A bigger, better Harrier

[gylesw]

I have always been rather underwhelmed by the Harrier as a basis of a Kingdom building campaign, and my players had already acquired an uprated Fast Trader that was pretty handy.

So I decided to play with the design, increasing it to 300dT, adding a fighter and a barracks for marines, etc..

I also deliberately made some equipment irreplaceable as it carries on going on about that in the books but it is very bog standard TL15. So the Jump Drive and the Power Plant are both deliberately rule-breaking. There's other things like adding in a gourmet kitchen, briefing room, a collapsible fuel tank in the cargo bay to allow 2 parsec + 1 parsec jumps, etc..

It is a far more capable vessel whilst still needing to avoid fights where it is outgunned.

Enjoy!

 

[Sigtrygg]

It is a result of the PoD campaign not been written with the Third Imperium setting in mind, it is a small ship universe setting.

It is completely outclassed by any real warship.

Real warships start at 1000t, anything smaller is a patrol boat.

Nice design by the way

 

[gylesw]

It is a result of the PoD campaign not been written with the Third Imperium setting in mind, it is a small ship universe setting.

It is completely outclassed by any real warship.

Real warships start at 1000t, anything smaller is a patrol boat.

Nice design by the way

Thanks!

That kind of makes sense.

Is the original campaign super old and it was just ret-conned into the Imperial fringe? I have been aware of there being a few bits which seem not to quite fit, maybe that's it.

 

[Condottiere]

If there was some form of technical limitation that favoured small tonnages, the militaries would be building carriers.

Or tenders.

 

[Hardwire]

Why not just use the Rorix Command Vessel (Drinax Companion, page 188) as a upgraded ship?

 

[MasterGwydion]

Thanks!

That kind of makes sense.

Is the original campaign super old and it was just ret-conned into the Imperial fringe? I have been aware of there being a few bits which seem not to quite fit, maybe that's it.

It supposedly used the MgT1 version of High Guard.

 

[gylesw]

Why not just use the Rorix Command Vessel (Drinax Companion, page 188) as a upgraded ship?

To be honest, I only got that afterwards

And even then, it's not stealthy and is far less suited to piracy.

I might include one in the Sindallian base full of killer robots that I may have improvised as where Lady Yemar got infected... but I think I need to do Treasure Ship and deal with them sparking a revolution.

I basically turned Thebus into the planet from High and Dry and they are seeing it as low hanging fruit in Empire building as two PCs play Varger and half the NPCs are Vargr and I reminded them of how the Vargr were treated last time...

 

[tytalan]

I’m sorry I just don’t see the need for the size increase, while I agree the harrier needs to be updated and I did just that the main problems are the weapon complement which your design just makes worse. Here’s what I did to correct the harrier though this is the starting ship which is a raider if you want a pirate version you replace the barbette with a ion barbette and you replace the single missile turret with a dual particle beam turret.

 

[tytalan]

Another thing the harrier wasn’t designed as a pirate ship it’s a raider which has a little different, as a small raider/warship the harrier is actually not that bad. The Harrier is really not meant to be a good pirate ship it’s what available which is why the campaign strongly pushes the PC to acquire other ships.

 

[MasterGwydion]

The Harrier was scary because it could creep up close to you before being detected and it can ruin the lives of every member of the enemy crew with one shot from its single weapon. Due to rule changes, it can't do that anymore.

 

[tytalan]

The Harrier was scary because it could creep up close to you before being detected and it can ruin the lives of every member of the enemy crew with one shot from its single weapon. Due to rule changes, it can't do that anymore.

Not sure why you think it can’t approach without being detected but as far as the one shot from the weapon part that still true for the class of ship it supposed to go after. Though truthfully it’s a bad main weapon for a pirate

 

[MasterGwydion]

Not sure why you think it can’t approach without being detected but as far as the one shot from the weapon part that still true for the class of ship it supposed to go after. Though truthfully it’s a bad main weapon for a pirate

It is a great weapon for a pirate. Surrender or be irradiated. If they don't surrender, kill them with radiation and take the whole ship instead of just parts of it's cargo. It will still have most of it's hull points. It just won't have any crew. Remember that after the Harrier was designed originally, the Radiation rules got nerfed. The Harrier does not currently function as designed.

Edit- I just said it couldn't one shot the crew anymore. You read it as both of those things changed, not only the "one shot ruined lives part".

 

[tytalan]

It is a great weapon for a pirate. Surrender or be irradiated. If they don't surrender, kill them with radiation and take the whole ship instead of just parts of it's cargo. It will still have most of it's hull points. It just won't have any crew. Remember that after the Harrier was designed originally, the Radiation rules got nerfed. The Harrier does not currently function as designed.

Edit- I just said it couldn't one shot the crew anymore. You read it as both of those things changed, not only the "one shot ruined lives part".

I would prefer a ion barbette but the big question is rather the radiation is tripled like the damage or not the rules are not clear but it’s implied that it does so 2d6x60x3 that 360 minimum is serious

 

[MasterGwydion]

I would prefer a ion barbette but the big question is rather the radiation is tripled like the damage or not the rules are not clear but it’s implied that it does so 2d6x60x3 that 360 minimum is serious

That is by the current rules. The old rules (MgT1) did way more radiation damage. And the Harrier was originally designed for rules that We no longer use. So, when it was designed, it made more sense.

 

[tytalan]

I would prefer a ion barbette but the big question is rather the radiation is tripled like the damage or not the rules are not clear but it’s implied that it does so 2d6x60x3 that 360 minimum is serious

I see so on the average one hit from the barbette will do 760 rads after the hull protection, which means in one hit a large chunk of a free traders crew is going to take 6D damage and are sterilized. You want more?

 

[Condottiere]

It also seems pretty small, for it's intended function.

Just a tad larger than the Millennium Falcon.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I don't think I have ever run a game for players willing to rock up to a merchant ship, kill every passenger and crew member ay the push of a button and then take their stuff.
I have run games for players who hunt down such evil psychos though.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

I would prefer a ion barbette but the big question is rather the radiation is tripled like the damage or not the rules are not clear but it’s implied that it does so 2d6x60x3 that 360 minimum is serious

Radiation is a Trait, not damage. Traits like AP or Radiation are not multiplied by the damage multiplier, as far as I can tell.

2D×60, average 420, is bad enough for civilian ships, but not instantly lethal.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Radiation is a Trait, not damage. Traits like AP or Radiation are not multiplied by the damage multiplier, as far as I can tell.

2D×60, average 420, is bad enough for civilian ships, but not instantly lethal.

AP doesn't add damage. It just counters armor. Radiation does actually add damage.

CRB page 79

"Radiation: When a Radiation weapon is fired, the target will receive 2D x 20 rads (see page 81), multiplied by three for Spacecraft scale weapons (so, they deal 2D x 60 rads). If the Radiation weapon is Destructive, every target within 10 metres will also receive 2D x 20 rads."

 

[MasterGwydion]

I don't think I have ever run a game for players willing to rock up to a merchant ship, kill every passenger and crew member ay the push of a button and then take their stuff.
I have run games for players who hunt down such evil psychos though.

I have not either, but it is the most efficient model to pirate merchant shipping. I tend to tell all of My players before game, that I don't run games for "evil" parties. The closest that I have come was running a guerilla military campaign that had lots of killing in it. So, if they want to play evil, they need a different Referee. NPC pirates on the other hand, would totally use this tactic because they are the "bad guys"