High Burn Thruster Costs

[PsiTraveller]

Thanks to Nerhesi I am now obsessed with High Burn Thrusters.

What is the cost for the chemical fuel? I am pricing them as Reaction Drives, 0.2 per ton for the thruster section. I have calculated an hours worth of fuel, but is there a cost to it? Is it hydrogen I can refill from my fuel processor?

High Burn Thruster's are cumulative with M-Drives.
Are Reaction Drives cumulative with M-Drives? If I had an Thrust 6 M-Drive and a 6 high Burn the thrust would be 12. If I had a Thrust 6 M-Drive and a Thrust 6 Reaction drive and fired them both up at the same time what would the Thrust be?

 

[Nerhesi]

Thanks to Nerhesi I am now obsessed with High Burn Thrusters.

What is the cost for the chemical fuel? I am pricing them as Reaction Drives, 0.2 per ton for the thruster section. I have calculated an hours worth of fuel, but is there a cost to it? Is it hydrogen I can refill from my fuel processor?

High Burn Thruster's are cumulative with M-Drives.
Are Reaction Drives cumulative with M-Drives? If I had an Thrust 6 M-Drive and a 6 high Burn the thrust would be 12. If I had a Thrust 6 M-Drive and a Thrust 6 Reaction drive and fired them both up at the same time what would the Thrust be?

Glad I could get you hooked.

I think the High Burn Thruster and a Reaction Drive are identical terms at the moment. Considering they're exactly the same size and cumulative with M-drives. The only real difference is that you keep one on the whole time, and the other you use on a per-need basis

As for fuel costs, I'd like to think the fuel is different, but absent that, with no fuel cost - I assume it is the same as per the Hydrogen used.

 

[PsiTraveller]

That would be easiest, I saw "A high burn thruster is an auxiliary chemical rocket designed to give a temporary speed boost to a ship.", and jumped to JATO units and chemicals. We have a fusion plant, so just light the torch with hydrogen and have a plasma rocket.

So you are saying the Reaction drives in Step 2 of the design sequence also stack with M-Drives? I always looked at it as an either/ or sort of thing. If it stacks then in an extreme case at TL 15 you are saying Thrust 24 is possible? (9 from TL 13 M-Drive and 15 from TL 15 Reaction Drives) It is tonnage intensive but if you only used the Reaction drive at full throttle to get to dogfighting range then dialed it back to just add in a silly amount of Thrust for dogfighting bonuses then that could be awkward for a lot of bigger ships.

hmmm, back to the design sheets.

 

[Chas]

You'll see a bunch of designs I did in the original thread Psitraveller (some need a tweak or so now). It's a good mechanic and makes for a lot of interesting possibilities, but the thrust fuel has to be limited in supply to maintain the game balance.

http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=116047

 

[Nerhesi]

You'll see a bunch of designs I did in the original thread Psitraveller (some need a tweak or so now). It's a good mechanic and makes for a lot of interesting possibilities, but the thrust fuel has to be limited in supply to maintain the game balance.

http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=116047

Yeah - you may not even need a cost associated with the thrust fuel. You would at least need to differentiate and say "Purchased from Class C and up starports with a TL equal to or greater than the reaction drive, for negligible cost".

The idea is that they just can't skim the nearest giant to refuel the 1000 fighters Also that negligible doesn't have to be that - it can be like 1000 Cr per dTon of fuel or so.

 

[MongooseMatt]

The idea is that they just can't skim the nearest giant to refuel the 1000 fighters Also that negligible doesn't have to be that - it can be like 1000 Cr per dTon of fuel or so.

I am tempted to say that is a universe-thing, and that High Guard should be kept open. Basically, in some universes, it may be sensible to skim fuel for these engines, while in others it won't. However, it should not be High Guard that makes that decision...

 

[Nerhesi]

The idea is that they just can't skim the nearest giant to refuel the 1000 fighters Also that negligible doesn't have to be that - it can be like 1000 Cr per dTon of fuel or so.

I am tempted to say that is a universe-thing, and that High Guard should be kept open. Basically, in some universes, it may be sensible to skim fuel for these engines, while in others it won't. However, it should not be High Guard that makes that decision...

Thats fine.. has anyone every done the math on an Armada possibly causing issues if they constantly refuel from the same Gas giant? (I'm sorry.. maybe I'm being silly, but I've never done the math)

I think I would die laughing if suddenly Jupitor is smaller than Saturn after the Solomani 5 million ton carrier fleet constantly refuels there

 

[PsiTraveller]

The total mass of Earth’s atmosphere is about 5.5 quadrillion tons, or roughly one millionth of Earth’s mass. Air is heavier at sea level, since the air molecules sit close together, compressed by the weight of air from above. As elevation increases, however, air molecules grow farther apart, and the air becomes lighter.

http://blogs.britannica.com/2012/01/how-much-does-earth-atmosphere-weigh/


Jupiter is 2.5 times bigger, and has no surface, just a core of metallic hydrogen (so says wikipedia). I think the gas Giants will be safe for a time. It would be interesting to think about a Gas Giant shrinking from thousands of years of siphoning for fuel and hydrocarbons/plastics feedstock. But for most games it is probably safe to assume they will not run out.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Yeah, planets are, like, really big and contain a lot of Stuff. I think we are good

However, interesting idea for planetary-scale eco-activists in an adventure. #SaveJupiter

 

[PsiTraveller]

Ok, now you have got me thinking of making an adventure based on "The Martian Way" by Isaac Asimov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_Way

Fear of water depletion caused by tankers taking all the water for Jump Fuel.
I should base it on Asim in the Drinax capaign. Mr. Sprange, expect a proposal shortly.