Starports
Starports
Most planets have a small starport; major worlds may have dozens. Each starport's information is broken down into 10 categories for easy reference (examples are given in parentheses): 1. Starport Name: The name of the starport. 2. System: The name of the system where the starport is located, followed by the planet—if applicable. 3. Starport Type: The type of starport as described according to standard classification codes. (Imperial/Republic class, stellar class, standard class, limited services, or landing field) 4. Traffic: The intensity of starship traffic at this facility. (rare, slow, moderate, busy, or high) 5. Control: The form of traffic control used to monitor starships landing and taking off. (droid, ship controller, or none) 6. Landing: The form of landing assistance used to bring ships from the traffic pattern to the landing site. (landing team, directional beacon, tractor beam, none) 7. Docking Areas: The form of docking facilities available. (docking bays, landing pads, field, starport gate) 8. Docking Fee: The fee charged daily for occupying a docking area, listed as credits per local day. 9. Customs: The authority conducting customs inspections (Imperial, Republic, Separatist, New Republic, or local) and whether inspections are by patrol visiting the vessel or at a cargo checkpoint. 10. Services: Services offered within and near the starport district (food, lodging, repair facilities, entertainment, storage bays, vehicle rentals). 11. Capsule: A short description of the starport.
Note: The original says "10 categories," but it lists 11 (including Capsule). I've kept all entries and numbered them clearly.
This information can provide new ideas for adventures, encounters, or problems when arriving or departing from a starport (lots of things can go wrong when the crew doesn't perform a pre-flight check, and you'd be surprised how nasty some Imperial traffic controllers get when you don't follow proper approach protocol). Gamemasters should use as much of this information as they want. It presents an abbreviated picture of how starports work, and as always, local conditions will vary.
Starport Types
Landing Field
A landing field is a flat, level area cleared on the ground. These fields are generally little more than cheap duracrete strips or tightly packed dirt. There is no flight control tower to direct incoming and outgoing ships, and there is rarely a starport beacon guiding ships to port.
There is no guarantee of refueling or repair services. The few services that exist are usually low quality. While available services are usually affordable, good repair facilities, technicians, and equipment are often rare and expensive.
Limited Services
These starports usually have a small command tower with a signal beacon to help guide incoming ships. There are often maintenance sheds for rent, where starship crews can effect basic repairs.
This port has limited storage and docking capacity; in many cases ships must land nearby and crews must walk to the port if all docking areas are filled. Most major supplies must be purchased elsewhere.
Standard Class
A standard class starport has a fully staffed and equipped flight command center, and offers restocking services and a small shipyard capable of minor repairs and modifications.
Starship work can cost up to double normal prices and take more than twice as long, though the quality varies from mediocre to very good.
Stellar Class
A stellar class starport can land and dock nearly any classification of vessel. There may be multiple shipyards capable of nearly any repair and customization (if the owner is willing to pay).
Repairs and modifications are often advanced in quality and moderately affordable. There is nearly always a customs office on site and a sizable Imperial or Republic Navy presence in system.
Imperial/Republic Class
Imperial/Republic class starports are luxurious and modern, with extensive docking, storage, and maintenance areas. Lavish amenities are available for crews and passengers.
Many merchants maintain offices at the port, and captains may not need to leave the starport to conduct business. Maintenance facilities are capable of rapid, high-quality repairs and modifications—though services may not come cheap (or quickly).
Customs is likely staffed by highly competent officers, and the Empire or Republic usually maintains a formidable military presence. Minor infractions are dealt with to the full extent of the law, especially under Imperial law. Starport control and the Imperial or Republic Navy conduct thorough ship and captain identification checks to weed out smugglers and other unwelcome spacers.
Starport Fees
Docking Fees
Docking fees vary, but most standard class starports (or larger) charge 50 credits per standard day. A particularly busy Imperial/Republic class starport might charge up to 150 credits per day.
Standard Maintenance and Restocking
Every standard class (or better) starport automatically performs standard restock and maintenance on any ship that has landed, typically within one planetary day of arrival. Starports also automatically charge the fees for these services—to avoid the extra charge, captains must explicitly decline.
Standard restock includes: • replenishment of fluids (water, lubricants, coolants) • oxygen and other life-support gases • basic proteins for food converters • (does not include luxury items such as fresh food and liquor) • waste removal • decontamination • landing gear stress checks (covered by docking fees)
Standard maintenance includes: • replacement of air filters • replacement of gravitational disks • replacement of ablative heat shields • recalibration of ion engine intake and firing cells • basic hyperdrive maintenance
Some poverty-stricken tramp freighters avoid restocking until consumables run out, but this is dangerous. If stranded, the crew could die of starvation before rescuers arrive.
Restocking cost is based on a "base fee": • well-traveled routes: ~10 credits base fee • isolated starports (Outer Rim, etc.): up to 35 credits base fee
Formula: • Base fee × total crew and passenger capacity × number of days of consumables renewed = restocking fee
Maintenance Overhaul
After every 20 hyperspace jumps, a ship should receive a complete overhaul and have certain engine components replaced. It's up to the gamemaster to decide consequences for skipping the overhaul (a Wild Die complication might mean a hyperdrive misjump—or a blowout).
Typical cost: ~1,000 credits Heavily modified / high-usage ships: up to 5,000 credits
Starport Flight Protocols
METOSP
METOSP (pronounced "Me-tosp") stands for "Message to Spacers." It's a comm channel many starports reserve for general notices regarding traffic patterns, conditions at the starport, or other factors spacers should know when entering or leaving a port.
METOSPs are one-way broadcasts, usually prerecorded messages updated daily or as conditions change. Don't transmit questions back—it's automated. Spacers with questions usually wait until contacting starport control.
Most Imperial/Republic, stellar, and standard class starports broadcast METOSPs on a standard comm channel. Few limited service ports have METOSPs, so spacers must rely on sensors and visual scanning to assess traffic problems.
Spacers are advised to tune in as soon as they enter a system. A METOSP may include: • Imperial Naval activity • starport traffic tie-ups • piracy threats • meteor showers or other astrographical hazards • an abbreviated starport profile (often a planetary profile as well) • landing info and the comm channel for starport control
Arrival Procedures
After arriving in-system and checking METOSPs, switch to the starport control comm channel (usually given in the METOSP, planetary profile, or starport profile in a ship's computers). Spacers can also scan comm channels for starport control, though many remote ports don't have a control signal.
Standard practice when contacting control is to verbally identify: • the incoming ship • the captain's name
Controllers may also ask for last port of call, cargo contents, or number of passengers and crew. During this exchange, officials often cross-check against BoSS databanks and the ship's transponder code—a process known as transponder verification ("TransVere").
Once verified, control provides clearance to enter the landing traffic pattern and assigns a docking area. Controllers often provide approach and traffic vector course instructions. Deviating from a course within a starport traffic pattern may incur 50–200 credit fines. Penalties are more severe if a ship causes major problems.
Departure Procedures
By standard regulations, the first thing a ship does—even before warming up the ion drive—is contact starport control to request departure clearance. As with arrivals, clearance involves a TransVere.
Once cleared to lift off, control usually wants a basic flight plan (often the next system being jumped to). This is primarily for safety. If a ship is reported missing, rescue teams check the last port of call for the flight plan and search along realspace corridors that mirror the probable hyperspace vector.
After takeoff, controllers, droids, or tractor beams may help guide the ship into the outbound traffic pattern. Outbound beacons or verbal instructions guide spacers through traffic patterns and departure vectors before they begin setting up for hyperspace jumps.
Source: REUP:129