Holocron

Crewing a Ship

Starships of the Galaxy · Adventuring

Ships have a minimum and maximum crew capacity determined by their size, modifications, and ability scores. Most Small fighters, for instance, have a single crewmember controlling all aspects of the ship. Medium ships, however, might have a crew of half a dozen, while larger ships have crews in the tens to hundreds of thousands.

Minimum Effective Crew

Ships other than Tiny have a minimum number of required crewmembers to operate effectively. A small ship has a minimum effective crew of 1. For medium and larger ships, the minimum effective crew is determined by a ship's Intelligence modifier and its size, as shown below in the Starship Minimum Effective Crew by Size table.

Starship Minimum Effective Crew by Size

Ship Size

|Ship Intelligence Modifier|Medium|Large|Huge|Gargantuan| |:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:| |-2| 6| 800| 10,000|120,000| |-1| 5| 600| 8,000|100,000| |0 | 4| 400| 7,000|80,000| |1 | 3| 200| 6,000|70,000| |2 | 2| 120| 5,000| 60,000| |3 | 1| 64| 4,000| 50,000| |4 | 1| 32| 3,000| 40,000| |5 | 1| 16| 2,000| 30,000| |6 | 1| 8| 1,000| 20,000| |7 | -| - | - | 10,000|

This Minimum Effective Crew can be further altered by certain other features such as modifications.

Shifts

GMs should note that most large or larger starships have significantly larger crews than the minimum effective crew. This is because such ships must be run and maintained constantly.
Such ships usually employ crew in three or more shifts, so that approximately one-third of the crew is on duty at any given time, allowing the ship to always maintain a minimum effective crew at all times.

Skeleton Crew

Ships can, in extremis, be run by a crew that is smaller than the minimum effective crew. However, this can be dangerous and results in a ship that is less effective than it otherwise would be.

Ongoing Effects

When a ship is run with a crew three-quarters the size of the minimum effective crew, the ship operates as though it were suffering from one more level of system damage than it otherwise would.

When a ship is run with a crew one-half the size of the minimum effective crew, the ship operates as though it were suffering from two more levels of system damage than it otherwise would.

When a ship is run with a crew one-quarter the size of the minimum effective crew, the ship operates as though it were suffering from three more levels of system damage than it otherwise would.

When a ship is run with a crew one-tenth the size of the minimum effective crew, the ship operates as though it were suffering from four more levels of system damage than it otherwise would.

A ship cannot operate with a skeleton crew if the skeleton crew would cause the ship to operate as though it had 5 or more levels of system damage.

Potential Damage

At the end of every full day of operation with a skeleton crew, the crewmember at the helm must make an Intelligence (Piloting) check to determine if the ship has suffered any damage as a result of operating with less than a minimum effective crew. The DC for the check is 10 + 2 for every level of system damage the ship is operating at when the check is made.

Maximum Crew Size

Tiny Ships have a maximum crew size of 0. Small Ships normally have a maximum crew size of 1, but this limit can be raised with the addition one or more Crew Expansion suite modifications and the Astromech Socket modification. Medium and larger ships have a maximum crew size determined only by logic and space constraints, but are still limited in the number of actions that the ship can take each turn (5+the maximum number of Fire actions that can be taken by that ship.)

NPC Crews (Enlisted)

Some players may find themselves lacking the requisite number of crewmembers to properly manage a starship. Under such circumstances, they will find themselves in need of NPC crewmembers.

Acquiring an NPC Crew

Joining a Faction

Joining a large faction, such as the Galactic Republic or the Empire might merit being given charge of a crew. Generally, the crew is still loyal to the faction, but will continue to follow the orders of the party as long as they are not at odds with the faction’s goals. Refusing missions or violating the faction’s rule may lead to a labor strike, crew abandonment, or even mutiny.

Salaried Crew

The party could seek to hire a reputable crew by offering to pay them wages for their time, risk, and expertise. Generally, a salaried crewmember will require a salary of 10 credits per day and hiring bonus of 300 credits. Such a crew is generally averse to committing crimes. Committing crimes or failing to pay wages may lead to a labor strike, crew abandonment, or even mutiny.

Dispensational Crew

The party could seek to hire a less reputable crew by offering a portion of the ship’s profits. A dispensational crew generally requires 60% of profits split amongst the crew. Such a crew has no aversions to any actions or choices made by the crew. Failing to divide profits, however, may lead to a labor strike, crew abandonment, and a higher chance of mutiny.

Droid Crew

The party could seek to build or purchase droids to crew their ship. Droid crews are different than humanoid crews in several different ways.

  • Droids do not require pay, but do cost 900 credits per unit to purchase (half if built by the party) and cost 2 credits per day in maintenance.
  • Droid NPC crewmembers are considered medium-sized when determining housing arrangements.
  • Droids do not eat, but the ship has higher energy needs to keep droids powered up. For every suite capacity worth of droid NPC crewmembers (rounded down), the ship’s fuel usage increases by 10%.
  • While droids will not cause a labor strike, abandon the ship, or mutiny, failing to provide adequate power leads to one level of exhaustion for every droid NPC crewmember every day they are without power.

Room and Board

Crewmembers generally expect room and board to be provided by the players. Each crewmember requires a place to sleep and one portion of food per day. Providing better housing reduces the amount the players need to pay their crew since this is considered a benefit of working for the players.

  • Barracks are considered the normal sleeping situation for most crews.
  • Providing living quarters to sleep in reduces the necessary pay for the crewmembers sleeping there by one third (2/3 the original pay).
  • Providing luxury quarters to sleep in reduces the necessary pay for the crewmembers sleeping there by one half (1/2 the original pay).
  • If sleeping quarters or food portions are not supplied (e.g., the ship is not in 24 hour service), the necessary pay for crewmembers increases by one half for each of these necessities not provided (1.5 or 2 times the original pay).

NPC Crew Actions (Officers)

NPC crewmembers may be used for more than just reaching minimum crew requirements, they may also be used to take actions on a starship. The cost of such NPC officers, however, is much greater than for the rest of the enlisted crew, and this cost is related to their proficiency bonus. For salaried officers and droid officers, the initial and ongoing costs are shown in the Officer NPC Costs table below. Officer NPC crewmembers typically have a proficiency bonus equal to the tier of the starship plus one (minimum +2), an intelligence modifier also equal to the tier of the ship (minimum +1), and ranks in deployments also equal to the tier of the ship (minimum of 1).

Officer NPC Costs

Salaried OfficersDroid Officers

|Ship Tier|Prof. Bonus|Hiring Bonus|Daily Salary|Purchase Cost|Maint. Cost| |:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:| |0|+2| 600cr| 12cr|1,800cr|3cr| |1|+2| 600cr| 12cr|1,800cr|3cr| |2 | +3| 1,800cr| 36cr|5,400cr|9cr| |3 | +4| 5,400cr| 108cr|16,200cr|27cr| |4 | +5| 16,200cr| 324cr| 48,600cr|81cr| |5 | +6| 48,600cr| 972cr| 145,800cr|243cr|