Power Plant #
Capacitors (TL 12+) #
A TL 12 capacitor masses 0.05 tons, takes 0.01 cy, and costs $20,000 per MW-h, above TL 12, cost is halved.
Maneuver Drives #
At TL 12, the Reactionless Impulse Drive is introduced. It creates 50 tons of thrust per MW. For each MW consumed, the drive masses 0.5 tons, takes 2 cy, and costs $20,000. There is no waste heat problem, but the drive creates a fiery looking ionized gas trail when used in an atmosphere. Impulse drives require Antimatter energy, they cannot be operated off any other power source.
At TL 13+, the Reactionless Impulse Drive produces 100 tons of thrust per MW. For each MW consumed, the drive masses 0.5 tons, takes 2 cy, and costs $20,000. There is no waste heat problem and no visible drive emissions.
Stardrives #
Warp Drive (TL 10+) #
All stats are the same as the Warp Drive found in GURPS Space page 84, except that the drive cannot be used in gravity fields stronger than 0.001G’s. So a maneuver drive is needed to land on planets. Also the drive is not highly controllable so minimum speed is restricted to lightspeed.
At TL 11 mass and volume are reduced by half, and cost is divided by 10; at TL 12+ it is obsolete.
Hyperdrive (TL 11+) #
A stats are the same as listed on GURPS Space page 83, except that at TL 12 mass and space are halved, at TL 13+ the cost is reduced to 10% of the original. Also at each Tech Level the speed of the drive increases, see the following table.
| Tech Level | Speed (Parsecs/hour) | * Hyperspace Speed Factor (HF) |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 4 | 2 |
| 12 | 8 | 3 |
| 13 | 16 | 4 |
| 14 | 32 | 5 |
| 15 | 64 | 6 |
| 16 | 128 | 7 |
| 256 | 8 | |
| 512 | 9 |
*Note: By doubling the cost, size, and mass the Hyperspace Speed Factor can be increased by 1. Power cost to skip doesn’t change but the power requirement to maintain a ship in hyperspace doubles for every HF increase.
The maximum speed possible for a hyperdrive is 512 parsecs per hour or an HF of 9, and they will not function in a gravity field stronger than 0.001 G’s. Hyperdrives require a special crystal known as deutronium to operate, over time the crystal deteriates and needs to be replaced. Synthetic deutronium can be produced by man, but it is not as efficient, reduce hyperspace speed by 10%. Natural formations of this crystal are much better, so it is better to mine it than produce it.
Jumpgates or Stargates (TL 13+) #
At TL 13, jumpgate technology is acquired from the Traders. While still expensive and bulky there is hope that the jump drive will replace the hyperdrive and allow for faster transportation. At this time only the construction of giant stargates or jumpgates is possible. The stargate is a giant tube like structure that can warp space and connect with another stargate system. Only the sending station needs to use large quantities of power, the receiving station only needs to use a few hundred MW’s to establish the connection. A stargate generator costs $70,000, masses 2 tons and takes 8 cy per 500 tons of ship to transmit (with a minimum of 2000 tons, 8000 cy and $70,000,000), this makes stargates very expense and only useful for larger ships. A stargate requires 2 MW-h of energy per ton of ship transmitted, the receiving station only needs to expend 0.01 MW per ton of ship received. When transmitting or receiving a stargate needs to maintain a relatively stationary position. Also, like hyperdrives, a stargate cannot operate in a gravity field stronger than 0.001 G’s. Before transmitting a ship the two stargates must send a carrier signal to each other, the cost of the stargate generator includes the cost of a Subspace Signal Jump System, thus stargates can operate as limited Signal Jump Stations. At TL 14 mass and volume are halved, at TL 15 cost is divided by 10.
Jump Drives (TL 14+) #
Same as the jumpgate, except that it is ship mounted and transmits the ship without the need for a reception station. A jump generator masses 2 tons, takes 8 cy, and costs $70,000. A ship requires one jump drive generator for each 500 tons of its total mass.
A jump drive requires energy only when it initiates the jump. Energy requirement for intiating a jump is 1 MW-h per ton of ship mass, travel time is instantaneous so additional energy is not required.
At TL 15 mass and volume are halved, at TL 16 cost and power requirements are divided by 10.
Inertialess Drive (TL 14+) #
Based on Warp Drive technology, the inertialess drive is highly controllable and will work in any gravity field. Although not as fast as the hyperdrive or jump drive it is ideal for a secondary drive system. Because of these factors it is the chosen replacement for the reactionless impulse drive. It is smaller than the reactionless drive, provides secondary FTL drive capability, and the way it works renders grav compentsators obsolete.
The Inertialess drive projects an energy field around the ship that negate the inertial mass of the ship, the ship’s maximum speed is now limited only by the strength of her engines and the resistance due to density of interstellar gas. The ship can instantly stop or change its direction of motion – it can “turn on a dime”, and is immune to collision (it merely stops at the collision point, unhurt). The field also cancels all affects of acceleration that the ship may experrience.
The stats for the drive are the same as the Warp Drive on page 84 of GURPS Space, except that the mass and volume are reduced by half, and the cost is divided by 10. At TL 15+ WTF produced by the engines are doubled.
Life Support #
At TL 11 reduce mass, size and cost of lifesystems by half, power consumption remains the same. At TL 13+ halve the mass, size, and cost again as well as halving the power requirements. At TL 13 it is also possible to have a micronized FULL lifesystem, halve the mass and size but multiply the cost by 5 and double the power requirements.
Weapons #
| Tech Level 10 | Cost | Mass | Volume | FP | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatling Laser | 60 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 20 |
| Tech Level 13 | Cost | Mass | Volume | FP | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Anti-Particle Beam | 80 | 20 | 8 | 400 | 100 |
| Medium Anti-Particle Beam | 160 | 38 | 18 | 800 | 200 |
| Heavy Anti-Particle Beam | 320 | 70 | 30 | 1600 | 400 |
| Light Phaser | 200 | 50 | 20 | 1000 | 200 |
| Heavy Phaser | 400 | 90 | 35 | 2000 | 400 |
| Gatling Phaser | 80 | 25 | 8 | 500 | 100 |
At TL 13, antimatter missiles have the same cost, mass and volume as for TL 12, but Firepower is doubled.
TL 12 beams and railguns have the same cost, mass and volume as TL 12, but Firepower is doubled.
Sensors and Communications #
Sensor Suite #
At TL 13+ micronized sensor suites are available, cost is $250,000, 1 cy, 1 ton, and only requires 0.5 MW of power. For double standard sensor range double the cost, mass, size, and power; for triple standard sensor range quadruple; multiply by 8 for quadruple range, and so on.
Slow FTL Radio (TL 11+) #
Available at TL 11, using hyperspace technology the signal can be beamed to the destination with only a slight lag-time. FTL radio will only work if both sender and receiver are in normal space and neither are using force shields. The signal travels at 1 parsec per minute, maximum range is 50 parsecs +5 for each TL above 11. Relay stations can be used to infinitely increase the range. Costs $200,000, 5 tons, 5 cy, and 5 MW to operate.
Fast FTL Radio (TL 12+) #
Available at TL 12, same stats and cost as above except that the signal travels at 55 parsecs per second. The maximum range is 500 parsecs +100 at TL 13. As above, relay stations can be used to increase range. Cost, mass, size, and power requirements of a slow FTL radio are halved at TL 12 and divided by 10 at TL 13.
At TL 13, micronized FTL radios are available, they cost 10 times as much but take up half the space and mass, power remains the same. At TL 14 range is increased by a factor of 20, all other stats remain the same.
FTL Subspace Signal Jump Systems (TL 13+) #
At TL 13, the lag-time of FTL radios can be further decreased by the use of Signal Jumping Stations. These are FTL relay stations scattered throughout inhabited space, that use jumpgate technology to punch signals through to other relay stations. In this manner signals can be transmitted almost instantaneously between relay stations. Lag-time is only calculated from the ship to the receiving relay and then from the corresponding relay and the target. This technology cannot be incorporated into ships because the relay stations need to stay in constant contact with each other to feed transmission targeting corrections to each other, and this can only be accomplished from stationary positions.
Ship Accessories #
Self-Regenerating Systems #
The ship is constructed of Living Metal, which allow it to repair itself and actually regrow destroyed parts, given enough raw material. Simple changes can also be done to the ship by reprogramming its repair circuits. With this system the ship does not need a space dock to repair heavy damage after a battle, all it needs are extra material. Battle debris from other ships makes perfect repair material, therefore it is possible to gain use from a defeated enemies burned-out hulk of a ship.
This system adds +100% to the cost of the ship, plus 2% of its volume is used up, and half of that in mass. This accounts for the collection and distribution conduits. Raw material can also be stored in the cargo bay or specially set aside for this purpose.