An Alphabet of Ships

[WingedCat]

The Torch class of system defense boats is a series of apparent paradoxes, starting with its name.

There are old Solomani tales of a "torchship", which uses something like manuever drive to accelerate to appreciable fractions of the speed of light. Almost any ship with a maneuver drive is theoretically capable of this (though most require the presence of a big enough star to provide a wide enough area to accelerate over). While the Torch class is capable of much greater acceleration than most ships, it derives its name from a simpler metaphor: a ship of fire and light. Likewise, a Torch is too big to be classed as a "fighter" even if that is how it is designed to be used (with multiple canard wings to give superiority in atmospheric combat, whether invading or defending an atmosphere), and too small to be properly termed a "battle rider" even if it often fills that role, but it at least fulfills the definition of a "system defense boat": an armed spaceship of at least 100 tons without a jump drive. Just one Torch can defend a highport or a small world against casual pirates, though it has no staterooms and thus can only stay deployed for 24 hours at a time; best practice is no more than 6.

Nomenclature aside, a Torch is a spaceship large enough to carry a bay weapon, that dogfights. This doctrine does not always work, but when it does it can be devastatingly effective, packs of Torches hounding entire fleets until their quarry is destroyed without suffering a single shot landed in return. (Mechanically: a Torch uses its superior speed to close to Adjacent range quickly, sparing a bit of thrust for evasive actions. Once in the dogfight, the Torch's small size and high Thrust helps it win each opposed Pilot check, giving sufficient DMs to make hitting it impossible, while firing back at difficult but not impossible odds.) Speed is a Torch's primary defense, though it also carries significant armor by spaceship standards to help it survive the attack run, and to shrug off most attacks from smaller opposing vehicles, spaceships or otherwise. The short range of its primary weapon makes it ill suited to a typical "stand back and attack" doctrine.

Among the known countermeasures are uninvolved ships picking off the Torches (best handled by having enough Torches to dogfight and harass every ship in the enemy fleet, preventing all but the most disciplined crews from tending to each others' troubles), deploying true fighters (smallcraft which can out-dogfight a Torch) with heavy enough weapons to pierce the armor, firing missiles to take out the jump-capable carrier the Torches rode in on (which usually hangs well back from the fight), and firing large enough missile salvos at a Torch to overcome its point defense (attacking every Torch in a squadron at once, lest they help each other against one-at-a-time salvos). Torches carry a laser turret as a secondary weapon to deal with fighters and missiles. (A Torch's laser turret gunner may, when appropriate, use the Point Defense reaction against any missiles launched by, or about to hit, a target at up to Short range, though the software to do this disables the Evade software in any round this is done in due to limited computer bandwidth. Attacking missiles otherwise requires chasing them down or being in position to intercept.) Although the main fusion gun is mostly aimed by pointing the ship, fine aiming is achieved via magnetic deflectors packed around the triple beam generators; adjusting these deflectors is the main activity of the gunner crewing the fusion gun.

This class of ships was designed by vargr architects working for the Imperium in Deneb sector. They claim this is an evolution of designs found in the Vargr Extents. The teeth-like canards and the bridge arrangement (gunners on the outside so they can directly adjust the main gun's potentials, then engineers, and the pilot in the center - the designated captain due to having the most prominent chair and, should that crewmember fail to protect the ship, the seat furthest from the airlocks) lend credence to this claim. Similar designs have been spotted in shipyards of higher tech vargr, aslan, zhodani, and even droyne worlds, though it is surprisingly rare in the Solomani Sphere. Hivers view this design as too direct for their tastes, and k'kree prefer automated drones for ships of this sort.

Torch-class system defense boat, TL 15
Maintenance: 15,899 credits/month
Crew: pilot, 2 engineers, 2 gunners
MCr: 190.79
Excess power: 0.75
System_______________________________________________________tons__MCr____power
Reinforced streamlined hull (44 Hull)________________________-200__18_____40
Armor 11 (bonded superdense)_________________________________17.6__15.84__0
Thrust-7 maneuver drive (3*reduced power)____________________14____42_____35
Thrust-13 reaction drive (3*reduced fuel)____________________52____15.6___0
Fusion power plant___________________________________________8.15__16.3___-163
Fuel (4 weeks' operation & 30 minutes' reaction drive fuel)__14____0______0
Aerofins_____________________________________________________10____1______0
Fuel scoops (free w/streamlining)____________________________0_____0______0
Bridge_______________________________________________________10____1______0
Computer/35__________________________________________________0_____30_____0
Improved sensors_____________________________________________3_____4.3____4
Medium fusion gun bay (3*size reduced)_______________________70____24_____80
Triple beam laser turret (3*energy efficient)________________1_____1.75___3.25
Ship's locker (cargo)________________________________________0.2___0______0
Software: maneuver/0_________________________________________0_____0______0
Software: library____________________________________________0_____0______0
Software: fire control/2_____________________________________0_____4______0
Software: evade/3____________________________________________0_____3______0
Software: point defense/2____________________________________0_____12_____0

 

[WingedCat]

The limited range of small craft (firmpoint-mounted) weapons has long been an issue in the practical deployment of fighters. The Underfighter is one solution. Essentially a heavy fighter with a pressure hull, it lurks in squadrons in the depths of a gas giant or ocean, undetectable to most sensors and relying on passives from remote sensor drones to alert when ships jump in and approach for refueling. A large or protected fleet can be ignored, while a small fleet or lone ships get abruptly swarmed. When this works exceptionally well, the Underfighters' prey wind up disabled before their crews can get from commons or quarters to the guns. Despite being only TL 10, Underfighters can manage a total Thrust-9 by combining their maneuver and reaction drives. If attacking a large target, Underfighters will sometimes take advantage of their surprise to fire one missile programmed to wait several minutes, fire another missile with a bit less wait, and so on to form a salvo that the Underfighter then accompanies to attack (in game mechanics: rising from cover and closing to Adjacent range in the same round that the missiles attack), though the Underfighter's fire control can only coordinate up to 4 missiles at once this way. Typically, the pilot reloads the rack as the fourth missile is fired, then pulls up to attack as the gunner warms up the pulse laser.

Merely calling them "a nasty surprise for the unprepared" does not do justice to the concept. There is a tale from the latter days of the Ramshackle Empire, of a vargr system defense commander (having been born and raised in the Empire, with no loyalty to his distant kin) conspicuously planting Underfighter designs in starports along the path of incoming vargr raiders, causing the raiders to take refueling slow and cautiously, giving the defense commander time to rally enough forces to ward them off.

Most of an Underfighter's time on duty is spent waiting around. It is not uncommon for Underfighter squadrons to be docked into one large structure on autopilot, sensor nets deployed to provide perspective across a large ocean or from around a the gas giant (receiving tightbeamed data from the spy drones), with one person taking a watch for the entire squadron. Underfighters come with double-entrance airlocks to facilitate this, and to provide structural separation between the bridge and the rest of the crew space.

Underfighters lack jump drives, and must be ferried to destinations not in the same system as they start; 3 month shifts are common on such deployments, between which a jump-capable craft (more often far traders than dedicated tenders) will visit to rotate crews and perform maintenance. Unlike with most small craft, maintenance is done from the inside thanks to the pressure hull; there are crawlways around the reactor and drives to get at all components, though these get hot and should not be used while the reaction drive is engaged. While Underfigters only carry fuel for 4 weeks and an hour of reaction drive use, when on station in gas giants or water they are surrounded by unrefined fuel, and possess all the equipment necessary to refine it and replenish themselves while waiting for the next engagement. On colonized worlds with oceans that never actually came under attack, there have been Underfighters that were continually manned and not fully left contact with the water for centuries, with later generations of pilots treating it as a ceremonial duty, eventually just a rite of passage (with shift lengths adjusted for how many new pilots, and how many still-operational Underfighters, there were that year).

Underfighters occupy a distinctly TL 10 niche, though versions one TL to either side exist. At TL 9, more reliance on reaction drives is necessary, with fuel loads that crowd out effectiveness. TL 11 refines the systems and offers more luxury for extended deployment; adding a biosphere and enhanced signal processing is common. At TL 8 enough of the necessary components are unavailable that the concept becomes nonviable, while at TL 12 deep meson guns are deployed instead.

Underfighter-class submersible fighter, TL 10
Maintenance: 5,260 credits/month
Crew: pilot, gunner
MCr: 63.115
Excess power: 0.15
System________________________________________________tons__MCr____power
Streamlined hull (20 Hull)____________________________-50___3______10
Pressure hull (extra cost)____________________________12.5__27_____0
Armor 10 (4/pressure hull + 6/crystaliron)____________3.75__9______0
Stealth_______________________________________________0_____5______0
Thrust-3 maneuver drive_______________________________1.5___3______15
Thrust-6 reaction drive (2*reduced fuel)______________6_____1.5____0
Fusion power plant____________________________________2.95__1.475__-29.5
Fuel (4 weeks' operation + 1 hour reaction fuel)______5.5___0______0
Fuel scoops (free w/streamlining)_____________________0_____0______0
Fuel processor (convert 2 tons of fuel per day)_______0.1___0.005__0.1
Bridge w/holographic controls_________________________3_____0.625__0
Computer/10___________________________________________0_____0.16___0
Military grade sensors________________________________2_____4.1____2
Extension net_________________________________________1_____1______0
Fixed mount firmpoint missile rack____________________0_____0.85___0
Ammo storage (12 extra missiles)______________________1_____0______0
Fixed mount firmpoint pulse laser (energy efficient)__0_____1.2____2.25
2 staterooms__________________________________________8_____1______0
Common area___________________________________________2_____0.2____0
Cargo_________________________________________________0.7___0______0
Software: maneuver/0__________________________________0_____0______0
Software: library_____________________________________0_____0______0
Software: fire control/2______________________________0_____4______0

 

[WingedCat]

Empty parsecs, with extremely sparse resources compared to even uninhabitable star systems, are often ignored, or at most treated as barriers to be jumped over. But sometimes a minor polity will find itself unable to overcome said barriers, or be interested in setting up supply caches away from the star systems their enemies know the locations of. Rarely are said polities able to do something about it (and major ones are usually too large to have such worries), but Charted Space is full of exceptions to most any law of sophont behavior. The Void Camera is one such exception.

Thus, a Void Camera's mission: to explore vast empty parsecs, to seek out new resources and new ice, to map out spots for deep space fuel caches where no one has gone before.

Whether connecting adjoining jump-1 mains for use by less capable merchants, or enabling the crossing of great rifts, the procedure for each parsec remains much the same. Jump into the center of the parsec, take a "gravitic snapshot" to find any clusters of matter within 1/10 of a parsec of the middle (there are always some), jump to the most promising, spend 1-5 weeks prospecting (possibly including a week to jump to a second cluster if the first does not pan out), and jump back with the results for someone else to build a depot with. Working with a construction ship in this way, a bridge across a rift can be laid down, growing by one parsec every 1-2 months (after an initial 1-2 months to start the process). A Void Camera has enough engine and fuel to Jump 3 twice, but will usually only explore up to 2 parsecs out, using the remaining 2 parsecs' worth of fuel for in-parsec jumps.

At least 5 total levels of Science are needed among the 4 scientists to crew the gravitational analysis suite. Given the likely fields of science involved, crew planners assume that at least one of the scientists will be able to astrogate as well. Traditionally, the astrogator-scientist is also the captain, though sometimes the pilot or engineer takes this role (especially if they are the astrogator instead).

The Void Camera's shell is distinctly egg-shaped, the most noticeable irregularity being the crew airlock's exterior. While there is a second airlock on the dorsal side, this is normally reserved for the recoverable probe drones, which are designed to allow the crew to conduct multiple simultaneous surveys while prospecting.

While the secondary computer on a Void Camera is officially a backup, both will often be in use at once while prospecting, the primary running Mentor, Research Assistant, and Planetology, while the backup runs Intellect and Expert.

A Void Camera will more than suffice for belt prospecting in a star system, or can be pressed into service surveying worlds (with the gravitational analysis suite replaced by more standard laboratories and additional probe drones), and ironically can more often be found doing one of those. While it is somewhat expensive for such roles, any minor polity will typically run out of nearby empty parsecs to survey well before the ship's mortgage is paid off, let alone before the ship's useful lifetime ends, even if it only builds a single Void Camera. This further explains the design's rarity.

Another limiter: this design tends to show up only in small, Solomani-descended or minor race polities (and only those that achieve a high TL). Vlani ship builders tend to object in principle to the very idea of going off into empty parsecs on purpose, hoping to discover resources, while the other major races find J-3, J-4, or even J-5 bridges more practical (and more controllable).

Void Camera-class scout, TL 15
Maintenance: 15,746 credits/month
crew: pilot, engineer, scientist x 4 (one doubles as astrogator)
MCr: 188.95
Excess power (not counting J-drive): 3
System________________________________________tons__MCr___power
Streamlined light hull (72 hull points)_______-200__9_____40
Radiation shielding___________________________0_____5_____0
Jump-3 drive (3*fuel efficient)_______________20____45____60
Thrust-9 maneuver drive (2*energy efficient)__18____45____90
Fusion reactor________________________________8_____16____-160
Fuel (jump-3*2 + 8 weeks' operation)__________104___0_____0
Fuel processors (20 tons/day)_________________1_____0.05__1
Fuel scoop (from streamlining)________________0_____0_____0
Bridge________________________________________10____1_____0
3 staterooms__________________________________12____1.5___0
Common area___________________________________3_____0.3___0
Advanced sensors w/extended arrays____________15____15.9__18
Enhanced sensor processing____________________2_____8_____2
Mineral detection suite_______________________0_____5_____0
Gravitational analysis suite__________________5_____12____6
Advanced probe drones x 5_____________________1_____0.8___0
Cargo_________________________________________1_____0_____0
Computer/20___________________________________0_____5_____0
Computer/15___________________________________0_____2_____0
Software: library_____________________________0_____0_____0
Software: maneuver/0__________________________0_____0_____0
Software: jump control/3______________________0_____0.3___0
Software: intellect___________________________0_____1_____0
Software: expert (electronics(sensors))/3_____0_____0.1___0
Software: mentor/3____________________________0_____4_____0
Software: research assist/3___________________0_____5_____0
Software: planetology/3_______________________0_____7_____0

 

[WingedCat]

The purpose of a Worldbooker is to thoroughly survey planets in a few weeks. It accomplishes this largely from orbit (usually landing only to refuel, if it has not done so at a gas giant), identifying interesting or representative areas of a planet and dropping survey drones from a few hundred kilometers up to more thoroughly examine the local geology and biology. These drones are largely autonomous, not directly piloted by the team of scientists in orbit but merely told what to do (though manual control is an option), while the scientists compile and analyze data from the drones and the ship's sensors. Most of the ship's sensors are aimed down to assist with data collection, and part of the maneuver drive lies at the base of the nose to assist with drone dropoff and recovery maneuvers. The ship even carries a modified shallow penetration suite, optimized for penetrating planetary crusts to read electromagnetic and infrared sensors suggesting hidden volcanic or other unusual activity.

Design of Worldbookers' drones started with the fact that many interesting worlds have oceans of some depth, and a few others have atmospheres dense enough to cause worries about pressure at their bottoms. The obvious solution is a grav vehicle that can dive, but the pressures involved made it more practical to equip a Worldbooker with submersibles that can fly. The result is large, comparable to a mid-sized fighter. Almost half the space consists of combined supercavitation and grav drives, in outrigger pods that envelope the craft in low-density gas (which the grav drive provides thrust through) in any high-pressure situation, yet still able to carry the drone to and from orbit (the round trip typically consumes a third of its range). The central hull contains a vast array of sensors and samplers to measure any environment; a manipulator arm extending from the ventral surface to lift, pry, and dig; and a bit of cargo space to take mineral or biological samples (entire small organisms or important pieces of large ones) back to the ship. These drones dock securely to the lower deck of a Worldbooker, with barely enough room to attach refueling hoses and unload samples. They have enough fuel for several hours' operation if quickly following some current or river along its length, or much longer if staying mostly in one place such as when drilling to sample minerals up to a kilometer underground (or under the sea floor). Maintenance is done with the drone outside but near the Worldbooker, either between or after survey runs, often by other drones, with spare parts passed from the cargo hold through the rear airlock.

Like most spacecraft, a Worldbooker is minimalist with regard to its interior. Housing for the scientists is dormitory-style, directly underneath the scientific operations suite, while the ship's relatively small crew is housed separately. Access to the cramped bridge is only possible through the crew's quarters or through the forward airlocks, placed to discourage the scientists from bothering the crew during operations. This also gives the bridge crew uninterrupted access to the power plant during jumps, since a Worldbooker has just enough power to jump after shutting down everything but essential systems (primarily life support and artificial gravity). The scientific operations suite is divided into 16 library-like workstations, 2 4-person conference rooms, and three holotanks on which the planet being surveyed is constantly displayed (one of them sometimes shows a satellite, or a similar known world for comparison), either showing planet-wide data such as hydrological and atmospheric cycles or simply plotting a map, usually to highlight areas in need of a drone's attention or to confirm the completeness of the survey.

Scientists aboard a Worldbooker tend to work in belter-like schedules: 2 hours breakfast and waking up, 6 hours working, 2 hours lunch and break, another 6 hours working, 2 hours dinner and winding down, 8 hours sleep. At no point are more than 12 of the scientists working at once (or, if all 16 are - typically at the start before there is much data to analyze - the Planetology software is temporarily paused to free up bandwidth). Their main task is not so much to characterize what is on the planet when the ship visits - the drones can do that job - but to model and predict what the planet is like during the rest of its year, given the briefness of the survey (a Worldbooker in full operation tries to survey 6-12 planets per year, including time to jump from system to system and visit a port to resupply). Weather, currents, nutrient flows, any meteor swarms in the path of the planet's orbit, and other such data are analyzed to make a picture of typical seasons, project optimum year-round habitable locations and agricultural sites, and predict variations over time in local flora and fauna.

Worldbooker-class survey ship, TL 14
Maintenance: 26,079 credits/month
crew: pilot, astrogator, engineer, 16 scientists
MCr: 312.946
Excess power (not including J-drive): 6
System_________________________________________________________tons__MCr_____power
Streamlined hull (160 hull points)_____________________________-400__24______80
Jump-2 drive (3*reduced fuel)__________________________________25____56.25___80
Thrust-2 maneuver drive (3*energy efficient)___________________8_____24______20
Fusion reactor_________________________________________________8_____8_______-120
Fuel (jump-2 + 4 weeks' operation)_____________________________69____0_______0
Fuel processors (20 tons/day)__________________________________1_____0.05____1
Fuel scoop (from streamlining)_________________________________0_____0_______0
Scientific operations suite (planetary survey, 16 scientists)__48____38.4____5
Small bridge___________________________________________________10____2_______0
4 docking spaces (survey drones)_______________________________116___28.75___0
4 survey drones________________________________________________0_____62.596__0
19 staterooms__________________________________________________76____9.5_____0
Common area____________________________________________________19____1.9_____0
Improved sensors_______________________________________________3_____4.3_____4
Enhanced signal processing_____________________________________2_____8_______2
Life scanner analysis suite____________________________________1_____4_______1
Shallow penetration suite______________________________________10____5_______1
Cargo__________________________________________________________4_____0_______0
Computer/30____________________________________________________0_____20______0
Software: library______________________________________________0_____0_______0
Software: maneuver/0___________________________________________0_____0_______0
Software: jump control/2_______________________________________0_____0.2_____0
Software: mentor/3_____________________________________________0_____4_______0
Software: research assist/3____________________________________0_____5_______0
Software: planetology/3________________________________________0_____7_______0

TL 14 survey drone
MCr: 15.649
armor: 4
underwater agility: -1
air agility: -2
shipping: 26
crew: 0
passengers: 0
cargo: 0.5
hull: 156
front/back armor: 4
side/top/bottom armor: 3
underwater range (cruise): 3000 (4500)
air range (cruise): 1500 (2250)
safe depth: 2 km
crush depth: 6 km
underwater speed (cruise): subsonic (very fast)
air speed (cruise): very fast (fast)
System_____________________________________________spaces__MCr
heavy submersible hull w/supercavitating drive_____-52_____5.2
supercavitating drive______________________________10______1.3
fuel efficient_____________________________________0_______1.625
auxiliary grav drive_______________________________13______6.5
advanced control system____________________________0_______0.025
atmospheric sampler________________________________3_______0.0 1
geological sampler_________________________________15______0. 1
hydrographic sampler_______________________________5_______0.01
manipulator arm____________________________________2_______0.0 15
advanced communications system (100,000 km range)__0_______0.001
satellite uplink___________________________________1_______0 .001
advanced sensors (2500 km range)___________________0_______0.1
advanced sensors (underwater, 1250 km range)_______0_______0.2
advanced camouflage________________________________0_______0.01
cargo______________________________________________0.5_____0
actuation__________________________________________2_______0.002
advanced control interface_________________________0.5_____0.05
very advanced robot brain__________________________0_______0.5

 

[WingedCat]

There are certain strains of Virus that prefer only to infect spaceships, that being what they were in when they became sentient, and thus with identities molded around being ships. Some of these strains seek recognition as sentient individuals from other sophonts, the most numerous examples at hand being far smaller biological ones. The Xihuitl class was designed to facilitate this interaction, using TL 16 smallcraft computers able to handle the complexity of software that at previous tech levels required capital ships' computer cores.

Sculpted to resemble a large floating humanoid, with legs replaced by a hemispherical maneuver drive, the typical assessment is that it does its job somewhat but a true android would have been better. Roughly 10 meters tall and wide (with arms by its sides), and 2 meters thick, it is unable to fit into spaces designed for smaller sophonts. Its body plan is just close enough to humanoid to feel off; in particular, at rest the end of the arms tries to form into "hands" with three fingers and two thumbs, but the many manipulators, tools, and cameras these are formed from are clearly visible. But where it can go, it provides a unit that can be faced and spoken with.

If kept to planet-side activities on a water-bearing world with only occasional excursions above the atmosphere (say, to move things to or from orbit or to visit a local moon), and supplied with a high tech population or tools to maintain itself, then between its greater speed, strength, and intelligence relative to most sophonts, a Xihuitl essentially becomes the long-lived superbeing it believes itself to be. As with any vehicle with a maneuver drive, a Xihuitl can soar at hypersonic speeds around a planet, or just hop up to low orbit and back to complete a long (on planetary scale) trip in less than an hour (accelerating then decelerating in similar fashion to space voyages). While it has limited internal cargo space, by locking arms and getting under the center of gravity, it is able to carry loads heavier than itself (maximum load depending on local gravity: (30 G-tons lift)/(tons of cargo + 10 ton Xihuitl) >= gravity in Gs). Concretely measuring intelligence remains trickier even at high technology levels, but most standardized tests place a Xihuitl's AI at much higher than the average for most biological sopohonts. The only "food" a Xihuitl needs is hydrogen, typically siphoned from the same water supply that supports whatever population it associates with, though its maintenance "medical" needs are significantly higher. Most new Xihuitls quickly learn the skills needed to maintain themselves, and devote their internal cargo to supplies necessary for this (and sometimes an android drone, though many report dissatisfaction when biological sophonts treat this drone as the "real" sophont and the Xihuitl as a mere shell).

That said, a Xihuitl is still technically a spaceship, able to fly throughout a solar system with little problem. There are "jump frames" - 100 ton ships, usually a minimum of Jump-3, refitted with a docking space replacing the bridge, staterooms, and crew commons - that Xihuitls can dock with and pilot from star to star, typically filling all crew positions. It is not unheard of, when a Xihuitl wishes to blow off steam, to fly to a local asteroid belt and take out frustrations on a helpless rock (placing new craters on the planet or local moons having been deemed unsightly).

Xihuitl class person ship, TL 16
Maintenance: 6,800 credits/month
Crew: none (AI pilot)
MCr: 81.6025
Excess power: 0.2
System________________________________________tons__MCr_____power
Reinforced close structure hull (6 Hull)______-10___0.675___2
Armor 20 (molecular bonded)___________________1_____2.025___0
Thrust-3 maneuver drive (3*energy efficient)__0.3___0.9_____0.75
Fusion power plant____________________________0.35__0.7_____-7
Fuel (4 weeks' operation)_____________________1_____0_______0
Fuel scoops___________________________________0_____1_______0
Fuel processors (1 ton/day)___________________0.05__0.0025__0.05
Computer/40___________________________________0_____45______0
Improved sensors______________________________3_____4.3_____4
2 grappling arms______________________________4_____2_______0
Cargo_________________________________________0.3___0_______0
Software: maneuver/0__________________________0_____0_______0
Software: library_____________________________0_____0_______0
Software: conscious intelligence______________0_____25______0

 

[WingedCat]

Say "blockade runner" at any starport bar frequented by the Imperial Navy, and odds are someone will immediately think of the Yinoti class. (A telepath who served on one claims to have tested this over a few years, and found it true at least 65% of the time.) The main point of a Yinoti is to get its 10-marine g/carrier onto a planet's surface without being seen, hide while the marines do their work, and fly them home after their mission is done. With careful piloting and good intel about any holes in the destination planet's sensor net, this is possible against all but the most heavily guarded worlds (and sometimes even those). Double-jump fuel capacity and a 9G maneuver drive gives an escape option should the infiltration go poorly. As an absolute last resort, if caught on the ground with its crew deployed, a Yionti is shaped like a common far trader and can try to pretend to be one; a detailed scan will give away the lie, but this can sometimes buy enough time to recall the crew and evacuate.

A Yinoti does not have enough power to run all systems at once, but in practice, at most two of the holographic hull, maneuver drive, and jump drive will be in use at a time: either the ship is making a stealthy jump (h-hull & j-drive), the ship is making a fast exit (m-drive & j-drive), or the ship is not jumping at the moment (h-hull & m-drive). The ship is crowded, with not just double occupancy but double roles assumed: usually the pilot is the astrogator, the engineer and at least one of the marines can fill the gunner slot as needed (and will not crew the barbette most of the time, saving its ammunition for single shot indirect fire in support of deployed marines, or full salvos against targets - usually pursuing spaceships - outside the laser's range), and one of the 10 marines is also the officer in charge of the entire operation.

To partially compensate for this, the bottom deck is designed for the marines to hang out when not in their staterooms, beyond just hosting the crew commons. There is not so much a cargo hold as a designated area to store cargo. The armory lacks its typical bulkhead-grade walls: almost all the crew are marines anyway, and if either of the two non-marines is not versed in gun safety at the start of a jump, they tend to be by its end. The g/carrier dock (normally close to the ground when the ship is landed; when the g/carrier needs to get in or out, the articulated landing gears "stand up", pushing the ship up to give enough clearance) is readily accessible, making it easy for marines to do what maintenance can be done from within the vehicle. The ramp at the front of the bottom deck (essentially an oversized airlock) has its side walls hardened so that marines at its iris valves with energy weapons set to low power (and clip-on recoil simulators if they want to emulate projectile weapons) can use it as a shooting range, with tiny, moving holographic targets (emitted from the rear) to make up for the limited maximum distance. Savvy marine officers meeting friendly forces at the destination have tuned these emitters to enhance their appearance as they strode down the ramp - just enough to make a good first impression, subtle enough that the locals did not notice when the officer walked beyond the emitters' range, shutting down the effect.

The Yinoti class is named for legendary or historical stealth couriers. while Yinoti is a figure from vilani history - a shugilii whose legend began with hiding messages in her food - some historians have noted that Yinoti's later exploits would have seen her called a ninja or shinobi had she lived on ancient Terra, and many solomani-built Yinoti class ships bear the names of ninja.

Yinoti-class blockade runner, TL 15
Maintenance: 34,978 credits/month
crew: pilot/astrogator, engineer/gunner, 10 marines (including 1 officer)
MCr: 419.73
Excess power (not including J-drive): 4
System________________________________________tons__MCr____power
Streamlined reinforced hull (88 hull points)__-200__18_____40
Radiation shielding___________________________0_____5______0
Emissions absorption grid_____________________4_____8______0
Superior stealth______________________________0_____200____0
Holographic hull______________________________0_____20_____100
Jump-2 drive (stealth jump, size reduced)_____13.5__30.375_40
Thrust-9 maneuver drive (2*energy efficient)__18____45_____90
Fusion reactor________________________________12.5__25_____-250
Fuel (jump-2*2 + 4 weeks' operation)__________82____0______0
Fuel processors (20 tons/day)_________________1_____0.05___1
Fuel scoop (free w/streamlining)______________0_____0______0
Bridge________________________________________10____1______0
Advanced sensors______________________________5_____5.3____6
6 staterooms__________________________________24____3______0
Common area___________________________________6_____0.6____0
Armory for 10 marines_________________________2_____0.5____0
Triple mount turret___________________________1_____2.875__9
(sandcaster + 2 beam lasers, all accurate high yield)
Missile barbette (3*size reduced)_____________3.5___6______0
Docking space for g/carrier___________________17____4.25___0
G/carrier_____________________________________0_____11.58__0
Cargo_________________________________________0.5___0______0
Computer/30___________________________________0_____30_____0
Software: library_____________________________0_____0______0
Software: maneuver/0__________________________0_____0______0
Software: jump control/2______________________0_____0.2____0
Software: evade/3_____________________________0_____3______0

 

[WingedCat]

Sometimes bootstrap expeditions using drones to reestablish industry find the colony does not even have boats to take minerals, harvested from local asteroid belts, down to the planet. At other times, it is simply convenient to deliver small packets directly to destinations across (and sometimes in orbit of) a world, or to organize the output of other drones for easy survey and pickup by larger vessels. For this, there is the Zip drone.

Externally similar to the venerable Type-S Scout design, if much smaller and internally simpler, a Zip drone is likewise a courier. Like many spaceships, its considerable expense (relative to grav vehicles, since it often operates at an altitude less than double a planet's radius) means it is only employed where there is enough traffic for it to remotely make sense, though in many cases this is less a question of "if" but "how many". When it has stopped to take on cargo or make deliveries (usually sitting on its tail if in a planetary gravity well, more often hovering than actually landed), a grappling arm folds out of the front section to perform all cargo handling duties. If confronted with a ball of ore or bundle of raw materials too large to deliver in one pass, which is typically how Mints send their products, Zips' arms are designed to break said products into 5 ton chunks to deliver individually. During construction, most Zips have their arms unfolded, only folding up to achieve their fully streamlined form upon activation and deployment.

Zip drones also see use independently of the other drone types on this list, being useful anywhere where fast, interplanetary delivery of small cargoes is needed. Certain high population worlds employ them to never go beyond orbit, finding them useful for express deliveries at merely intercontinental distances.

Zip class courier drone, TL 12
Maintenance: 386 credits/month
Crew: none (virtual pilot)
MCr: 4.63
Excess power: 0
System_____________________________tons__MCr___power
Streamlined hull (4 Hull)__________-10___0.6___2
Thrust-7 maneuver drive____________0.7___1.4___7
Fusion power plant_________________0.6___0.6___-9
Fuel (4 weeks' operation)__________1_____0_____0
Fuel scoops (free w/streamlining)__0_____0_____0
Computer/5_________________________0_____0.03__0
Basic sensors______________________0_____0_____0
Grappling arm______________________2_____1_____0
Cargo______________________________5.7___0_____0
Software: maneuver/0_______________0_____0_____0
Software: virtual crew/0___________0_____1_____0

(See Fuelbag for deckplans.)

 

[steve98052]

That's a lot of good work. About the only thing I don't like about it is that the heavy automation goes against my vision of a central Traveller idea, that sophonts remain necessary, even if current trends in automation suggest that your designs are more plausible than fully-crewed ships. But that's my vision. Otherwise, great stuff.

You might even want to assemble it into a pay-what-you-will Drive Thru RPG book.

 

[WingedCat]

That's a lot of good work. About the only thing I don't like about it is that the heavy automation goes against my vision of a central Traveller idea, that sophonts remain necessary, even if current trends in automation suggest that your designs are more plausible than fully-crewed ships. But that's my vision. Otherwise, great stuff.

Thanks! And yeah, I see automation going this way too, though I note that having good skill in Traveller requires living sophonts (short of TL 16, but at that point one can consider that something akin to uploading might be one of the kinds of things that Conscious Intelligence software represents). Notice that literally nothing the Average Cargo Ship and its all-droid crew does requires good skill; anything that does require good skill, that ship just doesn't do. Likewise, the System Defense Bricks are only truly a threat when you have a wall of them, especially with other drones carrying spare missiles (like a squire holding a knight's spare weapons), and they use a weapon type (missiles) that doesn't care if the gunner is a bad shot.

You might even want to assemble it into a pay-what-you-will Drive Thru RPG book.

Eh. I might, but that seems like it'd be a hassle, and I'm not sure how many I'd reach that way who don't already come here (or the CotI forum, where these are also published). Besides, I'm still not 100% sure I've got all the stats right. (For instance, I noticed - and fixed - an error with the Mint's raw materials fabrication speed, which in turn bumped the Quarter Hammers' doubling time from two months to three.)

 

[AnotherDilbert]

I agree that a lot of automation is possible and quite economical, yet I do not use it since I play a game about people in space. I could probably live with a highly automated passenger liner where most of the crew are stewards.



If you want some quibbles:
Average Cargo Ship:
Hull: 31455 = 69900 / 2,0 × 90%
Hull cost: MCr 2097 = 69900 × 0,05 × 80% × 75%
Jump drive cost: MCr 5775 = 3500 × 1,5 × 110%
Well over 4 days to refine the fuel? It slows down port stops.


Barrister:
Hull cost: MCr 90 = 1000 × 0,05 × 120% × 150%
Jump Drive: 80 Dt = 1000 × 3 × 2,5% + 5
___________: MCr 180 = 80 × 1,5 × 150%
Bridge cost: MCr 6,25 = 1000 / 100 * 0,5
Computer Core/70/fib = MCr 120 = 80 × 150%
Adv Sensor w Rapid Array MCr 26,5 = 5,3 × 5
Turrets: Power 54 = 6 + 6 × 2 × 4
Staterooms: Cost MCr 12 = 24 × 0,5
Signals Processing, Enhanced: Cost MCr 8

Boarding Gig:
Turret Cost: MCr 0,7875 = ( 0,2 + 0,15 ) × 150% × 150%
Turret Power: 1 = ( 1 + 4 × 75% ) × 25%

 

[WingedCat]

Sorry for the delay - these past couple weeks have been busy.

If you want some quibbles:

I do!

Average Cargo Ship:
Hull: 31455 = 69900 / 2,0 × 90%

Eh? I get (69900/2.5)*0.9 = 25164. It's 1 Hull per 2.5, not per 2.

Hull cost: MCr 2097 = 69900 × 0,05 × 80% × 75%

I thought the multipliers added together? So 80% and 75% mean 65%. Are there any canon examples that clarify this?

Jump drive cost: MCr 5775 = 3500 × 1,5 × 110%

Will update. (Saving full update pending the multiple multiplier question, as that will affect other ships.)

Well over 4 days to refine the fuel? It slows down port stops.

Indeed, and I call this out:

On the highest volume routes, where an ACS can reliably get 50,000 tons of cargo each way, getting back into jump faster is worth buying refined fuel. Most routes use much less than full capacity, and are normally only engaged in by mortgage-free ACSes, taking another 4 to 5 days per trip for wilderness refuelling (mostly to process all the fuel).

Barrister:
Hull cost: MCr 90 = 1000 × 0,05 × 120% × 150%

Same multiple multiplier question.

Jump Drive: 80 Dt = 1000 × 3 × 2,5% + 5
___________: MCr 180 = 80 × 1,5 × 150%

...how did I forget that +5? That'll need rework of other systems. Thanks.

Bridge cost: MCr 6,25 = 1000 / 100 * 0,5
Computer Core/70/fib = MCr 120 = 80 × 150%
Adv Sensor w Rapid Array MCr 26,5 = 5,3 × 5
Turrets: Power 54 = 6 + 6 × 2 × 4
Staterooms: Cost MCr 12 = 24 × 0,5
Signals Processing, Enhanced: Cost MCr 8

I'll update the core to /90 (at 120 MCr) instead of /70/fib. Looks like there's some more rework on the Barrister. Thank you for pointing these out.

Boarding Gig:
Turret Cost: MCr 0,7875 = ( 0,2 + 0,15 ) × 150% × 150%
Turret Power: 1 = ( 1 + 4 × 75% ) × 25%

Same multiple multiplier question.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Average Cargo Ship:
Hull: 31455 = 69900 / 2,0 × 90%

Eh? I get (69900/2.5)*0.9 = 25164. It's 1 Hull per 2.5, not per 2.

See text-box "Massive Ships" HG, p10. Big ships get more hull points.

Hull cost: MCr 2097 = 69900 × 0,05 × 80% × 75%

I thought the multipliers added together? So 80% and 75% mean 65%. Are there any canon examples that clarify this?

See Heavy Fighter (HG, p102). As far as I remember Nerhesi confirmed that as correct.

Hull cost: MCr 3 + 1.5 = 4.5 = 50 × 0,05 × 120% × 150%.

 

[AndrewW]

Yes, each cost is applied on its own.

 

[WingedCat]

I thought the multipliers added together? So 80% and 75% mean 65%. Are there any canon examples that clarify this?

See Heavy Fighter (HG, p102). As far as I remember Nerhesi confirmed that as correct.

Alright,thanks. That affected hull (and thus armor, on ships with non-planetoid armor) on most of my designs, but I believe I have fixed them now.

If you spot any further quibbles, please do let me know.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Comet Coffin-class low transport, TL 14
60 low berths_________________________30____1.5______3

60 Low Berths: Cost = 60 × 0.05 = MCr 3

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Dimin-class pocket cruiser, TL 15
Command bridge w/holographic controls___________________80______61.875____0

Command bridge cost: 7300 / 100 × 0,75 × 125% = MCr 68.4375

Advanced sensors w/distributed arrays___________________15______15.9______12

Advanced sensor requires 6 Power, Array multiplies by 3. Power = 6 × 3 = 18

3 type-3 point defense batteries (energy efficient)_____60______66________81

Energy Efficient is 75% Power, not 90%. Power = 3 × 30 × 75% = 67.5

14 pulse laser triple turrets (high yield, long range)__14______42________14

That is only the turrets, not the lasers?
Cost = 14 × ( 1 + 3 × 1 ) × 150% = MCr 84
Power = 14 × ( 1 + 3 × 4 ) = Power 182

Enhanced signal processing______________________________2_______6_________2

MCr 8?

Fuel processors (280 tons/day)__________________________14______0.7_______14

A week to refine?



Optimisation:

The ship lacks Rad Shielding, making it easy to kill the crew with Rad weapons.

You can make the ship cheaper by making it bigger, strangely enough. Use Reduced Size or even Budget(Energy Inefficient) drives and make the ship a little bigger, and you will get a cheaper ship with more Hull points.

Reinforced hull is expensive, and probably not worth it in the general case. In this case it costs about 8% extra and gives 10% more Hull, which may sound good until you realise that for the same money you get 8% less ships and hence less guns. So for the same money you get 2% more Hull, but 8% less guns, which is not a good choice.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Fuelbag class fuel depot drone, TL 12
Collapsible fuel tank (can hold 600 tons)_________________________6_____0.003__0

By RAW fuel bladders are only for internal use, not exterior use.

A minimum fuel tank of 1 Dt is not optional, if you use a fusion power plant.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Hummingbird-class Courier, TL 15
Medical bay w/1 autodoc___________________________________________4_____1.4____0

Cost? Even with the Autodoc within the Med bay the bay should cost MCr 2 + MCr 1 for the autodoc?

Type III point defense battery (3*size reduction)_________________14____30_____30

Can't have three advantages on a TL14 component at TL15, max one advantage.


I would not allow modules as undefined as this. If you want to be able to mount small bays I would require two modules of 50 Dt each (or at least 35 Dt for size reduced bays). Note that Power Plants are not allowed to be modular.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Ghost Galleon-class cargo ship, TL 11
Streamlined light hull (72 Hull)____________________-600__27_____120

Hull 216 = 600 / 2.5 × 90%?

 

[WingedCat]

I've adopted your corrections (including where they necessitated changes to the deckplans) unless noted otherwise below.

A week to refine?

As noted in the post - though on review, that did seem a bit long, even as a noted weakness. Reduced to about half a week.

Optimisation:

The ship lacks Rad Shielding, making it easy to kill the crew with Rad weapons.

You can make the ship cheaper by making it bigger, strangely enough. Use Reduced Size or even Budget(Energy Inefficient) drives and make the ship a little bigger, and you will get a cheaper ship with more Hull points.

Reinforced hull is expensive, and probably not worth it in the general case. In this case it costs about 8% extra and gives 10% more Hull, which may sound good until you realise that for the same money you get 8% less ships and hence less guns. So for the same money you get 2% more Hull, but 8% less guns, which is not a good choice.

In reverse order:

This is the kind of ship a small polity would have one of. Anyone with enough budget to field enough that 10% matters, has enough budget to field a few bigger ships instead and probably will. I have a hard time picturing a warship without reinforced hull.

The theory of operations is to use every available hardpoint - so a bigger ship would mean more weapons. If I wasn't doing this, I could shrink the ship quite a bit down to just the minimal spinal weapon and the bare minimum of systems needed to make it go.

Good point on the rad shielding, though. Added.

By RAW fuel bladders are only for internal use, not exterior use.

A minimum fuel tank of 1 Dt is not optional, if you use a fusion power plant.

I double-checked, and High Guard only restricts fuel bladders from use for jump drives, not fusion plants.

Or do you mean the placement in the deckplans? That would matter if the ship was intended to be taken aboard another ship, or was able to jump. Neither of these is the case. That said, engine performance does need to be recalculated when the fuel tanks are full; per the notes, a Fuelbag only has Thrust 1/6 when at full capacity.

Hummingbird-class Courier, TL 15
Medical bay w/1 autodoc___________________________________________4_____1.4____0

Cost? Even with the Autodoc within the Med bay the bay should cost MCr 2 + MCr 1 for the autodoc?

And I forgot that a medical bay takes 1 power. Fixed.

Type III point defense battery (3*size reduction)_________________14____30_____30

Can't have three advantages on a TL14 component at TL15, max one advantage.

Changed down to type II, a TL 12 component (TL 15 w/advantages).

I would not allow modules as undefined as this. If you want to be able to mount small bays I would require two modules of 50 Dt each (or at least 35 Dt for size reduced bays). Note that Power Plants are not allowed to be modular.

I thought the point of modules was to be undefined by the ship, so that new modules could be made up as needed. I mean, do you want me to come up with an alphabet of modules, with deckplans, just for the Hummingbird?

As to the two small bays, that would presumably be a "two small bays + support equipment" module; I suspect a "one medium bay + support equipment" module is more likely. I've added a note that the 25 ton module fittings are a relic of where the design is from, and in practice it will usually only have a single (50 or 100 ton) module at any given time.

Good point about the power plants. I've changed that note to batteries (presumably charged out of combat from the ship's power plant, and provide an ammunition limitation in combat).

Thinking about the modules, a partial alphabet (some of these require enough power that they can't be run during combat, all are 100-ton unless noted otherwise):
Asteroid (50-ton module;25 mining drones, the other 50 tons is there to receive what they mine)
Barracks (60 tons barracks for 30 marines, 6 tons armory, 15 tons common area, 12 tons training area,0 and 7 tons cargo)
Cargo (the not-a-module)
Drones (50-ton module; 250 advanced probe drones)
Express (50-ton module; 10 ton mail distribution array, 34 ton collapsible fuel tank to allow double Jump-2, 6 tons cargo)
Fusion (70 ton medium bay weapon, 4 tons stateroom, 26 tons batteries + cargo)
Garage (2 x 17 tons g/carrier docking space, 40 tons barracks for 20 marines, 4 tons armory, 10 tons common area, 4 tons training area, and 4 tons cargo)
Hangar (4 x 20 tons hangar space for 10 ton fighters, 3 x 4 tons staterooms for 4 pilots and 2 mechanics, 3 tons common area, and 5 tons cargo)
Ion (70 ton medium bay weapon, 4 tons stateroom, 26 tons batteries + cargo)
Jump (an extra 100 tons of fuel tanks; add another 2 in a collapsible tank in the ship's locker, and that's double Jump-3)
Missile (70 ton medium bay weapon, 4 tons stateroom, 26 tons ammo + cargo)
Observatory (100 ton small observatory)
Particle (70 ton medium bay weapon, 4 tons stateroom, 26 tons batteries + cargo)
Railgun (70 ton medium bay weapon, 4 tons stateroom, 26 tons ammo + cargo)
Survey (48 ton scientific operations suite, 8 x 4 ton staterooms, 8 tons common area, 2 tons enhanced signal processing, 1 ton life scanner analysis suite, and 9 tons cargo)
Tachyon (90 ton medium bay weapon, 4 tons stateroom, 6 tons batteries + cargo)

Anyway. You've reviewed the list through at least Ghost Galleon, and I thank you for it. Do you see any further corrections needed in the rest?