Ship's Locker Contents

[Vargrz]

I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for ship's locker contents that are not weapon related. I guess I'm looking for standard vs. unusual items-kits-gear. A D66 list would also be useful for random searches for gear. I like the Central Supply catalogue, but too much detail on weapons and not enough general service items.

It seems that there would be various specialized repair kits and tools, along with dirt-side survival kits for various environments.

 

[GypsyComet]

One each of the "standard" toolkits, as well as parts of prior toolkits that have not worn out enough to toss.

One Survival kit per expected Crew and passenger load. As this generally contains a Survival Rifle, it is NOT in each stateroom, but kept centrally and handed out as needed.

At least one Rescue Ball per stateroom. These *will* be in the staterooms, as well as strategic spots around the ship.

If a cargo ship, a small collection of hand trucks, pallet jacks, furniture sliders, and portable hand and/or power winches and come-alongs.

Never enough tie-downs.

The toolbox from a formerly complete Mechanic's Kit, now home to spare fuses for equipment long removed, a souvenir spoon for a world two sectors away, an apparent torture device that claims to be some sort of jump drive calibration tool for a brand of drive the ship has never had, a Vargr grooming device that still has hair on it, 100m of high tensile line, chalk in seven colors, a can of hideously colored paint, a partial LOTO (Lock-out/Tag-out) assembly, spare batteries for a handcomp, a small bottle of grassphalt fertilizer, a datachip titled "How to Train your Beaker", a snow shovel, a tin of some mysterious substance that claims to be "surfboard wax", a dataslate that fits the previously mentioned datachip and has veterinary records for one "Binky", three vaccsuit patches of dubious age, one replacement arm (still in TL12 cosmolene) for a Phin walkabout harness, a credstick with Cr38 on it attached to a tag that says "Binky", and one 3m strip of Space Velcro (TM).

 

[Rick]

Hmm - complicated question. I should expect lockers to be in various locations and have appropriate contents to that location - for example - engineering lockers in the engineering section to have repair/engineering spares in them as well as the tools needed (along with spares). However, THE Ships Locker should act as a Supply Warehouse (at least on the larger ships) - having boxes of medical supplies (from which the medical crew would make up first aid kits or resupply the sickbay lockers), spare tools and commonly needed spares, bulk storage items, spare uniforms and toiletries/sundries for the crew, a weapon locker (if there is no security section on board) and a safe for storing valuables. I would expect lockers in the various locations to be unlocked mostly (except for dangerous substances/drugs), but THE Ships Locker to be kept locked at all times under the control of the Ships Purser probably (presumably only the Captain, First Officer and Purser would be able to access it without authorisation - possibly only the Captain would be able to open the safe). That's more of the idea for larger ships with a few crew - on smaller ships it would act in much the same way, but on a smaller scale (you might find the safe in the captains cabin, and fewer spares for example).

 

[Vargrz]

I really like the idea of multiple ship lockers appropriate to the service area of the ship.

It makes so much sense! I guess I hadn't really thought of that because only the largest ships locker appears on most deck plans.

Thanks for the great ideas!

Anyone else have any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

[GypsyComet]

Some of the Mongoose plans have "lockers" large enough to house small villages...

There are almost certainly small lockers around the ship. We've made it a point of tradition to have the wall of equipment lockers in Engineering, while space survival gear is going to be all over the place. Planetary gear will probably be in a few places depending on the nature of the ship. A PC's ship is going to have a lot of stuff in crew staterooms, while a military ship will have lockers full of NCO-knows-what in the damnedest places.

 

[Rick]

Also - one 'locker' in the engineering section and the bridge section might well be a refrigerated/insulated "snackbox" containing food (snacks and sandwich types) and drinks - for long watches when leaving that area to get something to eat or drink is inadvisable! Of course that would be on starships that don't have stewards running back and forth between the galley and the bridge or engineering sections! :wink:

Edit: I couldn't find 'galley', 'kitchen' or 'food preparation area' on any of the MGT starship plans, so could only conclude that any ship with a 'common area' included a galley as part of that - complete with food storage lockers, presumably! Any ship that is too small to have a common area probably has lockers full of prepared meals of the 'pull ring to self-heat; spork included' variety!

I would also guess that most ships would have a small 'machine shop' as part of the engineering section, with some form of computer-controlled lathes and/or 3D printing machines, where simple tools and components would be produced. In which case, you'd probably have quite a lot of storage space devoted to raw materials: sheet and bar metal of various types and sizes; resin, plastic and/or ceramic materials.

 

[GypsyComet]

Galleys and other crew/passenger commons, including corridors, airlocks, and the Ship's Locker, are typically going to come out of the total volume alloted to staterooms, labs, and the Bridge, with some access coming out of cargo and some Locker space found in Engineering.

Quite a lot of equipment found in a Ship's Locker is small, or at least not big in all three dimensions. This allows foot-deep wall storage to hold most of it without impacting ship's function. Installed along one side of nearly any corridor and in some rooms, you won't even notice it on deckplans. The floor grid used (for most editions of Traveller) is 1.5m, or about 5 feet. For comparison, most modern home hallways are 3 feet wide. Lots of space, unless you designed your ship's access ways to be all doors and no walls.

'pull ring to self-heat; spork included'

Been around in science fiction (and reality, to a limited extent) for at least 60 years. The microwave oven was patented in '47 and Heinlein was including such things in his fiction within a couple years. Andre Norton's space stories featured self-heating packaged foods not very many years later.

In a Traveller context, the Vilani are going to have had a small cultural crisis over such things as they took to space. Their cook-priest caste, the Shigilii, were *very* powerful, so the idea that crews might need food beyond the reach of a trained cook would have been slightly scandalous. Pre-cooked and sealed "Shugilii Prepared" meals probably came about shortly thereafter, and would have been, given the Vilani mindset, foolproof to prepare. When the Terrans came along over a thousand years later with a much wider variety of such foods, I suspect the Vilani took to them as well, at least after being shown they were edible. The idea that "just anyone" could cook would have taken time to sink in, though.

 

[Vargrz]

I am really appreciative for the input!

All the suggestions so far have been very useful and thought provoking.

I am now thinking about the issue of "shipboard" gear in a whole new light!

I welcome anything additional thoughts any of you might have!

 

[Rick]

One point you might want to consider would be to 'personalise' a ships deckplans - the ones in the various books are the 'bare bones' - take a bit of time to mark on the plans where a galley might be located, whether crew cabins might have small food and drink preparation facilities in them, where areas of equipment lockers are located - that sort of thing; as GypsyComet points out!

Another point to bear in mind is that most of the comments we've made have been for mainly humaniti type ships - other alien races may have completely different ideas on how to organise a starship. Aslan and Vargr ships probably have completely different cultural imperatives determining food preparation, for example.

TV shows and films can provide some help and inspiration as well - 'Firefly' is a good example of a common area used as a galley/mess area ('Alien' as well), and some of the unused cargo space used as a recreational area - in Traveller terms you might have a locker near the cargo hold with some recreational/sports equipment in?

 

[Malakor]

At least once in a campaign, you should find a body inside a ships locker. Either a live stowaway, or a dead body that no one on board will admit to knowing how it got there :twisted:

 

[Rick]

At least once in a campaign, you should find a body inside a ships locker. Either a live stowaway, or a dead body that no one on board will admit to knowing how it got there :twisted:

The best (?) way to have that happen might be if the PC's have taken over a 2nd-hand ship and they find something like this, or even just a head in a box, shoved at the very back of a locker somewhere!
Stowaway's are always a good way to introduce a short drop-in adventure in the middle of a longer campaign (unless your PC's are of the 'shove it out the airlock and it never happened' type!).

 

[phavoc]

By the book, the ship's locker is the junk-drawer equivalent for a starship, and generally quite small, assuming it even shows up on deck plans.

For most small ships its simply a closet to store non-related items. Spacesuits and vacuum gear belong in the airlocks or next to the airlocks. Firearms should be stored in a crew-only access area under lock and key (along with ammunition, weapon power packs, explosives, etc). Spare parts and mechanical supplies would most likely be encountered in the engine room. Survival supplies would be stored already in the lifepods/escape craft. Food stores would be in the galley/kitchen.

So that begs the question, what DOES go in a ship's locker? Well, kind of anything that doesn't already belong somewhere else, but within reason. You may store small amounts of goods that passengers would need (shampoo, soap, etc). You might store some goodies for the crew (gum, chips, chocolates), maybe even some alcohol and/or wine. It could be things that are only needed on the ground (signal beacons, short-range intercoms).

The book does say that it's full of 'stuff'... but that crew members should not "abuse" it and say it contains everything. For the most part, crews will probably stuff every nook and cranny with crap they want and/or need for personal use. Most crews are going to have very specific gear customized for them for day-to-day use. Passenger-carrying ships are going to include things passengers want/need on voyages because they need to keep them happy.

 

[lastbesthope]

Wasn't there an S&P article ont his very topic???

LBH

 

[far-trader]

By the book, the ship's locker is the junk-drawer equivalent for a starship, and generally quite small, assuming it even shows up on deck plans.

I didn't get that vibe from the rules I figure it is a closet(s) total number and size, as well as contents, varying by ship size and type. The location(s) should certainly be noted if not shown on deckplans, though they can be logically presumed to a degree (primarily: airlocks, engineering, bridge, galley/common - secondarily: armoury, hangers, cargo holds)

The book does say that it's full of 'stuff'... but that crew members should not "abuse" it and say it contains everything.

And the simplest way to insure that imo is for the ref to have the final say on what is there. Limiting it to stuff critical to completing the current adventure or averting an unforseen calamity the player's find themselves in. And then "charging" them double or more for anything they pull out of it, along with it being used up/worn out in said usage and having to be replaced. Even if they never see a need for it again. Until replaced the "magic" locker is likewise unable to fill those other forgotten needs.

...but that's just how I'd do it. And players who would abuse the privilege of the "magic" locker by not taking reasonable steps to insure they are properly equipped might just find that stuff they pull from the locker is non-functional or downright dangerously faulty (there's a reason the stuff is collecting dust in the locker instead of being used).

Though I've not known many players who don't try to buy at least one of everything listed in the equipment books as long as they have the money... and then there are those who insist that not only can they carry it all, all the time, and find the specific item they want from the collection instantly, but that it in no way encumbers them The "magic" locker remedies that to a degree.

As for items to add to the list, has anyone mentioned the usual health and safety items? First Aid Kits, Fire Extinguishers, Flashlights, etc.

 

[alex_greene]

An efficiently-stocked ship's locker contains, at the very least, the following:-

- All the ship's documentation, trading records, copies of the log books (ship's master, purser, trading, engineering, navigation logs), accounts, day books, ledgers, receipts of all trades, sales and purchases, ship copies of passenger ticket stubs, low berth maintenance records, fuel consumption, cargo and passenger manifests, fire and safety records and anything else I can think of) ... it's the future, so assume they're all available in electronic format on data crystals, lots of backups fully synchronised so they're all up to date, with a few traditional "dead tree copies" because of some arcane law that still requires handwritten records

- The weapons locker; all crew weapons, ammunition, weapons maintenance kits all kept in a locker to which the Purser and Captain hold the only keys

- The small equipment storage locker, where items the crew need for missions can be locked away safely, along with maintenance kits and so on. Handheld computers and personal comms stay with the crew: this is for specialised kit such as forensic detection kit, universal translators, handheld intrusion computers for hack jobs and so on.

- The keys to the large equipment storage locker, housed in the spare space on board the ship, possibly near the cargo bay. This is where you'd put larger items such as grav belts, tents and shelters, and so on.

Crewmen keep their uniforms and the kit they need to wear, along with their vacc suits, with them in their quarters. If they're heading into trouble, standard practice is to wear their vacc suits, with gloves and helmets off, at their posts and seal up if it looks like they're about to be exposed to space imminently.

The best policy for Referees is to keep tabs on what equipment and weapons the characters buy, then note their presence in the ship's locker. If the characters need it and they did not buy it, it isn't there for them - so part of the beginning of any adventure should include a list of items that the characters may need to buy before the story begins, whether it be sets of high-tech khaki explorer's uniforms for jungle exploration or high-speed grav chutes optimised for HALO operations.

 

[GypsyComet]

" Oh, what I wouldn't give for a holocaust cloak."

 

[far-trader]

" Oh, what I wouldn't give for a holocaust cloak."

Ref Moi: You know this isn't Dungeons and Travellers right?

Ref Moi: (inspiration strikes - muahahaha - rolls dice behind screen - ignores results... :twisted: )

Ref Moi: OK, yes, there is a Holocaust Cloak in the back of the locker, a bit dusty and wrinkled but it seems intact.

Ref Moi: Do you put it on?? :twisted: (dang, did I Evil Grin (tm) again... )

 

[Captain Jonah]

Then you notice a strange group of people, a dapper spanish looking chap, a masked blond guy and a small giant. They drag you off, tie you to a wheel barrow, set you on fire and use you to storm a castle gate.

Or since its a Traveller game, they strap you to a cargo lifter, set you on fire with a plasma cutter and use you as a decoy to draw out security while they rob the local bank of its hard cash reserves :lol:

 

[Rick]

So, let me see if I read your posts correctly.

What you appear to be saying is that a Ships Locker should contain at least 1 Fire Blanket? 8)

 

[Captain Jonah]

well its sort of blanket shaped and it does involve fire :lol:

Anyway back to the lockers. Where do your engineers hide the still. Where do you put everything you could possibly need over the course of a week in jump plus extra time in transit. Consider multiple jumps with refueling stops. You could be weeks away from the next shop.

Toiletries, minor medical stuff, life's little luxuries etc. Replacements for most every type of clothing or footwear, the damm i just ripped the back side out of my only engineers overalls on the first day of a month long trip situation :twisted:

Replacements for every type of consumable, every type of breakable. Bedding for the staterooms, a box of coats and blankets for those emergencys when the heat is off :shock:

Think ocean liner, they need to have on board everything they need for a week or more. They can pick up emergency stuff if needed but its far easier to have it first than to have to alter course then grab something from a passing frieghter with all that entails.