Stats
| ST/HP | Hand/SR | HT | Move | Lwt. | Load | SM | Occ | DR | fDR | Range | Cost | Loc | Stall | Total Chase Rolls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6000 | -5/6 | 13 | 1/50 | 340,000 | 150,000 | +13 | 7100ASV | 2500* | 10,000 | 5 shunts | $60B | gGs22t | 0 | +3 |
Notes
Arcana as Signature Ship
An Arcana costs 30 points to purchase a signature ship; the GM may rule this well beyond the availability of a player to access. In general, if a player has access to an Arcana, it is through their Rank trait, and they don't own it so much as command it. Given the scale of the ship and the number of people that the owner of an Arcana would need to control to properly operate one, controlling it via a command structure makes the most sense. The GM might require someone who has an Arcana as a signature ship to take the Rank trait anyway (given the number of characters he commands); this should generally be at least Rank 5, and in such an instance, the GM should be more generous with the crew.
If taken as a signature ship, the Arcana comes with a skeleton crew of skill-12 minions, and a few named hireling NPCs, and a couple of shuttles. Characters with high levels of Rank in addition to the Signature Ship should expect more complete crew and perhaps a complement of fighters as part of their rank.
*The Arcana-Pattern Carrier has 2500 Carbide Composite DR on all sides (double DR vs plasma attacks). It also has a force screen with 10,000 ablative, hardened DR.
Electronics:
- Capital-Scale Tactical Ultra-Scanner: 4000-mile scan, 400-mile imaging/bioscan; 360°;
- Targeting Macroframe: +5 to hit target with a scan-lock.
- Night Vision Sensors: +9 nightvision, ×8 magnification (up to +3 to aimed attacks, if the vehicle aims for three turns).
- Large Area Jammer: -4 to target with missiles for all allied ships within 25 miles.
- Large Holographic Radio: 10,000 mile range; “conference” sized holographic projector. All communications encrypted.
- Very Large FTL Communication Array: 300-parsec range.
- Security And Safety: Simple Electronic Locks and security cameras at regular intervals; complex biometric locks for secured facilities meant for the aristocrat alone; Lifepods.
- Life-Support: 5 days
- Hyperdrive: Rating 2, with sufficient fuel for 5 jumps.
- Fusion Reactor: 50-year lifespan.
- Cargo: Compartment with up to 50 lbs of supplies/gear.
Accommodation and Facilities:
- Full Life-Support: up to 7500 people
- Accommodations: 1 aristocratic luxury suite, 100 luxury cabins, 600 full cabins, 6500 bunks, 3 months of stored, refrigerated food.
- Facilities: 100-person diplomatic establishment; 100-person entertainment establishment; 10-person War Room (+1 Strategy and Tactics); 10-person negotiation office (+1 Diplomacy and Law); 100-person Akashic Shrine (+1 ESP and sensory deprivation chambers); 30-person gym; 1000-bed and 5 operating theater hospital;
- Cargo: a secured arsenal capable of sufficient gear to arm 4000 men; Additional cargo can carry 5000 tons.
Onboard Craft Complement:
- Shuttles: 5 Prestige-Class (or variant) Shuttles.
- Fighters: Up to 20 squadrons of 25 fighters (Generally at least 10 squadrons of Valiants and 5 squadrons of Raptors)
Armaments
- 6 Capital Turrets (Total RoF 12);
- 8 Corvette-scale Light Turrets (Total ROF 24);
- 8 mounted Plasma Flak Turrets (F/L/R/T);
| Weapon | Dmg | Acc | Range | Ewt. | RoF | Shots | ST | Bulk | Rcl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital-scale cannon | 6d×75(5) burn | 9 | 60 mi/180mi | 500t | 2 | NA | M | -10 | 2 |
| Corvette-scale cannons | 6d×30(5) burn | 9 | 10 mi/30 mi | 25t | 3 | NA | M | -10 | 2 |
| Plasma Flak | 6d×10 burn ex | NA | 2000/6000 | 100t | 20 | NA | M | -10 | 1 |
Look and Feel
Like the Regal-Pattern Heavy Cruiser, the Arcana-Pattern Carrier exudes a beautiful, art-deco elegance with often gleaming white or silver color and swooping, elegant curves. The main body, like most Alliance capital ships, is taller than it is wide, but has a fairly stubby length and is dominated by the bridge that rises from it. Its weaponry have been divided to bristle from either side: 3 capital-scale turrets, 4 corvette-scale turrets, and 4 plasma flak cannons line either side, just below the observation decks and gleaming windows of the superstructure. Two, long launch decks extend from the main body like two, forward swept wing; these launch decks make up the single largest visible structure of the vehicle and dominate one’s impression of the vehicle.
Those who land on one of the two launch decks, which are large enough for even light corvettes to medium (up to SM +8) corvettes to land on, step out into a well-lit and spacious hangar bay. The flight decks themselves have broad openings into space that are “force locked,” allowing one to view the starry sky through the shimmer of the screens. Travel from the hangar bays and flight decks to the rest of the ship is handled with interior shuttles, resembling clean and cozy subways. These shuttles bring one to the habitation section of the ship. The lower part of the habitation section has numerous cabins and bunks, all fairly well-appointed and attractive, though not as nice or roomy as those found in the Regal-Pattern Heavy Cruiser. A great and spacious hospital, as large as any found planetside, dominates this area, and a special “hospital” shuttle equipped with paramedical gear has a straight shot from the flight decks to this hospital, allowing for emergency care of wounded brought in by shuttle. Blow this, one can find the bowels of the ship and the great and bare infrastructure that runs the ship, where numerous servants and technicians scuttle through the machine-cathedral interior to ensure the operation of the great capital ship.
As one travels higher in the ship, into the super-structure, one finds the “Hotel” of the Arcana: a great collection of luxury cabins, observation decks protected by transparent diamondoid, and large entertainment establishments that vary from Arcana to Arcana: gardens, spas, restaurants and casinos. A great diplomatic hall, ready for dinners and dances, can also be found in this section of the ship. The top of the superstructure has the bridge, and three separate luxury suites, the size of two luxury cabins put together with sufficiently nice interiors to garner a +1 reaction. One typically houses the governing noble, while the other two are supplied to guests of honor. The interior decoration of this luxurious part of the ship has romantic lighting provided by recessed glow-lights, contragravity crystal chandeliers, curving banisters and soft carpeting.
High Admiral Lowellin Cole designed the Arcana to work with the Valiant and Raptor in an effort to create a new model of warfare for the Galactic Federation. His design has a more spartan feel, similar to the Sword-Pattern Battleship, but the aristocracy made adjustments for their own comfort and prestige. Still, his touches can be found in the lower decks, where the considerable number of soldiers and pilots rest in cabins and the great hospital attends to their needs. The “hotel” resembles that found on the Regal, only larger and more impressive. The combined effect of the two designs creates a powerful warship with two primary roles.
In war, the Arcana carries the fighters of the Alliance to the enemy. The Arcana might go straight to the enemy, especially if it carries Valkyries, and spill forth its fighters and strike-craft while it hangs back and relies on its powerful force screens to deflect enemy attack. Alternatively, it can fly to a system close to the enemy, and its hyper-drive capable fighters make the leap to attack the enemy, and then jump back to the carrier, preventing the carrier from suffering direct attack. In a full military confrontation, the Carrier struggles against Dreadnoughts and Battleships in toe-to-toe fights; its corvette cannons and its Raptors provide a decent defense against corvettes but these can overwhelm it. Most carriers have an escort of at least a few cruisers and often a battleship or two.
In peace, the Arcana acts as a mobile hospital, going to worlds in need and using is capacity for soldiers, doctors and technicians to provide much needed aid and care to those on beleaguered worlds. It also doubles as a diplomatic craft, able to provide an excellent location for diplomatic negotiations (especially for the surrender of a world to its new aristocratic masters), or for the aristocracy to remind the leaders of a world who their true masters are, in the most comfortable and entertaining fashion possible. The Arcana, thus, often “shows the flag” to other worlds or other aristocrats.
