A starship chassis is the base hull your party flies, fights, and lives out of — the YT-1300 freighter, the Lambda-class shuttle, the HWK-290 scout. Chassis are to starships what species are to characters: a base platform with built-in stats that you customize through upgrades (constructive: better shields, more weapons, stronger hyperdrive) and traits (narrative: jury-rigged, hot-shot, salvaged — characteristics that can have trade-offs).
New to SWURPG starships? Read the Starship Combat rules first for action economy, crew roles (Pilot / Gunner / Engineer / Commander), range bands, and the AC formula. This page assumes you understand the basics.
How chassis work
Every chassis has a stat block. The fields you'll see most often:
- Class — Light Freighter, Patrol Craft, Transport Shuttle, Medium Freighter. The role the ship was designed for; doesn't restrict use.
- Size — Small, Medium, Large. Smaller ships are harder to hit (+Size Modifier to AC); larger ships are easier to hit but carry more.
- HP, Shields, Structural Integrity Bonus (SIB), Handling — the four numbers that drive starship combat. SIB is the chassis's damage-resistance rating; AC is fully derived:
10 + Handling + Size Modifier + SIB. See the Starship Combat rules for the full formula and size-modifier table. - Hardpoints — how many forward-fixed, turret, and missile-bay weapons the chassis can carry. The cap is set per chassis; players fill the slots from the weapons catalog (or with GM-approved custom weapons).
- Crew Stations — how many Pilot, Gunner, Engineer, and Commander seats the ship has. Most light transports have 1 Pilot + 1 Gunner; bigger ships add more.
- Hyperdrive class — Class 2.0 (civilian), Class 1.0 (military-spec), Class 0.5 (mil-spec, rare). Lower is faster.
- Era — informational only. Each ship lists which Star Wars eras it appeared in canon; the system doesn't restrict you by campaign era.
How upgrades work
Upgrades are constructive improvements — you spend credits (in fiction; we track no pool) and your ship gets better:
- Shields — Reinforced Shield Generator (+10), Backup Shield Generator (+20 plus an Engineer Reaction restore), Capital-Grade Shield Array (+30).
- Armor — Reinforced Plating (+10 HP / +1 SIB), Heavy Armor Plating (+20 HP / +2 SIB / −1 Handling), Beskar Composite Inlays (resistance to one damage type).
- Engines — Maneuvering Thrusters (+1 Handling), Combat Thrusters (+2 Handling / +1 speed band), Sublight Booster (+1 speed band).
- Hyperdrive — Class 1.0 refit, Mil-Spec Class 0.5, Backup Hyperdrive, Astrogation Computer.
- Weapons — Extra Hardpoint (+1 fixed or missile slot), Targeting Computer (+1 to all attack rolls), Linked Fire Control.
- Sensors — Advanced Sensor Array, Sensor Mask, Decoy Launcher, Holographic ECM Suite.
- Utility — Tractor Beam Installation, Repair Drone Bay, Escape Pods, Slave Circuit (remote pilot), Holocomm Suite, Astromech Docking Bay.
There are no ship levels. A ship gets better through the upgrades you install, not through XP. A stock YT-1300 is a different beast from a YT-1300 with seven upgrades — but no level number connects the two.
How traits work
Traits are narrative or trade-off characteristics — flavor that often has mechanical riders:
- Jury-Rigged —
−2 Handling, −10 Shields max, plus quirks like "on attack-roll 1–2, roll DC 12 Mechanics or a system shorts out." The classic budget chassis. - Hot-Shot —
+1 speed band, +1 Handling, but takes extra damage on enemy critical hits. - Salvaged —
−10 HP, −5 Shields, plus narrative baggage (the previous owner may still consider it theirs). - Veteran Crew — Advantage on Starship Initiative if a named NPC veteran rides along.
- Modular Bays — +50% cargo, −1 SIB, plus reconfigurable bays once per session.
- Smuggler's Special — A hidden compartment; Disadvantage on enemy contraband scans.
Some traits are pure flavor — Cursed, Showroom Condition — with no mechanical effect at all. Both pay off at the table, just in different ways.
How to pick a chassis
The clean two-step:
- Pick a chassis whose hardpoints + crew stations fit your party. A solo bounty hunter wants a 1-pilot small ship like the HWK-290 or G9 Rigger. A four-person crew wants a Medium freighter with multiple crew stations like the YT-2400, VCX-100, or Lambda. A big party with cargo to move wants the Wayfarer-class.
- Pick a chassis whose flavor matches the campaign. The YT-1300 is the legendary modifier — start stock and slowly transform it. The Firespray-31 is the heavy hitter in a small frame. The VCX-100 is the family-crew rebel cell ship. The Lambda is the Imperial captured-and-converted shuttle.
If you want to lead with the ship fantasy — "I want to fly a YT-1300" — that's totally valid. Every chassis is playable.
Three party-friendly starters
- YT-1300 Light Freighter — the iconic Corellian light freighter. Medium size, 1 turret hardpoint, room for 6 passengers. Famous as the Millennium Falcon.
- VCX-100 Light Freighter — twin turrets, 6 passengers, slightly tougher than the YT-1300. Famous as the Ghost.
- Wayfarer-class Medium Transport — slow but tough, 500 metric tons of cargo. The hauler for cargo-running campaigns.
Custom equipment
Every category supports custom entry — custom weapons, custom upgrades, custom traits, custom flavor quirks. The catalog covers the canonical shipyard floor; custom slots cover the rest of the galaxy. All custom content is GM-approved; if it fits the campaign tone and balance, it goes on the sheet.
Prices are reference only
Every chassis, weapon, upgrade, and trait carries a reference price in credits. There is no credit pool to spend down. Prices exist so GMs and players can sanity-check feasibility — a brand-new YT-1300 with mil-spec hyperdrive, beskar inlays, and a backup shield generator costs about 280,000 credits, so the GM can decide if that's plausible for the campaign's economy. Whether the party can actually afford or acquire any item is a story-level decision.
Build it in the Starship Builder
The Starship Builder lets you assemble, customize, and export a ship sheet — pick a chassis, install upgrades (shields, armor, engines, hyperdrive, weapons, sensors), apply traits (Jury-Rigged, Hot-Shot, Salvaged), name and registry-generate the ship, and download the sheet. Click Build this ship → on any chassis page above to pre-select that chassis.
