So, adding a weapon to a ship takes up a hard point - easy.

BUT - what if the crew is adding a "twinned" weapon to an EXISTING turret... or wants to add a turret (or replace a single-weapon turret) with a twinned weapon? Like the "TLT" on the Y-Wing variant?

Using the Y-Wing example, I can't seem to find any mathematical reasoning to say that the turret is taking up TWO hard points. But if a turret only takes ONE hard point, how many weapons should be allowed in it?

Thx in Advance!

- DM Khyrith

p271 EotE core. HP required: 0 if replacing an existing weapon system. 1 if adding new weapon system. Weapon systems combining two or more weapons always cost one hard point, even if replacing an existing weapon system."

By RAW I read that as requiring an extra HP when adding a combined system. What's confusing about the wording though is that even if you replace the system you don't seem to recoup the HP. So what I'd do is if replacing a single turret with a double turret, you regain the 1 for the single, but adding the double back in costs 2. But you could replace the double (recovering 2) and add a triple, which also costs 2.

So, turrets are as big as they need to be in order to encase the weapons in the turret. If you’re talking about Quad Heavy Turbolasers, that’s a pretty big turret. If you’re talking about a pair of Autoblasters, that’s a much smaller turret.

OTOH, the larger turrets tend to be mounted on larger ships, and the smaller turrets on smaller ships. And the hard point sizes tend to scale with the ship size as well. So, in the end, it all comes out in the wash.

The RAW has always been a bit confusing to me, so my inclination would be that if they PCs are taking out an existing non-turreted weapon and replacing that with another single weapon that is turreted, then the turret itself will take one additional hard point, but the weapon swap has no net loss or gain of hard points.

If the PCs are taking an existing non-turreted weapon and replacing it with a set (two or more), then that would be one additional hard point. That is, unless the set is pre-packaged as a single weapon, as is the case with Quad Light Laser Cannons.

For myself, I don’t think I’d allow more than four weapons in a turret. But those four weapons could not be made out of a weapons set such as Quad Light Laser Cannons. If you want multiple sets of Quad Light Laser Cannons, then you need a turret for each set.

But that’s just my view.

My interpretation has always been that the turret in itself doesn't take up HP, but the weapons in it do. If you consider adding a new turret (which, technically is a special firing arc), it will be up to GM's discretion: "When adding a weapon [...], the GM must decide [the] firing arc [...]"

Concerning linked weapons, I once houseruled that one weapon could be replaced by two who's minimum compatible silhouette is one lower, or by four, if the minimum is two lower, without requiring extra HP. But, it can't be replaced by anything with a minimum of two more.

My take on it so far has been to just add about 50% of the weapon's base cost if the players want it in a turret, as opposed to having it face in a single direction. No extra hard point cost; that's all from the weapon itself.

This is another reason I like OggDude's character generator. It allows you to upgrade weapons and lets you know how many hard points it will require, if any.

The rules are imho not confusing, but annoying to min/max.

Removing existing weapons simply does not create a new hardpoint / customisation option. It merely leaves a spot suited for a similar weapon. If you want to go with linked weapons you need to allocate additional ships resources to your weapon mount and this reduce the customization options.

The only inconstance the raw has is that replacing an already linked weapon with another one theoretical still cost a hardpoint, even if the new weapon is consuming the the same or even less ship's resources. Small things, I am sure most players will just go for an extra quad-linked turret weapon for the small price of a single HP gladly or get it for free if they want to switch from a twin-laser to a twin-ion based on their GM's decision.

My take on it so far has been to just add about 50% of the weapon's base cost if the players want it in a turret, as opposed to having it face in a single direction. No extra hard point cost; that's all from the weapon itself.

Turret or not is imho a question of personal taste and crew requirements, simpletech like this is incredible cheap anyway. Keep in mind that repulsor technology is literally less expensive than food in the star wars galaxy.

And the biggest drawback of turrets is the need to actually crew them. It is the biggest upside as well when you actually have dedicated gunners on your ship as it increases the action efficiency of the vehicle and allows the pilot to focus on evasion and GtA.

I actually got an answer from Sam on this a couple of years ago, I can't find it right now, but you can actually put as many weapons as you want in a single turret and the HP cost is just for the turret (I know sounds crazy). SO if you want six or eight, or a hundred, linked turbo lasers in a turret you can do it..., however you still need to not only hit but be able to activate additional linked ones with two Advantages each.

Well, a turret is just one weapon. You can add barrels (adding the linked quality), but it's still a single weapon. A weapons battery, however, has multiple weapons (this can be turrets, cannons, or launchers). But a turret is always going to be treated as a single weapon, with a single check to fire.

That said, I often treat weapon turrets on capital ships as being organized into batteries, with each individual weapon being fired by a generic Imperial Gunner minion, thereby putting them into minion groups, just for ease of running an encounter against a single cruiser or something. This, of course, is entirely up to you.

I actually got an answer from Sam on this a couple of years ago, I can't find it right now, but you can actually put as many weapons as you want in a single turret and the HP cost is just for the turret (I know sounds crazy). SO if you want six or eight, or a hundred, linked turbo lasers in a turret you can do it..., however you still need to not only hit but be able to activate additional linked ones with two Advantages each.

That is EXACTLY the type of answer I was looking for. Still leaves some room for GM "RAI" ruling ("no, you cannot put a dozen heavy laser cannons in your YT-1300 turret), but if 1x Turret = 1x HP, it saves on HP economy for the crew as they mod out their ships. Particularly ships with limited HPs (they REALLY want a HWK0-1000).

- GM Khyrith

I mean, even if you roll what, 5 yellows and a green, that's a max of 11 advantage (assuming you need at least 1 success to even hit). It takes 2 advantage to use a linked, so the most barrels you could have hitting would be 6 total (the initial plus 5 linked barrels). You could always double aim, and I'm sure there are a few talents that give you auto-advantage or whatever, but you'd be talking about the perfect roll (with all blanks on purples and blacks) and a min-maxed character.

So really, I'd say its very unlikely to have advantage to spend during an attack on linked beyond a quad laser turret. I think the Havoc (from Jedi Starfighter) had 6 linked foward laser cannons, so I suppose there is some precedent for a couple more.

With enough ranks of True Aim, you can roll at least 8 or more yellow dice, plus boost and everything else.

And I would not be at all surprised to find that a Rigger could modify weapons so that they are Paired instead of Linked.

But practically speaking, nothing beyond a quad turret would be likely to be of use to most people.

A purpose built Gunner character combining their Talents and aiming, with the combination of Triumphs and Advantages could land 4+ hits, and while not routine necessarily, it wouldn't be rare either. Pair that up with a couple ranks of Second Chances from Hot Shot and you'd probably end up doing it even more often. It would definitely have to be someone focused on being a peerless Gunner though.

With Ace:Gunner, Soldier:Sharpshooter, and Mercenary:Soldier, you can get at least six ranks of True Aim. There may be others that I’m not aware of.

If you’ve got 7 Agility and 5 skill, then you can be throwing at least 7 yellow, one green, and two blue dice against whatever the difficulty is.

With that dice combination, you can get up to 18 Successes or as many as 19 Advantages. Statistically, you’d be likely to average around 5-6 Successes and 5-6 Advantages, even with that many dice.

Senses can upgrades dice twice, and the targeting array can add another 3 to memory.