1. Acquire a Starship

A crew is nothing without its starship, and this chapter covers the acquisition and initial set up of starships. Like classes and deployments, starships have their own features that are driven by their size category. Chapter 3: Starships provides more information about acquiring a starship, Starship Size Categories, and starship features.

What starship you acquire is the second impactful decision you make when you adopt the space portion of your campaign. Each size category of starship has unique and tangible features, and determines what kind of crew your starship can support. A Small starship, for instance, can support 1-2 crew members at tier 0, while a Medium starship can support an entire adventuring party. At larger sizes, the crew shifts into the hundreds and thousands of crew members a ship can support.

Tier

Once you've obtained your starship—through any number of ways—you gain the ability to upgrade your ship. Typically, like deployments, starships are obtained at tier 0. A tier 0 ship is typically newly constructed, or otherwise not yet battle-tested or broken in.

Starting off at tier 0 marks the beginning of your starship's journey and evolution. Over time, with the use of resources and workers—and credits—a starship can be upgraded from tier 0 all the way up to tier 5, unlocking unique features—and choices—as it improves.

Hull Points and Hull Dice

Your starship's hull points define how tough your ship's hull is in combat and other dangerous situations. Your hull points are determined by your Hull Dice (short for Hull Point Dice).

At tier 0, your starship has a varying quantity and size of Hull Dice, depending on its size category. Your starship starts with hull points equal to the highest roll of that die, as well as the average roll for each additional Hull Die. You also add your Constitution modifier to each die. This is your hull point maximum.

Record your starship's hull points on your starship sheet. Also record the type of Hull Die your starship uses and the number of Hull Dice it has. After you conduct refitting—and at certain other points—you can spend Hull Dice to regain hull points (see “RECHARGING AND REFITTING” in Chapter 8: Adventuring).

Shield Points and Shield Dice

Most starships also have shields, although they do not come standard, and their strength—your ship's shield point maximum—and the amount they can regenerate each round—your ship's shield regeneration rate—is determined partially by your Shield Dice, your ship's Strength modifier, and your choice of shields, detailed in Chapter 5: Equipment. The number and type of shield dice normally parallels your Hull Dice.

Building the Millennium Falcon, Step 1

The Millennium Falcon is a heavily modified YT-1300f light freighter, and falls under the Medium size category. The ship starts at tier 0. As a tier 0 Medium ship, the Millennium Falcon chooses a role, granting a +1 ASI. We choose "freighter," granting a +1 to the Falcon's Constitution score. As a tier 0 Medium ship, the Millennium Falcon has 5 Hull Dice - which are d8s - and a Constitution modifier of +1. Consequently, the Millennium Falcon has 33 hull points: 8 + the average for the subsequent four dice (5) + the Constitution modifier for each Hull Die (5 x 1). The Millennium Falcon has shields, so we turn to Chapter 5: Equipment and turn to the "Shields" section. We select fortress shields to represent the Falcon's very powerful shield systems. As a tier 0 Medium ship, the Falcon has 5 Shield Dice - which are d8s - and a Strength modifier of +2. Consequently, the Falcon has 38 Base Shield Points: 8 + the average for the subsequent four dice (5) + the Strength modifier for each Shield Die (5 x 2). Because fortress shields multiply your Base Shield Points by 3/2, the Falcon has a Shield Capacity of 57. The Falcon's Shield Regeneration rate is 5: the shield die maximum (8) multiplied by the fortress shield Shield Regeneration Rate Coefficient (2/3). When the Millennium Falcon progresses to tier 1 it gains the following features: Starship Improvements and Evasive Maneuvers. We record Evasive Maneuvers on the starship sheet. Since the Millennium Falcon is fast, we increase its Strength by 2 with the Ability Score Improvement. This increases the Falcon's Strength Modifier by 1 to +3, adding 5 more to the ship's Base Shield Points. It gains an additional Hull Dice, and it’s current and maximum hull points increases by 6. It also gains an additional Shield Die, increasing its Base Shield Points by another 8 (5+3). Recalculating the Falcon's Shield Capacity gives us 76. Additionally, at tier 0, a Medium ship gets a choice of two saving throw proficiencies. For the Falcon, we choose Strength and Dexterity.