 June 10, 2015 - 7:10am | Inspiration for this came from something somewhat un-related but an upper caste sathar will want itself a personal ride to survey the battle field and a bowl shaped hover vehicle would be ideal (not to mention that I'm thinking of some specific junk and bitz in my model making collection for this as well) The sathar like to show up and devestate a planet and a ground effects vehicle like a hovercraft is ideal for dealing with multitudes of unknown terrain. primary design is a bowl shaped "car" that will transport 6 worms but if being commandeered by members of the core four it fits 4 for fast "bike" design its a sleek oval shape with a bowl depression for 1-2 sathar to ride it (only 1 rider if a member of the core four) Command Saucer: for upper caste sathar only: larger saucer with and upper deck smaller saucer for the leader. side cupollas for middle caste techs manning heavy weapons with have a 180 degree field of fire. All told the Lower deck holds 6: 1 driver, 2 gunners, 3 lower caste body guards. Upper deck holds one upper caste sathar. not unusual for a command saucer to be accompanied by 2 "bike" saucers. NOTE: not only do PCs suffer the -20 penalty for opperating alien equipment but in the case of the "bikes" there is an additional penalty (-5) due to the uncomfortable fit of the "bucket seat" for all but a dralastie. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 15, 2015 - 4:16pm | Cool idea "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 February 16, 2019 - 6:47pm | Yes, your very own Sathar saucer.  Joe Cabadas |
February 17, 2019 - 7:14am | scaucer chair too. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 17, 2019 - 4:46pm | Ideas for Sathar Headquarters Saucer. Built from a hull size 2 craft. It is 30 meters in diameter and 7.5 meters tall. Powered by the equivalent of a Class A nuclear reactor. 1 Fuel pellet would power it for 5 years of continuous operation. Has an Atomic Drive Program. Main Life Support: good for up to 25 beings Backup Life Support: for 25. Some programs KH: Alarm 1 (1), Computer Lockout 4 (8), DCR 2 (4). Some equipment: Videocom Radio with four monitors; subspace radio, Intercom system, approximately 10 portholes, KH white noise broadcaster. The headquarters saucer is primarily a planetary-based vehicle although it is built with the rigors of a starship. It can operate with its own, self-contained life support system. Or, if the planet has a breathable atmosphere, the portholes open so the Sathar don't need to waste the lifesupport system. These craft are delivered to a planet via a larger chemical rocket lander/shuttle. Although powered by an atomic reactor, it does not have engines capable of leaving a planet's gravity well. There are two types of headquarters saucers. Those used for worlds with atmospheres or those for airless to nearly airless worlds. For a planet with an atmosphere: The headquarters saucer is a variable hovercraft (see Larry Moore's story in Star Frontiersman magazine about vehicle combat). What is a variable hovercraft? Larry Moore didn't answer that, but it seems to be a hover vehicle that can also fly. So, the Sathar Headquarters Saucer (SHQS) primarily operates as a hovercraft flying no more than 5 meters off the ground. But, when the terrain is rough -- mountainous, deep crevases, seas, etc. -- it can fly. I would say it flys a lot slower than an aircar or a jetcopter. Maybe even slower than it can while acting as a hovercraft. The top deck is for the Upper Caste Sathar -- believed to be the equivalent of a Frontier general or grand marshal -- probably with two or more upper caste assistants. Two Middle Caste Warriors. These are elite guards. It offers a command/control center, the elite sathars' quarters. There might be even 2 Mid Caste servants to tend to the Upper Caste members' needs. The Upper Caste members would have Dragoon Armor (though they would only wear it when in a combat situation) stored on the top level, access to a special saucer bike, along with special weapons. The warriors would have Serpentine Armor. The upper deck has the two weapons mounts with vehicle size heavy weapons (lasers, cannons, sonic, etc) The middle deck is as Tom describes with the crew, though instead of lower caste servants, these might be middle caste techs. Also, there should be a prisoner/interrogation room, sick bay, at least 2 combat robots, 1 maintenance robot, 1 service robot, and a robot brain. Lower deck: life support, reactor, variable hover engine. More ideas to come. Note: This is a slightly altered description after Jedion's critique. This is now a much larger version of a command saucer. Joe Cabadas |
February 17, 2019 - 11:49am | Oh, the second type of command saucer could have legs (like a Martian tripod from War of the Worlds) or wheels or tracks... or it could even have thrusters so it can operate like the lunar vehicle in the 2001 Space Odyssey module. This would be in place of the variable hover engine. Joe Cabadas |
February 17, 2019 - 1:09pm | I was thinking more of a ground effects vehicle than KHs I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 17, 2019 - 2:02pm | I was thinking more of a ground effects vehicle than KHs but, if it's going to be for one of the Sathar princelings, as I would say the upper caste members are, it could be a very robust vehicle... Or, if flying saucers are a theme, the Sathar can have different versions of this and the one I present is the rare, upper range command saucer. Joe Cabadas |
February 17, 2019 - 5:09pm | OK. The first saucer idea that I've presented is now for a headquarters saucer (SHQS), which is used by the top leader of a planetary assault... or perhaps the governor of a conquered world. The Sathar Command Saucers (SCS) are for the more lowly district commanders -- upper caste Sathar. We will keep with Jedion's layout idea while I'll be altering some of the HQ stats later. The command saucer is only 10 meters in diameter and 4.5 meters tall. It is also a variable hovercraft. Using Larry Moore's system, it is a size 5 vehicle with 1,000 structure points. It has Normal Armor, which adds 5 protection points and increases the structure points by 25% while educing injuries to occupants by -1 point per die. It has EMP (electro magnetic pulse ) shielding and can protect its occupants up to 20 rads per hour. As a military vehicle, it has a base protection level of 8 (again, see Larry Moore's vehicle rules from Star Frontiersman magazine). It has 15 hard points available for vehicle weapons. Let's say it has the following other stats: Top/Cruise Speed: 60 kph/42 kph or 100 meters/turn / 70 meters per turn. (that's as a hover vehicle or variable hover vehicle) Accel. 40 meters/turn Decel. 30 m/t Turn Speed: 70 m/t Joe Cabadas |
March 5, 2019 - 5:56pm | Some ideas to date:  “Wormwood” LAC-1 Type: Light Combat Vehicle Size: 1 Protection Level: 2 SP/STA: 60/120 Crew: 2 Top/Cruise Speeds: 60 meters per turn/40 meters per turn (54 kph/24 kph) Turn Speed: 40 meters per turn Accel./Decel.: 40/60 meters per turn Weapon: Sathar Small Automatic Cannon mounted on turret Range: PB 150/S 300/M 600/L 1km/E 2km ROF: 1 Attack: 70 Damage: 24d10. Blast Radius: 4/6 meters Ammunition: 40 shells Defense: Inertia Nicknamed the “Wormwood,”the LAC-1 was first encountered by Frontier forces during the exploration of Volturnus. Apparently it is an infantry support/anti-aircraft weapon that is mounted on a lightweight, tracked vehicle. Equipped with a sophisticated fire control system, its base chance to hit is 70. With its automatic shell loading system, it can fire one shell per turn at either aerial or ground based targets. The cannon cannot move and fire during the same turn. The crew members include two driver/gunners, who can drive and fire the weapon. The two crewmembers are partially visible and receive hard cover if they are fired upon. These Sathar are typically armed with a laser rifle each with 1 power clip. They may or may not have additional armor or weapons.
“Treadworm” Half-Track Transport Type: Ground Transport Size: 4 Protection Level: 3 SP/STA: 350/700 Crew/Passengers: 3/8 Cargo: 10,000 kg, 30 cubic meters Power: Type 3 Sathar parabattery, SEU: 2,000 Max. Range: est. 1,000 km Top/Cruise Speeds: 75 kph/60 kph Turn Speed: 125 m/t Accel./Decel.: 40/30 m/t Available Hardpoints: 2 Weapon: 1 Small Open Turret, 1 Small Weapon Equipment: Sathar Type 4 Power fuel cell generator, generates 4,000 SEU/Hour, capable of recharging 40 powerpacks in an hour or 1 power pack every 90 seconds. The generator runs off of a hydrogen tank (size in kiloliters?) good for ? hours of operation. When encountered on Volturnus, the Treadworm had a crew of 10 Sathar, most of whom were busy with replacing the powerpacks for cybodragons. The illustration shows the vehicle with an open turret and what appears to be a heavy weapon. The transport also had a cargo of 50 Satharpowerpacks (about the size of a power backpack 100 SEU each).
“Arrowworm” Rocket Sled Type: VTOL Size: 3 Protection Level: SP/STA: Crew/Passengers: 2 + 1 robot Cargo: Power: Max.Range: Top/Cruise Speeds: Turn Speed: Accel./Decel.: Available Hardpoints: Weapon: 1 forward mounted Sathar heavy laser Description: The Arrowworm is a rocket-powered VTOL resembling a 4-by-4 meter metal platform with a transparent dome. Of a modular construction, the rocket sled is built to allow for easy assembly/disassembly and compact storage. The front of the vehicle has a heavy laser in a swivel mount while a pair of mechanical arms are attached to the corners of the platform, just above the rocket motors. The arms allow the Sathar pilots to grab and hold onto objects or animals/characters outside of the craft. Inside, the pilots lay side-by-side with a small robot between them. The steering controls are attached to the Sathar’s tails. All security and computer locks on the vehicle are level three.
“Hookworm” Hoverbike Type: Variable hovercycle Size: 2 Protection Level: SP/STA: Crew/Passengers: 1/1 Cargo:100 kg, 1 cubic meter Power: Max.Range: Top/Cruise Speeds: Turn Speed: Accel./Decel.: Available Hardpoints:
The Hookworm hoverbike is a sleek oval shape with a bowl depression for 1-2 sathar to ride it (only 1 rider if it is a member of the core four). “Ringworm” Staff Car Type: Variable hovercar Size: 4 Protection Level: SP/STA: Crew/Passengers: 6 Cargo: Power: Max.Range: Top/Cruise Speeds: Turn Speed: Accel./Decel.: Available Hardpoints:
The Ringworm is a saucer-shaped variable hovercar. It is used by Middle Caste to Upper Caste Sathar. It is bowl-shaped and can transport six worms. If it is commandeered by members of the Core Four, it will only fit four characters. “Heartworm” CS-1 Command Saucer Command Saucer: for upper caste sathar only: larger saucer with and upper deck smaller saucer for the leader. side cupollas for middle caste techs manning heavy weapons with have a 180 degree field of fire. All told the Lower deck holds 6: 1 driver, 2 gunners, 3 lower caste body guards. Upper deck holds one upper caste sathar.Joe Cabadas |
