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Crew on Novakid Ship

Crew are specialized NPCs that reside on the player's ship and generally provide passive benefits.

Up to twelve at a time can be recruited, and up to two at a time can follow the player to any place in the universe, giving short buffs or assisting in combat.

Acquiring Crew Members

Crew members of most races can be obtained by gaining favor with regular, non-merchant NPCs through quests. When an NPC decides that they want to join your ship, they will change into a Protectorate Set colored according to their prospective job and can be added to the crew by interacting with them and clicking 'hire' while you have room in both your landing party and on your Ship. (While merchant NPCs do give quests, they never become available as crew.)

Not all kinds of NPCs can become all kinds of crew. Depending on their type, their crew type chances are as follows:

  • Generic non-Merchant NPC: 14.3% Soldier, 3.6% Blue (Jump) Chemist, 3.6% Green (Run) Chemist, 3.6% Yellow (Glow) Chemist, 3.6% Orange (Rage) Chemist, 14.3% Engineer, 14.3% Mechanic, 14.3% Medic, 14.3% Janitor, 14.3% Tailor
  • Generic Guard, Convict Tenant: 50% Soldier, 25% Engineer, 25% Mechanic
  • Miniknog Researcher, Hazmat Scientist and Scientist Tenants: 25% Blue Chemist, 25% Green Chemist, 25% Yellow Chemist, 25% Orange Chemist
  • Electrician: 50% Engineer, 50% Mechanic
  • Philanthropist and Socialite: 100% Tailor
  • Apex Rebel: 25% Soldier, 25% Engineer, 25% Mechanic, 25% Medic

In addition, there are two other ways to acquire crew members:

  • When on a quest to kill an NPC, that NPC, once brought down to low health, sometimes decides to surrender and requests that you lower your weapon (done by switching to non-weapon items or emptying your hands {Z by default}). If the NPC does not decide to betray your trust, doing so will allow you to recruit them. They will always have the job Outlaw.

On-Ship Effects

Crew members who provide ship effects will either periodically upgrade the ship or will provide a passive effect to all crew and team members on board. When they aren't following the player, crew members will act like regular NPCs, interacting with other objects on the ship and one another.

Every two ship members recruited will unlock a new ship upgrade quest just outside the Outpost in the shipyard. Penguin Pete will increase ship size provided players have both the crew and the correct number of Upgrade Modules. The player's initial ship can hold 2 crew members, and each of five ship upgrades increases crew capacity by 2; therefore, a maximum-size ship can hold 12 crew members.


Players can talk to crew members on their ship to add them to their party. When in a party, the crew members follow players. A maximum of two crew members can follow the player at once; however, you will not be able to recruit more crew members to your ship if you already have two crew members in your party (despite new crew members directly beaming to the ship).

The party will accompany the player to a planet's surface, the outpost, and missions, and will fight monsters and hostiles. Crew members' health and combat power scales with the player's currently-equipped armor.

Crew members will respawn on the ship when killed, and will return to the ship if the player does (even if the player is killed). If the respawn on the ship because the player has died, they will leave the party. If left behind, party members will teleport to the player's location unless they have been commanded to stay in place by the player.

Party members will not follow players into liquids (and thus are not ideal for ocean planets).

Crew Roles

Each crew member has a role assigned. Each role provides a benefit to the player or the ship. The color of each crew member's uniform corresponds to the role they have. Roles can be reviewed in the 'Crew' tab in SAIL on the ship.

Color Name Sub Roles Ship Benefit Travelling Benefit
Crew Uniform Yellow.png
Chemist Blue Stim Pack Icon.png Blue Chemist Status Jump Boost.png Jump Boost (persistent) Status Jump Boost.png Jump Boost (temporary - 30 seconds)
Green Stim Pack Icon.png Green Chemist Status Run Boost.png Run Boost (persistent) Status Run Boost.png Run Boost (temporary - 30 seconds)
Orange Stim Pack Icon.png Orange Chemist Status Rage.png Rage (persistent) Status Rage.png Rage (temporary - 30 seconds)
Yellow Stim Pack Icon.png Yellow Chemist Status Glow.png Glow (persistent) Status Glow.png Glow (temporary - 90 seconds)
Crew Uniform Orange.png
Engineer None Increases ship travel speed by 10% None
Crew Uniform Brown.png
Janitor None Tries to appear useful. None
Crew Uniform Blue.png
Mechanic None Increases ship fuel efficency by 10%. 2nd crew member adds 5%, 3rd 2.5% etc. None
Crew Uniform White.png
Medic None Status Regeneration.png Regeneration (persistent) Status Regeneration.png Regeneration (temporary)
Crew Uniform Black.png
Outlaw None None Combat support
Crew Uniform Red.png
Soldier None None Combat support
Crew Uniform Purple.png
Tailor None Change uniforms of NPC crew and available crew NPC awaiting recruit None


The tailor role lets you change the uniforms between the default Protectorate uniform assigned, or a custom uniform based on what you are wearing when you talk to the tailor. Your crew members will wear colorized versions of the one you assign to indicate what their roles aboard the ship are.


Engineers also provide combat support when traveling, though it is assumed they are not as strong as combatant types like the Soldier and Outlaw classes. Other crew classes may also be able to provide combat support. Tailors do not leave the ship.


Crew members can be dismissed from duty via SAIL's 'Crew' tab. This can effectively be used to make space for more crew members to be recruited.

You will not receive any compensation for the process of previously obtaining the crew member, e.g. you will not receive a dubloon that you had previously spent on a Penguin crew member, should you choose to dismiss one.


Several Achievements require the user to perform tasks related to ship crew.

Name Description Requirements
First Mate.jpg First Mate Recruit your first crew member.
Recruit a crew member to your ship.
Captain of the Year.jpg Captain of the Year Recruit at least 12 crew members.
Consider starting a pension plan.
Recruit 12 crew members to your ship.
A Motley Crue.jpg A Motley Crew Recruit one crew member from every race.
It's like a teeny tiny protectorate.
Recruit a crew member from each race.
Feathered Friend.jpg Feathered Friend Recruit a penguin mercenary from the Beakeasy. Recruit a penguin crew member using a dubloon at the Beakeasy.