Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

If debris can interact with your ship during hyperspace, so can any enemy ship on your tail.

And if they can see you, they can lock weapons on you.

 

[wbnc]

If debris can interact with your ship during hyperspace, so can any enemy ship on your tail.

And if they can see you, they can lock weapons on you.

YEP! ships can use larger fields of debris, and drifting masses to hide behind , or to launch ambushes on ships passing along well-traveled routes.

since all ships in hyperspace share the same Hyperspace. It can become a major battlefield if hostile forces encounter one another.Players have to take a lot of precautions when using this form of hyperspace travel. It changes those leisurely weeks in jump space that people normally expect in a traveller game a nailbiter.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering and Stealth

Well, not exactly stealth.

If you assume the manoeuvre drive nacelles in the rear are just heat sinks, you should reroute them to the front, and make them radiate a wide range of the electro-magnetism spectrum, which doesn't conceal the presence of an object, just makes it difficult for sensors and weapons to lock on.

 

[Condottiere]

Venture Class: Ship's Locker

Combat shotgun
Stunner
Cudgel
Knife
Machete
Pickhead Axe

Full bore bolt action rifle
Revolver

In theory, a tech level eight combat shotgun, which let's assume has between five to eight magazine capacity, can be tweaked at one hundred seventy five percent single parameter improvement to seven dee six damage. With recoil, also known as bulky.

A light over under double barreled sports target shotgun should be easier to license and less suspicious, since it should still have a complete shoulder stock, also at tech level eight, it should be able to do five dee six plus one, with insignificant recoil. A double blast is either six dee six plus one (which doesn't seem worth it), or seven dee six, plus recoil.

You could, of course, recalibrate the combat shotgun for the lighter shell.

Side by side double barrel shotgun should inherently be more inaccurate, but a lot more cheaper. And easier to saw off.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Keep in mind the Kinunir-class ship is designed as an assault ship with troop drop capsules and Classic Traveller-based troop support armored vehicles. The Sulaco in the Aliens movie put me in mind of the Kinunir's purpose.

Now as you mention it, I would think that the Imperium (Zhodani, Solomani and some Vargr, and Hivers who've studied humans) would have a bunch of varieties of these for this purpose. Though only a few would be Kinunirs; that would be a specific variation.

 

[Condottiere]

The defining feature would be the capability of nuking anything from orbit, since it's the only way to be sure.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Venture Class: Ship's Locker TL 9+

Combat shotgun
Stunner
Cudgel
Knife
Machete
Pickhead Axe

Full bore semiautomatic rifle
Auto.matic Pistol

Fixed it for you. With weapons that most travelers will actually use at TL 9+

 

[Condottiere]

That was to give it a Solomanic flavour.

Though I think I've found a loophole with a light sports over under shotgun, law level six compliant (possibly higher with a a license for sports), no recoil and a seventy five percent increase in fire power.

 

[wbnc]

That was to give it a Solomanic flavour.

Though I think I've found a loophole with a light sports over under shotgun, law level six compliant (possibly higher with a a license for sports), no recoil and a seventy five percent increase in fire power.

That actually sounds right to me.....long barrel sporting shotguns with the right choke can generate a lot tighter pattern, and better muzzle velocity than a combat shotgun, which is usually a straight bore. They are also designed for as much accuracy and balance as is possible with a shotgun.

combat shotguns are designed for short range engagement and volume of fire.

Here's a scary factoid...a shotgun can fire 10-14 9mm buckshot per trigger pull. as semi auto shotgun can fire as fast as you can pull the trigger so around 30-40 shots a minute depending on skill and magazine size/type...they have the potential to put as much lead on target than a submachine gun...a 12 round full auto assault shotgun can put more lead on target per second than a machine pistol.

 

[Condottiere]

In ShadowRun, I'd choose the submachinegun to customize or tweak and a Saturday Night Special for backup, but since I decided to look over the ship's locker, I've come to the conclusion that ye shotgun is vastly underrated, especially in the tight corridors of a spaceship, and a lot less likely to be questioned about when you take it dirtside, that is, if it's obviously for sport.

Also, caseless ammunition shouldn't be an issue for single shotted selection at tech level eight.

 

[wbnc]

In ShadowRun, I'd choose the submachinegun to customize or tweak and a Saturday Night Special for backup, but since I decided to look over the ship's locker, I've come to the conclusion that ye shotgun is vastly underrated, especially in the tight corridors of a spaceship, and a lot less likely to be questioned about when you take it dirtside, that is, if it's obviously for sport.

Also, caseless ammunition shouldn't be an issue for single shotted selection at tech level eight.

shotguns also have advantage over a rifle, or pistol..ammo...a slug, birdshot, or heavy shot can all be fired with no effect on the weapon....the are already developing taser rounds, and grenade rounds for shotguns..and of course you can load "silly putty", or bean bag rounds if you want to knock someone down without killing them.

Also, you ca fin flare, tear gas/irritant, and door breaching rounds that can remove a deadbolt in an instant.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

On board a space craft the enemy can be assumed to be armoured with at least a vacc suit, perhaps Protection 10. Shot from a shotgun should have a severe problem penetrating that, not that the combat system models this.

The controller of a ship can also turn off artificial gravity and instantly turn it into a zero gravity affair.

I generally prefer laser weapons in space.

 

[wbnc]

On board a space craft the enemy can be assumed to be armoured with at least a vacc suit, perhaps Protection 10. Shot from a shotgun should have a severe problem penetrating that, not that the combat system models this.

The controller of a ship can also turn off artificial gravity and instantly turn it into a zero gravity affair.

I generally prefer laser weapons in space.

You tailor our weapons loadout to the situation at hand you mix and match weapons and their capabilities, and limitations. No one weapon is suitable for every occasion. Someone who carries a weapon as an afterthought can get away with a few weapons. Someone who makes their living as an arms-bearer will need a collection of weapons ammo, and accessories.

 

[Condottiere]

It's an excuse to wear a bandoleer.

With a four tech level difference, you can have your own mini grenade launcher; standard bore size is supposedly eighteen millimetres.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

You tailor our weapons loadout to the situation at hand you mix and match weapons and their capabilities, and limitations. No one weapon is suitable for every occasion. Someone who carries a weapon as an afterthought can get away with a few weapons. Someone who makes their living as an arms-bearer will need a collection of weapons ammo, and accessories.

Agreed, but that is Marine or Mercenary speciality equipment. It is no longer a question of the standard ship's locker.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Hulls and Armour

Ablative armour might be an option.

Might work assuming that you never land the ship in an atmosphere.

I thing that reflec covers this rather nicely.

Depends.

It could be streamlined. It could be placed on specific areas which would protect the locations directly underneath them.

They could be targetted at specific weapon systems, like reactive armour against missiles and torpedoes. The classic torpedo bulges could be aimed at meson guns; or torpedoes; and missiles; and particle accelerators.

Value added armour.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Hulls and Armour

Assuming the basics of spaceship building remain the same, the lowest tech level a spaceship hull can be built would be seven, and the material would be titanium steel. If you decided to armour up, it would be the same material to a factor seven.

You probably could use some other material, like nickel steel, being what ye asteroid is made of, mostly.

Anyway, the hull has a basic factor zero armour, but regardless of material, takes up no volume; if armour was integral to the hull, the hull would have volume.

So at tech level ten or eleven, you start mass producing dirt cheap titanium steel hulls, at what, forty, fifty or sixty percent discount?

True, comparatively your structural integrity would be equivalent to cardboard, but that's where you could start adding crystaliron armour plating.

Possibly, you could do that to cast iron hulls, or oak ones.

 

[Condottiere]

Inspiration: Calling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pDN0HqCQaI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pia_xXqfq0o

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Hulls and Holey Sacred Cows

Romulan ship design seem to have an elegant lethality bringing to mind a Cylon mating with a Predator, but structurally unsound, though I imagine the spinal weapon mount would be that central strut.

You can't really use them as line of battle ships, though they would look dashing as strike cruisers, with the arse holding the fuel tanks.

Now, you may be wondering why I've decided to start posting these examples; it's because I started wondering if having a central hole in a spaceship could be taken advantage of.

You could expand a fuel balloon with in it, like an insect with an egg sac, which would certainly expand range by some degree.

 

[wbnc]

A Ship with a void built into the total volume calculation could tractor a battle rider, or other combat craft into the void, and engage it's FTL drive, either jump warp, or hyperspace, drive and carry the secondary craft along with it. (Ships hull+void=total volume)

having a D'deridex warbird towing a squadron of smaller scouts or fighters with tractor beams would be a nasty surprise. At long range all you might pick up would be a single warbird, until you got close range all of the sudden you have a warbird and a squadron of scouts and fighters to deal with. Especially stealth hulled, or cloaked warships. any heat or EM emissions they gave off could be lost in the signature of the carrier vessel. If you used a tractor beam based docking clamp( as an explanation or special effect, with a tweak to TL and costs of course) the secondary ships could move away under power very rapidly once they were within combat range.