Well, given that most civil vessels don't have high maneuver drive numbers, the ability to 'run and jump' can save lives out on the frontier like the Domain of Deneb. In more sedate and less crime-ridden sectors like Core or Fornast, you're absolutely right though.Going through some civilian ships and some of them have oversized power plants, quite a few are capabel of powering both J-Drive and M-Drive at the same time. I can understand a military ship having that capacity since it allows for a running jump (accelerate until you reach 100D and the trigger the J-Drive) in an emergency/withdrawl. But for the typical civilian ship this should be of no interest/no need. The rules for example assume a Zero-Zero flight time to 100D and a standing jump.
Since each ton of reactor is a ton of cargo not carried and 0.5-2 MCr on the purchase price would it not be better to size the power plants so they are as close to minimum needs as possible?
It's a very accurate statement. Standard civilian designs should have just enough power for their basic functions - as has been the standard throughout history. An actual merchant (or Megacorp) will be aghast at spending ANY credits on something that just might be useful in some dark, distant corner of the Imperium.Going through some civilian ships and some of them have oversized power plants, quite a few are capabel of powering both J-Drive and M-Drive at the same time. I can understand a military ship having that capacity since it allows for a running jump (accelerate until you reach 100D and the trigger the J-Drive) in an emergency/withdrawl. But for the typical civilian ship this should be of no interest/no need. The rules for example assume a Zero-Zero flight time to 100D and a standing jump.
Since each ton of reactor is a ton of cargo not carried and 0.5-2 MCr on the purchase price would it not be better to size the power plants so they are as close to minimum needs as possible?
Yes, but adventurers will want to customise the ship and add weapons...Since each ton of reactor is a ton of cargo not carried and 0.5-2 MCr on the purchase price would it not be better to size the power plants so they are as close to minimum needs as possible?
But that grav lance can be deadly in the right circumstances. Even if not as all around effective as a podnaught can be though.Players upgrading their ship would be another reason for me to keep energy short Have them come up with creative solutions to the problem and or creative ways to use stuff. It makes for good drama when you do not have a "can do all" Supership like a very late war Podnaught with FTL comms to guide your missiles but instead an old light cruiser with a one shot short range grav lance and energy torps.
Oh but what if that Sword World Q-Ship was really just a merchant and you are declared a murderer?One never knows when one has to take out a Sword World Q-Ship
Now that could be an interesting species to add.Guess we will need a JTAS article about a spezies of six-legged, emphatic tree dwellers
It's not that you can't upgrade a ship... but that it's expensive and time consuming to cut out the hull, to move things around to accommodate a larger power unit, and all the new wiring and such required for that.Players upgrading their ship would be another reason for me to keep energy short Have them come up with creative solutions to the problem and or creative ways to use stuff. It makes for good drama when you do not have a "can do all" Supership like a very late war Podnaught with FTL comms to guide your missiles but instead an old light cruiser with a one shot short range grav lance and energy torps.
And it makes ships that give the engineer something to do (as in "keep them running") or the small craft pilot a job (say using one of the alternate launches from Small Crafts on the Typ M IMS Vigilante)
Isn’t there an upgraded Free Trader in Pirates of Drinax?It's not that you can't upgrade a ship... but that it's expensive and time consuming to cut out the hull, to move things around to accommodate a larger power unit, and all the new wiring and such required for that.
Which is why if there would be a market for up-engined and powered free traders, it makes perfect sense to have a variant that comes off a production line already. Think of it like this - you can get a factory corvette that is already powerful - but you can still modify it (nitrous injection, different cam, turbo charger, etc) if you want to. There are also those small shops out there that will buy stock corvettes, install all this gear and then resell the corvette as essentially a new car - just with a lot of extra additions.
With so many Free Traders out there already I'd think there would be stock versions that already have these kinds of upgrades for sale. And, as always, one can upgrade the ship they have with the same thing.
Actually in HighGuard 2022 that’s not the case at all. In fact the hero class far-trader is underpowered with the power plant producing 75 while Jump takes 40 and Basic systems also taking 40 for a total of 80. I’ll agree many of the mongoose ship designs don’t make sense but at least in the far traders this is not the caseGoing through some civilian ships and some of them have oversized power plants, quite a few are capabel of powering both J-Drive and M-Drive at the same time. I can understand a military ship having that capacity since it allows for a running jump (accelerate until you reach 100D and the trigger the J-Drive) in an emergency/withdrawl. But for the typical civilian ship this should be of no interest/no need. The rules for example assume a Zero-Zero flight time to 100D and a standing jump.
Since each ton of reactor is a ton of cargo not carried and 0.5-2 MCr on the purchase price would it not be better to size the power plants so they are as close to minimum needs as possible?