Starship Classes

Ships in Void Drifters are described by class first. A class is a plain-language role: what the ship does, what it carries, who operates it, and what it means when one appears on a sensor screen. Everything else layers on top of that foundation: the builder, the model, the weapons package, the salvaged reactor.

This chapter defines every major class in service across known space. It covers how class relates to Scale, what each class means in the setting's economy and politics, who typically operates it, and how it plays at the table.

Class, Scale, and Model

These three terms are not the same thing. Confusing them causes problems at the table.

Class is the plain-language role and size category. A class tells you what the ship does. "Freighter," "patrol cutter," "carrier," and "courier" are classes. Everyone uses these words.

Scale is the physical size envelope. Scale runs from 2 (small craft) to 7 (capital and dreadnought). It determines the ship's mechanical weight in the rules: how much damage it can absorb, how many systems and weapons it can support, how it interacts with other ships in combat. A class and a Scale are not the same because two ships with different jobs can occupy the same size envelope. A corvette and a heavy freighter may both be Scale 4 while doing entirely different work.

Model is the builder's recognizable structural family. A Model 20 is Openframe's standard modular freighter platform. A CM-440 is Crown Meridian's armored cutter platform. Models carry the builder's engineering assumptions, parts ecosystem, and visual identity. They are platforms underneath the class, not replacements for it.

When you introduce a ship, say the class first: "patrol cutter, CM-440," not the other way around.

How Scale Maps to Class

Scale establishes the size envelope within which a class operates. The relationship is strong but not a strict formula. A given class typically spans a Scale range because hulls vary, military configurations run heavier than civilian equivalents, and old ships have often been rebuilt beyond their original design intentions.

Scale is not a ceiling for what a class can do. It is the physical reality that determines how the class interacts with everything else.

Scale also determines the largest weapons a ship can mount, how many module slots it carries, and its mechanical weight in combat. A Scale 3 courier carrying a military sensor suite is still a Scale 3 ship. It is outrunning ships that would win if they could catch it.

Class Table

Civilian and Commercial Classes

Courier and Scout

Scale 3. Crew 1–3. Minimal cargo.

Couriers and scouts are the fastest independent ships in common civilian circulation. They exist to move people, data, or small high-value packages between systems as quickly as possible, with the smallest crew and the lowest operating cost.

A courier ship carries almost nothing that is not essential to its speed and range. Cargo capacity is measured in personal luggage and sealed cases, not freight containers. What it can carry quickly is worth more than what a freighter carries slowly.

Scouts extend the courier template toward exploration. A scout ship adds survey equipment, extended consumable range, and better sensors at the cost of any pretense at cargo capacity. Scouts map new seam arcs, investigate signals, and carry the kind of information that can shift a war. A scout hull is Scale 3 and cannot mount the Seam Survey Package or the Astrogation Lab, both of which need a Scale 4 hull; a scout traces corridors from terminal seams and Rumored atlas entries on sensors and skill alone, or works alongside a Scale 4 survey ship that carries the packages.

Both classes attract solo operators, small two-person partnerships, intelligence services using commercial cover, medical response networks, and corporate courier contracts that pay by delivery speed rather than volume.

At the table, a courier or scout is speed and information. It cannot fight a patrol cutter and win. It should not need to. The defining play question is whether it can reach the destination before someone else does.

Light Freighter

Scale 4. Crew 2–6. Moderate cargo.

The light freighter is the working backbone of independent commerce in known space. It carries freight between systems, moves passengers who cannot afford liner tickets, takes contracts that larger ships cannot justify, and does every job that does not require a ship so big it cannot land on a frontier colony pad.

A light freighter crew is usually small enough that the ship is a home as much as a vehicle. The same people who fly it maintain it, negotiate the contracts, and deal with whatever goes wrong at the destination. This is not an arrangement that scales efficiently. It is an arrangement that allows a small group of people to stay independent.

The most common player ship in a standard Void Drifters campaign is a light freighter, usually a Model 20 or a KR-41, usually older, usually owned through debt or obligation, and usually carrying one system that is slightly better than expected alongside two that are slightly worse. That combination is not an accident. It is the result of four years of compromise decisions in ports where the good parts were too expensive and the interesting parts were too cheap.

At the table, a light freighter defines the shape of a campaign. What it can carry determines what jobs the crew can take. What it cannot do well determines where the story goes.

Heavy Freighter

Scale 5. Crew 10–30. Very large cargo.

Heavy freighters move bulk cargo across deep-space routes: raw ore, processed materials, agricultural tonnage, prefabricated construction sections, industrial equipment, and anything else that cannot justify the margin of a faster ship. They are slow, expensive to operate, and worth enormous amounts of money to whoever owns the cargo inside them.

Heavy freighters rarely travel alone on established commercial routes. The cargo value justifies armed escorts, and the ships themselves are high-value targets for pirates, privateers, and powers willing to apply pressure through logistics interdiction.

A heavy freighter requires a crew large enough to maintain the ship, stand watches, handle cargo operations, and respond to emergencies. That crew usually lives aboard for weeks or months at a stretch. The working culture aboard a heavy freighter resembles a small mobile town more than it resembles a vessel.

At the table, a heavy freighter is usually the subject of the adventure rather than the players' ship. Escorting one, investigating one, salvaging one, stealing one, or protecting the people aboard one are all strong campaign engines.

Passenger Liner

Scale 5–6. Crew 20–80. Low cargo. High passenger capacity.

Passenger liners move people between systems at predictable intervals, on published schedules, through established corridors. Their cargo holds carry the luggage and personal freight of their passengers. Their commercial value is their reputation for arriving on time and alive.

Liner operations are expensive because safety and reliability cost money. The defensive systems on a passenger liner are political tools, not military ones: the Irnan Directorate does not permit its citizens to be fired upon by private operators without consequence, and a liner carrying passengers from three different powers is not a ship anyone wants to shoot at without thinking carefully about the aftermath.

Liners range from modest regional transports running colony routes to grand vessels that carry high-status passengers between major systems in luxury accommodations that compete with planetary hotels.

At the table, a passenger liner creates enclosed social drama, information brokerage, and the particular pressure of a crime or crisis that cannot be reported to authorities for another three weeks until the ship reaches port.

Salvage Vessel

Scale 3–4. Crew 3–10. Variable cargo.

Salvage vessels recover what other ships leave behind: disabled ships, lost cargo, wreckage from battles and accidents, abandoned stations, and anything else floating in space that is worth more recovered than ignored.

A salvage vessel carries cutting equipment, towing rigs, recovery drones, assessment tools, and enough workshop space to determine whether something pulled from a wreck is worth keeping. Legally, salvage is a regulated industry with strict priority rules about who has rights to what. Practically, salvage is a profession where the rewards go to whoever gets there first and asks questions later.

The line between salvage and piracy is sometimes a matter of timing. A ship found disabled in space may have survivors who dispute the salvage claim. A wreck from a recent battle may have cargo that multiple parties consider their property. The crew of a salvage vessel makes these determinations in the field, usually without access to legal counsel.

At the table, salvage operations are investigation scenes that turn into engineering challenges with occasional violence attached.

Utility and Paramilitary Classes

Prospector

Scale 3. Crew 1–4. Minimal cargo.

Prospectors survey territory for extractable resources: mineral deposits on moons and asteroids, viable agricultural zones on colony worlds, energy sources, rare materials, and anything else that turns empty space into commercial value. A prospector's cargo hold is mostly occupied by survey equipment, sample storage, and enough supplies for an extended solo run.

Solo prospectors occupy a particular economic and cultural space in Void Drifters. They are independent in a way that even freighter crews are not: a freighter crew is usually obligated to a route, a lender, or a corporate contract. A prospector answers only to whether their find is real and whether they can reach the registry office before someone else does.

Prospectors are common in frontier systems, around uninhabited star systems with known resource potential, and anywhere the major powers have not yet established formal economic claims. They operate on the theory that the next survey will pay off the previous twelve.

At the table, a prospector is a seed for exploration campaigns. The find is rarely just resources.

Tender and Support Vessel

Scale 5–6. Crew 15–60. High cargo.

Tenders and support vessels exist to sustain other ships. They carry fuel, replacement parts, weapons resupply, food, water, medical capability, repair facilities, and anything else a fleet or patrol group needs to stay operational far from a port.

A support vessel is rarely independent. It operates in the context of a fleet, a long patrol route, or a major construction project. The crew of a tender is experienced, capable, and often invisible: the logistics backbone that makes everything else possible.

Military tenders are strategic assets. A fleet that loses its tender loses its ability to sustain operations. Targeting a tender is a legitimate military priority, which means tenders are often escorted and rarely undefended despite not being warships.

At the table, a support vessel is infrastructure. Players encounter it as a destination, a source of resources, or a target whose loss cascades into the campaign's larger problems.

Armed Merchant

Scale 4. Crew 4–12. Moderate cargo.

An armed merchant is a commercial ship carrying a legal weapons license. It is not a warship. It is a freighter or courier that has accepted additional cost and regulatory scrutiny in exchange for the ability to defend its cargo and crew against pirates, raiders, and enforcement officials who have misread the situation.

Armed merchants operate in contested corridors, carry high-value cargo that justifies the security expense, and work routes where the threat level is high enough that arriving unarmed is considered poor planning. They are subject to inspection of their weapons certifications at every port, required to log all weapons activations, and excluded from ports that prohibit armed commercial traffic.

The weapons on an armed merchant are present to make attacking the ship more expensive than the alternative. They are not present to make the ship a military asset.

At the table, an armed merchant is a freighter campaign with teeth. The players have options that an unarmed ship does not, and every port visit involves a conversation about the weapons manifest.

Corsair and Privateer

Scale 3–4. Crew 6–20. Low cargo.

A corsair is a weapons-heavy civilian hull operating under state-issued license that makes its actions technically legal. Privateers are the people aboard. The arrangement allows governments to project force without paying for it directly and to deny responsibility when the targets complain.

Corsairs are fast, well-armed for their size, and usually in debt to whoever issued the letter of marque. They attack ships, seize cargo, raid stations, and occasionally perform genuine military operations that their sponsors would prefer not to acknowledge. The difference between a corsair and a pirate is the paperwork, and the paperwork sometimes lapses.

Corsairs attract operators who are skilled, opportunistic, and comfortable with arrangements that do not survive close legal scrutiny. The arrangement suits governments that want capable ships operating outside their official military accountability.

At the table, a corsair campaign occupies the exact space between mercenary work and crime. The players may be operating a corsair, hunting one, or trying to determine whether the letter of marque the armed ship ahead of them is real.

Military Classes

Patrol Cutter

Scale 4. Crew 3–8. Low cargo.

Patrol cutters enforce the rules. They are the most visible military presence in most systems: fast enough to intercept commercial traffic, armed well enough to compel cooperation from anything that is not a warship, and capable of independent operations across a patrol zone without support.

A patrol cutter's job is presence, inspection, and response. It intercepts ships, checks manifests, responds to distress calls, investigates suspicious contacts, and makes the local authority visible to anyone crossing the system. It is the face of enforcement for most of the people who encounter state power in space.

Patrol cutters are operated by every major power and by corporate security forces licensed for patrol operations. The difference between them is usually the color of their registry markings and whose law they are enforcing.

At the table, a patrol cutter is either the ally the players call when something goes wrong or the ship they are trying to avoid because of what is in the hold.

Corvette

Scale 4. Crew 8–20. Low cargo.

Corvettes occupy the space between a patrol cutter and a frigate: capable of independent operations, well-armed for their size, and fast enough to operate as fleet scouts and convoy escorts without being so large they require a supply chain of their own.

A corvette is a significant military asset with a small footprint. Its crew is large enough to fight effectively but small enough that the ship can operate for weeks without resupply. Corvettes escort convoys through contested corridors, respond to intelligence on raider activity, and serve as the forward elements of fleet operations that are not yet ready to commit capital ships.

At the table, a corvette is the benchmark for military force. If a player ship encounters a corvette that is actively hunting them, retreating is a serious option.

Frigate

Scale 5. Crew 30–80. Low cargo.

Frigates are sustained-patrol ships. They carry the crew accommodation, medical facilities, and consumable reserves to operate independently for months. Their weapons and defensive systems are serious enough to handle most threats they will encounter on a long patrol. They are not capital ships, but they are the largest independent unit most patrol zones will see.

Frigate crews develop strong internal cultures from months of close working conditions on long assignments. A frigate in active service has a history.

At the table, a frigate as an adversary is a campaign-scale threat. Getting into a fight with one should feel like something the players have considered very carefully.

Destroyer

Scale 5–6. Crew 60–120. Minimal cargo.

Destroyers are fleet backbone. They exist to kill smaller ships, screen capital ships from torpedo and missile attacks, and apply fast, decisive force to medium threats. They are fast enough to catch most things smaller than them and dangerous enough to destroy them when they do.

A destroyer in a system is a statement of intent. It is not there to inspect cargo manifests. It is there because someone important has decided that violence is an acceptable outcome.

Destroyers operate in pairs or small groups for independent action and in screen formations for fleet work. A lone destroyer is dangerous. A destroyer screen is a reason to leave.

At the table, a destroyer is a threat that changes the shape of any campaign it enters. Its appearance should immediately reframe what the players thought was possible.

Cruiser

Scale 6. Crew 100–300. Low cargo.

Cruisers project power. They are the largest ships most independent operators will ever encounter, and they are not deployed unless someone has made a deliberate decision to project state power into a specific situation.

A cruiser carries the weapons to destroy most threats, the command infrastructure to coordinate fleet elements, the communications to reach anyone in the system, and the political weight of the power that sent it. It is an instrument of policy as much as a weapon.

Cruisers operate as the senior ship in most formation contexts. A cruiser commanding a mixed patrol force makes decisions that affect corridors, stations, and colonies. At the table, the arrival of a cruiser is a narrative event.

Carrier

Scale 6–7. Crew 300–1,500+. Variable cargo.

Carriers are the most politically significant ships in known space. They do not win fights through their own weapons. They win by deploying fighters, bombers, boarding craft, and support ships that collectively outperform any fixed defensive position.

A carrier's presence means a power has committed not just a ship but an entire mobile force projection capability. No government sends a carrier without meaning to. No government ignores a carrier's arrival.

Carriers require enormous crew complements, complex logistics, and ongoing support. They are expensive to operate, difficult to replace, and irreplaceable as strategic tools. A carrier destroyed or captured is a political event on the scale of a battle.

At the table, a carrier is a campaign event. Something that large appearing changes every calculation the players have made about what is possible.

Small Craft

Small craft are covered in full in Chapter 17. A brief summary here:

Shuttles move people and light cargo between ships, stations, and surfaces. Every ship larger than Scale 3 carries at least one.

Fighters are weapons platforms deployed from carriers or stations. They are not capable of independent interstellar travel.

Cutters are armed small craft used for boarding, customs operations, and close-range enforcement.

Boarding Craft are assault delivery vehicles. They exist to put marines aboard an enemy ship.

Escape Pods are single-use survival vessels. They have no weapons, minimal power, and a distress beacon. They are not small craft in any useful tactical sense; they are the last choice before dying.