Ships large enough to travel between the stars are a big investment, so most interstellar travellers get around as part of a captain’s crew. A standard sized ship has a crew nearing one-thousand souls.
Below the captain, crew are split into three broad tiers.
- Officers - Each with a sprawling responsibility, reporting directly to the captain. An average ship has six.
- Heads - Specialists and senior crew who lead subteams and train new crewmembers, reporting to an officer. An average ship has seventy-two.
- Hands - General crew doing the bulk of the actual work. An average ship has eight-hundred.
Officers commonly form a close circle with their most trusted Heads, and maybe a few Hands, referred to as their Table. As well as eating together they often undertake shared ventures during shore leave.
Assigning Roles Each Officer is appointed to their station directly by the Captain. Officers then freely assign roles to their Heads.
Codes and Conventions A crew is held together by a sprawl of rules, traditions, and superstitions that follow spacefarers across the living stars. Naturally, each ship puts their own spin on things, but it has led to a somewhat recognised set of positions that a ship will aim to fill.
These are the six most common Officer Stations each followed by the twelve most common Head Roles found beneath them and their area of responsibility. Overlapping responsibilities are opportunities for buckpassing, landgrabbing, and creditstealing.
Below all this, even the Hands are broken into tiers and titles, but the ship’s Auster is already on my back for wasting time.
High Merchant - Responsible for the ship's financial success.
Broker - Trade negotiations
Fragholder - Liquid funds
Purser - Improving profits
Assayer - Goods valuation
Marketeer - Market forces
Appraiser - Item valuation
Exchanger - Internal transactions
Remitter - Transactions in
Bailiff - Transactions out
Comptroller - Financial efficiency
Auster - Resource efficiency
Vaulthead - Frag storage
Archmarshal in Arms - Responsible for the ship’s military and security concerns.
Armourer - Small arms
Gunwarden - Naval guns
Castellan - Deckbound combat
Sergeant - External combat
Drillchief - Readiness training
Vanguard - Dangerous recon
Surveillant - Internal security
Voidhound - Enemy intelligence
Highguard - Captain’s security
Dropmajor - Mission entry
Retriever - Mission extraction
Hood - Interrogation/execution
Commander-at-the-Helm - Responsible for the ship's travel and operation.
Astrogator - Route planning
Pilot - Orbital flight
Driver - Interplanetary flight
Underwatch - Interstellar flight
Overbosun - Ship’s boats
Router - External Pings
Addressor - Internal Pings
Wavesayer - Wave comms
Lookout - Operate scanners
Anomaler - Cosmic phenomena
Envoy - Comms content
Anchorer - Docking and release
Mate of Papers - Responsible for the records and data that allow for well-informed decisions.
Ledgereeve - Event records
Librarian - Data management
Upperclerk - Data processing
Auditor - Error correction
Chronologue - Strict time records
Storetallier - Inventory records
Cosmographer - Accurate maps
Codex- Codes and laws
Notarian - Binding contracts
Adjustor - Data reconciliation
Rollcaller - Crew records
Papbearer - Information relay
Peoples Executive - Responsible for crew effectivity and stability.
Constable - Crew discipline
Handherd - Crew morale
Allegiant - Crew loyalty
Surgeon - Crew health
Chef-de-Ship - Meal preparation
Chaplain - Spiritual needs
Troubleshooter - Problem people
Interface - Machine relations
Mediator - Intradepartmental relations
Liaison - Interdepartmental relations
Medallier - Reward distribution
Lashy - Punishment distribution
Technical Prime - Responsible for the good running of the ship and equipment on board.
Quartermate - Equipment distribution
Dorgard - Internal structure
Hulgard - External structure
Furnishfitter - Fixture deployment
Rigleech - Fixture maintenance
Swabwash - Ship hygiene
Smulter - Waste processing
Pipeliner - Pipes and wires
Provost - Scientific research
Machinist - Machine quality
Trimtender - Ship aesthetics
Liverer - Crew aesthetics
The keen-eyed amongst you might think that the existence of 72 of these means that they would define your character in Intergalactic Bastionland, but you’d be wrong.
They’re the opposite of a failed career, which is something for which you have expertise but no employment. Instead, this is a job that you currently work in that you may have little or no aptitude for at all, so any connection to a character’s skill is purely coincidental.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon.
