Wow, where can i find the stats for that shuttle online? It seems amazingly good. Is it already in the Star Wars index site?

As for the entire concept of starting ship, i jave to say that after some thinking i don't like it at all, at least in star wars. A ship is not a blaster that can be asily dropped for something better. In the movies we don't see Han ditching the Falcon for something better, or Luke exchanging his x-wing for an A-wing cause the A-wing is faster. Lando too seems worried about the Falcon even if it's not his ship anymore.Boba Fett keeps his father's Firespray even after he becomes rich enough to be able to buy another ship. So IMO in star wars ships aren't easily exchanged or traded for better ones, people tend to stick to the one they have; i think this clashes with the concept of a "not too powerful starting ship" that will be exchanged with something better later. Most characters wouldn't do that in Star wars universe, at least without a significant story reason, so i don't see any problems in giving characters the ship they like even if it's a bloody good ship: they are going to become much more attached to it and the GM will be able to challenge tham with better or more numerous enemies to keep things even, or threaten them wth stealing or impounding it.

The issue with getting too attached is determining what happens if the ship is compromised. It might be stolen/repossessed, destroyed, or "made" (making use of it too conspicuous or dangerous) through the actions of the players. In many cases, the smart thing to do would be to get another ship. This also helps to prevent forcing the GM to tailor the narrative to keep the ship a viable option even when that's just not realistic.

I'd love to get my hands on a Hawk, either -290 or -1000, but the fact that they're so damned good takes them out of "starter ship" contention for me. Personally, I'd just take the starting YT-1300 and reskin it. Call it the "Procul Harum 9000" or something, tell them it was a limited-run test bed from a small (now-bankrupt) manufacturer, and they'll probably never know the difference.

I don't think they are "too good", sure the 290 makes the best "sil 3 fighter", but again these vessels are best used as runners. Perfect for small parties actually.

That mandalorian shuttle from friends like these might give it some competition

It's not even competition. The mandalorian "shuttle" has a crazy-high HTT combined with Armor 4, Long-range on the sensors, and it has an astromech socket. Even with all of that, it still manages to hold 75 EC.

I haven't got that book. Interesting, though that being said I've never seen the appeal of turning a HWK-290 into a uber fighter. Fighters die really easily, so I would rather make a true smuggling vessel or a hotrod so that engagement is more difficult.

It's Silhouette 3, HTT 25, SST 15, Speed 4, Handling +1, has a pair of medium lasers and a proton torpedo launcher along with 3 months of consumables and everything else I mentioned previously.

That's stupidly insane. Do they amp up everything with the name of Mandolorian these days...

It is by the same writer that put Sensor Range: Long on escape.pods, so it's quite possible that he likes inflating stats.

That's stupidly insane. Do they amp up everything with the name of Mandolorian these days...

Well, not the Mandalorian Human species. They are distinctly sub-par mechanically.

As was suggested by another poster it does depend on what your group's purpose is. The first group I ran was a firefly style group and I gave them a choice of a number of ships. They chose the Citadel class cruiser.

If you are looking for ship maps check out 0 hr arts and technology. They do some amazingly detailed ship maps. I actually prefer to use those if I need a map, then I make SW stats for the ship. The new Renegade Corsair is a great ship for a large group of people.

Salcor

Wow, where can i find the stats for that shuttle online? It seems amazingly good. Is it already in the Star Wars index site?

As for the entire concept of starting ship, i jave to say that after some thinking i don't like it at all, at least in star wars. A ship is not a blaster that can be asily dropped for something better. In the movies we don't see Han ditching the Falcon for something better, or Luke exchanging his x-wing for an A-wing cause the A-wing is faster. Lando too seems worried about the Falcon even if it's not his ship anymore.Boba Fett keeps his father's Firespray even after he becomes rich enough to be able to buy another ship. So IMO in star wars ships aren't easily exchanged or traded for better ones, people tend to stick to the one they have; i think this clashes with the concept of a "not too powerful starting ship" that will be exchanged with something better later. Most characters wouldn't do that in Star wars universe, at least without a significant story reason, so i don't see any problems in giving characters the ship they like even if it's a bloody good ship: they are going to become much more attached to it and the GM will be able to challenge tham with better or more numerous enemies to keep things even, or threaten them wth stealing or impounding it.

I agree with some of what you said and disagree with other parts.

I'd like to make a distinction between

1. a "starting ship" i.e. the ship you start the game with which is in most campaigns a necessity and FFG provides a game mechanic for (choose what you want with the restriction <= 120,000 credits for eote campaigns)
2. a "starter ship" i.e. a temporary ship that is meant to be replaced as soon as you can obtain better, which is NOT a game mechanic or play style attributable to the developers of FFG, rather it is a feature of some gaming groups. Constantly upgrading (via replacement) ships is not a playstyle I would normally advocate (except when a/the theme of the campaign is stealing and/or selling starships) but in any event this is something I would attribute this to the gaming group not the game system.

FFG's 120,000 credits rule specifies a MINIMUM level of capability that players are "ENTITLED TO" under RAW. The GM is free to give them more if he/she wants to.

My players started with 2 ships (2 different bounty hunting teams that had to collaborate on a job) and one team had to sell their jumpmaster in the first session to pay off a large chunk of their debt obligation, and get everyone onto the same ship. The other ship was a loronar E-9 explorer, but with some stats changed... a BASE speed of 1, base manuverability of 0, and encumbrance capacity of I think 110 instead of 60. They kept this ship for 11 sessions (each session about 5 hours) which represented close to 2 years of real world time (we game about once every two months),

by the way their ship got blown up on the ground by a Czerka hit squad (with the players', not the characters's, permission, I asked the players if they had gotten attached to the ship/would object to me blowing it up if they got something better as a replacement), so that I could replace it with a "described as a highly modified consular class cruiser" with stats that are a hybridized version of a raider II corvette (friends like these) and consular class cruiser (this was before friends like these came out, I actually hybridized the stats of a IIR-3F light frigate and consular class and then made additional changes, but the stats were a "clean" hybridization of a raider II with some stats replaced by those of a consular).

So yeah I gave them a ship that was better than the minimum that they "had a RIGHT TO"/"were ENTITLED TO" (which is were we agree) but I don't agree that FFG encourages the concept/practice of "starter ships" (they as a mechanic provide "starting ships").

You can always consider the starting ship the one the group had before they got their real ship (back). It's one they stole or lucked into somehow, but they don't have a sentimental attachment to it. But over the course of the campaign, work with the players so that they can acquire one that's awesome and suits them, and that they can modify and really consider their own, both as players and characters.

And really, the Falcon only ever was Han and Chewie's home. Luke had his X-Wing, and Leia didn't give a **** about the Falcon. So it's okay for there to be multiple main ships for the group, too. Maybe their freighter has a starfighter or two attached to it (appropriately disguised, of course). Or it has a cool planetary vehicle it can detach upon landing.

Another possibility is for their true ship to be one that was stolen, or gambled away, or confiscated, as part of the backstory. You can tie this situation into Obligations and Motivations, and have the first story, or a sub-plot, be about the characters getting their ship back. That way the player group can begin with one of the standard starting ships, and get familiar with the system, and decide a couple sessions in on the nature of the ship they're working to get back. Just have them settle on a name and a vague type (light freighter, gunship, whatever) for the first session, so that everyone has something to work with when roleplaying.

If you're playing AoR, you can build a collection of ships through Duty rewards.

The absolute monogamous relationship with the ship isn't something that I believe in, especially considering how easy it is for a ship to be destroyed.

Wow, where can i find the stats for that shuttle online? It seems amazingly good. Is it already in the Star Wars index site?

Not yet. We’ve got some catching up we need to do with books that have been published recently.

Sigh….

Classy bounty hunters might consider doing business out of a yacht. Sure, they’re useless in combat unless they’re upgraded, but if you prefer to capture your targets through trickery, what better ship to use? Why not invite your target on board for a party, then cuff him while he’s drunk?

I'd like to make a distinction between

1. a "starting ship" i.e. the ship you start the game with which is in most campaigns a necessity and FFG provides a game mechanic for (choose what you want with the restriction <= 120,000 credits for eote campaigns)
2. a "starter ship" i.e. a temporary ship that is meant to be replaced as soon as you can obtain better, which is NOT a game mechanic or play style attributable to the developers of FFG, rather it is a feature of some gaming groups. Constantly upgrading (via replacement) ships is not a playstyle I would normally advocate (except when a/the theme of the campaign is stealing and/or selling starships) but in any event this is something I would attribute this to the gaming group not the game system.

FFG's 120,000 credits rule specifies a MINIMUM level of capability that players are "ENTITLED TO" under RAW. The GM is free to give them more if he/she wants to.

That's a very good point. I hadn't thought of it that that way. I fully support the idea of starting ship then.