Ship Hindrances

Every ship is as much an individual as every person, and like people, some ships are clumsy, some a little sensitive, and more than one is a downright mei yong ma duh tse gu yong.

Everybody Has One (Minor/Major)
This model of ship is durn near everywhere. Although there are some advantages - such as an overabundance of spare parts - what this really means is that everyone and their brother knows how you operate and what to expect from your boat - specifications, performance, weak spots - just by looking at her. As a Minor Hindrance, this means production runs were in the hundreds. As a Major, the ship model numbers in the thousands or tens of thousands. Military vessels, other than the very smallest, do not qualify for this Hindrance, due to the way they are ordered and built.

Anyone attempting to exploit the known features of the ship's design receive a +1 (for Minor) or +2 (for Major) bonus to their roll.

Finicky (Minor)
Some ships just don't take well to bein' messed with, even for general maintenance. All Repair rolls involving the ship are made at -2.

Gas Guzzler (Minor)
This boat just ain't economical when it comes to fuel. She treats her Speed Class as one higher when determining the number of hours she'll run on a typical load of fuel.

Habit (Minor/Major)
The ship consumes something more than fuel during her normal operation, and if she don't get her fill, everyone suffers the consequences. Maybe she burns lubricant, or she's got a leak in the hydraulics system that can never quite get fixed. Whatever it is, if she don't get her fix of whatever it is on a daily basis, she starts acting up, imposing a -2 penalty to all rolls involving the ship. At the Major level, the penalty increases to -4, and the consumed something is of the pricey variety - maybe she chews through power couplings like a Core housewife does bon-bons.

Malfunctioning (Minor)
Due to poor design, inept renovations, or horrendous maintenance, several subsystems interfere with one another. Once per session, at the GM's discretion, there is a temporary malfunction aboard the ship that can cause all sorts of problems, such as loss of gravity (or too much, or in an improper direction), power outages, false alarms, lockdowns, sudden bursts of hard burn, septic spills, or other unpleasantnesses. The problem can be fixed with a successful Repair roll and about five minutes worth of work.

Nothin' Fancy (Minor/Major)
The boat is based on older technology, or simple, robust parts. The subsystems take up more tonnage than normal, 5% for a Minor Hindrance, 10% for a Major. On the bright side, the simplistic systems are easier to maintain, granting a +2 bonus on Repair rolls for maintenance.

Only in the Black (Major)
Due to design or some other feature, the ship is unable to enter atmosphere. It would require a Piloting roll at -4 to land such a boat without leaving everyone on board pushing daisies, and even then the ship would be left as little more than scrap.

Seen Better Days (Minor/Major)
The ship is old and showing obvious signs of wear. At the Minor level, a ship that has "Seen Better Days" is more than 20 years old. She's been around the 'Verse some, but is still basically sound. Purchase price is 25% of the original price, but maintenance costs are increased by 50%. As a Major Hindrance, the ship really has "Seen Better Days" - more than 40 years of 'em. To anyone with an ounce of judgement, she's clearly a piece of luh-suh. She probably wasn't working when you found her, and might be worth more as scrap. Purchase price is 5% of the original price, if that, but maintenance costs are doubled.

Sensitive Controls (Minor)
Overly sensitive controls make this ship dangerous in the hands of a careless pilot. Fate Chips cannot be spent on failed Piloting rolls.

Shaky Flier (Minor)
Whether due to asymmetrical form, poor aerodynamics, or simply lots of loose bolts, this ship misbehaves when maneuvering in atmosphere. In such situations, its Agility die is treated as one step lower, and its pilot suffers a -2 to all Piloting rolls.

Ugly (Minor/Major)
Looks ain't everything, and that's good news, since this boat don't got any. Persuasion rolls are made at -1 when the ship's unfortunate aesthetics come into play. As a Major Hindrance, this boat has more in common with a junk heap than a proper space vessel. Persuasion rolls that involve the ship's shameful appearance are made at -2.