Jazzing up Starships

This is mainly a question for the almighty Steve Long, but I'd appreciate input from anyone else with something valid to say.

How much can a ship's crew upgrade the vessel without starbase support, and how would you go about doing it? I'm about to run a mini-Voyager style campaign and the ship is an Oberth-Class (it's a small crew - most of the ship's complement get wiped out in the accident that flings them 10,000 light years off course). Naturally the crew want to upgrade the systems.

I know Steve was working on this sort of thing for the Voyager sourcebook, so I'd appreciate your input. One idea the PCs have had which I'm going to allow is converting the Type VI phasers by channeling them through the warp core (like they did in ST:TMP). I know from your write-up in the TOS SRM, Steve, that this tech isn't supposed to work too well with TNG-era arrays, but it sounds like something that could be done relatively easily, and Starfleet has had over 50 years to work on it since arrays came into use.

But how would you accept that shields could be upgraded as long as they stay in the protection range of the shield type? What about boosting power output from the warp core or impulse reactors? Any ideas on problems that might arise from "creative tinkering"?

Thoughts, comments, but no Styrofoam Man ideas for super-weapons (Oberth with gatling-style phaser cannons, for example :)) welcome.

The basic upgrading rule is: "They can upgrade their ship to the extent you feel it wouldn't negatively affect campaign balance, or the campaign's feeling of verisimilitude." :)

Now, obviously, that's not a very hard-and-fast guideline, but it's really the best one there is. A good corollary to ths rule would be, "Make every major upgrade a major plot point" -- they gotta work for it to get it! :)

If you want a more definite rule, I'd go with something like this: upgrades cannot do more than increase the SUs devoted to a system by 25%, or increase the system by more than two "classes" or "types," whichever the Narrator prefers.

Steve Long

Thanx Steve!

I was just thinking about the shield issue this morning. Since the Oberth has 250 Protection shields which can be boosted up to 133% Protection with extra power, then improving the shield grid may allow them to upgrade the Protection to this level anyway, since the existing shield grid can obviously handle this much power. Of course, they can't then improve the shields with extra power as well, but they won't have to spend 3 Power per 10 Protection above 250 like usual.