By Douglas Niles - Star Frontiersman

Table 1: Maximum Movement inMap SquaresRACEDralasite 10Yazirian 15Human 15VrusK 18SQUARES/TURNElevatorsCharacters can open the elevator doors in 1 turn bypushing a button on the outer wall of the shaft. Abutton inside the chamber starts and stops theelevator. The elevator travels one deck per turn.Before the elevator will open into a vacuum, asmall verbal alarm broadcasts a warning. Twobuttons on opposite sides of the chamber must bepushed simultaneously to open the doors. (Acharacter can do it alone.) The chamberdepressurizes over a period of 6 turns, and thenthe door opens.The elevator doors can be pried open manually in10 turns. A ladder runs through the shaft, so if theelevator is not working, a character can move fromone deck to another by hand and foot.PortholesThese viewing ports are made of plastiglass that isharder than the metal of the hull. Each porthole has300 structural points. They bulge out of the hullslightly, so a character pressing his face against theplastiglass can observe the skin of the hull itself.Aboard Ship in aDocking BayWhen a ship is docked, the crew’s perception of upand down is actually rendered sideways, but at avery light (5%) G-force. For example, a charactermoving from the main airlock (1) to the office (5)would have the sensation of climbing 10 meterswith very little resistance.Furnishings on the ship—including bed, chairs, andtables—all swivel 90 degrees to make living morecomfortable indock. And ladders are mounted onthe “ceilings” of all rooms—that is, on the surfaceopposite the deck—so it’s easy to climb against theslight G-force.Modify movement rates for characters aboard shipsin a docking bay as follows: Characters get -2squares of movement when they are proceedingUPwards more than sideways, and 2 squares ofmovement when their direction is primarilyDOWNward. In combat, a character has a -10modifier “to hit” when the target is above.LEVEL a: THE CREW DECK1. AirlockThe airlock has three hatches. One leads outsidethe ship, another to the lifeboat, and the third tothe crew deck. Before leaving the airlock, acharacter must make the air pressure in the lockequal to that in the area being entered. Equalizingpressure takes 10 turns, and can be controlled fromthe airlock, or overridden on the bridge.The outer hatch is protected with a level 3 securitylock, deactivated by the code word “Windfriend”. IRdetectors will sound alarms throughout the ship ifunauthorized entry is attempted.2. LifeboatWith a top capacity of 18 creatures, the Gullwind’slifeboat falls just short of the standard KnightHawks boat. To launch the lifeboat, charactersmust first release its security lock, using thecomputer. This can be done at any location marked“Computer Access.” The lock is monitored on thebridge, and its release can be overridden there.After the security lock is released, characters canget into the boat and decompress the airlockchamber to separate the boat from the Gullwind.Then they can start the engines and go. Garlusoften uses the lifeboat as a launch.If a character attempts to enter the lifeboat whilethe ship is accelerating or decelerating, an RScheck must be done. If successful, the charactercan enter the boat without problem. Ifunsuccessful, the G-force throws the character tothe back of the boat, inflicting 1-10 points ofdamage. It takes 1-10 turns for the character toclimb to the front of the boat after a fall.2a. Pilot’s Seats: A character in either of thesetwo seats with at least a 1st level piloting skillcan operate the lifeboat, controlling its directionand speed.2b. Passenger Compartment: Although thiscompartment accommodates up to 16passengers, 8 is a more comfortable number.2c. This is a smaller version of the bathrooms onthe Gullwind.2d. Life Support: All food, air, and water for thelifeboat’s passengers are supplied by thismechanism. It can sustain 18 creatures for 30hours, 9 creatures for 60 hours, etc.9