Hiver Control Center

[mavikfelna]

The Hiver Control Center table on page 235 of the Aliens of Charted Space Vol 2 is broken, it's jumps from 201 tons to 1000 tons up to 2000+ tons. Also, with the changes to bridge sizes with CRB 2024 with regards to 100 ton ships' bridges, it is out of sync. with that. This is my proposal:

Under 51 tons: 8 tons
51 to 100 tons: 16 tons
101 to 500 tons: 32 tons
501 to 2000 tons: 64 tons
Greater than 2000 tons: 128 tons.

Control Centers cost 1MCr per 100 tons, or fraction there of, of the ship.

The Control Center should be treated as having all the following equipment and add-ons: Detachable Standard Bridge with Armored Bulkheads and Holographic Controls, a single stateroom for the controlling Hiver, Common area equal to 5% of the Control Center size, FRU, minimum of 1 ton, and a biosphere of 5% of the Control Center size, FRD, minimum of 1 ton. For command centers on ships 5000 tons or greater the Command Center also functions as Command Bridge.

 

[Limpin Legin]

While I like the aesthetics of your numbers, I can't help wonder where the published numbers are from?

For instance, humans evolved the decimal number system out of virtue that humans have 10 digits (fingers).
Computers use the base two, or binary, number system out of virtue that logic is symbolised as happening in two digits.
Traveller uses hexadecimal number system possibly out of virtue of 2D total plus a bit extra room for improvement.

When I look at the numbers (8, 16, 25, 64, 95) I am left wondering if they are intended to be decimal or hexadecimal numbers? Or, given Hivers are a federation of 170 races, each race adapted to a particular function, what arithmetic number system would suit them? Ie., does these Hiver numbers suggest an alien configuration is necessary here?

A Hiver commanding a starship is less a captain in the conventional sense and more a central ‘brain’ that directs the vessel through a living crew or automated systems.
AoCS2, pg 235

 

[Sigtrygg]

Humans also still cling to 60 and its factors...
1
2
3
5
6
10
12
15
20
30
60

or 2 x 2 x 3 x 5 as prime factors.

and have done on Earth for at least 5,000 years... by the Third Imperium start date of 1105 that will make 60 centuries or use... portentous or what...

 

[mavikfelna]

While I like the aesthetics of your numbers, I can't help wonder where the published numbers are from?

For instance, humans evolved the decimal number system out of virtue that humans have 10 digits (fingers).
Computers use the base two, or binary, number system out of virtue that logic is symbolised as happening in two digits.
Traveller uses hexadecimal number system possibly out of virtue of 2D total plus a bit extra room for improvement.

When I look at the numbers (8, 16, 25, 64, 95) I am left wondering if they are intended to be decimal or hexadecimal numbers? Or, given Hivers are a federation of 170 races, each race adapted to a particular function, what arithmetic number system would suit them? Ie., does these Hiver numbers suggest an alien configuration is necessary here?

No idea. I was just using the numbers provided by Mongoose as a base to fix the table and the odd jump from 16 to 25 to 64 bothered my computer tech brain.

 

[Condottiere]

Number system based on three:

The right way.

The wrong way.

The Hiver way.

 

[Condottiere]

As I recall, Hivers have an outsized survival instinct.

Redundancy and bulkheading would seem a natural response.

 

[mavikfelna]

32 tons on a 100 ton jump ship is just too big. Especially if it doesn't offer anything besides bridge controls. Even using your idea of Small CC, there is no reason to not use the small one in a ship that small.
The CC needs some additional benefits for it being so large and from the description I think the added systems make sense. You are still better off going with individual systems if you want to save space so you're unfairly penalizing the Hivers without them
The reason I said to make the CC a detachable bridge is because the part missing from the description is the M0 drive, which is miniscule in size, and adding it makes the CC a more viable option and it fits well with Hiver mentality.

 

[Sigtrygg]

There should be no tonnage increase at all for Hiver automation, all they need to do is build robots to control all ship systems. Their robots are smaller, smarter, more efficient, and cheaper than Imperial robots so you just replace every crew member with a robot.

Now if the control centre is a robot the Hiver and their retinue ride around in mated to the rest of the ship...

 

[mavikfelna]

There should be no tonnage increase at all for Hiver automation, all they need to do is build robots to control all ship systems. Their robots are smaller, smarter, more efficient, and cheaper than Imperial robots so you just replace every crew member with a robot.

Now if the control centre is a robot the Hiver and their retinue ride around in mated to the rest of the ship...

I don't think the CC needs to be a robot, but it's a cool idea. And it would allow you to do some interesting things as TL improves.
Part of the reason the CC is so big is simply because of all the advantages it offers. If it doesn't have those advantages, it should not be large.

 

[mavikfelna]

I'm adding what's in there. The the only CC that would have any issue fitting everything is the 8 ton small craft CC. In that case, I would rule it only has a half staterooms, so 2 tons instead of 4 but cannot be double occupied, and counts as small bridge.

 

[mavikfelna]

After running the numbers, the cost per 100 tons should fall somewhere between 1.7MCr and 2.5MCr based on the value of the individual components at the different sizes. I'm thinking 2.2MCr but I could be convinced that 2.5MCr is the best way to go.

Also, to make it fit for the small craft Control Center, I would add the following:
For smaller Control Centers treat the included stateroom as a barracks of 1 ton, for larger Control Centers step up the stateroom size per level on the chart, so 16 ton Control Centers would have a 4 ton standard stateroom, 32 tons would have a 6 ton high stateroom and 64 and higher ton would have a 10 ton luxury stateroom.