Player Features and Ideas Discussion

+1 for a rusty tengu

I think the Thukker Tribe is probably the logical choice for a Minmatar-based Pirate faction. Here's a link to some interesting lore.

"The Thukkers maintain strong caravans, trade and scavenging operations making a huge portion of their economy with some minor criminal activities as well."

"The Thukkers were secretly involved in the construction of the Minmatar Elder Fleet and contributed forces to the Elder task forces... They are responsible for attacking CONCORD which served as a distraction as they prepared to attack Ammatar Mandate and the Amarr Empire in order to rescue Starkmanir slaves. They pushed deep into Amarr space destroying large portions of both the Imperial Navy and Ammatar Fleet until Jamyl Sarum's superweapon devastated the Elder Fleets into retreat and abandoned Thukker ground forces on Mekhios."

There's nothing in the lore specifically indicating any Minmatar-Caldari background, but given Thukker's allegiance it's unlikely that either Gallente or Amarr would be applicable. Caravans, trade and scavenging would seem to denote larger cargo holds, some salvage-based bonuses and self-sufficiency.

Caldari Bonus: 10% bonus to kinetic and explosive missile damage per level (battleship)
25% bonus to kinetic and explosive missile damage per level (cruiser)
30% bonus to kinetic and explosive missile damage per level (frigate)
Minmatar Bonus: 10% missile explosion velocity per level
Role Bonus: 100% bonus to salvager and salvager drone range/cycle time
50% reduction to all missile reload/swap times

Thukker ships would have predominantly low slots, high with utility and less mids. They would have the same base warp speeds, slightly less velocity than Angel ships, the highest inertia and lowest signature radius. Cargo space would be approximately 25% more than is typical of Pirate ships and they would sport more hull than shields or armor. These configurations and bonuses lend themselves towards a variety of hull-tanking, scavenging and transportation applications.

Battleship: 8L-4M-8H, 6 launchers; 50m3 drone bay, 25 mbit bandwidth
Cruiser: 6L-3M-6H, 5 launchers; 25m3 drone bay; 15 mbit bandwidth
Frigate: 4L-2M-4H, 3 launchers; 15m3 drone bay; 5 mbit bandwidth

Thukkers are missile masters, but their damage bonus is limited to kinetic and explosive (not great against shield-based setups, but fairly effective against armor tanks). Bonuses for shield boosting and target painters already exist with many other Minmatar ships and Marauders, so I wanted to expand on something a bit different with the explosion velocity bonus and missile reload reduction.

Comments welcome. Addendum: Here are a few cool ideas from Deviant Art.

Thukker Tsunami (battleship)
Thukker Arghor (cruiser)
Thukker Bazuk (frigate)