Hey Nick, tell us about the deckplans - for those of us who aren't too familiar with the SFB universe...
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O.K. you asked, so here is a big post.
Well, to explain the deckplans it helps to explain what the ship is. GURPS Klingons contains the deckplans for the Klingon G1 PF Gunboat. G1 is the hull type designation, like D7 is used for the classic cruiser-class ship. PF is short for Fast Patrol Ship. Gunboat is sort of the "nickname" if you will, what the Klingon versions of PFs are commonly called. All of this info is what has existed in Star Fleet Battles for years.
Fast Patrol ships are small, about 35 meters long or so. The G1 is 32 meters long. They have crews of about 30 persons (SFB assumes little automization aboard ships, so minimum crews are larger than later trek would indicate, you need crew to monitor every weapon hardpoint, engines, defense systems, etc...).
These are short ranged ships only (can travel from star system to star system, but typical missions last no more than 48 hours or so). They are overgunned and have much more raw engine power than other ships of their size. The engines (in order to get that much power in so small a package) lack certain maintenance components that full ships have. Thus after a few days or so of operation, the engines need to be "flushed" of ionic buildups, or their power drops off rapidly to almost nothing. The engines are also commonly operated with "booster" packs, doubling their power (which makes them fearsome in combat), but if they take any damage when "boosted" it is likely the engine will be destroyed, instead of just damaged.
The standard gunboat has one disruptor, a pair of phasers, and a pair of drone (missile) racks. Also an anti-drone (anti-missile) defense system. The energy weapons can be fired continuously, but the missiles are finite (each rack has 4 shots). In order to reload, the PF needs to dock to its PF Tender, which is just a regular warship modified to carry PFs on external docking clamps called mech-links. Note, in SFB terms each of these little things has nearly as much firepower as a frigate, but in a much smaller, much more fragile, and much cheaper to build, package.
Any cruiser can kill a PF with one good volley of its weapons, but PFs are deployed in groups of six (called a flotilla), made up of 4 standard combat PFs, one heavier PF leader, and one PF Scout for electronic warfare support. The standard PFs are built for combat only, weapons, but no systems like labs or transporters and such. The PF leader has the extra systems to make the flotilla work like a standard ship, it has a tractor beam, a single shuttlecraft, a transporter, extra marines, etc. Now, while a cruiser (as noted above) can easily kill a single PF with little trouble, facing a flotilla is deadly since while you kill one or two, the remainder will gut yoru ship with their superior firepower.
I was able to take this design from Star Fleet Battles material, and flesh out the inside arrangement. The outside looks very similar to existing SFB pictures (but those were always very simple and I added lots of extra detail).
The deckplans in GURPS Klingons are for three variants. The Standard G1 PF has two decks. The lower deck has landing legs (they can land on planets), phasers and phaser gunner positions, the disruptor and disruptor gunner. It has the fuel tanks, an escape pod, and the main engineering compartment. Also a lower hatch for planetfall, and a cargo elevator for loading, well, cargo. The upper deck has the command pod with commander's chair, helm, navigation, main weapons control, sensor operator, etc. Really more of a glorified cockpit than a traditional bridge. The drone racks are here (which are extra sensors on the scout electronic warfare version), secondary engineering compartment (for impulse engine control), a second escape pod, and a common room. This room has space to spend off duty time, eat rations, etc. Also a passive transporter. This is for beaming aboard from another real transporter pad (to make lock on easier in combat conditions), but doesn't do much on its own (that is why the leader has a real transporter). Also an upper docking hatch for attaching to the PF Tender (mothership). Impulse engines are up here (warp engines are attached underneith the ship).
There are notes on how to make several of the other variants as well, such as swap such and such weapon for a mine rack, or whatever... Also, the stats for these ships (and many other Klingon ships) are given for the GURPS Space Combat engine, for those who don't want to use SFB (which was never made to be a role playing engine).
The escape pods are because each PF was individually easy (and likely to be) killed.
Also has the variant decks for the PF leader with extra equipment. Also has the variant decks for a "civilianized" version. Basically, hundreds of these were built during the general war, and after it ended many survived. These were stripped of (most of their) weapons and sold off commercially. Many were adapted with (in the former weapons spaces) extra life support, the necessary engine flushing components, and quarters. This turns the short ranged warship into a longer ranged (normal range) small untility ship able to do lots of odd jobs. Great for an adventuring party, in other words.
There is a one page picture of a top-view of all the klingon hull types, from the lowly frigate, up to the mighty dreadnought (with the D7 in the middle), all to scale. Tucked into the corner is a weeny little PF.
Plans and text takes up about 10 pages of the 144 page book.
The current plan (as last discussed by Steve Cole on the SFB BBS) is to also release the G1 gunboat early next year as a GURPS Traveller format deckplan pack. If you are not familliar with this, it means they will be available in large format (fold out) sheets instead of each deck shrunk onto a single standard size page. There will be one inch (one meter) hexes drawn across it (so one deck is about 32 inches long), and it will include GURPS Cardboard heroes (little cardboard people to cut out and fold so they stand up) that fit in the hexes for role-playing combat. In this case the Cardboard Heroes will be Klingons, and various subject races. So you will be able to get just the plans, with cardstock "miniatures", without buying the whole Klingon book. (But you should still buy the Klingon book, of course).
Module Prime Alpha has the Federation Burke Class Frigate, which is more of a standard ship design, standard warp engines, standard armament, etc... Again, this is a ship that has existed in Star Fleet Battles for years but I got to flesh out all the gritty internal details. It consists mainly of an old-style (similar to the old constitution class enterprise) saucer section. It is smaller than the Fed constitution cruiser, a little fatter and stubbier, but still looks sleek. It has no secondary hull, but does have two "old school" warp engines attached underneith. It is about 90 odd meters across the saucer section. Crew of 160. A pair of photon torpedo launchers, 3 offensive phasers, and 2 defensive phasers. The refit added a drone rack. Note that this is not too much more armament than a single PF above, but on a long range, very durable, hull. So this ship would gut a single PF, but a flotilla would be a serious serious problem, and PFs never travel alone.
It is divided up as 7 decks.
All decks are printed to the same scale, but the bridge is duplicated again at the end on a full page.
Deck 1 is the bridge.
Deck 2 is the photon launchers, some office space, captain's office.
Deck 3 is Officer quarters, rec room, phasers, phaser control room, a docking port, life support, emergency solar sail storage (for power and emergency propulsion, remember that reference from ST IV?).
Deck 4 is the main deck. Crew quarters, transporter rooms, more docking ports, sickbay, messhall, computers, auxiliary control, briefing rooms, lounge.
Deck 5 is the support deck. main engineering, impulse drives, batteries, fusion reactor, emergency bridge, the two main cargo holds, emergency transporters, labs, gymnasiam, hydroponics, probe launcher.
Deck 6 (starting the "bulge" under the saucer) has cargo, forward phaser, shuttlebay control room. Recycling systems.
Deck 7 is the shuttlebay (two shuttlecraft, a third in storage), cargo, drone rack, more recycling.
Under the lowest (on a sort of conical mast) are the forward deflector/sensor dish, tractor beams. etc.
Also larger variant decks for decks 6 and 7 with a really large shuttle bay, some variants have fighters (if you like fighters in the star trek universe).
There are exterior drawings of each ship, Frigate and PF, in these two books as well.
Again, notes on how to "modify" them for different variants, again along the lines of room X contains barracks instead of the gymnasium, etc... And the GURPS Space combat engine stats.
Plans and text are 20 pages out of the 112 page book.
Lots of fun to make these, and I am working on more for several Prime Directive supplements announced for next year. Module Prime Beta (should be a Klingon Frigate, the F5). Gurps Romulans (a "Skyhawk" destroyer), and maybe a civilian fast/high-warp cargo ship for GURPS Federation. Maybe another ship for a deckplan pack. Have to wait and see what all gets done exactly in what order, but there should be several that do come out next year.
Anyway, the deckplans could easily be adapted to whatever system you use. The Fed Frigate obviously looks like it belongs in the original series time period, the Klingon PF perhaps a bit less so.
They're Mongol in appearance because of the budget for makeup, a big portion of which goes toward Spock's ears, in the 1960's.
A lot of people relate the TOS Klingons to that of Soviets, while the TOS Romulans are like Communist Chinese.
Anyhoo, just some random thoughts...
"My philosophy is 'you don't need me to tell you how to play -- I'll just provide some rules and ideas to use and get out of your way.'"
-- Monte Cook
"Min/Maxing and munchkinism aren't problems with the game: they're problems with the players."
-- excerpt from Guardians of Order's Role-Playing Game Manifesto
"They're Mongol in appearance because of the budget for makeup, a big portion of which goes toward Spock's ears, in the 1960's."
Yep - if they'd had a larger makeup budget, the Klingons would've been Romulans. Klingons were created by Gene L. Coon as a low-budget alternative to Rommies. Fred Philips was given one mandate - create an alien race with standard makeup techniques, and he and John Colicos worked out the "Space Mongol" look during the first makeup session for Errand of Mercy.
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