Newbie Question about Ships

[Zen Infidel]

I'm just getting into Traveller, and I'm preparing to run my first game for my gaming group, but I have a question about generating the first starship. Is the starship design usually done by the players or the referee?

I read in another recent newbie thread that some referees will simply tell the players the ship they have been assigned, while others take more of a sandbox approach to the affair. For my first game, I have designed a storyline that will give them objectives that will require jump drives. From what I've read on this forum, it seems that at the very least, I need to steer them away from the huge freighter ships because they are going to be too busy adventuring to run freighter routes to pay off a large mortgage.

 

[hdan]

I'm just getting into Traveller, and I'm preparing to run my first game for my gaming group, but I have a question about generating the first starship. Is the starship design usually done by the players or the referee?

I read in another recent newbie thread that some referees will simply tell the players the ship they have been assigned, while others take more of a sandbox approach to the affair. For my first game, I have designed a storyline that will give them objectives that will require jump drives. From what I've read on this forum, it seems that at the very least, I need to steer them away from the huge freighter ships because they are going to be too busy adventuring to run freighter routes to pay off a large mortgage.

If possible then, make sure they wind up with a Type-S Scout/Courier ship. At 100 tons, it's the smallest possible starship, can jump 2 parsecs at a time (handy for crossing gaps in the star map), has 4 staterooms which you could double-occupy if necessary, and though it doesn't have enough cargo space for any real commerce, you can squeeze in a few tons for a client.) Type-S ships are commonly handed out "for free" to ex-Scouts who roll well enough, so even if you don't have any scouts, you could probably find some way for them to gain access to one.

If Jump-2 isn't going to reach far enough for you, you'll need to assign your guys something like a Type-T Patrol Cruiser (a 400 ton ship that gets Jump-3), though that requires more crew to operate, and presumes that your players have a patron of some sort who is funding them. From your setup, it sounds like they just might have a wealthy and/or powerful patron, though a Type-T is a pretty powerful ship for an adventuring crew, and will change the feel from "Firefly" to "Mass Effect". (The Normandy is similar in size and role to a Type-T, though it has some experimental ultra-tech add ons.)

Type-T's are 4x the size of Type-S's, have J-3 and over 80 tons of space you can configure however you need (cargo, marine barracks, fighter bay, etc.) http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/shipyard/classic/ken-pick/typet.html has a nice discussion on various ways you can modify a Type-T to meet certain campaign requirements.

 

[Zen Infidel]

Yes, I like the patron idea. I think I might just give them their first ship then. Maybe it won't actually belong to them, but they will be able to use it, and after we finish the first series of episodes, I'll require them to buy their own. By that time, they'll have some idea about what they want.

 

[AndrewW]

Starship design could be done by either. Having the players do it, let's them decide just what they want. Don't forget to charge them a fee for the naval architect who gets to design it though (unless one of the players happens to have the skill). Or could use an already existing design, plenty out there. Might be if a patron is providing a ship it's probably not going to be designed by the players, this could be an existing design with some modifications rather then a completely new design.

 

[phavoc]

You can always start them out with a 'loaner' ship of sorts, or even put them in an adventure setting whereby they are on a job for someone else and they find, or liberate a ship from say pirates (or steal one from the bad guys). It's up to you to determine how broken it is when they get it, and their future adventures can be to upgrade the ship (bigger engines... oops, need bigger power plant now... empty hardpoints need to be filled...ooops, we need bigger computer/better sensors, etc. Each adventure can be towards getting their ship refitted to what they feel it should have been to start.

 

[Hopeless]

I'd advise sticking to the book for now, but more importantly what characters are they playing?

For example the scout ship can be literally on loan from the scout service and they're supplying the ship on behalf of whoever is their sponsor if they don't have a scout or in lieu of repaying back for some specific missions if they do have a scout.

Do they have any ship shares as a result of character generation?

Traveller's Aid Society might be useful in explaining their sponsor's interest.

 

[Zen Infidel]

I won't know what characters they'll be playing until our first meeting because they are going to create their characters then.

 

[Greylond]

Being that all of you are new I'd recommend using a standard ship for now until you get used to the system.

 

[Jak Nazryth]

Zen... I really like the option of a slightly larger ship where your players are part of the crew. This is only a suggestion but I'll give you a quick example. I've ran and played Traveller since the early 80's but when I started my Mongoose game about 2 years ago, most of my friends had never played it before. So I gave them an introductory adventure. I had them create their characters normally, but instead of mustering out and "starting the game" I ran them on a mini adventure that was technically part of their charter creation phase. I told the players that this was the last mission of their last term. They were all members of a crew on a large Merchant Cruiser (1800 tons) called "Leviathan". The ship was owned by a large corporation, who's primary client had an emergency. One of their clients manufacturing facilities was caught in a civil war/overthrow on a small moon orbiting a gas giant. The Leviathan was dispatched to rescue the CEO and as many of his staff as possible. My players got to use their skills in a variety of ways, including a small and quick space combat. The players were in charge of a landing craft and was responsible to fight their way through a small company town, locate, and evacuate the CEO. They did the job with only some minor injuries. The whole mini adventure was a way to introduce everyone to the game mechanics and the Traveller Universe as a whole. After the introductory adventure everyone mustered out so the next game night, they would "officially start the game". I gave them the option of "signing up" for another term (where the characters would continue to go on missions as the captain saw fit) or buy their own ship and strike out on their own. They decided to buy their own ship and strike out on their own.
So if you go the route of a 400 ton patrol ship, it would be a perfect time to "test the rules". It would give your players a great chance to see how ship combat works, how jump works, combat, skills, and all the rest works. After your 1 or 2 missions you'll get the feel of things pretty quick, and your players by then will have a good idea if they want to continue being members of a crew or buy their own ship and strike out on their own.
Have fun!

P.S. I also had a 3 term limit on my players. I figured 30 was an good age where most people decide to quit their job and open their own business... in this case, their ship. Their skills won't be as good as someone with 6 terms under their belt, but somehow I find it kinda funny for someone in their late 50's to finally strike out on their own. Han Solo had his own ship by the time he was 30! 8)
You will also find that training up skills goes much faster "in game" than in he 4 year terms in the character generation tables so the lack of skill character start out with at younger ages will catch up pretty fast in game.