Requires the use of the d20 Modern™ Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Welcome to Ronin Arts’ Future: Starship 5 –The Havamàl, the fifth in a new series of PDFs foruse with futuristic D20 System campaigns. Thisseries makes some assumptions about your cam-paign; the starship designs in this series will bemost useful in campaigns in which the followingstatements are true:

� The campaign is not a “hard” science setting.Campaigns that are more space opera/adven-ture movie are the intended target for thisseries.

� Starships are not rare or unusual. All of thestarships in this series assume that spacetravel is a standard and common occurrence– individuals either fly their own ships orride on passenger ships. Starships and spacetravel are as common for characters as aplane ride is for people of our reality.

� Space combat is not uncommon. It’s justanother exciting adventure when the playercharacters have to engage the enemy whilefleeing from some world or other.

� The campaign is packed with action. If thingsaren’t exploding, how much fun can thegame really be?

Most of the starships in this series are designedto fill an even number of pages. This is so that youcan print the pages – back-to-back if you wish – anddrop them into a binder. This introduction, and thepage of new starship equipment and assorted infor-mation, can also be printed separately and added to

your binder. The schematic and silhouette page isdesigned to be used as a player handout – it’s whatflashes up on their ship systems when they attemptto ID a ship – and GMs need only give the playersthe page when they encounter a ship from thisseries.

About the AuthorMichael Hammes has been freelancing in the role-

playing industry since 2001. Starting small, he hassteadily built his repertoire, and reputation, by work-ing for such companies as Ronin Arts, AlderacEntertainment Group, Dark Quest Games, and E.N.Publishing. He is currently trying to balance his writ-ing schedule with his role as stay-at-home father. Tocatch the latest from Michael’s Imagination, pleasevisit www.michaelhammes.com.

e-Future TilesThe Havamàl is based on SkeletonKey Games’

e-Future Tiles: Star Freighter, Star Hunter, andStar Patrol tile sets. While this PDF can be easilyused on its own you will get a lot more use out of itin your game sessions if you construct the ship – atminiatures scale – using the printable tiles. The onlytiles you will need that are not available in e-FutureTiles: Star Freighter, Star Hunter, and Star Patrolare the wing extensions – which have been thought-fully included at the end of this PDF.

To learn more about SkeletonKey Games pleasevisit their website at www.skeletonkeygames.com.

2

THE HAVAMÀL

Introduction

New rules and ideasNEW SHIP SYSTEM

The following are recently developed innova-tions in use on the Havamàl. They are includedhere so that you may easily use them to modifyexisting starships or as a reference when designingyour own original ships.

Eye of Odin (PL 6)Given the name Eye of Odin by the Havamàl

project lead Dr. Magnus Halverson, as a nod to hisScandinavian heritage, this is the recently devel-

oped advanced sensor array carried by theHavamàl.

The Eye is an advanced version of a Class IIIsensor array incorporating hi-res video, infraredand electromagnetic sensors, ladar detection units,and multiband radar. It has the following capabili-ties:

� Ascertain the location, type (ultralight, light,and so on), and subtype (fighter, destroyer,and so on) of all visible ships on the battle-field.

� Identify and ascertain the location of all visi-ble hazards on the battlefield (such as aster-oids and mines).

� Identify all PL 5 or PL 6 weapons on a spe-cific ship (number and type of weapons pres-ent), including their organization into batter-ies (but not fire links).

� Ascertain the presence of any or all of the fol-lowing systems on a specific ship: grapplers,magnetic field, point-defense system.

� Identify a specific ship’s armor type (PL 5 andPL 6 armor types only).

� Analyze the chemical composition of a plan-et’s atmosphere (the ship must be orbitingthe planet).

� Analyze and chart the topography of a 100-square mile area on a planet’s surface (theship must be orbiting the planet).

� Determine a planet’s prevailing meteorologi-cal conditions and weather patterns (the shipmust be orbiting the planet).

� Intercept (receive) any and all broadcast fre-quency communications (i.e. radio and videotransmissions in omni-directional mode;these include radio, television, cellular).

� Lock on to the source of a specific broadcastfrequency communication as long as thesource is within a 100-mile radius of the ship(including the planet’s surface).

� Grants a +2 equipment bonus on all initiativechecks.

Each of these functions is taken as a moveaction. Note that manually selecting the actual fre-quency to lock on to, based on what the operatorsees and/or hears can take significantly longer. Inother words, if there are 100 frequencies in use andthe operator wishes to listen and/or watch each inturn to determine which one to lock on to, it takessome time (treat it as changing channels with amaximum speed of one channel/frequency beingevaluated per move action).

In general, the search and lock functions areautomated by either selecting a specific frequencyto lock on to ahead of time (i.e. 27.5 MHz) or byhaving Odin’s Eye scan the frequency band for aspecific voice or words (via voice-recognition soft-ware) or visual match (via face0 or image-recogni-tion software), and locking on to those frequencies.

Purchase DC: 32.Restriction: Illegal (+4).

Odin’s Ravens (PL 6)These are sensor drones that have the same

capabilities as the Eye of Odin (they are, in effect,sensor satellites). They feature both a laser andradio transceiver for two-way communication withits deploying ship; a Raven can be programmed forspecific actions, or it can be controlled remotelyfrom the deploying ship. A Raven has thrusters formaneuvering.

Protection comes in the form of a stealth screenand a self-destruct mechanism. The self-destructmechanism can be activated remotely by thedeploying ship or automatically by the drone shouldan attempt be made to capture the drone (i.e. usinggrapplers) without first giving the proper deactiva-tion code.

A Raven has a Defense of 12 and 12 hit points,and it rolls 1d20+4 on opposed grapple checks.

A Raven does not carry a Mimer’s Well.Purchase DC: 30.Restriction: Illegal (+4).

Mimer’s Well (PL 6)Developed by the same team that brought the

Odin’s Eye project to fruition, Mimer’s Well is acryptological encoding and decoding computermodule that grants its user a +10 equipment bonuson Computer Use checks to unscramble transmis-sions.

It is impossible to decrypt a message encryptedby the Mimer’s Well unless one has access to anoth-er Mimer’s Well that is set up identically to the oneissuing the message (if the GM doesn’t want toallow that kind of security, assume that the Mimer’sWell grants a +10 equipment bonus on ComputerUse checks to scramble transmissions). This set upmust be done manually using good old-fashionedcypher books and pads, or perhaps cypher PDAs(see The Enigma Machine section); having it doneby computer completely defeats the purpose as acomputer can be hacked into.

Purchase DC: 30.Restriction: Illegal (+4).

3

THE HAVAMÀL

The Havamàl project, named after a portion ofthe poetic Edda, was created with one purpose inmind: to spy. Codenamed “Electric Eye”, the proj-ect was under the leadership of the renowned math-ematician and cryptologist Dr. Magnus Halverson,originator of the “Halverson Algorithm”.

Although the Havamàl project was initiallysupposed to be mounted upon an existing militarystarship platform, the nature of the equipmentwould have required too many modifications toany existing ship design to make it cost-effectiveand so it was decided that a brand new ship wouldbe created.

The Havamàl herself is outfitted with the latestin sensor technology and features arguably the mostadvanced encryption (see The Enigma Machinebelow) and decryption module available; not only isit capable of easily decoding every known encryp-tion method, but its own encryptions are thought tobe unbreakable (whether they are or not is up to theGM).

At a minimum, in addition to the three-mancrew that operates the ship, the Havamàl is staffedby five intelligence analysts (the GM can substituteone security guard for one of the analysts).However, during missions, hot-racking willincrease that number three-fold so that the ship is inoperation 24 hours per day.

HAVAMÀL TACTICSThe Havamàl is not a combat ship (just in case

you didn’t get that). Its purpose is to deploy in asystem or near a planet and keep an eye on goings-on. Especially with its Odin’s Ravens sensor drones

deployed (usually near inhabited planets or busyspace lanes), there is little that occurs in a systemthat will go unnoticed by the ship’s cryptologists.

The basic tactic is to deploy the Odin’s Ravensin the desired positions while the Havamàl finds agood place to hide (its options are pretty wide openwith its radiation shielding). The Havamàl thenreceives information from the drones, which isdecoded and analyzed by its intelligence analysts,and can also issue instructions to the drones (tomove them to a better location, return them to theship, self-destruct etc.).

Should any of the Ravens be discovered and/orbe in danger of capture, they are self-destructed tokeep them from falling into enemy hands. Shouldthe Havamàl be discovered or be in danger, itattempts to flee, self-destructing its Ravens in theprocess. Should capture be imminent, the crew willuse the ship’s self-destruct system to keep the shipfrom falling into enemy hands (whether the crewactually has time to escape or not is up to the GM).

THE ENIGMA MACHINEThe idea of the encryption capabilities of the

Mimer’s Well is based on the real-life GermanEnigma cipher machine. In use during WWII, themachine allowed the Germans to communicatewith an unbreakable level of security until anexample of the Enigma machine, cipher docu-ments, and cipher pad were captured (the story ofall this makes for some interesting reading andshould give the GM some adventure ideas involv-ing the Havamàl beyond those found in theAdventure Hooks section).

4

THE HAVAMÀL

Basic Information

game statisticsHavamàl (PL 6)

Type: Ultralight Subtype: UniqueDefense: 7Flat-footed Defense: 5 Autopilot Defense: 7 Hardness: 30 Hit Dice: 15d20 (300 hp)

Initiative Modifier: +4 (+2 Dexterity, +2 Eyeof Odin)

Pilot’s Class Bonus: +3 Pilot’s Dex Modifier: +2 Gunner’s Attack Bonus: +2 Size: Colossal (–8 size) Tactical Speed: 3,500 ft. (7 sq.) Length: 100 feet Weight: 250 tons

Targeting System Bonus: +3 Crew: 3 (trained +4) Passenger Capacity: 5 Cargo Capacity: 50 tons Grapple Modifier: +16 Base Purchase DC: 55 Restriction: Illegal (+4) Attack: 2 fire-linked heavy neutron guns -3

ranged (15d8)Attack of Opportunity: N/A

Design Specs:Engines: Ion engine, thrusters

Armor: VanadiumDefense Systems: Chaff launcher, decoy drone

launcher, improved damage control system (2d10),improved autopilot system, radiation shielding,self-destruct system, stealth screen; the Havamàlsubstitutes two additional defense systems for twoweapons.

Sensors: Eye of Odin (enhanced Class III sen-sor array), targeting system

Communications: Laser transceiver, radiotransceiver

Weapons: 2 fire-linked heavy neutron guns(range incr. 6,000 ft.)

Grappling Systems: Grapplers

5

THE HAVAMÀL

1. Cockpit - the cockpit has three positions:pilot, copilot/gunner, and navigator/sensors. Thecockpit is laid out in a neat and logical manner.

2. Medical Facility - a standard requirement onall space-going vessels of this size, this medicalfacility is equipped with everything necessary tohandle most emergencies.

However, as the ship is not staffed with an actu-al Doctor MD, the crew must use the ship’s DoctorMD software (Doctor DDS and Doctor Psych mod-ules also available) to walk someone through han-dling emergency surgery and grants a +10 equip-ment bonus to the Treat Injury (surgery) skill; notethat the -4 penalty for someone not having theSurgery feat still applies so that someone withoutthe Surgery feat performing field surgery whilerelying on the instructions of the Doctor MD pro-gram receives only a +6 equipment bonus. ThisDoctor MD software bonus does not stack with butrather replaces any existing ranks in Treat Injuryskill for an individual using the Doctor MD soft-ware; the individual performing such surgery useseither the Doctor MD software or relies on his orher own Treat Injury skill bonus.

3. Kitchen/Lounge - This area is the kitchenand lounge. It is usually stocked for two weeks ofoperation.

4. Bathroom - Fully equipped.5. Crew Quarters - Four double bunks and a

stacked locker for each individual. 6. Intel Controls - Each of these bays has the

controls for and access to the Eye of Odin sensorarray as well as a Mimer’s Well tied both the Eye ofOdin and the ships laser and radio transceivers. Notonly does this set-up build in additional redundan-cy, but also allows twice the work to be done.

7. Loading Bays - These platforms not onlyserve as entrance and exit to the ship, but also havespace for additional supply storage.

8. Pod Bays - This is where the Odin’s Ravenssensor drones are stored when not deployed. TheRavens are stored on rails and released through theopen hatch.

Starship Key

The Mimer’s WellThe PCs are hired by an organization (a govern-

ment, corporation, terrorist group, whatever the GMdecides is appropriate) to either capture theHavamàl or to come into possession of a Mimer’sWell and the attendant cypher materials (books andpads or PDAs) so that the organization can decodethe messages of a rival organization.

The difficulty here is for the PCs to accomplishthis without the ship (or at least the Mimer’s Well ifthe GM decides to remove the self-destruct systemfrom the ship because it makes things too difficult)being destroyed since the crew undoubtedly hasinstructions to engage the self-destruct system themoment it is in danger of capture (and being board-ed counts).

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Like most scientists, Dr. Halverson is usuallytoo busy researching to contemplate the moraldilemmas his research creates. Fortunately, thistime he has raised his head up from his project longenough to realize that the completion of theHavamàl project will significantly shift the balanceof power to his employing organization (a govern-ment, corporation, criminal gang, terrorist group,whatever the GM decides is appropriate). This isnot good, and now the good doctor wants out.

So he contacts one of the PCs (preferably onewith a technological background who might havestudied under the Dr. Halverson) in order to getsome help in this endeavor. Of course the good doc-tor’s employers don’t wish to see him go and areprepared to do anything, including killing him andall those helping him, to prevent Dr. Halversonfrom seeking new employment elsewhere.

6

THE HAVAMÀL

Adventure Hooks

Drone Counters

These small drones – Odin’s Ravens – are designed so that you may drop theminto area 8 on the ship. We’ve provided one more counter than the ship can carry.

7

THE HAVAMÀL

TOP VIEW

SILHOUETTE VIEW – FRONT

HAVAMÀLunique design

8

THE HAVAMÀL

DECK PLAN

HAVAMÀLunique design

1. Cockpit2. Medical Facility3. Kitchen/Lounge4. Bathroom5. Crew Quarters6. Intel Controls 7. Loading Bays 8. Pod Bays

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THE HAVAMÀL

Open Game LicenseOPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0aThe following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast,

Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc(“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

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2. The License: This License applies to any Open GameContent that contains a notice indicating that the Open GameContent may only be Used under and in terms of this License.You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content thatyou Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from thisLicense except as described by the License itself. No other termsor conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content dis-tributed using this License.

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4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing touse this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms ofthis License to Use, the Open Game Content.

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15 COPYRIGHT NOTICEOpen Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of theCoast, Inc.

Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002-2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, JeffGrubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, Eric Cagle, David Noonan,Stan!, Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker,based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, SkipWilliams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, JohnTynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.

Future: Starship 5 – The Havamàl, copyright 2004 MichaelHammes. Published by Ronin Arts www.roninarts.com. Basedon SkeletonKey Games’ e-Future Tiles sets – www.skeleton-keygames.com.

Future: Starship 5 – The Havamàl is copyright © 2004 Michael Hammes. All text in this book is designated as open game con-tent. You may not distribute this PDF without permission of the author. d20 Modern™ is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast,Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission. Wizards of the Coast® is a registered trademark of Wizards of theCoast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission.

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