Are these official? If so what book?

I'm pretty sure standard docking clamps are standard on freighters. There are special " pirate " boarding clamps that cut through a target's hull for forced entry in one of the EotE books.

Do you know which one?

The note regarding docking clamps and freighters is on page 258 of the core rule book in the field labelled "STARFIGHTERS AND FREIGHTERS." Exactly what does and does not have external clamps is left to the GM, as the only vehicle I'm aware of that specifically mentions having docking clamps is the Citadel on page 26`1 of the core book.

The pirate boarding clamp mentioned is the Assault Boarding Tube from page 61 of Dangerous Covenants. But that's not meant for hauling around vehicles.

Most ships of any size have docking rings to dock with other ships, but most fighters are only depicted with hatches/canopies, and are generally assumed to land in landing bays rather than having their own docking capability for boarding and debarking. I generally assume that external docking clamps are just for securing the fighter to a larger ship, and EVA is necessary to get in and out, barring setups specifically designed for specific fighters (like the imperial Gozanti and it's Tie docking system).

The gozanti and the ghost both have external docking systems that allow entry without EVA.

FFG really should add that as an attachment so we can mimic those iconic ships.

I think it's worth mentioning that Star Wars Rebels is showing ships that traditionally would not have docking clamps as now being capable of having docking clamps:

It's definitely up to the GM as to what is and isn't allowed, but I don't think it's a stretch to allow any correctly sized ship to be at least be modified to have external docking clamps over their docking ports.

Docking clamps are mentioned in the Beginner Box adventure Escape from Pos Shutta (Encounter 4).

They are an obstacle to the characters getting off Tatooine and are part of the spaceport controlling ship departures.

Same name different thing?

bl

22 hours ago, TheShard said:

Are these official? If so what book?

EotE-CRB, grey box in the ship section iirc. But I am too late and SoD already give the page number even.

With larger ships, obviously just go with a converted landing bay.

For smaller ships I noodled out something similar, but a little different, than what the Gozanti has with my GM.

Pressurized docking clamp.

This is a modified flexible docking collar/clamp combo. It can function as a normal universal docking ring, allowing two ships to dock with each other, but it's main purpose is to clamp to small craft like fighters and seal over the cockpit or entry hatch. This allows people to board and debark them quickly and safely without having to wear space suits and go on a space walk the way you would have to if they were simply attached to exterior clamps.

This vehicle attachment is available to ships of silhouette 4 or larger. At GM's discretion it may require a mechanics check to achieve a proper seal on particularly awkward or exotic cockpits or docking rings.

Base Modifiers: A llows appropriate Sil 2 and 3 vehicles to dock and board with 4 maneuver. Disembarking and un-docking also takes 4 actions. Also allows for refueling and re-arming.

Modification options: 2 reduce maneuver cost of dock/board or disembark/undock by 1 mods.

Hard Points: 1

Cost: 2,500

If the owner of a Sil 5+ ship wanted something that could haul around only specific vehicles (Tie fighters only), and nix the docking ring functionality, I'd probably allow it to take 2 ships per hard point.

1 hour ago, blittlepage said:

Same name different thing?

Same thing, different use-case. Docking clamps hold a ship safe and secure to make docking safe, so undocking can prevent by those clamps … unless the docked ship is sturdy and powerful enough to just rip off those clamps, which requires as well that those clamps are designed to lock down ships as well.

On 6/5/2017 at 0:01 PM, TheShard said:

Are these official? If so what book?

EotE core pg 258 and the Assault tube is DC pg 61.

How they work exactly is up the each gm, and there's been a lot of arguing over if the docked craft is accessible without a space walk. Likewise Rebels has expanded on this by allowing a sil 3 ship to haul another sil 3 ship through hyperspace.

My take:

1) all ships have a docking clamp/claw/plate that allows it to secure itself to another surface like a station, asteroid, or another starship. A sil 3 ship can haul another sil 3 ship through hyperspace linking claw to claw, but they aren't really designed to, so it's an automatic upgrade to all astrogation checks at a minimum.

2) Sil 4 ships can haul two sil 3 or smaller vehicles without penalty. Generally speaking the clamps include a small universal boarding hatch that will allow access to the cockpit of the attached vehicle. Depending on the ship and docking location the clampped craft may need to detach for the carrying ship to land (which usually means they will need to detach). The clamps only allow cockpit access and carrying, no refueling and repairs usually require an EVA.

3) Sil 5 ships can also carry at least two sil 3 craft, and often more using clamps. Clamp restrictions are the same as Sil 4 carrying, but a sil 5 ship will usually be able to land (when dealing with sil 5 ships that can land). The retrofit hanger attachment is still required for refueling, repair, and other functions that require direct access to the vehicle.

I am a verpine pilot and mechanic. And I approve Ghostofman's message. When needing rearming, refueling and most importantly, cover from enemy fire, nothing beats the safety of a hangar, even a retrofitted one.
For everything else? Docking clamps!

Though I must admit, I shot more than once ships down from those clamps before they even got manned. So the cover from enemy fire aspect is not to be underestimated!