100 ton challage

[Reynard]

Quite a few topics of late got me thinking about the lowest end of the starship line, the 100 tonner. I had to go through all my books; Core, Traders and Gunboats, Merchants and Cruisers, Fighting ships, High Guard, Scouts and Merchant Prince and found eight in that size class and most are part of the scout service. I assume 200+ tons is easier for ships bearing 4-6 players. Still, a big universe should have the enterprising finding roles for such ships. It could also be an idea for solo adventures without resorting to a scout ship.

Could there be a need for one or two person vessels? Could a small and less expensive ship go where other ships won't? Stripping down the ship to a basic design, one Jump 2, 2G for 4 weeks, one state room, computer 1bis, standard electronics, single turret, Jump control/2, Maneuver/2, Library and there's about 45 tons to play with. Yes, I did not include a fuel purifier.

How about some interesting designs and what their functions are. Use Core, High Guard Trillion Credit Squadron, Scout and Merchant Prince for starship components. Remember, these are starships not spacecraft.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I would install a bigger computer and use Expert Programs for some of the required positions. You could probably get the REQUIRED crew to 1 but normal crew of 2.

I might have to see what I can come up with.

 

[Condottiere]

I've dabbled in the shallow end of the pool. The big expense there is engineering, and you can't really get around that, even if you strip the ship bare.

Lowering operating costs might be the next best thing.

 

[GypsyComet]

Variety in 100 tons is limited because the overhead is steep. Looking at the letter drives, "standard" drives are built around the assumption that 200 tons is the baseline, while 100 tons is shoehorned in as the smallest ship the physics will support.

 

[Condottiere]

I think the view is skewed due to the original labelling.

If you called the scouts pinnaces, that larger ships carry onboard, and emphasized more the two hundred ton hulls as general purpose starships..

 

[Reynard]

I'm getting the feeling no one is capable of creating a 100 ton starship for role playing without worrying about min-maxing. I thought Traveller fans are creative. It's going to be warmer soon so I can kick back on the porch and come up with a design or three.

The idea here is how a bare minimum ship can become a ship with a usable function. How it pays its way is part of the formula. Sure, upgrade the computer so the ship is a one man affair. Within the Mongoose Traveller rules, try to upgrade the engines. Add the purifier and explain why it's there. 45 tons cargo? Why and what purpose.

 

[Condottiere]

The hundred ton hull is the most cost effective there is (and chances are, that hull costs in general are wrong).

You could rip out all the artificial gravity plating in the cargo hold, though no idea how much that would save you.

I'm changing the paradigm slightly by downgrading performance in general to One across the board.

I do seem to recall coming across an article in a forgotten tome of White Dwarf that mentions various quality builds of engines and their respective premiums and discounts, including one termed jerry-built.

 

[heron61]

I like high tech ships, here are 4 TL 15 100 ton ships

Here's a Type S Scout that is TL 15 and uses the advanced tech rules for High Guard. As a result, it has lots of cargo room and would work awesomely well as a merchant vessel for a small group. It could even carry a passenger or maybe 2.

TL 15 Type S Scout (100 tons)
Streamlined
Armour Bonded Superdense (4 points)……………….3.5 tons
Jump Drive A Jump 2………………………………………..7.5 tons
Manoeuvre Drive A Thrust 2………………………………1.5 tons
Power Plant A……………………………………………………3 tons
Bridge………………………………………………………………10 tons
Electronics Military Sensors +0 DM……………………2 tons
Weapons Hardpoint #1 Double Turret (empty)…….1 ton
Fuel (One Jump–2 and eight weeks of operation)…28 tons
Cargo………………………………………………………………..19 tons
4 Staterooms……………………………………………………..16 tons
Extras 10 Probe Drones……………………………………….2 tons
Fuel Scoop –
2 Fuel Processors………………………………………………..2 tons
Air/raft………………………………………………………………4 tons
Ship’s Locker……………………………………………………..0.5 tons


Here's a version that is can do jump 3 and while it carries less cargo, it would work well as a courier for patrons who wanted to travel or send cargo rapidly. This ship is made using the rules from the Compendium 1 article Fuel Efficiency (p. 124)

TL 15 Type S1 Long Range Scout (100 tons)
Streamlined
Armour Bonded Superdense (4 points)………………..3.5 tons
Jump Drive B Jump 3………………………………………..11.25 tons
Manoeuvre Drive A Thrust 2………………………………1.5 tons
Power Plant B……………………………………………………5.25 tons
Bridge………………………………………………………………10 tons
Electronics Military Sensors +0 DM……………………2 tons
Weapons Hardpoint #1 Double Turret (empty)…….1 ton
Fuel (One Jump–3 and 38 weeks of operation)……32 tons
Cargo………………………………………………………………..9 tons
4 Staterooms…………………………………………………….16 tons
Extras 10 Probe Drones………………………………………2 tons
Fuel Scoop –
2 Fuel Processors……………………………………………….2 tons
Air/raft……………………………………………………………..4 tons
Ship’s Locker…………………………………………………….0.5 tons

TL 15 X-Boat
It makes sense to me that some contractor would have built TL 15 x-boats that didn't require tenders and could land normally. The first version is built using the Compendium 1 low fuel rules (p. 124).

100 tons
Streamlined
Armor (none)
Jump Drive B Jump 4………………………………………..13.5 tons
Manoeuvre Drive A Thrust 2………………………………1.5 tons
Power Plant B…………………………………………………..5.25 tons
Bridge……………………………………………………………..10 tons
Civilian Sensors……………………………………………….1 ton
Weapons Hardpoint #1 Double Turret (empty)…..1 ton
Fuel (One Jump–4 and 36 weeks of operation)….42 tons
Cargo……………………………………………………………..12 tons
3 Staterooms…………………………………………………..12 tons
Fuel Scoops
2 Fuel Processor………………………………………………2 ton
Ship’s Locker………………………………………………….0.5 tons

Here's the same TL 15 x-boat using normal fuel rules

100 tons
Streamlined
Armor (none)
Jump Drive B Jump 4………………………………………..13.5 tons
Manoeuvre Drive A Thrust 2………………………………1.5 tons
Power Plant B…………………………………………………...5.25 tons
Bridge………………………………………………………………10 tons
Civilian Sensors………………………………………………..1 ton
Weapons Hardpoint #1 Double Turret (empty)……1 ton
Fuel (One Jump–4 and four weeks of operation)…48 tons
Cargo……………………………………………………………….7 tons
3 Staterooms……………………………………………………12 tons
Fuel Scoops
1 Fuel Processor……………………………………………….1 ton
Ship’s Locker…………………………………………………..0.5 tons

 

[Reynard]

One thing I realize about the 100 ton starship frame, it's an advanced construction unavailable as a starship until Tech 11. The means, until then, it would be a small craft frame. A civilization just entering the interstellar age with Jump 1 must start with 200 ton hulls. That might explain why that hull is considered baseline, decades or centuries will go by before discovering how to pack a jump engine into a 100 ton hull and it will be the compatibility of the J2 configuration.

Tech 11 becomes the baseline of the 100 tonner. I can imagine engineers were immediately saying 'what can we do with a ship half the size of the 200 ton ship but it's Jump, Maneuver and power plant is the same?". Even with the bridge size equal and can't be helped, I'm sure they saw potential with a shuttle sized starship.

We can assume the original 'scout ship' would be 200 ton exploration vessels. The concept of a more compact, smaller crew and less expensive vessel means more ships spreading out through the stars. They lose a point of Hull and Structure at TL 11 but all else is similar for the iconic version. Add more weeks to the fuel supply as considered necessary, better electronics and drones for survey and exploration and fuel processors for long duration. If the civilization isn't paranoid about hostile alien life, no turret, weapons and armor would be needed. The rest of the tonnage will be extra staterooms as deemed needed as well as cargo space for extra life support or sample collection or maybe lab space. The Imperial version is one configuration.

I could see a prototype X-boat at TL 11. At J2, it serves the mains in the early times with regular jumps of 1 or 2. Sounds sloooow compared to the TL 13 J4 version but it gives a cheap, dedicated means to communicate all those centuries along the most important routes. No Maneuver drive. 14 extra tons for cargo. Maintenance and initial cost reduced. These could also be useful for important secondary routes off the main jump line.

The seeker is described as a variant of the scout. Old surplus scouts, paid for by the taxpayer, that have some operational life in them are bought up by commercial operations to be refitted and resold to those millions of prospectors. I'd say, as a spacefaring civilization reaches new systems with resource potential, it will be the prospector right behind the explorer. That means the lure of riches will compel even small companies and individuals to need something to get there ASAP. No waiting for 40 year old derelicts with issues. Upgraded sensors necessary for probing resource locations and weapons and armor might be a concern if there are 100 ton or bigger pirate vessels (claim jumpers) following the prospectors. Fuel processors a given when you spend a lot of your life searching for the mother lode which may also mean extra space for fuel and dedicated space for extra life support. All the rest is ore space.

I'll come up with original designs soon unless someone beats me to it.

 

[GypsyComet]

The seeker is described as a variant of the scout. Old surplus scouts, paid for by the taxpayer, that have some operational life in them are bought up by commercial operations to be refitted and resold to those millions of prospectors. I'd say, as a spacefaring civilization reaches new systems with resource potential, it will be the prospector right behind the explorer. That means the lure of riches will compel even small companies and individuals to need something to get there ASAP. No waiting for 40 year old derelicts with issues.

The Seeker as an old Scout hull is really an artifact of a long-stable setting with massive construction contracts, depreciation calculating bureaucrats, and sector-wide boneyards. During an explosive expansion phase, you are going to see a different set of solutions.

 

[Condottiere]

Jump Drives: Prototype J2

Available TL 10 at double the size and fifty percent more cost.

 

[Reynard]

At a loss of an extra 20 tons for the J drive, those prototype ships are definitely purpose built, very spartan.

Deep pocket governments can still make explorers and tighter X-boats. At TL 10, the vast majority of vessels will be J1 and the number of colonized worlds will still be small and clustered. A J2 X-boat would be the height of a communications network while numerous prototype pathfinders would make expanding the empire a little more expensive but more efficient. Better to send them first to be followed later by larger survey ships.

Another source of deep pockets would be corporations and the idle rich. Private pocket couriers using this cutting edge tech would be attractive. Slap an M4/P-B for an extra 12 tons of engines and fuel or possible an M-6/P-B at 21 tons for speed to and from destinations plus a level of armor and guns to taste for the company's expected threat. Add the rest as staterooms and/or cargo to move company personnel and special shipments. Basic civilian electronics probably wouldn't be unreasonable for safety of company property.

While mummy and daddy Bigbucks travel in comfort aboard their yachts, the young dilettantes could tool around the stars in 100 ton runabouts; fast engines, state of the art body designs and hedonistic luxury for a few friends constructed at the bleeding edge of their particular tech level. Could also serve as a mobile office for the young executive moving up in the galaxy and around their holdings while enjoying the good life.

 

[Condottiere]

Flexibility: Modular Hull

Consider a modular hull; it only costs the percent extra at base hull price per percent modularized, and you could swap out weapons, cargo, fuel and accommodations.

It's the jump fuel part that surprised me, since you'd think that would require extra heavy duty plumbing.

 

[Reynard]

Pocket trader TL 13
Hull 100 ton Streamlined Hull 2 Structure 2
Armor 0
Jump Drive A Jump 2
Maneuver Drive A Thrust 2
Power Plant A
Bridge Standard
Computer Model1/bis
Electronics Standard
Weapons Hardpoint (empty) w/ 1 ton fire control space
Fuel 24 tons One Jump 2 and 4 weeks operation
Cargo 36 tons
2 Staterooms
Fuel scoops
1 Fuel processor
Ship's locker
Air/raft
Software: Jump control/2, Maneuver/0, Library/0

Cost: MCr.27.72 Monthly maintenance Cr.23,100, Life support Cr.4,000

Like roaches the galactic trade, the Pocket Trader is numerous, found everywhere especially the darker places and no one considers them important compared to the bigger boys of the trade lanes. Not as efficient as the regular Trader classes, they prove attractive to many starting out for the price, flexibility and ease of conversion to the tastes of the user. As is, they are a spartan, base cargo carrier built for a couple adventurous types, up to double if they want to double up without much comforts. Very seldom are any two Pockets the same as they are customized from their guns off the lot to carrying passengers or cargo or both. Some have been known to feature mostly low berths with very small or no cargo. Some feature the best Maneuver drives, guns and armor, including vaults and/or armored bulkheads, to become swift, secure independent couriers. The cargo bay features a back facing cargo door between the engines so the bulk of the hold can be reconfigured with bulkheads to create a wide variety of designs.

The nature of the crews make these ships go places more conservative traders find too uneconomic. You can see these small ships outside habitations of colonies, outposts and recently contacted native sapients door open and open for trade or taxi services to and from low traffic places or chasing that lead for a big score. Of course, these vessels are notorious as 'small package' transports with panels cleverly hidden within the often unfamiliar internal configurations.

You dream it we build it.

 

[Condottiere]

Amazon three week delivery guarantee, right to your farmstead.

 

[Reynard]

"Flexibility: Modular Hull"

We see the modular cutter for swapping duty specific frames stored in a host vessel while on missions and there are Jump haulers that feature cargo pods as an efficient way to drop off and pick up. The 150ton Scout Type SX has a modular design with modules stored on dedicated scout bases. As we see, modular designs need special storage facilities and the missions need to justify having a ship with a variety of missions you can't do better with specialized ships. What could a 100t starship accomplish that a carried craft on a starship could do better?

Would the Pocket freighter be useful with a pod arrangement that an X-boat isn't already accomplishing? I see 100t ships advantage being diversity and mobility.

 

[Condottiere]

Flexibility: Modular Hull

I wouldn't suggest it without the infrastructure in place that allows the swapping out of the modules within the region the ship is operating; what previously was a limitation in space of a hundred ton hull for facilities tailored for any particular circumstance, role or mission, is now less so.


Minesweeper

Fibreglass hull?

 

[Rick]

I don't see why you couldn't do a 100T ship with a similar idea as the DS:9 Runabout. It would be a very interesting concept and useful.

 

[Reynard]

Just looked it up and has a fascinating concept. The Scout Type SX would be very similar in function. It normally operates from scout bases at the edge of frontiers whether from a ground base or, like DS9, a station. Several vessels can take on whatever role is expedient with a module switch as they explore large areas of territory. Then again, the SX is considered a failure for it's original design. Maybe a less enthusiastic 100t version would do better. It follows after a regular Type S passes through an area for preliminary work to establish if it's reasonable to set up a more extensive exploratory network to scour a subsector worth of systems in greater detail. What the first ship discovers determines what module will be needed for extended work. Larger scout and lab vessels come in later for long duration missions.

In this case, we start with the basic 100t package and give it max electronics for the tech level. These vessels aren't meant to be fighting craft so no armor upgrade and weapons would be restricted. They are meant to go in, explore and get out if hostilities are eminent. The SX modules can be used to extrapolate their smaller brother versions including a fuel pod for an second J2 and greater operation time.

 

[locarno24]

If you assume TL15 (which a lot of nobility would be able to pay for) and disregard refuelling capability and cargo you can make quite an effective luxury runaround in 100 dTons:

Phaeton-class diplomatic shuttle

Hull:
Streamlined Class 1 Hull (1 Hull, 1 Structure)
1 Layer Bonded Superdense Armour (armour 6)
Aerofins (DM+2 to piloting checks in atmosphere)

Engineering Compartment:
TL15 Manouvre-A (Thrust 2)
TL15 Jump-A (Jump 2)
TL15 Fusion-A (Rating 2)
2 Weeks reactor fuel & 1 Jump-2 or 2 Jump-1

Flight Compartment:
Basic Civilian Sensors (DM-2 to sensor checks)
Model 7 Computer (Rating 35)
20 Repair Drones
Triple Turret (Accurate Beam Laser x 3)
Compact Bridge (DM-1 to skill checks)

Crew Compartment:
Stateroom
Escape Pod
2 dTons Cargo/Spares

6 x Passenger Compartments:
Stateroom
1 dTons Luxuries
1 dTons Cargo
Escape Pod

Costs: 88 MCr
Maintenance: 7,334 Cr per Month
Crew: 2 (10,000 Cr per Month, assuming 1 pilot & 1 engineer)
Fuel: 11,000 Cr per full refuel with refined fuel (22,000 Cr assuming 2 trips per month)
Life Support: 14,000 Cr per Month

Quite a useful little runaround, able to make 72,000 credits per run on high passage, for 144,000 Cr per month relative to running cost of 53,334 Cr per month for two trips.