d20 Ronin Arts Future Starship 05 - The Havamal.pdf - Ronin Arts - R5700

Requires the use of the d20 Modern™ Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

THE HAVAMÀL

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Ronin Arts’ Future: Starship 5 –

The Havamàl , the fifth in a new series of PDFs for

use with futuristic D20 System campaigns. This

series makes some assumptions about your cam-

paign; the starship designs in this series will be

most useful in campaigns in which the following

statements are true:

your binder. The schematic and silhouette page is

designed to be used as a player handout – it’s what

flashes up on their ship systems when they attempt

to ID a ship – and GMs need only give the players

the page when they encounter a ship from this

series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Hammes has been freelancing in the role-

playing industry since 2001. Starting small, he has

steadily built his repertoire, and reputation, by work-

ing for such companies as Ronin Arts, Alderac

Entertainment Group, Dark Quest Games, and E.N.

Publishing. He is currently trying to balance his writ-

ing schedule with his role as stay-at-home father. To

catch the latest from Michael’s Imagination, please

visit www.michaelhammes.com.

The campaign is not a “hard” science setting.

Campaigns that are more space opera/adven-

ture movie are the intended target for this

series.

Starships are not rare or unusual. All of the

starships in this series assume that space

travel is a standard and common occurrence

– individuals either fly their own ships or

ride on passenger ships. Starships and space

travel are as common for characters as a

plane ride is for people of our reality.

Space combat is not uncommon. It’s just

another exciting adventure when the player

characters have to engage the enemy while

fleeing from some world or other.

E-FUTURE TILES

The Havamàl is based on SkeletonKey Games’

e-Future Tiles: Star Freighter, Star Hunter, and

Star Patrol tile sets. While this PDF can be easily

used on its own you will get a lot more use out of it

in your game sessions if you construct the ship – at

miniatures scale – using the printable tiles. The only

tiles you will need that are not available in e-Future

Tiles: Star Freighter, Star Hunter, and Star Patrol

are the wing extensions – which have been thought-

fully included at the end of this PDF.

To learn more about SkeletonKey Games please

visit their website at www.skeletonkeygames.com .

The campaign is packed with action. If things

aren’t exploding, how much fun can the

game really be?

Most of the starships in this series are designed

to fill an even number of pages. This is so that you

can print the pages – back-to-back if you wish – and

drop them into a binder. This introduction, and the

page of new starship equipment and assorted infor-

mation, can also be printed separately and added to

NEW RULES AND IDEAS

N EW S HIP S YSTEM

The following are recently developed innova-

tions in use on the Havamàl . They are included

here so that you may easily use them to modify

existing starships or as a reference when designing

your own original ships.

oped advanced sensor array carried by the

Havamàl .

The Eye is an advanced version of a Class III

sensor array incorporating hi-res video, infrared

and electromagnetic sensors, ladar detection units,

and multiband radar. It has the following capabili-

ties:

Ascertain the location, type (ultralight, light,

and so on), and subtype (fighter, destroyer,

and so on) of all visible ships on the battle-

field.

EYE OF ODIN (PL 6)

Given the name Eye of Odin by the Havamàl

project lead Dr. Magnus Halverson, as a nod to his

Scandinavian heritage, this is the recently devel-

THE HAVAMÀL

ODIN’S RAVENS (PL 6)

These are sensor drones that have the same

capabilities as the Eye of Odin (they are, in effect,

sensor satellites). They feature both a laser and

radio transceiver for two-way communication with

its deploying ship; a Raven can be programmed for

specific actions, or it can be controlled remotely

from the deploying ship. A Raven has thrusters for

maneuvering.

Protection comes in the form of a stealth screen

and a self-destruct mechanism. The self-destruct

mechanism can be activated remotely by the

deploying ship or automatically by the drone should

an attempt be made to capture the drone (i.e. using

grapplers) without first giving the proper deactiva-

tion code.

A Raven has a Defense of 12 and 12 hit points,

and it rolls 1d20+4 on opposed grapple checks.

A Raven does not carry a Mimer’s Well .

Purchase DC: 30.

Restriction: Illegal (+4).

Identify and ascertain the location of all visi-

ble hazards on the battlefield (such as aster-

oids and mines).

Identify all PL 5 or PL 6 weapons on a spe-

cific ship (number and type of weapons pres-

ent), including their organization into batter-

ies (but not fire links).

Ascertain the presence of any or all of the fol-

lowing systems on a specific ship: grapplers,

magnetic field, point-defense system.

Identify a specific ship’s armor type (PL 5 and

PL 6 armor types only).

Analyze the chemical composition of a plan-

et’s atmosphere (the ship must be orbiting

the planet).

Analyze and chart the topography of a 100-

square mile area on a planet’s surface (the

ship must be orbiting the planet).

Determine a planet’s prevailing meteorologi-

cal conditions and weather patterns (the ship

must be orbiting the planet).

Intercept (receive) any and all broadcast fre-

quency communications (i.e. radio and video

transmissions in omni-directional mode;

these include radio, television, cellular).

MIMER’S WELL (PL 6)

Developed by the same team that brought the

Odin’s Eye project to fruition, Mimer’s Well is a

cryptological encoding and decoding computer

module that grants its user a +10 equipment bonus

on Computer Use checks to unscramble transmis-

sions.

It is impossible to decrypt a message encrypted

by the Mimer’s Well unless one has access to anoth-

er Mimer’s Well that is set up identically to the one

issuing the message (if the GM doesn’t want to

allow that kind of security, assume that the Mimer’s

Well grants a +10 equipment bonus on Computer

Use checks to scramble transmissions). This set up

must be done manually using good old-fashioned

cypher books and pads, or perhaps cypher PDAs

(see The Enigma Machine section); having it done

by computer completely defeats the purpose as a

computer can be hacked into.

Purchase DC: 30.

Restriction: Illegal (+4).

Lock on to the source of a specific broadcast

frequency communication as long as the

source is within a 100-mile radius of the ship

(including the planet’s surface).

Grants a +2 equipment bonus on all initiative

checks.

Each of these functions is taken as a move

action. Note that manually selecting the actual fre-

quency to lock on to, based on what the operator

sees and/or hears can take significantly longer. In

other words, if there are 100 frequencies in use and

the operator wishes to listen and/or watch each in

turn to determine which one to lock on to, it takes

some time (treat it as changing channels with a

maximum speed of one channel/frequency being

evaluated per move action).

In general, the search and lock functions are

automated by either selecting a specific frequency

to lock on to ahead of time (i.e. 27.5 MHz) or by

having Odin’s Eye scan the frequency band for a

specific voice or words (via voice-recognition soft-

ware) or visual match (via face0 or image-recogni-

tion software), and locking on to those frequencies.

Purchase DC: 32.

Restriction: Illegal (+4).

THE HAVAMÀL

BASIC INFORMATION

The Havamàl project, named after a portion of

the poetic Edda, was created with one purpose in

mind: to spy. Codenamed “Electric Eye”, the proj-

ect was under the leadership of the renowned math-

ematician and cryptologist Dr. Magnus Halverson,

originator of the “Halverson Algorithm”.

Although the Havamàl project was initially

supposed to be mounted upon an existing military

starship platform, the nature of the equipment

would have required too many modifications to

any existing ship design to make it cost-effective

and so it was decided that a brand new ship would

be created.

The Havamàl herself is outfitted with the latest

in sensor technology and features arguably the most

advanced encryption (see The Enigma Machine

below) and decryption module available; not only is

it capable of easily decoding every known encryp-

tion method, but its own encryptions are thought to

be unbreakable (whether they are or not is up to the

GM).

At a minimum, in addition to the three-man

crew that operates the ship, the Havamàl is staffed

by five intelligence analysts (the GM can substitute

one security guard for one of the analysts).

However, during missions, hot-racking will

increase that number three-fold so that the ship is in

operation 24 hours per day.

deployed (usually near inhabited planets or busy

space lanes), there is little that occurs in a system

that will go unnoticed by the ship’s cryptologists.

The basic tactic is to deploy the Odin’s Ravens

in the desired positions while the Havamàl finds a

good place to hide (its options are pretty wide open

with its radiation shielding). The Havamàl then

receives information from the drones, which is

decoded and analyzed by its intelligence analysts,

and can also issue instructions to the drones (to

move them to a better location, return them to the

ship, self-destruct etc.).

Should any of the Ravens be discovered and/or

be in danger of capture, they are self-destructed to

keep them from falling into enemy hands. Should

the Havamàl be discovered or be in danger, it

attempts to flee, self-destructing its Ravens in the

process. Should capture be imminent, the crew will

use the ship’s self-destruct system to keep the ship

from falling into enemy hands (whether the crew

actually has time to escape or not is up to the GM).

T HE E NIGMA M ACHINE

The idea of the encryption capabilities of the

Mimer’s Well is based on the real-life German

Enigma cipher machine. In use during WWII, the

machine allowed the Germans to communicate

with an unbreakable level of security until an

example of the Enigma machine, cipher docu-

ments, and cipher pad were captured (the story of

all this makes for some interesting reading and

should give the GM some adventure ideas involv-

ing the Havamàl beyond those found in the

Adventure Hooks section).

H AVAMÀL T ACTICS

The Havamàl is not a combat ship (just in case

you didn’t get that). Its purpose is to deploy in a

system or near a planet and keep an eye on goings-

on. Especially with its Odin’s Ravens sensor drones

GAME STATISTICS

HAVAMÀL (PL 6)

Type: Ultralight

Subtype: Unique

Defense: 7

Flat-footed Defense: 5

Autopilot Defense: 7

Hardness: 30

Hit Dice: 15d20 (300 hp)

Initiative Modifier: +4 (+2 Dexterity, +2 Eye

of Odin )

Pilot’s Class Bonus: +3

Pilot’s Dex Modifier: +2

Gunner’s Attack Bonus: +2

Size: Colossal (–8 size)

Tactical Speed: 3,500 ft. (7 sq.)

Length: 100 feet

Weight: 250 tons

THE HAVAMÀL

Targeting System Bonus: +3

Crew: 3 (trained +4)

Passenger Capacity: 5

Cargo Capacity: 50 tons

Grapple Modifier: +16

Base Purchase DC: 55

Restriction: Illegal (+4)

Attack: 2 fire-linked heavy neutron guns -3

ranged (15d8)

Attack of Opportunity: N/A

Armor: Vanadium

Defense Systems: Chaff launcher, decoy drone

launcher, improved damage control system (2d10),

improved autopilot system, radiation shielding,

self-destruct system, stealth screen; the Havamàl

substitutes two additional defense systems for two

weapons.

Sensors: Eye of Odin (enhanced Class III sen-

sor array), targeting system

Communications: Laser transceiver, radio

transceiver

Weapons: 2 fire-linked heavy neutron guns

(range incr. 6,000 ft.)

Grappling Systems: Grapplers

DESIGN SPECS:

Engines: Ion engine, thrusters

STARSHIP KEY

1. Cockpit - the cockpit has three positions:

pilot, copilot/gunner, and navigator/sensors. The

cockpit is laid out in a neat and logical manner.

2. Medical Facility - a standard requirement on

all space-going vessels of this size, this medical

facility is equipped with everything necessary to

handle most emergencies.

However, as the ship is not staffed with an actu-

al Doctor MD, the crew must use the ship’s Doctor

MD software ( Doctor DDS and Doctor Psych mod-

ules also available) to walk someone through han-

dling emergency surgery and grants a +10 equip-

ment bonus to the Treat Injury (surgery) skill; note

that the -4 penalty for someone not having the

Surgery feat still applies so that someone without

the Surgery feat performing field surgery while

relying on the instructions of the Doctor MD pro-

gram receives only a +6 equipment bonus. This

Doctor MD software bonus does not stack with but

rather replaces any existing ranks in Treat Injury

skill for an individual using the Doctor MD soft-

ware; the individual performing such surgery uses

either the Doctor MD software or relies on his or

her own Treat Injury skill bonus.

3. Kitchen/Lounge - This area is the kitchen

and lounge. It is usually stocked for two weeks of

operation.

4. Bathroom - Fully equipped.

5. Crew Quarters - Four double bunks and a

stacked locker for each individual.

6. Intel Controls - Each of these bays has the

controls for and access to the Eye of Odin sensor

array as well as a Mimer’s Well tied both the Eye of

Odin and the ships laser and radio transceivers. Not

only does this set-up build in additional redundan-

cy, but also allows twice the work to be done.

7. Loading Bays - These platforms not only

serve as entrance and exit to the ship, but also have

space for additional supply storage.

8. Pod Bays - This is where the Odin’s Ravens

sensor drones are stored when not deployed. The

Ravens are stored on rails and released through the

open hatch.

d20 Ronin Arts Future Starship 05 - The Havamal.pdf

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