I'm sure I read this somewhere, but now I can't find it.

How many navigators and astropaths would be common on a RT ship?

Thanks

min. 3 navigators (because they evidently work in shifts),, and d10 astropaths (to make a sizeable choir) 3-5 seems ok!

hey

! : ?

In Into the Storm, on page 91, it gives a little fluff about Aoife Armengarde having to replace the Dynastys Senior Navigator, which required a negotiation, after which her vessel once again had a Navigator to take his place. It also states that they work in shifts, but does not detail how long these shifts are. I personally think 3 Navigators is too few. I believe you would have a Senior(master), 2 Adepts, and 4 Novices. The Master would oversee the entire operation and step in when things got trickier than what his Adepts and Novices could handle, and would represent his Dynasty on the vessel.

The 10 number for Astropaths seems right, and 12 would be the max. However, in Deathwatch it talks about isolated watch stations with one lonely Astropath to relay messages along, so I suppose you could get by with just one, but this is a bad idea.

The short answer for our group is: as many as best fits the needs of the story.

As our Lord-Captain inherited a declining dynasty, it was decided that the dynasty had a single ship with a single navigator who'd been serving for 30+ years, though not necessarily all by himself throughout. Now that we're trying to gather up some more ships it means we have a story arc/endeavour that involves finding and recruiting more Navigators. We thought it would be neat to play that out. We also thought it might be interesting for my slimy and manipulative Navigator to find a way to profit by it. (As for the working in shifts thing: Meditation is a handy talent to have for those long trips through the Warp... Though yes - since my navigator and his ship have returned to full-time duty, extra navigator "hands" would surely be appreciated.)

However, in another story it might just be easier to have a half-dozen Navigators on board so you can go out into deep space without having to worry about running out, leaving you free concentrate on other stories. (I find it hard to imagine all but the largest and most important/richest dynasties would have more than a handful of Navigators on each ship, if that much.) If you need a rule of thumb, I would say anywhere from 1 to about 6. Anything more than that seems excesive, unless there are special circumstances which govern a particular vessel (for instance, a captain with Peer [Navigator] might have some additional Navigators on board as a bonus. Or, perhaps the vessel is owned by a Navigator family. Whatever.)

Maybe not the answer you were hoping for but I feel this is the best way to play it.

I tend to leave that decision up to the players. They may hire as many navigators as they wish. This typically ranges between 10 and 30.

As for astropaths, I also leave that up to the players. Depending on the quality of astropaths, the players have hired anywhere between none (one pc was an astropath and it was the first session we'd ever played) and nine.

Once the players have worked out how much of what they want to hire, I typically try to incorporate that decision into the game, and determine the long term potential consequences of the decision based on my knowledge of the fluff.

! : ? said:

Minimum of three navigators because of shifts? I think you're being soft on them - 8 hour shifts are really short. I could easily see them pulling 12hours on/12 hours off for the duration of warp travel.

HappyDaze said:

But do you really want the rare and valuable beings capable of guiding your ship through the hellish unreality of the Warp becoming overstrained and fatigued through long shifts?

Thanks for the responses.

I'm thinking that 3 to 6 navigators and 10 or so Astropaths will suffice.

Probably a good thing to have a few spares.....

-Erich

Exactly! The Navigators have real contracts, and I would imagine that in those contracts they are afforded a certain level of comfort other non-contracted individuals would not have. We are not talking about moving macrocannon shells into place here, we are talking about an ultra rare individual guiding your vessel through the evils of the warp. The mental strain of having ones brain open to the warp and the power to handle it must be intense. Ever sit at your computer straining your brain on a project for hours on end? Maddening.

One of the reasons I proposed that a ship has one Master, 2 or 3 Adepts, and each Adept has a Novice is in line with the apprenticeship systems of the middle ages (loosely). The Adepts continue the rudimentary training of the Novices, and the Master overseas them all. This number would not include the servants and servitors the Navigators use, and I would imagine that Navigators bring along their own Medicae trained staff.

I think you are better off going into the depths of uncharted space with a full staff of Navigators, not to mention the fact that what Navigator Dynasty would risk sending one of its assets into those depths without some assurance i.e. proper staffing that it would profit and not lose that entire profit when by some coincidence all 3 Navigators are killed and there is not one left to save the ship.

I would not go lower than 10 Navigators and 10 Astropaths. In my games, that is going to be the minimum complement for both.