Stardwellers: Ships
This thread is going to have a bunch of example ships that will go into the book.
Stardwellers: Ships
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Summary:
A repository of examples
Metalopodia
A shiny bronze octopus-shaped vessel with working metallic tentacles made of carefully shaped ferrofluid. The exterior has a gleaming finish; the interior has a classic "20,000 leagues" vibe with visible rivets, weathered copper colors, round portholes, and soft angles everywhere. Two of the tentacles act as short-range shuttles to carry passengers to other vessels when necessary.
Metalopodia is captained by Mingmei the Fanciful Binding, from the Research mission The Mines of Clamor. Mingmei's particular interest is in how the structures that humanity builds can perform unusual computations over the course of months or years. She also (clearly) has a thing for cephalopods, as her body is a human-scale replica of the ship in silver rather than bronze.
Metalopodia:
Nanotech 5, Stringtech 4
Inversion-powered, jump-capable
Infrastructure 0
Mingmei the Fanciful Binding:
Neuroform: Dataform dynamic
Capabilities: Bio: 4, Cog: 5, Meta: 5, Nano: 5, String: 4 (the last two are from the ship itself)
Core Values: Diversity: 4, Freedom: 4, Humanity: 2, Stories: 4
Professions: Professional: Crisis Control 3, Spacer 2, Engineer (Nanotech) 1. Locality: the Independents 2. Adept (Cognitech): Engineer (Cognitech) 3, Researcher (Cognitech) 3, Financial 3, Legal 3, Media 3
Tiny
It's been too long! Let me get this rolling again.
"Tiny" is a beat-up potato of a ship - an oblong behemoth clearly carved from an asteroid with little intention that it would ever be graceful or even particularly mobile. It's not well-camouflaged, it's not well-armed (well, at least compared to other ships at Stringtech 5), it's not even particularly well-designed. What it is is large. Tiny is a few kilometers in diameter.
Living inside Tiny is a miniature dataform civilization called the Farandolae. This extremophile research mission is composed of dataform minds who are seeking the minimum size of a mind that can still be sentient. They place more and more of themselves in long-term storage, and rewrite that which remains to use clever programming tricks rather than complex evolved pathways. Those who pass below the boundary of rationality and willpower are pulled back by their friends - the Farandolae have the authority to restore one another in case of emergency.
Tiny moves only rarely. Charging up its capacitors for a jump takes months. The Farandolae often make money by taking on long-term boarders and sightseers who are in the mood for a slow cruise around Stardweller space. Some worry that Tiny is ripe for takeover, with the Farandoae unable to effectively defend it.
Tiny:
Nanotech 4, Stringtech 5
Inversion-powered, jump-capable
Infrastructure 1
The Farandolae:
Build a Farandolae character as a Stardweller, with Cognitech and Metatech limited to 3 and (typically) no other attributes. Sensors inside Tiny can be borrowed to provide Nanotech 4, and tools can provide Stringtech 5, but these are accessed relatively rarely. Minimalism is a common Core Value.
The Cloak of Night
The Cloak of Night is a rarity - a warship. Operated by the mercenary warband The Bastion of Silence, the Cloak spends the majority of its time in those systems that are willing to welcome mercenaries - typically outside the Armada. The Cloak has fought in numerous skirmishes between Stardweller factions, has faced down a few Union ships, and has even sprinted through Mechanican space as a distraction for a covert operation. The Bastion keep the Cloak well-maintained and well-stocked,
The Cloak has a crew of seven, each highly enhanced and with decades of experience. Their leader, Brassteel, is a dual organism: her body is that of an ex-Union member; her mind is the parasitic self-replicating program that freed her. (The trick won't work again - the Union updates their lenses regularly against such assaults.) Brassteel's original mind was uploaded to a remote site years ago when her body was freed. Where it is now, no one knows. She cares about maintaining her hard-won freedom more than anything, and will refuse to take any assignments that will end with people enslaved. The irony of her own situation is lost on her - the parasite believes itself to be Brassteel's original mind, though her personality is drastically different.
The Cloak of Night:
Nanotech 5, Stringtech 5
Inversion-powered, jump-capable.
Enhanced with Disciple stealth technology - effective Stealth skill 4.
Infrastructure 0
Brassteel
Neuroform: Dataform dynamic parasitic
Capabilities: Bio: 4, Cog: 4, Meta: 4, Nano: 5, String: 5
Core Values: Diversity: 2, Freedom: 5, My Crew: 3, Strategy Thrills Me: 3
Professions: Professional: Soldier 3, Politics 2, Engineer (Metatech) 1. Locality: the Union 2. Adept (Stringtech): Engineer (Stringtech) 3, Researcher (Stringtech) 3, Programmer 3, Crisis Control 3, Explorer 3
Ha, I thought I picked up some Disciple vibes from this one's naming scheme. Considering how unique it is, I'd be interested to hear the story of how they managed to get that Disciple technology.
And that is how you write a good plot hook. :) (No, I don't have a canon explanation.)
/forum/t-1159724/stardwellers:ships#post-
