Words from Grand Moff Hill:

Okay, down to business. I know that some of you who view this site are probably gamers; either players or GM's. If so, then this is for you.

Some of you who have seen the stats for the Phoenix, the PCs' ship, probably have some questions about it. Questions such as: 'Why does he let his PCs have it?', or 'Doesn't that thing unbalance the game?', or 'How did they modify that ship to the point that it is right now?'. Well, believe it or not, I do have some answers for you if these questions do come up.

  1. I let the players keep the ship because they have earned, built, and used the ship consistently throughout their adventures. Yes, all of the ship's abilities are tremendous; that just shows you how much time, money, and effort the characters put into their ship. I have been very flexible in dealing with my players, and their ship is a very important point with them.
  2. The ship is also a story factor: people who know about the ship and its abilities want it, and will go to great lengths to get it. This means that they (the PCs) have to either keep the ship's abilities a secret, or be prepared to fight every second they are in-system. It also opens up other new and different story possibilities for subsequent adventures.
  3. No, it doesn't unbalance the game. It does, however, raise the opposition level in the space-combat arena. Also, the characters cannot exist completely within the confines of the ship; they must land for cargo, business, replenishment, customs inspections, and repairs. [player's note: In fact, during most of the adventures, the ship is sitting in a starport or similar.] There are ways around the ship's abilities, and I continue to exploit them whenever I want.
  4. The characters were able to modify the Phoenix over several campaigns. These modifications didn't occur overnight; the characters had to find the money [player's note: And let me tell you, it was lots of money], location, time, and resources with which to modify their ship.
  5. It is the GM's right and privilege to allow, disallow, modify, circumvent, change, create, destroy, and fudge any and all rules, rolls, characters, equipment, NPCs, ships, situations, organizations, planets, and whatever the hell else he or she wishes. Never forget that.
Now then, I don't suggest to every GM that he/she allow such a ship into his campaign under his/her players' control unless he/she believes that it can be adequately dealt with. Everything done by the players is subject to the control of the GM at all times.

By Thomas Hill