Hi all.

I remember reading some threads about ship acquisition, and different ways of handling it. I want this to be a big deal, as the dynasty is a run down affair down to it's last frigate (still a good one) as the players enter, started out with 38 profit factor or thereabouts. I also feel that ships should be somewhat hard to acquire given that they take centuries to build, and I can't really buy the idea that they could just acquire this on a roll that is 30 percentiles lower than acquiring a bolt pistol.

But as we played Into the Maw, they decided to rescue the pilgrims, and contract a salvage ship in Footfall to tow the transporter Penitent Traveller in for repair and refit. They need to make 6 "big" acquisitions to refit it, 2 missile batteries, warp drive, plasma drive, and extra armor and observation dome, plus some repairs to components and hull. And crew it, about 12000. We've resolved this akin to a background endeavour, ie handled by npcs while they themselves are out to plunder the Righteous Path. We miss out on some roleplaying opportunities, but we could do that next time.

Long story a bit shorter, I want them to feel they're spending a lot of resources on this. I will either disallow or limit "big" acquisitions while this repair refit process in going on, to represent they're burning a lot of cash and calling in favors.

I'm considering a temporary -100 AP on all objectives for a fixed number of future endeavors to pay of loans etc. Or maybe a slight PF penalty. Maybe both.

And this also got me thinking, how to handle an acquisition of a new ship. Who puts ships up for "sale", how costly is an entire starship compared to repairs and refitting? Who sells warp drives and weapon batteries?

How do you handle this? Any other, better suggestions?

Any good earlier posts on this that adress the issues I'm raising I've missed?

Thanks for any input/discussion :-)

Unable to give this a rest, I did some thinking and it occured to me that ship points and PF are about the same "worth". So I used 1 PF for essential components, and the SP cost for supplemental components.

That netted about 10 profit factor to be payed for every objective until it is payed off. Seeing as the transporter also will award achievement points it will "pay for itself" in some objectives, and be a burden in others. Crewing and repairs are "free".

For future "big purchases" I'm considering to allow them to burn a few profit factor right off from the start if they want to.

Also I'm thinking 4-6 weeks for removing a destroyed component and fitting a new one. The book mentions 3 weeks to install a component, but I guess about the same amount of time is spent on removing a destroyed one?

Do you have the book "Into the Storm"? This book covers what you're talking about re: multiple purchases.

Yes.

But I wanted the refit process to "linger on" for a while. Something they will feel, instead of a few rolls that worked or did not work out.

And the rules as they are written they would have about a 5% chance of acquiring a SP 40 starship.

I've also got Koronus, and found that 3-6 weeks for replacing a component seems to be about right.