PoD Harrier 200t TL15 Commerce Raider

[mavikfelna]

Yea but again the Harrier is neither a Specialized ship or a Capital ship so giving it a Core computers make no sense, especially since it’s described as “ Most capital ships, and certain specialized vessels, have multiple distributed computer networks spread throughout their decks but always include a central computer core “ again it’s a rules lawyer play which means (let ignore RP it has no purpose).

In the end the original poster has admitted that they have not read the campaign which shows in their attempt to redesign the harrier. The ship they designed doesn’t work for the campaign in any way.

The ship I designed is a high-tech Commerce Raider, which is what the Harrier design is called, in a Pirate campaign. That the original Harrier is a bad Commerce Raider means that that wasn't really it's intended purpose so using Commerce Raider as the ship type is the problem. The Harrier is a diplomatic and intimidation weapon and is not better at commerce raiding than any other armed ship in its class.
As for using Core computers, with the retro tech rules they are vastly reduced in size so I have no problem putting them where they will help. Ship's computers and software is way over priced and more bandwidth costly than it should be. If you're going to be using military software, you should be using military computer hardware and the rules allow for that. I'm not going to argue about rules lawyering because I don't really care. If I wasn't trying to make an optimum build, I would do things differently. It's not any different than how my trader ships try to squeeze every bit value out of the hull space that the rules allow. If the design is supposed to be sub-optimal, I can do that too but mostly I like going for optimization for the designated task the ship is supposed to perform.

 

[MasterGwydion]

The ship I designed is a high-tech Commerce Raider, which is what the Harrier design is called, in a Pirate campaign. That the original Harrier is a bad Commerce Raider means that that wasn't really it's intended purpose so using Commerce Raider as the ship type is the problem. The Harrier is a diplomatic and intimidation weapon and is not better at commerce raiding than any other armed ship in its class.
As for using Core computers, with the retro tech rules they are vastly reduced in size so I have no problem putting them where they will help. Ship's computers and software is way over priced and more bandwidth costly than it should be. If you're going to be using military software, you should be using military computer hardware and the rules allow for that. I'm not going to argue about rules lawyering because I don't really care. If I wasn't trying to make an optimum build, I would do things differently. It's not any different than how my trader ships try to squeeze every bit value out of the hull space that the rules allow. If the design is supposed to be sub-optimal, I can do that too but mostly I like going for optimization for the designated task the ship is supposed to perform.

This is why I don't share my ship designs. I use too many house-rules.

For example - The ship below. Uses some houserules and I may have made some mistakes building the spreadsheet. So, even with my house-rules, it may not be right. lol

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

That’s why the Harrier makes since as mostly written

As a pirate ship it is still an issue. Piracy in an area where the planets you might use as a base are all sharing data about piracy will narrow the list to you very rapidly. Your ship taking too long to getting where it said it was going and having cargo it can't account for that matches what was stolen. Armed to match the damage done. Data analysts would probably list your ship as suspect after the first attack given its unique design.

If your ship isn't going to any local bases but staying in the outer system and using spies to allow you to target victims the time delay will reduce your ability to intercept your targets. You would need a way to transship your cargo to someone who could sell it and those ships would have the same problem being off the books on a pattern connecting to the raids.

All those ships in the records. All their trips on the books. Then you're on the record but the trips don't match whenever you pirate and likely only then do they not match. You draw a target on your back. You would rapidly have no where you could go into port.

 

[hopsnbaer]

As a pirate ship it is still an issue. Piracy in an area where the planets you might use as a base are all sharing data about piracy will narrow the list to you very rapidly. Your ship taking too long to getting where it said it was going and having cargo it can't account for that matches what was stolen. Armed to match the damage done. Data analysts would probably list your ship as suspect after the first attack given its unique design.

If your ship isn't going to any local bases but staying in the outer system and using spies to allow you to target victims the time delay will reduce your ability to intercept your targets. You would need a way to transship your cargo to someone who could sell it and those ships would have the same problem being off the books on a pattern connecting to the raids.

All those ships in the records. All their trips on the books. Then you're on the record but the trips don't match whenever you pirate and likely only then do they not match. You draw a target on your back. You would rapidly have no where you could go into port.

That's why you get a beard. The Harrier shouldn't be stopping at every world. It raids gathers loot and a second Trader sells the cargo on low law level worlds.

 

[MasterGwydion]

That's why you get a beard. The Harrier shouldn't be stopping at every world. It raids gathers loot and a second Trader sells the cargo on low law level worlds.

Yeah! The beard is a hapless group of local pirates. PCs show up in the Harrier after one or two attacks claiming to be pirate hunters. Then you scapegoat the local pirates and earn a reward for capturing them

 

[J. L. Brown]

Yeah! The beard is a hapless group of local pirates. PCs show up in the Harrier after one or two attacks claiming to be pirate hunters. Then you scapegoat the local pirates and earn a reward for capturing them

Don't forget to take one or two juicy local prizes before you wipe out the pirates -- obviously the pirates were a bigger threat than anyone had previously imagined. More glory for Drinax; and more loot, too!

 

[MasterGwydion]

Don't forget to take one or two juicy local prizes before you wipe out the pirates -- obviously the pirates were a bigger threat than anyone had previously imagined. More glory for Drinax; and more loot, too!

Yeah. Who do you think did the first one or two attacks?

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

That's why you get a beard. The Harrier shouldn't be stopping at every world. It raids gathers loot and a second Trader sells the cargo on low law level worlds.

Operating those extra ships and the distances they have to travel drives down those profits and delays them. You also need a spy network telling you what ships are carrying worthwhile cargo where and when. Problem is if you aren't in the system they are leaving from by the time you get the data they have already arrived at their destination. So you have to lurk undetected in a star system for weeks or months waiting for a ship worth raiding. You have to have your cargo ship waiting somewhere else for you to deliver a cargo (or accompanying you without being stealthed) so they can pick up the maximum cargo.

You'd be better off doing without the cargo vessel and carrying prize crews (low berths) to take the whole ship elsewhere far enough away to sell it and its cargo. But then they have to wait around until a ship comes to pick them up to go home. There would be the risk of the prize crew just taking the money and running off to live a life of luxury.

Now if those cargoes weren't being sold but taken to Drinax to build the planet up it would be more sensible. If they could (or had a partner to do so) rebuild those ships to be unrecognizable as the pirated vessels they could be useful doing trade under the Drinax flag to make profits towards buying cargoes (insure them, pirate them and have more money for more cargoes). You might even be able to enslave crews and passengers (ransoming those worth the risk of doing so) to help build Drinax up. In this scenario anyone who gets a look at your ship ends up dead or enslaved.

Piracy due to time delays and interstellar cooperation in fighting piracy does not function well. Raiding lower TL worlds that are independent can be profitable if you are ruthless enough and have a large cheap cargo vessel to go with the raider. They have no one to report to and nothing to fight with.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Operating those extra ships and the distances they have to travel drives down those profits and delays them. You also need a spy network telling you what ships are carrying worthwhile cargo where and when. Problem is if you aren't in the system they are leaving from by the time you get the data they have already arrived at their destination. So you have to lurk undetected in a star system for weeks or months waiting for a ship worth raiding. You have to have your cargo ship waiting somewhere else for you to deliver a cargo (or accompanying you without being stealthed) so they can pick up the maximum cargo.

You are not targeting Travellers. Your spy network, as detailed in PoD gives you info on scheduled ships and shipments. That is how you can be where you need to be to intercept the ship.

Piracy due to time delays and interstellar cooperation in fighting piracy does not function well. Raiding lower TL worlds that are independent can be profitable if you are ruthless enough and have a large cheap cargo vessel to go with the raider. They have no one to report to and nothing to fight with.

Spy networks are for advance knowledge. Learning at the last minute is useless. The Trojan Reach is great for pirating specifically because there is not much interstellar cooperation and most ports can become very friendly to pirates with the right incentives. The rules are all in PoD

 

[Endie]

. That the original Harrier is a bad Commerce Raider means that that wasn't really it's intended purpose so using Commerce Raider as the ship type is the problem.

I don’t often agree with Tytalan but this shows he is right and that you just don’t understand the Harrier.

 

[Condottiere]

It's a chicken and egg problem.

The Harrier is actually too small.

But, it has to fit into certain parameters.

 

[MasterGwydion]

The Harrier was designed to be used in tandem with the Rorix Command Vessel.