How to Use This Book | Void Drifters

Read this book by table problem. Start with the chapter that answers your immediate question, then follow cross-references into the supporting material.

Chapter Map

Chapter	Title	Use It When
1	Introduction	You want to know what this book covers and how it relates to other books in the line.
2	How to Use This Book	You want to navigate directly to the right chapter.
3	Vehicle Rules Primer	You need the complete rules framework: Scale, Hull Points, System Points, Power, Heat, sensors, gravity, crew, cargo, fuel, and the relationship between ship-scale and character-scale.
4	Starship Classes	You want to understand the ship class vocabulary: what fighters, cutters, corvettes, frigates, cruisers, and carriers represent in the universe.
5	Ship Builders and Design Language	You are choosing a hull and want to understand what each builder is known for, what their signature systems do, and what their weak points cost.
6	Engines, Drives, and Power	You need full sublight and Slipstream drive rules, fuel, reactor management, and drive-specific procedures.
7	Navigation, Sensors, and Comms	You need Astrogation Trials, sensor tiers and checks, communications, AI-assisted ship functions, and Phased Relay Network rules.
8	Weapons, Shields, and Defense	You need ship weapon families, defense layer descriptions, Power Load and Heat costs, and the procedures for installing or modifying weapon or defense systems.
9	Hovercraft and Planetary Vehicles	You are operating on a planet, moon, or station and need non-starship vehicle rules, Funtari anti-gravity vehicles, and the ground vehicle catalog.
10	Components, Upgrades, and Compatibility	You are installing, replacing, hacking, or salvaging a ship system. Full compatibility rules, builder integration categories, and complication tables live here.
11	Repairs, Maintenance, and Salvage	You are repairing Hull Damage, System Damage, or Critical Hits; performing scheduled maintenance; or stripping a derelict.
12	Crew Stations and Actions	You need to know what each crew member can do in a ship encounter. Helm, Gunnery, Engineering, Sensors, Astrogation, and Medical each have full action lists.
13	Ship Combat and Chases	You are running or playing a ship fight or chase. Range bands, facing, firing arcs, maneuver actions, and the full combat sequence.
14	Catalog: Starships	You need a full ship stat block from the commercial or military catalog.
15	Catalog: Small Craft	You need fighter, shuttle, boarding pod, or small craft stats.
16	Catalog: Ground and Hover Vehicles	You need a ground vehicle, hovercraft, or cargo platform stat block.
17	Vehicle Quick Reference	You want summary tables, common difficulties, and reference cards for play.

If You Want To...

If you want to...	Go to Chapter
...pick or buy a ship	4, 5, 14
...understand what your ship's stats mean	3
...know what your character can do at their station	12
...run a ship fight	12, 13
...handle damage and repairs	3 (rules), 11 (procedures)
...manage Power Load and Heat	3, 6
...install or swap a ship system	10
...use sensors, scan a ship, or jam comms	7
...plan or execute an FTL jump	6, 7
...operate on a planet or station	9
...field a fighter or shuttle	15
...use the ship's AI assistance	7, 12
...salvage a derelict	11
...find a summary table quickly	17

Terminology to Know Before You Start

These terms appear throughout the book. Knowing them up front prevents confusion later.

Class is the plain-language role of a ship: fighter, shuttle, cutter, corvette, frigate, cruiser, carrier, and so on. Class says what the ship does.

Builder is the company or yard that constructed the hull: Crown Meridian, Openframe, Viridian, Kharos, Safa, or one of the sovereign military yards. Builder says who built it and what engineering assumptions it carries.

Model is the builder's recognizable structural family. The CM-440 is Crown Meridian's standard armored cutter platform. The Model 20 is Openframe's standard modular cargo platform. Each builder writes its designations its own way, and the name says what engineering family and visual language the ship belongs to. A ship's class and its model are different things. A cutter and a heavy freighter might both be Scale 4 hulls built on different models for completely different jobs.

Scale is the abstracted size tier, from 1 (person-sized or smaller) to 8 and beyond (strategic structures). Scale affects how much damage a ship can take, how large its systems and weapons are, and how characters interact with it. Scale does not replace class. It is the size envelope within which a hull is designed.

Hull Points measure structural integrity. When Hull Damage reaches Hull Points, the ship is disabled.

System Points measure operational capacity. When System Damage reaches System Points, the ship loses control.

Power Capacity is the maximum total Power Load the ship can sustain across all active systems simultaneously. It is an instantaneous limit, not a cumulative one.

Heat is accumulated thermal buildup. It builds during combat and dissipates at the end of each round. If it crosses the Heat Threshold, consequences escalate.

Heat Threshold is the point at which thermal management systems begin to strain. Above it, the ship starts suffering escalating penalties.

Module Slots represent capacity for major optional installations: cargo holds, medical bays, workshops, drone bays, and similar large systems.

Weapon Hardpoints are prepared weapon mounting interfaces with structural support, power connections, ammunition feeds, targeting links, and firing clearance. An empty patch of hull is not a hardpoint.

Pilot is the setting-facing name for the Operate skill. Rules text that references Pilot Trials or Pilot checks means the Operate skill.

What This Book Adds to the Core Rules

The core Exodus NDS vehicle rules (Chapter 11 of the Core Rules) cover the baseline framework: Scale, vehicle characteristics, damage, repairs, and the vehicle critical hit table. They work as a complete system for any universe.

The Vehicles Manual adds on top of that framework:

Power Capacity and Heat, which do not appear in the core rules
Weapon Hardpoints and Module Slots as distinct tracking categories
Builder identity, compatibility grades, and integration procedures
Crew station action lists specific to Void Drifters ship roles
Ship-scale AI assistance and Active Channel rules
Slipstream drive, navigation, and seam-exit procedures
Fuel, supply, and maintenance tracking for campaign play
Gravity effects aboard ships and in vehicles
Full ship, small craft, and vehicle catalogs specific to the universe

When this book is silent on a procedure, apply the core rules. When this book speaks, it supersedes the core rules for Void Drifters play.

In This Chapter

Chapter map and navigation guide
Quick lookup: "If you want to..."
Key terminology: class, builder, model, Scale, Hull Points, System Points, Power, Heat
What this book adds beyond the Core Rules vehicle chapter