Going through the spaceship building chapter of Starfinder I'm rather impressed with the versatility in there, but I seem to not be able to find what these spaceships cost. The header "Building a Spaceship" (p. 293) suggests that the first spaceship for the party is free, but if they want to obtain a different ship or need a larger/smaller one, the party would have to buy one. Except I seem to be unable to find what the price tags for these are. Do I keep missing something, or is this intentional on the designers' part?
[RPG] How much does a spaceship cost
starfindervehicles
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Vehicle upgrades increase in quality as well as 'size' (for lack of a more encompassing term). For instance, your starship can get a Short-Range Scanner (range 5) that is Budget, Basic, or Advanced. Basic adds +2 and Advanced adds +4 to all related checks. Each range has a similar suite of options. Computers are a little more straightforward; they start at Basic (no bonus) then can be upgraded to Mk 1 (+1) and go up to Mk 8 (+8). Thrusters only provide 0, +1 or +2 bonus. You could of course get some of this early, but the higher your Tier, the more BP you have to use so you're more likely to meet the demand.
Does this offset the difficulty increase? Let's look at a difficult Computers check, assuming linear Mk increase over levels. I'm also assuming full skill ranks and that ability scores are allocated appropriately but not min/maxed.
- Tier/Level 1 DC 10+1.5*Tier = DC 11
- 4 (skill+ class skill) + 3 (ability) + 0 (ship) = Estimated +7 (85% chance of success)
- Tier/level 5 (DC 17)
- 8 (skill) + 4 (ability) + 2 (ship) = Estimated +14 (85% chance)
- Tier/Level 10 (DC 25)
- 13 (skill) + 5 (ability) + 4 (ship) = +22 (85% chance)
- Tier/level 15 (DC 32)
- 18 (skill) + 5 (ability) + 6 (ship) = +29 (85% chance)
- Tier/level 20 (DC 40)
- 23 (skill) + 6 (ability) + 8 (ship) = +37 (85% chance)
Factoring in the Errata linked by OP, the ability to succeed against average DC's are pretty static across the levels, assuming averages.
Piloting's numbers would be similar, but shifted to be a bit more difficult, but Pilots also get bonuses from Ship size and maneuverability that would be hard to summarize into bullets. There is also the Ace Pilot theme to help do their job.
Ways to Increase your Vehicle Capability
- Skill Focus Feat (+3 Insight to chosen skill)1
- Skill Synergy Feat (Change to Class Skill or +2 Insight to 2 skills)1
- Personal Upgrade (+1 to +3 from increased ability scores)
- Other Equipment (IE Data Jack, Tool Kit/Specialized) (+2 to +6 Competence for Engineering or Computers)
- Higher Quality Parts (Varies)
- Smaller Ship (Pilot only)
- Better Maneuverability (Pilot only)
- Captain Encouragement (+2 one job per round, as Aid Another)
- Lashunta Race (+2 Racial to any 2 skills)
- Ysoki Race (+2 Racial to Engineering only)
- Envoy Class (+1d6 to 1d8+4 Insight; Diplomacy, Computers, and/or Engineering only; average +3.5-8.5)1
- Engineer Class* (7th level, ability to repair Starship Hull)
- Mystic Class Connection: Star Shaman (Piloting +1 to +7 Insight)1
- Operative Class (+1 to +6 Insight, all skills)1
- Operative Class Exploit: Uncanny Pilot (Reduce penalty when you're piloting and attacking simultaneously, situational +2 Circumstance to Piloting)2
- Technomancer Class (+1 to +6 Insight, Computers only)1
1Insight bonuses do not stack, only the largest of these applies.
2Circumstance bonuses generally stack unless a GM indicates they don't.
For semantics, a Operative acting as your Science Officer, as above (Ranks [inc. Class Skill bonus] + Ability Mod + Equipment Bonus + Operative Bonus):
- Tier/Level 1 DC 10+2*Tier = DC 11
- 4 + 3 + 0 + 1 = Estimated +8 (90% chance)
- Tier/level 5 (DC 17)
- 8 + 4 + 2 + 2 = Estimated +16 (100% chance)
- Tier/Level 10 (DC 25)
- 13 + 5 + 4 + 3 = +27 (105% chance)
- Tier/level 15 (DC 32)
- 18 + 5 + 6 + 5 = +36 (115% chance)
- Tier/level 20 (DC 40)
- 23 + 6 + 8 + 6 = +45 (110% chance)
Lashunta's have the ability to add another 10% to each of these.
While it is now possible for any class to succeed at their role, it is still advisable to pick an appropriate Class, such as Operative or to have another way to gain significant Insight bonus.
If you are parting from a village or city, I would treat this as finding and engaging with Hirelings (sailors, captain).
In the PHB is suggests the DM will provide the costs depending on the campaign. "Your DM has more information about employment costs, since he may need to alter these to fit his campaign." (p. 115)
Now onto the Ships! :)
On the rivers, it's all about the Fishing Boats, or a canoe.
In the AD&D supplement Of Ships and the Sea (OS&S p.7) it says that "fishing boats represent the most common type of ship encountered near civilized areas". I would suggest also that even in remote areas any local groups of humanoids with access to a river or lake are mostly likely to have a fishing boat or a canoe.
The cost of the actual vessels are: fishing boat = 350gp (takes 3 weeks to build) five-person canoe = 45gp (takes 3 days to build) (OS&S p.13)
The fishing boat needs a minimum of 1 crew member to navigate and can take up to 5 passengers. It can take up to 1000 lbs in cargo.
The five-person canoe can carry up to 5 people in total (adapted as per guidance in OS&S). It has no "passengers" per se, but you could allow 4 characters to act as "crew" and put some elbow grease into getting where they want to. The five-person canoe can take up to 650 lbs in cargo.
The movement of these vessels is: 6 (or 60 yards per round). (OS&S p.14) It explains to multiply the ships movement by 2 which will equal the number of miles traveled in a single day. (OS&S p.20) So both the fishing boat and canoe could travel up to 12 miles per day.
For travel across the Seas & Oceans, onto the Edge of the World!
Here, I would opt to find a specialised vessel. Most likely the Caravel: "Of all seagoing vessels, the caravel proves the safest and most reliable for extended sea voyages." (OS&S p.9)
cost/time to build: 30,000 gp/5 months movement: 12, or 24 miles per day crew: minimum of 10 passengers****: up to 20 cargo: up to 200 tons
We are hiring, sailors, boatmen and the like!
So, as regard to cost of hire, it depends on how well-seasoned they are? In OS&S there is a section on Crew Experience (pp. 34-35). It divides their experience and cost to hire accordingly: - Landlubbers 2gp per month - Scurvy Rats 3gp per month - Mates 4gp per month - Mariner 5gp per month - Old Salts 6gp per month
So, I guess the cost here will be determined by the number/type of crew you need to hire and the distance or number of days you will be traveling.
I would suggest as a base rate if you are traveling you pay by days or miles x2 (unless you are doing a round trip). The vessel and its crew needs to make her way back, too.
Fishing Boat (up to 5 passengers)
- 1 crew member (mariner)
- 5gp per month
- 18sp per day or 18sp per 12 miles
Canoe (up to 4 passengers)
- 1 crew member (mariner)
- 5gp per month
- 18sp per day or 18sp per 12 miles
Caravel (up to 20 passengers)
- 10 crew members (1 old salts, 9 mariners)
- 51gp per month
- 1.8gp per day or per 24 miles (possibly a lot more if ocean travel is rare in the campaign)
I hope this helps. I would use the following as guidelines but remember to factor in other interesting things like: the weather/seasons, circumventing danger zones, availability/rarity, superstitions that the captain, sailors or locals might have, etc.
May the Zaratans guide your way, me Matey!
Best Answer
It seems that Spaceships aren’t supposed to be monetary assets, but operate in a similar manner to how characters level up and learn new skills.
Page 305 says
Instead of buying new parts and ships, the book suggests characters are finding salvage, making arrangements or calling in favours.
This is facilitated by Build Points that are granted according to the Average Party Level (see Table 9-1 on page 294, for players, the APL is equivalent to Tier, for enemy encounters, tier is the method of determining difficulty). Tables of parts and upgrades list “Cost (in BP)” that the players should sum up to design their ships.
From page 305, it appears that the majority of changes to ships will be via upgrades, keeping the total Build Points of components on the ship within the Build Points the party is allowed via their APL. Players add to the ship whenever they've got spare BP. The section on Upgrading Systems isn't too clear, but removing one part grants you all the BP that part is worth which you can spend on other parts.
The party can also "get a new starship" by rebuilding from scratch with a new base frame (say upgrading from a Light Freighter to an Explorer). While the rules don't say this explicitly, it appears that this functions like any other upgrade. If you get rid of your original starship, you have all your Build Points to spend on a new one.
Regardless of whether your upgrading or replacing your starship, Build Points aren't expended like credits. You "level up" your ship to match the Build Points your party has been allocated.