TEXT: Rocketship Empires 1936™
  Player Starship
  The Gunslinger Betty
  Starship Feature Book No. 1
  by
  Edward M Kann
  
  1
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  The Gunslinger Betty
  B-25B Mitchel Assault
  By Edward M Kann
  Featured Artist: Mike Doscher
  Credits
  X-41
  History and Overview
  Crew Positions
  Nose Compartment
   
  K3-L Camera
   
  Nav. Computer
   
  Emergency O2
   
  Armored Green House
   
  .50 Cal. Hellion
  Navigator Duties
  Cockpit
   
  Autopilot
   
  Engineer Controls
   
  Ejection Seats
   
  Hull Patch Kit
  Engineer Duties
  Captain / Pilot Duties
  Cutaway Schematic
  Cargo Hold and Quarters
   
  Cargo Capacity
  Radar Compartment
   
  Remote Barbette
   
  CXAM Sensor
   
  Radio Unit
  Wright Cyclone - Primary Drives
  Pratt and Whitney - Secondary Drives
  Ball Turret
  Tail Gunner Position
  Landing Gear
  Starship Record
  pilot and
  operational
  manual
  North American
  Spacecraft Co.
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  2
   
  Welcome aboard The Gunslinger Betty, the 
  toughest little transport this side of the corridors. 
  She should make a swell base of operations for you 
  and your partners for whatever business ventures 
  you have in mind.  From exploration and survey 
  work to mercenary duty and even blockade run-
  ning.  There’s precious little she can’t tackle with 
  the right crew and the right Captain at the helm.
   
  This book is more than a quick overview 
  of a single starship.  In almost any science ﬁction 
  novel or ﬁlm the starship ﬁgures largely in the un-
  folding drama.  Starships in science ﬁction occupy 
  a spot as vital as any character on screen and yet 
  even the best ships are provided with the merest 
  of cursory overviews in most RPG source books.
   
  This starship feature series has been pro-
  duced as a tool for making this starship the most 
  immersive experience possible for you and your 
  players.  Signiﬁcant efforts have been invested into 
  this resource book so it will provide game directors 
  with dozens of plot hooks, adventure ideas and 
  tons of little details written to enrich their game.
   
  My dream in writing this book for my own 
  group of players was a ship operations manual 
  which practically dripped rocket fuel and oozed 
  engine oil.
  Systemless
   
  Rocketship Empires is a systemless cam-
  paign setting.  You will need the rules for your 
  favorite game system to use this book, although 
  whenever possible we try to facilitate its use 
  through simple charts and plenty of detail.
   
  I recommend that you pick up a copy of the 
  Rocketship Empires 1936: core campaign book to 
  further facilitate your use of this material.
  Credits
   
  Many thanks go to the pilot and crew of “Old 
  Glory”, one of the last operational Mitchels ﬂying in 
  the world.  It was my pleasure and privilege to visit 
  this amazing aircraft and spend most of an after-
  noon asking questions of her owners and taking 
  photographs to use as technical references.
  Artist Credits
  Mike Doscher
  Feature Artist
  Chad DuLac
  Betty Nose Artwork (Cover)
  Additional Artwork:  Jonny Ledford and Ed-
  ward Kann
  Author Credits
  Edward M. Kann
  Author and Creator
  Photography
   
  Many thanks to the United States Air Force 
  and Naval archive where photographs and posters 
  produced by the US government during the WWII 
  era were maintained on public record.  All photo-
  graphs and poster content used in this document 
  were created by the United States government for 
  ofﬁcial purposes and remain a part of the public 
  domain.
  Legal
   
  All persons, corporations and governments 
  mentioned in this volume are part of the Rocket-
  ship Empires universe and are completely ﬁction-
  al.  Rocketship Empires 1936 is not afﬁliated with 
  any game system or game company. 
   
  We enthusiastically support the products of 
  several companies.  We advocate for the sales of 
  quality RPG products and the growth of the indus-
  try as a whole.
   
  At StoryArt we ﬁrmly believe that we are not 
  in competition with anyone but ourselves in our 
  desire to produce excellent books for our favorite 
  settings.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  
  3
  The X-41
   
  In 1934 the United States Rocket Forces 
  submitted a request to a variety of U.S. manu-
  facturing ﬁrms to construct a new Fast Transport 
  class vessel which could operate successfully in 
  a wide variety of roles, from fast attack bomber to 
  military transport, to reconnaissance vessel.
   
  In February of that year The North American 
  Space Corporation met the request with a design 
  for a prototype starship which they designated as 
  special project X-41.  
   
  The X-41 was the brain child of NASC sci-
  entist Reginald Hollywood, a brilliant and some-
  times eccentric young engineer credited for three 
  of the last ﬁve successful NASC prototype ﬁghter 
  / bomber designs since his joining the company’s 
  R&D team in 1929.  Only thirty years old in 1935, 
  Professor Hollywood was counted as one of the 
  youngest scientists working in American astroga-
  tion as a lead designer.
   
  Following successful ﬂight trials during the 
  summer of 1934, Professor Hollywood vanished.  
  His disappearance remains a mystery and NASC 
  continues to expend resources in an attempt to lo-
  cate him.  Rumors abound regarding the nature 
  of Hollywood’s disappearance.  The most popu-
  lar story circulating is that Hollywood became ob-
  sessed with a young starlet named Rita Angeles 
  but went into seclusion after the romance turned 
  sour.  There are also rumors that Hollywood left 
  Earth in one of his prototype starﬁghters and ﬂew 
  off to who knows where.  Some believe he was 
  picked up by the Reich and now labors some-
  where in a secret Reich lab, others believe he is 
  still out there exploring the far reaches beyond 
  the edge of colonized space.
   
  North American Space Corporation contin-
  ues to offer a substantial reward for information 
  leading to his whereabouts and his safe return to 
  Earth.
  Plot Point
   
  The very night that Dr. Hollywood vanished 
  this very starship was sitting partially assembled 
  on the NASC assembly ﬂoor, a few feet outside of 
  Hollywood’s ofﬁce.
   
  Over the course of the ship’s history certain 
  mysterious individuals have made attempts to gain 
  access to the ship and search it as though they 
  expected something of value to be hidden inside 
  her.
   
  What vital piece of information or technolo-
  gy might be sealed inside of the Betty’s bulkheads 
  awaiting discovery?  What might be the truth be-
  hind Dr. Hollywood’s mysterious disappearance?
   
  The exact details of this plot point rest in the 
  hands of the Game Director.
  A Ship is Born
   
  The starship that would be known as B-25B-
  21-NC USRF s/n 44-30018 North American con-
  struction number 108-33923  and later be dubbed 
  the Gunslinger Betty rolled off of the NASC as-
  sembly lines in Detroit on October 31st, 1934.
   
  The ﬁrst US Rocket Forces contract called 
  for ﬁfty of the new X-41s, which received the of-
  ﬁcial ﬂeet designation as the B-25 Mitchel.  Out of 
  the ﬁrst ﬁfty B-25 Mitchels twenty were earmarked 
  to fulﬁll a desperate need in the United States Ter-
  ritorial Marshals Service.  The Marshals required 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  
  new fast military transports to handle rising border 
  conﬂicts between the Federal Territories and Con-
  federation Privateers.  The Betty’s ﬁrst duty was 
  intended to be that of a Federal privateer and com-
  merce raider.
   
  The grim reality of the Great Depression 
  put the brakes on placing her into service.  For ﬁve 
  months the entire production order sat in hang-
  ers or neglected on the airﬁeld associated with 
  the NASC assembly plant in Flint, Michigan.  Ulti-
  mately the Federal government was forced to cut 
  their original order signiﬁcantly and only ten of the 
  vessels earmarked for Federal service were pur-
  chased.  The remainder languished in hangers for 
  another three months before NASC was forced to 
  auction them to private buyers in order to recover 
  some portion of their investment in the design.
   
  All branches of the US military, including 
  the Rocket Forces have faced major spending 
  cuts in 1934 and 1935.  American ship builders 
  have sought to survive the economic hard times 
  by modifying their designs for civilian production 
  as much as possible.  Sales of starships while 
  nowhere near booming continue to move forward 
  sufﬁciently to keep most of the current names in 
  American starship production in business, albeit 
  with reduced factory personnel and shorter pro-
  duction runs.
   
  Out of the forty Mitchels sold at auction 
  nearly half were purchased by foreign concerns 
  such as the Kingdom of Holland and British Star 
  Empire.  The remainder were sold to private buy-
  ers, a mixture of explorers, adventurers, mercenar-
  ies and those who could beneﬁt from a sufﬁciently 
  fast and heavily armed transport.
  B-25 Mitchel Starship - Overview
   
  The B-25 Mitchel was constructed with a (at 
  the time) new hybrid engine design which sepa-
  rates the primary impulse star drive and gravity 
  drive system from the tactical drive.  Two Wright 
  Cyclone Hybrid Class C drives are mounted close 
  to the fuselage while a pair of stripped down Pratt 
  and Whitney Type B drives containing only a star-
  ship impulse drive provide additional thrust from 
  the tail.  The twin engines mounted under the wings 
  are designated as the starship’s primary engines 
  while the two engines positioned on the starship’s 
  tail are designated as the starship’s secondary 
  engines.  The B25 series was originally built with 
  the Pratt and Whitney Type B drives as their sole 
  primary engines but speed performance during 
  combat trials proved to be disappointing.  With an 
  allotment of the engines on hand, North American 
  Spacecraft made the decision to strip the engines 
  and test them as boosters.
   
  The Pratt and Whitney drives on the tail 
  reduce weight and drag to the spacecraft, provid-
  ing a boost to speed without the same increase in 
  weight for installing four “Type C” drives in a vessel 
  this size.  Too late it was discovered that the Pratt 
  and Whitney drives developed issues in retaining 
  heat, mounted as they are directly in the back draft 
  of the larger engines.  Heat issues with the sec-
  ondary engines is covered in detail on page 40.
   
  The Betty’s quad engine, high wing and tri-
  cycle landing gear conﬁguration makes for a crisp 
  and clean, aerodynamic conﬁguration during at-
  mospheric ﬂight.
  Crew Positions and Weapons
   
  The starship pilot and engineer are seated in 
  tandem in a long greenhouse style cockpit similar 
  to that seen on earlier Martin B-10 spacecraft.  The 
  navigator is seated in a fully glazed nose which al-
  lows for excellent forward and down observation.  
  This forward observation position provides an ex-
  cellent location for mounting the ship’s camera de-
  signed for planetary survey and cartography work 
  and military reconnaissance.
   
  The wide angle of view in the nose is par-
  ticularly important since navigation is limited to 
  simple directional guidance provided by the mar-
  tian navigation computer.  The martian system 
  will help a ship reach a destination safely but the 
  system has no computerized library or encyclope-
  dia to provide detailed data about destination sys-
  tems.  Instead the starship Captain and Naviga-
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  4
  
  tor must rely on a collection of general maps and 
  travel journals stored  at the Navigator’s station. 
  In the Rocketship Empires 1936 universe, naviga-
  tors must rely on maps and physical landmarks on 
  a new planet to ﬁnd their way to the star port or 
  colony that is their ﬁnal destination and newspa-
  pers, radio broadcasts, printed journals and old 
  fashioned rumors to research any speciﬁc details 
  about a destination colony or planetary system.
   
  The navigator is provided with a single 
  Browning .50 Cal. mounted in a ﬂexible hard point 
  in the nose.  Four ﬁxed forward ﬁring Browning 
  .30’s have been installed in mounts on either side 
  of the hull facing forward and are operated by the 
  pilot.  A powered dorsal turret is intended for use 
  by the vessel’s sensor / radio operator who has 
  controls for this remote control barbette at his sta-
  tion.  A ﬁfth crewman, usually an engineer or medi-
  cal ofﬁcer can be assigned to handle the twin 50s 
  located in the tail turret while a dedicated turret 
  gunner handles the ventral turret of the starship.
   
  The B-25 can function safely during peace 
  time with a crew of eight.  A minimum of four criti-
  cal stations must be manned twenty four hours a 
  solar day and to provide this coverage during long 
  space voyages a two shift or two team crew is re-
  quired.  During combat ﬁve crew members can ﬁll 
  all of the necessary combat stations while the re-
  maining three provide additional damage control 
  and medical support.   
   
  Each gun in The B-25 has been designed 
  to carry 500 rounds of specially designed hybrid 
  ammunition.  The hybrid ammunition for the .50 
  Cal. is less likely to jam compared to standard .50 
  Cal ammunition used in human weaponry but is 
  expensive and can be difﬁcult to ﬁnd far from ma-
  jor space stations and supply depots.
  Ammo Purchase Price
   
  Purchase price for a 500 round belt of 
  .M2000 Hellion ammunition is $100.00.  Advanced 
  ammo is expensive, use it wisely.
   
  The gun’s load-out of 500 rounds of am-
  munition greatly improves the B-25’s ammo load 
  compared to earlier starships of the same class. 
  This includes such starships as the Martin B-10 
  and North American Space Co.’s own B-47.
   
  The 500 round belt allows for twenty bursts 
  of weapons ﬁre from each weapon supplied with 
  such an ammo belt, twice the usual ammo capac-
  ity for older ships.
   
  In a pinch, the Betty’s .50 nose weapon can 
  be loaded with non-hybrid ammunition although it 
  will not ﬁre in space and will tend to jam.  The non-
  hybrid munitions will also inﬂict vehicle class dam-
  age and not starship class damage.  Jams occur 
  on a natural roll of a 1 or a 2 rather than a natural 
  one.  (If critical miss results and rules are used in 
  your game system of choice.)
   
  When loaded with the proper hybrid ammo 
  the Betty’s guns will not jam on a single natural roll 
  of a 1.  A roll of a 1 must be accomplished twice in 
  a row for one of the Betty’s guns to jam when using 
  the proper M2000 Hellion ammo.
   
  The ﬁrst production run of the  X-41  (the 
  The Gunslinger Betty
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  5
  
  B-25A) featured a pair of Pratt and Whitney Hybrid 
  Class B engines whose tactical performance was 
  somewhat disappointing, coming in at a speed of 
  only 2,000 feet per combat round.  These engines 
  were replaced (almost immediately in the B-25B 
  model) with Wright Cyclones whose improved per-
  formance and tuning boosted the speed of the B-
  25B to a tactical speed of 2,500 feet per combat 
  round.
   
  The Betty was one of the very ﬁrst B-25B’s 
  to roll off of the assembly line.  The ﬁrst opera-
  tional group to ﬂy the new spacecraft  was the 
  17th Bombardment Group.  The 17th is based at 
  Chorus Field in the Pearl star system and current-
  ly performs system defense patrols in that sector. 
  The 17th ﬁnally received 20 of the B-25B Assaults 
  ﬁtted with the new, top secret, Norden Bombsight 
  in October of 1935. 
   
   
  NASC has seized on the B-25B as the next 
  shining star in Fast Transport class spacecraft and 
  has pushed into production some 250 additional 
  B-25B’s for broad sale on the international market. 
  These modiﬁed B-25B’s lack some of the military 
  reﬁnements installed in Mitchels supplied to the 
  Federal government.  Most notably the “civilian” 
  versions of these vessels are supplied with the 
  majority of their standard weapons stripped and 
  absent the top secret Norden Bombsight.
   
  Plans are already on the drawing board for 
  improvements in a B-25C model for the winter of 
  1936.  Small shipments of the new bombers have 
  been promised to the besieged Kingdom of Spain, 
  The Kingdom of Holland and the French Republic 
  despite loud  protests in the League of Nations. 
  A short list of exclusive private buyers have also 
  made orders for the new spacecraft.
   
  The chances of running into a B-25B during 
  the early part of 1936 is slim.  At present only thirty 
  B-25B’s are in the hands of private operators, one 
  of these being The Betty.  This rarity makes The 
  Gunslinger Betty a sure head turner at any star 
  port and in particular at foreign ports of call.  The 
  new owners of The Betty will need to take this into 
  account and insure that curious or greedy individu-
  als do not attempt to make off with their valuable 
  new starship.
  Captain’s Walkthrough
   
  A starship captain must know every nut and 
  bolt, every wire, fuse, vacuum tube and glowing 
  martian glyph on board his or her ship.  
  This walk through will provide you with all signiﬁ-
  cant operational details of The Betty so that you 
  and your crew will be familiar with her from top to 
  bottom and stem to stern.
   
  The Captain’s walk through begins with the 
  navigator’s compartment located in the nose of 
  the starship and moves from crew compartment 
  to crew compartment through the ship and ending 
  in the tail gunner’s position.  Schematics of every 
  position are provided to you as a reference.
   
  Unlike her sister vessels the Betty comes 
  into the hands of the players with her weaponry 
  intact.  She does not possess the top secret Nor-
  don bombsight as she has been ﬁtted out as a re-
  con and survey vessel.  Her heavy armament and 
  sturdiness in combat make her the perfect vessel 
  for an active adventuring party with a more military 
  mind set.
  Nose Compartment
   
  Our walk-through will begin in the nose of 
  the Betty and move through the ship to end in the 
  tail gunner’s turret.  We will review almost every 
  system on board inside and out, how these sys-
  tems function in game terms and what life is like 
  on board for her new captain and crew.
  Civilian Modiﬁcations
   
  Under the direction of the U.S. Rocket 
  Forces the primary components of the top secret 
  Norden Bombsight have been replaced with the 
  expensive and top rate K-3L camera system.  
   
  The K-3L is designed perform photographic 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  6
  
  surveys and create photographic maps of unex-
  plored planetary regions.  The K-3L Camera was 
  constructed under contract by Titan Optics for the 
  United States Geological Service in 1931.  It was 
  designed as a planetary survey camera but has 
  been made night capable in the hopes of serving 
  as a new reconnaissance camera for the United 
  States Rocket Forces.
   
  Only the original bomb sight mount, brack-
  et, bomber’s seat and optical glass remain in the 
  nose compartment.
  The K-3L Camera
   
  The optics on the K-3L camera allow the 
  navigator to zoom in clearly on ground targets. 
  The viewﬁnder enables the operator to obtain ex-
  cellent clarity on buildings and terrain at altitudes 
  of up to 5,000 feet depending on atmospheric con-
  ditions and visibility.
   
  The camera loads from the operator’s side 
  with a black metal box of ﬁlm.
   
  Each ﬁlm cartridge provides twenty expo-
  sures before reloading becomes necessary.  The 
  used ﬁlm can remain safely enclosed in its car-
  tridge until the Navigator ﬁnds the time to develop 
  it using his dark room equipment.  
   
  The Navigator’s work area is equipped with 
  a black light and the large locker door to the left of 
  the navigator’s plotting table contains the chemi-
  cals and equipment necessary for developing ﬁlm 
  into photographs for study and sale.  The dark 
  room cabinet contains ﬁve cartridges of ﬁlm for a 
  total of six, if you count the one already loaded and 
  ready in the camera.
   
  The navigator’s compartment is ﬁlled with 
  a simple dark olive curtain which can be snapped 
  into position to completely cover the glass of the 
  navigator’s green house.  The curtain and black 
  light provides the navigator with the dark room 
  necessary for developing his photographs.  During 
  ﬂight operations the navigator can take advantage 
  of his curtain to dim his compartment when he or 
  she desires a little well earned shut eye.  The cur-
  tain is large and waterproof.  It can be removed 
  from the compartment to be used as an additional 
  makeshift cover for a tent or waterproof tarp when 
  necessary.
  Planetary Surveys
   
  A planetary survey is most valuable if it is 
  conducted on a planetary body that is habitable 
  and which has not been surveyed previously.  A 
  complete planetary survey includes both airborne 
  work comprised of some forty to ﬁfty photographs 
  of the region and at least one accurate topographic 
  map.  An accurate topographic map necessitates 
  that the survey party land and hike most of the 
  major geographic features on foot using standard  
  1930’s human surveying equipment. Few teams 
  shoulder the major expense of hybrid planetary 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  7
  
  survey equipment.  Martian technology has been 
  adapted for use by a human planetary survey 
  team but the equipment has an equivalent value 
  in trade to most decent starships.  Ninety nine out 
  of one hundred survey teams walk every foot of 
  the region of the survey, carrying heavy surveying 
  equipment and making measurements and taking 
  both geological and horticultural samples which 
  will be noted on the team’s survey maps.
   
  Standard survey practices require twelve 
  sets of geological core samples collected at differ-
  ent points around the survey area.  Each set should 
  contain at least eight core samples for study.
   
  Core samples require the use of a motor-
  ized drill capable of taking a core sample down to 
  a depth of approximately one hundred feet.
   
  The Betty does not currently have the nec-
  essary drilling tools to gather geological core sam-
  ples.  It remains the only critical piece of equip-
  ment that the vessel lacks for conducting ofﬁcial / 
  League of Nations approved planetary survey mis-
  sions.  Truth be told previous owners have used 
  the Betty for other purposes, primarily as an armed 
  transport for valuable goods and blockade runner. 
  The Betty has earned something of a reputation 
  for itself in certain quarters as a smuggler vessel. 
  The new owners may or may not be advised of this 
  situation.
   
  Flora samples must be collected at twelve 
  different locations.  A standard survey contains at 
  least ﬁfty different examples of native ﬂora, cata-
  logued and preserved for study.
   
  A ﬁnished planetary survey has a consider-
  able monetary value.  Starship crews make a reg-
  ular living exploring newly discovered planets.  A 
  single survey may earn a team from $2,000.00 up 
  to $10,000.00 (a huge sum by 1936 standards) de-
  pending on the survey quality and what is found.
  A single survey covers an area of one hundred 
  square kilometers so many, surveys may be con-
  ducted on a single planetary body before the po-
  tential for survey money is exhausted.  Private 
  buyers (corporations and private individuals) are 
  essentially interested in what can be found in un-
  explored or un-survey star systems off of the major 
  trade lanes or beyond the edge of explored space. 
  Surveying an already occupied planet, even in a 
  location not previously explored, brings in consid-
  erably less revenue.  Earnings from such projects 
  are generally halved.
  Planetary Surveys and Colonial Claims
   
  Since the expansion of the nationalized cor-
  ridors, resistance to League charters on the ﬂoor 
  of the League of Nations has waned.  Today star 
  systems somewhat removed from the major trade 
  routes but still within League controlled space may 
  turn a tidy proﬁt to those willing to explore them.  
   
  A member state of the League of Nations 
  may claim territory on a newly explored planetary 
  body for which member state has obtained docu-
  mented survey information.  The survey must be 
  submitted and approved by the League of Nations 
  council on Earth.  Today planetary survey reports 
  are routinely auctioned to the highest bidder.  In 
  some cases the award of the League charter goes 
  to a private or corporate sponsorship rather than 
  to a government.
   
  Member states are forbidden to place 
  claims on, to explore, or travel to star systems 
  that have been expressly declared to be Martian 
  restricted zones.  The Hegemony claims that Mar-
  tian restricted zones have been established for the 
  safety of humanity, and should not be tampered 
  with.
  Navigator’s Computer
   
  The Gunslinger Betty is equipped with a 
  Naz’okt Sept navigation computer.  The computer 
  is built into the surface of the navigator’s plotting 
  desk.  A light table feature and a fold up screen 
  allow the Navigator to work with the system which 
  has its main components protected inside of an 
  armored box bolted within the deck beneath the 
  Navigator’s feet.  The brains of the navigation 
  computer can only be reached by unbolting an 
  access hatch marked “WARNING Security Area 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  8
  
  Do Not Open” set into the deck of the Navigator’s 
  work space.  The bio-mechanoid components of 
  the navigation system are highly sensitive and the 
  system can easily be damaged by the clumsy ef-
  forts of a human operator without clear knowledge 
  of what they are doing.
   
  A character must possess the skill Xeno-
  Tech or Martian Insight to possess the knowledge 
  to work directly with this alien computer system. 
  Remember that computer programming skills are 
  extremely limited even amidst engineers and sci-
  ence team members in the human community. 
  Concepts of computer system hacking are almost 
  completely non-existent in the human community 
  of 1936.
   
  Should the system require an update to its 
  database of routes and star systems the entire 
  case can be unbolted and carried in its (heavy and 
  shielded) suitcase to an appropriate shop within 
  the Martian district of a major colony or star port.
   
  To use the system the navigator references 
  a large hard copy binder distributed by the Interna-
  tional Astrogator’s Association on a semi annual 
  basis.  This manual contains ﬂight path informa-
  tion listed alphabetically for all explored star sys-
  tems and also for approximately 300 additional 
  star systems included in what the martians refer to 
  as the “Hegemony sphere of inﬂuence”. Each IAA 
  entry ends with a series of Martian symbols that 
  must be entered in sequence into the Navigator’s 
  computer.  These markings calibrate the computer 
  to plot a safe course from the starship’s current 
  position to the intended planet or destination.
   
  Updates to the manual should be pur-
  chased every six months to insure that the ship’s 
  computer is using the most up-to-date information 
  available.  
   
  The cost for an update to the manual runs 
  between $75.00 and $150.00 US and an update 
  necessitates that the entire unit be left with a Mar-
  tian tech on one of the major colony worlds.  Run-
  ning a full update into the system usually requires 
  a full eight hour stay for the unit at the shop.
     
  The navigator plots a course by inputting a 
  series of deﬁned glyphs into the face of the navi-
  gation computer and then locking the course in by 
  pressing a series of keyboard command sequenc-
  es.  This course is fed into the pilot’s instrument 
  panel where a pair of gauges similar to an aircraft 
  horizon indicator show the pilot whether the star-
  ship is on course or not.  Autopilot systems are 
  extremely limited on board human starships and 
  much of the piloting from origin to destination is 
  conducted by pilots or co-pilots with hands on the 
  controls of the vessel.
   
  The navigation system automatically ad-
  justs course plots for the movement of planetary 
  bodies and contains a record of billions of potential 
  navigation hazards, asteroids, comets, and debris. 
  The navigation computer is very reliable and can 
  be depended upon to set a safe course for a pilot 
  from point A to point B so long as the navigator 
  follows the instructions provided. Plotting a course 
  requires the navigator to invest at least 10 min-
  utes working with the computer and the navigation 
  manual.  The navigator must make a basic skill 
  roll to input a course for a well known system and 
  greater difﬁculty for plotting a course to systems 
  that have not been fully surveyed before.
   
  Failure indicates that the starship follows a 
  course that is not exactly true.  The navigator can 
  spot a problematic course by making a basic navi-
  gation skill roll once every eight hours.  Varying 
  from course is not usually a serious problem but 
  it may cause the pilot to eventually input a course 
  correction and burn up several hours worth of fuel 
  beyond that normally required.  
   
  Unexplored systems may only have basic 
  planetary locations inputted.  Planetary informa-
  tion from ancient Hegemony records may be in-
  complete and many features such as asteroid 
  belts, comets and small planets or moons may not 
  be recorded at all.  The Navigator’s ﬂight book has 
  instructions for how to record these items into the 
  navigation computer for download when they re-
  turn to an established colony world.  The Martians 
  pay a ﬂat reward of $1,000 US for signiﬁcant up-
  dates of data into systems where that information 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  9
  
  was previously missing.
   
  A star system survey that is fairly complete 
  plus a top notch survey of a previously unexplored 
  habitable planet can earn a survey team more than 
  several thousand dollars from an interested party. 
  Emergency Oxygen Reserve
   
  Beneath the navigator’s desk is an emer-
  gency oxygen reserve tank.  This piece of hybrid 
  technology contains a charge of oxygen that is 
  normally sufﬁcient for one hour.  The scrubbers 
  enclosed in a removable module on the interior of 
  the emergency tank can (however) refresh the car-
  bon dioxide produced by a user into fresh oxygen 
  for many, hours.  With fresh scrubbers this unit can 
  provide its user with seventy two hours of life sup-
  port when plugged directly into a space suit.  In 
  the event that a life support suit is not available the 
  unit can be opened up and allowed to recycle the 
  atmosphere enclosed in the navigator’s compart-
  ment so long as the compartment remains sealed. 
  This option reduces the effectiveness of the unit 
  to sixty hours of emergency life support but allows 
  the navigator to work without being encumbered 
  by their space suit.
   
  Replacing the scrubbers is easy so long as 
  a fresh unit is available.  Fresh scrubbers for these 
  units are fairly common and interchangeable be-
  tween hybrid models.  A replacement charge typi-
  cally has a purchase price of $10.00 US at any 
  well supplied spaceport.
   
  The oxygen tank can be unbolted using a 
  tool fastened underneath the navigator’s chair. 
  The reserve tank can then be carried or strapped 
  to the back of the navigator while he works in his 
  space suit.
  Intercom
   
  On the cabinet to the left of the navigator’s 
  work station is an intercom that can be used as a 
  hand held or plugged directly into the helmet of the 
  navigator’s space suit.  The intercom allows direct 
  communication with the cockpit, sensor operator’s 
  positions and all turret gunner positions.  The in-
  tercom in the navigators section operates either as 
  an open circuit to all locations at once or can be 
  toggled to speak person to person with the cock-
  pit.  The Betty’s intercom is on a closed hard line 
  circuit and can not be jammed by external com-
  munications jamming devices.  Using the intercom 
  does not violate orders to maintain “radio silence” 
  as the sound can not be detected outside of the 
  spacecraft.
  Navigator’s Parachute
   
  A backpack is stowed just to the left of 
  the emergency oxygen reserve beneath the nav-
  igator’s desk. It contains the navigator’s escape 
  parachute.  The Betty is equipped with standard 
  human-gear parachutes at the navigator, radar 
  operator, cockpit and all gunner locations.  These 
  chutes are put on by personnel during air combat 
  or ﬂak in atmosphere.  Should the crewman need 
  to bail out these U.S. manufactured chutes will 
  open correctly in the vast majority of cases.  Fail-
  ure to successfully activate a chute or to be thrown 
  out of the craft without one, indicates that the actor 
  will likely plummet to their doom.  Such is the life 
  of an aviator in 1936.
  Armored Green House
   
  The navigator’s section has been ﬁtted with 
  a green house constructed from a hybrid material 
  introduced to the Humans by the Martians in 1920. 
  The material is called glass-steel, and it replaces 
  the glass installed in all spacecraft.
   
  The glass-steel installed in the  nose of the 
  Betty is several generations improved over previ-
  ous types.  The navigator is protected by a 90 mm 
  armored windscreen capable of withstanding point 
  blank rounds from most small arms and even re-
  sisting the ﬁrepower of many light vehicle weap-
  ons.  The bracing of the green house provides ad-
  ditional strength and the navigator is protected by 
  a bonus to their resistance to damage should the 
  nose position be hit with a critical.
   
  Stats for the crew position’s protection is in-
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  10
  
  dicated below:
  90mm Glass/Steel             MEDIUM (++)
  8mm Armor Plating            LIGHT (-)
   
  These two layers of protection stack when 
  determining the total protection afforded the navi-
  gator versus a direct hit to his or her compart-
  ment.
  Emergency Pressure Door
   
  A large yellow button is set into the ﬂoor 
  of the navigation area protected by a metal kick 
  plate that can be nudged or kicked open by a boot 
  and the button stomped.  The button activates the 
  emergency pressure door for the navigator.  The 
  pressure door seals the nose off from the rest of 
  the ship in case of the ship takes internal damage.  
  The navigator’s door can be over-ridden by the co-
  pilot’s position where a master control for all pres-
  sure doors on the starship is located.
   
  A pressure alarm on the Betty immediately 
  sounds when the ship experiences a hull breach of 
  any size.  This alarm is meant to alert crew mem-
  bers to activate their kick plates and seal their crew 
  compartments from decompression.  A very large 
  breach might be sufﬁcient to decompress the en-
  tire vessel faster than the crew can seal their com-
  partments.  For this reason most ships button up 
  individual compartments prior to entering combat 
  or risky areas such as asteroid ﬁelds.
  .50 Caliber Hellion 
   
  The nose mounted .50 Cal. has a bench 
  seat for the navigator to occupy when using the 
  weapon.  The navigator’s .50 Cal. is linked into 
  the ship’s CXAM Sensor System.  A green mono-
  chrome screen mounted between the weapon’s 
  grips provides a fuzzy image of enemy targets out 
  to a range of 100 kilometers.  Beyond that range 
  and out to a distance of one AU the system shows 
  targets as glowing blips with corresponding codes 
  and numbers which identify each target and reﬂect 
  relative range to the starship.
   
  The hybrid .50 Cal M-2 has a maximum ef-
  fective range of 5,000 ft. and is more or less a mod-
  erate weapon not suited for combat with a military 
  vessel in the capital ship range.
   
  Should the CXAM targeting link fail (in the 
  event of a critical hit that takes out the sensors) the 
  gunner must depend on visual targeting.  Range 
  and targeting are greatly impacted when a gunner 
  is forced to rely on mere eyeballing.  During com-
  bat most vessels run dark and they are extremely 
  difﬁcult to make out in the blackness of space un-
  less they are ﬁring their weapons or employing 
  certain types of energy shield.
    
   
  The .50 Cal has a ﬂexible mount but re-
  mains a forward arc weapon incapable of ﬁring into 
  the starboard, port or rear arcs of the spacecraft. 
  The navigator position is a decent secondary gun-
  ner position for covering the ship during landings 
  or while on the ground as the green house pro-
  vides a wide angle of observation.  The belly tur-
  ret is perhaps the most effective gun for defending 
  the ship on the ground with its three hundred and 
  sixty degree motorized traverse.  The little ball tur-
  ret has a limited degree of visibility to the rear and 
  might beneﬁt from a spotter in the nose to call out 
  targets.
   
  The forward .50 Cal on the Betty retains its 
  full load of 500 rounds of M2000 Hellion ammo. 
  An ammo crate contains an additional 500 rounds 
  and is located in a locked position in the underside 
  of the shelf to the immediate left of the navigator’s 
  desktop.  A second ammo can position is empty 
  but could receive an additional load of 500 rounds. 
  It is stored in a pop up container at the navigator’s 
  feet when seated at the weapon.
   
  The M2000 ammo is installed on a belt sys-
  tem that has been improved a great deal over ear-
  lier feeds.  Unlike other belt fed weapons which 
  require an entire combat action to reload, the .50 
  Caliber M2000 Hellion requires only a half action 
  to lock and load if the ammo is ready and placed 
  near the gunner.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  11
  
  Navigator Skills
   
  Below is a list of skills that are central to 
  the duties of a starship navigator.  Every starship 
  navigator should possess at least some skill in 
  these important areas.
  Navigation
  Forward Observer
  (Vision or Perception Bonuses)
  Alertness
  Planetary Survey
  Cartography
  Photography
  Knowledge Skill: Technical - Human Gear
  Knowledge Skill: Technical - Hybrid Gear
  Knowledge Skill: Astrogation (Planets and Star 
  Systems)
  Repair
  Starship Gunnery
  Other skills which might be handy for a Navigator 
  include medical skills, ﬁrearms, brawling, drive 
  and any tech. oriented skills or training.
  Preﬂight
   
  During a starship’s preﬂight the Navigator 
  is responsible for checking to insure that all of his 
  ﬂight books are available, that his navigational 
  computer appears to be working, that his .50 cali-
  ber is locked down and in a secure position for take-
  off and that everything in the nose compartment 
  is secured safely prior to launch.  Prior to take-off 
  the Navigator should check all planetary survey 
  supplies, ﬁlm stores and developing supplies and 
  check the camera to insure that it is working and 
  that the optics are secured.
  System Test
   
  A common practice among navigators is to 
  lay in a test course to a nearby moon, asteroid, 
  planet, orbital base, etc.. to insure that the ship’s 
  navigation system is working correctly.  Better to 
  run through a test on the way out then suddenly re-
  alize when you arrive in the next system that your 
  system is malfunctioning.
   
  Even the best systems have a chance of 
  breaking down.  Consider rolling a cumulative one 
  percent chance of the navigation system beginning 
  to slip up.  Once the system begins to break down 
  it will become steadily worse each time a course 
  plot is laid in.  
   
  Spotting the problem with a diagnostic test 
  requires the navigator to make a repair or electron-
  ics roll.  Spotting a system problem running a test 
  course makes ﬁnding the problem easier and pro-
  vides a bonus to the navigator’s diagnostic test.
  Laying in a course
   
   
  Laying in a course varies in difﬁculty depend-
  ing on the navigator’s goal.  Laying in the generic 
  course right out of the martian reference manuals 
  insures that the vessel will follow the most traveled 
  space lanes from point A to point B.  Any pirates 
  or enemy ships will have these space lanes well 
  scouted.  In League space and well patrolled star 
  systems traveling the known space lanes is not a 
  serious concern.  Partnering with a friendly ship or 
  two on the way out can help reduce the chance of 
  trouble for those with some concern for their secu-
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  12
  
  rity.
   
  Laying in a secondary course is a little tricky. 
  A secondary course runs parallel to an established 
  route but places the ship’s trajectory several thou-
  sand kilometers outside of the established space 
  lane.  Step the difﬁculty for this course up a notch.
   
  Finally the navigator can “take the scenic 
  route”.  Taking the scenic route implies that the 
  navigator lays in a course to a different destina-
  tion, a dead moon, an asteroid belt or some other 
  feature and makes an approach to the ﬁnal desti-
  nation from an unexpected and unused direction of 
  travel.  The navigator must insure that the ship has 
  sufﬁcient fuel to make the round about trip, must 
  estimate the time in ﬂight and relay that informa-
  tion to the Captain.  The navigator must work out 
  a course that may be listed only in fragments and 
  clues.
  Failure
   
  Failure at a navigation roll usually results in 
  the loss of an hour or perhaps a few hours of travel 
  time and the loss of some fuel.  A critical failure 
  might bring a vessel to a destination in the general 
  direction of their travel but to an unexpected loca-
  tion.  Unexpected locations might include a minor 
  planet or moon the party did not originally intend 
  to visit but which orbits somewhere in their general 
  direction of travel, a rogue asteroid or even some 
  hazard depending on the Director.
  Plot Point
   
   
  Failing a navigation roll while attempting 
  to plot a route off the usual space lanes can be 
  a fun opportunity for a side adventure.  Maybe 
  the characters encounter a derelict space craft or 
  abandoned space station in a part of space no one 
  would otherwise travel except on accident.
   
  Maybe the ship slips into a natural worm 
  hole and warps to an unexpected destination star 
  system.  Maybe the ship discovers a rogue aster-
  oid with an ancient alien ruin on its surface or a 
  deposit of valuable looking crystals.  Perhaps the 
  characters stumble upon a secret black market 
  space station operated by the Qin Shadow Em-
  pire.
  Primary Route
  Basic navigation skill roll.
  Secondary Route
  Bump the difﬁculty up a notch.
  Scenic Route
  Twenty minutes to lay in the course.  Bump the dif-
  ﬁculty up a couple of notches over the base roll.
  Star Dive
   
  The star dive is the crucial, jaw clenching 
  moment when a starship ﬁres its thrusters towards 
  a ﬂaming sun in order to dive into the star’s gravity 
  well to activate the ship’s gravity drive.
   
  Laying in the correct trajectory to keep the 
  vessel on is in the hands of the navigator.  Thank-
  fully these trajectories are already plotted for al-
  most every star system the characters will travel 
  in while operating inside the borders of the Hege-
  mony.
   
  Flying the ship and keeping it locked on 
  course during the star dive rests in the hands of 
  the pilot and co-pilot / engineer.  A star dive is not 
  an automated action.  The ship’s pilot must main-
  tain ﬁrm hands on control over the ship’s stick to 
  keep it traveling along the correct trajectory.
   
  Good jumps begin with sound navigational 
  computations.  Feeding the course into the naviga-
  tional computer and locking it into the instrument 
  panel in the cockpit requires ten minutes and a 
  successful skill roll.  If the navigator is not pressed 
  for time they may always take additional time to 
  insure that the coordinates they input are correct.
   
  A critical failure will result in the wrong jump 
  point being ﬁled into the pilot’s instruments.  They 
  will ﬂy the vessel into the wrong trajectory and the 
  ship will jump to one of the other star systems clos-
  est to their current location.  If only one star system 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  13
  
  is available as an option the vessel will ultimately 
  reach its intended destination but at a cost of an 
  additional day or so in jump space.
  Plot Point
   
  Critical failure of a jump might indicate that 
  the vessel has slipped into “dark space” where the 
  crew will experience a direct encounter with what-
  ever evil lurks between the stars.
   
  An ambitious Director may plot out a mod-
  ule or encounter in dark space and hold this in a 
  folder speciﬁcally for a time when the actors expe-
  rience a failure when entering jump.
  Freezer Time - Navigator Duties
   
  While the ship is in jump space the naviga-
  tor is responsible for keeping the ice under control 
  in the nose compartment.  Freezing temperatures 
  on board can take condensation from the crew’s 
  breathe and slowly layer the ship’s instruments 
  and equipment in ice.  Each crewman is respon-
  sible to keep their particular part of the ship func-
  tional.
   
  Outside of that responsibility the navigator 
  plays a game of wait and see or perhaps spends 
  some time in prayer or catching up on work or 
  reading as the ship hurtles through the vast black 
  between the stars.
  System Transit
   
  Once the course is laid in and the ship is in 
  transit through a star system the navigator is the 
  vessel’s forward observer.  The navigator can use 
  the sensor link in the .50 cal. to sweep the area in 
  front of the ship for anything that the ship’s sensor 
  operator may have missed.
   
  Meteors, debris, suspicious ships are hope-
  fully spotted long before they come close enough 
  to cause the ship any real problems.  Outside of 
  acting as a forward observer during transit times 
  the navigator is free to work on other projects, de-
  velop ﬁlm from the last survey mission, work on 
  maps, update their personal ﬂight log, taken inven-
  tory of ship’s supplies, whatever needs doing.
  Combat
   
  During combat the navigator’s place is at 
  the .50 caliber weapon mounted in the nose com-
  partment.
  The Cockpit
   
  The cockpit contains the duty stations of 
  the ship’s pilot and the ship’s engineer or co-pilot. 
  The pilot is typically the Captain of the ship as well 
  but this is not always the case.  Starships are ex-
  pensive vehicles and there are plenty of examples 
  where the ship’s owner and “Captain” has hired 
  a professional pilot to ﬂy their ship from place to 
  place.
   
   
  In addition to the usual gauges and instru-
  ments an additional horizon style instrument indi-
  cates whether the ship is on course during space 
  ﬂight. Course information from the navigator’s 
  computer is locked into the pilot’s instruments by 
  the navigator from their station in the nose.
  Autopilot Systems
   
  Autopilot systems in the Betty are limited to 
  the most primitive sorts of ﬂy by wire equipment.  
  In fact devices like autopilots are altogether un-
  usual on board starships ﬂown by human pilots. 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  14
  
  In most cases a pilot must remain at the helm of 
  the ship throughout star system travel.  Only after 
  entering jump does the vessel continue forward on 
  an intended course without input by the pilot.  In 
  fact travel through jump space has been likened 
  to riding the rails of a steam engine.  Once a ship 
  sets out in jump space the course, destination and 
  arrival time are locked.  Even if the pilot wanted to 
  change course engine maneuvers would be use-
  less.  A pilot could cut out the primary drives alto-
  gether and the vessel would still arrive at its ﬁnal 
  destination after entering jump.
   
  Simple A-3 autopilots are available in a 
  modest number of commercial starships.  The 
  military’s C-1 autopilot is still in prototype and will 
  probably not be available until 1937.  At best au-
  topilots in the Rocketship Empires Campaign Set-
  ting will allow a ship to ﬂy straight and level or ef-
  fect minor changes in course during ﬂight during 
  system transit.  Even the best autopilots contain 
  no components that allow a ship to dodge enemy 
  attacks.   Pilots and co-pilots in The Betty must ﬂy 
  her the old fashioned way, sleeping in shifts and 
  drinking a lot of black coffee during the long, cold 
  ﬂights through the dark heart of space.
  Controls
   
  The pilot controls one of two control col-
  umns (sticks) in the cockpit.  The co-pilot or en-
  gineer’s stick is removed in the technical drawing 
  on the following page so the nose companionway 
  access can be seen.
   
  The engineer is responsible for monitoring 
  a number of panels and gauges measuring the 
  operation of different vital systems throughout the 
  starship.  Meanwhile the pilot is responsible for ﬂy-
  ing.  This can be a fairly straight forward task out 
  in deep space when days of stick time can blur 
  together.  Piloting becomes more challenging and 
  interesting during take off and landings, during at-
  mospheric ﬂight, during any sort of starship com-
  bat and most especially during the star dive imme-
  diately preceding a starship jump.
  Engineers Controls
   
  The engineer / co-pilot has access to a wide vari-
  ety of simple toggle switches that can turn on/off 
  most of the systems on board ship remotely from 
  the cockpit.
   
  Should a breaker blow, the main breaker 
  box for the starship is installed immediately to the 
  right and just behind the engineer’s usual seat po-
  sition.  Reaching down and slapping the seat ad-
  justment bar can allow the engineer to push his 
  or her seat far enough back to access this panel 
  easily and also move out of the way of the naviga-
  tor who might want room when making their way 
  up out of the nose gangway.
   
  A specialized ﬁre extinguisher that func-
  tions safely zero-gravity is close at hand and the 
  engineer’s tool set is stowed in a handy compart-
  ment immediately under their feet in the ﬂoor of 
  the cockpit.
  Engineer Toggle Controls
   
  The Engineer has immediate on/off control 
  over the following ship’s systems.
  Lights
  Cockpit Interior Lamp
  Single Switch - All interior ship lights
  Red Lamp - Cockpit
  Red Lamps - Ship Interior
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  15
  
  Navigator’s Interior Lamp
  All Exterior Running Lights
  Nose Fog Lights
  Heaters
  Wing and Flight Surface De-Icers
  Cockpit Windscreen De-Icers
  All crew space electric heaters on/off
  Powered Motors and Equipment
  Landing Gear
  Dorsal Turret Motor
  Ventral Turret Motor
  Cargo Lift Power on/off
  Navigation Computer on/off (restart)
  Powered Air lock Doors on/off
  Emergency Pressure Hatches on/off
  Fire Control System on/off
  Starboard Engines Master Power  on/off
  Port Engines Master Power on/off
  Secondary Engines Master Power on/off
  Starboard Fuel Pumps on/off
  Port Fuel Pumps on/off
  Fuel Processing Equipment on/off
  Master Power Cut-Off Switch on/off*
  *Master Power Cut-Off kills power to every system 
  in the ship.  Systems often require individual re-
  starts which may take up to an hour to perform.
  Emergency Life Support
   
  The pilot and co-pilot seats each carry an 
  emergency life support tank in a mount on the 
  back of their ﬂight seat.
   
  These emergency tanks are identical to the 
  one found in the navigator’s compartment.  They 
  can provide 72 hours of life support to a subject 
  that is suited up in a space suit and can also be 
  cracked open and adjusted to provide atmosphere 
  sufﬁcient for the sealed cockpit area for sixty hours 
  each.
  Ejection Seats
   
  At the request of the marshal’s service  the 
  cockpit was upgraded with a pair of hybrid ejection 
  seats.  Controls on the far left and right side of the 
  cockpit allow the pilot and co-pilot to activate each 
  ejection seat independently.   A charge overhead 
  blows open a roof hatch when the chairs are de-
  ployed.  Each chair contains its own parachute.  
   
  The system is designed to refuse to deploy 
  unless both occupants are seated in their ﬂight 
  seat and secured in their space suits, with the 
  chair’s emergency life support hooked in.
   
  With the occupants safely in space suits the 
  ejection system can eject the pilot and engineer 
  clear of the ship into space or clear of the ship in 
  atmosphere.  The underside of each ﬂight chair 
  has a parachute installed that is designed to de-
  ploy during atmospheric bail outs.
  Weapons Locker
   
  A hatch in the ﬂoor behind the pilot’s chair 
  provides access to some of the wiring and ship’s 
  systems contained in the hull of the ship below 
  decks.  Contained beneath this hatch is a locking 
  gun safe that contains a cache of weapons for the 
  pilot, co-pilot and navigator.
   
  The cockpit weapons locker contains two 
  Colt 1911 autoloader pistols and a Thompson 
  SMG 1928 naval model.  Each weapon is stored 
  with rounds loaded and two additional clips for 
  each weapon.
  Hull Patch Kit
   
  A hull patch kit is located in a lunch box 
  sized kit which can be quickly removed from be-
  neath the engineer’s seat.  The patch contains 
  a palm sized adhesive gun and folded pressure 
  patches that can seal a small hull breach quickly.  
   
  The adhesive in the gun is formidable and 
  can only be removed with a solvent carried in the 
  ship’s mechanic’s tool kit stowed in the cargo com-
  partment.  The adhesive bonds in seconds so an 
  operator must be careful not to glue themselves to 
  the patch, to the hull or to the adhesive gun during 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  16
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  17
  
  the process.
   
  The patch kit in the cockpit contains six 
  patches which can seal a breach in the hull up to 
  the size of a quarter.
  Breach Size  
   
   
  Repair Difﬁculty
  Pin Hole 
   
   
   
  Simple
  Small (Penny) 
   
   
  Moderate
  Medium (Quarter) 
   
   
  Difﬁcult
  Large (Silver Dollar)  
   
  Very Difﬁcult
  Catastrophic (Baseball+)  
  Forget It*
  *Catastrophic hull breaches can only be repaired 
  after all of the atmosphere has vented and some-
  one in a space suit works for several hours at least 
  to close up the hole.
  A replacement kit for the patches has a purchase 
  price of $50.00 US.  A new hull patch kit has a 
  purchase price of $100.00 US and can be found at 
  any star port.
  Engineer’s Duties
   
  Below is a list of fundamental skills that ev-
  ery ship’s engineer should be familiar with to at 
  least some degree.
  Starship Piloting
  Craft: Electronic
  Craft: Mechanical
  Craft: Weaponsmith
  Craft: Engineering
  Knowledge Skill: Technology - Human Gear
  Knowledge Skill: Technology - Hybrid Gear
  Repair
  Forward Observer
  Space Suit - EVA
   
  In addition a ship’s engineer may want to 
  possess skills in various vehicles, mechanic, elec-
  trical, chemical, ﬁrearms or brawling.  The ship’s 
  engineer may wish to double up on the planetary 
  survey skill so that the engineer and navigator can 
  take the lead when the crew is faced with survey 
  and exploration missions.  A wide variety of sci-
  ence team skills suit an Engineer well.
  Preﬂight
   
  The ship’s engineer is busy during star-
  ship preﬂight.  They must insure that the ship is 
  properly fueled and that all fuel tanks are covered 
  and secured after fueling.  They must check all of 
  the hydraulic systems on board the ship and run 
  through a test of every single switch and system 
  they have control over from the cockpit.
   
  Prior to take-off the engineer is responsible 
  for doing a ﬁnal walk around the ship, checking the 
  integrity of the landing gear and tires and looking 
  for any potential problems in the ship’s structure.
  Starships are complex vehicles and have many, 
  systems and moving parts.  The ship’s engineer is 
  faced with a constant challenge in keeping up with 
  the wear and repair of these systems.
   
  Every time the ship is used, even for short 
  hops, there is a cumulative  chance (deﬁned on 
  the facing page) that a system will begin to expe-
  rience mechanical, electrical or other problems. 
  This cumulative chance does not go away the mo-
  ment one system experiences a failure.  The per-
  centage continues to rise until the ship undergoes 
  a period of focused repair and reﬁt known as the 
  “starship overhaul”.
   
  Replacement and repair of ship’s systems 
  is time consuming and expensive.  Thankfully ship 
  systems do not fall off the moment they begin to 
  show signs of wear.
  Plot Point
   
  Why all the emphasis on ship wear and tear 
  and engineering?  What science ﬁction show have 
  you watched where the maintenance and upkeep 
  of the starship did not ﬁgure largely in some shape 
  or form over the course of the ﬁlm?
   
  When players understand that the ship has 
  a cumulative rate of wear they will be more inter-
  ested in earning the money necessary for upkeep.  
  Ship pilots and crews will be faced with decisions 
  about putting the ship into space dock for a the re-
  pair of a system or forging forward with the adven-
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  18
  
  ture with one or another system in a questionable 
  state.
   
  Some game systems already make allow-
  ances for this element in a science ﬁction setting 
  and in that case go with the native game mechanic 
  to the system you have chosen to play.  Either way 
  this optional approach is also available.
  Starship Wear and Tear Table
   
  On the table below I have devised a starship 
  wear and tear table.  Any time the Director rolls a 
  system problem during pre-ﬂight they should roll to 
  determine which system faces a potential problem 
  and increase the severity on the chart by one level. 
  During the engineer’s walk around the ship they 
  may or they may not spot the potential problem. 
  The engineer faces a skill check to notice prob-
  lems as they raise in severity.  Equipment in “the 
  green” is Difﬁcult to notice while an problem with 
  a piece of hardware becomes easier and easier to 
  notice (rolls become easier) the more advanced 
  the problem becomes.
   
  When a piece of equipment is in the red only 
  a near sighted and somewhat distracted engineer 
  would miss the problem.  (Or one that ignored do-
  ing their regular checks of the ship.)
   
  A piece of equipment that becomes FUBAR 
  no longer functions.  That is pretty difﬁcult to miss 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  19
  Starship Wear and Tear Table
  Roll
  Skill
  Equipment
  Green Yellow
  Red
  FUBAR Repair Dif-
  ﬁculty
  1
  Engineering
  Port Main
  Difﬁcult
  2
  Starboard Main
  Difﬁcult
  3
  Secondary
  Engines
  Difﬁcult
  4
  Weaponsmith
  .30 cal.
  Easy
  5
  .50 cal.
  Easy
  6
  Ball Turret
  Moderate
  7
  Ammo Feed
  Moderate
  8
  Electrical
  Radio Unit
  Moderate
  9
  Sensors
  Difﬁcult
  10
  Cockpit Controls
  Moderate
  11
  Lights
  Easy
  12
  Barbette Remote
  V. Difﬁcult
  13
  Mechanical
  Landing Gear
  Moderate
  14
  Pressure Hatch
  Easy
  15
  Wing De-Icers
  Easy
  16
  Ball Turret Motor
  Easy
  17
  Wing Hydraulics
  Moderate
  18
  Tail Hydraulics
  Moderate
  19
  Martian
  Systems
  Life Support
  Xeno Tech
  20
  Navigation 
  Xeno Tech
  
  for anyone who attempts to use the equipment.
   
  Equipment repairs are cheaper the ear-
  lier the problem is caught.  An item in the green 
  might be reset completely with a successful repair 
  check.  An item in the yellow might be set back one 
  step to green.  I usually allow an engineer to push 
  back the advance of wear one step for one piece 
  of equipment.  After that the equipment will con-
  tinue to progress as a problem when it is rolled on 
  the chart until it either goes FUBAR or the entire 
  ship goes into overhaul and all of the equipment is 
  reset to starting levels.
   
  Starship manufacturing can have a major 
  impact on the severity of equipment problems with 
  a particular type of starship.  A manufacture with 
  a poor rating in engines will automatically begin 
  the wear and tear table with one slot notched off 
  against them (in the green).  Manufacturers that 
  construct components or systems with “wretched” 
  quality ratings face an automatic two strike start-
  ing point for the systems that receive the wretched 
  quality rating (start in the yellow).
  To repair or not to repair...
   
  Engineers can usually repair a ship’s sys-
  tem one step as long as they have the tools, the 
  time, and the problem is in the human or hybrid 
  components.
   
  Performing an overhaul does not reset the 
  cumulative chance of the erosion of ship’s sys-
  tems.  Thus a ship can accumulate a ten, twenty, 
  forty, eighty percent chance of a system advanc-
  ing in wear and tear over time each time the ship 
  goes into the air.
  Table Key
  Green Status
   
  The equipment is in top shape.  Unless it is 
  damaged in combat or through some accident it 
  will not malfunction during ﬂight.
  Yellow Status
   
  The equipment is showing signs of wear.
  Replacement parts for worn parts may vary wide-
  ly depending on the equipment in question.  We 
  leave the speciﬁc details of the malfunction in the 
  capable of hands of the GM.  
   
  If left damaged the system will continue to 
  function and has a 05% chance of suffering a mal-
  function during ﬂight.
  Red Status
   
  The equipment is showing signs of seri-
  ous wear and the engineer may have had prob-
  lems with it already to some degree.  Repair costs 
  increase.  If left damaged the system has a 10% 
  chance of suffering a malfunction during ﬂight.
  FUBAR
   
  The equipment is FUBAR.  It is broken and 
  no amount of repair is going to ﬁx it.  Time to buy a 
  new one Captain.
  Repair Difﬁculty
   
  This is a measure of the difﬁculty for repair-
  ing a piece of equipment once it has reached YEL-
  LOW status.  As damage progresses the difﬁculty 
  for making the repair should rise.  Keep in mind 
  that repairing a broken piece of equipment is hard-
  er than tearing the unit out and replacing it with a 
  new one.  A straight replacement of a unit should 
  have a moderate difﬁculty in most cases. 
  Ship Status Report
   
  The ship’s engineer can submit a status re-
  port immediately prior to embarking on a voyage 
  or upon arrival the starship Captain.
   
  It takes 5 minutes to properly check one 
  broad class of equipment on the ship (all electrical 
  systems for example) and around thirty minutes to 
  perform a proper inspection of the entire ship.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  20
  
   
  The wear and tear chart can be copied and 
  turned into a tracking form for monitoring the cur-
  rent status of the ship.  One copy should be main-
  tained by the Engineer and the other copy with the 
  actual system information should be maintained 
  conﬁdentially by the game Director.
  Malfunctions
   
  At the GM’s option they may make a sys-
  tem malfunction check.  I recommend that these 
  are made ever once in a while during ship opera-
  tions (about once a jump) or whenever the vessel 
  is placed under considerable strain.
  Roll for any equipment that is in the yellow or red. 
  The chance for a piece of equipment to malfunc-
  tion is listed on page 19 under the table key.  If 
  a malfunction occurs roll again on the opposite 
  table.
  FUBAR Table
  Roll
  Result
  1-5
  A yellow warning light comes on in 
  the cockpit, nothing more.
  6-8
  A yellow warning light comes on in 
  the cockpit and  1d20 minutes later 
  the system begins to make  a rattle or 
  banging noise from a loose part but 
  otherwise nothing else happens
  9-10
  No warning light comes on.  The sys-
  tem simply begins to short or make 
  noise  but nothing else happens
  11-12
  A yellow warning light comes on fol-
  lowed by a red idiot light approximate-
  ly ten minutes later.  Yet the system 
  hangs in there and does not fail.
  13-14
  A yellow light comes on and then a 
  red idiot light.  The system will begin 
  to stutter, working for a few moments 
  and then sputtering off.  It needs re-
  pair to function.
  15
  A yellow light comes on.
  Twenty minutes later a red  light 
  comes on.
  Ten minutes later the system imme-
  diately  ceases working and must be 
  repaired
  16
  A yellow light comes on
  the system sputters and then dies.  It 
  must be repaired.
  17
  The system goes up in smoke with no 
  warning and is immediately FUBAR
  18
  A yellow light comes on, then a red 
  light.  1d6 minutes later the entire 
  system   shorts, jams or breaks down 
  and must be repaired.
  19
  The next time the system is turned 
  on, it doesn’t turn on and must be 
  repaired.
  20
  The next time the system is turned on 
  it doesn’t turn on and is FUBAR
  Jury Rigging
   
  Jury rigging involves cobbling a device back 
  into working condition temporarily using whatever 
  happens to be on hand.  A ship’s engineer may 
  ﬁnd that they are forced to jury rig a ship’s vital 
  system that has been damaged during combat or 
  knocked out because of a system malfunction.
   
  Jury rigging will NOT repair a device that is 
  FUBAR.  No amount of cursing, kicking, throwing 
  money at the device, prayer nor anything else will 
  get a FUBAR device back online.
   
  Jury rigging a device requires 10 minutes 
  x 1d6 to complete.  The time involved includes 
  scrounging around the ship for parts, duct tape, 
  bubble gum or whatever else is necessary to cob-
  ble the device back together.
   
  If any portion of the device is exposed to 
  space or constructed  onto the outer hull of the 
  vessel there is a chance the engineer will need to 
  put on a space suit and go outside the ship to per-
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  21
  
  form the repair.
   
  Space walks are possible in jump space 
  but the cost is high.  Suits do not provide sufﬁcient 
  protection from radiation to allow a technician to 
  survive the experience and setting foot outside of 
  a starship during jump travel, while not resulting in 
  immediate death is a guaranteed death sentence 
  from radiation sickness.
   
  Jury rigging requires a repair roll.  The engi-
  neer or technician may receive help from another 
  character or may make a complimentary skill roll 
  before beginning work if they have a suitable skill 
  that speciﬁcally applies to the problem at hand.
  Status of Device 
   
   
  Repair Difﬁculty
  Battle Damage - Minor 
   
  Easy
  Battle Damage - Serious 
   
  Moderate
  Battle Damage - Catastrophic 
  Difﬁcult
  Malfunction from Yellow Status 
  Moderate
  Malfunction from Red Status 
  Difﬁcult
  FUBAR 
   
   
   
  Impossible
  Jury Rigging - Duration
   
  A jury rigged device will not remain func-
  tioning forever.  Every 1d8 hours that the system is 
  jury rigged the system must make a system check 
  or break down.
   
  Any time the ship is hit with an attack, suf-
  fers a collision or performs radical maneuvering 
  perform a system check to see if the repairs hold 
  together.  A system check can be as simple as as-
  signing a percentile chance of failure.  The chance 
  is up to the director.
   
  The manufacturing quality of a system can 
  provide a bonus or penalty to the duration that jury 
  rigging on the system will last.  Add or subtract the 
  appropriate system quality modiﬁer listed below 
  based on the manufacturing modiﬁer of the star-
  ship in question.
  Manufacturing Quality 
   
  Modiﬁer
  Excellent 
   
   
   
  +2 Hours
  Good  
   
   
   
  +1 Hour
  Average 
   
   
   
  +1 Hours
  Poor  
   
   
   
  -1 Hour
  Wretched 
   
   
   
  -2 Hours
  Scavenging
   
  Pulling parts off of a hulk in a junk heap or 
  ﬂoating abandoned in space is called scaveng-
  ing.  Scavenging for parts can save a ship Captain 
  a considerable amount of money in operational 
  costs.  The big hitch of course, is whether the parts 
  will be compatible with what is on board the Cap-
  tain’s ship.
   
  Attacking a ship so you can blast it to bits 
  in order to scavenge it for parts is called piracy, in 
  case you were unclear on that small detail. 
  Hybrid Systems - Martian Components
   
  At the core of every hybrid system are 
  martian bio-mechanoid devices which make the 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  22
  
  device work.  These devices are designed to be 
  modular so damaged pieces can be easily re-
  moved and replaced.  The core components to 
  any hybrid system have a 75% percent chance of 
  being compatible from system to system no matter 
  who manufactured the starship or the ﬁnal piece of 
  equipment.
  Hybrid Systems - Human Components
   
  Components built by the same human man-
  ufacturing concern for the same device will have 
  a 95% chance of being compatible even between 
  different models of ships.  Components from dif-
  ferent manufacturers but from the same nation 
  will have a 40% chance of being compatible and 
  components from different manufacturers from 
  different nations will have a 10% chance of being 
  compatible.  These guidelines also apply to purely 
  human devices such as automobiles, bi-planes, 
  toasters and walkie-talkies.
  Ship Overhauls
   
  Overhauling a ship is time consuming and 
  expensive.  A ship must be at a spaceport or orbital 
  station in a birth or hanger before a ship overhaul 
  can begin.  Ships can not be overhauled in transit 
  or while ﬂoating in space away from major repair 
  facilities.
   
  The time required and cost of an overhaul 
  varies depending on the size and class of the ship. 
  The table below will provide details for GM.
  Ship Class/Size 
   
  Time          Repair
  Starﬁghters  
   
  24 Hours    Medium
  Fast Transports 
   
  48 Hours    Medium
  Atmo-Capable 
   
  72 Hours    Difﬁcult
  Light Class  
   
  1 Week       Difﬁcult
  Medium Class 
   
  2 Weeks    V. Difﬁcult
  Heavy Class  
   
  1 Month     V. Difﬁcult
   
  Time requirements listed here are for a 
  team of three technicians.  Additional technicians 
  will shave ﬁve hours off the time required for each 
  additional tech.  Adding techs. that are not player 
  characters will add to the cost.
  Captain’s Duties
   
  Below is a list of fundamental skills that ev-
  ery Captain/Pilot should be familiar with to at least 
  some degree.
  Starship Piloting
  Craft: Electronic
  Craft: Mechanical
  Knowledge Skill: Technology - Human Gear
  Knowledge Skill: Technology - Hybrid Gear
  Repair
  Starship Gunnery
   
  In addition a ship’s pilot may want to pos-
  sess skills in various vehicles, trade skills, ﬁrearms 
  or brawling and have some social skills to assist 
  in getting the ship and crew past red tape or en-
  tanglements imposed by greedy merchants or bu-
  reaucrats.  The ship’s pilot may also wish to have 
  skills in space suit - EVA and zero gravity ﬁghting. 
  Piloting
   
   
   
   
   
  Little has been introduced in many sci-ﬁ rpgs 
  regarding the little details of day to day ship opera-
  tion.  The emphasis in many books is on combat. 
  I would like to put forward that some of the most 
  gripping sequences in science ﬁction ﬁlms have to 
  do with maneuvering in tight spaces, taking off or 
  landing in dangerous weather or ﬁerce storms, ig-
  noring warnings from an enemy control tower be-
  fore taking off from the runway anyway.
   
  Much of this has been glossed over in pre-
  vious works but I would like to include them here. 
  Not because every director will want to use these 
  ideas in every scenario but so game director’s 
  have these materials to add to their tool box for 
  bringing non-combat actions aboard a starship to 
  life.
   
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  23
  
  Preﬂight
   
  When the ship is in port it is the captain’s 
  responsibility to deal with the port authority, se-
  cure a birth for the ship, pay for any fees and set 
  the ground rules for the shore leave of the crew.
   
  Prior to take off the captain works with the 
  engineer to run through the ship’s preﬂight check 
  list.  He tests all of the control surfaces, runs the 
  engines and fuel pumps through a test, personally 
  tests the fuel levels manually to insure that false 
  readings on gauges don’t place him in space with 
  a half a load of fuel and contacts the radio tower to 
  get in line for take-off.
   
  All of this activity means that the pilot is very 
  busy during preﬂight and will not want to be both-
  ered with problems that the rest of the crew should 
  sort out for themselves.  At least until the ship is 
  safely underway.
  Taking Off
   
  Pilots will face two different scenarios when 
  embarking.  In the ﬁrst and most common scenario 
  the pilot will be taking off from a planetary surface. 
  In the second the pilot will be launching into space 
  out of a conﬁned docking platform at an orbital or 
  deep space station.
  Atmospheric Take Off
   
  While taking off is safer and easier than 
  landing it still holds its own risks and challenges.  
  First and foremost the pilot must decide whether 
  they are waiting in line for clearance or if they are 
  ignoring the tower and taking off anyway.
   
  If the pilot is taking off with the blessings 
  of the tower they will have a clear ﬂight path off 
  of their runway out to a distance of twenty to ﬁfty 
  kilometers as long as they don’t deviate from a 
  straight climb.
   
  If the pilot decides to ignore the tower and 
  take off immediately they face the danger of a pos-
  sible collision with an inbound spacecraft.
   
  Roll on the table below for results.  If an 
  inbound spacecraft is encountered the pilot must 
  make a piloting roll to avoid a collision.
  Spaceport / Colony Size 
       
         Inbound
  Very Small / Outpost 
   
   
  01%
  Small   
   
   
   
   
  03%
  Medium 
   
   
   
   
  05%
  Large  
   
   
   
   
  08%
  Enormous 
   
   
   
   
  10%
   
  It is up to the GM to deﬁne where the star 
  port or colony falls in the ranges listed above.
   
  When taking off from remote locations 
  (away from runways and spaceports) and after 
  take-off from standard spaceports the pilot will 
  want to climb their ship to a safe altitude for ﬂight. 
  A safe altitude is considered one where the pilot 
  has time to recover the starship in the event of an 
  engine failure or other problem.
  Safe Operational Altitudes
   
  A good operational ﬂight altitude to reach 
  is 3,000 feet.  Below 3,000 feet and down to 1,000 
  feet the pilot suffers a negative modiﬁer to their pi-
  loting roll to pull out of a spin or stall should the 
  ship encounter problems.  Starships and starﬁght-
  ers operating below 1,000 feet suffer a -2 penalty 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  24
  
  and ships operating below 500 feet suffer a -4 pen-
  alty.
   
  Weather conditions, turbulence and visibil-
  ity are all challenges that a pilot faces when ﬂying 
  in atmosphere.
   
  Making a safe take-off encompasses the 
  time from when the wheels leave the ground to 
  when the ship is cruising at its operational altitude. 
  The ops. altitude is set by the pilot.
   
  The pilot faces risks of heavy turbulence, 
  radical drops in altitude and loss of control when-
  ever he is ﬂying.  The risks during take-off are out-
  lined below.
  Piloting Table Key
   
   
  The results running across the top of the 
  piloting table reﬂect the pilot’s success or failure 
  at their piloting roll..  Flight is a dynamic, every-
  thing is happening “right now” and “what are you 
  doing about it, right now” sort of activity so pilots 
  may not take extra time to gain a bonus to their 
  skill roll.
  Table results:
  Smooth
   
  Your ﬂying is as smooth as glass.  Not even 
  a bump all the way from the ground to your opera-
  tional altitude.
  Light Turbulence
   
  A few minor bumps here and there but 
  nothing to worry about.  Crew members walking 
  through the craft may need to make an check to 
  keep on their feet if they try to move around during 
  Light Turbulence.
  Bumpy
   
  Ok things are a little rocky.  Crew members 
  and passengers with a thing about ﬂying (fear of 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  25
  Piloting Roll vs. Weather Conditions
  Weather
  Very Bad
  Failure
  Success
  Good
  Excellent
  Calm and 
  Clear
  Bumpy
  Light
   Turbulence
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Windy and 
  Clear
  Heavy
   Turbulence
  Bumpy
  Light 
  Turbulence
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Foggy
  Off Course
  Bumpy
  Light
  Turbulence
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Pea Soup
  Lost
  Off Course
  Light 
  Turbulence
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Rain
  Bumpy 
  Light
   Turbulence
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Storm
  Forced to 
  Land
  Heavy
   Turbulence
  Bumpy
  Light 
  Turbulence
  Smooth
  Snow
  Forced to 
  Land
  Lost 
  Light 
  Turbulence
  Smooth
  Smooth
  Tornado
  Crash
  Crash
  Forced to 
  Land
  Heavy
   Turbulence
  Bumpy
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  26
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  27
  To the left is a full cutaway schemat-
  ic of the Gunslinger Betty produced 
  as large as we could make it for this 
  source book.
  This schematic features a partial 
  cutaway view of one of the primary 
  engines and wing internal structure 
  showing the locations of fuel tanks, 
  hydraulics and ﬂaps.
  What I hope to convey through Mike 
  Doscher’s incredible image here is 
  that life aboard most starships in 
  the Fast Transport class is rather 
  cramped.
  While the Betty does possess a 
  limited number of “creature com-
  forts” compared to traversing a star 
  system in a starﬁghter or snubﬁghter 
  she is still fairly small.
  The tricycle style landing gear fea-
  tured on the Betty is the most com-
  mon type of landing gear produced 
  on starships of this class.  The vast 
  majority of these starships rely on at 
  least some sort of rudimentary land-
  ing ﬁeld, even a dirt ﬁeld or road will 
  sufﬁce in a pinch.
  
  ﬂying) will start to get worried.  Crew members and 
  passengers attempting to move around the ship 
  will face a check any time they attempt to move 
  around to keep on their feet.  Light objects unse-
  cured about the craft may jostle and fall.
  Heavy Turbulence
   
  The ship is pitching and yawing like a ship 
  on the high sea.  Pilot and crew members will likely 
  want to keep themselves strapped into their seats. 
  Unsecured cargo in crew areas or the cargo hold 
  may become dislodged.  Crew members who at-
  tempt to move around face a more challenging 
  roll any time they attempt to move to keep on their 
  feet.
   
  Failing the roll forces the passenger or crew 
  member to take a point of damage from falling or 
  being battered around.  (There’s that light damage 
  class for you.)
  Off Course
   
  Poor visibility has you off course.  Even us-
  ing your instruments you are a little confused and 
  ﬂying in the wrong direction.  Roll a spot roll every 
  ﬁve minutes to ﬁnd your way back on course, or 
  climb up out of the fog, rain or bad weather. In very 
  poor conditions you may be forced to rise out of 
  atmo completely and stage yourself in orbit until 
  conditions clear.
  Lost
   
  You are lost.  Not only do you not know 
  which direction you are headed you are not sure 
  whether your are climbing or descending.  Make 
  an immediate piloting roll and if you fail badly you 
  may wind up crashing the ship into a hill, build-
  ing, mountain, radio tower or some other tall ob-
  stacle.  If you succeed you may climb out of the 
  bad weather or fog.
  Forced to Land
   
  You are forced to land the ship immediate-
  ly.  If you just took off or were landing then you are 
  lucky and may immediately return to land at your 
  point of origin.  Otherwise you must make a roll to 
  spot an open ﬁeld or other suitable location where 
  you might be able to set down your craft.  If you fail 
  to spot a ﬁeld or other suitable spot you may be in 
  for a very unpleasant crash.
  Crash
   
  Flying in severe weather has its risks.  You 
  are going down.  Whether a wind sheer has torn 
  off one of your wings or tail, a stroke of lightning 
  has just blown off one of your engines and most of 
  your wing or you have set her into a ﬂat spin, you 
  are done for.  No amount of fancy tricks is going to 
  recover your bird now.  Choose whether you are 
  going to give the order to bail out and hit the eject 
  button or whether you are going to ride her down 
  into the dirt.  You’ve lost control of the ship and 
  there is no recovering her.  Good luck to you mate, 
  she was a good ship and god save you and your 
  valiant crew.
  Atmospheric Flight
   
  During atmospheric ﬂight make a roll on 
  the piloting table once every 1d4 hours.  Starships 
  must use tactical ﬂight any time they are ﬂying in 
  the atmosphere.  Attempting to use system drives 
  while ﬂying in an atmosphere is a bad idea.  It will 
  result in an immediate and massive build up of fric-
  tion, heat and structural stress which will tear the 
  ship into teeny, tiny pieces and scatter the remains 
  over many, miles.
   
  All starships have a fail safe system that in-
  sures that the system drive can not engage any 
  time an atmosphere is detected around the gravity 
  drive.
  Flying into and out of conﬁned spaces
   
  So you want to pilot your starship into the 
  ice caverns of that asteroid and weave your way 
  through the tunnels in order to shake those snub 
  ﬁghters.  Well ﬂyboy, such things are possible but 
  should not be attempted by rookie pilots or those 
  with weak hearts.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  28
  
   
  The real trick to ﬂying in and out of conﬁned 
  spaces is your starship speed.  Of course you 
  must be ﬂying at tactical speeds in order to have 
  any real maneuverability in the ﬁrst place.
   
  Flying into a docking bay at extremely low 
  speeds is safe and just about any rookie pilot can 
  pull it off.  Spiraling between giant ice shards at 
  your maximum combat speed is another thing al-
  together.
   
  As usual we’ve created a simple table for 
  Directors to reference so they have some simple 
  tools on hand for dealing with these special case 
  situations.
  Starship Speed 
   
   
  Piloting DC
  500 ft. per combat round 
   
  No Roll
  1000 ft. per combat round  
  Easy as Pie
  2000 ft. per combat round  
  Easy
  4000 ft per combat round  
  Moderate
  6000 ft per combat round  
  Difﬁcult
  8000 ft per combat round  
  Very Difﬁcult
  10,000 ft per combat round  
  Ridiculous
  12,000 ft per combat round  
  Godlike
  Beyond 15,000 ft round 
   
  Impossible
  Even with serious augmentations it is impossible 
  for any species, human, or alien to ﬂy in conﬁned 
  spaces at speeds greater than 15,000 feet per 
  combat round (assuming the combat round is 10 
  seconds long) without taking an enormous dirt 
  nap.
  The System Drive
   
  The navigator will input course information 
  into their computer which will in turn lock the infor-
  mation into your instruments.  In space it is your 
  responsibility to keep the ship ﬂying on course.
   
  Engaging the impulse drive takes about a 
  full minute once the drive has cooled down and is 
  ready to go.  When a ship leaves system travel to 
  engage tactical speeds the gravity drive requires 
  an hour of system recovery time before it is ready 
  to re-engage the system drive.
   
  Course changes when ﬂying at impulse 
  speeds are very gradual.  Even if you throw the 
  stick hard to the side your course will alter only 
  slightly over a long period of time and over a vast 
  distance of space.  Dramatic maneuvers are im-
  possible when traveling with the system drive en-
  gaged.  Careful course plots, planning and hop-
  ping back down to tactical speeds to make any 
  major course changes is vital.
   
  When ﬂying at system speeds your only 
  real concern as the pilot is how and when you want 
  to punch out of system speeds and drop back into 
  tactical for maneuvering.
  Tactical Drive
   
  A starship’s tactical drive allows the star-
  ship to maneuver, dogﬁght, dock with a space sta-
  tion, enter orbit or land on a planet’s surface.
   
  When a pilot engages the tactical drive it 
  immediately cuts out the ship’s impulse drive sys-
  tem at a range of 5,000 to 10,000 kilometers from 
  their intended destination.
   
  Keep in mind that the ship is hurtling along 
  at 1,700 kilometers per second.  At a distance of 
  5,000 kilometers the starship is literally seconds 
  away from blazing past or driving right into their 
  intended destination.
   
  All navigation computers have an automat-
  ed cut out for the ship’s system drive system so 
  the ship will safely leave system speeds 10,000 
  kilometers from its intended destination.  Some 
  hotshot pilots will deactivate this system and at-
  tempt to cut out the drive manually so they can 
  perform a hot burn into their destination.  Hot burn 
  maneuvers are usually performed by smugglers, 
  pilots who wish to eliminate as much tactical drive 
  time as possible to avoid interception or military 
  pilots attempting to achieve the greatest level of 
  surprise during an attack.
  Hot Burn
   
  Performing a hot burn requires the pilot 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  29
  
  make a difﬁcult piloting roll.  Failure on this roll in-
  dicates that the pilot has punched out early or late. 
  Roll two different colored d10.  One die is posi-
  tive result and the other is negative.  Compare the 
  difference between the two rolls and that is how 
  many seconds the pilot punched out early or late. 
  If the rolls are equal the pilot has punched out on 
  time but more through sheer luck than skill.
   
  Merciful GM’s that we are, a late punch out 
  merely indicates that the pilot has missed their 
  destination and does not require that the pilot roll 
  to avoid burying the nose of their starship into the 
  side of the space station they were intent to hot 
  burn near.
  Example:
   
  Starﬁghter Pilot Valerie performs a hot burn 
  in her Hurricane Starﬁghter.  The target distance 
  she wants to punch out at is 1,000 kilometers.  At 
  that distance and ﬂying at her starﬁghter’s top tac-
  tical speed of Mach 2, she will be upon her  target 
  in just under 24 minutes. If she punches out a sec-
  ond late or early she will still be in good shape at 
  that distance.
  Unfortunately Valerie blows her roll,  punching out 
  perfectly is a difﬁcult maneuver after all.  She rolls 
  1d10 for early and 1d10 for late times and rolls a 
  ﬁve for her early time and a two for her late time. 
  The difference between the two rolls places her 
  punching out three seconds early.
   
  Valerie’s actual distance punching out is 
  1,700 kilometers X 3 + 1,000 kilometers (her target 
  distance) or 6,100 kilometers out from her target.
   
  At top speed Valerie’s starﬁghter will take 
  well over three and a half hours to reach her tar-
  get.
  Jump Space Travel
  Star Diving
   
  Martian gravity drive technology relies upon 
  the presence of a massive gravity body, such as a 
  star, or in some cases a super gas giant or gas gi-
  ant to slingshot a starship into an alternate space-
  time state known as jump space.
   
  The ship’s navigational computer will plot a 
  course for the pilot to follow that provides the cor-
  rect trajectory for the starship to follow during the 
  star dive.  A count down allows the co-pilot or engi-
  neer to activate the starship’s gravity drive system 
  at the optimum moment to effect a jump.
   
  During a star dive the pilot lowers a series 
  of armored blast plates that cover the green house 
  nose and all of the exposed glass-steel surfaces 
  of the vessel so crew are not exposed to the direct 
  glare of the star.
   
  Blast coverings are lowered approximately 
  24 hours prior to the starship making jump while 
  the starship remains reasonably distant from the 
  star.  Flying a starship blind, using the instruments 
  to guide you while the starship experiences rising 
  internal temperatures despite the best efforts of 
  the ship’s life support system can be a bit hair rais-
  ing.  All pilots ﬂy their ship by instrument through-
  out a star dive.
   
  During a star dive Starships have been 
  known (rarely) to have their gravity drive fail.  This 
  occasional disaster results in stories of doomed 
  ships with ailed drives ﬂaming out into the heart of 
  a star. Thankfully these occurrences are rare but 
  swapping stories about the Flying Dutchman or 
  Boyd Rukkerman’s doomed Lucky Gambler helps 
  to pass the time, particularly when rookie crew 
  members come aboard.
   
  Performing a star dive in the Gunslinger 
  Betty requires the pilot to make an easy piloting 
  maneuver.  A failure indicates that the starship is 
  slipping off course and although the jump will go 
  through the starship may appear almost anywhere 
  in the target star system rather than at the usual 
  re-entry point approximately one quarter AU from 
  the target star.  Roll 1d10 for the number of AU’s 
  distant the re-entry occurs from the target star.
   
  A critical failure indicates a threat of a jump 
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  The Gunslinger Betty
  30
  
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  The Gunslinger Betty
  31
  
  system failure.  The engineer must make a moder-
  ate starship engineering roll amidst a great clamor 
  of alarms and system warnings to manually acti-
  vate the jump drive.  Otherwise the jump drive fails 
  to activate and the pilot must then effect an emer-
  gency maneuver to abort the star dive.
   
  The emergency maneuver to abort the star 
  dive is called an escape maneuver.  The pilot has 
  one and only one chance to make this moderate 
  roll.  At this point the vessel is hurtling into the 
  heart of the star.  Surfaces inside the ship are be-
  coming more than warm to the touch.  The edges 
  around the armored plates lowered over the ship’s 
  view ports are beginning to glow.
   
  Failure to make the escape roll leaves the 
  pilot with only one last option.  They must activate 
  the ship’s gravity drive and hope to be thrown 
  clear of the star and into jump space.  The results 
  of this attempt are left solely up to the game Direc-
  tor.  Either the starship burns up in the ﬁery heart 
  of the star or the starship enters jump space and 
  emerges in any system within 2d10 light years.
   
  Alternatively a Director can opt to have 
  the vessel appear in a distant part of unexplored 
  space with just enough information in their naviga-
  tion books to plot a course from system to system 
  back towards home but no other information what-
  soever.  The players may encounter all manner of 
  adventures during their attempt to bring their ship 
  back to colonized space.
  Cargo Hold and Crew Staterooms
   
  This Spartan central chamber on The Betty 
  serves as both home and cargo hold.  The car-
  go hold and crew staterooms area are separated 
  by the cockpit compartment emergency pressure 
  door on one end and the radar room pressure door 
  on the other end.  Both of these doors are kept 
  secured during routine space operations.
   
  Each crew stateroom has four hammocks 
  with only two strung into position at the same time. 
  The extra hammocks are rolled up and stowed 
  against one of the bulkheads so crew mates do not 
  need to share hammocks but can rearrange things 
  depending upon who is on-duty during a ﬂight and 
  who is off.
   
  Accommodations are available for eight 
  crew so The Betty can carry an additional scien-
  tist, medical ofﬁcer, engineer or even a passenger 
  along with its seven person crew compliment.  At 
  least two crewmen are on duty even when the ship 
  is on the ground (usually standing watch) when 
  the other crewmen rest.  Should the crew ever get 
  a real break and ﬁnd that The Betty could be se-
  cured in a hanger facility they might enjoy the eve-
  ning off the ship completely.  Avoid making it im-
  possible for the entire crew (or least all the player 
  characters) to leave the ship to be involved in an 
  adventure.  Hangers should be available with suf-
  ﬁcient security to keep the ship safe in most ports. 
  Where security is questionable it can be bribed or 
  purchased to insure that the ship is not tampered 
  with.  Nobody wants to show up to a game and 
  spend the entire adventure sitting in the ship while 
  everyone else goes off to explore the alien ruins or 
  the pirate bunker.
   
  Real shore leave is a high point for any star-
  ship crew.  Crew mates want a break.
   
  Every crewman has their own full sized 
  locker for stowing personal items and a second 
  temperature controlled mini locker overhead where 
  perishables can be stored between ﬂights.  An ad-
  ditional locker for each crewman is located in the 
  radio room.  This brings the total personal locker 
  space to two large and two small lockers for every 
  crewman on board the ship.
  Emergency Oxygen Tanks
   
  A pair of emergency oxygen tanks identical 
  to those found in the rest of the ship are located 
  under the deck in each crew stateroom.  These 
  can not be removed or opened easily by unbolting 
  an access panel in the ﬂoor of the ship. A crewman 
  in a space suit can rest in a hammock while plug-
  ging in to the emergency oxygen supply stored 
  here.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  32
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  33
  
  Smuggling
   
  One smugglers trick is stowing illegal or 
  contraband goods inside of the drum-like housing 
  of the emergency oxygen tanks stowed beneath 
  the ﬂoor plates of the starship.  A smuggler can 
  gain several gallons of hidden storage by gutting 
  two of the emergency oxygen containers and con-
  verting them over for this use.
  Inﬂatable Life Raft
   
  A standard United States Navy inﬂatable 
  rubber life raft is stowed in an overhead compart-
  ment here.  The raft is large enough to accommo-
  date six crewmen and includes two oars, a com-
  pass and small survival kit.
   
  Eleven life preserves are located on board 
  , one under each chair in the cockpit, one under 
  the navigator’s chair, one under the radar / radio 
  operator’s chair, one in each turret and four more 
  stowed in various marked locations around the 
  cargo bay.
  The Crane and Lift
   
  The crane is powerful enough to lift up to 20 
  tons of equipment.
  Cargo Capacity and Trim
   
  The cargo hold has a posted maximum ca-
  pacity of 25 tons.  The Betty begins handling a little 
  heavy in the stick starting around 15 tons.
   
  Starting at 15 tons and for every 5 tons of 
  additional cargo The Betty loses 500 feet of tacti-
  cal movement and suffers a –1 to initiative bonus in 
  combat. 
  Flying over the cargo limit
   
  It is possible to ﬂy The Betty over her post-
  ed load limit but she becomes extremely lubberly 
  and slow.  For every ton over her posted maximum 
  cargo weight add a penalty to all piloting maneu-
  vers including take-off and landings.
  Example:
   
   The Betty is packed with machine compo-
  nents that can be packed tightly but which com-
  prise some signiﬁcant weight.  The total cargo 
  weight comes to 30 tons.  30 tons exceeds the 15 
  ton limit before impacting ﬂight performance by 15 
  tons.  Every ﬁve tons beyond 15 reduces the tacti-
  cal speed of The Betty by 500 feet so The Betty is 
  reduced to a maximum tactical speed of 1,500 feet 
  per combat round.  This is even with burning both 
  the primary and secondary engines at full burn. 
  To avoid an engine burn out in the secondary en-
  gines the pilot will operate The Betty at a speed of 
  1,000 feet per combat round unless an emergency 
  occurs.
   
  Exceeding the 25 ton maximum cargo limit 
  by 5 tons stacks a –5 piloting skill penalty.  Every 
  piloting maneuver including take-off, landing, star 
  dive and combat maneuvering the pilot faces a –5 
  penalty for operating the vessel over its maximum 
  cargo capacity.
  The Radar Compartment
  Ship’s Head
   
  Beyond the cargo hold’s pressure door is 
  the ship’s head.  The toilet can be modiﬁed to be 
  used in zero gravity should artiﬁcial gravity fail. 
  The ship’s artiﬁcial gravity generator allows the 
  head to be used in the usual manner during nor-
  mal ﬂight operations.
   
  The ship’s central life support unit and pri-
  mary gyroscope are both located in the radar com-
  partment.  The radar / radioman’s seat is designed 
  to slide back and forth between all of the controls 
  for the ship’s sensors and the main panel for the 
  life support system.
  Recycling Unit
   
  A simple but extremely valuable hybrid piece 
  of technology is enclosed in the deck below the 
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  The Gunslinger Betty
  34
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  35
  
  ship’s head.  This recycling bio-mechanoid device 
  not only eliminates waste products, it shunts the 
  products through a series of ﬁlters that allows the 
  water to be reused.  Waste products are shunted 
  into the engine’s fuel processors which can break 
  down any carbon based material into fuel for the 
  engines.  The fuel produced by recycling ship’s 
  waste is negligible and is only mentioned here be-
  cause waste products are burned up rather than 
  stored for removal later.  
   
  The Betty contains a sink with a medicine 
  cabinet that is shared by the entire crew.  Captain 
  and crew must use the sink to wash up the best 
  that they can during ﬂight ops.  The Betty does not 
  contain the luxury of a shower stall which is typical 
  for Fast Transport class vessels.
  Barbette Magazine 
  and Barbette Controls
   
  The dorsal turret of The Betty is a remote 
  controlled dual .50 caliber gun turret.  A camera 
  system and radar gunnery screen at the radar op-
  erator’s station allows the operator to act as the 
  gunner for this remote turret during combat.  Four 
  magazines of 500 rounds of the .50 caliber M2000 
  Hellion ammunition are stored in ammo feeders 
  overhead.  This allows the Barbette to ﬁre 2,000 
  rounds or 80 individual auto-ﬁre attacks before re-
  loading.  The dorsal barbette is by far the weapon 
  system with the largest ammunition load-out.  The 
  weapon has a 360 degree arc of ﬁre allowing the 
  gun to assist the tail gunner in covering the rear 
  of the ship.  The dorsal guns are not able to cover 
  attacks from below the vessel.
  Crew Lockers
   
   
  Immediately beyond the ship’s head are two 
  banks of lockers that ﬂank the passage into the 
  radar ops work station.  A metal mesh overhead 
  stows personal items and allows crew members 
  to hook hangers for holding ﬂight suits or person-
  al clothing items while they dress.  A pair of fold 
  down seats provides a small measure of comfort 
  while using this area to change.
   
  The lockers are set up with sufﬁcient locker 
  space to provide six crew members with one three 
  foot tall by one foot wide by two feet deep, medium 
  locker and a smaller two feet tall, one foot wide 
  and two foot deep locker space.
   
  The smaller security locker is equipped 
  with a fairly advanced locking system keyed to the 
  crew members personal identiﬁcation card or plas-
  tic key card.  Personal identiﬁcation cards are con-
  structed from a thick layer of Bakelite.  The secu-
  rity locker can be sealed and temperature controls 
  allow items stored there to be cooled.  The small 
  locker will not actually freeze items stowed here 
  but it can be set up to function as a small personal 
  cooler for beers, supplies or personal items that 
  are of a perishable nature.
   
  The cockpit contains an override toggle 
  switch which will automatically unlock all of the 
  smaller security lockers simultaneously.
    
  Medical Locker
   
  The medical locker is a full sized contain-
  er that is ﬁve feet tall, one foot wide and two feet 
  deep.  The equipment in the ship’s medical locker 
  provides a trained medic or physician with a bonus 
  on treating wounds and most common infections 
  or ailments.
   
  The Betty’s medical equipment is currently 
  all “Human Gear” and contains no specialized hy-
  brid equipment for auto healing wounds, burns or 
  auto diagnosing illnesses.  Bandages, splints, pain 
  medication and a limited supply of antibiotics is the 
  current limit of the medical bay.
   
  It is up to the characters to invest time, en-
  ergy and resources into expanding the medical ca-
  pacity on board the Betty if they feel the desire to 
  do so.
  The CXAM Sensor System 
   
  The CXAM sensor system installed in the 
  Betty no longer holds the top spot for military mod-
  el sensors used by North American Space Co. 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  36
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  37
  
  The current cutting edge sensor installed by North 
  American Space Co. is the Type –11.
   
  The CXAM however is a well tested and de-
  pendable sensor system that can be found in most 
  military spacecraft of this class produced by NASC 
  prior to 1933.
   
  The CXAM has an impressive maximum 
  range of 1 AU.  Clear resolutions and details suf-
  ﬁcient for identifying objects can be obtained at 
  ranges of 1,000 kilometers or less depending on 
  the size, shape and mass of the target.
   
  The CXAM draws power from the engines 
  during routine operation but is equipped with a 
  back-up battery secured in the unit’s interior.  This 
  can provide additional power for the unit for up to 
  twenty four hours of continued use.
   
  The CXAM provides the operator with no 
  bonus in spotting and identifying hybrid targets.  It 
  can identify human technology targets (incoming 
  aircraft in atmospheric ﬂight) with a small bonus 
  (+2).  The CXAM faces a penalty (-2) when at-
  tempting to identify and detect spacecraft that are 
  made with purely Martian or advanced Alien tech-
  nologies.
   
  The CXAM emits sensor patterns that 
  are difﬁcult to detect by earlier models.  Sensors 
  constructed prior to 1931 face a penalty when at-
  tempting to detect the system while in operation. 
  The newest Type - 11 sensor and equivalent Ra-
  dar Detection units have a bonus for detecting the 
  older CXAM system while it is in operation.  The 
  newer models of Sensor Detectors being installed 
  by the Reich in their latest ships also have this bo-
  nus (+2) to detect the CXAM system when it is in 
  operation.
  Hybrid Radio Unit
   
  The Radar Ops. Station includes the base 
  station for the starship’s hybrid radio system.  The 
  guts of the radio is secured to the upper right top 
  of the CXAM Sensor.  The radio is wired directly to 
  the cockpit for direct communications with the pilot 
  or co-pilot.  The Radar Ops ofﬁcer doubles as a 
  communications operator and can make ﬁne tun-
  ing adjustments to the radio in an attempt to reach 
  distant vessels or break through an enemy radio 
  jammer.
  Martian Tech. Components
   
  The CXAM as a hybrid unit contains internal 
  Martian components that allow the unit to function 
  in a fashion similar to a standard piece of human 
  radar equipment.
   
  Human crew members with basic mechani-
  cal skills have sufﬁcient training to work on and 
  make repairs to most of the sensor system, but 
  must swap out the Martian components with new 
  replacements.
   
  The Martian components in the CXAM are 
  fairly typical for hybrid equipment, in that they are 
  designed to be modular and can be removed by a 
  human technician with little fuss.  Human techni-
  cians may not repair the bio-mechanoid Martian 
  components without the Xeno Science skill.  
  CXAM - Screens
   
  The CXAM features two screens.  The larger 
  circular screen is the primary sensor display.  The 
  display functions in the same fashion as typical 
  human radar systems, only with a much improved 
  range and capability for identifying targets.
   
  The CXAM has a smaller view screen where 
  the operator can attempt to analyze the sensors on 
  enemy ships operating in the region and attempt 
  to adjust the carry frequency of the CXAM so that 
  it is more difﬁcult to detect by possible foes.
  Passive Sensor Detectors
   
  The CXAM also includes a limited passive 
  sensor detection capability.  This allows the opera-
  tor to tune down the active sensors on board the 
  ship or even shut them down completely and scan 
  passively for the outbound signals of enemy ships 
  operating in the area.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  38
  
   
  The two red dials on the top left of the sys-
  tem indicate the detection of active sensors in the 
  area.  The top indicator can detect the presence 
  of a purely Martian carrier wave the lower dial can 
  detect the signature of a starship as it jumps into 
  or out of a star system.
   
  The passive capabilities of the CXAM are 
  primitive at best.  They do not function effectively 
  when the sensor is operating in active mode.  Any 
  attempts by the operator to use the CXAM in its 
  passive capacity faces at the minimum a Difﬁcult 
  skill attempt.
   
  The red dial on the bottom of the CXAM in-
  dicates the presence of a standard hybrid sensor 
  in operation.  The CXAM has sufﬁcient capabilities 
  to detect active sensors at a range of up to .10 
  AU.
   
  Human radar systems are easier to detect. 
  The CXAM can detect a human gear radar system 
  in operation at a range of .10 AU with a bonus (+4) 
  to detect and identify the target.
  Sensor Masking and Sensor Burn
   
  The Radar Operator can sacriﬁce a point 
  from their chance to detect a target object in order 
  to make their own system more difﬁcult to detect.  
   
  The Radar Operator may sacriﬁce up to ﬁve 
  points at a single time in order to mask the op-
  eration of their sensor system but will face greater 
  and greater difﬁculties in using the system suc-
  cessfully.
   
  Conversely the operator may gain a +1 bo-
  nus to their sensor scans by burning some bat-
  tery power to boost their signal.  Up to a +3 can 
  be gained but enemy units gain a +2 to detect the 
  system for every +1 the operator gives himself 
  during the sensor burn.  Every full combat round 
  the sensors are operated in this artiﬁcially boosted 
  fashion the operator drains a full hour of battery 
  time out of the sensor’s reserve battery supply. 
  The Wright Cyclone
  Class C - Gravity Drive 
   
  The Wright Cyclone Gravity Drive partially 
  dismantled and illustrated on page 31 is a mod-
  ular design that allows easy access to all of the 
  engine’s major components.
   
  Many of the its parts are made from martian 
  materials which have been formed into structures 
  that mirror familiar human technology.  Most me-
  chanics feel comfortable working with the technol-
  ogy in these engines with the exception of the core 
  components which are far too sophisticated and 
  alien to approach without very specialized train-
  ing.
   
  The upper structure of the engine is the 
  engine’s jump drive super charger.  The super 
  charger is necessary for the Fah’Zol Gravity Drive 
  engine nacelle below to make the transition from 
  maximum system speeds to jump space.
   
  The stripped Pratt and Whitney Type-B 
  drives mounted on the tail have their super char-
  gers and related components removed.  The re-
  moval of the super chargers and some of the relat-
  ed internal components greatly reduces the weight 
  of these engines, although now they function only 
  as impulse drives.
   
  Engineers at North American Space Co. 
  have installed an engine cowling which allows the 
  pilot to vent heat from each of the four engines 
  more effectively during atmospheric ﬂight.  This 
  feature was added late in production after combat 
  trials demonstrated heat problems in the Pratt and 
  Whitney engines when operating at full capacity. 
  The introduction of the modiﬁed engine cowling 
  was an attempt to solve this design ﬂaw but it has 
  met with only moderate success.
   
  Many pilots run this model of starship’s sec-
  ondary engines at half throttle to take a measure 
  of the work load off of the primary engines dur-
  ing ﬂight but otherwise avoid pushing the engines 
  hard due to concerns about overheating or over-
  taxing them.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  39
  
  Pratt and Whitney Engines and Heat
   
  If the Betty is caught in a situation where 
  her secondary engines must be pushed (the star-
  ship is made to travel at maximum tactical speed 
  for ﬁve combat rounds consecutively) the engineer 
  must make a moderate engineering roll to keep 
  the secondary engines from overheating.  Each 
  additional combat round that the engines maintain 
  full tactical speed the engineer faces an increased 
  difﬁculty to the target roll.
   
  If the engineer fails in their roll then one of 
  the engines (roll randomly) will begin to red line 
  and smoke.  If speed is not reduced from full in 1d4 
  combat rounds then the engine will burn out and 
  fail.
   
  A burned out engine will result in the Bet-
  ty losing movement off of her maximum tactical 
  speed.  Continued pushing of the remaining sec-
  ondary may result in the second engine failing. 
  Thankfully in the Betty this does not result in the 
  starship suffering any other hardship than a loss 
  of speed but this may produce a serious hazard 
  for a vessel attempting an escape from prolonged 
  combat.  
  The Ball Turret
   
  The ball turret gunner gains entry to this po-
  sition through a hatch that can be secured with its 
  own atmosphere tight seal.  The turret spins using 
  an electric traverse motor operated by the gunner 
  from their seat inside the ball.  A gyroscope in-
  stalled next to the turret’s oxygen tank works with 
  the controls and motor to swing the gun and turret 
  into position in response to the gunner’s controls.
   
  The belly turret relies on the radar operator 
  or one of the other gunners to secure them into 
  their position.  The turret door must be bolted into 
  position by fastening a series of locking bolts that 
  can only be latched or unlatched from within the 
  spacecraft.  The interior hatch from the ship into 
  the ball turret must be locked in the “closed” posi-
  tion before the guns will come on line or the mo-
  tor will traverse the turret.  This is a safety feature 
  which protects both the gunner when climbing 
  down into the ball from accidently traversing the 
  turret and nearby ships or structures from an acci-
  dental discharge of the weapons while the gunner 
  is climbing in and out of this extremely tight spot.
   
  A gunner ﬁtted with a parachute requires 
  one full combat round to squeeze down into the 
  turret and into position.  A second combat round 
  is required to secure the locking bolts into place 
  so that the ball turret becomes active.  A gunner 
  without a chute can drop down into the turret with 
  more speed (half a combat round) but the hatch 
  still requires the same amount of time to secure.
   
  Communications within the belly turret is 
  maintained through the ship’s intercom system. 
  The gunner does not have control over their inter-
  com other than to toggle it on or off.
   
  The schematic shows one of the turret’s .50 
  caliber Hellions removed from its bracket.  When 
  the gun is installed in the turret the feed cover on 
  the top of the gun, receiver and frizzen are located 
  inside of the turret.  The gunner has full access to 
  the gun to drop a new magazine into it for reload-
  ing.  The ball turret is not large enough to contain 
  more than one reserve 500 round belt.  The gun-
  ner must call to another crewman during combat, 
  have their turret hatch unbolted and have the new 
  belt passed into the turret to reload should they 
  run out.  This event is unlikely.  It is far more likely 
  that the Betty will be destroyed if a combat lasts so 
  long that the belly gun runs completely out of both 
  its standard and reserve belt.
   
  Reloading in the ball turret is such a 
  cramped and slow process (3 Full Combat Rounds 
  with help!) that most experienced gunners will 
  conserve their ammunition and avoid running their 
  guns dry early in a combat.
   
  A secondary access hatch is located in the 
  underside of the ball turret.  This escape hatch is 
  constructed as the back of the seat that holds the 
  gunner curled into position.  An emergency re-
  lease button protected by a metal plate is located 
  over the gunners head.  Smacking the plate to the 
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  40
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  41
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  42
  side arms the emergency release.  Punching the 
  red emergency release button cycles a light from 
  green to yellow to blinking red to releasing the 
  emergency hatch.
   
  The emergency hatch is designed to allow 
  the ball turret gunner to topple backwards out of 
  the gun so they can bail out if the spacecraft is 
  going down in a planetary atmosphere.  The ball 
  turret is so small that gunners complain that they 
  can barely ﬁt inside of the device with their para-
  chute.  Without a parachute the emergency hatch 
  may save the gunner from burning alive in a ship 
  going down but will certainly not save their life. 
  Tail Gunner’s Position:
   
  The tail gun position in the Betty is accessed 
  by the last emergency pressure hatch in the ship. 
  The tail gunner operates two linked 20mm S9 can-
  nons.  The cannons replace the B-25A’s rear .30 
  caliber guns and signiﬁcantly improves cover for 
  the rear of the spacecraft.
   
  The tail position features a range indicator 
  that is linked with the CXAM sensor system.  This 
  special range indicator emits a sound pulse into 
  the headset of the tail gunner when a potential tar-
  get moves into the rear arc of ﬁre.   The gunner 
  may either clear this target or allow it to remain 
  designated as an enemy target with the ﬂip of a 
  thumb toggle. 
   
  The rising and falling tone in the gunner’s 
  headset provides a secondary clue which coupled 
  with the range indicator’s digital readout helps 
  identify the optimum ﬁring range for the explosive 
  rounds ﬁred by the cannons.
   
  The tail turret is equipped with two stacked 
  magazines for the S9s.  This provides the weapon 
  with a 1,000 round ammunition capacity prior to 
  requiring reloading or up to twenty pulls of the trig-
  ger.
   
  Reloading the 20mm cannons is time con-
  suming and frankly impossible to perform during 
  ﬂight without performing a space walk.  To reload 
  the 20’s an engineer or gunner must access the 
  feed belt and feed covers from the exterior, under-
  side of the craft.
   
  The 20mm cannons are loaded with high 
  explosive rounds that are fused to explode either 
  upon impact or automatically at a range of 3,000 
  feet behind the spacecraft.
   
  Proximity attacks that miss the intended the 
  target by a mere point or two on the to hit roll still 
  inﬂict half damage from the round’s proximity ex-
  plosion.  
  Tail Gunner Armor
   
  The tail gunner is protected by ballistic plate 
  armor installed in the tail and the strength of the 
  tail turret’s glass steel.
   
  A small electric cooling fan helps keep 
  the air circulating through the tail and keeps the 
  cramped compartment a little more comfortable 
  for the tail gunner during atmospheric ﬂight opera-
  tions.  A modest electric heater helps keep the tail 
  gunner warmer during jump operations although 
  the tail gun position and other turrets are rarely 
  manned during jump space travel.  As far as any-
  one is aware starships do not encounter one an-
  other in jump space and nothing “natural” lives or 
  grows in jump space to be a threat to a vessel trav-
  eling there, at least not via an outside attack on the 
  craft.
   
  Turrets and the tail gunner position are 
  some of the ﬁrst locations to become quite cold. 
  Many B-25B commanders seal off these areas 
  during jump drive travel and concentrate ship’s life 
  support resources into the central and vital com-
  partments of the ship.
  Other Features
  Landing Gear
   
   
  The Betty’s tricycle landing gear requires at 
  least a modest, primitive landing ﬁeld to be pre-
  pared for a safe landing.  Landing the starship in 
  
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  43
  
  an open ﬁeld risks damage to the landing gear 
  tires or to the struts themselves.
   
  The Betty has a rugged undercarriage that 
  can withstand a fair amount of abuse on take-off 
  and landing but she is far from being a vertical 
  take-off and landing craft.
   
  Pilots of The Gunslinger Betty must take-off 
  and land the starship the old fashion way
  Belly Landings
   
  The Betty is capable of effecting a belly land-
  ing on the ground or in water.  The Betty will not 
  remain on the surface of a body of water for long 
  following a belly landing.  The crew must evacu-
  ate the ship, making use of the ship’s escape boat 
  and vests within ﬁve combat rounds of landing on 
  water before The Betty begins to sink.  The Betty 
  can remain water tight below the water’s surface 
  for a long time so long as her hull remains intact. 
  Chances are quite good that whatever damaged 
  the Betty sufﬁciently to force a water landing has 
  violated the integrity of her hull and that much of 
  her will ﬁll with water.  
  Starship Record: The Gunslinger Betty
  B-25B Mitchel Assault
  Heavy Fast Transport Class
  Cockpit 
   
  03 Slots
  Nose Hard point 
  04 Slots
  Dorsal Hard point 
  05 Slots
  Ventral Hard point 04 Slots
  Left Wing 
   
  05 Slots
  Right Wing 
   
  05 Slots
  Fuselage 
   
  13 Slots
  Tail Hard point 
  07 Slots
  Equipment and Locations
  Cockpit 
  1 Slot Fire Control System
   
   
  1 Slot Emergency Pressure Door  
   
   
  System
   
   
  8 mm Armored Plate
   
   
  30 mm Armored Windscreen  
   
   
   
  (Glass Steel) 
   
   
  1 Slot Dual Seat Ejection
  Nose  
  1 Slot Navigator’s Lab with
   
   
  Darkroom
   
   
  1 Slot 90mm Armored Windscreen  
   
   
  (Glass Steel)
   
   
  8mm Armored Plate
   
   
  2 Slots .50 Cal Hellion
  Dorsal  
  4 Slots 2x .50 Cal Hellion in remote
   
   
  control barbette
   
   
  1 Slot Additional Ammo Supply
  Ventral 
  4 Slots 2x .40 Cal Hellion in Belly
   
   
  Turret
  Left Wing 
  4 Slots Wright Cyclone Engine
   
   
  1 Slot 1,000 Liters Fuel
  Right Wing 
  4 Slots Wright Cyclone Engine
   
   
  1 Slot  1,000 Liters Fuel
  Fuselage 
  1 Slot Medium Airframe
   
   
  3 Slots CXAM Sensor System
   
   
  1 Slot  Hybrid Radio System
   
   
  2 Slots Crew Quarters
   
   
  1 Slot  Radar / Radio Lab
   
   
  2 Slots 25 Tons
   
   
  1 Slot  1,000 Liters Fuel
  Tail 
   
  4 Slots  2x 20mm S9 Cannons
   
   
  1 Slot    Expanded Ammo Magazine
   
   
  1 Slots  Stripped Pratt and Whitney
   
   
  1 Slots  Stripped Pratt and Whitney
  Tonnage 
   
  150 Tons
  Tactical Speed 
  Single Engine  Moderate (+)
   
   
   
  Twin Engines   Fast (-)
   
   
   
   
   
   
  All Engines    Fast(+)*
  Fuel  
   
  3,000 Liters
  *Remember engine burn out rolls are required 
  when all four engines are ﬁring at full power.  When 
  all four engines are ﬁring the Betty is considered to 
  be “running hot” making her an easier target to de-
  tect with enemy sensors.
  Introducing the “Heavy” class vessel
   
  The Betty is an example of a Heavy Fast 
  Transport.  Heavy Fast Transports possess be-
  tween 40 and 60 available slots which may be 
  pushed and pulled into different locations when 
  designing speciﬁc starship models.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  44
  
   
  Any heavy class of vessel will tend to be 
  bumped up one full tonnage level on the vehicle 
  size charts related to engines and engine perfor-
  mance.  Thus the Betty which would have normally 
  been spec’d out as a vessel around 50 tons jumps 
  up into the 101-500 Ton category.
   
  Heavy atmo-capable transports likewise 
  begin ten slots higher in capacity than their stan-
  dard atmo-capable cousins. Heavy atmo-capable 
  vessels are still limited to the upwards tonnage 
  range in size but tend to be more heavily armored, 
  armed and durable than their lighter counterparts.
  Thanks to our Readers
   
  Many thanks for picking up this ﬁrst edition 
  of our series spotlighting starships designed spe-
  ciﬁcally as primary vessels for player characters.  I 
  hope you enjoyed reading through these pages as 
  much as I enjoyed writing them for you.
   
  A very special thank you goes out to Mike 
  Doscher whose creative genius with the pen 
  brought to life most of the illustrations found within 
  this volume.  Mike, thanks!  I could -not- have pro-
  duced this book without you.
   
  Please visit our web site and forums fre-
  quently at www.rocketshipempires.com.  We have 
  at least two more books planned for release in 
  February of 2008 and many other exciting RE proj-
  ects on the horizon in the second quarter of 2008. 
  Why not drop by and make your recommendations 
  for how we can improve, what starships you would 
  like to see modeled in future books or share with 
  us news from your personal Rocketship Empires 
  campaign.
  I would love to hear from you.
  This is Edward
  ...signing off.
  Rocketship Empires 1936
  The Gunslinger Betty
  45
  
  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
  Coming in February
  2008
  We are proud to present our 
  ﬁrst region book in February 
  of 2008.
  “In Fury Triumphant” cov-
  ers the star systems present 
  within the borders of Spain’s 
  nationalized corridor.
  This book presents dozens 
  of plot hooks and adventure 
  ideas, star system maps, en-
  counter maps and the details 
  of the unfolding civil war in 
  Spain.
  Join our Forums
  www.rocketshipempires.com
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Rocketship Empires 1936/Rocketship Empires 1936 The Gunslinger Betty.pdf