Ship Design Questions

[branford]

After reading the core and High Guard, I was unable to ascertain the answers to a few questions. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

1. In CT, sick bays were installed in ships. Are they no longer required in MGT, or are they possibly included in the stateroom misc. cost and space requirements? If not, what is the space / cost to install a sick bay on a ship, and what advantages would it provide per TL?

2. It appears that "Luxuries" for capital ships are different than other vessels. Normal luxuries count as steward skill per ton, while the capital ship stats seem to require 1/2 ton per stateroom with no discernable rules effects. Could someone direct me to the page (either in the core or HG) that details the rules for capital ship luxuries.

3. Repulsors and plasma weapons were included in CT and later editions. Has Mongoose decided to abandon these weapons?

4. Has anyone designed stats for laser, fusion gun or meson barbettes or turrets, or laser bays?

5. Is it possible to have a maneuver rating higher than 6 on a non-small (over 100 ton) craft? If not, why can certain small craft substantially exceed the limit?

6. Is it possible to have a power plant rating higher than 6 (e.g., to have more screens and bay weapons, etc.)?

 

[Golan2072]

1. In CT, sick bays were installed in ships. Are they no longer required in MGT, or are they possibly included in the stateroom misc. cost and space requirements? If not, what is the space / cost to install a sick bay on a ship, and what advantages would it provide per TL?

My house-rules:

Standard Medlabs are subsumed in the stateroom tonnage and cost. Assume 0.25 tons of medical equipment available per stateroom – small ships have medical equipment lockers and a folding stretcher or two, while larger ships have actual infirmaries. Regardless of size, Standard Medlabs have paramedic-level or ambulance-level equipment. While they allow rudimentary surgery and long-term care to be administered, they incur a -2 DM to these tasks due to the limited equipment available. Furthermore, the Referee may decide that certain medical procedures would be too complex for such basic facilities to perform. Standard Medlabs do not provide any additional life support beyond what the ship's staterooms already provide.

Each Dedicated Medlab unit displaces 8 tons and cost MCr1.5 and provide facilities – including dedicated life support and intensive care – for up to two patients; each additional patient capacity adds 2 tons and MCr0.25. Its equipment and facilities are on par with those of a small clinic or a tiny hospital, allowing most medical tasks to be carried out without additional difficulty. Each Dedicated Medlab unit requires one medic per four patients (or a fraction thereof), and in many cases a ship would carry as many Dedicated Medlabs as it has medics in its crew listing.

A Shipboard Hospital displaces 16 tons, costs MCr5 and houses up to two patients with complete life support facilities; each additional patient capacity adds 2 tons and MCr0.5. It is a fully-fledged hospital, complete with laboratories and extensive imaging systems, allowing complex medical procedures such as cybernetic implantation and giving a +2 DM to all medical tasks. A Shipboard Hospital requires one doctor per 8 patients (or a fraction thereof) and one nurse per 4 patients (or a fraction thereof).

 

[AndrewW]

1. In CT, sick bays were installed in ships. Are they no longer required in MGT, or are they possibly included in the stateroom misc. cost and space requirements? If not, what is the space / cost to install a sick bay on a ship, and what advantages would it provide per TL?

The ones on the deckplans given in say Traders and Gunboats come from the stateroom tonnage with no additional cost. This was a design decision by the person doing the deckplans.

2. It appears that "Luxuries" for capital ships are different than other vessels. Normal luxuries count as steward skill per ton, while the capital ship stats seem to require 1/2 ton per stateroom with no discernable rules effects. Could someone direct me to the page (either in the core or HG) that details the rules for capital ship luxuries.

Luxuries on capital ships work the same way. High Guard page: 71 under Step 7 - Other Components shows this.

3. Repulsors and plasma weapons were included in CT and later editions. Has Mongoose decided to abandon these weapons?

Don't know , but haven't seen any.

5. Is it possible to have a maneuver rating higher than 6 on a non-small (over 100 ton) craft? If not, why can certain small craft substantially exceed the limit?

Not by the design rules.

6. Is it possible to have a power plant rating higher than 6 (e.g., to have more screens and bay weapons, etc.)?

The limit for screens isn't simply the power plant:

High Guard page: 65: "There is a limit on the number of screens that may be combined together depending on the Tech Level of the screens."

While the design rules only cover up to a rating 6 power plant, there's nothing stopping one from putting more then one power plant on a ship.

 

[atpollard]

5. Is it possible to have a maneuver rating higher than 6 on a non-small (over 100 ton) craft? If not, why can certain small craft substantially exceed the limit?

Do not loose sight of the fact that those High G small craft drives are very different (larger percent of ship) than the 6G max starship drives.

Compare 2x 50 ton hulls built with small craft rules to a single 100 ton hull built with the core book rules.

All I'm suggesting is that you should try to maintain balance if you decide to houserule above 6G for starships.

 

[branford]

6. Is it possible to have a power plant rating higher than 6 (e.g., to have more screens and bay weapons, etc.)?

The limit for screens isn't simply the power plant:

High Guard page: 65: "There is a limit on the number of screens that may be combined together depending on the Tech Level of the screens."

While the design rules only cover up to a rating 6 power plant, there's nothing stopping one from putting more then one power plant on a ship.

Would it therefore be permissible, for instance, for a TL15 capital ship to have two Level 6 power plants and simultaneously operate up to 12 meson screens and dampers and 6 globe generators (one set for each power plant)?

 

[AndrewW]

Would it therefore be permissible, for instance, for a TL15 capital ship to have two Level 6 power plants and simultaneously operate up to 12 meson screens and dampers and 6 globe generators (one set for each power plant)?

In the end what is permissible is whatever the referee decides to allow. There's nothing that says one has to follow any particular rules if they don't wish to do so for their own games.

 

[BP]

...
Would it therefore be permissible, for instance, for a TL15 capital ship to have two Level 6 power plants and simultaneously operate up to 12 meson screens and dampers and 6 globe generators (one set for each power plant)?

The 2 power plants are certainly covered by the rules [Core pg 106 - Redundant Systems]

For your specific example = see HG pg. 65 under Screens. The table shows TL based limits for combining screens. In your example you would be limited to 6 Meson and 3 BGs. Per the paragraph the rest could be backups (nullifying the need for the extra PP - though that could also be considered a backup).

Per HG pg 50, the grouping limit should be applied. See no real advantage with another PP for this.

Note: since your example is TL-15 you may want to take advantage of the TL modifiers from HG pg 52-53.

Happy Travelling...

 

[Infojunky]

All I'm suggesting is that you should try to maintain balance if you decide to houserule above 6G for starships.

What is this balance thing you speak of?

Side note; MgT is a subset of T5 and CT some many of the straight CT assumptions may not hold true. (In the T5 playtest draft thrusts over 6 gees are possible)

 

[atpollard]

Side note; MgT is a subset of T5 and CT some many of the straight CT assumptions may not hold true. (In the T5 playtest draft thrusts over 6 gees are possible)

The existance of thrusts over 6G seems obvious. What possible form of logic would suggest that one could not install TWO 6G MDs and accelerate at 12G?

The real question is what is the limit on G compensation?
At 1 uncompensated G, the back wall becomes the floor.
At 3 uncompensated Gees you spend your hours (to the 100 diameter limit) plastered to the back wall and slowly dying.

Thus it is quite possible that a small craft can zoom from surface to orbit at 12 gees and the passengers will survive several minutes of 6 uncompensated gees, yet attempting to exceed 7 gees (1 uncompensated gee) to the Jump Limit would prove fatal.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Regarding the original question about medical labs....

HG Page 47 discusses LABORATORIES.

4 tons, MCr 1.00 and will work for 1 scientist.

A Med Lab is a type of lab and provides the space needed for one medic (doctor).

Houserule the number of patients (I assume 1 per ton). Add more labs based on expected number of casualties.

 

[Infojunky]

Side note; MgT is a subset of T5 and CT some many of the straight CT assumptions may not hold true. (In the T5 playtest draft thrusts over 6 gees are possible)

The existance of thrusts over 6G seems obvious. What possible form of logic would suggest that one could not install TWO 6G MDs and accelerate at 12G?

The real question is what is the limit on G compensation?

That is the traditional limiting factor. But now that I write that I can't find the reference for it...

At 1 uncompensated G, the back wall becomes the floor.

Or it always was the floor....

At 3 uncompensated Gees you spend your hours (to the 100 diameter limit) plastered to the back wall and slowly dying.

Thus it is quite possible that a small craft can zoom from surface to orbit at 12 gees and the passengers will survive several minutes of 6 uncompensated gees, yet attempting to exceed 7 gees (1 uncompensated gee) to the Jump Limit would prove fatal.

Yep....

 

[atpollard]

At 1 uncompensated G, the back wall becomes the floor.

Or it always was the floor....

I think that there are more versions of Traveller than deckplans with that orientation. :wink:

 

[RandyT0001]

Physical orientation of crew/ passengers to the G thrust forces is also important. According to my copy of Spaceship Handbook (Appendix A-14 Fig. 12) an immersed body can take 12 G's for 30-40 minutes. Seated, facing forward to thrust one can take 12 G's for about 3 minutes. Standing up with the head and spine aligned to the thrust axis the body is limited to 3 G's for about two hours, 4G's for about an hour and 5 G's for about one minute.

There might be more info in the Atomic Rockets section of ProjectRho.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

What about if the person is laying down (spinal axis perpendicular to the thrust axis)?

I seem to remember reading something about how the StarFury design by JMS for Babylon 5 was something that NASA was interested in, because it allowed a more comfortable position for High-G thrust.

If we can take 3Gs standing up, we should be able to take more lying down.

 

[RandyT0001]

What about if the person is laying down (spinal axis perpendicular to the thrust axis)?
If we can take 3Gs standing up, we should be able to take more lying down.

Laying down flat is basically the same as seated facing forward. In this seated position with the legs higher than the heart and brain there is less chance of black out.

 

[atpollard]

Gee Tolerance and position will be almost meaningless for the DAYS travel to a Gas Giant. One would be hard pressed to remain seated for even an 8 hour trip to the 100 diameter limit.

 

[lastbesthope]

What about if the person is laying down (spinal axis perpendicular to the thrust axis)?
If we can take 3Gs standing up, we should be able to take more lying down.

Laying down flat is basically the same as seated facing forward. In this seated position with the legs higher than the heart and brain there is less chance of black out.

however the chest muscles must work harder to breathe, it's swings and roundabouts.

LBH

 

[RandyT0001]

Gee Tolerance and position will be almost meaningless for the DAYS travel to a Gas Giant. One would be hard pressed to remain seated for even an 8 hour trip to the 100 diameter limit.

Without some means of gravitic/ inertial compensation humans that are born and raised on a planet with one g gravity will be limited to accelerations of 1G for indefinate time periods in space and up to 2G's for months or years at best. Those born on worlds with less gravity will be further limited, probably to accelerations of 1G at most for weeks or months. The inability of the human body to adjust to low gravity is also a problem, possibly preventing us from journeying to Mars or the outer planets unless new engines are developed.