My Really Big Starship

[Tom Kalbfus]

This is the forward third of Deck 14 of my really big starship. It has a total of 28 decks, has around 1 million dtons. The squares are standard personal scale 1.5 meters wide, it has Jump-4 and Maneuver-2. Most of the Fuel is stored in decks 15 through 28, the Jump Drive is in Decks 13 through 1, the Power Plant is in decks 13 through 1. The maneuver drive is in the rear (not shown in this map). It uses lifeboats as lifeboats and for other purposes as well. It has a total of 14 of them. It may have additional vehicles if there is room for them. I made this ship a bit wider than I originally promised. Originally it was going to be around 700,000 dtons. Haven't calculated the current tonnage, but it is a cylinder, and deck 14 is the widest deck on the ship, that should help.

 

[Solomani666]

Interesting...

If I make it from the bridge to engineering do I get a piece of cheese?

.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Pretty cool so far.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Interesting...

If I make it from the bridge to engineering do I get a piece of cheese?

.

There are advantages to having a maze like floor plan, especially when dealing with boarding parties, the crew will know the interior layout much better than the borders, and can take advantage of the situation. I believe this ship will be one of exploration, if the Navy did exploration. Actually the crew members would consist of both Navy and Scouts, the Navy would actually run the ship, what the scouts would decide where to go and what to do.

I also plan to turn this ship into a bit of a dungeon, as in D&D, except with Traveller things substituting for magic and monsters. I'm thinking of having four characters wander around this ship, they wake up in the middle of it, and it would take some time for them to actually establish that they are on a starship, rather than just a large building. Is it an Imperial Design? I haven't decided yet. The ship and its purpose sort of comes into focus as I am drawing it. The part about the characters waking up in the middle of this ship and not knowing how they got their maybe a sort of test. Sort of like that novel by Larry Niven, Ringworld, involving a Pierson Puppeteer kidnapping a crew and putting them in a position where they will fulfill the mission for him. This starship literally would cost trillions of credits, probably the ruler of a wealthy and populous world could afford to build a thing like this. Think of a science fiction version of Undermountain from the Forgotten Realms, the owner like the Wizard Halaster in the Realms, is a bit insane, or at least his motive is a bit unclear. I'll figure it out later, the first thing is to make an interesting space dungeon crawl. Some of the "monsters" would include various robots going berserk. Some robots would be disguised as other creatures and even humans, such as in the movie Terminator, and having a few "skeleton-bots" might be interesting too.

 

[simonh]

There are advantages to having a maze like floor plan, especially when dealing with boarding parties, the crew will know the interior layout much better than the borders, and can take advantage of the situation.

Looks like a lot of fun, but doesn't look much like any existing Imeprial designs. They appear to go for very functional layouts. Regularly sized rooms and streight corridoors for efficient space utilisation and rapid transfer of crew, supplies and equipment.

Simon Hibbs

 

[Jacqual]

At about 1 million dtons I do not think many folks would attempt to board her, the crew size requirements even if unarmed would wipeout a boarding party wearing battledress just by swarming. Now if it is derelict that is a different story as everyone will board it to try and claim salvage.

 

[F33D]

There are advantages to having a maze like floor plan, especially when dealing with boarding parties, the crew will know the interior layout much better than the borders, and can take advantage of the situation.

For a Trav spaceship, not really. If the enemy has been able to disable you to the point of pouring armed men through your airlocks, you are done. The boarding (and repelling of) on disabled ships was an age of sail thing driven economics of navy crew pay systems at the time. Didn't translate well into more modern eras. N.B. WW1 & WW2.

 

[simonh]

For a Trav spaceship, not really. If the enemy has been able to disable you to the point of pouring armed men through your airlocks, you are done. The boarding (and repelling of) on disabled ships was an age of sail thing driven economics of navy crew pay systems at the time. Didn't translate well into more modern eras. N.B. WW1 & WW2.

Actually, that's a really good point. I'd not thought about it that way. But who doesn't like a good knockabout boarding action? Star Wars even starts with one. So they're completely ridiculous, but I'm not about to let that get in the way of a good game.

Simon Hibbs

 

[phavoc]

There are advantages to having a maze like floor plan, especially when dealing with boarding parties, the crew will know the interior layout much better than the borders, and can take advantage of the situation. I believe this ship will be one of exploration, if the Navy did exploration. Actually the crew members would consist of both Navy and Scouts, the Navy would actually run the ship, what the scouts would decide where to go and what to do.

It sounds cool and all, but in reality the crew would be forever hunting down the designers to string them up by their privates. Why? Because (a) all the weird halls and Winchester House-esque passageways make their lives miserable. If it's confusing enough even crewmember will get lost on their own. And (b) ships need to be efficiently designed because crew and other things need to quickly get from point A to point B. In the event of an emergency the crew needs to get to battlestations quickly. Designs that have them doubling back on their routes do nothing for this. Plus, statistically speaking the crew are going to be going to be travelling the corridors far more often in peactime than worrying about a boarding situation. A Nimitz class carrier is huge under the flight and hangar decks and crew still get lost that have been on it for a while.

If you wanted to make it potentially harder for boarders, you would be better off putting in armored bulkheads as well as choke points to force any intruders down specific corridors that are easily defended. Heck you could even put up some automated defense weapons (crew-served kind) that would shred any attackers coming down the corridor. Given enough bodies they can force past you eventually, but it will cost them heavily. And if you wanted to ensure that they never get your tech or ship intact, put in suicide nuclear charges (with backup conventional ones in the event they deploy a nuclear damper field).

I also plan to turn this ship into a bit of a dungeon, as in D&D, except with Traveller things substituting for magic and monsters. I'm thinking of having four characters wander around this ship, they wake up in the middle of it, and it would take some time for them to actually establish that they are on a starship, rather than just a large building. Is it an Imperial Design? I haven't decided yet. The ship and its purpose sort of comes into focus as I am drawing it. The part about the characters waking up in the middle of this ship and not knowing how they got their maybe a sort of test. Sort of like that novel by Larry Niven, Ringworld, involving a Pierson Puppeteer kidnapping a crew and putting them in a position where they will fulfill the mission for him. This starship literally would cost trillions of credits, probably the ruler of a wealthy and populous world could afford to build a thing like this. Think of a science fiction version of Undermountain from the Forgotten Realms, the owner like the Wizard Halaster in the Realms, is a bit insane, or at least his motive is a bit unclear. I'll figure it out later, the first thing is to make an interesting space dungeon crawl. Some of the "monsters" would include various robots going berserk. Some robots would be disguised as other creatures and even humans, such as in the movie Terminator, and having a few "skeleton-bots" might be interesting too.

You may want to look up the original Gamma World adventures. It has something similar to this if I recall correctly. Weird plants, high-tech robots, very much like a high-tech style dungeon environment for players to explore.

 

[F33D]

For a Trav spaceship, not really. If the enemy has been able to disable you to the point of pouring armed men through your airlocks, you are done. The boarding (and repelling of) on disabled ships was an age of sail thing driven economics of navy crew pay systems at the time. Didn't translate well into more modern eras. N.B. WW1 & WW2.

Actually, that's a really good point. I'd not thought about it that way. But who doesn't like a good knockabout boarding action? Star Wars even starts with one. So they're completely ridiculous, but I'm not about to let that get in the way of a good game.

Simon Hibbs

I know. I was just pointing it out as a non-rationale for turning your ship into a rat maze. I cannot help but recall Nelson's attitude to duty over prize money. Even to the point of it pushing him into a near state of penury prior to being awarded a 'Colonel of Marines' and receiving the annual stipend it brought.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Here is Deck 14, minus the doors.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

There are advantages to having a maze like floor plan, especially when dealing with boarding parties, the crew will know the interior layout much better than the borders, and can take advantage of the situation. I believe this ship will be one of exploration, if the Navy did exploration. Actually the crew members would consist of both Navy and Scouts, the Navy would actually run the ship, what the scouts would decide where to go and what to do.

It sounds cool and all, but in reality the crew would be forever hunting down the designers to string them up by their privates. Why? Because (a) all the weird halls and Winchester House-esque passageways make their lives miserable. If it's confusing enough even crewmember will get lost on their own. And (b) ships need to be efficiently designed because crew and other things need to quickly get from point A to point B. In the event of an emergency the crew needs to get to battlestations quickly. Designs that have them doubling back on their routes do nothing for this. Plus, statistically speaking the crew are going to be going to be travelling the corridors far more often in peactime than worrying about a boarding situation. A Nimitz class carrier is huge under the flight and hangar decks and crew still get lost that have been on it for a while.

If you wanted to make it potentially harder for boarders, you would be better off putting in armored bulkheads as well as choke points to force any intruders down specific corridors that are easily defended. Heck you could even put up some automated defense weapons (crew-served kind) that would shred any attackers coming down the corridor. Given enough bodies they can force past you eventually, but it will cost them heavily. And if you wanted to ensure that they never get your tech or ship intact, put in suicide nuclear charges (with backup conventional ones in the event they deploy a nuclear damper field).

I also plan to turn this ship into a bit of a dungeon, as in D&D, except with Traveller things substituting for magic and monsters. I'm thinking of having four characters wander around this ship, they wake up in the middle of it, and it would take some time for them to actually establish that they are on a starship, rather than just a large building. Is it an Imperial Design? I haven't decided yet. The ship and its purpose sort of comes into focus as I am drawing it. The part about the characters waking up in the middle of this ship and not knowing how they got their maybe a sort of test. Sort of like that novel by Larry Niven, Ringworld, involving a Pierson Puppeteer kidnapping a crew and putting them in a position where they will fulfill the mission for him. This starship literally would cost trillions of credits, probably the ruler of a wealthy and populous world could afford to build a thing like this. Think of a science fiction version of Undermountain from the Forgotten Realms, the owner like the Wizard Halaster in the Realms, is a bit insane, or at least his motive is a bit unclear. I'll figure it out later, the first thing is to make an interesting space dungeon crawl. Some of the "monsters" would include various robots going berserk. Some robots would be disguised as other creatures and even humans, such as in the movie Terminator, and having a few "skeleton-bots" might be interesting too.

You may want to look up the original Gamma World adventures. It has something similar to this if I recall correctly. Weird plants, high-tech robots, very much like a high-tech style dungeon environment for players to explore.

Unfortunately, efficient starship layouts make for boring dungeons, even worse all those turbolifts or elevators efficiently transport characters from one part of the ship to another in seconds! That's not the way to build a dungeon style adventure. So my best rationale is that this starship was built by a mad Trillionaire. It was deliberately designed to be a Dungeon to test player characters. It probably was built by advanced robots, with very little human labor involved in its construction, it is a tech level 15 starship however, but the trillionare didn't want contractors talking, so he built it in secret, then hired the PCs, kidnapped them and placed them on his starship, there are other people, who he kidnapped there as well, including medical patients that were placed in early low berths in the 21st century due to their incurable diseases. The starship does function however, it can be taken over by the PCs and their allies on the ship, if they defeat the forces opposing them. The ship can be piloted by a few people, manning all its systems, conducting repairs and other things is a different question. The Ship is in good repair when the PCs wake up in it.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

I decided to change the overall plans. I'm converting the upper half of the starship into a hangar deck. I can place the Jump Drive maneuver Drive and power plant in the back, thus making the starship longer. Notice I don't include the back of the ship at the bottom, the ship continues off the page, so I'll make the drives as long as they have to be to get the Jump-4 and Maneuver-2. Decks 1-13 will be all fuel tankage, hopefully that will be enough fuel, if not I'll make the starship longer in the back to accommodate additional fuel tanks as well. That means there will be a Deck 15 with an arched ceiling ceiling 42 meters above the floor, and have the same floor space as Deck 14. On this hangar deck, I could park a Mercenary Cruiser, since the Cruiser is only 12 decks high and the hangar space takes up decks 15 to 28, it should fit. Also up there would be a scout/courier, a Seeker Mining Ship, I'll include the Far Reach Scout Ship, a Free Trader, Far Trader, and a Corsair, and maybe a shuttle. I'll have to check to see if they fit. If there is multi-deck space above, then maybe I can have additional levels and stack the ships above other ships.

 

[Rick]

From the perspective of an assault team boarding the ship, the deck layout is an absolute gift for the attacker - every killing ground can be bypassed or out-flanked by parallel corridors, there are lots of short corridors with cover for overwatch and by sealing just a couple of intersections, you can isolate large sections which can then be bypassed on the way to the bridge. Whilst I appreciate you want a dungeon-esque feel to the deck, I think you can accomplish this and still have a better layout than you've got at the moment. Put yourself in the shoes of the commander of an assault team trying to take control of the bridge and you'll soon see that you need loads of defenders spread all over the deck while the attackers can use a much smaller number and concentrate their force where it's required.

 

[GypsyComet]

So, why isn't that central room with all the pillars the Bridge? More room for a proper captain's Throne.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

So, why isn't that central room with all the pillars the Bridge? More room for a proper captain's Throne.

For the same reason you don't put the cockpit in the center of the plane.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

From the perspective of an assault team boarding the ship, the deck layout is an absolute gift for the attacker - every killing ground can be bypassed or out-flanked by parallel corridors, there are lots of short corridors with cover for overwatch and by sealing just a couple of intersections, you can isolate large sections which can then be bypassed on the way to the bridge. Whilst I appreciate you want a dungeon-esque feel to the deck, I think you can accomplish this and still have a better layout than you've got at the moment. Put yourself in the shoes of the commander of an assault team trying to take control of the bridge and you'll soon see that you need loads of defenders spread all over the deck while the attackers can use a much smaller number and concentrate their force where it's required.

From the point of view of the players characters in a dungeon, they are the attackers, once they take over the ship, they may want to knock a few extra holes in the walls. It is a poorly designed starship which helps give the player characters a fighting chance, that and a lack of communications perhaps.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Deck 15 Hangar Deck

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

I'll have to rearrange the upstairs, because that room with the columns has a ceiling that is 9 meters above the floor, the columns support 3 meter wide balconies, there are stairs leading up to that balcony, and a door to Level 15. I'm not sure I want to put parked spaceships their after all, maybe instead a hydroponics section or a mini park. I might put more spaceships below level 14 and move the fuel tanks to the back along with the drives and power plant. I am thinking of turning it into a pirate base. Remember that pirate base I mentioned in the crowd sourced subsector, in the Quadruple star system with the 12 garden worlds. Well this capital ship is a mobile pirate base. In its current state, it doesn't have enough fuel to make a jump out of system, the pirates have gotten a bit lazy, have let down their guard a bit because it is an uninhabited system, and they think they are safe. A large contingent are some Orc Pirates, they are from a primitive world, but the pirates hired them and they became pirates themselves. Basically they get a +3 on strength, and a -1 on intelligence and Social Status, they are barbaric, crude and uncivilized, but they make great enforcers.

Here is the latest floor plans for level 14. I added doors and numbered the rooms for future reference. I'm going to write room descriptions, and room contents thus making an adventure out of this.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Here are the characters I'm going to use to play test this dungeon: