"Star Witch" class Medium Clipper:

Medium sized merchant vessels are in many ways the "Bread and Butter" of the Merchant Lines. They carry far more tonnage than small merchantman, sometimes called tramp freighters, yet are not the huge bulky ships which the largest cargo ships are. Only a relatively small number of destinations have enough cargo running through them to support the largest cargo ships. In many cases while one of these huge ships may carry a cargo load to a transportation hub, these would be then be broken down into smaller loads and carried by medium sized vessels to their final destination. The same occurs in reverse as well.

As with smaller cargo vessels, most medium class cargo vessels are fairly slow ships. There is a need to operate faster ships as with smaller ships. Some cargo is perishable. This includes some types of food and other agricultural products. Some clients also wish their cargo to be transported as quickly as possible. These ships also have the advantage of being able to outrun many of the pirates operating within the Three Galaxies. As a final advantage, such cargo ships get breaks on insurance rates. Of course, such cargo vessels are more expensive to operate than standard versions.

The common name for fast cargo vessels is Clipper, believed to have been named for fast sailing vessels which plied the seas in ancient times. The Sea Witch is a fairly typical design for a medium clipper. It is of similar size to the Cargo Master class merchant vessel. Several lines operate the Star Witch class almost exclusively and the ships have a good reputation for reliability.

These ships break into a variety of different types. Some simply carry bulk cargo while others are designed to carry containers. Container types are more common because it allows for the rapid loading and unloading. It also allows the containers to support special conditions such are refrigerated loads. Most containers come in a few standard designs with the largest being 200 by 50 x 50 feet and smaller containers being 100 x 25 x 25 feet. Eight of the smaller containers can be carried in place of one larger container. A total of 100 large containers or 800 of the smaller containers can be carried. There are also versions which are designed to carry vehicles.

Standard versions of the ship are only lightly armed with six medium range missile batteries and six point defense laser mounts. The payload of the missile launchers is greater than carried on most smaller clipper designs although are extremely light by military standard. These ships only have light shields. Some lines operate these ships with no weaponry, trusting on speed to keep them out of danger. Still, speed does not make these ships invulnerable and many crews dislike being crew on unarmed vessels.

Crew spaces are surprisingly comfortable with staterooms shared by two ordinary crew and each ship’s officer has their own stateroom. The captain's quarters are considered incredible with having a special dining room. These ships also have two dozen staterooms for passengers which are extremely well appointed as well. In some cases, these ships are the only way to travel to less populated systems in relative comfort. Many systems are too small to be supported by liners.

These ships are also popular with militaries and many militaries operate a combination of standard merchant classes and the faster clippers. Their high speed allows for the rapid support of troops and quickly moving supplies between military facilities. Some are configured to carry supplies while others are configured for carrying military vehicles. Assault vehicles normal support any landing but additional vehicles are often brought by these transports. Military versions usually carry additional sensors and defensive countermeasures. Some are also heavier armed than the standard version. Some versions carry an additional pair of long range missile batteries for better defense. These ships are equipped with heavier shields than most civilian models. In darker areas of the Three Galaxies, there are some civilian operators who equip their ships similarly. Few of these clippers have been modified into true warships.

This starship design uses modified starship speed and weapon range rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Model Type: SSM-2000
Vehicle Type: Medium Fast Freighter
Crew: 95 (10 Officers and 85 Ordinary Crew), Can carry 24 passengers.

Vehicles:

Mini-Tugs (Provision for cargo transport, not always carried)

M.D.C. By Location:

Standard:

Military:

Point Defense Laser Cannon Turrets (6):	250 each	250 each
Medium Range Missile Batteries (6):	300 each	300 each
Long Range Missile Batteries (2):	None	500 each
Outer Hull (40 x 40 ft/ 12.2 m x 12.2 Area):	100	100
Inner Hull (40 x 20 ft/ 12.2 m x 12.2 Area):	75	75
[1] Bridge:	4,000	4,000
[2] Main Engines (2):	5,200 each	5,200 each
[3] Main Body:	26,000	26,000
[4] Force Field:	5,000 (Regular)	4,000 side (24,000 total)

Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s hull. This ship does not have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the liner out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.
[4] Standard ship shields are not variable regenerate at the rate of 5% (250 M.D.C.) per melee. Military versions carry variable shields (all could be combined in one shield) and shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,200 M.D.C.) per melee.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 20 percent of the speed of light maximum due to civilian shields. Some have military class shields and can reach 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.8 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 400 mph (643.7 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric flight
Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 4.5 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about six month worth of supplies on board for the small crew but normally does not operate for that long without resupply. Can be stretched to nine months in emergency.

Statistical Data:
Length: 980 feet (298.70 meters)
Height: 300 feet (91.44 meters)
Width: 320 feet (97.54 meters)
Weight: 360,000 Tons (326,600 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Can carry up to 300,000 tons ( 272,000 metric tons) of cargo in addition to crew’s supplies. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Ship’s officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ship’s spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: 1.6 Billion credits (Military versions about 2.2 billion and non armed version about 1.4 billion)

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Six (6) Laser Batteries: Weapon system is used as an anti-missile, anti-power armor, and anti-star fighter. Weapons system has no minuses to hit fighters and small targets and can be operated by a gunner or a gunner program (+2 to strike, 3 Attacks per melee). The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.
Maximum Effective Range: 200 miles (322 km) in space and 4 miles (6.4 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 3D6x10 M.D.C. each.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) Long Range Missile Batteries: Carried on military versions of the vessel. Missile has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship). Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, battery, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile when dead is at -25% to be detected.) Long range missiles do not have minuses to hit small targets, unlike cruise missiles, and are all considered smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
Maximum Effective Range: Long Range Missile range is 3,400 miles (5,470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space.
Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)
Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) missiles per battery, per melee attack.
Payload: 512 total, 256 long range missiles per battery.
Six (6) Medium Range Missile Batteries: A slightly higher capacity version of the medium range missile batteries carried on a normal Merchantman. Missile has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Normally used for anti-fighter and point defense. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
Maximum Effective Range: Medium Range Missile range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space.
Mega-Damage: Varies with medium range missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)
Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), or eight (8) missiles per battery.
Payload: 32 per battery for a total of 192 medium range missiles.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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