High Guard Power points

[Garnfellow]

Has anyone tried to equate MgT2 HG Power points to real world output units like MW or MJ? Or to Classic Traveller Energy Points?

I'm really just looking for some color detail, though I find the question personally interesting. And I know that plenty of Traveller ship designers have thought long and hard about how Traveller starship systems might actually relate to the real world.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

By comparing to CT HG power points, I get 1 PP ≈ 5-10 MW, so quite a lot.

Even a small ship, like a Free Trader, has a power plant of perhaps 500 MW, so almost a current major power station.

 

[Garnfellow]

That seems like a pretty darned good rule of thumb. If you use 2.5 MW per PP, you end up with results comparable to TNE. (Which look to be about 5x lower than the MegaTraveller outputs for similar ships.)

 

[Condottiere]

Sure, but curiosity has to contend with the disappointing realization that the results probably won't make sense.

Which tends to annoy me.

 

[swampslug]

By comparing to CT HG power points, I get 1 PP ≈ 5-10 MW, so quite a lot.

Even a small ship, like a Free Trader, has a power plant of perhaps 500 MW, so almost a current major power station.

Which would imply that beam and pulse lasers operate in the 20-40 MW region given they require 4 power points.

In comparison the laser weapon system the US Navy trialled on the USS Ponce in 2014 had a reported output of 30 kW and the system recently trialled on the USS Portland is reported to have an output of 150 kW.

 

[Condottiere]

What's the practical range, fifty thousand kilometres delivering anywhere from one to twelve damage points?

Probably does require more energy to create and maintain that force that far away.

Though you could have a go creating an algorithm that accounts for the differences between that and constant beam, pulsing light, and intense short ranged drill.

 

[Sigtrygg]

That would put you into FF&S territory...

 

[AndrewW]

You can use whatever you want. But there was never any intention of relating to anything else. Just something that would work within the game.

 

[Condottiere]

This suddenly makes me wonder how effective a beam laser is at drilling.

 

[Garnfellow]

You can use whatever you want. But there was never any intention of relating to anything else. Just something that would work within the game.

My sense is that this is what happened in CT: The original High Guard developed a Energy Point economy for balanced game use, Striker then equated 1 EP = 250 MW for a separate vehicle design system, and then MegaTraveller extrapolated that to starship design, resulting in very large energy needs. TNE uses a different sublight propulsion system, and so FFS energy needs are much lower than MT. Based on the older gearhead discussions I get the sense that there's a Goldilocks number somewhere between these two systems for CT ships.

Since I'm just looking for background details I'm not too worried about getting anything "wrong." (I mean, we're talking about magitech after all.) I would like to produce numbers that are generally within previous ranges. Using 3-4 MW per MgT Power point does just that -- you get power plant numbers that are generally higher than TNE and lower than MT. Good enough for Imperial government work.

 

[Condottiere]

Going by Chartered Aliens Two, a seven and a half kay tonne meson gun may consume five hundred gigawatts of power, and that is listed at a thousand power points.

So, one power point would be half a gigawatt.

 

[PsiTraveller]

Half a gigawatt, which means a TL 8 fusion plant gives off 10 points or 5 gigawatts per ton. A low tech planet could solve all its power problems with a single Dton of power plant. Half a gigawatt is a heck of a step up from 5 MW per point.

 

[Condottiere]

Even the mos favourable interpretation of the text, factor five and ten meson spinal weapon systems, would make it hundred megawatts per power point.

 

[paltrysum]

Half a gigawatt, which means a TL 8 fusion plant gives off 10 points or 5 gigawatts per ton. A low tech planet could solve all its power problems with a single Dton of power plant. Half a gigawatt is a heck of a step up from 5 MW per point.

Sounds like that would be a big departure from the hints in previous editions of the game. Care to elaborate?

 

[PsiTraveller]

I was just using Condottiere's post saying

"Going by Chartered Aliens Two, a seven and a half kay tonne meson gun may consume five hundred gigawatts of power, and that is listed at a thousand power points.

So, one power point would be half a gigawatt."

And pointing out using that math a TL 8 fusion plant is pretty powerful. C's following post dropped it to 100 megawatts per point. That's all.

 

[Condottiere]

It's the range of possible values, assuming the writer and editor of Chartered Aliens Too were accurate as to the amount of energy a meson spinal mount requires.

It might have been a deliberate exaggeration, in the role of the unreliable narrator; though that would be doing quite a disservice.

I kinda doubt that the typical planetary defence system would be either a factor five or ten meson spinal mount, but that would be the lowest value possible for five hundred and a thousand gigawatts, each, which would give you a value of a hundred megawatts.

More likely a factor one or two meson spinal mount, which divided by a thousand and two thousand power points each, gives you half a gigawatt per power point.

 

[PsiTraveller]

I am coming at things from a different angle. I am interested in how much power a power plant puts out in terms of what it means for a lower tech society, and opportunities for roleplaying or adventure connections.

Even at 100 megawatts per point, that means 1 ton of TL 12 power plant puts out 1500 megawatts.

https://www.nwcouncil.org/reports/columbia-river-history/megawatt shows 1 Megawatt hour powering 796 homes for a year.

So what will this mean for a Traveller crew? IMTU I am looking at Starports being the major power suppliers of a planet. The port can have Power Plants connected to the local grid, with battery backup, and provide huge amounts of power for local industry and civilians. This would provide an income for the port.

Cities further away can power themselves by having a single power plant set up, with the monthly maintenance needed as mentioned in the Core Book. Cue the Travellers making friends and contacts by being the crew called in to do the monthly maintenance. Or maybe they can sell power from their ships into the grid, or help found a city by transporting a power plant and setting it up.