Yes there is. See Planet Mongoose for details. It's under "Travelling the Cosmos."
Mongoose's Planned Books
- Thread starter dmccoy1693
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Stryker-Merc
Mongoose
Deniable,
Many thanks, very good news - still new to this forum and site so any directions and roadmaps always welcome
Many thanks, very good news - still new to this forum and site so any directions and roadmaps always welcome
Vile
Banded Mongoose
The one book I really want to see is Scouts with, as Golan said, some seriously corrected stellar generation rules. I hope Mongoose will decide to produce SRDs for the expansion books, because as a setting generator, the world generation rules in the basic SRD don't go far enough for my liking. I like my star systems.
And Striker, of course!
And Striker, of course!
For my sake, I hope that the deckplans provided are a little better detailed. I got people griping on how their characters have gotta spend an entire week in a tin-can with no toilets or bathrooms.
My players took apart their Far Trader to install a new powerplant to support the new upgrades they want, and they wanted to know things like -
1. Are the landing struts hydraulic or what?
2. How is electrical power distributed? Is it wires or does it use something we've never seen before?
3. Would the engines require a Major Overhaul like Airplanes and Helicopters do every so often?
4. Can repair robots survive and operate in the void of Jump Space?
5. Would interstellar phenomena such as Nebulae and Black Holes affect a Jump?
6. Couldn't some space on board some private trade ships be made for a bathroom or even a toilet?
7. Does cargo have to be evenly distributed in a cargo hold, or are there some technical enhancements that compensate for an uneven load?
My players took apart their Far Trader to install a new powerplant to support the new upgrades they want, and they wanted to know things like -
1. Are the landing struts hydraulic or what?
2. How is electrical power distributed? Is it wires or does it use something we've never seen before?
3. Would the engines require a Major Overhaul like Airplanes and Helicopters do every so often?
4. Can repair robots survive and operate in the void of Jump Space?
5. Would interstellar phenomena such as Nebulae and Black Holes affect a Jump?
6. Couldn't some space on board some private trade ships be made for a bathroom or even a toilet?
7. Does cargo have to be evenly distributed in a cargo hold, or are there some technical enhancements that compensate for an uneven load?
Really, it isn't necessary. Just make the stuff up on the spot. It really doesn't matter. Unless you want it to matter.
Again, this also gives loads of opportunities for mischief. Especially if the PCs are off running around being tourists.
(Don't immediately kill/destroy them. Let them sit in an empty hex while their air/batteries run out ...)
But the verbage always mentions mass, in which case Nebulae are irrelevant and black holes are not.
Canon implies that Nebulae are irrelevant. Much of the Dark Nebula sector is within a nebula, and it doesn't stop the jump traffic. So, I would say that nebula are just pretty backgrounds. (Unless, they do affect things, but only in subtle ways when the referee feels like it ...)
Again, what do you need to make the story work? Unless the players want to jump to a black hole, both can safely be ignored. Don't answer the question unless it is necessary for the story. (Be sure to spread rumors, though. You know, "Jumping within a parsec of a black hole will always cause a misjump/destroy the ship/suck you in/whatever." Or, "Nebula are caused by an area of 'leaky jump space'.")
Or whatever works for you.
Again, the thing I want to stress is, what do you want to accomplish with these stories. If they are just "silly chrome questions," make up an answer you know you players can accept and move on. Otherwise, give them an answer that gives you potential for later possibilities. For example, I heartily encourage the use of wires. It is something that is believable to nearly all players, and it has the added benefit of introducing a mundane but highly exploitable weakness.
Tell them that those details are left for the individual buyers. They can have communal facilities in the common area, or "fold-away" facilities in each individual stateroom.Wayfinder said:
The landing struts are variable. Is how that is accomplished really needed? Personally, I would say that they are purely electrical.
I would use wires. Gives something for varmints to chew on, and hijackers to cut. More potential that way ...
Probably. Most likely that is just part of the annual maintenance. There is a reason the annual maintenance takes up a full week by a team of technicians. Ripping that stuff apart would make sense.
Again, this also gives loads of opportunities for mischief. Especially if the PCs are off running around being tourists.
If you want them to. Personally, I would say that anything outside the ship's hull grid is immediately kicked back to somewhere in realspace. Keeps anyone from trying anything too stupid.
(Don't immediately kill/destroy them. Let them sit in an empty hex while their air/batteries run out ...)
If you want them to. Jump seems to be affected by volume, not mass. That means that Nebulae are anethema, and black holes are nearly irrelevant. (Unless, of course, you precipitate right next to one. Buh-bye!)
But the verbage always mentions mass, in which case Nebulae are irrelevant and black holes are not.
Canon implies that Nebulae are irrelevant. Much of the Dark Nebula sector is within a nebula, and it doesn't stop the jump traffic. So, I would say that nebula are just pretty backgrounds. (Unless, they do affect things, but only in subtle ways when the referee feels like it ...)
Again, what do you need to make the story work? Unless the players want to jump to a black hole, both can safely be ignored. Don't answer the question unless it is necessary for the story. (Be sure to spread rumors, though. You know, "Jumping within a parsec of a black hole will always cause a misjump/destroy the ship/suck you in/whatever." Or, "Nebula are caused by an area of 'leaky jump space'.")
Just say they are not noted because the facilies are "fold-away". You pull the commode, sink, or shower down when you need it, and put it back into the wall (to give more space) when you don't. That is why it is never shown on the floor plans.
Or whatever works for you.
How do you want it to work? Personally, I would just ignore the issue (antigravity could easily cause such concerns to be irrelevant). However, if you want it to matter, make it matter. I would be more worried that things are properly stowed and tied down. (From all of the adventures and writings I have seen, none has ever worried about cargo load distribution. So, there is no reason to make a requirement unless you want it.)
Again, the thing I want to stress is, what do you want to accomplish with these stories. If they are just "silly chrome questions," make up an answer you know you players can accept and move on. Otherwise, give them an answer that gives you potential for later possibilities. For example, I heartily encourage the use of wires. It is something that is believable to nearly all players, and it has the added benefit of introducing a mundane but highly exploitable weakness.
Maybe to you, but I do not want a game that requires me to be an engeneer just to use the system even if these kinds of details matter to some. If those things matter to you and your group then, as daryen said, make it up. Keep the core system simple and allow GMs to add complex additions if they want them.Wayfinder said:
Daniel
Wayfinder said:
I didn't mean to imply they don't matter. I was just saying to make up the answers. Please keep in mind that the people writing this stuff are most likely not mechanics or pilots. They can't give you those details because they don't know. Even worse, if they tried to give you the details, they would likely be wrong!
Instead, you know the requirements your players have. Those requirements are likely different than most other players. Meet those needs and move on. There is no need to be "right", because there is no "right".
Also, don't be afraid to go completely "outside" the game and hash out these details. If they know things better than you, ask them about it and make a decision. It doesn't have to be a big deal. As an example, if I was ref'ing a game and had a player with EDG's planetology skills, you had better believe I would pick his brain clean! Would I use everything? Probably not. (Not initially, anyway.) And we might agree to leave something alone because it is more fun that way. (E.g. Regina stays a moon.) Or we might change it. (E.g. make Speck a hot Jupiter, rather than a WD.)
And if they are going to remember, make sure you remember, too. That doesn't mean don't make the decision, it just means remember it. It is really cool when details pop up later in a consistent manner. Even if you are hosed over by it, it is still cool.
serene_muse
Mongoose
Wayfinder said:
Usually Freshers fold down from walls when not in use and are multi purpose, toilet, sink, and so forth. And just because something's not shown on a deckplan doesn't mean it's not there nor that each ship is exactly identical. They're a starting point not an endpoint IMO.
11,000 worlds, several 1000 years in the future. That's a lot of ships and a lot of ways to do the same things.
So, how do you want ships to act? If you want more "grounding" check out books like TNE's Fire, Fusion & Steel or GURPS Traveller's Starships or GURPS Vehicles / Spacecraft (4e). And if you want to blow some money hunt down a copy of DGP's Starship Operater's Manual volume 1. Even then I doubt they'll answer all those questions to a satisfactory extent. The Ref will still have to adjudicate to some extent IMO.
Personally if the sitch warrants I just extrapolate from the real world taking into account the possibilities of tech and culture from the Traveller setting (and to a lesser extent rules). So stuff works like we expect it to for the most part.
serene_muse
Mongoose
daryen said:
Tap your players' knowledge and write down any changes or rulings you come up with. 8)
Part of the reason I ran a retro-future game for a long time was to make the tech easier to "predict." I presumed that moving in and out of jumpspace blows semi-based electronics, so we had flashing bus bars, eletromechanical and mechanical computers, etc. When a character commented on pink water in the corridor others knew there was a hydraulic leak.
Now I use the OTU, and describe thing functionally. I assume physical connections for power transfer, instrumentation and control systems. I also assume some of it's modular or incorporated into the ship's construction materials, e.g. smart skins and wiring/optics incorporated into hull materials.But I also presume the bits are accessible/maintainable enough that you can get yourself off a TL8 planet in a pinch.
At any rate, frex, I say "cable" regardless of whether there is conductive metal strands in it or glass or polymer or pulsing orange gloop or little men passing notes. "You pull out the tester and the cable's NFG. You've got a spool of stuff not rated for this but it should hold until your next maintenance. You'll probably have to stick the bypass section to the corridor wall since you can't snake it through--the old stuff is laid into the panel." Enough gear talk for a tech with some foreshadowing, too. I let them tell me if they use 100MPH tape or RTV.
I have fun with the trouble indicators, too. It may be smoke, a smell, fluid, powerful magnetic fields, gravitic disturbances, etc. as the mood strikes me.
Now I use the OTU, and describe thing functionally. I assume physical connections for power transfer, instrumentation and control systems. I also assume some of it's modular or incorporated into the ship's construction materials, e.g. smart skins and wiring/optics incorporated into hull materials.But I also presume the bits are accessible/maintainable enough that you can get yourself off a TL8 planet in a pinch.
At any rate, frex, I say "cable" regardless of whether there is conductive metal strands in it or glass or polymer or pulsing orange gloop or little men passing notes. "You pull out the tester and the cable's NFG. You've got a spool of stuff not rated for this but it should hold until your next maintenance. You'll probably have to stick the bypass section to the corridor wall since you can't snake it through--the old stuff is laid into the panel." Enough gear talk for a tech with some foreshadowing, too. I let them tell me if they use 100MPH tape or RTV.
I have fun with the trouble indicators, too. It may be smoke, a smell, fluid, powerful magnetic fields, gravitic disturbances, etc. as the mood strikes me.
I make everything on the ship run on solid state modular systems. It not only makes things simpler, but more robust while also giving the players the possibilities of questing for a part rather than figuring out what to use instead of hydraulic fluid. Besides a carburetors taught us how fluids and gravity work together. My "electronics" is technically Photonics as light and in some cases high energy plasma is faster than electricity.
Either way ships are made of weird widget parts, bolted together with self sealing stem bolts, and connected together by cables. Only the really big cables have enough power to be used in some clever 'shocking' way.
As for bathrooms; if you read the description of a stateroom, it is a life support unit with enough life support to keep two people alive. They also happen to be exactly the same size as a module for a modular cutter. I don't think this is a coincidence. I think staterooms have all facilities, from bathrooms to Oxygen generators, and if they could be removed would, once powered, be just as good planet side or on an asteroid as they would be aboard ship. I wouldn’t doubt is there are some shipwreck colonies that stared that way.
Either way ships are made of weird widget parts, bolted together with self sealing stem bolts, and connected together by cables. Only the really big cables have enough power to be used in some clever 'shocking' way.
As for bathrooms; if you read the description of a stateroom, it is a life support unit with enough life support to keep two people alive. They also happen to be exactly the same size as a module for a modular cutter. I don't think this is a coincidence. I think staterooms have all facilities, from bathrooms to Oxygen generators, and if they could be removed would, once powered, be just as good planet side or on an asteroid as they would be aboard ship. I wouldn’t doubt is there are some shipwreck colonies that stared that way.
