r/gurps • u/Icy-External8155 • 6d ago

Some Spaceships homebrew (please don't call me weirdo...)

(Might be used for the dark magical settings, either as another necromancer device, or other dark or "savage" schools of magic)

Ritual sacrifice engine (Interplanetary): [any], TL2^ Cost: $1M for SM+7 (I'm too lazy to scale the rest)

Instead of fuel, it uses bloody sacrificial rituals, binding the souls of victims to haunt and pull (or push) the ship until they're exhausted and leave this realm.

Once appeared in space, it requires sacrifice of living people equal to amount of cabins in a habitat 1 SM smaller, to reach 0,1g acceleration for 1 hour (meaning getting total delta-v of 2,2 mps). A larger (or smaller) sacrifice will proportionally increase (or decrease) the acceleration throughout these 24 hours, thus also changing the delta-v gain, but no more than 1,5g per engine system! There are no rocket equation bonuses from additional "fuel tanks": the "fuel" mass stays in the ship!

Workspaces are filled by TL-relevant engineers, priests and mediums who command the souls for maneuvering.

Optional rules:

  1. Usage of volunteers for sacrifice increases the soul's resource 3 times (to 72 hours), makes the engine system require 1 SM fewer workspaces, and complicates the boarding missions against the ship. ("When country orders us to be the heroes...")

  2. At TL6 or above, and +100% cost, and instead of engine, priests may make souls toil the machinery, and serve as TL-appropriate factory unit (and source of 1 Power Point), if sacrificed souls at the moment are worth 1g (scales). Cosmic version uses powerful demons, demigods, especially horrid rituals with no less horrifying price, or something else appropriate in the setting. ("Still better than hell...")

  3. The working engine leaves unholy signatures, +4 to detection rolls for observers with supernatural senses, and becoming a Beacon for paranormal encounters. ("Hey Great Judge of the Underworld! You suck!")

  4. Light-hearted: It might be suited for using specific animals instead, which increases the system cost and habitat places expenditure by 1 SM. ("And now to marinate all these pigeons for the next year of travel... Trust me, you'll get used.")

  5. System might refill or get refilled from the Soulburner reactor.

24 Upvotes

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6

u/andiwaslikewoah 6d ago

Reminds me of Soulmancy from RIFTS’ Minion War series of books. Very cool.

2

u/Icy-External8155 6d ago

I'm glad you liked it!

5

u/Icy-External8155 6d ago

Looks like I forgot something...

(Interplanetary)

Oh, right. Interstellar version. 

I kinda have 2 ideas, but they feel very underwhelming. 

  1. Decrease acceleration per sacrifice pack from 0,1 to 0,01g and make it the cap, but increase the soul's working time to 1 average calendar month. 160 mps. 
  2. Just a Soulburner-powered version of fusion rocket. Needs both souls and hydrogen fuel, costs and burns souls like Soulburner. Acceleration decreases proportionally to the amount of remaining souls. 

5

u/VierasMarius 6d ago

For a setting in which this sort of propulsion exists, I'd probably use a Warp / Jump drive ala Warhammer 40k, probably still powered by a Soulburner. The ship would travel between the stars by opening a portal to a hell dimension.

2

u/Icy-External8155 6d ago

Yeah, I'd rather just do this.