New species and system idea: The Skav and the tractor beam

[AproposPenguin]

skav.gif

"The Skav hail from one of the Federation's many junkyard moons. They've adapted to make the most out of everything they get."

Skav cost 50 scrap to hire, and have the following special traits:
[*]85% damage in combat.
[*]85% repair speed.
[*]85% bonus when manning systems.
[*]5% additional scrap whenever scrap is obtained. This effect stacks with every Skav crewman.

They're meant to resemble a cross between a giant rat and a Jawa, and are, of course, scavengers. The actual numbers may need to be tweaked but the general idea is that the Skav are capable but always a second choice. And yet, having one or more on hand is useful indeed.

Skav ships resemble the Engis' in that they have a "cobbled together" aesthetic, though instead of a torus the Skav have a huge, ugly rectangle. It lets them access systems easily, but the center is very vulnerable to fire. Skav tend to keep one hired Rockman mercenary on hand to deal with boarders and away missions. Skav ships have three weapon and three drone slots.

The defining feature of many Skav ships is their tractor beam; this is a new ship system, which takes up the same slot as the teleporter (like the artillery beam takes up the same slot as the cloaking device). The tractor beam charges like weaponry at a consistent rate (fifteen seconds, less if it's being manned) and activates like the cloaking device, by toggling it on. When active, the tractor beam makes the enemy ship incapable of an FTL jump and reduces its evasion to one quarter its normal value. Upgrading the system increases how long it's active (5/10/15 seconds) before it needs to recharge again.

Skav like to bide their time by cloaking, and using defense drones then lock down enemy ships and then bomb them while they're stuck. The best way to deal with Skav is to hit them fast and early, preferably with a boarding party as well... Mantis tactics work well on the Skav. Relying on missiles, shields, and beams that take a long time to charge will get you killed and your ship stripped quite efficiently.

[furyfire]

Interesting race. and oooh, species sprites how nice

Though I think that the fact that they are good scavengers and know how to cobble things together, they should at least be allotted something like 90% repair speed.
What do you mean by 85% bonus when manning systems? +85% of the normal or -25% of the normal? I think this will make the Skav too undesirable as a choice and the ability should be removed.
And go ahead and decrease his combat ability to that similar of an engi

[AproposPenguin]

Thanks! I meant that the bonus was only 85% of what anyone else's was, although you're right, that might be a bit much. Maybe instead an experience cap: they can only level up their skill at a station once, so they'll never have two-star skills. Just something to make them a bit worse at any given station than another crewman.

[Todes_Schnitzel]

The Skav look funny.

[VanguardOfValor]

Oh Skaven, you guys just get everywhere. I guess that's what happens when you are rats.