Small Ship Traveller

[Gaidheal]

Klaus - the bombs make sense against very large and relatively stationary targets... trouble is, in many cases, the kind of vessels you'd want to deliver them don't make sense on a cost basis.

I'll save rehashing the "space fighters are silly" arguments, however, it is an issue - militaries want the best return they can get on their expenditure and especially on their manpower and in many settings fighters are not it.

 

[rust]

Strap a low-berth to a fusion plant, a jump drive and fuel tank. Now that is cutting corners, sorry, I mean, cutting costs. :¬)

This would be the infamous manned jump torpedo, the reason of count-
less Traveller flame wars ... :wink:

 

[Gaidheal]

Heh, really? I've never bothered with forums dedicated to RPGs that much, to be honest and certainly have not investigated the doubtless massive backlog of Traveller waffle. :¬)

 

[rust]

Heh, really?

Yep, indeed - it is right on the black list, together with about a dozen
other subjects some Traveller "canonistas" love to argue about.

 

[Gaidheal]

Sounds fun, got the rest of the list? *weg*

 

[rust]

Sounds fun, got the rest of the list? *weg*

I think the best known list is the TML one:
http://www.downport.com/traveller/tml/tml-faq.html

Just take a look at Point 4 of the FAQ, and scroll down for some addi-
tional informations.

However, this list is not really complete, it misses some subjects that
were fought over on other forums than TML, but I do not yet have dis-
covered a complete one. :lol:

 

[Vile]

Well, the Main Book SRD and the High Guard SRD are both out there. If you want to make a more small-ship-oriented system, you could work from those and provide an all-in-one ship building book.

Say, that's an idea ... erm, forget I said that! Nothing to see here! :twisted:

 

[Infojunky]

Well, the Main Book SRD and the High Guard SRD are both out there. If you want to make a more small-ship-oriented system, you could work from those and provide an all-in-one ship building book.

It's not like I haven't said it myself.....

Oh, yeah I have several extensive files of fragments that might be the genesis of my Ship magnum opus.....

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

well what about putting the pilot in cold storage? automed coupled with a tank, works in my book.

currently i'm wrestling with the idea of a diplomatic launch. a ambassador's yacht gets destroyed in orbit while the abassadors on the planet below. now i either have a 100dt "shuttle" or the option of a jump capable ship smaller than 100dt.

Chef

Medical Slow and Fast drugs would probably work better. Less chance of dying (using Cold Sleep as written) and probably a faster "wakeup".

 

[Vile]

Medical Slow and Fast drugs would probably work better. Less chance of dying (using Cold Sleep as written) and probably a faster "wakeup".

I have to say I'm not at all fond of slow or fast drugs. They seem to have dropped right off the back of the D&D pharmacist's cart. :?

I do like the idea of making drugs an integral part of low sleep, though.

 

[GypsyComet]

Medical Slow and Fast drugs would probably work better. Less chance of dying (using Cold Sleep as written) and probably a faster "wakeup".

I have to say I'm not at all fond of slow or fast drugs. They seem to have dropped right off the back of the D&D pharmacist's cart. :?

I do like the idea of making drugs an integral part of low sleep, though.

Quite a lot of the classic Traveller pharmacopia comes from the early Dumarest books, which pre-date D&D. The first, which holds many recognizeable bits to old Traveller hands, was published in 1967.

Time perception altering drugs, hibernation drugs, and medical acceleration are all easily acceptable, IMO. Traveller's versions don't get up to the silly levels that one accidental combat drug in a Retief story (by Keith Laumer) does, thankfully.

Another book to read is Sheffield's "Between the Strokes of Night", for another hibernation variant.

 

[Infojunky]

Ok, just having the numbers just perpetuates some of the inherent problems with "Standard" drives and to a lesser extant with the percentage system presented in High Guard.

So the real issue is where do I start the rewrite?

To be systematic Hulls: Cost per Ton?

Options?

 

[ShadowDragon8685]

In all honesty, I'd say just use an A-Class Jump Drive for 55D-tons and up, and use a 1/2 A-Class (5 D-tons) for 50D-tons and below. A 1/2 A-Class P-Plant would be, it looks like, 1 D-Tons, since the formula for that is starts at 4 D-tons, add 3 per rating above.

As for scaling it all the way down a jump-pedo... Sure, why the hell not? I, for one, see nothing wrong with easier communication and what-not. Screw the setting's ideas when they don't make sense with the technology given.

(Then again, MTU has genuine FTL 'internet' transmissions, so...)

If you wanted to go to a ridiculous extreme, I'd say just take and use the formulae from High Guard and determine that a 10 D-ton Jumppedo intended to make a J-1 would need 1% of it's hull size for the Jump drive, or to wit, 1-D-ton for the Jump. It would need one displacement-ton of fuel, which could either be onboard (in fact it could easily carry several Jumps of fuel) or charged from whatever platform launches it before it Jumps.

 

[Jame Rowe]

I've been thinking of making a small-ship universe with 20,000 tons being the TL-15 cap on ship size. My thing about it is, what would be the scale?

 

[Infojunky]

I've been thinking of making a small-ship universe with 20,000 tons being the TL-15 cap on ship size. My thing about it is, what would be the scale?

The scale for ship size per TL?

 

[Jame Rowe]

I've been thinking of making a small-ship universe with 20,000 tons being the TL-15 cap on ship size. My thing about it is, what would be the scale?

The scale for ship size per TL?

Yes. I'm not sure how low to allow 10,000 ton ships, aside from "not TL 9."

 

[rust]

Yes. I'm not sure how low to allow 10,000 ton ships, aside from "not TL 9."

10,000 dtons are 140,000 cubic meters, for example a ship 200 m long,
25 m wide and 28 m high. This is not really that big, and therefore I do
allow ships of this size even at TL 9.

 

[Infojunky]

Yes. I'm not sure how low to allow 10,000 ton ships, aside from "not TL 9."

10,000 dtons are 140,000 cubic meters, for example a ship 200 m long,
25 m wide and 28 m high. This is not really that big, and therefore I do
allow ships of this size even at TL 9.

Not that large in relation to what?

 

[simonh]

10,000 dtons are 140,000 cubic meters, for example a ship 200 m long,
25 m wide and 28 m high. This is not really that big, and therefore I do
allow ships of this size even at TL 9.

Not that large in relation to what?

It's about a tenth of the size of a modern aircraft carrier, one sixth the size of an Iowa class battleship and one third of the size of a ballistic missile sub.

Simon Hibbs

 

[GypsyComet]

It won't be structural concerns that limits ship size, but the wierd science of the jump drive.

If you really want to enforce a small ship universe, simply say that jump bubbles have a maximum size, and that it is *just* enough to fit a 10kton (or whatever) ship into.

This has the side effect of leading to very well defended homeworlds, since they can put stuff in orbit that could never jump, but "the colonies" and any war that involves non-port worlds will be limited to what can jump.