Are there any rules for crafting torpedoes?
We’re thinking of getting a Concussion Missile Launcher or other Ordinance weapon added to our ship.
And I was thinking about if I (as a technician) could craft the torpedoes needed. There are rules for Missiles, which cost 100 credits, of rarity 3. But could I craft concussion missiles using the same or a similar template?
No, it couldn’t be the same. The two are very different, not only in size but in mechanics and yield.
I would not allow crafting of starship ordnance without an actual facility for its production, and then I’d just handwave it (as in, “congratulations, you are building concussion missiles”) rather than dealing with actual crafting results.
Is the advantage going to be not worrying about purchasing restricted ordnance? Keep it off the books? Trying to do it more cheaply then off-the-shelf is probably not possible.
Computers to hack into a network for a schematic.
Mechanics check to decipher the schematic for a list of materials and tools needed.
Negotiations to pick up the various electronics and mechanical devices that you’re going to need which aren’t restricted.
Streetwise to find a seller of explosive materials on the down-low.
After gathering everything needed, only then a Mechanics check with at least one red die to make the first prototype. If that’s a success, then I’m going to set a price tag on self-manufacture in credits and hand-wave all of the checks above except perhaps the Streetwise from time to time to obtain restricted stuff?
Oh and when firing the self-made ordnance, there are now obvious uses for threats and despairs.
Making a military-grade explosive is very different than making an improvise homemade explosive. To make a military grade explosive you would need a specialized manufacturing facility with special equipment. You do not want to use improvised homemade explosives in your missile. It would be very unstable and dangerous for the ship and crew. It would be similar to the movie Solo. Flying around with unrefined coaxium. Heat, shock or friction would set off homemade explosives. Military grade explosives are designed to take much more powerful shock wave to set off.
This of course is my opinion only. The GM will make the final decisions obviously.
In our case a facility would feel way overkill, as we probably will use our torpedoes sparingly, and it would be to replenish used torpedoes. So in our case it would probably mean crafting 1-3 torpedoes every now and then. And having a whole facility set up for that seems excessive.
But we are thinking about starting a homestead as per the rules in Far Horizons. We might set up some small scale production facility as part of the homestead (with approval from our GM obviously).
The main reason we started discussing it was for the convenience of rolling a few mechanics rolls and then having replenished the stock of torpedoes after use. So yeah, mainly not having to worry about purchasing it between space combat encounters.
I guess it might be just as easy for our smuggler to roll a few streetwise and negotiation rolls to just buy the torpedoes.
I agree partially. But as technicians can already do so many things. Build weapons, such as missilies which at least in Special Modifications feel like the military grade. Or build starships, at sil 3 a technician could single handidly build a starfighter, which in my mind is way more advanced than a concussion missile. Or building and programming a droid for that matter. The AI of the droid must be far more complex than the targeting AI in a torpedo.
In short, we were mainly discussing the logistics of installing a Concussion Missile Launcher, and how we would re-supply it. In our campaign we don’t have super many space combat encounters, so buying torpedoes between those encounters will probably not be much of an issue either. The materials needed to craft the Concussion Missiles would probably have a similar cost as actually buing one.
The question here isn’t difficulty of building so much as it is not getting blown up while building and handling unstable compounds.
Without the proper facility or at least equipment, you really aren’t set up to build them.
It’s much easier and less dangerous to build explosives like grenades or small missiles than it is full-on starship ordnance. The mechanics are simpler, and you’re dealing with much less explosive material.
Thanks! Certainly, we’ll just purchase the missiles instead, and maybe set up a small production facility in our homestead at a later stage.
A few follow-up question. The cost and that they are restricted (for example 500 credits for Concussion Missiles). That is 500 credits per Missile, or for a set of 3?
What’s the rarity? The same as the launcher itself (so 5 for Concussion Missiles)? Or any other, I cannot find a specified rarity for the Concussion Missiles, or the Proton Torpedoes, just the cost and that they are restricted.
Per missile. Unless otherwise stated, you buy things like that individually.
As for rarity, I just pin it to the launcher. That’s probably RAI, since they don’t otherwise specify.
I assumed so, but just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t missing anything. Thanks!
Another follow-up question.
The Concussion Missile Launcer is not Restricted according to the EotE Core Rule Book (page 271), as there’s no (R) in the Price / Rarity column. But the Proton Torpedo Launcer is.
However the Concussion Missiles are restricted (so are the Proton Torpedoes) according to the text on page 229.
How come that the Concussion Missile Launcer is not restricted, but the Missiles are? Initially I though the primary benifit of choosing a Concussion Missile Launcer would be that it’s legal / unrestricted. But if the Missiles are restricted you still have to buy restricted stuff to use it.
For game purposes, I would place the same restriction on the launcher since the Proton Torpedo launcher is restricted and the ammo is. It keeps things more simple and could have been an error? As in why would they get this specific: Proton Launcher and ammo Restricted, only the Concussion Missile Restricted, not its ammo?
If you want to leave it the same, there is a realworld precedent. In the US you can go out and buy a grenade launcher pretty easily without breaking any laws, but don’t try to go find the exploding grenades for it.
Yeah. Although it might be a bit harder to find a Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher. :P
One possible explanation is that some ships available for civilian purchase as well as military use carry concussion missile launchers.
If the launchers were illegal, then the ships would be too. However, if they aren’t and you just make the ammo illegal, then you can have the ship with the launcher and no ammo, and you’d be legal.
Personally, I’d just treat the launcher as restricted and remove it from “civilian” versions of ships that have it.
I have a house rule mechanic I call “DroidDreamer Blueprints” (to verbally distinguish it from “schematics” and “blueprints” from the system’s crafting rules). These DD Blueprints are narrative data, schematics, knowledge, plans, etc, that permit a player to craft officially STATTED (ie, not crafted) gear, weapons, armor, cybernetics, vehicles or starships usually without a check.
So I would totally allow this with narrative support which might include facilities and tools.
Here’s the house rule:
DroidDreamer Blueprints permit the crafting of an item statted in the books with no check (unless required by the GM) with appropriate tools and raw materials equal to the cost of the item listed in the book. Additional Successes, Triumph and Advantage have no cost or item quality effect but with GM discretion can effect time to production, difficulty if required, etc. With GM discretion as to cost, time and other requirements, players may attempt to create Blueprints for crafted items to permit reproduction later.