My players will soon be using a SFS Skywatcher-class Scout Vessel. This vessel lists a Complement of "three to twelve" but doesn't list their actual positions. Needless to say, my PCs will not be following the standard crew mix for the Skywatcher, but since they asked, I answered. Here's what I'm setting the crew positions as:

Transit Crew: One pilot, one copilot, one engineer.

The Transit Crew is only a flight crew and is only the assigned Complement for repositioning the vessel between assigned missions and for moving it to/from maintenance facilities. These crews are likely to be SFS personnel used to move the vessel to/from SFS facilities rather than Imperial Survey Corps crews.

Half Crew: One pilot, one copilot, one engineer, two droid handlers, one loadmaster.

The Half Crew operates the vessel at mission-ready capacity. The droid handlers are responsible for monitoring and directing deployed probe droids. They also act as turret gunners in combat situations. The loadmaster is responsible for droid deployment, recovery, and maintenance. The Half Crew option is used by the Imperial Survey Corps when a Full Crew is unavailable (budget cuts on the ISC are tough), and are generally assigned only for short duration missions.

Full Crew: Two pilots (one primary, one relief), two copilots (one primary, one relief), two engineers (one primary, one relief), four droid handlers (two primary, two relief), two loadmasters (one primary, one relief).

The Full Crew performs all of the functions of the Half Crew with the addition of relief crewmen to allow the ship to maintain higher levels of readiness. The Full Crew option is used by the Imperial Survey Corps whenever possible and are the standard for long duration missions.

So since this is appears to me to be an Imperial class scout ship I am making these observations. Crew: One Pilot, 2 Gunners, One Engineer, One Sensor operator, and One Mechanic/Engineer for the probe droids. Since it is again Imperial you would have replacement crew for the first 5 and probably a commanding officer/COMPNOR officer to make the decisions and keep everything in line with the New Order. Mind you this is just based on EU not actual canon.

You might also have a couple security troopers to repel boarders or man the guns if the rest of the crew are busy.

You might also have a couple security troopers to repel boarders or man the guns if the rest of the crew are busy.

Troops could be part of the six passengers, but don't really count as part of the Compliment. Likewise, any attached COMPNOR officer would, IMO, be a passenger.

I think you might want to run a Sensor Operator in the crew given the general mission profile. Also I would put the first as a possible Drop Mission configuration as *Beyond the Rim spoiler*

Unless the crew also are scout troopers.. Which could make sense since this is the Scout Corps we're talking about and not strictly the Army or Navy.

I think you might want to run a Sensor Operator in the crew given the general mission profile. Also I would put the first as a possible Drop Mission configuration as *Beyond the Rim spoiler*

Beyond the Rim has the Skywatcher dropping off 10 scout troopers and the ISB agent to take over the area and a sole pilot remained behind.

Unless the crew also are scout troopers.. Which could make sense since this is the Scout Corps we're talking about and not strictly the Army or Navy.

Beyond the Rim also has this ship somehow carrying 10 speeder bikes in its very small cargo space, so there's a bit of a disconnect between the ship stat block (which I'm using) and the way they use it in the adventure (which I'm unconcerned about emulating).

As for a sensor operator, that's covered by either the pilot or copilot or the droid handlers (which really are there just to monitor data unless they need to man the guns).

Nothing to say the speeder bikes aren't mountable and deployable from the exterior of the ship. Maybe they are held in place like fuel pods on current jet fighters. Just flip a switch and they drop onto the ground already activated. You deploy the troops and take off like a dropjet scenario. That way if there are hostiles on the ground you can scout for a good secure pick up place and are only risking scout troopers and bikes. Relatively cheap by Imperial standards.

After looking it over a bit, I think I will add a dedicated sensor operator, and I am also considering a dedicated navigator position. Generally the pilot and copilot will be trained in Astrogation, so while I'm not sure it's really a necessary position, this ship is intended to go well beyond the usual hyperlanes, which makes a dedicated navigator a good idea. I'm still wanting to hit an operating crew of six, so the droid handlers may have to go (their roles taken on by the loadmaster).

Don't forget Medic, even for a crew of 10 they're going to need one, especially for a scout crew. They will probably double duty in another role on smaller ships but a military ship will definitely have one.

Also I would put the first as a possible Drop Mission configuration as *Beyond the Rim spoiler*

Beyond the Rim has the Skywatcher dropping off 10 scout troopers and the ISB agent to take over the area and a sole pilot remained behind.

Unless the crew also are scout troopers.. Which could make sense since this is the Scout Corps we're talking about and not strictly the Army or Navy.

Part of the ship's flight crew being deployed to the surface to face PCs? Did they all wear red shirts?

Part of the ship's flight crew being deployed to the surface to face PCs? Did they all wear red shirts?

No, but isn't stormtrooper armor the next best thing?

12 people (of various species!) living in close quarters, often having nowhere to go because outer space isn't very nice about that sort of thing. I'm guessing that once you get a crew that big, cooks and someone to scrub the bathrooms might be on the roster!

When they tell you crew numbers, do they count droids? Those kinds of tasks seem the sort of thing you'd leave to a droid... But I suppose nearly any task could be assigned to droids!

12 people (of various species!) living in close quarters, often having nowhere to go because outer space isn't very nice about that sort of thing. I'm guessing that once you get a crew that big, cooks and someone to scrub the bathrooms might be on the roster!

The thing I would be inclined to point out is that with such a small crew, it is likely that each individual has at least two or three different jobs.

And you're right that there are a lot of jobs that could potentially be done by droids, if not as primary then at least as secondary.

Cleaning and food prep are performed on all starships, but in most cases there will not be dedicated crew for these tasks. Pilots, co-pilots (I can never tell if that one should be hyphenated or not), engineers, and the rest can all pull turns cranking out a meal or cleaning the refreshers.

On a ship with a crew of 100, you might have 2-5 people working in the kitchen. Everyone cleans, everyone scrubs the bathrooms, everyone sweeps, everyone works- well, except the officers. They're often above all that. Come Battle Stations/General Quarters/Red Alert, those three cooks stop being cooks and have a job somewhere that is battle-related. Usually damage control.

That's all IRL, though, so a lot of those cleaning, maintenance and DC jobs could be relegated to droids. One of the few things I actually liked about Episode 1 was that they had the horde of astromechs doing damage control- that was cool. Depending on who you ask, Droids may not count towards crew (I would say no, since droids are generally property, not people).

Here's my take:

Transit Crew- Pilot, Copilot, Tech. Droids would include one or more R2 or R3 for astrogation and technical assistance, and possibly several small 'mouse' droids for maintenance. This would be minimal crew for operation, but generally would not be used for any voyage greater than 12 hours in duration.

Half Crew- 3x Pilots/Copilots, 3x Techs. Rotating 4 hour shifts that look like this for each pilot/tech team- watch, eat and maintenance, watch, eat and maintenance, sleep, sleep, repeat. Suitable for change-of-station, but not suitable for protracted missions. One of the techs will double as loadmaster, another will double as Sensors. One each of the pilots and the techs might double as gunners in case of GQ.

Full Crew- 3x Pilots/Copilots, 3x Techs, 1x Sensor specialist, 1x Gunnery specialist, 1x Computers specialist, 1x Communications/signals specialist, 1x Loadmaster, 1x Commanding Officer. This is an example for a fairly standard patrol run, where signals intelligence and sharp ears are as important as anything else. The Computers, Comms and Loadmaster positions could be considered Mission Specific.

Create a cool backgroud scene where they "do things" computers beeps and they nod heads saying "Cap'n!" at your pass.

Sorry XD

PS: Probably some tasks require two or more people for "optimal funcionality". But not sure what exactly sorry :S

On a ship with a crew of 100, you might have 2-5 people working in the kitchen. Everyone cleans, everyone scrubs the bathrooms, everyone sweeps, everyone works- well, except the officers. They're often above all that. Come Battle Stations/General Quarters/Red Alert, those three cooks stop being cooks and have a job somewhere that is battle-related. Usually damage control.

That's all IRL, though, so a lot of those cleaning, maintenance and DC jobs could be relegated to droids. One of the few things I actually liked about Episode 1 was that they had the horde of astromechs doing damage control- that was cool. Depending on who you ask, Droids may not count towards crew (I would say no, since droids are generally property, not people).

Here's my take:

Transit Crew- Pilot, Copilot, Tech. Droids would include one or more R2 or R3 for astrogation and technical assistance, and possibly several small 'mouse' droids for maintenance. This would be minimal crew for operation, but generally would not be used for any voyage greater than 12 hours in duration.

Half Crew- 3x Pilots/Copilots, 3x Techs. Rotating 4 hour shifts that look like this for each pilot/tech team- watch, eat and maintenance, watch, eat and maintenance, sleep, sleep, repeat. Suitable for change-of-station, but not suitable for protracted missions. One of the techs will double as loadmaster, another will double as Sensors. One each of the pilots and the techs might double as gunners in case of GQ.

Full Crew- 3x Pilots/Copilots, 3x Techs, 1x Sensor specialist, 1x Gunnery specialist, 1x Computers specialist, 1x Communications/signals specialist, 1x Loadmaster, 1x Commanding Officer. This is an example for a fairly standard patrol run, where signals intelligence and sharp ears are as important as anything else. The Computers, Comms and Loadmaster positions could be considered Mission Specific.

That's more work that I expected anyone to do. Wow.

I do want the Half Crew to have six at station during times of action. This does mean that the vessel only has two full rotations of crew if operating at max capacity, but it should be possible to rotate a few out of each group if there's need for round-the-clock action.

I'm going with: One pilot, one copilot/navigator, one engineer, one commander*, two comms operators (gunners).

* This is the commander of the vessel, not necessarily someone with the rank of Commander.

I believe that most intelligence gathered by the Skywatcher will be signals and thus the two comms operators, All of the crew utilize the sensors, and the commander can opt to direct them for close looks. There are no dedicated gunners on this vessel. In the event of combat, the comms operators can direct the turrets from their stations.

Also, since this vessel is relatively small for having up to eighteen beings aboard, and since it's intended for long missions, I picture it housing the crew in capsules like the capsule hotels of Japan. All eighteen open to a single common room, and there will be communal refreshers. Austere, but at least you can get some privacy in your own little box.

Also, since this vessel is relatively small for having up to eighteen beings aboard, and since it's intended for long missions, I picture it housing the crew in capsules like the capsule hotels of Japan. All eighteen open to a single common room, and there will be communal refreshers. Austere, but at least you can get some privacy in your own little box.

Here, I would be inclined to look at what happens on small US Navy vessels. Usually the "Captain" of the ship (the guy in charge, and for small vessels almost certainly not with the Navy rank of Captain), will have larger quarters, as will the First Officer, and the Senior non-commissioned officer (NCO). Otherwise, the people in question will share quarters with others of similar ranks.

I would encourage you to look more closely as US Coast Guard vessels, too. In particular, the Sentinel-class cutter (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinel-class_cutter) seems like it would be a good model to investigate. Obviously, it wouldn't be a perfect fit for you, since it's not a long-range scout vessel that is intended to stay away from base for extended periods of time, but I still think it would be informative.

Aboard something like this, nobody would get their own room, I don't think. It's not really big enough for that- and that's coming from an ex-Navy vet.

Also, for the Full-crew and Half-crew loads, during times of action, generally everyone is awake and at-station. Extra (co-)pilots would go to gunnery stations and everyone would be ready for damage control. During protracted times of action, then instead of the three-watch rotation that I outlined on the Half-crew load, you'd see two-watch rotations- more people up all the time and only 6 hours of sleep a night, and maintenance will suffer. Maintaining this blows. Just saying.

Edit:

Oh yeah.