Singularity Errata

[Terry Mixon]

Well, this escalated quickly.

I'm reading the sample and though I'm going to do the ships this weekend, the design for the Crew Android looked off to me so I built it. It is indeed off. I'm sure @Geir can tell me if I'm wrong, but I'll plow ahead anyway.

Here is my build of the Crew Android as presented in the book.





It says it is INT 11, but it can't match the skill levels without running out of bandwidth. It needs an Intelect Upgrade to hit the INT12 threshold for the skill levels to work. It seems to be lacking a wireless data link and that is necessary for skill transfers under the rules unless the androids are plugged directly into the computer to change skills.

Wireless data links transmit and receive data at 10 times the rate of a comparable transceiver of the same Tech Level. To transfer new or upgraded skill packages a robot requires either a wireless data link connection or to be connected directly to the issuing data system.

The wireless data link is also free, so I'm not sure why it would be left off. Also, while not an error, it fails to use the power efficiency option. That would double the Android's run time at minimal cost. On something that runs MCr2, saving KCr5 on that makes no sense and literally doubles its use time.

When I buy the extra intellect, it uses the spare bandwidth up precisely, so that part needs to come out of the description. Additionally, it has 8 spare slots that can be used for other things but should at least be mentioned as available. Athletics (strength) 1 also seems to have been left off the skill list.

EDIT: As they are faking being living beings, they should have a quick charger, so they aren’t tied down for eight hours and a basic olfactory sensor to smell what the biologicals are in case they are asked about something. Neither cost much so including them adds verisimilitude to the performance. I've added them.

Here is my take at making it right. I did add the wireless data link and energy efficiency as well.



Now the price matches, too. I'm sure this is what should be there and somehow it got messed up. As always, use whatever you like or nothing at all. I'll hit the ship this weekend.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I gotta say that I really like this piece of art. I'm not sure what the black boxes in the hair are though. That should probably get cleaned up.

 

[Arkathan]

Tape. Electrical tape.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Tape. Electrical tape.

Stay classy, android.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Okay, I'm starting on the ships. This is a complicated one, so I'd appreciate it if you could check me on the combined ship (when I get to it) and the liner minus the scout, @Arkathan. I'm likely to miss something in a convoluted build like that.

To keep things simple, I'll start with the Velos tis Alitheia. It's a single build and doesn't change based on being coupled with the Venture Fortuna.

Here is the design in the book as entered into the sheet.



It doesn't like the conscious intelligence on a TL15 ship, but that is kind of the point here. I zeroed out the cost like it is in the sheet. It also doesn't like (though the error isn't showing in red here on the summary) a TL15 J4 ship with three advantages. That technically makes it a TL16 jump drive. Without that being explained away, this ship seriously violates the build rules.

The 14-ton modular hull cost should be KCr490, not KCr840.

The ship has a 31-point power deficit. That covers the jump drive and 1 extra point. You should likely mention that the ship must cease thrust to jump. That might be useful roleplaying fodder.

You have the pop-up pulse laser as costing MCr4.5. It actually costs MCr5.25.

The final issue you have is that you can't house the 4-person custom crew in three single staterooms. Also, you have no common area, so that would be very uncomfortable, and morale would plummet.

Let me see how I would tweak this ship the smallest amount to make it work within the rules.

First, I have to assume you will make some kind of handwave in the ship's description to make the jump drive a prototype TL16 version or that will mess everything up for the combined ship, too. You're already doing jazz hands for the conscious intelligence, so I recommend you just use this situation to show how smart Naalir is.

Here is my tweak, based on the above.



I traded the three single staterooms for two double occupancy ones. That freed up enough space to have the requisite 2 tons of common area and I was able to add 2 tons to the cargo area.

That still leaves the jump drive to explain away, but that is beyond the scope of what I can do. Changing that would have serious knock-on effects, so I won't even try. To keep the knowledgeable GMs and players happy, you need to explain the variance from TL15 standards.

As always, use what you like or ignore it all if you choose. On to the Venture Fortuna minus this ship.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Now to the Venture Fortuna with the scout attached. Here is the build as in the book. I only listed 10 tons of breakaway hull as 2 tons is on the scout for the combined 12.



You don't have enough stateroom space for the custom crew. The single occupancy staterooms will mostly need to be double occupancy. That could add roleplaying moments if some of the players are bunking with androids.

Also, you have 3.2 tons of unallocated space. It doesn't seem to be needed for redundant systems now as this is all together, but I suppose things might change when I build the uncoupled version. If so, I will come back and edit this one to reflect those new findings.

The fuel is one of those things I can't be sure of. The solo version of the liner says it has 125 tons of fuel. If I add 28 tons to that, I get 153, and that is insufficient to get a J3 and 4 weeks of operation. For that, I need a total of 164 tons of fuel. Perhaps you mean to hardwire the fuel module into the mix? Possible, I suppose, but very convoluted and it will definitely raise questions.

That's getting too convoluted for my brain. If I allocate all the fuel the combined ship needs to J3 in the liner, then it makes the calculations easier, to that's what I'll do. If not, you have space tonnage that would need to be reallocated.

Here is the tweaked version.


I made the seven crew cabins double occupancy and added a single middle stateroom for the captain. I cut one ton of common area and that left .2 tons that I added to the cargo area. All balances now. Of course, one of the pulse lasers really should only come out of the scout. If I do that, you get two more tons of cargo.



If I've screwed this up, hopefully @Arkathan can set me straight. As always, use whatever you like or nothing at all.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I think I'm going about this wrong. I should be splitting the full ship to get the drive tonnages and performances. My brain is starting to bleed. I'm not sure I can wrap my head fully around this hybrid. @Arkathan, maybe you should tag in and save me because now I'm starting to get turned in circles and need the help of the master on these three-in-one ships. HELP!

 

[Arkathan]

I think I'm going about this wrong. I should be splitting the full ship to get the drive tonnages and performances. My brain is starting to bleed. I'm not sure I can wrap my head fully around this hybrid. @Arkathan, maybe you should tag in and save me because now I'm starting to get turned in circles and need the help of the master on these three-in-one ships. HELP!

Still got a little bit of clean up going on here. I'll run it in a bit.
Edit: Yeah, I never considered that someone would mix hull types. Going to tweak the sheet to cover breakaway hulls for stealth, etc.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Still got a little bit of clean up going on here. I'll run it in a bit.

I appreciate it.

 

[Arkathan]

I appreciate it.

To do it right, I'm going to have to completely rework breakaway hulls.
Duplicating configuration, type and armor into the breakaway section.
That's going to be a job for tomorrow.

 

[Terry Mixon]

To do it right, I'm going to have to completely rework breakaway hulls.
Duplicating configuration, type and armor into the breakaway section.
That's going to be a job for tomorrow.

I am not shocked. This two in one becoming a third ship is whacky. Not the concept, but working out the implementation. My brain was bleeding trying to figure out how to make it work. Thanks for this.

 

[boggo2300]

or, follow the author into a dark alley, and educate them on ignoring the ship construction rules...

 

[paltrysum]

Just want you to know I'll be looking these over when I can. I designed both the androids and the Ventura using other (well-regarded!) spreadsheets. And to make a breakaway ship, I had to create a custom sheet to cover some of the inequities between the two ships. Thanks for taking the time to evaluate the designs. We want these as close-to-perfect as we can make them before going to print.

 

[paltrysum]

You don't have enough stateroom space for the custom crew. The single occupancy staterooms will mostly need to be double occupancy. That could add roleplaying moments if some of the players are bunking with androids.

There are eight staterooms for crew: five on deck 3 and three on deck 1 (the three scout ship staterooms). That is barely enough for the 15 crew: captain, pilot, astrogator, two engineers, three gunners, six stewards and a medical officer with double occupancy. The captain probably gets his own even though he's an android avatar to keep up appearances.

Note that even before the big secret is revealed about the scout ship in the Ventura's belly, those staterooms are available, and secret walls and hidden doors conceal the stuff that shows it's an independent ship.

If the Travellers find a way to double up the gunner roles (which the text on p. 41 encourages them to do), a few people can have their own staterooms. Cramped, but hey, they're in the service industry and they can earn big tips and bonuses in Act 1. Hopefully it's worth the trouble.

(Spoiler tags are probably overkill here, but just in case some nosey Travellers are looking here, we should give them the chance to look the othe way.)

 

[boggo2300]

Just want you to know I'll be looking these over when I can. I designed both the androids and the Ventura using other (well-regarded!) spreadsheets. And to make a breakaway ship, I had to create a custom sheet to cover some of the inequities between the two ships. Thanks for taking the time to evaluate the designs. We want these as close-to-perfect as we can make them before going to print.

Not meaning to single you out!

 

[paltrysum]

Not meaning to single you out!

Haha! No worries, my friend. While we always strive to make perfect books, we ultimately depend on feedback to fix things up. It's all appreciated.

 

[Terry Mixon]

There are eight staterooms for crew: five on deck 3 and three on deck 1 (the three scout ship staterooms). That is barely enough for the 15 crew: captain, pilot, astrogator, two engineers, three gunners, six stewards and a medical officer with double occupancy. The captain probably gets his own even though he's an android avatar to keep up appearances.

Note that even before the big secret is revealed about the scout ship in the Ventura's belly, those staterooms are available, and secret walls and hidden doors conceal the stuff that shows it's an independent ship.

If the Travellers find a way to double up the gunner roles (which the text on p. 41 encourages them to do), a few people can have their own staterooms. Cramped, but hey, they're in the service industry and they can earn big tips and bonuses in Act 1. Hopefully it's worth the trouble.

(Spoiler tags are probably overkill here, but just in case some nosey Travellers are looking here, we should give them the chance to look the othe way.)

I was making the recommendations as I didn’t think the crew would be sneaking off to a hidden ship to crash. I didn’t realize some of the interior of the scout was fully accessible. I figured having an obvious scout ship layout the PCs could wander into was being avoided.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Just want you to know I'll be looking these over when I can. I designed both the androids and the Ventura using other (well-regarded!) spreadsheets. And to make a breakaway ship, I had to create a custom sheet to cover some of the inequities between the two ships. Thanks for taking the time to evaluate the designs. We want these as close-to-perfect as we can make them before going to print.

We appreciate you doing that. As a GM and player that has the building bug. I just want to do my part to dig into the designs to make sure they work. I don’t claim that I’m right all the time as I don’t know your goals and can misunderstand.

One of the things about the staterooms is that in the plans Mongoose never seems to differentiate between single and double occupancy. That means I always have to assume single occupancy and so I complain about them.

I think y’all should do the GMs a solid and list single vs double so we can see that everyone can fit without guessing. They would need to be configured one way or the other so listing them as such would be a help.

Thanks for taking us outsiders’ design commentary with good grace. We’re only trying to help make the product better in the way we can.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Not meaning to single you out!

What he said.

 

[AndrewW]

I think y’all should do the GMs a solid and list single vs double so we can see that everyone can fit without guessing. They would need to be configured one way or the other so listing them as such would be a help.

Just figure double, most commercial ships use double occupancy. If using double occupancy and there still isn't enough space for the entire crew then there might be a problem. Since cabins can be configured either way there isn't really a need to specify which it is, it could be a double occupancy on one trip and single the next.