Fluffy Bunny Feet
Emperor Mongoose
I'm considering the idea that all ships MAY have quirks depending on quality plus advanced and budget components. These quirks won't be just for certain ships or old ships but to ship models (like the Type S and its air purifier issue) which pass on to variants which don't change that specific component and are there from the moment of construction. Quirks could be negative, positive or neutral, major, minor or insignificant.
I'm thinking of an array of quality levels (attached to specific companies) ranging from Excellent to poor (plus a prototype modifier). Higher quality will have fewer quirks but the ones they have will more likely be beneficial (and the detrimental ones erased on cyclic redesign over the life of the design), lower quality biased towards detrimental ones but capable of having beneficial ones.
Also in addition to that 1st possible quirk whenever you add a budget or advanced item to the design (and maybe hull modifiers like light and reinforced) you would have a chance at a quirk (advanced items having a higher probability of beneficial) associated with that feature. So that new ship might also have a built in "personality".
That 5bis computer in your Far Trader might have a jump modifier of -1 per parsec of the jump (or +1 for that matter) which might not be obvious but it might cause your astrogator an unduly bad reputation (or good) for how often he delays the flight with a "bad" computation or how good he is at getting to the jump limit and shortens the average trip. Eventually that particular line of Far Traders might get a reputation connected with that component. You could fix it (and roll again for a quirk) by buying an equivalent component from a different manufacturer without that bug (but in your ship maybe it does).
Even old "standard" designs like the Far Trader from different companies could have their own unique quirks (per manufacturer). The older the design (and the higher the quality of the manufacturer) the more likely old (negative) quirks will be fixed (though doing so could create a new one). Minor quirks (that don't appear during warranty) surviving longest.
Some quirks might be easy to fix such as having the most uncomfortable mattresses in existence. Others might be nigh impossible such as a hull that has 10% hull points less than it should due to design flaws.
He told you the little old lady who was its only owner only took 1 round trip per year, now you know why. *&^#$%
Any thoughts?
I'm thinking of an array of quality levels (attached to specific companies) ranging from Excellent to poor (plus a prototype modifier). Higher quality will have fewer quirks but the ones they have will more likely be beneficial (and the detrimental ones erased on cyclic redesign over the life of the design), lower quality biased towards detrimental ones but capable of having beneficial ones.
Also in addition to that 1st possible quirk whenever you add a budget or advanced item to the design (and maybe hull modifiers like light and reinforced) you would have a chance at a quirk (advanced items having a higher probability of beneficial) associated with that feature. So that new ship might also have a built in "personality".
That 5bis computer in your Far Trader might have a jump modifier of -1 per parsec of the jump (or +1 for that matter) which might not be obvious but it might cause your astrogator an unduly bad reputation (or good) for how often he delays the flight with a "bad" computation or how good he is at getting to the jump limit and shortens the average trip. Eventually that particular line of Far Traders might get a reputation connected with that component. You could fix it (and roll again for a quirk) by buying an equivalent component from a different manufacturer without that bug (but in your ship maybe it does).
Even old "standard" designs like the Far Trader from different companies could have their own unique quirks (per manufacturer). The older the design (and the higher the quality of the manufacturer) the more likely old (negative) quirks will be fixed (though doing so could create a new one). Minor quirks (that don't appear during warranty) surviving longest.
Some quirks might be easy to fix such as having the most uncomfortable mattresses in existence. Others might be nigh impossible such as a hull that has 10% hull points less than it should due to design flaws.
He told you the little old lady who was its only owner only took 1 round trip per year, now you know why. *&^#$%
Any thoughts?
