Ship of the Mechanicus

By Quoth, in Rogue Trader

So in our game of RT, our PF is high enough now to start looking at expanding our fleet.

As the Exploritor, I want to have a ship thats more of a Utility ship than a combat ship.
As a basis I have been looking at the Universe-Class Mass Conveyor

Id really like the Spacedock Piers and the Lux Net (especially considering the Transporters Generators dont offer enough to supply half the compartments all at once)

But beyond that... Im not sure what would be especially useful.
Iv maxed out my Trade (Armourer) skill and Im taking an active distrust in xeno tech

That's quite an investment!

As a mechanicus craft, I'd look seriously at the Manufactorum. Launch Bays and Small Craft Repair Bays can make for good investments, as they can provide both a measure of defense (fightercraft) and new way to quickly survey an area (support craft). Unless your really expecting it to spend most of its time sitting in one place, auxiliary plasma banks are more reliable then lux-nets.

Salvage Systems, Asteroid Mining and Cloud Mining facilities can all open up new and long term methods of getting profit, as well as potentially providing raw resources. If it's going to be out doing this kind of stuff for a while, consider an Arboretum, and potentially extended supply vaults.

Round it all off with an observation dome and an exploration bridge and you'll have Disciples of Thule banging at your door to join you on your grand explorations.

Agree with Quicksilver.

Get the Laboratorium, Library vaults, etc. You want to be able to study things. Possibly the Medicae facility.

AdMechanicus ship? Servitor Reclamation Facility. Murder Servitors.

Get every single mining/harvesting system fitted to a universe you can, as well as salvage, small craft and then fill the remaining space with power generation and Endeavour bonus components.

Then weep as your ship fails piloting tests constantly and you crash and burn inside a star while trying to harvest plasma...

Plasma scoop on Universe may be considered illegal by some DM as it "may not be equipped on ships of Grand Cruiser size or larger" (p. 40).

I'd put the Goliath-class Factory Ship up for consideration. Depending on how much you put into it, it can greatly extend your fleet's endurance. Or at least lower operating costs, if that's being tracked.

In any case, components I'd suggest for the Universe or any support ship are:

- Laboratorium

- Manufactorum (and House Rule something with your GM)

- Salvage Systems

- Arboretum or Ship's Stores

You can also fit an Asteroid Mining Facility aboard a Goliath, making it self-reliant (he don't need no miner!). I finally got one, well the GM gave us one, but I had to part with it before I could modify it.

Also, if it is a mechanicus ship...

Having the folks on it install cybernetics for you is a definite possibility. As is going to them for a missing limb. (Just don't expect anything above common craftsmanship.)

Fairly certain a Medicae Deck would contain the facilities and equipment needed for bionic transplants, as well as a modest supply of the most common ones (in Common or Poor Quality. But hey, Poor Quality lungs are still, you know, lungs!).