The "Ghtroc 720 Light Freighter" ( this is one of the 3 starting craft for players ) looks ridiculous. Discuss.

For fans of Japanese monster movies, it looks like Gamera. Not sure if that makes it better or worse.

S'alright.

Can't say it is my favourite design of all time, but you can't always fly a YT1300. And it has a long and proud history in Star Wars roleplaying.

Fact, people that don't like sea turtle shaped space ships also hate puppies, cookies and freedom.

Callidon said:

Yes. This is true. I saw it in the rainbow. A hidden message.

ROFL…

Ah… the Ghtroc 720. The "flying space turtle" of cargo ships. It's always looked silly. But it has a storied history.

Immensly popular in the outer-rim (in deference to the competing YT-1300), probably because Ghtroc was based in the outer-rim. Luke Skywalker used a heavily modified one of these in his campaign against Thrawn.

But you can thank West End Games for the creation of the flying space turtle, and it's crazy design.

I, for one, love it. In my last Saga Campaign (AltU), the party heavily modified one, called The Impasse , and it was a pocket battleship by the time they were done with it. All that cargo space was converted into emplacement points - and it was owned by a REDICULOUSLY rich noble, who poured all her money into it. I had it stolen haflway through the campaign, only for the party to recover it again. I thought she was going to cry. She did "squee".

Don't be hatin' on the Space Turtle

Seriously, it's always been one of my favorite ship designs since it first showed up in the WEG days. Stat-wise it's been on par with the YT-1300 (if a little better in some aspects, namely more passengers, cargo capacity, and built-in shields), and offered a wonderful alternative for groups and GMs that were a bit tired of their group's smuggler trying to recreate the Falcon. The official floor plan leaves something to be desired, but luckily there are plenty of fan-made alternatives to choose from.

Personally, I think it's off-beat design is half of the ship's charm, and I was a tad disappointed when the Sunday group I game with opted to go with the YT-1300 instead of the Ghtroc 720.

Donovan Morningfire said:

Maybe you can talk the Friday group into going with one.

The Ghtroc freighter series may not have all the flash, glitz and classic body lines of the YT series freighters. But for the aspiring interstellar captain on the outer rim? You simply cannot beat Ghtroc Industries' warranty and support. They have certified parts dealers in every sector of inhabited space, affiliation with some of the galaxy's finest engineers, and lending options available from every banking world on the Corellian Run.

In recent years the Empire has cracked down on CE's highly modifiable YT series ships and their myriad of modular options to help curb the growing concerns of smuggling and civilian armament. Thus getting parts has become a bureaucratic nightmare. This crackdown has benefited black market ventures and shipjackers who offer a wide variety of parts and equipment for those in the know, or ship owners with more money than sense. When it comes to issues of recall, retrofit and waranty repair Corellian Engineering's stance has classically been to leverage the onus of problem resolution onto the backs of working freighter captains, whilst pandering to wealthy fleet shipping concerns.

The choice is clear.

Ghtroc Industries, Your Stars are our Destination!

Callidon said:

"So, Captain Sparrow, how did you escape from our carefully planned ambush in the asteroid field?"

"Sea turtles, mate."

Callidon said:

*stands and applauds slowly*

When you play with "Disc World" fans, and the vessel was called "A'tuin", its very fun all the cross jockes

Yep, one of WEG's more unfortunate choices. Still, it's been adopted heavily in the Expanded Universe… which really, WEG started.

Hopefully, plans will be in the core book.

we call ours The Super Turtle.

I cringed when I first saw this with a deckplan when I picked up my SW Adventure Journal from a mailbox decades ago. First, the completely not subtle turtle look. Why? I completely understand an artist using a turtle as an inspiration, but don't make it so **** obvious! This is Star Wars, not Anime.

Less obviously, I had a problem with the components when looking at the deckplan. What the shell (pun intended) suggested for the innards looks to have been made up afterwards to justify the appearance. The thrusters are up towards the front and at a 45-degree angle (not facing directly facing rearward or at the back of the ship). The escape pods at the rear (I first thought they were the thrusters) also seems to be just a justification for the rear feet of the turtle.

Should someone, in homage, design a new snub fighter that looks like a giant shark? That would be so uber kool.

Ghtroc 1138 Void Shark Snubfighter:

(That of course is not a dorsal fin, but a DeusEx Class 5 Hyperdrive)

The Venture Star from Avatar has its engines angled off axis so the exhaust plumes don't melt or irradiate the payload being pulled along behind the drive section.

And that is as close to proper science fiction as movies tend to get.

--

Was the design of the Millennium Falcon not based on a hamburger with a bite out of it?

And I thought Tintin's Shark minisub was the coolest thing in the world when I was a kid:-

ErikB said:

That would work for a justification IF the Ghtroc was a tugboat. It's not. My point was the ship was obviously designed to look like a turtle first, then the deckplans had to be justified by some irregularities. Not a biggy really for me. The overly-obvious turtle look is what I dislike the ship.

I suppose a nice redact for the Ghtroc was it IS a tugboat and the architect grew up on planet Ysillari known for a certain, famous sea creature.

ErikB said:

If it was I would be fine with that. Why the difference? Because it isn't obvious at all. I, and I think the masses of fans, never thought of it as a hamburger at all. It's the obvious inspiration that screams out at you, TURTLE IN SPAAACCCCE!!!!, that I dislike in the Ghtroc.

I had always thought the Falcon was inspired by a UFO flying disc with gadgets added. And yes, I disliked the justification of the "loading arms" also at the front of the Falcon. Those arms don't look like they could grab ahold of anything very easily. They obviously can't be used to load the Falcon itself. Was the YT-1300 intended to be used to load other, larger craft with cargo? If so, I've never heard of that mentioned anywhere.

Of course I've never designed a cool looking Star Wars craft myself that makes scientific sense, so I should just shut up, I agree. I still have used the Ghtroc as a player vehicle in past campaigns even if I think it is slightly ridiculous.

It has a certain symmetry I find myself liking. The Millennium Falcon is a fine ship, but that cockpit mounted off on one side of it, I always thought that looked a bit dumb, and that, maybe, one side of the part the Captain sat in was a bit less well-protected than the other. A number of the "better" ships in Star Wars have that odd, asymmetrical appearance to them, and it helps us remember them, maybe, but I appreciate that this ship looks the same on both sides.

venkelos said:

I agree. Also, it's a pretty good ship stat-wise. It might not look like much but it is the fastest most useful of the three ships for general use.

Unknown said:

Hee hee… this image you've linked was created specifically for my old WEG gaming group and website, Elrood Sector: Tales of the Freespirit , by Pete 'Shadowdeep' Schough about ten years ago. See that cotterdam docking tube on the craft's starboard 'shoulder'? That's a customization my players added (along with the ventral ion cannon). To see this ship really in action, check out this extraordinary oil painting that Pete also did for us:

Nice to see the ol' girl again… :*)

This is the best ship I've ever seen!