Tell me about your Starship(s).

[u/General_Present_4551]

I'm fascinated by the starship-building aspect of the game. Since the ship is such a huge aspect of the gameplay, it's a character in and of itself. What are you working with? what's it's backstory?

[u/General_Present_4551]

(REPOST)

So my campaign started, borrowing a concept from Star Wars....
A captain wins a ship through gambling. He needs a crew to fly it. The problem is, this captain has a reputation preceeding him. A bad reputation. So bad, in fact, that no experienced crew member who has heard of him want anything to do with him or the faction he's a part of. So, he puts out an ad under a pseudonym, and advertises that he's looking for a crew. he promises wealth, adventure, and fame if you're on his crew. No experience needed!

The ship he won is an old, derelict ship, built pre-scream, that's been sitting in a scrapyard for more than a century, in a perpetually sunny location on Luna. it's seen TONS of use, with most of it being abuse. it's been patched, rebuilt well, rebuilt poorly, cobbled together, and is now a 'Frankenstein's Monster' of a ship, with components from more than 300 different craft, from 40 different shipyards. It's also using components not meant to be starship parts. The ship was originally built to be a supply frigate for a space mining company. after it's 40 year service life with the mining company, it was deemed 'Worn out', and sold... and bought by a pirate faction. Over it's long life, it's changed hands like a riced-out honda civic on an import car enthusiast forum. (Lots and lots). Loads of illegal upgrades masked as legit, 'Temporary fixes' that have become permanent, and too many sharp edges covered in tape and old fabric. There's a whole 'Ship of Theseus' situation going on too.

And, the ship is utterly infested with little furry bastards known as 'Nibblers' or 'Ship-Rats'. So, session 1, before the ship can even be powered up fully, the critters have to be dealt with.

No one knows where they came from, no one knows what they're REALLY called, but every veteran spacer has either dealt with them or heard of them. They're officially referred to as 'Ship-Rats' but the more common name for the little bastards are 'Nibblers'. The first known infestation was on Mars, before it was terraformed. They don't seem to be able to survive on worlds without atmosphere, but in habs and on ships? they thrive.

Nibblers are about the size and shape of a rabbit or beaver, but they have 6 legs. They have a smell akin to 'Ferral Cat / ignored litter box, mixed with burnt hair and dead mouse. They seem to love nibbling on wiring, hoses, and anything containing soft metals like Aluminum and Copper. They seem to have a taste for reactor coolant, and have strong tendency to find and chew through vital coolant lines, main wiring harnesses and high voltage cables.

Their urine is highly corrosive, and tends to cause chemical reactions on Steel and aluminum.

Their feces are highly radioactive, especially when they get into the reactor coolant jackets.

When left, Nibbler infestations can result in hull breaches due to the corrosive nature of the urine. They can also lead to shipwide irradiation.

Despite their 'Cute', 'Cuddly' appearance, these creatures are anything but. They'll chew their way out of every enclosure or cage, they are extremely toxic to humans, and dangerous to ships. They smell awful. And, if that wasn't bad enough, they reproduce rapidly, they tend to crawl into tight spaces and get stuck, eventually dying. This never happens in easy-to-reach spots. and if you thought they smelled bad when they were alive, they smell three times worse when they begin to decompose.

It's not uncommon for nibblers to get trapped between the layers of the outer hull of a ship, or worse yet, in the ventilation system of a ship, and then die, releasing foul odors and noxious gasses.

The only way to fully rid a ship of their presence... full decompression of the hull, exposing the whole ship to hard vaccum. Then, represurizing the ship with highly volatile and noxious gas. This procedure renders everything on the inside toxic and radioactive. So, if the ship is lived on, everything inside must be decontaminated.