Greetings all

While designing an NPC ship i decided to use multiple barracks (the ship is going to be chock full of crazed redemptionists, a boarding machine).

While i can see the arguement for allowing the military achievement bonus to stack, how about the boarding bonus?

Currently, barracks grant a +20 bonus to boarding and hit and run. Clearly the more barracks one has, the bigger this bonus should be. Does +60 on the roll for having three barracks seem sensible, or should i reduce further bonuses after the first so that the bonus doesn't get too silly.

I could do

First barracks - +20

second barracks - +10 (i.e. half bonus)

Third Barracks - +5 (halve again)

This would make a formidable +35 bonus, which is however, less than the +40 one could get for murder servitors and a teleportarium.

What feels right to folks here for triple barracks, +60 (full bonus), +35 (see above), +40 (full bonus for the first then half for every following) or +20 (only get the bonus once.

No the bonus doesn't seem sensible and for one primary reason:

While your ship might be packed to the brim with soldiers, the ship can still only send over a limited number of boarders each time a hit and run action is being performed (a ship doesn't have an unlimited amount of boarding craft, after all, nor can the teleportarium send over an infinite amount of boarders at the same time)

Hence, the bonus wouldn't stack for boarding actions.

However, I wouldn't see a problem with the achievement points bonus stacking so it would still be beneficial to have multiple barracks. Also having "spares" is always good during combat, because even if one get's destroyed you still have one or two to spare and thus even if one were to be broken, you will still have the +20 bonus for H&R's.

I think the reducing returns 35 option would be best. If you're doing Hit and Runs, then that would represent sending over several fleets as opposed to just one to two ships and if you're engaged in an all out Boarding Action, you don't want to bonus getting too hight resulting to keep a crew of a raider from being able to insta-seize an undamaged Lunar Class Cruiser (I don't know if a Raider could hold that many barracks, but there has to be some upward ceiling to what armed fanatics can do against a desperate crew 4 times it's size).

In general, I'd agree with Graver.

However, I wouldn't see a problem with the achievement points bonus stacking so it would still be beneficial to have multiple barracks. Also having "spares" is always good during combat, because even if one get's destroyed you still have one or two to spare and thus even if one were to be broken, you will still have the +20 bonus for H&R's.

I'm not too sure about the achievement points stacking. At the very least, there should be a sharp decline for most such components. I mean, imagine the trophy room. "Now, in this room we find my trophies of the second Secundan war. In the next, we will... yes, yes, we'll get to the trade agreement soon enough, but first, I'll have to show you your fifteen sets of luxurious quarters!"

Cifer said:

I think it would be reasonable since the achievement points are governed by specific objectives (like military objectives, criminal objectives etc.). Meaning that if you game mechanics wise sacrificed all other ways to get extra achievement points for other kinds of objectives, the investment should pay off accordngly once you actually undertake an endavour with the appropriate objectives.

As for luxurious quarters, I don't see why they shouldn't stack. More luxurious quarters means that you can ferry more VIP clients across the voids. This means that you can cater to more high paying clients while completing the objective, and thus should get more achievement points.

The same goes for barracks. More Barracks means more capability to transport military might to wherever it might be needed, which means that whatever mission is at hand, a sufficient force will always be available.

If you're using multiple barracks, how about designating them for specific troop types. ie. one carries the infantry, another is outfitted for artillery and the third houses the armoured units. No use for your stacking but explains the increased military objectives bonuses and provides more detail for those planetary assaults.

As for luxurious quarters, I don't see why they shouldn't stack. More luxurious quarters means that you can ferry more VIP clients across the voids. This means that you can cater to more high paying clients while completing the objective, and thus should get more achievement points.

The same goes for barracks. More Barracks means more capability to transport military might to wherever it might be needed, which means that whatever mission is at hand, a sufficient force will always be available.

The question remains whether this additional capacity will always be filled. If you're up against two hundred insurgents, does it make a difference if you utterly crush them with 10000 professional soldiers instead of utterly crushing them with 5000? In the same way, additional luxury quarters won't do you much good if you've only got passengers enough for one set.

Cifer said:

If you're going on an endavour that is intended to gain you specific kinds of objective points, then isn't it reasonable that you'll take on as large capacity as possible?

It's "Profit above all" after all, so wouldn't a Rogue Trader ferrying VIP clients or troops try to fill his vessel to the brim with these elements if he's engaged in trying to achieve the relevant objective?

Considering that both Chartist Captains and Rogue Traders rarely have to "look" for work, and spend a lot of the time just sitting around without anything to do, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that they won't have any problem finding enough clients that want to take full advantage of whatever facilities and components aboard the vessel.

I throw my 2 cents in with Tybalt on this one, seems like the Achievement points would stack more readily than the bonuses.

If you wanted to pick a bonus out of the three, I'd go with the diminishing returns one because unless you used plenty of Space say a large sized Cargo Hold to say "This is for my extra Hit and Run ships," Tybalt is right that you'd have a lot of bodies to not do much with, but even then since you're sending a larger number of boats over the defending ship would either have an easier time shooting them because you'd give them multiple targets or they'd have an easier time defending because they would see this mini-fleet coming, and thus have a more appreciable defense ready for who ever is coming a knocking at their door. Since you aren't boarding them you're trying to take something out fast and get out, the more bodies doesn't mean better, just means harder to coordinate and more difficult to get in and out smoothly. It's why Strike Forces are 5 guys, not 50.

Personally the way I handle this is that most pirate ships fall into to one of 2 groups.

1)Imperial ships captured by pirates. In this case the ship's have a legal owner, and it's not the PCs. It's the same as a stolen car. Now that's not to say the PCs don't get a cut of the ship for returning it.

2)The ship was built in a non-Imperial ship yard without proper admech supervision and often incorporate xenos, and hertical technologies. An example of this is the Idolator class raider believed to be built on the excomunicated forgeworld of Xana II somewhere near the Eye of Terror. Or the Infidel class raider believed to be built based on plans that disappear Monsk shipyards. (See Battle Gothic PDF page 125 ships of the Gothic sector from specialist games section of GW site.) Both these ship class would be fired upon by Naval, and Admech forces as a matter of course.

Which is not to say the ships are without value. The PCs could certainly refit the vessels and use them in the Expanse. They could sell the ships on the black market. (Of course pirates are the most likely buyer...) With enough effort/resources Imperial ships could be stripped of any identifing features, and non-Imperial ships could be modified to appear as another class. Or simply stripped of anything of value. I've ruled that footfall has a "chop shop" shipyard.

It's to be expected that an Imperial ship recaptured from pirates would be looted to some degree. I let my PCs pull out everything over than the drives, sensors and gellar. My PCs at one point swapped the captured ship's sensors and voids for a cheaper version before turning it in.

In either case, I'd say it depends on the situation. If you're ferrying the entire House of an Imperial Noble, the more Luxury Quarters the better; though a single planetary governor and his staff would only get the bonus once.

I am in favor of halving the boarding bonus once for each additional component (so 35). You're not necessarily sending more troops over, but with a larger pool to choose from, those chosen for the mission will undoubtedly be of higher quality or better equipped.