EVA Operations

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

1. What are the rules for EVA operations?

2. Where are the exterior hull maps for Common Spacecraft, so players can go for a walk on the hull?

Airlocks and Zero-G Athletics are only useless if there's never a reason to go outside; but there can be lots of great reasons to go outside...

1. Ship repairs or upgrades

2. Boarding Actions, and Opposing Boarding Actions

3. Fending off small space critters

 

[MongooseMatt]

This might be taking things too far for a Core book, but what would you like to see?

 

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

Well, yes and no; half the reason to have a Vacc Suit is to go out and fix the ship so you can get home. It's part of life on board a starship.

All the rules necessary to navigate around the hull should be included. This includes the use of EVA gear, safety tethers, handholds & footholds, recovering players that have lost secured purchase to the ship, and so on. Reasons it may be required to go outside would be great, too.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Well, yes and no; half the reason to have a Vacc Suit is to go out and fix the ship so you can get home. It's part of life on board a starship.

All the rules necessary to navigate around the hull should be included. This includes the use of EVA gear, safety tethers, handholds & footholds, recovering players that have lost secured purchase to the ship, and so on. Reasons it may be required to go outside would be great, too.

All of those rules are folded into the Zero G skill in the same way that you don't decide which tolls to use , what procedures or spare parts are needed to fix combat damage to your drives with an Engineer role.

Nothing to stop you making up your own rules but not really something needed in the main rules.

Of course someone could write a supplement on EVA, try the third party people

 

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

All of those rules are folded into the Zero G skill in the same way that you don't decide which tolls to use, what procedures or spare parts are needed to fix combat damage to your drives with an Engineer role.

Nothing to stop you making up your own rules but not really something needed in the main rules.

Of course someone could write a supplement on EVA, try the third party people

The "Zero-G" skill has more to do with agility under Zero-G conditions, which is a pretty unnatural state for most sophonts; it applies equally well inside the ship under Artificial Gravity failure as outside. It really doesn't cover EVA procedures and "man overboard" conditions, which are a whole other kettle of fish.

Current rules tend to assume that EVA is never required for ship repairs, which is rather ridiculous. Surely, when the hull itself needs to be patched, there will be as many people working outside the ship as inside. Turrets and Sensors are damaged from the outside, too.

 

[Infojunky]

1st off, Zero G was covered in Beltstrike in MgT 1st edition. (Matt in earlier editions of Traveller the Zero-G loss of control section in Beltstrike was included as part of the skill description)

2nd, Exterior ship maps, now that is a grand Idea. One could half-ass them by using the deckplan.

And there are TONS of reasons to send the PCs scrambling outside in their VaccSuits. Say that drive spoiling missile hit just as they enter Jump the one my players are contending with now....