Ship's Locker: Out of the Closet

[locarno24]

No doubt the low berths are the most efficient way to move people cost wise in a large scale evacuation. I imagine a scenario in which the logistics are worked out to get the ships in and out as quickly as possible, essentially an assembly line boarding and disembarking, with an army of doctors at the destination to bring people out of the low berths. This obviously doesnt apply in a one off, just shipping a bunch of troops for this one mission scenario.

The same size ship could transfer about half as many people steerage class, which may be preferable for children and the infirm, depending on how you apply the medic check when removing someone from a low berth. Much lower power plant requirement, but more room for galleys, stewards, on board medics, etc when the passengers arent frozen.

When you're shipping cryo trays, you might as well use the same approach as bulk cargo (because that's what you've reduced your passengers to) - use modular freighters like the one from High Guard - a 200 dTon 'container' can hold:

Class A fission plant (because you're not trying to run drives and don't want to bother refuelling) - 4 dTons
Fissile fuel (good for a year of operations) - 2 dTons
Compact 'Bridge' (just so it's a 'legal' standalone design) - 7.5 dTons
Some 'spare space' for the odd vital possession (medicine, personal ID, etc) and Autodocs to supervise reanimation - 6.5 dTons

Leaves 180 dTons in the 'standard' 200 dTon containers we see in those freighter designs.

That's enough for 360 'standard' low berths. An 'emergency low berth' can't be used for low berth passengers but we're talking about emergency evacuations, so step right up. It holds 4 people per dTon, so each one of those containers can hold 720 people.

The thing is, you can have those containers dispersed across a world, and then ship them up to orbit to any old 'container ship', which turns all the megacorp vessels in the region into emergency people haulers.

 

[Old School]

Not a bad idea - use freighters as people movers by containerizing people. Depending on how you treat the medic roll in your game (Mongoose rules just say its a medic check and leave it at that), that -1 is a very big deal. Between that and death, I get it, but I would still struggle to see them get built that way unless the medic check is an Easy check, so a healthy person and a competent doctor (or expert software) faces little risk. It almost has to be an easy check for low passage to be a thing.

what's with the bridge? Why does it have to be a legal standalone design? Even if it were a modular hull component rather than just a powered shipping container, there's no need for it stand on its own.

 

[Condottiere]

Engineering is the big ticket item for commercial shipping, everything else can be compromised and ameliorated.

Even life support.

And the expense of life support is the actual issue.

 

[locarno24]

Not a bad idea - use freighters as people movers by containerizing people. Depending on how you treat the medic roll in your game (Mongoose rules just say its a medic check and leave it at that), that -1 is a very big deal. Between that and death, I get it, but I would still struggle to see them get built that way unless the medic check is an Easy check, so a healthy person and a competent doctor (or expert software) faces little risk. It almost has to be an easy check for low passage to be a thing.

what's with the bridge? Why does it have to be a legal standalone design? Even if it were a modular hull component rather than just a powered shipping container, there's no need for it stand on its own.

I always assume it's one of those checks where the Going Faster Or Slower rules applied; provided you're thawing people out at your own pace and not defrosting frozen watch in an emergency, that makes the process Routine (+2). Add in the Autodoc's Medic/1 and either EDU DM+2 or DEX DM+3 (depending on your view of the procedure), and you can easily get a DM of +6 - enough that an acceptably healthy person, as you say, has no risk and it's only for the sick or in emergencies where you need to roll dice.

The bridge was so it's 'legal' when considered a powered, drive-less ship 'detached' from anything else (before it's loaded to and after unloaded from the freighter)

 

[Old School]

Not sure I understand your thinking. What ruleset requires that to be legal? Im not aware of anything that requires a modular component to have its own power or bridge. At least not under Mongoose rules. The only modular example I know published by Mongoose is the cutter, which certainly doesnt include those limitations. The only thing specified is a 30% hull cost increase for the modular section.

The modular components Ive designed generally have their own powerplant, just becuase their power requirements vary widely and some could exceed the main power plant’s capacity. But I certainly dont see it as a strict requirement. From a practical standpoint, if you’re swapping out cargo space for staterooms, why would you need power or a bridge?

 

[locarno24]

Because the module in a modular cutter doesn't need to do anything when it's not attached to the rest of the cutter.

A containerised cryo-tray does; it gets taken down to district XYZ, loaded with people, and shipped up to orbit where it's attached to the freighter. Prior to that point, it needs to be a self-contained entity capable of powering those emergency low berths. If you're not operating it and loading it remote from the ship, you lose the big advantage of containerisation - arguably you're in a worse state than before because 'capital-class' freighters are probably not readily atmospheric.


It doesn't need a 'bridge' per se, but the dTonnage for the 'bridge' also to me includes things like access-ways, diagnostic panels, and so on that aren't allowed for in other components, in the same way 4dTons for a stateroom also includes some life support machinery and food stores as well as just a room with a bed and a toilet.

 

[Old School]

Ok, I get your concept now, even if I don’t agree wth it. I would argue that the tonnage for powerplant includes more than just the reactor, it also inclues access. And that the space allocated for low berths, for example, includes the room needed to get in and out of them and wiggle to the exit. You dont need much. Various deckplans throughout traveller support that, IMO. But if you want to use bridge space as a proxy design penalty for modular systems, its your game.

I do see the massive advantages of shipping containers for mass low passage. Would drastically decrease the turnaround time in port for these transport ships. I could see a fleet of 15 or 16,with one arriving every day. It unloads its 40-50,000 icy passengers, then loads up the containers that arrvied yesterday and are now empty. It then turn around, delivers those empties to the evacuativng port, and loads up the containers that arrived empty yesterday and are now full.

And the cost of the two extra sets of containers is offset by the increased efficiency of the operation and the drastically lower cost of using existing megafreighters rather than purpose built ships.

 

[locarno24]

Ok, I get your concept now, even if I don’t agree wth it. I would argue that the tonnage for powerplant includes more than just the reactor, it also inclues access. And that the space allocated for low berths, for example, includes the room needed to get in and out of them and wiggle to the exit. You dont need much. Various deckplans throughout traveller support that, IMO. But if you want to use bridge space as a proxy design penalty for modular systems, its your game.

I do see the massive advantages of shipping containers for mass low passage. Would drastically decrease the turnaround time in port for these transport ships. I could see a fleet of 15 or 16,with one arriving every day. It unloads its 40-50,000 icy passengers, then loads up the containers that arrvied yesterday and are now empty. It then turn around, delivers those empties to the evacuativng port, and loads up the containers that arrived empty yesterday and are now full.

And the cost of the two extra sets of containers is offset by the increased efficiency of the operation and the drastically lower cost of using existing megafreighters rather than purpose built ships.

This.
Secrets of the Ancients had a massive cargo container 'Parking Yard' in the first episode, and most 'major' imperial worlds probably have major freighters shipping on a schedule similar to the one you describe. Being able to throw a container or two of passengercicles is good for business even in non-emergencies - a half-dTon low berth low passage is worth 1000cr for a 1-parsec lift, compared to 1000cr for a 1dTon freight commission, and allows a bulk freight ship to compete in the people-moving business.

 

[Condottiere]

Not accounting for added medical personnel and equipment, and probably an additional back up generator.

 

[Condottiere]

A Cryo Tray, sometimes referred to as a Cryogenic Tray, is a long mechanical cargo container designed by the Kushan for the purpose of transporting large numbers of colonists aboard the Kushan Mothership for the eventual reclamation of their long lost homeworld, Hiigara. Each was designed with a capacity of up to 100,000 Cryo Pods, which carried living people frozen in sleep at extremely low temperatures using advanced cryogenic technology.

 

[Old School]

probably an additional back up generator.

Lets hope so. I’m never t big on too many government regulations, but you’d think this would be requird. And given the danger of low berths in the Traveller univserse, it’d be criminal to operate low berths without a high degree of medical skill, whether than skill comes from sophont or computer (outside of emergency situations).

 

[Condottiere]

Why ramen is so valuable in prison

Instant ramen noodles have become like cash among inmates in the US.

Cash is illegal in prisons. And that means everything from tuna to stamps to cigarettes have their own unique value in a trade and barter market.

But ramen has quickly taken over as the most in demand products the prison system offers.

Watch this video to see how ramen took over prison economies and why it’s the default item for trade among inmates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLt9fRYT92M

I foresee a smuggling run to a prison planet or colony.

 

[Condottiere]

To get rid of maggots in hardtack on sailing ships, the cook would place a dead fish on top of the biscuit sack or on a tray inside of the biscuit barrel. Maggots would crawl out of the hardtack and into the fish.--San Diego Maritime Museum, Star of India

 

[Linwood]

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181113-a-samurai-swordsmith-is-designing-a-space-probe

So now one of my players wants to create a samurai asteroid miner.... :lol:

 

[steve98052]

Instant ramen noodles have become like cash among inmates in the US.

Cash is illegal in prisons. And that means everything from tuna to stamps to cigarettes have their own unique value in a trade and barter market.

But ramen has quickly taken over as the most in demand products the prison system offers.

In Orange Is the New Black, I think it was shampoo. And moonshine.

 

[Condottiere]

Only saw the first half of the first episode, though I've heard of toilet wine.

Pruno, or prison wine, is an alcoholic beverage variously made from apples, oranges, fruit cocktail, fruit juices, hard candy, sugar, high fructose syrup, and possibly other ingredients, including crumbled bread. Bread supposedly provides the yeast for the pruno to ferment. Pruno originated in (and remains largely confined to) prisons and jails, where it can be produced with the limited selection of equipment and ingredients available to inmates. The concoction can be made using only a plastic bag, hot running water, and a towel or sock to conceal the pulp during fermentation. The end result has been colorfully described as a "bile flavored wine-cooler",[1] although flavor is often not the primary objective. Depending on the time spent fermenting (always balanced against the risk of discovery by the officers), the sugar content, and the quality of the ingredients and preparation, pruno's alcohol content by volume can range from as low as 2% (equivalent to a very weak beer) to as high as 14% (equivalent to a strong wine).

Narcotics in general, and cell phones.

 

[Condottiere]

Hover buses.

 

[Old School]

My money is on the blue one.

 

[Condottiere]

I'm pretty sure it's overloaded.

 

[Condottiere]

Top 5 Guns With Cult Followings

Some guns just seem to attract the most ravenous fanboys. These fanatics collaborate and overtime form cult-like cells within the community of firearm enthusiasts. In this video we explore five firearms that have developed a fan base akin to cults, often bordering on outright religious behavior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tivjOK7hAOM

The nineteen eleven I knew about, the rest are a surprise.

You're likely to come across variations spread through out the Imperium and Confederation.