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Starship Maintenance
The Basics
Roll monthly (or per voyage, whichever comes first). Roll d20 + ship quality, beat your current Wear or something breaks.
Wear
Wear accumulates from hazards and hard use. Track as a number.
| Hazard | Wear |
|---|---|
| The Belt (dense regions) | +1 |
| Inner System (close solar approach) | +1 |
| Deep Ashtari (radiation belts) | +1 |
| The Maelstrom (fuel scooping) | +2 |
| Hard burn (pursuit, escape) | +1 |
| Running silent/cold | +1 |
| Combat | +2 |
| Overloaded cargo | +1 |
| Rushed departure | +1 |
| Atmospheric landing/takeoff (standard, TL4 grav) | +1 |
| Atmospheric landing/takeoff (dense/corrosive) | +2 |
| Atmospheric landing/takeoff (TL3 / no grav, standard) | +2 |
| Atmospheric landing/takeoff (TL3 / no grav, dense) | +3 |
| Emergency reentry (grav failure mid-descent) | +3 |
Atmospheric Wear reflects thermal stress from the orbital velocity transition, aerodynamic loads, and chemical exposure. TL4 grav plates allow slow atmospheric traversal, reducing heating and structural stress by ~1 step versus pure-rocket profiles. Vacuum and negligible-gravity landings (Celeva, Lazuna, stations) cost no Wear. Thin-atmosphere landings at low gravity (Serambi) cost no Wear with functioning grav. See Economy - Energy and Fuel for full atmospheric operations model.
Clearing Wear
| Method | Time | Effect | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field Repairs | 1 week | -1 Wear | 0.1% hull value |
| Port Stop | 1 week | -3 Wear (floor 5) OR fix 1 system | 0.5% hull value |
| Careening | 5 weeks | Clear ALL Wear, fix ALL systems | 5% ship value |
The Floor: Port stops can’t reduce Wear below 5. Only careening clears to 0.
Integral Systems (†): Spike Drive, Power Plant, and Hull can only be properly fixed by careening. Port stops can fix everything else.
The Maintenance Roll
Roll d20 + ship quality. Must roll over current Wear.
| Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Beat Wear | Safe. Wear remains. |
| Equal or under | Breakdown. Roll on table, then Wear clears to 0. |
| Natural 20 | Safe AND clear 1 Wear |
| Natural 1 | Always breakdown |
Ship Quality:
| Quality | Mod | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Pretech | +1 | Ancient, built to last |
| Great Power military | +1 | Cathay navy, Caliphate warships |
| Nusantaran quality | +1 | Lazuna yards, Javon shipwrights |
| Frontier built | -1 | Arcadia yards, belt fabricators |
| Salvage/reconstruction | -1 | Hulk recovery, cobbled together |
| Old (50+ years) | -1 | Outdated components |
| Ancient (100+ years) | -2 | Parts don’t exist anymore |
Modifiers stack.
Breakdown Table (2d6)
Systems marked † are integral - only careening fixes them.
| Roll | System | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | † Spike Drive | Can’t jump. Stuck in-system until careening. |
| 3 | † Power Plant | Half power. Choose thrust, weapons, OR full life support each scene. |
| 4 | Fuel System | Leaking fuel. Days until empty. |
| 5 | Thrusters | Sluggish maneuvering. Docking dangerous, combat worse. |
| 6 | Sensors | Half-blind. Threats appear late, navigation unreliable. |
| 7 | † Hull Integrity | Atmosphere leak. Find it before it finds you. |
| 8 | Life Support | CO2 building or thermal failure. Days to act. |
| 9 | Computer/Nav | Manual flight only. Calculations take hours. |
| 10 | Comms | Can’t call for help or receive beacons. |
| 11 | Cargo Systems | Can’t load/unload. Cargo may be damaged. |
| 12 | Weapons | One weapon system offline. |
Integral systems (†) = 25% of breakdowns. Hull is most common because it’s under constant stress.
Fixing Breakdowns
Jury-Rig: Tech/Fix vs 10 (12 for integral). Gets it working, but fragile. Breaks again = out of options until shipyard.
Proper Repair:
- Port-fixable systems: Port stop, 1 week, 25% of system cost
- Integral systems (†): Careening only
Quick Reference
Typical flow:
- Accumulate Wear from travel and hazards
- Roll d20 + quality vs Wear at month end
- Breakdown? Roll 2d6, jury-rig to keep flying
- Port stop clears Wear (to floor of 5) or fixes one system
- Integral breakdowns accumulate until you careen
Expected pace: ~3 breakdowns/year, ~1 integral → annual careening.
SWN 1e Reference
Baseline rules for reference. House rules above replace the maintenance system.
Costs:
- Payroll: 100 cr/day per crewman
- Fuel (station): 100 cr × drive rating (×2 frigate, ×4 cruiser, ×8 capital)
- Fuel (scooping): 4 days, free
- Stores: 20 cr/day/person
Repair (spaceyard):
- Battle damage: 1,000 cr labor + materials per HP, 10 HP/day max
- Disabled fitting: 25% of fitting cost, 1d4 days
- Spike drive: 10% of hull cost
Jury-Rig (space):
- Tech/Astronautics vs 10 (12 for spike drive)
- Requires spare parts
- If disabled again, needs spaceyard