrusk came out with the disruptor cannon, then they would belt out something equivalent for their fighter craft...something like the ion cannons in Star Wars that disable a ship instead of inflicting damage.
I'm not overly fond of Zeb's Guide...nor do I have any qualms stating why. Tongue out

My SF website