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Starship Quirks
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Pel
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Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Fri May 12, 2006 2:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A few late additions, if I may:

    Hyperdrive multiplier fluctuates either between jumps or while in hyperspace.
    Hyperdrive sometimes won't turn off when it should.
    Effectiveness of Lateral Thrusters (Maneuvering) varies with time of day.
    The ship is run by an AI who's manic depressive, physically attracted to a single character, or an absolute looney.
    The nav computer has a mind (or a mission) of its own.
    The ship's comm system is automated and suffers from Turretts.

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Firehawk0220
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PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2006 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is mine. I know many people won't like the fact that it is percentage based, but the hard core D6'ers should just get over that. Idea

The results range from really bad to minor to really being pretty good. The lower the result the better for the most part, but the results are varied through the spectrum a bit.

These are also only for capital ships and freighter style vessels. Though some of the items can be used for starfighters as well.

Miscellaneous ship flaws for used vessels.
Roll 1d6 or 1d10 to determine the number of flaws. Then roll percentage to determine the type of flaw. Repeat as many times as necessary.

1 Money and or valuables found! (Woohoo its payday!)
2 Appearance not withstanding, the ships build quality is exceptional for this model. Slightly improved stats all around. (GM's discretion.)
3 Ships engines perform exceptionally well with improved stats. (GM's discretion.)
4 Ships weapons more accurate, and more powerful than expected. Improved combat stats all around. (GM's discretion.)
5 Ships shields and hull are particularly strong for some unknown reason. Improved stats. (GM's discretion.)
6 Ship possesses a rare option or feature typically not found on vessels of this type. (GM's discretion.)
7 Ships FTL (Hyper drive, Warp or whatever) drive is unusually fast. Improved stats and performance. (GM's discretion.)
8 Free droid or tools found with the ship! (Droid or tools are in perfect condition or are serviceable.)
9 Free weapon found! (Rare or unique weapon.)
10 Free curiosity found! The curiosity is useless, but entertaining. (GM's discretion.)
11 Horrible squeaks and rattles coming from unknown areas of the ship. Mainly noticed while trying to sleep.
12 Terrible smell coming from the inside of the ship. Can be removed after 1d6 tries and hours of cleaning.
13 All audible warnings are in another language and will not reset to their default language.
14 One forward light refuses to come on, no matter what.
15 Maintenance warning light comes on for no reason at random.
16 Interior lights blink on and off for a few seconds when the engines are started.
17 Paint job on the ship is horrible and needs to be redone. Graffiti may adorn the vessels exterior and interior surfaces
18 Surface rust on various ship parts.
19 Communications system is plagued with occasional static.
20 Terrible smell coming from the inside of the ship. Must have professional crew get rid of it.
21 Opening an interior hatch temporarily activates the hull breach alarm.
22 The toilets only work 75% of the time. When used, the toilets overflow 25% of the time.
23 All Doors on ship make strange "Whoosh" sound that seems to come from another Sci-Fi series.
24 Interior lights blink on and off for a few seconds when the weapons are first powered on.
25 The ship intermittently leaks sewage after docking.
26 Interior lights go out when shields are first powered up.
27 Worn and lumpy pilots seat, with padding falling out, and poor tape repair jobs.
28 Flickering internal ship lights. This is especially irritating in the engine room and pilot area.
29 Maintenance labels and interior markings are in a strange alien language.
30 Environmental controls work poorly making the ship often too hot or too cold.
31 Ships airlock seals properly, but the warning system always says otherwise.
32 Irritating smell of burnt electronics that can never be identified.
33 About one third of all interior lights do not work. Creating a very "soft" lighting effect in the ship.
34 Animal droppings found in less traveled areas of the ships interior.
35 Illegal drugs are found on board.
36 Malfunctioning doors either don't open or slam shut in front of peoples faces so they walk into them.
37 Gravity is different in various sections of the ship. The problem is very minute, and merely annoying.
38 Vessel makes mechanical clanking and grinding noises that appear to be related to nothing. They are very annoying.
39 Ship has two more flaws. Roll twice more on this table.
40 An illegal weapons system is found.
41 Ships computer is very slow and doesn't respond to queries.
42 Strange fluids found in some of the cabin areas. Best not to question what they are.
43 Ships communications system fails during use. It always does so at the worst times or when needed most.
44 Something won't work until you hit it in just the right spot.
45 Exposed live electrical wiring in various places. Make a minor dexterity check while moving through these areas to avoid being shocked.
46 Ships internal communication system kicks on and off for no reason allowing conversations around the ship to be heard everywhere.
47 Sub-Light engines stall for one round at random. 15% chance of this occurring at any given time.
48 False registry papers found onboard the ship. Making it impossible to determine the ships original name or owner.
49 Minor insect infestation found. Easy to eradicate with the proper pesticides on hand.
50 Landing gear sticks and only retracts after 1d6 tries or on a result of 35% or less.
51 Piece of metal sticks out in one of the passage ways. It is dangerous and sharp. Can cause serious injury or death if not fixed.
52 Contraband is found in a hidden compartment.
53 Loose deck plating/grates cause people to stumble and trip in a certain area of the ship. (That is visited often.)
54 All of the ships displays and readouts are in a non-standard language and will not reset until repaired.
55 Vessels throttle control does not work correctly and the flight speed (in atmosphere or space) fluctuates randomly until fixed.
56 Landing gear will not retract.
57 Landing gear retracts, but the landing gear bay doors do not close.
58 Evidence of suspicious activity on the part of the previous owner is found.
59 Ship has two more flaws. Roll twice more on this table.
60 Ship doesn't have all the legal markings applied to the exterior, and therefore isn't legal to operate until fixed.
61 Ship is infested with pets such as voles or avyrix. They eat electrical wiring and cause other issues.
62 Ships computer throws error codes and locks up during startup sequence. 60% chance. This occurs every time the ship is powered on.
63 Ships computer operates very slowly. Navigation takes twice as long as normal until repaired.
64 Dead pests found. This leaves an awful stench through the ship until professionally cleaned.
65 Ship has two more flaws. Roll twice more on this table.
66 Contraband weapon or weapons found on the ship. (GM's discretion.)
67 Ships cargo ramp, or lifts do not work 60% of the time until fixed.
68 Ship has excessive wear on it from too many years of use. Roll 1d4 many more flaws!
69 Ship has cosmetic damage from weapons fire and was never properly repaired. Effect is purely cosmetic and is completely intact.
70 Food slots/Auto chef only prepare food from an alien culture. This food is edible, but causes major gastrointestinal difficulties for the crew.
71 Food slots/Auto chef do not work at all until repaired.
72 One of the ships air locks does not work. (Or perhaps the only air lock doesn't work) until repaired.
73 Weapon system fire control or targeting system does not work at all.
74 Main life support system doesn't work and needs to be replaced. (Backups still work.)
75 Has a short in the warning systems that goes off at regular intervals
76 Ships helm/flight controls fail intermittently. They will start working when hit in the right spot. (15% chance of failure when used)
78 Ship has some strange cosmetic damage that can only have been caused by an unfathomable situation. (Can be repaired of course.)
79 The inertial dampening system lags at times, causing dexterity checks to be made to keep people on their feet or in their chairs.
80 Large poisonous creature found. Players will have to kill it. (GM's discretion.) (Creature not seen until after taking possession of the craft.)
81 A large deposit of fecal matter is found. It is from an unknown species. It has been there for some time. It leaves a stain when removed.
82 Ship has two more flaws. Roll twice more on this table.
83 Ships previous owner, a man of questionable background, tries to get the vessel back. (GM's discretion.)
84 When in use, the sonic showers cause all monitors to go snowy.
85 Ships engines work, but are badly out of tune and need maintenance. They operate at reduced performance until fixed. (GM's discretion.)
86 Repulsors/descent thrusters kick out every once in a while for a second or so
87 Sharp maneuvers cause the toilets to overflow 65% of the time.
88 Ship is a lemon. Roll 1d6x2 times on this chart for additional flaws!
89 One of the ships landing gear assemblies collapses on landing. The ship takes minor hull damage, and professional services are required to fix the problem.
90 Engines start after 1d6 tries or 35% of the time on the first try.
91 Ships weapon systems are not functional until repaired.
92 Navigational computer flawed or non-operational until repaired. (Faster than light navigation becomes extremely difficult until fixed.)
93 Atmospheric flight capable craft pull to one direction or another due to a stabilizer malfunction until repaired.
94 Exhaust gases sometimes fill the engine room/bay for short periods of time. Leaving a haze that causes coughing and makes the crews eyes water.
95 Engines "False Start" quite often, and it takes a few attempts to get them to fully come online.
96 Toilet violently erupts while in use. Splashing the current user of the facilities. (50% chance per use.)
97 Sonic showers malfunction until repaired. Causing high frequency sounds that break all glass items on the ship.
98 Previous flood damage or crash damage has been found and poorly repaired. Reduce hull/structure points to reflect this. (Can be fixed)
99 Ships main FTL (Hyper drive, Warp,) drive fails after the first 1d4 uses and needs complete replacement. (Backups still function if applicable.)
100 The ship has complete electronic failure periodically, at any time. Especially when entering combat, landing or first taking off. 20% chance.)
Failure lasts 1d4 -1 rounds.
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Pel
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Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2006 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow. Nice comprehensive list. I especially like that it has beneficial quirks as well. Smile
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Firehawk0220
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Joined: 22 May 2005
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PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2006 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Wow. Nice comprehensive list. I especially like that it has beneficial quirks as well. Smile


Thanks,

I do a lot of percentage based charts for all my games.

Some of the quirks are beneficial and some are pretty bad. Many of the items aren't really bad at all. Just irritating to some while giving character to the ship as far as others are concerned.
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Ray
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Joined: 31 Oct 2003
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Sol, Western Arm, Milky Way

PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2006 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Illegal drugs are found on board."

Gone in 60 Seconds, anyone? *Evil Grin*
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Firehawk0220
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PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2006 6:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ray wrote:
"Illegal drugs are found on board."

Gone in 60 Seconds, anyone? *Evil Grin*


I generally picture a fat sack of spice in the glove box. Which of course can make things interesting regardless of the era.
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Pel
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PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2006 11:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or a bootleg copy of the Death Star plans. That will always garner unwanted attention.
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Firehawk0220
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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2006 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Or a bootleg copy of the Death Star plans. That will always garner unwanted attention.


Yes it would. I was going over some of the results in my table and I think I could make an adventure based off some of the results in that table alone.
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Pel
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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2006 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quite easily. Why stop at a single adventure? The trials and tribulations of starship quirks are a great recurring theme and serve as an excellent sub-plot in a campaign story arc.

Who has owned an automobile that didn't have a quirk or two? Not me, certainly. Little things like that which are normally either taken for granted or pushed into the adventure's background can really fill out the story and make it much more realistic and enjoyable.
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Firehawk0220
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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2006 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Quite easily. Why stop at a single adventure? The trials and tribulations of starship quirks are a great recurring theme and serve as an excellent sub-plot in a campaign story arc.

Who has owned an automobile that didn't have a quirk or two? Not me, certainly. Little things like that which are normally either taken for granted or pushed into the adventure's background can really fill out the story and make it much more realistic and enjoyable.


Agreed. That is the basis for the creation of such charts. When I created that, I wanted to have a little good to it, and a little bad. More bad than good, because buying used vehicles of any kind rarely has positive benefits other than keeping costs down.

Plus, some of the items on that chart add some humor to the game and to the situations the characters can find themselves in.
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darthomer09
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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2006 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I actually based an entire adventure on a starship quirk. The star ship comm system would malfuction and give off this small beeping noise in certain rooms about every 20 seconds. This drove one NPC on the ship crazy and ended up crashing the ship into the side of Gammorrea just to stop the beeping.
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Firehawk0220
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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2006 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

darthomer09 wrote:
I actually based an entire adventure on a starship quirk. The star ship comm system would malfuction and give off this small beeping noise in certain rooms about every 20 seconds. This drove one NPC on the ship crazy and ended up crashing the ship into the side of Gammorrea just to stop the beeping.


Wow. That's a bit extreme. Did they live?
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darthomer09
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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2006 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah. They all lived. Well... in the short run...
In the long run, the guy who went crazy went even more crazy and burned the ship with himself inside of it but he was just an NPC so no big loss. In an even longer term (talking about a year of gaming later) they all died in a giant flaming doom explosions from a Death Star disguised time bomb...


Hardcore adventures man.
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Ray
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PostPosted: Tue May 23, 2006 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Quite easily. Why stop at a single adventure? The trials and tribulations of starship quirks are a great recurring theme and serve as an excellent sub-plot in a campaign story arc.


Big time! In my Serenity game I got going, the Mechanic has made it his Life's Goal to "KILL THAT BLUE SUN COLA GUY!!!".

Hardware-Based, Polymorphic Adaptable Adware Program. Every now and then, when they're doing something on the ship, all the screens on the ship will freeze, then a man wearing an impossibly big smile comes on, going: "HELLO! You seem to be doing $Task! While the Automated part of that is going on, why don't you nip down to the Galley and grab a $Blue_Sun_Food_Product?"

Really freaked 'em out when they tried to break a Landing Lock!

"HELLO! You seem to be trying to steal this ship! Why don't you hit the Galley and grab some High Quality Blue Sun Foodstuffs and eat them right now, this'll be your last chance before prison!"

Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery quiet as everyone wondered what happened exactly, did it trip off any alarms...

No, it didn't. Twisted Evil
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Pel
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PostPosted: Tue May 23, 2006 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most excellent. Very HGG.

"Your deaths may be monitored for training purposes. Have a nice day."

hehe
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