Editing Joshua Pawlicki's Explanation of How It Works (section)

=='''When Things go Wrong'''==
So what happens if something gets shot? Shaken up? Shuts down? The core systems named in this documentation all have really nasty effects if they shut off, and possibly worse ones if they are running damaged.
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===''Thrusters''===
There's a really huge problem with running thrusters damaged. Yeah, you can manage to reconfigure a rocket to swivel in another direction to offset some damage on the side, but if you lose something while in ramjet mode, or worse, scramjet, pressure will start to shoot out of the rupture and severely alter your flight path. Worse, if the pod is not attached well enough (highly likely), it may detach from the boat and go on its own merry way for a bit. Why this is a bad thing is only too obvious. Turbines, if active when damaged, tend to fly apart because of the fast-rotating pieces of sharp metal and send shrapnel everywhere. Generally taking a hit to the thrusters is only something that can be done without severe effects in space, although that makes repair trickier. Alternatively, if a thruster merely shuts down (stops pumping fuel or stops turning in turbine mode) it can be difficult to fly with, but not nearly as dangerous as a ruptured pod.
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===''Hull''===
Simply put, a puncture in the hull of a ship in space will destroy it. The hull is designed to withstand internal pressure, and the lack of external pressure may cause it to implode on some designs. Some ships have failsafe systems that separate sections and rooms of the ships into miniature airlocks so that it is possible to, say, seal off the bridge when it's smashed and maintain atmospheric integrity and pressurization in the other chambers. Keep in mind that holes can be made from the inside, too. Some sections of hull can be safely punctured, however. Those that contain only wiring and materials that could normally survive in the vacuum of space will be fine.
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A boat can usually take some punctures while in atmosphere, assuming the pressures are somewhat constant. Thus, people and cargo may be sucked out through the hole, but the hull will not implode.
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===''Gravity Drive''===
The gravity drive is symbiotic with the fusion reactor. If one shuts down, so will the other. A problem with the gravity drive is arguably more dangerous, though, as repair without specific replacement parts is difficult to do. Shutting down the gravity drive results in several effects, including the loss of pulse drive, localized inertia field, power, artificial gravity, resistance to the gravitational pull of planets, and sends you drifting. Running the gravity drive when it is damaged is dangerous- random gravitational fields capable of crushing waste into superdense cubes and simulating the pressure in a star could easily cause the destruction of the boat and it's crew.
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===''Fusion Generator''===
You've heard countless times that fusion reactors don't explode. This is true. Mostly. In theory, one could make a hydrogen bomb out of a reactor and then yes, it would proceed to explode. A fusion reaction, if upset, will typically unbalance itself, and use up its fuel too fast. This will likely evaporate the remaining fuel (safely kept in H2O), and cease the reaction. The result is a blast of radioactive energy but not much else. The radiation is nothing to laugh at, though. The long and short of it is that a fusion reaction destabilizes itself and burns out, unlike a fission reaction, which pretty much will continue to react with everything it finds nearby. However, a fusion generator leak is quite possible and exceedingly dangerous. The fuel input can be increased to compensate for the lost radiation and energy, although it won't be exact and won't fix the problem. Typically the only thing that can go wrong with the generator is a lack of fuel (in which case it safely shuts down), lack of plasmatic vector fluid (in which case, it will starve as soon as the fuel shuts off and just heats up constantly (dangerous, but not like a nuclear fission meltdown), breach of the containment (radiation bath, anyone?), or a breakdown of a turbine or something (in which case the device must be shut down and the part repaired or replaced). The problem with the fusion generator is that it's hard to repair, and shutting it off shuts off your only way to get it back on (unless you brought some of those electro-chemical backups to power the gravity drive long enough to restart the fusion reactor).
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===''Shipboard Recycling Systems''===
Life Support systems are, unhappily, those that go wrong the most. What happens if a ventilation fan breaks down and no one notices? By the time you realize, it may be too late. It's wise to keep tabs on those things that make a boat habitable. The effects are pretty obvious, so I'll only mention the slightly unpredictable.
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A long-dead ship that has lost human habitation will run out of CO2. This will starve the algae that convert CO2 to O2. Without their intake of food, they will perish, and the ship will likely need a transplant to get running again.
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The rupture of a tank of algae that spills onto the deck of the ship will, ironically, still work just fine. It'll just be a pain to walk around in, and the algae growth might get out of hand, so a crew usually will clean it up right quick.
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The destruction of the waste management system is not going to be pleasant. That's a pretty clear one.
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Keep in mind that these are just general core systems on a ship: not every system is this critical. If you would like some less critical effects, I encourage you to be creative. Get ideas from various things, including the effects column of the Technobabble chart. They should be easy to explain away. Good luck, mechanics and GMs!
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