Lost in Space?

Hopeless

Mongoose
So are you watching this?
And have you wondered how it could be run as as actual game?

So the original series, the movie or the new Netflix series which one inspires you more?
 
I've watched the first two episodes. Very pretty. I was a little put off by the fact that they were essentially using iPhones in the first episode. Can't the designers engage in a little futurism and imagine something more advanced? Still, the show does look good. Basically a 70's family show set in space. I'll stick with it.




*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I really liked the ATV in episode 2. Might just want to vehicle guide that one! :)
 
paltrysum said:
*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I really liked the ATV in episode 2. Might just want to vehicle guide that one! :)

Watched it, and thought about travellers adventures of course...rather good show...Loved the ATV also ! ... but was shocked by the 20 minutes advertisement for a chocolate biscuit company ... not my taste at all to see that in a show.
 
Watched the first few episodes.

The J2 is a streamlined version of a 50-ton Modular Cutter desiged to be used as a planetary residence, with 4 staterooms. The Chariot is a variant of the ATV.

GO! :)
 
Hm, yes, somewhere around 50 dt sounds appropriate. Didn’t each family member have their own room though? I’ve only seen 3 episodes yet.

The rooms did seem small, so perhaps - in Traveller terms - two people share a stateroom, but the 4 dtons are split into two separate 2 dt rooms?

The chariot must’ve been way smaller than an ATV? More like a wheeled and sealed air/raft, 4-5 dtons. I can’t remember if it had four or six seats... did dr Smith ride “in the back” or sit in a proper seat when picked up during the storm...?

I’ll try to provide a rough draft soon-ish :)
 
And I was wondering what you would change if you ran this as a potential campaign?

Given the solar system would they even leave it?

What circumstances would you use to explain why humanity is jumping to other star systems?

Would you reveal a literal Death Star or Beast Planet is heading for the Solar System and the only hope is to evacuate the Solar System?

How would you decide who goes and how would you explain your Dr Smith?!
 
Annatar Giftbringer said:
The rooms did seem small, so perhaps - in Traveller terms - two people share a stateroom, but the 4 dtons are split into two separate 2 dt rooms?

Barracks are 2 dtons per person.
 
Jupiter-inspired exploration cutter

This is not the Jupiter 2. This is a craft inspired by the Jupiter, or at least the Jupiter as I know it after watching three episodes of the Netflix series :)

Note that this is a rough first draft.

I’m thinking a two-deck design, with upper deck consisting of a central common room with bridge and sensors up front, staterooms to the sides and expansion space at the back.

The expansion space can be turned into an additional stateroom, a lab or storage. I’m considering making it modular, but at the moment it’s more of a user-defined space (I.e decide when buying/building the craft).

Military grade sensors and probe drones might be overkill for cutters “just intended as mobile homes” but they help make the craft useful for surveying and scout duty. Im considering making the sensor and probe area modular too, so the base model has basic sensors and three dtons empty space.

Lower deck has engineering in the back, a combined cargo hold and garage in the front and a mini-workshop in the middle. A mini-workshop, I’m thinking, gives DM+1 and allows one person to work there, rather than DM+2 and two people.

The cargo hold is - obviously - used to store cargo and supplies, but also as a garage for any vehicles carried. Standard practice is to include a Chariot class light ATV (I’ll design it tomorrow) but air/rafts are common too.

Oh, throw in an airlock somewhere too...

And finally, the stats:
Hull 50 dt, streamlined
Bridge + 2 sensor stations 5 dt
Military sensors 2 dt
Thrust 2 1 dt
Fusion plant (TL12) 1,5 dt
Solar panels 0,5 dt
4x stateroom 16 dt
Expansion space 5 dt
Common area 6 dt
Cargo/garage 10 dt
Mini-workshop 3 dt
Probe drones 1 dt

Something like that. A swarm of these could create a village of science colony simply by landing near each other, and they’re small enough that a reasonably large science or colony ship can carry quite a few.

Thoughts, comments, stuff like that is welcome :)
 
Chariot Light ATV
TL: 12
Skill: Drive (Wheeled)
Agility: +3
Speed (Cruise): Fast (High)
Range (Cruise): 660 (990)
Crew: 1
Passengers: 3
Cargo: 0,25 dt
Hull: 16
Shipping: 4 dt

Armour: 4

Autopilot: Drive (Wheeled) 3
Communications (Range): 1,000 km
Navigation (DM): +2
Sensors (DM): +1
Sensors, underwater: +0
Camouflage (Recon DM):
Stealth: -

Equipment and weapons
ATV (DM+2 in terrain)
Auxiliary thrusters (30 m)
Advanced control systems (+3 agility)
Advanced Autopilot (Skill level 3)
Aquatic drive (speed medium, agility 2, range 120)
Smart Wheels (DM+1 to drive checks in terrain, +10% range (included above))
Advanced communications
Computer/3
Improved navigation
Improved Sensors (DM+1, range 5 km)
Sensor mast
Basic underwater sensors (DM+0, range 500 m)
Life support (short term, 4 days)
Light crane (400 kg)
Entertainment system
Fire extinguisher

A first draft for a light ATV. It has lots of systems, I may have gone a bit overboard, but it has everything to get the job done, no matter what the job is :)

I haven’t bothered to calculate cost yet, might do that later (and that might affect how many systems it gets to keep...)

The Chariot is an extremely agile vehicle, meaning even a completely unqualified driver can manage to pilot it in an emergency. It is also very fast, which can be dangerous in the wrong hands and I do consider lowering the max speed a range band or two, but on the other hand it means it can cross great distanced in short time, and a colony of exploration cutters might not all land in the same place...

While designed for ground transport, it is fully amphibious and can travel on water if needed. It can not fly, but it can use its thrusters to jump over obstacles.

Smart wheels and the ATV trait ensures it can handle almost any terrain.

The sensor mast helps it keep contact with others (including the cutter it’s deployed from) across adverse terrain that might interfere with communications and sensors.

Two of the passenger seats an be removed if more cargo space is required. This adds 0,5 dt cargo space to the vehicle.
 
I think all of you are underestimating the size of the J2 and it appears there are several different styles of Chariot, a small (1 passenger with cargo), medium (3 passengers and small cargo), and large (5 passengers and small cargo)
The Jupiter 2 has 2 decks and each is at least 2m high, bulk it out a bit to a total height of 5m (excluding lift from struts), and about what? 15-20m in diameter with a roughly cylindrical shape, that gives it a volume of about 1200m3, so say 80-90dT.
After watching the whole season it looks like the upper deck has a bridge, large common area, 4 full staterooms (each has a full bed and a bit of room to move around in, the rooms are easily 14m3), a few small cargo spaces, and engines.
We know the lower deck is about 2/3rd fuel tanks (from the ship readout), and the rest is garage and cargo spaces.
So, known:
+Bridge 3dT
+Staterooms 16dT
(?)Fuel processor (don't know where the thermal depolimiser is, upper or lower, I would assume lower near the fuel tanks) 1dT

Estimated: (85dT small craft, tonnage split evenly between upper+ and lower- decks)
-Fuel 28dT
-Cargo 14.5dT
+Reaction Drive (2+G, probably Higher tech to improve fuel efficiency) 5dT (3G)
(?)Power Plant (Fusion TL8, may or may not be high tech, the J2 doesn't actually use much power) 2dT
+Common Areas 4dT
=73.5dT
so plenty of space for anything else I'm forgetting, like the minor cargo spaces, though I could be over estimating the entirety of the Jupiters, as some appear to have construction spaces and others laboratories, but it could be that some Jupiters sacrified Staterooms for those facilities, too. Overall 75dT+ feels closer than 50dT for the Jupiter craft, with room to expand 80dT is probably the actual hull, possibly going as high as 90dT should I have overlooked a serious system.

I'm not even going to try and figure out the Chariots, there doesn't seem to be much reason for why some are significantly larger than others besides the plot needed more or fewer people in any given shot. And they scrounged up some fuel bowsers from somewhere...
 
Rikki Tikki Traveller: Thanks :)

Hermitbob: its very likely you are correct. Is accept sizes up to around 100 dt without hesitation. However, I didn’t create a Jupiter, I designed a small craft inspired by the Jupiter, and also Traveller ships don’t require that much fuel when using m-drives, making the total ship small with the same useable volume.

I’ve also noticed three mistakes on my exploration cutter writeup (that’s teach me not to design ships when watching tv and being sleepy...)

1. I mistyped the expansion space. It’s supposed to be 4 dt, not 5 (takes the total back to 50 dt, from 51)
2. I forgot to include fuel for the power plant. 1 dt takes the ship back to 51 dt.
3. The ship needs an airlock, 2 dt.

So, the cutter needs to lose 3 dt. I’d rather not take away the probe drones or the solar panels (good for extended missions, both in space and on planet).

The simplest solution is probably to remove the mini-workshop, and make sure the ship’s locker and cargo hold have a selection of tools instead.

Alternatively, the bridge could lose one or both sensor stations, and the rest could be taken from common area or cargo...
 
Annatar Giftbringer said:
Rikki Tikki Traveller: Thanks :)

Hermitbob: its very likely you are correct. Is accept sizes up to around 100 dt without hesitation. However, I didn’t create a Jupiter, I designed a small craft inspired by the Jupiter, and also Traveller ships don’t require that much fuel when using m-drives, making the total ship small with the same useable volume.

I was merely stating my personal figures for the J2, to illustrate that an equivalent craft would be significantly larger than what you have posted. If your exploration cutter were even 20dT larger it would be a more efficient craft for long term indepentant operations in-system.
The J2 design I posted is also only using the systems known to be on the Jupiter craft, as such a Traveller equivalent would easily have more usable tonnage as it would replace the Reaction drive with a more efficient M-drive, also allowing a reduction in fuel bunkerage, which would allow a laboratory without sacrificing a stateroom. It would also have a TL12 or 15 Power plant increasing available power for more draining components, like a medbay that I completely forgot on my initial submission.
 
"So the original series, the movie or the new Netflix series which one inspires you more?"

The original Series has a lot of reference to us and I loved the movie update. No chance I'll ever see the new version.

Lost in Space is a grand example of one helluva misjump and all the adventures trying to get back. I take it they land on a lot of worlds for water refueling.

Has everyone forgot the TOS Jupiter was a tesseract with that huge engineering sub deck? Don't forget the 1-2 man lander that looked like a mini Apollo lander.

I do need the movie Jupiter deck plans for statting the ship to Traveller. More 'realistic'.
 
paltrysum said:
I've watched the first two episodes. Very pretty. I was a little put off by the fact that they were essentially using iPhones in the first episode. Can't the designers engage in a little futurism and imagine something more advanced? Still, the show does look good. Basically a 70's family show set in space. I'll stick with it.




*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I really liked the ATV in episode 2. Might just want to vehicle guide that one! :)
Its not so much future tech as alien tech, the design of the Jupiter 2 was made with alien tech from a captured UFO (Flying Saucer) this also explains why the Jupiters are saucer-shaped. the time of the show I believe is in the 2040s, just a couple of decades in the future, there has been an astronomical catastophe an asteroid or a comet colliding with the Earth and hurling dust into the air, that is why in a few of the flashbacks members of the Robinson family were seen wearing filter masks when outside. So basically the government reverse-engineered an alien spacecraft that it shot down, and use the technology to built the Jupiter 2s and the Resolute, begining a plan to colonize Alpha Centauri. Basically the jump drive they have doesn't really have a range limit, they are more like the jump drives of Battlestar Galactica I suppose, a misjump can take you into a different galaxy, which is where the planet where they are lost on is.
 
Condottiere said:
I think the Jupiter is a dropship/escape pod in this iteration.
i would say it is a planetary shuttle, they still need a mothership to travel interstellar distances, that is until the last episode, when the Robot apparently modified it so it could do interstellar jumps by itself and now has artificial gravity where it didn't before, it ends up as a starship with alien tech, but it didn't start out that way.
 
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