Adventure-Class Ships

[Terry Mixon]

I was making a freighter at the upper end of the Adventure-Class Ship’s category and noticed that the definition changed between High Guard 22 and Adventure-Class Ships. It used to be up to 2,400 tons but seems to have dropped to 2,000. I suppose I can see that, but it is a change that might have gone unnoticed so I decided to mention it.

 

[Condottiere]

Could be two different, if valid, definitions.

Technically, below five kilotonnes.

Practically, what's the upper tonnage limit of most common commercial spacecraft range.

 

[Arkathan]

It isn't as if the bank is going to refuse a loan to Travellers who have the ability to repay said loan.
A case of size doesn't matter.

 

[JupiterIndustries]

wording matters here:

"Most of the ships that Travellers use are in the 100- to 2,400-ton range. These ships are sometimes called ‘adventure-class ships’ because they are the sort usually featured in Traveller adventures."

Somtimes, rather than always, sort of implies that this was an imprecise or subjective term in the first place, and also that this is an out of universe term anyways (usually featured in Traveller adventures).

T5 uses 2400.

"Adventure Class Ships. 100 to 2400 tons. Adventure class ships are appropriate for ownership by, and operation by, player characters. Includes Small Craft 10 to 100 tons, and non-Starships 100 to 2400 tons."

The AC book tops out at 2000 so I think this is where they got the number from rather than any re gauging of things. as Arkathan says though, I think most lenders are not going to quibble over 400 tons or a term that is loosely applied anyways.

 

[WHULorigan]

The 2,400 ton cutoff derives from T5, which is also where the term "Adventure Class Ship" (ACS) and "Battle Class Ship" (BCS) (i.e. 2,500 ton +) come from.

It is because the T5.10 Shipbuilding rules produce ships suitable for adventure-level play, and the QSP Code ("Quick Ship Profile") used to define ships uses "EHEX" ("Extended Hexadecimal" - alphanumeric, omitting "I" and "O") in the code to define ship tonnage: "1" = 10-ton thru "9" = 90-ton (10-ton increments), and "A"=100-ton thru "Z" = 2,400-ton (100-ton increments).

In terms of a "practical" cut-off for ACS, 2,000-ton, 2,500-ton, 3,000-ton, or (perhaps) 5,000-ton (MgT, 1e /Small Starships) would all work.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I always used the maximum size of a fudged CT LBB:2 ship - 12,000t

Anything larger than that is into big ship universe territory.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

I would call a ship that can be crewed by an average group of adventurers an ACS.
With LBB2 that is up to 400 Dt or perhaps 600 Dt.
A 800 Dt Mercenary Cruiser with 40-50 people onboard is much too cumbersome, way too many NPCs to handle.

 

[Condottiere]

One mechanic per kilotonne, one pilot, one astrogator.

One engineer per thirty five tonnes of engineering.

Kilotonne starship, factor/one jump drive thirty tonnes, factor/one manoeuvre drive ten tonnes, nominally thirty tonne early fusion reactor, two engineers.

 

[wintertraveller]

I may have misunderstood what the ACS designation really is about.

My perception is that it has been a label used to help set expectations with the Traveller community. However, I haven't perceived it as a hard rule to prohibit your players from acquiring a bigger ship. If the campaign circumstances lead to bigger ships, so be it.

Big ships:
- are expensive to maintain
- have trouble with finding docking bays at ports
- draw attention
- have big crews to manage and invite people related troubles
- are attractive targets for opposed forces such as pirates, criminals, competitors
- if wrecked or seriously damaged may be catastropic financial losses
- take forever to build and refit
- can be difficult to find shipyard space to maintain

Nevertheless, if the players have the resources and take the game in this direction, I don't see the ACS label as a blocker.

How to do you all understand the ACS designation to be applied? Thanks

 

[mavikfelna]

Starship - Traveller

wiki.travellerrpg.com

Wiki starship section on hull size still lists it as 2400.

 

[Sigtrygg]

From T5

ACS Adventure Class Ships
Ships with tonnage between 100 (the minimum possible) and 2400 tons.
Adventure class ships are appropriate for ownership by, and operation by, player characters.

BCS Battle Class Ships
Ships from 2500 tons upward to about 100,000 tons. Battle class ships may be encountered, but are rarely under the control of player characters. They are important for strategic decisions in naval warfare.

FCS Fleet Class Ships
The ultimate in starships: the largest of ships with tonnages in hundreds of thousands of tons (to the practical maximum of about a million tons).
Fleet class ships are most important in strategic government operations.

 

[MarcusIII]

IMTU "ACS's" are 100 Dton - 500 dTon in size. As far as most games. In theory a group if very successful could obtain more expensive ships...
N.B. IMTU jump ships are limited to 10kT

 

[steelbrok]

It also depends whether the players own the ship or are part of the crew. The Skandersvik adventure (campaign?) works nicely without the PCs being in command of the whole ship.

 

[MarcusIII]

It also depends whether the players own the ship or are part of the crew.

Mine is predicated on the PCs owning or at least in command of the ship

 

[Vormaerin]

Deepnight Revelation says that ACS goes up to 75,000 dtons now

 

[rinku]

It's an informal category anyway. The paragraph lays out where they're coming from - ships that are within the means of an individual or small group.

Sure, there will be outliers... some individuals have very large means. But those also tend to be corporate or government assets anyway, so any large ship they use them to get is likely owned by the organisation anyway.

 

[Vormaerin]

Yes, that was the point. It's a category that has no useful value. Most likely introduced to resolve some argument no one remembers from decades back. A 2000 dton freighter being ACS and a 3000dton Freighter being BCS means nothing.

Now, we could imagine things to make use of this distinction if we wanted to. Perhaps ACS ships are something downports are expected to be able to handle, but BCS ships are highport or shuttle only? Perhaps BCS ships require additional anti skipping tech or an on-board banking rep/repo ninja until the mortgage is paid off.

But as it is, it's just an arbitrary number that does nothing in the game mechanics or in the fluff. I don't think it's an issue that the book was about ships 2k and under, but the category also includes ships from 2 to 2.4k.

 

[Condottiere]

The equivalent of the Scooby Van.

 

[rinku]

Well, the term was probably coined by J Andrew Keith (unless it was Bill). It comes from a series of deckplans done by FASA.

Effectively it's just a collective terms for "Book 2 ships". 5000 tons may as well be the cutoff.

 

[WHULorigan]

I also happen to like the conceit:

NAVAL TERMINOLOGY:​

• ACS = Auxiliary Class (Up to 2,500 tons) - Minor & Escort Combatants/Tertiaries
• BCS = Battle Class (~3,000 to 100,000 tons) - Subcapital Ships/Secondaries
  • CCS = Capital Class (100,000 - 250,000 tons: A subcategory of Fleet Class) - Capital Ships/Primaries
• FCS = Fleet Class (~100,000 / 250,000 - 1,000,000 tons) - Large Capital Ships/Primaries

​

CIVILIAN / COMMERCIAL (& COLLOQUIAL) TERMINOLOGY:​

• ACS = "Adventure" Class - Smaller Commercial Vessels / Colloquial Jargon
• BCS = Bulk Class - Large Corporate Commercial Vessels