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The Ghtroc Empress Super Freighter
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:26 pm    Post subject: The Ghtroc Empress Super Freighter Reply with quote

The Ghtroc Empress Super Freighter is the ship that drove Ghtroc Industries out of business. I have a plot hook for it, and I think this is the right forum.

It starts with the Players needing a new ship, for whatever reason. They come across a squib starship merchant who has some great ships on the lot. Nothing the players can afford. The only thing in their price range is an old Ghtroc Empress.

It's old. It's been well used. It's ugly. It seriously needs a paint job. And worst of all, it's been in the Squib's inventory for two years and he's been paying taxes on it for way too long. He wants to see this thing gone, so he's dropped it down to how ever many credits he can wheedle out of the players.

The ship has been sitting idle for two years. Stat wise, there's nothing wrong with it, but the group's tech guy is going to have to put in a solid fifty hours of overdue maintenance work just to get the thing spaceworthy. Once that's done they have a working starship.

And now the players are stuck with a ship no one wants to buy, that has some of the worst stats in the game. Low speed. No maneuverability. Okay hull code. Weak shields. No weapons. You would have to modify it just to fight in this thing.

HUGE CARGO BAY. That's the one thing it's got going for it. If they could fill the cargo bay, and not run into any pirates, they could make a fortune... If...

It has the potential to be a great pocket carrier. If you're looking to run some starfighter missions down the road, this could be your ship. You could fit at least a half dozen star fighters in this thing and have room for a repair bay. But if you could afford starfighters, the players never would have bought this thing.

They could always pull a Wraith Squadron move and steal the snubfighters they need.

The ship itself works as a plot device for the players. It has potential. Lots of potential. But in the mean time they find out that this ship is more trouble than it's worth.

They should have named it the Albatross instead of the Empress.
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cheshire
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll bite. It sounds interesting.

If you want to make it REEEALY interesting, you could have a few things snuck into nooks and crannies in the cargo bay. A nest of something nasty could easily be making a family of vermin in there. One that might even violate a local quarantine.

There could be something illegal tucked below some loosely secured hull plating. Like an improperly "liberated" artifact from an archeological find. Now that the ship has resurfaced, someone will be wanting it back.

This has a LOT of options open to it.
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheshire, you are devious. So wonderfully devious. The exact kind of devious that makes a wonderful GM. I love it.

"Sure officer, you can search it. There's nothing illegal in that ship."
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or the Storini Crystal Deceiver and Storini Glass Prowler from Wraith Squadron
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Sutehp
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or it might have been owned/used by a smuggler and the PCs get wind of a rumor that the Empress might still have some valuable contraband still stashed in a forgotten smuggling compartment somewhere...

And some of the smuggler's old partners who he betrayed to the Sector Rangers have just finished paying their debt to society and are now looking to get their share of the loot still stashed in the Empress....
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sutehp wrote:
Or it might have been owned/used by a smuggler and the PCs get wind of a rumor that the Empress might still have some valuable contraband still stashed in a forgotten smuggling compartment somewhere...

And some of the smuggler's old partners who he betrayed to the Sector Rangers have just finished paying their debt to society and are now looking to get their share of the loot still stashed in the Empress....


https://dilbert.com/search_results?terms=Used+Car

Come to think of it, Dogbert is the inspiration for how I like to play Squib salesmen.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:56 am    Post subject: Re: The Ghtroc Empress Super Freighter Reply with quote

Kytross wrote:

It has the potential to be a great pocket carrier. If you're looking to run some starfighter missions down the road, this could be your ship. You could fit at least a half dozen star fighters in this thing and have room for a repair bay. But if you could afford starfighters, the players never would have bought this thing.


It may be long enough, but i doubt it's wide or high enough to fit in fighters..
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:02 am    Post subject: Re: The Ghtroc Empress Super Freighter Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Kytross wrote:

It has the potential to be a great pocket carrier. If you're looking to run some starfighter missions down the road, this could be your ship. You could fit at least a half dozen star fighters in this thing and have room for a repair bay. But if you could afford starfighters, the players never would have bought this thing.


It may be long enough, but i doubt it's wide or high enough to fit in fighters..


If you bring up the picture on the page I linked, there is a scale. Just a quick estimate without a ruler and the ship is about 8 meters high, maybe 9. That's tall enough for most fighters, except maybe TIEs, with their hexagonal wings. Rough guess I'd say the ship is 36 meters wide. That's three x-wings wide. Depends on the fighter I reckon.

There's experts on this site that can measure this thing to the inch. I am not one of them.
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Pel
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree that it's big enough. Your problem might be with the doors, which appear to be about 4m tall. It's enough room for an X-Wing, but just barely. TIEs I'm not sure about since they look taller.

If you really want to make your players live in "interesting times" how about a Squib stowaway or ten who have "claimed" the ship and are perfectly happy with its current non-functional status? Talk about gremlins in the machinery! The starship dealer could know about them and list a "Squib Colony, Slightly Used" in the very fine print of the ship's accessories, somewhere between "Paint, multi-colored vintage", and "Stairs, sturdy!".
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Worse.. It already has an ownership claim from some Uganoughts.
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Paint, multi-colored vintage" makes me think of Bernie Mack in Transformers.

Imagine all the repair work had been done over the years by Jawas. It works just fine, but there's not a single standard part used in any repair.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kytross wrote:
"Paint, multi-colored vintage" makes me think of Bernie Mack in Transformers.

Imagine all the repair work had been done over the years by Jawas. It works just fine, but there's not a single standard part used in any repair.


Which should make it a lot harder for the pc's to do repairs.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're going to use that side-profile shot from the Empress, you really should go to The Source.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or, if you're looking for something mid-range, between the 720 and the Empress, there are a couple options.
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Kytross
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice CRMcNeill, thanks!
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