Spend Ship points to gain a crew for your ship. Loyalty, capability, initiative, and hygiene cost extra.
Cost
Crew is purchases along three axes: count, capability, and commitment. If your team is pooling Ship points, all of your expenditures overlap. One character might spend points to recruit a full complement, while another might put an emphasis on training them to be more than warm bodies and hungry mouths.
Count
Each level of Crew Count grants an equal number of crew plus the number yielded by the previous level. At level 1, you get a single crew person. At fifth level, you get 9 crew (5 + 4). At tenth level, you get 19 crew (10 + 9).
Without points in Capability, each of these crew are first level Unprofessionals. Good luck.
Capability
Each level of Crew Capability grants a single class level that can be granted to a crew member. Class levels can be revoked and reassigned, but this triggers a mutiny roll. If a crew member with class levels is killed or lost, their levels can be reassigned without triggering a mutiny roll.
It is not recommended that you send anyone to their death to circumvent that rule, as poor leadership is, itself, cause for mutiny.
Commitment
Crew Commitment makes your crew less likely to mutiny and more capable of managing the ship in your absence.
During each act of a mutiny, roll 1d4 per point of Crew Commitment, and add the roller’s Charisma modifier to the total. If this total exceeds the current mutiny strength, the mutiny ends with the players regaining control.
- During a mutiny, the players can pool their Commitment points. A single player rolls to end the mutiny with the full pool.
- Alternatively, players can withhold their dice and roll separately to end the mutiny on their own terms.
During an away mission or downtime, your crew will act autonomously for 1d4 days per point of Crew Commitment. Player characters should provide a set of orders, and the GM decides which ones are feasible before the crew loses interest. Unless your orders would result otherwise, crew will not be arrested during this time.
Concerns
Crew is generally limited by ship size. Everyone needs a bunk, and they will want some other space for their personal stuff. Crew will need to be fed in addition to having other physical needs met. If they are wounded on a mission, they need to be healed.
Even if you recruit only Clankers, you should assume that each crew member requires at least 3 square meters of personal space. Each crew member that doesn’t have this space raises the mutiny chance by 5%.