Safa Ship Catalog ยท Chapter 4
Safa Builder Rules
Safa's Signature benefits, Integrated Architecture and Weak drawbacks, in one place, with the grade and the build prices that make the shape. A benefit or drawback applies only when the system is used in a situation its entry names (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Five, How Builder Benefits Work).
Signature Benefits
Benefits follow the component. A Safa Signature system gains its benefit when it is installed in a Safa hull. Safa's Partners are Contractor Partners, which build components and not hulls, so no other hull gains it: in an Openframe hull, or any other, a Safa system works as a Standard system (Chapter 12). One benefit applies per check, and a benefit that adds a Boon Die to an attack counts toward the limit of 2 free Boon Dice per attack (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Fifteen, The Boon Limit).
| System | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Reactor Output | Treat Power Capacity as 1 higher for overload. Remove 1 Bane Die from Craft checks to push, reroute or stabilize the reactor under combat load |
| Fire Control | Add 1 Boon Die to attacks with guided weapons (weapons that need a Target Lock before firing) |
| Electronic Warfare | Remove 1 Bane Die from Jam, Counter-Jam, Sensor Ghost and other ECM checks. Once per round, the ship may use one defensive ECM function as a reaction without spending a crew member's action |
| Security | Intruders aboard add 1 Bane Die to infiltration, movement and system-access checks |
| Point Defense | Point defense weapons on the hull add 1 to their Point Defense X, and point defense suites add 1 to their Interception Rating (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Eight) |
| Cyberdefense | Add 1 Boon Die to cyberdefense checks. Electronic attacks against the ship's AI or networks add 1 Bane Die to the attacker's check |
Integrated Architecture. A Safa ship has Integrated Architecture when its hull is Safa's, at least 10 of its 12 core systems are Safa's, it has no system recorded as Forced or Forbidden, and its firmware and service certification are intact (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Five, Integrated Architecture). It then gains the general benefits listed there and Safa's own: once per encounter, reduce the System Damage, Power Load or Heat cost of one native Fire Control, Reactor, Point Defense or Cyberdefense action by 1. A component from a Contractor Partner (Chapter 10) is Certified and counts as a Safa system for the 10 of 12.
Weak Drawbacks
Drawbacks follow the hull: a Safa hull carries them whoever built its systems. Each drawback applies once per situation.
| System | Drawback |
|---|---|
| Cargo Flexibility | Reconfiguring cargo space, swapping module functions or converting a bay needs an additional Average Craft check and twice the port time. Manifest discrepancies trigger automatic alerts to the ship's licensing authority |
| Open Interfaces | Installing a non-Safa component adds 1 Bane Die on top of the integration modifier |
| Improvised Modification | An unauthorized modification (bypassed firmware, removed restrictions, altered security architecture, uncertified components) upgrades 1 Trial Die to a Crisis Die on the installation check |
| Civilian Comfort | On a voyage longer than one week, Charm, Leadership and Negotiation checks made with passengers or non-military crew aboard add 1 Bane Die |
The Contractor Partners' Yabrin Pilgrim Berths remove the Civilian Comfort drawback for the passengers in them (Chapter 10), and a Contractor Partner's own component fitted at that Partner's certified yard does not add the Open Interfaces die (Chapter 12). Nothing else removes a drawback.
Grade and Build Costs
Every Safa hull is built to the Professional operator tier. In the hull build rules (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Thirteen) that means:
- Armor, Weapon Hardpoint points and Deflection cost 85% of their listed cost.
- The caps on Armor, hardpoint points, Power Capacity and Heat Threshold, and on Hull Points, System Points, Speed and Handling, are the Professional row for the hull's Scale. Safa has no signature allowance on any of them.
- Heat Dissipation is the Professional value for the Scale.
- The standard AI Core is a Professional Directive AI. The S6 and S7 lines buy one step more, an Advanced Directive AI.
- Licensed systems are standard; one system above that (an antimatter engine) is the hull's one above-standard system.
Safa's builder prices follow its Signature and Weak ratings.
| Cheaper at Safa | Costlier at Safa |
|---|---|
| Power Capacity (2 instead of 3) | Cargo (3 instead of 2 per block) |
| Hardpoint points (2 instead of 3, before the grade discount) | Module Slots (4 instead of 3) |
A Safa hull has a great deal of reactor and weapon and little hold, with few open slots. The versions in Chapters 5 to 9 spend their points on the cheap side, and most of them already stand at the Professional caps on Power, Heat and hardpoints. So a version improves Speed, Handling, Armor, Hull or System Points, adds a hardpoint point or fits a Restricted engine, and pays for it in cargo, berths or stores.
The Certification Seal
Every Safa hull carries a Certification Seal registered to a named holder. The Seal holds the hull's firmware authentication and its ownership record. A hull without a valid Seal is Gray Ownership (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Twelve). The Seal, transfers, authentication at checkpoints and Contractor Partner holdings are in Chapter 11.
Version Refits
A decimal version is a retrofit at a Safa-certified yard. It costs double the added build points of the same change made at build time, and the credits in Chapter 11, plus a 30% certification surcharge (Vehicles Manual, Chapter Thirteen, Upgrading After the Build). The points come out of the hull's unspent budget. The designation takes the next decimal. Scale and operator tier cannot change.
- Find the cost on the line's Version Table, or in Chapter 13, Version Upgrades.
- Check that the hull's unspent points cover it.
- The yard takes the hull for a number of weeks equal to the points spent, divided by 10, rounded up.
- A refit made at any other yard is an Improvised Modification, and the Seal reports it.
A whole number is not a refit. The S3 and the S4 are different frames. The owner trades in: the yard buys the old hull at its condition value toward the new price (Chapter 11).