Safa Ship Catalog · Chapter 6

Pursuit Craft and Patrol Boats

The S3 is the hull the market knows, and the S11 is the hull the customs service flies. Both are made to find a ship and stay with it.

S3 Fast Pursuit Craft

A Blade-and-Keel fast pursuit craft in 3 versions: S3, S3.1, S4.

The S3 is Safa's fast pursuit craft and the hull the market knows. A narrow spear with a deep ventral keel and a Safa reactor, it is built to close on something and stay closed. Customs hunters, security interceptors, bounty crews and executive protection details fly it. It lands, it flies in atmosphere and it carries a case of anything, which makes it the one Safa hull a crew can live with.

Builder Benefit (Safa). Full Signature benefits apply to a Safa system in a Safa hull: guided attacks add a Boon Die, point defense reads one higher, the reactor counts one higher for overload, and the security, electronic warfare and cyberdefense systems take their Bane Dice. Chapter 4 has the rules.

Model Trait: Pursuit Frame (S3, S3.1). Add 1 Boon Die to Pilot checks to close distance, keep a target from opening distance, or hold a pursuit through hazardous terrain.

Model Trait: Closing Doctrine (S4). When the craft closes to Short range or nearer, its next guided attack that round adds 1 Boon Die (inside the Boon limit).

Factory Packages. S3, S3.1 and S4: Internal Security Suite, Extended Navigation Suite. Empty slots: 1.

Version notes. S3 (Classic). The first version keeps the full atmospheric package, the landing gear and 10 Cargo Units, and it is sold Licensed. The Pursuit Frame's hazardous-terrain clause works as written. Customs hunters who work planets keep their S3s. S3.1. The antimatter refit canon already offers: Cruise 3 to 4, behind a dark containment collar with a gold ring at the stern. The engine is the hull's one above-standard system, Restricted, and while it is lit the hull is detectable at Extreme by any sensor (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Six). S4. A new frame and not a refit: Speed 6, Handling +2, one more hardpoint point, one Hull Point and one System Point, bought by giving up Cargo, the full atmospheric package and the landing gear. It cannot land, carries nothing and is Restricted. An S3 owner trades in (Chapter 11).

Common Variants. Customs hunter, Security interceptor, Fast courier, Pursuit vessel, Licensed bounty ship, Executive protection craft.

Version Table

Version	Change	Price	Acquisition	Upgrade from previous
Safa S3 (Classic)	Published first version	349,000cr	Licensed	n/a
Safa S3.1	Antimatter refit: Cruise 4 (Restricted)	380,000cr	Restricted	20 points, 55,200cr
Safa S4	New frame: Speed 6, Handling +2, +1 hardpoint point, +1 Hull Point, +1 System Point; Cargo 0, limited atmosphere, no landing	383,000cr	Restricted	New frame: trade-in

S11 Patrol Boat

A Blade-and-Keel patrol boat in 3 versions: S11, S11.1, S11.2.

The S11 is a patrol boat, the Caliphate's customs and system-security boat in commercial dress. It is faster than the Crown cutter it competes with and lighter in the hull, and it is fitted to inspect, hold and report: an Inspection Sensor Suite to read a hull, a Brig to keep what it finds, and weapons that stop a ship rather than kill it.

Builder Benefit (Safa). Full Signature benefits apply to a Safa system in a Safa hull: guided attacks add a Boon Die, point defense reads one higher, the reactor counts one higher for overload, and the security, electronic warfare and cyberdefense systems take their Bane Dice. Chapter 4 has the rules.

Model Trait: Inspection Doctrine (S11, S11.1, S11.2). Active Scan checks to read cargo or identity, and Pilot checks to force a docking collar, made against a ship the patrol boat holds under Target Lock add 1 Boon Die.

Factory Packages. S11, S11.1 and S11.2: Internal Security Suite, Inspection Sensor Suite, Brig. Empty slots: 1.

Version notes. S11. The first version, with one slot open. The Inspection Doctrine makes every scan and forced collar against a locked ship easier. The Crown CM-440 is the tougher cutter; the S11 is the faster one. S11.1. A longer hull plate amidships and one more pair of thruster blocks on each flank: one more Hull block and a point of Handling. S11.2. One more closed Standard-mount cover on the port chin and a raised sensor ridge: one more hardpoint point (a Light mount becomes Standard) and one more System Point. The stores are cut from two months to one to pay for it.

Common Variants. Customs patrol, System security, Bounty hunter, Port inspection boat, Convoy picket.

Version Table

Version	Change	Price	Acquisition	Upgrade from previous
Safa S11	First version	445,000cr	Restricted	n/a
Safa S11.1	+1 Hull block, +1 Handling	466,000cr	Restricted	10 points, 36,600cr
Safa S11.2	+1 hardpoint point, +1 System Point; Consumables 2 months to 1	481,000cr	Restricted	7.4 points, 49,700cr

At the Table: A Pursuit

Use this when a crew chases a Safa hull or flees one. A Safa pursuit hull is built to close and hold.

Closing. The Pursuit Frame adds 1 Boon Die to the S3's Pilot checks to close distance or to stop a target opening it. In a chase, Handling sets the difficulty instead of adding dice (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Three), so the S3's +1 and the S4's +2 make the hull hard to shake.

Terrain. In a canyon, a ravine or a docking maze the S3 keeps the Boon Die. The S4 cannot enter an atmosphere beyond a limited dive and never lands, so a fleeing crew that reaches a surface is out of its reach.

Holding. An S11 that holds a ship under Target Lock adds a Boon Die to scans and forced collars against it (Inspection Doctrine). The prey's answer is to break the lock (Jam, Break Lock, an Evasive Maneuver) before the collar closes.

Pressure. A Safa pursuit hull does not tire. Give the fleeing crew a Bane Die for each round the pursuer holds Short range, and a Boon Die for terrain only the pursuer cannot enter.