41

OK, so 41 yesterday. Thanks to everyone who sent greetings and wishes. Been a little out of it-- finally nearly done with this bronchitis. Haven't posted as much as I've been distracted by the lack of nicotine. Getting on two weeks clean on that front. Ran three games this weekend and I slowly regained my focus each session (the first one was pretty rough). I've also been playing City of Heroes to distract myself from general cravings.

Plan on getting back to regular postings next Monday.

*****

Star Wars first session this weekend and I'm nearly ready. Going to let the pilot pick some options (three) for his ship. I've put together a list below:

Armor: The ship can take an extra hit or two that gets past the deflectors without damage going to the internal systems. The ship can also take a few extra bumps and run ins with other ships or with debris that the deflector shields cannot handle. Armor is an ablative system, but relatively easily repaired. Armor's most useful against solid or mass based weapons.
Autoturret: One of the weapon or gun stations on the ship has a state of the art targeting computer, allowing it to fire on enemies without a gunner.
Back Up Systems: If a system, like life support, the hyperspace computer or the like goes down, the ship is equipped with a back up system which can take care of this until repairs are made. The back up systems choice is generic and doesn't need to be assigned, but can only hold up one system at a time.
Chaff/ECM Systems: The ship has launched systems which can disrupt tracking by missiles or other ships. In the latter case, it can disrupt tailing ships for a moment, allowing the pilot to take a free action to escape or shake pursuit.
Cloak and Grapple: The ship can easily hide and evade pursuit with modest cloaking functions. It can attach quietly to other ships. This is often a choice for smugglers and assassins, or those evading Imperial entanglements.
Combat Evasion Systems: The ship has built in defensive maneuver systems, giving it an additional repull for defensive maneuvers once per turn.
Comfortable: Quarters and space are tight on the ship normally. This option allows passengers to travel on the ship, provides room and space for some privacy and generally keeps the crew from killing each other over long flights.
Deflector Shields: All ships have deflectors to handle basic space garbage and the glancing turbo laser shot. This gives the ship more advanced systems, tooled especially for space combat. The deflectors capacitors can handle multiple laser hits more readily than standard ships. It can also shed other energy damage better. Deflector shields are most useful against energy based weapons and attacks.
Drop Stop: The ship can burn off its inertia and stop on a relative dime. The ship must come back up to speed after doing such a maneuver.
Extra Gunnery Station: The ship is assumed to have a single basic gunnery station, this option provides a second gunnery station which can be operated by another crewmember. This provides better coverage for defense and allows the gunners to coordinate.
Fast Hyperspace Computer: Calculating the jump to hyperspace can be a difficult matter for the piloting computer. It has to read from the most up to date information, calculate position and calculate problems along the path. This ship possessed a more sophisticated hyperspace computer allowing it to crunch those calculations faster and in problematic situations (such as inside of an asteroid belt).
Fast: The ship is at the top end of speed for its class. It can, over time, outrun ships in a similar range. This represents the engines maximum speed, rather than maneuverability. Only ships with like adjustments or with Super-fast engines (such as Interceptors) can keep up with the ship in a straight race.
Fuel Efficient: The ship rarely needs to refuel.
Hard to Destroy: It might take a lot of damage, but the ship it tough-- meaning it will hold together despite heavy punishment. It might be a floating hulk with minimal life support, but it will stay intact.
Heavy Weapons: One of the weapon or gun stations on the ship has a significantly heavier weapon than normal. It can do critical damage to opponent ships and possibly overwhelm standard deflectors for ships of its class.
Maneuverable: The ship is highly maneuverable, making it more dangerous in combat and allowing it to safety pass through trick obstacles. In part this functions as a bonus repull to any maneuver test the pilot makes. It also means the ships better at handling the stresses of such maneuvers.
Medical Facilities: The ship has advanced medical facilities on board, allowing medical care for higher level wounds to be given.
Pod/Shuttle: The ship has a separate small launch which can function as a very light fighter or as a vehicle when the ship is on the ground.
Reliable Engine: The engine on the ship is sturdy and reliable, allowing it to bounce the first critical hit it takes. The engine itself can take stresses and can be more easily repaired than a normal one. Parts for the reliable engine can be found anywhere or with a skilled engineer, parts can be easily fabricated or jerry-rigged.
Scout Sensors: The ship has been equipped with advanced long-range sensors. It can scan passively from a distance and pick up more sophisticated and specific information than normal ship readings. Such sensors are useful for plotting hyperspace jumps, being able to keep away from pursuit in a system, and maintaining a safe distance from problematic targets.
Secret Weapon: The ship possesses a unique and odd weapon which can be developed by the player.
Smuggler Systems: The ship has systems built to foil or present a false image to other ships, ports or starbases scanning for information or contraband. It also has hidden compartments where some cargo can be concealed and not detected during internal searches.