I know I’ve complained a lot about the Vehicle Handbook but I’m starting this thread so you know what your audience needs/wants from the updated Vehicle Handbook.
Now there are many lesser issues like the fact that that Open Frame light ground vehicle are limited to a max of 3 spaces ( a rule that like others is often ignored in other of your Traveller products I.e. the Field Catalogue) and others I’m not going to get into I’ll let others do so.
No I’m going to start this with what I think is the biggest issue one that makes no sense whatsoever and counter dictates every other Traveller product in your catalog. Fusion Power Plants! For some unknown reason the author fusion plants are being an upgrade of fission plants which is ludicrous! He than precedes to make them 2.5 tons (10 spaces) minimum 20/25% of the vehicle spaces extra in size with a duration of 50 or 100 years to make matters worse he claimed that at TL12 they became ubiquitous when there’s absolutely no reason for them to be thus. These fusion plants are literally 95% fuel when there’s absolutely no reason to carry this level of fuel. Fission plants have such long lifespans because you can’t refuel them you have to replace the core since the fuel is a permanent part of the plant this is not the case with fusion plants which use Hydrogen as the fuel. Starships for example it takes 10% of the mass of the plant in the fuel tanks to run them for at month. For literally 80% of the vehicle fusion plant you could install a 1 ton ships plant and a single ton of fuel and produce vastly more power than is needed with a more reasonable longevity of 10 months. As it stands now Fusion Plants are unusable and worse than broken. I suggest the following changes which makes much more sense.
A fusion plant can replace the standard power plant on any vehicle of 20 spaces or more in size. It has unlimited range but must be refueled with refined hydrogen. It requires no extra spaces and uses the following chart.
Plant type: TL: Fuel Longevity:
Basic. 9. 2 weeks
Improved. 12. 1 month
Advance. 15. 3 months
I’ll let you guys figure the cost. This would make fusion plants ubiquitous at TL 12 and also explain why ultra-dense batteries are also used (primary for smaller vehicles or where fuel would not be easily accessible)
Now I know this would require some rewriting of existing vehicles outside of the VH but those are primarily in the imperial source book and could easily be ported over into the VH, this would also bring the size of the Astrin for example back down to its more reasonable original size of 10 tons. This should be considered quickly because of the upcoming FFW where such vehicles should be present.
Related this change would also effect section 4: Spacecraft weapons
This fix is both simple and important first a extra 2 spaces needed for power systems/ capacitors make sense also the rule is very vague since none of the standard turret weapons have a tonnage/space so the second fix would be including a simple chart with the vehicle size for Spacecraft weapons.
Now I think the original author had a great concept with the chassis system he created I just don’t think he understood fusion plants in Traveller.
Now there are many lesser issues like the fact that that Open Frame light ground vehicle are limited to a max of 3 spaces ( a rule that like others is often ignored in other of your Traveller products I.e. the Field Catalogue) and others I’m not going to get into I’ll let others do so.
No I’m going to start this with what I think is the biggest issue one that makes no sense whatsoever and counter dictates every other Traveller product in your catalog. Fusion Power Plants! For some unknown reason the author fusion plants are being an upgrade of fission plants which is ludicrous! He than precedes to make them 2.5 tons (10 spaces) minimum 20/25% of the vehicle spaces extra in size with a duration of 50 or 100 years to make matters worse he claimed that at TL12 they became ubiquitous when there’s absolutely no reason for them to be thus. These fusion plants are literally 95% fuel when there’s absolutely no reason to carry this level of fuel. Fission plants have such long lifespans because you can’t refuel them you have to replace the core since the fuel is a permanent part of the plant this is not the case with fusion plants which use Hydrogen as the fuel. Starships for example it takes 10% of the mass of the plant in the fuel tanks to run them for at month. For literally 80% of the vehicle fusion plant you could install a 1 ton ships plant and a single ton of fuel and produce vastly more power than is needed with a more reasonable longevity of 10 months. As it stands now Fusion Plants are unusable and worse than broken. I suggest the following changes which makes much more sense.
A fusion plant can replace the standard power plant on any vehicle of 20 spaces or more in size. It has unlimited range but must be refueled with refined hydrogen. It requires no extra spaces and uses the following chart.
Plant type: TL: Fuel Longevity:
Basic. 9. 2 weeks
Improved. 12. 1 month
Advance. 15. 3 months
I’ll let you guys figure the cost. This would make fusion plants ubiquitous at TL 12 and also explain why ultra-dense batteries are also used (primary for smaller vehicles or where fuel would not be easily accessible)
Now I know this would require some rewriting of existing vehicles outside of the VH but those are primarily in the imperial source book and could easily be ported over into the VH, this would also bring the size of the Astrin for example back down to its more reasonable original size of 10 tons. This should be considered quickly because of the upcoming FFW where such vehicles should be present.
Related this change would also effect section 4: Spacecraft weapons
This fix is both simple and important first a extra 2 spaces needed for power systems/ capacitors make sense also the rule is very vague since none of the standard turret weapons have a tonnage/space so the second fix would be including a simple chart with the vehicle size for Spacecraft weapons.
Now I think the original author had a great concept with the chassis system he created I just don’t think he understood fusion plants in Traveller.
