TEXT:  
   
   
  
   
  Preface 
   
  Starship Kit 
  Volume 2 – Size & shape 
   
  Your species or corporation has finally 
  achieved a dream that almost every species 
  has, to leave their home world and travel to 
  the stars. 
   
  Your ship has a name, but how big is it? What 
  is its shape? What about its colour? 
   
  This is part 2 of the Starship Kit.  
  Future parts will include: 
   
  Ship role & type  
   
  Ship systems 
   
  Captain & crew 
   
  Weapons 
   
  Defence systems 
   
  Special Features 
   
  Operation Modes 
   
  Cargo, both legal and illegal 
   
  Ship Quirks 
   
  Technobabble for that “authentic” 
  sounding description of parts and 
  equipment 
   
  You do not need to have all the parts in the kit 
  to use them, but it does help and is 
  recommended. 
   
  There will also be several supplements with 
  examples and pre-generated samples, but 
  these are not required. 
   
   
  Coming Next 
   
  Starship Kit Volume 3 -  
  Will cover: 
   
  Type & Role of the ship 
   
  Is it military or civilian? 
   
  What type of military ship is it? 
   
  What’s the ship main task 
   
  Is it a prototype or mass-produced? 
   
   
   
   
  Credits & Legal 
   
   
  www.enneadgames.com 
   
  Twitter: @enneadgames 
   
  Copyright 
  Ennead Games ©2012 
   
  Cover Border 
  © Empty Room Studios Publishing 
   
  Page background 
  "Publisher's Choice Quality Stock art  
  ©Rick Hershey/Fat Goblin Games" 
   
   
  Products available at: 
   Paizo 
  Drivethru 
  D20pfsrd 
   
  Contents 
   
  Preface ............................................................ 2 
  Coming Next ............................................... 2 
  Credits & Legal ................................................ 2 
  Size, shape & style .......................................... 3 
  Size .............................................................. 3 
  Shape .......................................................... 5 
  Style .......................................................... 14 
  Colours and Patterns ................................ 19 
  Upcoming Products ........................................... 20 
   
   
   
  
   
   
  3 
   
  Size, shape & style 
   
  hen your sensors first pick up a ship 
  in the distance, know the size shape 
  and style can often help you 
  determine what kind of threat or problem you 
  may be facing.  
   
  Picture this: You are in a 100 crew Heavy 
  Cruiser and approached by a small 2 person 
  fighter demanding you leave their space or 
  face their wrath. Rightly so, you tell them to 
  go home to their mothers, so they call in 
  reinforcements 
  and 
  a 
  huge 
  Mega 
  Dreadnaught with a crew in the thousands 
  appears from behind the nearby small moon 
  with a massive charge seeming to build within 
  it. Chances are in the first case, you would 
  win…in the second you’d probably be space 
  dust, so you decide to activate the jump drive 
  and go home. 
   
  Size 
   
  The size of the ship can determine many 
  things. 
  From 
  how 
  many 
  weapon 
  emplacements it may have to the maximum 
  amount of crew it can support. 
   
  This system is highly simplified to keep record 
  keeping down.  
   
  The basic rule is the bigger the ship the more 
  sub-systems it has. Bigger systems, like 
  weapons, require other systems which in turn 
  increase the size which means a bigger engine 
  etc. 
   
  As such, these size categories are rather broad 
  but you know that a size 5 ship will be smaller 
  than a size 10, but bigger than size 2.  
   
  This becomes more important for ships that 
  carry other ships, such as shuttles or the 
  fighters carried by a carrier class ship. 
   
   
   
   
   
  Every group has a different classing structure 
  for the size of vessels. One group may class 
  any ship with size 5 or less as a fighter, but for 
  another that number may be 30, with their 
  Heavy Capital Class Dreadnaughts being over 
  1000! 
   
  Keep in mind that the size and nature of the 
  crew the ship is designed for will have a huge 
  impact on the size of the ship. A vessel 
  designed for beings 6 foot tall is not suitable 
  for creatures 12 foot in height for example. 
  “The more complex the life form, the more 
  complex the ship” is a good rule to follow. 
   
  This is more for descriptive purpose than 
  anything else and for setting a standard to 
  work by.  You may find it handy to keep all 
  ships to the same standard across all races 
  and groups. 
   
  If the ship is manned it needs at least the 
  following: 
   
  Life support (including somewhere for 
  the crew to work) 
   
  Propulsion & fuel storage 
   
  Computing system 
   
  This will be covered in more detail in the next 
  part, but for now bare this in mind.  The larger 
  the ship the more it can do, but the more 
  expensive and complex it becomes. 
   
  Unmanned or automated ships can be a lot 
  smaller, but are either: 
   
   
  Dumb, almost like missiles 
   
  Have sophist aced AI, but this radically 
  increases costs and complexity, plus 
  most AI’s have trouble dealing with 
  events outside their programming 
   
  As with manned ships, the larger the unmade 
  vessels are, the more they can do.  If the size 
  is kept the same as the manned equivalent 
  then the extra space taken up by life support 
  may be given over to more sophisticated 
  weapons, or increased fuel supply or anything 
  else.  
   
   
  W 
  
   
  Scale 
   
  When making the map or outlines of your 
  ship(s), you will obviously not be able to draw 
  it life size. So you need to scale it. A good 
  scale system is one that can be used in 
  multiples. Such as 1 square on your grid/map 
  is equal to 5 feet, or 10, or even more. 
   
  This comes in handy when comparing ships 
  and vessels of various sizes, especially when 1 
  is very small and the other is very large. 
   
  One thing you should never do is to mix scales 
  on one map. This leads to problems when 
  laying out the ship and its components. 
   
  Something else to bear in mind is the larger 
  your maps and the smaller the scale, the more 
  detail you can fit in.  However you entire ship 
  may not then fit on your map. 
   
  If your outline is too large then the simple 
  solution is to split it up into 4(or more) parts, 
  then zoom-in on those parts. 
   
  For example, let’s say the ship outline below 
  was the one you decided on. The scale below 
  is 1 square = 100 feet. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Then simply divide the map up into 4, as 
  shown: 
   
   
   
   
   
  Then you zoom in. As the previous map scale 
  was 100 feet per square, it is now ¼ of the 
  size, or in other words each square is now 25 
  feet.  The top left section of the above map 
  would now look like this: 
   
   
   
  This process can be repeated as many times 
  as needed. Labelling the sections in some kind 
  of logical fashion is highly recommended, such 
  as 1 being the top right, 2 being the top left, 
  etc. Then repeating the process the further 
  detailed you go, 1.1 being the top left of that 
  map, etc. 
   
   
  
   
   
  5 
   
  Shape 
   
  The overall shape of the ship can affect it in 
  rather subtle ways not always apparent at 
  first glance.  
   
  Some shapes are more suitable for certain 
  tasks than others. E.g. an aerodynamic shape 
  doesn’t matter too much in the so-called 
  emptiness of space, but if the ship has some 
  kind of atmospheric capabilities then it does 
  become important. 
   
  Something to bear in in mind though that the 
  shape of the ship is the over look to it. A 
  rectangle shaped ship would have engines, 
  wings and sensor arrays sticking out all over 
  the place. A diamond shaped ship might be 
  split in two with the control centre in the 
  middle. The shape gives a rough outline and 
  gives an easy description such as: 
   
  “The ship flying towards you is shaped like an 
  eagle”, tells you that the ship would have long 
  wings and a pointy beak like prow. 
   
  Use the basic shape as a template, mix and 
  match, or use the random generator in this 
  section to really design a messed up ship with 
  various parts and designs.  
   
  There is also the psychological aspect of the 
  ships shape. Seeing something that resembles 
  a massive pyramid hurting towards your 
  home world at a sizable fraction of the speed 
  of light may give a different response if the 
  same ship was in fact shaped like a massive 
  eagle or even a huge cube. Likewise being on 
  a ship shaped a beast that was feared in the 
  quadrant can be morale boost for the crew 
  flying her. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Basic Terminology 
   
  Some basic terminology that may help when 
  describing or designing the ship outline and 
  shape. Although you don’t need to use these 
  terms, doing so adds an aspect of authenticity 
  that can improve immersion.  Some shapes 
  though may not have an obvious bow or aft 
  though. 
   
  Aft 
  Towards the tail or end of the ship, generally 
  refers to inside the ship, with Stern being 
  outside 
   
  Bow 
  Forward part of the ship. 
   
  Dorsal 
  The “top” of the ship 
   
  Forward 
  Direction of travel the ship is primarily 
  designed to go in. 
   
  Port 
  To the left as you face forwards 
   
  Primary/Secondary/Tertiary 
  Some ships have two or more of an important 
  feature, such as hulls or engine complexes. 
  The main one is called the primary, the next is 
  secondary, the third is tertiary. A few races 
  have more redundancy but this is very rare. 
   
  Starboard 
  To the right as you face forward 
   
  Stern 
  The rear of the ship, outside, with Aft being 
  inside 
   
  Ventral 
  The “bottom” of the ship 
   
  These descriptions can be combined in many 
  ways, so if you have, for example, a hull 
  breach on the top, forward, right side of the 
  ship, it could be described as: 
   
  “You spy a gaping hole leaking gas on the 
  dorsal forward hull, port side” 
  
   
  Shape Guide 
   
  The first thing to decide when working out the 
  shape of the ship is regarding symmetry. 
   
  A symmetrical ship is easier to design as you 
  simply copy what has already been done and 
  flip it around. Most ships that are symmetrical 
  are so along a line that goes forward/aft so 
  the port side looks the same as the starboard. 
  A few have the axis going dorsal/ventral so 
  the top is the same as the bottom. 
   
  Very few ships have symmetry with the axis 
  going port/starboard. Doing so means that it 
  has engines at front and back. Even less ships 
  have multiple axis of symmetry, so the side is 
  the same as the top, or something similar. The 
  ones that do normally have some kind of 
  reaction-less or exotic drive system in which 
  having regular engines would be a hindrance.  
  Every direction is the same for these types of 
  ships and they have no obvious true 
  forward/aft/port/starboard etc.  The classic 
  example is a vessel shaped like and closely 
  follows a sphere. Where is the front or side on 
  a sphere?  
   
   
  Unsymmetrical ships, while they look a mess 
  still follow a rough shape, but it might be 
  clustered towards one section of the outline.  
   
  They are complex to design, build and 
  maintain, but often make up for it by being 
  harder to destroy. After all, having multiple 
  engine clusters means if one is blown up the 
  others can still function. 
   
  The following charts are for randomly 
  designing your ships shape. Don’t feel bound 
  by any of the results you get, use them as a 
  starting point for your own ideas.  
   
  You may wish to get some square lined paper 
  to help you sketch out your ideas and 
  placement of hulls etc. 
   
   
   
   
   
  Symmetry 
   
  First you need to decide on the rough 
  symmetry your ship will follow. 
   
  D100 
   
  01 – 64 
  Symmetrical – Left/Right 
  65 – 84 
  Symmetrical – Top/Bottom 
  85 – 90 
  Symmetrical – Other (*) 
  91 – 00 
  Unsymmetrical/Random 
   
  (*) = Covers truly symmetrical ships or those 
  with multiple symmetries. 
   
  Rough Shape 
   
  D20 
   
  1 – 4 
  Animal outline -Flat 
  5 – 8 
  Animal outline -3d 
  9 - 12 
  Geometric - Flat 
  13 – 16 
  Geometric – 3d 
  17 – 18 
  Other Shape – Flat 
  19 – 20 
  Other Shape – 3d 
   
  Flat shapes are as the name suggests, flat. 
  Their shape or outline is obvious from above 
  or below. They are not truly flat, as with 
  hatches, sensors etc., but they are more “flat” 
  than a 3-d version of the shape. 
   
  3-d shapes are those that are, again as the 
  name would imply, 3-d. If they are circle, they 
  become a sphere; a triangle could be a 
  pyramid shape or cone. 
   
  There are advantages and disadvantages to 
  being flat vs. 3-d. For example, flat ships are 
  easier to attack if you aim for their dorsal or 
  ventral hulls, but harder if you attack from 
  port or starboard as there is less to aim at. 
   
  At this point, you also need to decide what 
  part of the ship the bow is and what is the aft 
  of the ship, or randomly decide. 
   
  Next, you need to figure out the shape itself, 
  so roll on the appropriate sub chart. 
   
   
   
  
   
   
  7 
   
  Animal outline 
   
  D10 
  Suggested animal shape 
  1 - 5  
  Bird 
  6 
  Crab/Lobster 
  7 
  Whale/shark/fish 
  8 
  Insect/Arachnid 
  9 
  Jelly fish/Squid 
  10 
  Amphibian 
   
   
  Animal shapes for your ships should be simple 
  and suggest the animal. You want people to 
  say “That ship looks like a crab”. The 
  symmetry of the ship would decide what 
  features, if any, are duplicated. 
   
  The sorts of animals used tend to be ones that 
  “fly” through some kind of medium like air or 
  water. Land based animals are typically not 
  used. 
   
  Bird shaped ships have a pointy beak like 
  protrusion at the bow with wings on port and 
  starboard sides, often with a tail of some kind 
  at the aft that normally houses the engines or 
  other propulsion system. This are among the 
  most common of animal based designs due to 
  the possible variation of birds or other flying 
  creature, even those of mythology like 
  dragons. Ships with this typical shape are 
  more likely to be attack vessels of some kind. 
   
  Crab/Lobster shaped ships have a pair or 
  more of arms or claw like sections at the 
  front. They may also have smaller legs or arms 
  used for landing or manipulation. Vessels 
  shaped 
  like 
  this 
  are 
  often 
  used 
  in 
  construction. 
   
  Whale/shark/fish are generally streamlined 
  but go about it different ways. Whale shaped 
  are large and bulky vessels suitable for 
  haulage. Shark shaped can be fast and deadly, 
  whereas fish shaped tend be smaller. 
   
  Insect/Arachnid 
  like 
  crab/lobster 
  ships, 
  resemble an insect of some kind. This can be 
  from something like a spider or even a dragon 
  fly. These ships have a tendency to be very 
  manuverable. 
   
  Jelly fish/Squid shaped ships have a central 
  body with several legs, tentacles or tendrils 
  coming off of it. Squid (aka Kraken ships) have 
  about 8 grasping tentacles or manipulation 
  arms that feed to a central beak or processing 
  unit. These shaped vessels are often found 
  doing salvage or dismantling.  
   
  Jelly fish have tendrils coming from the aft 
  side. These tendrils are often filled with 
  sensor arrays of some kind that check and 
  examine the space through which they are 
  dragged. 
   
  Amphibians are a mess of a ship. Designed to 
  work in space and on land they are master of 
  neither. However being able to transition 
  from one medium to another can be quite an 
  advantage and these shaped craft  are often 
  used to explore planets, but are not used 
  much as deep space vessels. 
   
   
  Geometric  
   
  D10 
  Simple shape 
  1 
  Circle 
  2 
  Diamond 
  3 
  Hexagon (6 sided) 
  4 
  Kite 
  5 
  Octagon (8 sided) 
  6 
  Oval 
  7 
  Pentagon (5 sided) 
  8 
  Rectangle 
  9 
  Square 
  10 
  Triangle 
   
  Simple geometric shapes are mostly suitable 
  for 
  symmetrical 
  shaped 
  ships. 
  For 
  unsymmetrical/random designs, a bit more 
  work is needed. One side may be bigger than 
  the other, due to a design choice/flaw or 
  damage. 
   
  The ships may not always have their sides of 
  equal length, but will follow their designers 
  symmetry rules. 
   
   
   
  
   
  Other shape 
   
   
   
  1 
  Crescent  
  2 
  Cross 
  3 
  Cross - curved 
  4 
  Eye 
  5 
  H-shape 
  6 
  I-shape 
  7 
  Leaf 
  8 
  Simple - Hollow 
  9 
  Simple - Open 
  10 
  Star 
  11 
  Torus 
  12 
  Torus - Open 
  13 
  T-shape 
  14 
  V-shape 
  15 
  W-shape 
  16 
  Y-shape 
  17 
  Air-based vehicle 
  18 
  Water-based vehicle 
  19 
  Other Letter-based shape 
  20 
  Other shape 
   
   
  Crescent ships resemble a circle that has had 
  another circle taken out of it from one edge as 
  in the simple diagram below. The size of the 
  gap and the distance between the two points 
  varies from design to design, but they all 
  roughly follow this shape, as seen from above. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Cross have 4 (rarely more) arms joined at a 
  central point. These arms can be all the same 
  length and width (as shown below) or of 
  various lengths/widths as long as it follows 
  the original symmetry rule diced on. 
   
   
   
   
  Cross – curved shaped ships are the same as 
  normal Cross shapes, but the arms are, as the 
  name suggests, curved. The direction of 
  curvature and how many of the arms curved is 
  based off symmetry and designers choice 
   
   
   
   
  Eye shaped ships are a hollow circle in an oval  
  or other curved shape (see example below). 
  Quite often they have platforms at the edge 
  for weapons or docking ports to attach. This 
  view is often only seen from the front or 
  above. 
   
  
   
   
  9 
   
  H-shape are described as such as, from the 
  front(and top), they look like the capital letter 
  “H”, as in the diagram below. The main arms 
  of the H tend to be another simple shape (roll 
  randomly) so that it looks different when view 
  from port or starboard. The arms cover the 
  inner hull and can vary in thickness 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  I-shaped ships are similar to H shaped, but the 
  main core/hull is much large and the 
  arms/wings are more for stability than 
  anything else.  
   
  The view below shows an “I” shaped ship, 
  when viewed from above or below. Like the 
  “H” shape, the two wings/arms are often in 
  another simple shape so that when looked on 
  from port or starboard that shape is viewed 
  instead. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Leaf shapes come in many varieties, but all 
  share a common design of a small stalk like 
  area at the aft with the bulk attached to it. 
  Although smooth /curved versions do exist, 
  the most typical outline shape is sharp edges, 
  as in the example leaf shape below. 
   
   
   
   
   
  Simple – Hollow & Simple – Open follow very 
  similar designs. Take a simple shape and make 
  it hollow. Open takes this design one stage 
  further and introduces a break into the 
  pattern. 
   
  A hollow square could look like this when 
  viewed from the top or from port/starboard: 
   
   
   
  Whilst an open circle ship could out this as an 
  outline when viewed from above: 
   
  
   
  Star, like the leaf design, comes in several 
  variations. Flat ships have 5 to 10 points (with 
  a few having more) around a central core. 3-d 
  versions often have many many more points 
  and can sometimes resemble sea urchins. 
  An example 8 pointed star can be seen below 
   
   
   
  Torus/Torus – Open is often called the 
  doughnut ship and for good reason. Whilst 
  the open/hollow circle ship design is flat, the 
  torus is rounded in all dimensions. The open 
  version, it has been said, often looks like 
  someone has taken a bite out of the 
  doughnut. 
   
   
   
  T-shape vessels are shaped like a capital letter 
  T. The bow is quite often the bottom part of 
  the T, to give more room for the engines. 
   
   
  V-shaped ships seem to be more suitable to 
  fighters or any vessel that has to enter an 
  atmosphere of some kind, due to its 
  aerodynamic nature, assuming of course the 
  designer made the bow the point. The join 
  between the arms/wings is often a structural 
  weak point and if this design is used 
  extensively, then some kind of armour is 
  needed here. 
   
   
   
   
   
  W-shaped ships often resemble two V shaped 
  vessels stuck together (as in the outline 
  diagram below). A few cheap organisations in 
  fact do this, introducing more weakness for 
  extra space or engine capacity. Many of these 
  vessels have some kind of support structure 
  between the two hulls. Those that don’t 
  normally don’t last long in combat. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  11 
   
  Y-shape vessels tend to be developed rather 
  quickly after the V shaped vessels. They 
  provide more structure and stability than their 
  predecessor and in many ways combine 
  features from the T shape and the V-shape. A 
  surprisingly popular design amongst many 
  races. 
   
   
   
   
  Air-based vehicle designs resemble planes, 
  zeppelins or another vehicles used on the 
  designers world or origin.  
   
  When a race first ventures into the vast 
  infinity, it’s not unusual to take old air 
  transports to modify for low-orbit entry, 
  before progressing into true space born 
  designs. These vessels also require few 
  modifications for atmospheric flight, apart 
  from basic system modifications, the structure 
  and hull is normally untouched. 
   
  Once a race has become truly proficient at 
  space travel, a few ships are kept like this on 
  purpose, for tactical reasons or simply from 
  some kind of nostalgia. 
   
   
   
  A water-based vehicle covers any vehicle used 
  to travel on a liquid, not just water. A space 
  going vessel that resembles a water going 
  transport system is rare, but often found 
  being developed on planets with a higher than 
  average liquid % on their surface. Although 
  they can travel within an atmosphere they 
  work best in liquid or the void. 
   
   
   
  Other Letter-based shapes cover the other 
  letters of the alphabet, plus symbols used by 
  many alien species. Although it could be said 
  that the “Y” shaped vessel would not be called 
  that by a non-terran species, the design would 
  be the same.  
   
  For example, in one part of the universe a ship 
  was shaped to look like what Earthers would 
  call the letter “X”. Many races thought it was 
  a good idea until it was pointed out that it 
  resembled the same shape as the ”personal 
  anatomy” of one of the most feared and 
  incredibly violent sentient beings in the 
  multiverse and the design was quickly 
  shelved. A few of them can still be found, 
  lying in swamps or hidden on desert worlds. 
   
  A few races have experimented with lower 
  case letters as design, but these tend not to 
  work as well and these are quickly abandoned 
  or only used in concept ships or prototypes. 
   
  The only letters that seem to not be used are 
  those with accents, such as á, é, í, ó, or ú. As 
  you can imagine adding the accent would be 
  impractical, but not impossible. One race in 
  particular made many different ships shaped 
  like various letters in the local language for 
  the sole purpose of insulting their neighbours, 
  as when the ships were lined up in the correct 
  formation, they formed a rather rude 
  sentence. 
   
  Other shapes cover, well, anything else. From 
  an arrow to something that makes you think 
  the designers who make these ships got drunk 
  one weekend and designed in their sleep.  
  These ships when first can confuse, entertain 
  from laughing, or even cause great offense to 
  those viewing them.   
   
  This class of design outline also covers the 
  very rare and unique. Sometimes a designer 
  creates something that brings awe to those 
  who are lucky enough to gaze upon it.   
   
  Whatever the reason, these designs are not 
  seen often and are very memorable when 
  they are. 
   
   
  
   
  Additions 
   
  Now you have the basic shape of your ship 
  you can add extra parts. These can change the 
  outline of ship and make it more unique. They 
  vary from wings (or additional wings in the 
  case of animal shaped vessels) to secondary 
  hulls or more. 
   
  This part is entirely optional for symmetrical 
  ships, but can help flesh out your ship designs 
  or make them more unique.  If used on 
  symmetrical ships remember to follow the 
  axis of symmetry used and duplicate any 
  result on the other side. 
   
  These can be fitted within the outline, which 
  keeps the design more in line with the original 
  shape, or joined to the primary hull. For 
  example, if your ship is a sphere based design 
  but you have decide to add wings, keeping 
  within the outline would make them curved 
  and possibly small, whilst not keeping within 
  the 
  outline 
  would 
  make 
  them 
  more 
  noticeable and larger. 
   
  Starting with the primary hull roll for the 
  location of the additional part, deciding if you 
  wish to keep within the original outline or 
  outside it (50% chance of either if you wish for 
  a more random design process). 
   
  Unless you are going for truly chaotic design, 
  use some sense when deciding where to add 
  additions. Wings would not make much sense 
  to add at the bow or aft, but can look good on 
  the port/starboard, or even the dorsal/ventral 
  sides of the ship. 
   
  Decide or roll 1d6 times how many additions 
  you have. 
  D10 
   
  1 
  Connecting Corridor (*) 
  2 
  Docking Port 
  3 - 5 
  Hull 
  6 
  Sensor Cluster 
  7 
  Support Structure (*) 
  8 - 9 
  Wings 
  10 
  Other structure 
   
  (*) = Must be attached to at least 2 other 
  additions, such as hulls or wings 
   
  Connecting Corridor (*) connect from one hull 
  to another, or from one hull to the wings or 
  even from a hull to another structure. They 
  can be of any length. The longer they are, the 
  more dangerous the connected structure is. 
  For example one hull may contain a power 
  plant that is needed for FTL travel but is 
  dangerous for organic matter to be exposed 
  to for long periods of time. 
   
  Docking Ports are often large, bulky and 
  noticeable. They functions as airlocks and on 
  some vessels a basic quarantine system. For 
  ships without a matter-teleportation system 
  they are essential for getting supplies and 
  crew on board. Although they can be built 
  inside one of the hull, this reduces the 
  amount of useable space within the ship. 
   
  Hulls are the areas of the ship where 
  practically everything is stored. They can be 
  incredibly varied. Every ship has at least one 
  hull and many have secondary or more hulls. 
  These hulls can be the same shape and size as 
  the primary, or a different shape.  They are 
  attached to another hull directly of with some 
  kind of connecting corridor. 
   
  Sensor Cluster, are, well, clusters of sensors. 
  Although you can have your sensors inside 
  your ship, the best ones work when then is 
  little to no interference between the sensor 
  and the target. They are found almost 
  anywhere on a ship, but generally kept away 
  from engines or other system with a high 
  energy output to reduce interference and 
  false readings. 
   
  Support Structures are, as the name suggests, 
  allows the various other structures to 
  withstand the stress of interstellar travel, 
  which can be very handy if your ship has a 
  design flaw or is inherently unstable. Unlike 
  corridors though they are not meant for 
  travel, but can support wiring, control 
  conduits etc. 
   
   
  
   
   
  13 
   
  Wings are often not needed for space going 
  vessels, but are needed if some kind of 
  atmospheric flight is required. They can hold 
  landing gear or even weapons of some kind. 
  Wings also add to the psychological aspect of 
  the ship and it’s not unknown for wings to be 
  added just for the visual effect. If the wings 
  are on the port/starboard they normally come 
  in pairs. 
   
  Other structure covers anything else, from 
  rotating or moving sections, to fuel pods or 
  more. 
   
   
  Placing the additions 
   
  Now you have the amount and type of 
  additions your ship shape has, you have to 
  decide where you are going to place them. 
   
  For the majority of your designs you are going 
  to want to place them yourself. Each part 
  would have a logical place and scale. Wings 
  would go on the side or a hull, support 
  structures between a hull and a wing, or a hull 
  and another hull etc. 
   
  Sometimes however, you want a ship that 
  looks like it has been designed by a mad being 
  or simply not finished before being forced to 
  launch. Sometimes having an alien and odd 
  design can add to a ships and race’s character. 
  Not every group of beings would find the 
  same thing aesthetically pleasing and to one 
  group what looks like a jumbled up mess 
  would to another be the pinnacle of design 
  and form. 
   
  The easiest way to randomly design a ship 
  that follows these principles is to roll 2 dice 
  and place the next component somewhere in 
  the section rolled. The first die (a d6) would 
  determine if the part would be placed on the 
  Dorsal, central or ventral area of the ship, the 
  2nd die (a d12) would determine if it would be 
  the bow, aft or somewhere in between, like a 
  clock. 
   
   
   
  As viewed from the side, with 1-2 being dorsal 
  section, 3-4 the centre and 5-6 the ventral: 
   
   
   
  As viewed from the top, with 12 being the 
  bow and 6 the aft and 3 and 9 being the 
  starboard and port sides: 
   
   
   
   
  Example: 
  Trying to decide where to place a secondary 
  hull for your design you roll on the placement 
  charts and get a 4 on the d6 and a 6 on the 
  d12. 
   
  This would place the second hull at the rear of 
  the main hull and centre.  
   
  When placing extra parts you must look at the 
  ship as a whole, so if a 6 was rolled again for 
  placement of another hull or part it would go 
  at the rear of the secondary, not the first. 
  
   
  Style 
   
  With all the various race and groups out in the 
  universe, not all of them use the same style of 
  technology. You may encounter a vessel that 
  looks like a giant spider or made from a grown 
  crystal. 
   
  Another thing to bear in mind is the style also 
  determines in many ways the construction 
  method and time for the ship. A biological 
  based ship might be grown in a vat and get 
  bigger over time, but a crystal ship may only 
  be grown in micro or zero gravity. 
   
  Decide or roll a d10 to determine the 
  technology style. 
   
  D10 
  Tech style 
  1 
  Biological 
  2 
  Crystalline 
  3 
  Energy/Hologram 
  4 
  Magictech 
  5 
  Mish-mash 
  6 
  Pseudo  Ancient 
  7 
  Rough & Ready 
  8 
  Sleek & High Tech 
  9 
  Steampunk 
  10 
  Hybrid 
   
  You have two choices at this point: 
  1. The ship style has no real impact of 
  the systems and is just for visual 
  effects. This requires less work, but 
  can result in all ships being practically 
  the same. 
  2. The style of technology used does 
  have an effect on the ship systems. 
  This does require more work, but 
  results in more variety of vessels and 
  equipment. 
   
  Although the end result is normally the same 
  no matter what technology method is used, 
  there will be subtle differences.  
   
  A ship that uses biological tech may be 
  resistant to EMP attacks; whilst plasma 
  weapons causes more damage as the living 
  ship burns in agony. 
  Each of the tech styles listed below has a brief 
  overview and one or more suggested 
  advantages and disadvantages to using this 
  technology style. 
  Biological 
  Overview 
   
  Biological ships are basically living beings who 
  have been bred and/or genetically engineered 
  to be living vessels or transport and combat. 
  They are born and die like other beings and 
  can heal themselves given the right nutrients.  
   
  A few are sentient and treated as such by 
  those who ride in them. There are some 
  though who treat their living ships as slaves 
  and some form of control over them to 
  prevent accidents or the ship itself rebelling. 
   
  Quite often, the ship has a “handler”, who is 
  often the captain and/or chief engineer.  The 
  ship may only respond to commands from 
  their handler and can panic if they are hurt or 
  killed.  
   
  Advantages 
   
  Can heal/repair itself 
   
  Can get bigger and more powerful 
  over time 
   
  EMP style attacks don’t always knock 
  out systems 
   
  If they have a handler, trying to 
  forcibly take command of one is 
  almost impossible 
   
  May develop mutations and abilities 
  beyond what the designer intended 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Psionic users, especially empaths, 
  have to be shielded or specially 
  trained to travel on board.  
   
  Difficult to develop 
   
  Hard to control if a slave race 
   
  May panic if their handler is killed or 
  hurt 
   
  Prone to mutations 
   
  Susceptible to bio-weapons 
   
   
   
  
   
   
  15 
   
  Crystalline 
  Overview 
   
  These ships are made of crystals and gems. 
  Like biological ships they are grown, but in a 
  massive nutrient like bath. They are very 
  resistant to damage. Psionic based species use 
  them as the crystal help to focus and amplify 
  their abilities, even though it makes them 
  more vulnerable to attack themselves 
   
  They take a long time to grow, but can be 
  quite resilient to laser (or other light) based 
  attacks. They can be incredibly beautiful ships 
  and owning one is a sure sign of wealth 
  and/or power, due to the lack of massive 
  amounts of crystals needed to make the ship 
  on many planets. 
   
  One major problem with them though is that 
  whilst they are hard to damage, they are 
  often even harder to repair, as the ship is 
  basically one giant part. The more one of 
  these vessels are damaged, the greater the 
  chance of more damage occurring. 
   
  Advantages 
   
  Laser/light 
  damage 
  is 
  practically 
  negated 
   
  Hard to damage 
   
  EMP style weapons have no effect on 
  them 
   
  The crew is highly protected against 
  radiation or other such effects 
   
  Can amplify psionic abilities 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Very difficult to repair if damaged 
   
  Psionic attacks against the ship have a 
  greater effect 
   
  Chances of the ship being targeted by 
  pirates/raiders/etc is vastly increased 
  due the ship being a flying diamond of 
  immense value 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Energy/Hologram 
  Overview 
   
  The hologram or energy ship is a rare type of 
  ship. The ship is composed of photons and 
  force fields. Not including the crew or cargo or 
  hologram systems (including life support) the 
  ship is, in effect, not real.  
   
  These ships always look brand new and 
  undamaged because they are constantly being 
  created or generated. They can change form 
  or adapt too many situations. They can 
  reconfigure 
  themselves 
  internally 
  and 
  externally in a matter of seconds. The crew 
  can barely feel anything when attacked due to 
  internal force field projectors keeping them 
  safe. 
   
  So why do many races not use them? Two 
  reasons. The first is they require astronomical 
  amounts of power and computer systems. 
  The tech to make them is complicated and 
  very expensive. 
   
  The second reason is holograms do not mix 
  well with EMP attacks (natural or otherwise) 
  and have a nasty tendency to shut down and 
  become unusable until repaired. As Holo-ship 
  are quite distinctive in their energy outputs, 
  it’s also very easy to take one out, if you can 
  catch it. 
   
   
  Advantages 
   
  Most damage is repaired instantly or 
  otherwise ignored 
   
  Can change form instantly 
   
  Crew are protected from impact 
  damage and speed/inertia changes 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  EMP attacks are deadly and can shut 
  the entire ship down with one hit. 
   
  Requires an immense amount of 
  power and computer systems 
   
  If hacked into can be taken over and 
  reconfigured – High security is a must 
   
   
   
  
   
  Magictech 
  Overview 
   
  In a few universes, magic is a viable force as 
  much as electromagnetism or gravity is in 
  others. The ship has some way of tapping into 
  this power, normally through some kind of 
  portal or a living being. There are other types 
  of ships that simply use a form of technology 
  so advanced or complex that it appears to be 
  magical. These ships are rarely made and 
  often found by other races who figure out 
  how to use them. They are unique and highly 
  sought after. Wars have been fought to 
  possess just one and unlock it’s secrets. 
   
  From the outside magitech ships look 
  practically impossible. A ship the size of 
  shuttle may have the power of a cruiser, or a 
  dreadnaught may suddenly be able to move 
  like a fighter. This comes at a price though as 
  the power source either drains quickly or 
  prevents too much being used at once. 
   
  These ships come in many forms and style, 
  and are often mistaken for other types.  
   
   
  Advantages 
   
  Can have abilities way beyond the 
  ships size and form 
   
  Often mistaken for other ship styles 
   
  Can recharge quickly 
   
  Often have abilities and defences 
  other ships do not have. 
   
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Can turn off and become unusable if 
  isolated 
  from 
  their 
  power 
  source/universe 
   
  Susceptible to psionic damage 
   
  Often not fully understood by those 
  who use them 
   
  Burn through resources and power 
  quickly 
   
  Unpredictable when used 
   
   
   
   
  Mish-mash 
  Overview 
   
  A few ships simply look like they have been 
  thrown together from what has been found, 
  begged or salvaged. They have parts that 
  obviously do not go together and sometimes 
  where never meant to. 
   
  Those who serve on this kind of ships know 
  their ship inside and out. They have to; 
  otherwise the ship would fall apart. They may 
  have the engine from one group, or the 
  weapon system from another. 
   
  Having a ship like this is often a sign of not 
  being able to afford to make or purchase a 
  fully functional vessel. 
   
  They do have one major advantage over other 
  ships and that is when you encounter one, 
  you just simply do not know what it can do. 
  Even it’s the same ship you saw last week, it 
  may have been upgraded or got something 
  new added to its weapon system.  
   
  Quite a few captains have laughed on seeing 
  one of these vessels and it was the last thing 
  they ever did. 
   
  Advantages 
   
  Can have abilities and advantages 
  from many race or groups 
   
  Very cheap to make as they mostly 
  made from salvage etc. 
   
  Easy to upgrade and alter without 
  needed major shipyards etc. 
   
  Unpredictable 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Unstable and prone to breaking down 
   
  Hard to repair if the ship is not-known 
   
  Unpredictable 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  17 
   
  Pseudo Ancient 
  Overview 
   
  Note: This style applies to any race that 
  embraces the design style of their own past, 
  not just medieval as it could be what is for 
  them ancient history of  thousands of years, 
  such as ancient Egypt or Greece on Earth. 
   
  Many races maintain their love of their own 
  history. This carries through their culture and 
  to the stars. Their ships look like sea going 
  vessels 
  or monuments 
  or 
  even 
  flying 
  machines.  
   
  Wood, stone, marble, or more likely materials 
  that resemble these are used in their 
  construction.  In fact a few groups use old 
  ships that have been retrofitted for space 
  travel, but these are rare as they are very 
  fragile and easy to damage. 
   
   
  Advantages 
   
  Simple to build and repair 
   
  Can easily travel through different 
  mediums, such as liquid or space 
   
  EMP style attacks often reduced in 
  power 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Easily damaged, more so if a retro-
  fitted vessel. 
   
  Crew often not well protected 
   
  Often slow 
   
  Not very manoeuvrable or able to 
  sustain high speeds for long 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Rough & Ready 
  Overview 
   
  These ships are simple and practical. They 
  value function over form. Does it matter if the 
  ship looks like it is an ugly metallic whale if it’ 
  does what it was designed for.  
   
  These vessels are often used as haulage or 
  freighters or anywhere where being practical 
  is more important than design.  
   
  Warships are sometimes constructed using 
  this style to give a psychological edge to those 
  flying them and seeing them in action. 
   
  One major advantage they have is the ability 
  to be modular.  This means that the engines 
  from one vessel can easily fitted to another 
  with little work, if any needed. Repairs are 
  also easy to make as you can simply remove 
  the damaged module and replace it with 
  another. This though does introduce a 
  weakness in that modules may be easily 
  removed or damaged/ejected in combat. 
   
  Advantages 
   
  Cheap to design and build 
   
  Easy to repair 
   
  Can be modular and have parts 
  changed around or upgraded easily 
   
  Can be quite intimidating to look at 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Often ugly vessels 
   
  Atmospheric 
  flight 
  is 
  almost 
  impossible for these kinds of ships 
   
  Weak at the module joins in not 
  protected 
   
   
   
   
  
   
  Sleek & High Tech 
  Overview 
   
  These ships are the pinnacle of design. Their 
  designers considered genius across many 
  species. They have the best technology 
  available and use the most up to date design 
  methodologies. The only ships more advanced 
  than these are prototypes or concepts.  
   
  High tech ships are, as the name suggests high 
  tech. They can turn a battle, or even prevent 
  one by simply being there. A group that has a 
  lot of these ships is one to be feared and 
  respected.  
   
  Advantages 
   
  Cutting edge technology 
   
  Latest weaponry and defences 
   
  Often quite fast 
   
  High psychological benefit to being in 
  battle with and on one 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Expensive to build and maintain 
   
  Difficult to mass produce 
   
  If lost (or damaged) the psychological 
  blow can be devastating to moral 
   
  Steampunk 
  Overview 
   
  Many regard steampunk as a combination 
  between Pseudo ancient and rough & ready, 
  with a bit of Magictech thrown in. The 
  technology is surprisingly easy to develop and 
  many races who decide to explore the stars 
  early on use this style of technology. Valves, 
  piston, rails for launchers and more. Steam 
  everywhere, clockwork for the large “thinking 
  engines” 
   
  Advantages 
   
  Easy to fuel  
   
  Easy to maintain & develop and build 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Bulky & much large 
   
  Prone to breaking down 
   
  Unreliable in terms of power 
  Hybrid 
  Overview 
   
  Sometimes, a ship designer wants something 
  from one tech style meshed with another, like 
  bio-tech and high-tech combined. The result is 
  called hybrid technology. Done right, you get 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  both 
  worlds, 
  with 
  the 
  disadvantages 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  (or 
  more) 
  technologies either removed or reduced. This 
  doesn’t happen often though, as combining 
  technologies is dangerous and you run the risk 
  of having both system disadvantages as well 
   
  Advantages 
   
  Has the advantages of the parent 
  styles 
   
  Often unique 
   
  Disadvantages 
   
  Has the disadvantages of the parent 
  styles 
   
  Very hard to develop 
   
  May be feared or banned depending 
  on the technology combined 
   
  Other Designs 
   
  There will probably come a point when you 
  want to add a new technology style.  When 
  doing so, keep in mind that no technology is 
  perfect. The best way to balance is by giving it 
  one disadvantage for every advantage.  More 
  powerful? Then it’s more unreliable or hard to 
  refuel.  
   
  As with anything, breaking the rules can be 
  fun as well, if done right. Unique ships 
  designed by the First Ones may show up, 
  prompting a galaxy wide hunt for a suitable 
  power 
  source. 
  A 
  ship 
  with 
  temporal 
  capabilities is found, the possibilities are 
  endless. 
   
  At the end of the day, as long as you are 
  having fun with the ship, that’s the most 
  important thing. 
   
  
   
   
  19 
   
  Colours and Patterns 
   
  The last thing you need to decide on your ship 
  design (externally at least), is what colour 
  scheme and pattern it uses. 
   
  The colour scheme, some posologists argue, 
  tells you a lot about the nature of the 
  designer and owner. One space faring 
  organisation for example, has their ships 
  bright white, as both a defiance against the 
  evils that lurk in the darkness of the void and 
  as a message that says “Here I am” to those 
  who may stumble across them. 
   
  Almost every ship has some kind of logo on it. 
  This can be the logo of the company who 
  owns it, or to which organisation it belongs to. 
  Independent ships may simple have an image 
  that is used for the ship and represents its 
  name or its role in combat, such as a bomber 
  has a picture of a grinning bomb. 
   
  The chart below gives you the typical colour 
  scheme for the ship.  Not everything on this 
  ship will be that colour, but 90% will be, with 
  the rest being colour that can’t be changed 
   
  D20 
  Basic colour scheme 
  1 
  Beige 
  2 
  Black 
  3 
  Blue 
  4 
  Bronze 
  5 
  Brown 
  6 
  Copper 
  7 
  Gold 
  8 
  Green 
  9 
  Grey 
  10 
  Materials natural colours 
  11 
  Orange 
  12 
  Pink 
  13 
  Purple 
  14 
  Red 
  15 
  Reflective/chrome 
  16 
  Sandstone 
  17 
  Silver 
  18 
  White 
  19 
  Yellow 
  20 
  Other colour 
   
   
  A few designers often add a pattern to the 
  colour scheme. This is simply for visual effect 
  but can help distinguish ships in one squadron 
  from another and help provide a sense of 
  unity between those who fly in them, in the 
  same way some ground combat squadrons 
  will have a unit symbol or mascot. 
   
  If you need a random value to determine of 
  the ship has a pattern on its hull, then 20% is 
  a good base value to start with. 
   
  Roll on the previous chart to determine the 
  colouring of the pattern (using a darker 
  version of the colour rolled if the same as the 
  base) 
   
  D20 
  Pattern 
  1 
  Aztec 
  2 
  Camouflage 
  3 
  Chevrons 
  4 
  Circles 
  5 
  Diamonds 
  6 
  Egyptian 
  7 
  Jigsaw 
  8 
  Lattice 
  9 
  Lines – Curved 
  10 
  Lines – Dotted/broken 
  11 
  Lines - Jagged 
  12 
  Lines - Straight 
  13 
  Random Blobs 
  14 
  Spots 
  15 
  Squares 
  16 
  Stars 
  17 
  Stripes 
  18 
  Other Pattern - Simple 
  19 
  Other Pattern - Complex 
  20 
  Combination  
  Roll again, ignoring a 20 
   
  The orientation, length, actual details etc. are 
  left up to you to decide, but it’s best to keep 
  them simple. You may decide to have a 
  particular pattern on one class of ships and 
  another on another class. Some may have a 
  pattern on the dorsal, but a different on the 
  ventral side etc.  
   
  
   
  Upcoming Products 
   
  Keep an eye out for 
  these forthcoming 
  planned releases  
  (In no particular order) 
   
   
  Treasure Hordes 
  [PFRPG/D20] 
   
  More pre-generated treasure hordes & 
  collections for various levels of play. 
   
   
  Books & Libraries Kit 
  [Generic] 
   
  Every fantasy world and wizard worth their 
  salt needs a library. But details are needed, 
  such as what it contains, its layout and what 
  secret tomes are hiding in its vaults… 
   
  Fantastic Feats 
  [Pathfinder – On-going] 
   
  A new, on-going series of products of feats 
  themed around a certain subject, class, race 
  or some other theme. Some will be good, 
  others 
  nasty, 
  some 
  even 
  deliberately 
  overpowered 
   
   
   
  Backgrounds & Details Kit  
  Volume 2  
  Sci-Fi 
  [Generic] 
   
  The sequel to Backgrounds and Details Kit 
  deals with characters (and NPCs) from a sci-fi 
  setting. Some of the basic options from 
  Background and Details Kit – Volume 1 will be 
  present, modified and with options for a sci-fi 
  (or even modern style) setting. 
   
   
  Menagerie of the Mad 
  [PFRPG/d20] 
  What happens when someone experiments 
  and creates a herd of messed up and 
  disturbing animals, just because they could?  
  This is the first in hopefully many volumes, 
  taking normal everyday animals and twisting 
  them in weird ways. 
  Featuring: 
   
  The feared Demonic Chicken 
   
  The silent Phase Sloth 
   
  The dreaded Vampire Koala 
   
  And more… 
   
   
  Empire Kit 
  (Generic – Multi-part) 
  You are the ruler of a kingdom. How big is it? 
  What is called, how is it ruled? 
  All these questions and more will be 
  answered 
   
  Settlement Kit 
  (Generic/Pathfinder – Multi-part) 
  Towns, villages and cities need details as well. 
  From their layout to features such as the 
  rulers, the layout and who (or what) calls this 
  place home. 
   
   
  Easthalen 
  (Game World Core Book) 
  [Pathfinder/D20] 
   
  A prison designed to trap a mad god and you 
  are stuck in here with him. The rules and law 
  of reality in certain places are getting weaker 
  and in some places starting to fall apart… 
  Featuring: 
  - 
  A world where everyone can use 
  magic…but you may not want to 
  - 
  Areas that never stay the same, including 
  the great city of Franner. 
  Take part in the development and design 
  process Here @ Reddit 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Starfinder [multi]/3rd Party/Ennead Games/Ennead Games - Starship Kit - Volume 2 - Size and Shape.pdf