Deep Space and Empty Hexes

[Vormaerin]

How is cross purposes?
When does needing specialized equipment to explore different enviroments, cross purposes?
Climbing Gears for mountains?! Airplanes/gravcar for areostats? Aqualung to go on a dive with my dolphin friend.
Obviously, why did you include ocean we cant freely go into the water. Depth, just feels like an artificial constriction where I am allowed to go.

If for 50 years we could use an existing vehicle to explore the depths, but now the rules are changed, I want to know what the advantage is to doing so.

Not to mention that the specialized equipment is only available in a $50 adventure pack that most people probably don't have and is so bulky and expensive that it is unlikely most PC ships could even use it. It quadruples the power demands of the M-Drive, increases its cost by 60%, and is 125% of the volume of the M-Drive it's added onto at the TL that PC ships generally are (TL 12).

If you ignore the rule against engine refits and pretend the 11 tons of cargo are near the engine room, you could fit an DSMS on a Suleiman scoutship, but using it would require 80pts of power and the Suleiman only produces 60 (20 of which is probably better used keeping life support on). So you also have to increase the power plant from 4dtons to 7dtons. This will allow your ship to make a mighty 0.4G acceleration. Which is, admittedly, a lot better than 0.002G.

This is obviously not something you are going to do to enable a few adventures here and there. Maybe if you are running a Riftbreaker campaign ala the comic book you might. (Curious to see if that uses the 1000D limit or not).

The WBH has a whole chapter on cool things you can do in empty hexes. The Deep Space Exploration Handbook is all about this stuff. There's several adventures with "empty hex" activities. And there's various deep space locales scattered about. Doing any of those things in a normal ship is pretty near impossible considering that it'll take you several days to move 150k km. (And the rules for the special ships are, as mentioned previously, only in the Deepnight Revelation campaign book).

I want to know what benefits are there to this rules change. What does it add in adventure possibilities and cool stuff to my campaign to make up for the stuff it is taking away.

 

[Vormaerin]

To specifically address the "what cross purposes" question:

Until recently (by Traveller standards), deep space and empty hexes were just obstacles. You either had the jump ability to cross it or you went around. Once in a great while, something was stuck out there like Chandler & Riftspan Stations or an ancient site, pirate base, etc. But if you knew about those things, you could cruise around visiting it no problem.

Now, Mongoose is adding lots of detail to empty space and publishing multiple books about doing things in Empty Space. And they are adding more deep space locations. This is all very interesting and cool, despite any potential concerns about upending "traditional space geography".

But, just as they do all this, they nerf movement in deep space into the sub-basement. Now there's actually stuff to do, but actually doing it is extremely problematic.

And since Matt has said in the other thread that he really likes the M-Drive falling off the cliff in deep space, it isn't just a case of carrying over some T5 thing without realizing the implications. They are very deliberately making deep space cool AND making it impractical to go there at the same time. I consider that to be working at cross purposes.

 

[Geir]

They are very deliberately making deep space cool AND making it impractical to go there at the same time. I consider that to be working at cross purposes.

Here Be Dragons...