Psi Wars: the Smuggler Template

We round off our technological character considerations with the Rim cousin of the Fighter Ace: the Smuggler. Where the fighter ace is the master of the fighter, the Smuggler is the master of the Corvette, with deep criminal ties and the ability to get you whatever it is you need.

Smuggler 250 points

Attributes: ST 10 [0], DX 13 [60]; IQ 14 [80]; HT 11 [10]

Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; HP 10 [0]; Will 13 [-5]; Per 14 [0]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]

Advantages: 3D Spatial Sense [10], Combat Reflexes [15], Born Smuggler +4 [20], Luck [15]. • Spend an additional 25 points om improved DX +1 [20], IQ +1 [20], HT +1 to +2[10/level], HP +1 to +5 [2/level], Absolute Direction or 3D Spatial Sense [5 or 10], Ally (Robot, 50%, almost all the time) [9], Appearance (Attractive or Beautiful/Handsome) [4 or 12], Charisma +1 to +2 [5/level], Cheaper Gear (Any) [1], Contact (Fence, Junk Dealer, Pirate, Port Authority, Skill 12, 15 or 18, 9 or less, somewhat reliable) [1, 2, 3], Contact Group (Criminal Mob, Pirates, Security, Skill 12, 15 or 18, 9 or less, somewhat reliable) [5, 10, 15], Corvette Switchboard [1], Danger Sense [15], Duct-Tape Savant [1], Enhanced Dodge 1-3 (Vehicular, Starship) [5/level], Equipment Bond (Starship) [1], Feel of the Ship [1], Higher Purpose (Deliver the Package) [5], Honest Face [1], Hotshot Pilot [5/level], Gizmos [5/level], Hard to Kill [2/level], Light Jumper [1], Old Space Hand [1], Serendipity 1-2 [15/level], Signature Gear (Any) [varies], Signature Ship [varies], Smooth Jump [1], Smuggler Lane [1], Standard Operating Procedure (Primed to Go) [1], Wealth (Comfortable) [10], Wild Talent 1 [20], or upgrade Luck to Extraordinary Luck [30] for 15 points.

Disadvantages: Divide -15 points among Charitable [-15*], Compulsive Behavior (Thrill-Seeking) [-5*], Greedy [-15*], Jealousy [-10], Lecherousness [-15*], Obsession (Assisting some specific lost cause or overthrowing a particular regime) [-5], Overconfident [-5*], Selfish [-5*], either Social Stigma (Criminal) [-5] or Secret (Smuggler) [-20], Trickster [-15*]; • Choose another -35 points from the previous, or from Alcoholism [-15], Callous [-5], Charitable [-15*], Chummy [-5], Code of Honor (Pirate's or Professional's), Compulsive Carousing [-5*], Delusion (“I'll talk my way out of it”) [-5], Gluttony [-5*], Laziness [-10], Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10], Sense of Duty (Team) [-5], Wealth (Struggling) [-10],

Primary Skills: Area Knowledge (Region of Space) IQ+6⁴ [4]-20, Freight Handling (A) IQ [2]-14, Merchant (A) IQ [2]-14, Navigation (Hyperspace) (A) IQ+6²⁴ [2]-20, Pilot (Starship) DX+3¹ [8]-16, Smuggling (A) IQ+4⁴ [2]-18; • Divide two points among Electronics Operation (EW), Holdout, or Streetwise all (A) IQ+4⁴ [2]-18 or improve any of the above skills.

Secondary Skills: Beam Weapons (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2]-14; Spacer (E) IQ [1]-14, Stealth (A) DX+1 [4]-14; Vacuum Suit (A) DX+1 [4]-14; • One of Brawling (E) DX+1 [2]-14, Boxing (A) DX [2]-13 or Karate (H) DX-1 [2]-12; • One of Wrestling (A) DX [2]-13 or Judo (H) DX-1 [2]-12; • Choose one of Savoir-Faire (High Society or Mafia) (E) IQ+2 [4]-16, Acting or Fast-Talk both (A) IQ+1 [4]-15, Diplomacy (H) IQ [4]-14, Carousing (E) HT+2 [4]-13, Sex-Appeal (A) HT+1 [4]-12; • Choose four from among Fast-Draw DX+2² [2]-16, Beam Weapons (Projector or Rifle), Forced Entry, Gunner (Beams) all (E) DX+1 [2]-14, Free-fall (A) DX [2]-13, Escape (H) DX-1 [2]-12, Area Knowledge (Any) (E) IQ+5⁴ [2]-19, First Aid both (E) IQ+1 [2]-15, Navigation (Land) (A) IQ+3³ [2]-17, Administration, Artillery (Guided Missile), Connoisseur (Starships), Electronics Operation (Comms, EW, Security or Sensor), Electronics Repair (Security), Mechanic (Starship) all (A) IQ [2]-14, Intimidation (A) Will [2]-13, Scrounging (E) Per+1 [2]-15, 1or Urban Survival (A) Per [2]-14 or improve any of the above skills by one level to [4].

Background Skills: Computer Operations (E) IQ [1]-14, Pilot (Contragravity) DX⁶ [0]-12 and a 20-point background lens

*Adjusted for Self-Control Rating
1: +1 from 3D Spatial Sense
2: +2 from 3D Spatial Sense
3: +3 from 3D Spatial Sense
4: +4 from Born Smuggler
5: +1 from Combat Reflexes
6: From default


Born Smuggler
Skills: Area Knowledge, Navigation, Smuggling, Holdout, Electronics Operation (EW), Streetwise.
Reaction Modifier: From fences, potential clients and corrupt port authorities.

Psi Wars: the Scavenger Template

Now that we've sorted out our old character considerations, it's time for some new ones, and what template could better exemplify the updated technological rules than the Scavenger?

Scavenger 250 points

Attributes: ST 10 [0], DX 11 [20]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 11 [10]

Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; HP 10 [0]; Will 13 [0]; Per 14 [5]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [10]; Basic Move 6 [0]

Advantages: Artificer 4 [40], Luck [15], Quick Gadgeteer (Scavenger -20%) [40]. •Spend an additional 35 points om improved IQ +1 [20], HT +1 to +2 [10/level], HP +1 to +5 [2/level], Perception +1 to +3 [5/level], Ally (Robot, 50%, almost all the time) [9], Cheaper Gear (Second-hand) [1], Combat Relexes [15], Compact Frame [1], Contacts (Junk Dealers, Skill 12, 15 or 18, 9 or less, somewhat reliable) [1, 2, 3], Danger Sense [15], Enhanced Dodge 1-3 (Dive for Cover) [5/level], Equipment Bond (any one toolkit) [1], Flexibility [5], Gizmos [5/level], Good with Robots [1], Oiled Up [1], Hard to Kill [2/level], High Manual Dexterity [5/level], Night Vision 1-3 [1/level], Precautions [1], Resistant to Disease (+3) [3], Resistant to Poison (+3) [5], Serendipity 1-2 [15/level], Signature Gear (Any) [1/level], Wild Talent 1 [20], or upgrade Luck to Extraordinary Luck [30] for 15 points.

Disadvantages: Choose -15 from Clueless [-10], Compulsive Tinkering [-5*], Curious [-5*], Greed [-15*], Gullibility [-10*], Kleptomania [-15*], Obsession (Find specific lost treasure/relic) [-5], Oblivious [-5], Sense of Duty (Team) [-5], Trademark (Particular design of gadgets) [-5 or -10]; •Choose another -35 from the previous, or from Appearance (Unattractive or Ugly) [-4 or -8], Callous [-5], Cowardice [-10*], Easy to Read [-10], Fearfulness [-2/level], Laziness [-10], Loner [-5*], Low Pain Threshold [-10], No Sense of Humor [-10], Odious Personal Habit (Constantly greasy/sticky) [-5], Paranoia [-10], Post-Combat Shakes [-5*], Phobia (loud noises) [-10*], Shyness [-5 to -10], Stuttering [-10] or Wealth (Struggling) [-10].

Primary Skills: Engineer (Starship) (H) IQ+5¹ [8]-18, Electrician (A) IQ+4¹ [2]-17, Scrounging (E) Per+2 [4]-16, Search (A) Per+1 [4]-15; •Choose 5 of Beam Weapons (Projector) (E) DX [1]-11, Armoury (Any), Electronics Repair (Any), Machinist, Mechanic (Any) or Traps all (A) IQ+3¹ [1]-16, or Engineer (Civil or Robotics) (H) IQ+2¹ [1]-15 or improve any of the above or Electrician by one level to [2] for one point.

Secondary Skills: Beam Weapons (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2]-12; Computer Operation (E) IQ+2 [4]-15; Stealth (A) DX+2 [8]-14; Vacuum Suit (A) DX+1 [4]-12; •One of Brawling (E) DX+1 [2]-12, Boxing (A) DX [2]-11 or Karate (H) DX-1 [2]-10; •One of Wrestling (A) DX [2]-11 or Judo (H) DX-1 [2]-10; • Choose 4 from among your primary skills options or from among Forced Entry (E) DX+1 [2]-12, Climbing, Filch or Pilot (Starship) all (A) DX [2]-11, Acrobatics or Escape both (H) DX-1 [2]-10, First Aid (E) IQ+1 [2]-13, Connoisseur (Robots, Starships, Weapons), Electronics Operation (Security or Sensor), Explosives (Demolitions or EOD), Fast-Talk, Freight Handling, Hazardous Materials (Chemical or Radioactive), Holdout, Merchant, Navigation (Land or Hyperspace), Smuggling or Streetwise all (A) IQ [2]-12, Chemistry or Computer Hacking both (H) IQ-1 [2]-11 or Urban Survival (A) Per [2]-14.

Background Skills: Piloting Contragravity (A) DX [2]-11, and a 20-point background lens


1: +4 from Artificer

Psi Wars: Revisiting Background Lenses with Technology

The technological adjustments we made will certainly impact our background lenses, particularly with the addition of lower wealth, The Humble Origins certainly expands its skills to include a variety of new skills, including Engineering and Farming, and let's go ahead and add that Primitive and Wanderer Lens.

Ewok with Blaster

The Primitive requires us to deal with Tech Level, which is something I've avoided thus far.  Star Wars is a universe in stasis, where everything has been TL 11^ for  thousands of years.  Thus, tech level seems pointless, were it not for minor races like Ewoks and Tusken Raiders.  Still, Ewoks seemed more than capable of adapting to TL 11^ with startling speed.  Psi Wars should follow suit, giving a nod to the possibility that an alien race might lack the technological sophistication so common to the rest of the galaxy while still allowing such characters to jump right into the thick of things. Thus, I propose the following disadvantage to replace Low TL:

Confused (Technological) [-5*]: When confronted with modern technology that you are not familiar with (or, explicitly, Familiar with), the GM may require you to roll your Self-Control. If you fail, you are completely flabbergasted by it and have no idea how to use it, and will use it in a completely inappropriate fashion, certainly causing trouble. This can include accidentally firing weapons at people, racing off with vehicles in reverse (or riding the wrong way around), or worshiping unfamiliar robots as gods. This will never deliberately inflict harm on you: You won't point a force sword at your face and switch it on. Instead, your blunders tend to be mischievously comical. After such an episode, you may consider yourself sufficiently familiar with the specific technology that such an episode will not occur again.

Psi Wars: Revisiting the Templates with Technology!

Now that we've gathered up our technological notes, we should go back and carefully revisit each template to see if we've missed anything. The big changes will almost certainly be: Should we include Signature Ship and Ally (Robot Companion)? And how competent should a standard character be with spaceships? Furthermore, we can take this opportunity to revisit the characters, designed one iteration ago, to see if there are any further improvements we can make. For example, are we still happy with the triple-talent design of the Bounty Hunter (answer: No, we're not)?

I had originally intended to post only the notes of my updates, but they turned out to be rather substantial, and in any case this is hardly the longest post I've made, so be warned! There's a lot of text after the jump!

Psi Wars: Technological Character Considerations

That was a long iteration.  The observant among you might have noticed that I listed skills, advantages and perks at the end of many posts.  I did this to record what pertinent element might come up, so I would remember later.  Each individual technological element might impact character design, and so when I'm finished, I compile all the notes I have into one single master document, and I use those to revise the templates to take what I've learned into account.  This isn't quite the same thing as a master advantage/disadvantage/skill list so much as compiled notes to help me remember what I've done.

I've included this new list below.  It includes notes on advantages, skills, a pile of new perks, and a mess or new or revised skillsets.

Psi Wars: Smugglers and Stealth in Space

We've tackled scavengers.  What about smugglers?  To understand smugglers, we need to understand stealth in space.

Pyramid #3-71

Pyramid #3-71 page 13 has a fine article called “Smugglers' Blues” that discusses the ins and outs of smuggling. While its technological advice isn't so useful to us, it's a gold-mine for understanding how a smuggler could or would play, and has some implications for how we run, and design, ships.
To sum up the article in brief, a smuggler needs at least one of four tactics:

• Superior speed, to maneuver blockades and escape the authorities if discovered.
  
• Superior stealth, to avoid detection in the first place, when slipping past patrols or through customs.
  
• Detailed area knowledge, to know approaches that will avoid detection
  
• Social engineering skills, to know who to bribe, or to talk your way out of a sticky situation.
  

The first two matter for ship design and ship rules. The latter two are more a concern for how we might build a smuggler template. The first is already covered well-enough by the spaceships system and the chase rules in action: Just treat the acceleration bonus as the speed bonus from the chase rules, and have fun! Typical smuggling ships, like the Dark Horse, are already significantly faster than most other ships larger than fighters.

Stealth, on the other hand, requires some attention. Spaceships already includes a stealth/detection system for ships, but we should revisit it and simplify it for our purposes.

The problem with stealth in space is that it's impossible.  Space is an infinite plane that is very dark and very cold, while you're bright and hot with nowhere to hide.  We can literally detect planets that are light-years away and unpowered asteroids thousands of miles away, all with meager, TL 8 technology.  What are the chances that we'll miss the roaring engines of a starship mere hundreds of miles away with tech-level 11 sensors?  Not very likely, I think.

But the would-be stealth ships of Psi Wars have a few advantages.  First of all, the space of Psi Wars isn't really space: it's a vast and cinematic ocean made of black waters and dotted with stars.  Specifically, it brims with cinematic nebulas and debris fields!  Secondly, it has hyperspace, and things in hyperspace cannot be detected outside of hyperspace, and vice versa.

The problems with stealth in space is that you have nothing to hide behind, and even if you "go dark" after firing up your engines to go in a particular direction, people will be able to keep their eyes on you and track your dark form, since your motions are completely predictable.  The cinematic nature of the Psi Wars universe defies this.  Space is sprinkled with hiding places in the form of these cinematic nebulas and debris fields.  Hyperspace means that you cannot know the velocity of a ship coming out of hyperspace, and it also means that a ship that has just jumped in from hyperspace has no knowledge of drifting ships.  If you fired your thrusters to bring you into a debris field, and another ship jumps in later, it has no idea that a ship maneuvered there a day ago.  It just sees a debris field.  Suddenly, stealth becomes possible.

Moreover, stealth is expected.  Not completely, of course: An Empire-Class dreadnought should be a giant beacon of fire and death that blocks out the light of worlds.  But a smuggler's Dark Horse might be expected to slip across a border, and pirates should be able to lie in wait in an asteroid field for a passing freighter full of goodies and passengers they can turn into slaves.

Spaceships already provides us with the rules to do all of this, we just need to adjust them and simplify them for Psi Wars, and make sure they fill all our needs.

Cross-Post: Collaborative Gamer's Solo Campaign

+Justin Aquino's talking about it, so I have an excuse to talk about it too.  I've been avidly following +Collaborative Gamer's solo campaign for awhile now, and I think it's great, but for different reasons than Justin (that's not to say that he's wrong, just that we see different facets).

I'm a big believer in Failing Faster.  The point behind Psi-Wars is to finish a campaign sooner rather than later, so I'm borrowing as much as I can from other works, including Star Wars itself and various GURPS books.  The point is that the perfect campaign that takes ten years to never get off the ground is always inferior to the shoddy campaign that actually gets run.

Yet people complain that GURPS takes too much work to get up and running, and they do have a point.  I've been working on Psi Wars off and on since January, and while I'm farther than what you see in my posts, I'm not much farther.  I have been slowed, to be sure, by getting married and by the fact that I actually have to make all of my notes presentable, but it's still taking some time.  How can we make it go faster?

Alternate Forms and Alternative Abilities

A while ago, I asked a question on the forum that was not satisfactorily answered, and when I googled the same question, I found nobody had answered it, and there were no good answers for it in books that really should have answered it.

Last night, I figured out the answer (it'll look really obvious when I explain it, I'm surprised nobody worked it out.  Perhaps they did and felt no need to tell anyone because it's so obvious?), and it is this:

The cost of an alternate ability in an alternative abilities framework is (15+modifiers) + ((Template Cost - Master Alternative Ability)*0.9)

Psi Wars: Scavenger-Tech (and other economic concerns)

I very much enjoyed the Force Awaken's addition to the Star Wars universe of Rey, primarily because she's a scavenger.  Star Wars centers on, among other things, a theme of a civilization in collapse.  The collapse began in the prequels, and it continued in the original trilogy as the Alliance and the Empire tore the galaxy apart, and Rey picks the bones of that civilization during her first moments in the Force Awakens.

Unlike much of the sci-fi that preceded it, Stars Wars depicts a run-down, second-hand future, full of worn gear, desolate landscapes and rust-speckled starships.  Only the empire, the evil of the setting, enjoys the clean lines and snow-white of pristine, new technology, and the films contrasts the newness of that technology with the patchwork technology of the Rebel Alliance.

Star Wars does not look forward to the future, but keeps its eyes firmly fixed on its own past.  The future that the Empire seeks to create is abhorrent, and the aim of the Rebel Alliance is to restore the glory of the past.  The exemplification of this is Anakin's lightsaber, which appears in all three trilogies.  It represents his virtuous past, and the heroes carry it, through the generations, seeking to restore what the original Anakin fought for.  The reason the heroes of Star Wars wield tarnished technology is that it is purer than the profane new technology wielded by the empire.  Better to fight with your grandfather's lightsaber, to fly your grandfather's ship, and to restore your grandfather's republic, than to build a sinister new future with sinister new weapons of mass destruction and sinister new industrial soldiers.

For Psi Wars to feel like Star Wars, we need to touch on this second-hand technology.  Action already offers us some clues and tips on how to do this, but Action depicts a very different genre than Star Wars.  In Action, heroes tend to be James Bond rather than Mad Max, and even when an action film makes a point out of a hero's poverty (such as in the Fast and the Furious), the hero still has cool toys, just usually hand-crafted.  In Psi Wars, our Action heroes need to get by with scavenged technology and old, second-hand starships, which means we need to examine how we handle wealth, as well as how to handle our scavenger-tech.

Psi Wars: Miscellaneous Ships

As befits most space opera, Psi Wars brims with spaceships, but most of them fall beneath the radar of what the typical player might want to regularly interact with. Things like passenger liners, freighters and prospector vessels tend to show up in the background, rather than in the hands of actual player characters.  Still, they're worth discussing at least in brief.

Other ships might be useful to the players, at least in specific circumstances, including the Nugget-Class interstellar prospector, and the Corvus-Class assault boat.

Civilian Vessels

The Betelgeuse-Class Superfreighter

Found in SS2 on page 9, this super-freighter is in the “Capital Ship” size-category, and larger than anything but a Dreadnought. It's fantastically slow, effectively immobile in combat, but it doesn't expect to participate in combat: It jumps to hyperspace, and then jumps out near a planet, maneuvers to a space station, offloads its cargo or fuels up for another jump, and that's all it does. One could imagine a faster ship with gravitic compensation: having only one engine, and given its size, it would have an acceleration of 12.5 (that is, half the necessary speed for a +1 maneuver point). For its economics, little is gained by a more expensive engine.

The Aquarius-Class Interstellar Supertanker

Found in SS 6 on page 23, this super-tanker is the fuel-equivalent to the cargo-hauling super-freighter. It likely transports hyperdrive fuel or possibly refined hydrogen for high performance fighter craft. It's significantly faster than the Betelgeuse for no particularly good reason (though still effectively mobile in combatg), and is an even larger craft, measuring as large as a Dreadnought (as large as a Legacy-model Empire-class dreadnought). A slower super-tanker might be feasible, or a faster one (with super reactionless). The latter would have around 25g acceleration. I also feel the lack of gravitic compensation and artificial gravity is an oversight, but both are easily rectified for a few billion more GURPS dollars. Assume that such a vessel has both.

The Xanadu-Class Luxury Liner

Rounding out the large transport ships, the Xanadu (Found on SS2 page 13) is a vessel fit for diplomatic excursions and senatorial rendezvous. The Willow Star, mentioned in the playtests, might be a Xanadu-Class luxury liner. It's the smallest of the three “large transport ships,” as large as a Sword-Class heavy cruiser (Making it “Capital Ship” sized), and far slower. The rules suggest that it has a “Hot Reactionless” drive with 100G acceleration, while the statline has 50g. They probably mean that it has a Super Reactionless drive, which means (in our rules) it has a 12.5g acceleration, allowing it to actually maneuver in combat.
Exodus-Class Colony Transport
Psi-Wars focuses more on an ancient, and established, galaxy, one that's unlikely to have too much colonization. Nonethless, an entire galaxy has enough room for expeditions to previously untapped worlds, even if it falls beneath the radar of most psi-wars campaigns. The Exodus (found on SS5 page 20) might serve as a vessel for such colonists, or it might act as a cruder passenger transport vessel, the sort of ship refugees might use. It's a large ship, almost a dreadnought, and it's very slow, about as quick as a Betelgeuse (and effectively immobile in combat). A faster version should have an acceleration of 12.5, like most other large civilian vessels.

Utility Vehicles

Samaritan-Class Rescue-and-Salvage Ship

Found in SS6 page 13, the Samaritan slots perfectly into Psi-Wars, sporting appropriate weapons, a light screen, super reactionless engines, and sizing in at a heavy Corvette size. It's even almost player-affordable! It's the sort of ship one might find scavengers in, combing over the wreckage of a battlefield.

Nugget-Class Interstellar Prospector

Found in SS6 on page 20, the Nugget joins the Samaritan as a vessel that can slot right into Psi-Wars with no adjustments. It's the size of a light corvette, and it's highly affordable, so much so that a single well-off PC could have one for himself.

Alpha-Class Shuttle

Found in SS2 on page 20, Psi-Wars needs the Alpha Shuttle for all those vast ships that cannot actually land themselves. The Alpha Shuttle is the same size as a Starhawk (thus a fighter) and could probably work fine as is, but players who expect Star Wars might be surprised to learn that the vessel isn't actually winged, that it lacks super reactionless engines, and that it lacks artificial gravity. Adding all of these things increases its acceleration to 50g, and increases the cost to $1.15 million.

Military Vessels

Banshee-Class Dropship

The Banshee, found on SS4 page 17, is the same size as a Wyvern and works perfectly fine in Psi-Wars, serving as a troop transport and gunship. Note that the Plasma turret should be an improved plasma turret. It also lacks artificial gravity.

Corvus-Class Assault Boat

Psi-Wars lacks teleporters, but prefers close-up, physical action. So how do players get aboard a ship? Other than sneaking in through a hangar bay, they could force their way aboard with a Corvus. The The Corvus can be found on page 23 of SS4, and it's the size of a Wyvern. The Corvus really needs a Super Reactionless engine, which increaseits cost to $4.2 million and gives it a move of 25g. An even better version would replace its reactionless drives with a Super Fusion Torch.

The Corvus-Red Model

The Corvus-Red spares no expense at protecting its troops, and focuses on getting its elites as close as possible to the enemy despite the possibilities of a highly dangerous combat environment. If a Corvus is sufficient for pirates or basic grunts, a Corvus-Red is preferred for elite soldiers. It also replaces the MHD turbine with fuel-cells, improving the benefits of its Stealth hull. It's far more expensive, but also more likely to survive: the sort of assault boat a player might use, provided he has access to a sufficiently large ship that might typically carry one of these (an Empire-Class Dreadnought would be a classic example)

Front Hull	System
[1-3]	Hardened Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 30) ($3,000k)
[4!]	Major Battery (fixed mount 30 MJ anti-particle beam) ($1,200k)
[5]	External Clamp ($10k)
[6]	Defensive ECM ($1,000k)
[core]	Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 6, and two control stations) ($200k)

Central Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 20) ($2,000k)
[3-6]	Passenger Seats (six seats each) ($120k)

Rear Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 20) ($2,000k)
[3]	Fuel Tank (5 tons of hydrogen with 450 mps delta-V) ($30k)
[4-5]	Super Fusion Torch Engine (50G acceleration each) ($8,000k)
[6]	Cargo Hold (5 tons)
[core]	Fuel Cell (one Power Point) ($50K)

The Corvus Red has a Dynamic Camouflage ($350k), Stealth hull ($500k) and gravitic compensation ($100k)

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Corvus-Red

30

+2/4

12

100G/450 mps

100

7.4

+6

24SV

30/20/20*

x0

$18.56M

*Hardened

Psi Wars: Alternate Super Weapons

...the Death Star, an armored space station with 

enough power to destroy an entire planet

-Star Wars: A New Hope

The overwrought super-weapon defines Star Wars so completely that it appears, in various forms, in three out of the seven films (and is referenced at least once in the prequels). You cannot have Star Wars, or a knock-off, without having some. They certainly fall into our model of "Star Wars as World War 2" with the Death Star taking the place of the Nuclear Weapon.

SS3, on page 23. has the Azrael-Class World-Killer, but it's too hard-science for our tastes. If we allowed one ship to reach near-C velocities and then shatter a planet when it hit it, then nearly any ship could do the same. The purpose of a Sword-Class heavy cruiser would be as a galactic WMD, which isn't our intent.

The same rules suggest the (TL 12^) Adversary scaled up to SM +33, with cosmic power. Psi-Wars isn't TL 12, nor does it have cosmic power options, but let us consider, as a thought experiment, what such a weapon would look like.

Adversary-Class World-Killer

An SM+33 vessel is so large, it is effectively 6 size categories larger than a dreadnought.  It would have a -18 to hit an Empire-Class vessel with its main cannons, and its tertiary batteries would be at -14 to hit a fighter.  And that's okay, because a tertiary battery with a Very Rapid Fire UV laser option would still be firing a 3 petajoule weapon, dealing 3dx1000(5) damage: A single shot from the most minor cannon possible (barring the "peripheral battery" optional rule) would instantly vaporize a mythic-model Empire-class dreadnought.  Which is fair enough, because one such cannon (never mind the whole battery!) would cost half a quintillion GURPS dollars, and weigh 5 billion tons.  To put that in perspective, one cannon weighs more than five thousand empire-class dreadnoughts.

The scale of such a ship staggers the mind.  The real is the enemy of the cinematic in a genre like Space Opera, and the energies required to destroy a planet are realistically mind-boggling.  If you apply such a premise to a ruleset like GURPS Spaceships, terrifying realities begin to spill out.  Consider, for example, the computer in such a ship.   The control room would have a computer with complexity 22, which is sufficient to run up to two complexity 22 programs, one of which is sufficient to run a volitional AI with an IQ of 38.  Even if we argue that the control room can afford to be smaller (how much handling do you really want on a ship like this anyway?), you're still running around with an IQ of 35+.  This "ship" begins to look less like the Death Star and more like Unicron, devourer of worlds.

If too much reality begins to intrude into our setting, we can either embrace it or we can just ignore it.  Starkiller Base looks more like a small planet than a large space station, which is appropriate: Such a starship would be a world unto itself.  It would be powered by a powerful, alien intellect, and it would be utterly ineffective at destroying anything smaller than a planet (requiring agents, such as an entire civilization's worth of "smaller" craft, to deal with anything smaller than planets).  The weapon itself might not even instantly blow up planets, but inflict horrendous damage on a world turn by turn, literally carving it to pieces while its oceans boil and terrible storms flay the inhabitants from the planet.  The Adversary would travel the galaxy, wreaking terror and havoc until such time as it was finally destroyed by some unknown means

Alternatively, we ignore all of this.  The spaceship design system was never meant to handle such a vast ship.  You don't have to build giant cannons or continent-sized computer brains in such a station anymore than you stat up a planet with weapons scaled to 1/20th the size of the planet.  Such a space station is really just a giant, mobile location that has the capacity to blow up planets, and has some capacity to deal with fleets.  Treat it as an effectively immobile Empire-Class dreadnought with the equivalent fire power to, say, a hundred Empire-Class dreadnoughts, but you can only bring a single Empire-class dreadnought's-worth of firepower to bear against a given ship or squadron at a time.  You need some secret macguffin to deal with it, though what is needed, precisely, depends on the nature of the super-weapon.  Most of the time, the simplest way to destroy such a vessel is simply to allow its own energies to unravel and destroy the whole ship "in a chain-reaction" or some such.

This may seem unsatisfying, but that's exactly how Star Wars itself deals with super-weapons like this and, practically, there is no other way to deal with it. You can't really fight something that throws out zetta-joules of energy, not with something that only deals with mega-joules.  It's like trying to fight wrestle a black hole with Jupiter.

Other Super Weapons

GURPS abounds with neat setting ideas and catalogs full of interesting items that everyone promptly forgets because they don't have a context to work them into their particular setting of choice (the ideal example of such a setting is Dungeon Fantasy, which is one reason why it's such a strange line, because it 180s away from the typical "rules, not catalog" rule-of-thumb that dominates other GURPS lines).  We have that context, though, so let's take a look at some potentially interesting super-weapons.

Starmaker, Starbreaker

Found in Pyramid #3-37 on page 4, J. Edward Tremlett has an article regarding a small planet that's been turned into a stellar-former par excellence, the Starmaker.  The setting in the article is more strongly focused on science and genetic engineering than is, perhaps, appropriate to Psi Wars.  It better suits something inspired by Mass Effect or Star Trek, but it could work in Psi Wars.  The Starmaker is the sort of megaproject one might imagine from a galactic civilization, and fleets of warships, dangerous assassins and the uncovered secrets of ancient xeno-civilizations certainly fit a space opera universe, so why not ours?

The Starmaker could serve as an interesting alternative for the Death Star: Once an innocent civilian weapon meant to improve the lot of man, it has since been turned into an engine of destruction by a sinister empire that seeks to use its might to cow those who oppose its might.  We get the light within the dark motif so common in Star Wars.  The fact that it's (almost) an utterly unique artifact only heightens its appropriateness for the genre.

Unfortunately, it lacks stats necessary for actually shooting it down, but given its size, treat it as the Adversary above, though probably with less firepower.

The System Shell

Pyramid #3-9 has an article, starting on page 4, that's chock full of ideas for a space opera campaign. The System Shell prevents people from escaping from a star system. Technology similar to the System Shell already exists in the Star Wars universe in the form of the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer.  We could apply a similar approach in Psi Wars: Treat the System Shell as a technology that requires an SM+15 (or three SM+14) systems.  It costs 10x as much as a SM+15 Stardrive.  The System Shell, while powered, either prevents escape outright, or forces a Mechanics (Starship) roll to "charge the drive" at -10.  Ships in hyperspace that cross the System Shell are immediately shunted back into normal space, meaning that one can "jump into" the system, but not "back out." When the System Shell is done, the ship can switch it off, and its fleet can simply jump out.

The System Shell becomes a prime tool to create choke points by forcing people to stop and fight in a particular system.  If you're aware of where a System Shell is, you could bypass it by navigating to systems around it, but the System Shell is ideally placed on a hyperlane, where hyperspace travel is easiest, at a choke-point where travel to other systems is exceedingly difficult.

The Madness Bomb

Steven Marsh's excellent Doomsday Weapons articles continues with another gem perfect for Psi-Wars: Given that Psi-Wars is about Psi, a weapon that either creates (or destroys) Psi and leaves madness in its wake might fit Psi Wars perfect.  Of course, this requires some assumptions about Psi that we don't have yet (and a bomb that infused everyone with the Force in Star Wars would be... weird and inappropriate), but we should definitely consider it as a dangerous option.

Modest Super-Weapons

A super-weapon doesn't have to destroy worlds or wipe out civilizations to be a super-weapon.  A new or innovative ship that does something previously unseen might be more than enough power.

The Adversary-Class Super-Dreadnought, Redux

So we already discussed using a scaled-up Adversary-Class Super-Dreadnought as a World-Killer.  But what if we just used the Adversary-Class Super-Dreadnought right out of the box.  How would a TL-12 Super-Dreadnought impact the Psi-Wars universe?  Like an incarnate God, that's how.  It's armor and shields would make it impervious to any other existing ship, and it's 500G subwarp engine, even if we quarter it because it's reactionless and on a dreadnought, would still give us around 175gs, or +7 acceleration bonus, allowing it to keep up with quite a few fighters!

In short, it's exceedingly over the top.  A more modest version, which we might call the Star of Morning model, might be essentially the Empire-Class Dreadnought: Mythic Model with a single change: Give it a cosmic-powered TL-12 gamma-ray laser spinal weapon, and make one additional change: Give it a 1/3 RoF.  When the Star of Morning shows up, it needs to spend 2 turns obviously and dramatically charging its weapon before it can fire.  Once it fires, it does so with a staggering 3dx1000 (10) damage,  That'll penetrate an Empire-Class dreadnought's defenses with ~9000 damage to spare, utterly evaporating it in a single blast. It would represent a terrifying weapon that would utterly dominate fleet battles, and represent a unique, experimental and sabotage-worthy device.

The Vixen-Class Patrol Frigate

Here's an even more modest idea: A typical TL 11^ light corvette that already fits perfectly, without much modification, into the Psi Wars universe with one exception: It carries a Cloaking Device, a technology not available to any other vessel in the setting.  Assuming that the Vixen is the only vessel to carry such technology, then it becomes a ground-breaking weapon that will rapidly change warfare throughout the Psi Wars universe.  Being a light corvette, it's also the perfect size for a small crew of 4 elite individuals to fly on, say, secret missions.

It should be noted that the Vixen-Class Patrol Frigate, stripped of its Cloaking Device (Replace that slot with armor, to give it 30/30/30) makes a decent light combat corvette.

Psi Wars: Alternate Capital Ships and Dreadnoughts

Players will probably never command a capital ship, never mind a dreadnought, unless the GM decides that he wants his campaign to center on one and freely hands it over to the players.  Psi Wars focuses more on plucky heroes who defeat dreadnoughts, or they act as set-pieces, the stage for action, or allies in the background.  The dominate the sky and impact the setting, but they're not a day-to-day concern for most players (or most characters of the setting).  As such, they're all effectively outside of the price-range of the typical player character.  Still, a variety of capital ships and dreadnoughts certainly serves a role in providing varied opposition, or to assist the GM with world-building.

The Sword-Class Heavy Cruiser

The Sword-Class cruiser isn't a bad warship. It's heavy, on the high-end of capital ships. It typically deals ~140(5) damage with its main cannons, which is just enough damage to penetrate its own shields and armor, which means it'll do a pretty good job of killing most corvettes or capital ships. It's secondary battery is only at -3 to hit fighters, gains a +7 to hit thanks to high RoF, and deals about as much damage as a Starhawk's lasers, making it exceptionally well-defended against fighters (though they can still still slip beneath its shields if they get close). The Sword-Class heavy cruiser is a solid escort vessel and a decent capital-killer. It will fail, though, against the Empire-class dreadnought, as it lacks the necessary punch to even penetrate its shields

The Claymore Model

I find the design of the rear, fixed missile mounts to be an odd choice. Perhaps Pulver was modeling the Sword-Class Heavy Cruiser on a specific ship? In any case, it reminds me of the frigates and cruisers of Strike Suit Zero, which focus their fire power on torpedoes as much as they focus on beam weapons. We can rework the Sword to bring its missile front-and-center so its opponents are forced to deal with volleys of torpedoes every turn! We'll further multiply its fire power by trading out its central major battery for a medium battery: That's even less likely to defeat an Empire-class dreadnought, but we have torpedoes for that. These cannots fire on corvettes and lighter capital ships. Finally, we replace the rear missile launchers with another set of 10 rapid fire x-ray laser turrets, to prevent fighters from getting the drop on it by getting behind it, and to cover its retreat. This version lacks a stealth hull (as an escort, it expects people to see it coming)

Front Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Streamlined Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 140) ($1,200m)
[3]	Secondary Battery (10 fixed mounts with 40cm missile launchers) ($150m)
[4]	Defensive ECM ($300m)
[5]	Multipurpose Array Array (Comm/Sensor 13) ($600m)
[6]	Habitat ($30m)

Central Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Streamlined Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 140) ($1,200m)
[3!]	Medium Battery (three 3GJ x-ray laser turret) ($150m)
[4!]	Secondary Battery (10 very rapid fire 10mj x-ray laser turrets) ($150m)
[5-6!]	Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each) ($600m)
[core]	Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor 11, 15 control stations) ($60m)

Rear Hull	System
[1]	Hardened Streamlined Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 70) ($600m)
[2-3!]	Super Reactionless Engines (12.5G acceleration each) ($400m)
[4!!]	Heavy Force Screen (dDR 200 or dDR 400) ($1,500m)
[5!]	Secondary Battery (10 very rapid fire 10mj x-ray laser turrets) ($150m)
[6]	Fusion Reactor (two Power Points) ($300m)
[core]	Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points) ($1,000m)

The claymore has gravitic compensation ($30m), Artificial Gravity ($30m). 10 Automeds cost $1m

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Claymore

200

+0/5

13

25G

30000

228

11

130ASV

140/140/70*

x2

$8.45B

*Hardened, with an additional 200 DR (400 with two power points)

The Rapier Model

The description of the Sword-Class Heavy Cruiser describes it as “Fast,” only none of the capital ships, when pulled from the examples, are particularly fast in our rules. This partly deliberate. Pulver didn't want capital ships out running fighters, so most of his TL 11^ cruisers and dreadnoughts have less engines than necessary. This is compounded by our solution of halving reactionless drives twice. The result is that a Sword-class cruiser can only get +1 acceleration per turn on a full burn of all of its engines. Slow indeed! We could certainly double its speed, though, making it a frighteningly quick warship that can keep up with some corvettes!
The Rapier's design is more power-hungry, as it'll consume far more energy as it pushes its envelope with reactionless drives. It's also smaller, both to reflect a more refined model, and to escape the Heavy Capital Ship rules, if those are in place. The ship has far less fire-power, but worries more about how it applies that fire power. With its combination of rapid fire x-ray lasers and its forward-mounted major battery, it makes an excellent corvette/fighter killer, making it a terrifying opponent for most PCs.

Front Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Streamlined Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 100) ($400m)
[3!]	Major Battery (fixed mount 3 GJ antiparticle beam) ($60m)
[4]	Defensive ECM ($100m)
[5]	Multi Array Array (Comm/Sensor 13) ($200m)
[6]	Habitat ($10m) (3 luxury cabins, 20 cabins, 10-bed automed clinic, two fabricator minifacs, briefing room, gym, lab, 100 tons of cargo)

Central Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Streamlined Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 100) ($400m)
[3]	Medium Battery (three 10 mj very rapid fire x-ray laser turrets) ($60m)
[4!]	Heavy Force Screen (dDR 150 or dDR 300) ($500m)
[5-6!]	Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each) ($200m)
[core]	Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor 10, 10 control stations) ($20m)

Rear Hull	System
[1]	Hardened Streamlined Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 50) ($400m)
[2-5!]	Super Reactionless Engines (12.5G acceleration each) ($240m)
[6, core]	Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points each) ($1,200m)

The Manticore has gravitic compensation ($10m), Artificial Gravity ($10m), and Stealth hull ($10m) Automeds cost $1m

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Rapier

150

+0/5

13

50G

10000

108.5

10

85ASV

60/30/30*

x2

$3,82B

The Gladius Model

The Claymore is a pretty good model, but we could make a worse model. Similar to the Starhawk Regal, we could design an “inferior” Sword-class heavy cruiser, representing an archaic version from previous wars that might remain in service primarily until superior ones can replace them. This model replaces Diamonoid armor with nanocomposite, x-ray lasers with improved UV lasers, and removes sophisticated electronics. It slims down on some of its weapons, because its weaker weapons need greater power to do as much damage as a Claymore or Sword. It also has fewer power points, so needs to more carefully manage its systems: It'll typically have its shields, and either two engines and one battery active, or one engine and two batteries active.
The result is a capital ship nearly half the cost of its successor. It would also probably lose against a Rapier, which costs less. Obsolete indeed.

Front Hull	System
[1-3]	Hardened Streamlined Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 150) ($900m)
[4]	Secondary Battery (10 fixed mounts with 40cm missile launchers) ($150m)
[5]	Tactical Array Array (Comm/Sensor 13) ($300m)
[6]	Habitat ($30m)

Central Hull	System
[1-3]	Hardened Streamlined Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 150) ($900m)
[4!]	Major Battery (10GJ improved uv laser turret) ($150m)
[5!]	Medium Battery (three 300MJ rapid fire improved uv laser turret) ($150m)
[6!]	Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each) ($300m)
[core]	Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor 11, 15 control stations) ($60m)

Rear Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Streamlined Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 100) ($600m)
[3-4!]	Super Reactionless Engines (12.5G acceleration) ($400m)
[5!]	Light Force Screen (dDR 200) ($500m)
[6]	Fusion Reactor (two Power Points) ($300m)
[core]	Fusion Reactor (two Power Points) ($300m)

The Gladius has gravitic compensation ($30m), Artificial Gravity ($30m). 10 Automeds cost $1m

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Gladius

200

+0/5

13

25G

30000

228

11

130ASV

150/150/100*

x2

$5.1B

*Hardened, with an additional 200 DR

The Tarot-Class Light Carrier

The Tarot-Class Light Carrier is a nice enough ship. With 4,000 tons of hangar-space, it can carry 400 typhoon fighters, ~125 starhawks, or 40 Wyverns. It can only launch 800 tons per minutes: 80 typhoons, ~25 Starhawks, or 8 wyverns, though it's unlikely to have more than 50 pilots aboard. The ship is cheaper than any Sword-class heavy cruiser except the Gladius, which means a fleet of Tarots and Swords can support one another: the Tarot providing fighter cover while the Sword deals with heavier threats.
Note that the Tarot can repair or fabricate $1.5m per hour. This gives you a new Typhoon in about 3 hours, or a new Starhawk in about 7. In fact, SS7 suggests that these might be too quick and recommends reducing that value from per hour to per day. Still, a new Starhawk in a week isn't too shabby from a non-dedicated vessel.

The Minor Arcana Model

The Tarot is perfect for its job... but it has a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles. What if we want nothing but a forward projection craft, small and light and cheap, that could take our fighters to the enemy, destroy them, and then return to base? With the speeds that Psi-Wars has, the Tarot's fabrication capacity is a nice-to-have, rather than a necessity, because one can get back from the front lines in a few days, rather than a few years.
The Minor Arcana is smaller, cheaper, with less range, no fabricator, and has less fire-power, but still manages to sport a total hangar capacity of 2100 tons, with a launch capacity of 700 tons... nearly as much per turn as the standard model! It can carry ~200 typhoons, 70 starhawks, or ~20 wyverns. It also reduced cargo where possible, rather than habitats, and thus can still field ~50 pilots. The net result is a solid “on the cheap” carrier, for minor empires or factions with a budget.

Front Hull	System
[1]	Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 50) ($50m)
[2!]	Light Force Screen (dDR 150) ($100m)
[3]	Tactical Array (Comm/Sensor 13) ($100m)
[4-6]	Hangar Bay (300 tons each) ($3m)

Central Hull	System
[1]	Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 50) ($50m)
[2!]	Secondary Battery (Ten 300 MJ x-ray laser turrets) ($60m)
[3-6]	Hangar Bay (300 tons each) ($4m)
[core]	Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor 10, 10 control stations) ($20m)

Rear Hull	System
[1]	Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 50) ($50m)
[2]	Habitat ($10m) (25 cabins, 15 bunkroms, 10-bed automed clinic, 2 minifabricators, 40 tons of cargo)
[3-4!]	Super Reactionless Engines (12.5G acceleration each) ($120m)
[5-6!]	Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each) ($200m)
[core]	Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points each) ($600m)

The Minor Arcana has gravitic compensation ($10m), Artificial Gravity ($10m), Automeds cost $1m

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Minor Arcana

150

+0/5

13

25G

10000

62

10

120ASV

50*

x2

$1,4B

*Hardened, with an additional 200 DR (400 with two power points)

The Empire-Class Dreadnought

The Empire-Class Dreadnought joins the Typhoon and the Starhawk as iconic for Psi-Wars, and as has been shown in the playtests, they work perfectly fine as written. A standard Dreadnought has sufficient secondary and tertiary cannons to deal with starfighters, and their secondary batteries deal an average of 200(5) damage, which is sufficient to seriously damage or destroy most corvettes. The spinal cannon deals 1400(3) damage, which is sufficient to simply destroy even a Sword-Class Cruiser. The large cannon is inaccurate (-3), and spinal cannons suffer heavily against smaller ships, but with the current rules, it only suffers another -3 against a capital ship, and that it's fixed gives is a +2, so against a capital vessel (+6), they have a +2 total to hit, which is fairly effective from Close range and certainly from Long. The hangar can support 3,000 typhoon fighters, 1,000 starhawks or 300 wyverns, and it can launch 200 typhoons, 70 starhawks or 20 wyverns per minute. The result is a strategic dominance vessel, a warship capable of defeating fleets of starfighters (with its own starfighters), corvettes, and other capital ships, though sufficient enemy fire-power, skill and determination can certainly defeat one.

The Legacy Model

The prequel trilogy feature the proto-star destroyer, the “Jedi Cruiser,” which is a concept I enjoy. Such a powerful vessel would probably have existed for decades, and its model changed, updated and improved. As with my previous vessels, we can apply the same concept, creating a non-optimal TL 11^ design that draws heavily on TL 10 elements, representing an “early TL 11^ design.”

The Legacy is a size smaller than the Empire-class. It replaces its spinal battery with a fixed mount particle beam, and it reduces its tertiary battery to a secondary battery. It retains a (smaller, though still respectable) hangar with a capacity for 1000 typhoon, ~300 starhawks, or 100 wyverns, and downgrades to fusion reactors and nanocomposite armor. The result is still a ship that can destroy most corvettes and capital ships, carries a respectable fighter cover with it, and it's effectively immune to most capital ship fire (barring a good torpedo hit), all for a fraction of the cost. The legacy is an excellent ship, to the point where one wonders what threat the creators of the Empire-class dreadnought had in mind when they created it.

Front Hull	System
[1-3]	Hardened Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 450) ($9b)
[4]	Major Battery (Fixed mount with 100 GJ improved particle beam) ($1.5b)
[5]	Tactical Array (Comm/Sensor 16) ($0.6b)
[6]	Hangar Bay (10k tons, 1k launch rate) ($0.03b)
[core]	Control Room (Comm/Sensor 14, C12) ($2b)

Central Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 300) ($6b)
[3]	Secondary Battery (10 turrets with 10 GJ improved uv lasers) ($1.5b)
[4!]	Light Force Screen (dDR 700) ($5b)
[5-6!]	Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each) ($6b)
[core!]	Habitats ($0.3b)

Rear Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 300) ($9b)
[3-4!]	Super Reactionless Engines (12.5G acceleration each) ($4b)
[5-6]	Fusion Reactor (two Power Points each) ($6b)

The Legacy has gravitic compensation ($0.3b), Artificial Gravity ($0.3b)

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Empire Legacy

500

-1/5

13

25G

300k

13k

13

3500ASV

450/300/300*

x2

$51.83B

*Hardened, with an additional 500 DR

The Mythic Model

What's even scarier and more imposing than an Empire-Class dreadnought? A bigger Empire-Class dreadnought. That's the idea behind the “Super Star Destroyer,” Darth Vader's flag-ship. We can do the same with an Empire-Class dreadnought, and create an even bigger dreadnought.
The problem with this approach is that the Empire-Class Dreadnought is arguably too big already. The Legacy-model is already sufficiently powerful to defeat any ship I've described over the past week, including the Viking-Class assault carrier, below. The standard model is even more powerful, with a spinal cannon that will vaporize a Sword-class heavy cruiser in a hit. It's already a super-weapon. Why would you need an even bigger super-weapon? Well, anyone who has an Empire-class dreadnought is probably more worried about prestige than sense in any case, and I've made the corresponding design more about intimidation than about battlefield supremacy.
The Mythic has superior shields and sufficient armor to ignore most attacks. It doesn't need more hangar space, and barely doesn't need more habitat space (though it has far more workspaces and still needs to carry an army around), thus it has a larger habitat, but it's control room, tactical array and hangar space are all smaller and in a single slot, making is slower and less stable than the smaller Empire-class vessel. What it has instead is fire-power. Endless fire-power. It replaces the spinal mount with a single beam weapon as powerful as the entire Empire-Class's spinal mount, and then layers on additional missile launchers (for planetary bombardment), medium batteries (for destruction of capital ships), secondary cannons (to destroy corvettes) and loads of all sorts of tertiary batteries (for point defense and the defeat of fighters). The result is a fleet center-piece, slow, but capable of single-handedly wiping out the enemy fleet… which one would hope it could do, as it costs as much as most fleets.
Note that it lacks sufficient power to run all systems, and that it retains its rear vulnerability to fighters.

Front Hull	System
[1-2]	Hardened Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 1000) ($120b)
[3!]	Major Battery (Fixed mount with 1TJ antiparticle beam) ($15b)
[4!]	Medium Battery (three 300 GJ X-ray laser turrets) ($15b)
[5!]	Tertiary Battery (10 very rapid fire 300 MJ x-ray laser turrets, 10 30gj x-ray laser turrets, 10 64cm (medium) missile turrets) ($15b)
[6]	Secondary Battery (ten 80cm Missile Launchers turrets) ($15b)
[core!!]	Heavy Force Screen (dDR 1000 or 2000) ($150b)

Central Hull	System
[1]	Hardened Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 500) ($60b)
[2!]	Secondary Battery (10 turrets with 100 GJ x-ray lasers) ($15b)
[3!]	Tertiary Battery ( 10 very rapid fire 300 MJ x-ray laser turrets, 10 30gj x-ray laser turrets, 10 64cm (medium) missile turrets) ($15b)
[4]	Control Room (Comm/Sensor 14, C12), ($2b) Tactical Array (Comm/Sensor 17) ($10b), Hangar Bay (30k tons, 2k launch rate) ($0.1b)
[5-6!]	Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each) ($60b)
[core!]	Habitats ($3b)

Rear Hull	System
[1]	Hardened Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 500) ($60b)
[3-4!]	Super Reactionless Engines (12.5G acceleration each) ($40b)
[5-6]	Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points each) ($60b)

The Mythic has gravitic compensation ($3b), Artificial Gravity ($3b)

TL

Spacecraft

dST

Hnd/SR

HT

Move

Lwt

Load

SM

Occ

dDR

Range

Cost

11^

Empire Mythic

1000

-2/4

13

25G

1m

13k

15

35kASV

450/300/300*

x2

$661.1B

*Hardened, with an additional 1000 DR for 1 power point or 2000 for 2 power points.

Viking-Class Assault Carrier

GURPS Spaceships 4 includes a variety of carriers, including the Tarot listed above, but for the “mega-carrier,” I prefer the Viking, as it's a touch less ridiculously epic than the Continent. The Viking-Class Assault Carrier can carry up to 200,000 tons, which is a mind-blowing number of fighters (it is, in fact, meant to carry an entire invasion fleet) and approximately 5 divisions of soldiers. A single Viking-Class Assault Carrier, backed by a couple of Empire-Class dreadnoughts, would almost certainly bring nearly any world to its knees (one would hope so, of course, as it's over a trillion GURPS dollars worth of military hardware, not even accounting for the fighters, bombers, shuttles, soldiers and military hardware). The only problem with the Viking-Class Assault Carrier is that it has a few things in it that don't quite fit the given model of gameplay: It includes total life support systems (unnecessary for the speed at which ships travel in Psi-Wars), grav guns (not a present technology) and 64mm missiles (which means it can only fire medium missiles and torpedoes).

The Devastator Model

The devastator model is identical to the Viking Class except for the following changes: Replace the tertiary missile battery with a secondary missile battery, giving it ten 80cm missile launchers (thus, heavy missiles and torpedoes). Replace the ten grav guns in the central Tertiary Battery with ten 300gj x-ray laser turrets, and remove the total life support, doubling the carry-capacity of the ship (it can carry 100,000 soldiers, rather than 50,000). Price remains the same.