Crown Meridian Ship Catalog · Chapter 4
Crown Builder Rules
Crown's Signature benefits, Integrated Architecture and Weak drawbacks, in one place. Each applies only when the system is used in the situation its entry names. The full rules for every builder are in the Vehicles Manual, Chapter 5.
Signature Benefits
A Crown system gains its benefit when it is installed in a Crown hull, or in a hull from Crown's Partner, Openframe. In any other hull it works as a Standard system, with no benefit and no penalty. A benefit applies only when the system is used in the situation its entry names (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 5, How Builder Benefits Work).
| System | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Hull and Frame, Armor | When the ship takes damage from a collision, ramming or a Critical Hit, treat its Armor as 1 higher. This does not apply to ordinary weapon damage |
| Damage Control | Add 1 Boon Die to Emergency Repair (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 15) and Emergency Patch (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 11) checks. A damage control Craft check at Easy difficulty succeeds without a roll |
| Power Distribution | When Power Load exceeds Power Capacity by exactly 1, no engineer action is needed until the end of the following round |
| Defensive Control | Remove 1 Bane Die from checks to coordinate point defense, manage screens or brace for impact |
| Security | Add 1 Boon Die to checks that oppose boarders, intruder movement or unauthorized system access |
One benefit per check. When two Signature systems could apply to one check, choose one.
Integrated Architecture
A Crown ship has Integrated Architecture when its hull is Crown's, at least 10 of its 12 core systems are Crown's, it has no system recorded as Forced or Forbidden, and its firmware and service certification are intact (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 5, Integrated Architecture). It then gains the general Integrated Architecture benefits in that chapter and Crown's own:
- Crown Integrated Architecture. Once per encounter, prevent 1 System Damage caused by a cascade, overload or collateral hit.
Weak Drawbacks
Drawbacks follow the hull: a Crown hull carries them whoever built its systems. Each drawback applies once per situation; entering Cold Running takes it once for the whole entry, not once per round.
| System | Drawback |
|---|---|
| Signature Management | Add 1 Bane Die to the ship's Signature Management checks. Entering Cold Running Mode takes 3 rounds instead of 2 (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 7) |
| Atmospheric Handling | Add 1 Bane Die to Pilot checks for sustained atmospheric flight, difficult atmospheric landings and low-altitude flight in adverse conditions |
| Flexible Cargo Conversion | Reconfiguring the module loadout or converting a cargo bay takes twice the normal time, and the Craft check adds 1 Bane Die |
Grade and Build Costs
Every Crown hull is Professional grade. In the hull build rules (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 13) that means:
- Armor, Weapon Hardpoint points and Deflection cost 85% of their listed cost.
- The caps on Armor, Hardpoints, Power Capacity and Heat Threshold are the Professional row for the hull's Scale.
- Heat Dissipation is the Professional value for the Scale.
- The standard AI core is Professional Directive AI.
- Crown's signature allowance raises the Hull Points cap by one block (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 13, Tier Caps).
Crown's builder prices make the same shape as its Signature and Weak ratings.
| Cheaper at Crown | Costlier at Crown |
|---|---|
| Armor (4 instead of 5, before the grade discount) | Cargo (3 instead of 2 per block) |
| Hull Points (1 instead of 2 per block) | Module Slots (4 instead of 3) |
| Power Capacity (2 instead of 3) |
A Crown hull has strong armor and structure and a small hold with few open slots. The generations in Chapters 5 to 8 spend their points on the cheap side.
Generation Upgrades
A generation upgrade is a retrofit at a Crown yard (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 13, Upgrading After the Build).
- Points. The upgrade costs double the build points of the same change made at build time. The points come out of the hull's unspent budget: its Scale's budget less the build points in the line's Generation Table. A hull without enough unspent points cannot take the upgrade.
- Credits. The change costs its build points × the Scale's rate × 2.5. An added weapon mount costs its price in the Hardpoints table instead (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 12). Modules the newer generation adds to its factory package are bought separately at their module price and installation fee (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 12, Modules).
- Time. The yard keeps the hull one week for every 10 retrofit points, rounded up.
- Registry. The hull's designation takes the next letter. The Vehicle Sheet changes; nothing else about the hull's registry does.
The Generation Table of each line, and Chapter 12, give the points, credits and yard time of every upgrade. An upgrade cannot change Scale or grade.
Crown Components in Other Hulls
A Crown system fitted to another maker's hull, or another maker's system fitted to a Crown hull, is an integration (Vehicles Manual, Chapter 10, Installing a Module, and Chapter 5, Builder Integration). Chapter 11 lists the modifier by maker.
