Kharos Ship Catalog · Chapter 5
Skiffs and Shuttles
Kharos's smallest hulls do the work the ship cannot: reaching the rock, landing where there is no pad, and putting people and vehicles on the ground.
Prospector Survey Skiff
Printed as the Survey Skiff (Prospector Series) in the Vehicles Manual. Industrial Scaffold. Scale 2. Civilian grade. 2 marks, Mk I to Mk II.
The Prospector is the Cooperative's smallest hull: a survey skiff for one prospector and two friends, with extended sensors, a workshop hatch and six landing legs that take any ground. It rides a cradle under a KR-41 or in a KR-61 shuttle bay, and it is the craft a Kharos crew sends to the rock the ship cannot land on.
Prospector Mk I Survey Skiff
| Role | Price | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Survey, prospecting, frontier rescue | 196,100cr | Open |
| Speed | Cruise | Handling | Sensors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | +1 | Extended |
| Armor | Deflection F/A | Hull Points | System Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 / 0 | 10 | 8 |
| Power | Heat Threshold | Heat Dissipation | Module Slots (open) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 (1) |
| Crew | Passengers | Cargo Units | Endurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 / 3 | 4 | 15 | 120 hours |
| Weapon | Range | Hull | Sys | Crit | Heat | Pwr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Rotary CannonLight · Forward · Auto-Fire, Point Defense 1, Recoil (minor), Limited Ammo 40 | Short–Medium | 3 | — | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Rated No Slipstream · Atmosphere · Landing (any terrain)
AI Core Basic Automation
Mounts 2 Light · 2 points · 1 Light empty
Modules Workshop · 1 open
Carried by A cradle on a KR-41 or Model 20; KR-61 Shuttle Bay
Builder Kharos signature benefits and weak drawbacks; Integrated Architecture (Chapter 4).
Trait Prospector Gear: The printed Speed is its atmospheric value; in space it has Speed 3. The skiff lands on unprepared or rough ground, and its landing Pilot checks remove 1 Bane Die.
Prospector Mk II Survey Skiff
| Role | Price | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Survey, prospecting, frontier rescue | 203,500cr | Open |
| Speed | Cruise | Handling | Sensors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | +1 | Extended |
| Armor | Deflection F/A | Hull Points | System Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 / 0 | 10 | 8 |
| Power | Heat Threshold | Heat Dissipation | Module Slots (open) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 8 | 1 | 3 (2) |
| Crew | Passengers | Cargo Units | Endurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 / 3 | 4 | 20 | 120 hours |
| Weapon | Range | Hull | Sys | Crit | Heat | Pwr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Rotary CannonLight · Forward · Auto-Fire, Point Defense 1, Recoil (minor), Limited Ammo 40 | Short–Medium | 3 | — | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Rated No Slipstream · Atmosphere · Landing (any terrain)
AI Core Basic Automation
Mounts 2 Light · 2 points · 1 Light empty
Modules Workshop · 2 open
Carried by A cradle on a KR-41 or Model 20; KR-61 Shuttle Bay
Builder Kharos signature benefits and weak drawbacks; Integrated Architecture (Chapter 4).
Trait Prospector Gear: The printed Speed is its atmospheric value; in space it has Speed 3. The skiff lands on unprepared or rough ground, and its landing Pilot checks remove 1 Bane Die.
Mark notes. Prospector Mk I. The Survey Skiff of the Vehicles Manual, unchanged. One Workshop and one empty slot. Mk II. A second sealed tool-and-sample housing bolted to the flank, which is the one Module Slot the mark adds, and a longer rear rack for 5 more Cargo Units. Armor, Power, Heat Threshold and Handling already sit at the Scale 2 Civilian caps, so a hull this small has nothing else to buy.
Common Variants. Survey skiff, Prospecting boat, Rescue skiff, Sample runner, Ground variant (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Eighteen).
Mark Table
| Mark | Change | Price | Built at | Rebuild from the previous mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prospector Mk I | Published first mark (Survey Skiff, Prospector Series) | 196,100cr | Hand Yard | — |
| Prospector Mk II | +1 Module Slot, +5 Cargo | 203,500cr | Hand Yard | 8 points, 8,000cr |
KR-38 Drop Shuttle
A new Kharos line. Needle Cluster. Scale 4. Civilian grade. 2 marks, Mk I to Mk II.
The KR-38 is a drop shuttle: a clustered-cylinder hull around a vehicle bay and a barracks, on landing gear built for ground with no pad. It does not ship with the Drop Module, which is Licensed; a buyer who wants drop pods fits the module in the open slot and takes the Licensed paperwork with it.
KR-38 Drop Shuttle
| Role | Price | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Rough-field transfer, colony landing, mercenary insertion | 345,000cr | Open |
| Speed | Cruise | Handling | Sensors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | +0 | Standard |
| Armor | Deflection F/A | Hull Points | System Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 / 0 | 24 | 13 |
| Power | Heat Threshold | Heat Dissipation | Module Slots (open) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 9 | 2 | 6 (1) |
| Crew | Passengers | Cargo Units | Consumables |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 / 3 | 30 | 80 | 2 weeks |
| Weapon | Range | Hull | Sys | Crit | Heat | Pwr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Rotary Cannon ×2Light · Turret · Auto-Fire, Point Defense 1, Recoil (minor), Limited Ammo 40 | Short–Medium | 3 | — | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Rated No Slipstream · Atmosphere · Landing
AI Core Basic Automation
Mounts 2 Light · 2 points
Modules Heavy Landing Package (2), Barracks Module, Standard Cargo Hold, Vehicle Bay · 1 open
Builder Kharos signature benefits and weak drawbacks; Integrated Architecture (Chapter 4).
Trait Ground Contact: A landed KR-38 unloads its cargo and carried vehicles in one round, and its landing Pilot checks on unprepared ground remove 1 Bane Die.
KR-38 Mk II Drop Shuttle
| Role | Price | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Rough-field transfer, colony landing, mercenary insertion | 362,000cr | Open |
| Speed | Cruise | Handling | Sensors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | +0 | Standard |
| Armor | Deflection F/A | Hull Points | System Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 / 0 | 26 | 13 |
| Power | Heat Threshold | Heat Dissipation | Module Slots (open) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 9 | 2 | 6 (1) |
| Crew | Passengers | Cargo Units | Consumables |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 / 3 | 30 | 80 | 2 weeks |
| Weapon | Range | Hull | Sys | Crit | Heat | Pwr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Rotary Cannon ×2Light · Turret · Auto-Fire, Point Defense 1, Recoil (minor), Limited Ammo 40 | Short–Medium | 3 | — | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Rated No Slipstream · Atmosphere · Landing
AI Core Basic Automation
Mounts 2 Light · 2 points
Modules Heavy Landing Package (2), Barracks Module, Standard Cargo Hold, Vehicle Bay · 1 open
Builder Kharos signature benefits and weak drawbacks; Integrated Architecture (Chapter 4).
Trait Ground Contact: A landed KR-38 unloads its cargo and carried vehicles in one round, and its landing Pilot checks on unprepared ground remove 1 Bane Die.
Mark notes. KR-38 Mk I. Heavy Landing Package, Barracks Module, Standard Cargo Hold and Vehicle Bay, with one slot open for a Drop Module or a medical bay. Mk II. A thicker armored nose collar and one more coolant cylinder along the dorsal spine: a Hull block (to 26) and 1 Power Capacity. Hull, Armor and Power now sit at their Civilian caps.
Common Variants. Rough-field transfer, Colony lander, Mercenary insertion, Relief lander, Vehicle ferry.
Mark Table
| Mark | Change | Price | Built at | Rebuild from the previous mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KR-38 | First mark | 345,000cr | Hand Yard | — |
| KR-38 Mk II | +1 Hull block (to 26), +1 Power Capacity | 362,000cr | Hand Yard | 8 points, 18,000cr |
At the Table: A Rough-Field Landing
Use this when a crew puts a Kharos hull down on ground nobody has prepared.
The landing. A Pilot check to land on unprepared ground is made at the difficulty the GM sets for the terrain. A hull with a Heavy Landing Package, and a Prospector with Prospector Gear, removes 1 Bane Die from that check. A KR-38 Mk I or Mk II also unloads its cargo and carried vehicles in one round (Ground Contact).
On the ground. A Vehicle Bay deploys its vehicle in 1 round once the ship is landed (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Ten, Appendix: Module Catalog). A KR-38 unloads its cargo in the same round, so a crew that lands, unloads and lifts again spends the fewest rounds on the ground.
The Drop Module. Pods leave a hull in orbit, not on the ground. Landing a pod on target is an Average Pilot check from Short range and Hard from Medium (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Ten, Appendix: Module Catalog).