Starship Operator's Manual - Others for CT?

[Sigtrygg]

It is however more the implications for canon that concern me here

If you can get Jump-8 or even J-7 out of an scoutship that costs 50 Mcr then for instance The Islands Cluster is far less isolated than depicted.

So IMO there needs to be some other reasons in the rules and the setting to make 'empty' hex jumps far more problematic than they are now.

Mongoose has changed the setting in accordance with their vision for it.

I quite like the TL advantages/disadvantages but they do have a knock on effect.

If it is range you are after then a TL15 jump 3 drive with a 15% reduced fuel means only 8.5% per parsec... 68t and the drive itself is 2.5t smaller.

I do have a question about power plant fuel though...

 

[Sigtrygg]

Wait I have to pay again for a revised version and one of the presumably very few things that actually got revised manages to still be wrong albeit for different reasons?

They should have gifted you the new version in your downloads, I got it from drivethru as a kickstarter years ago but when they updated it I got the new version files.
Pretty sure everyone with the Mongoose version got the new files too, although there were some issues.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Also as recently as Feb 7 2025 Matt said:

'This is the custom 100-ton Modified Seeker, the Reftbreaker. At MCr52.375, it can make two jump-4 leaps while carrying a Pilot and Astrogator.'

But the revised version of the ship in the revised book he's presumably pitching there doesn't actually do two J-4's?

That's the post that started the last discussion about it - the original version was broken, the new version works as J 4+3 but it can't do what the fluff says.
Not without stripping it down to find the extra 6 tons of fuel needed

 

[Terry Mixon]

They should have gifted you the new version in your downloads, I got it from drivethru as a kickstarter years ago but when they updated it I got the new version files.
Pretty sure everyone with the Mongoose version got the new files too, although there were some issues.

They only recently started notifying people that their downloads had been updated. It might be changed and you never realized. I'd go redownload everything to be sure you have all the new stuff.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Here is my pod version of the Riftbreaker. It can manage 2 J4.



And here are the 30-ton fuel pods.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Here is how I would do it:

TL15		tons	cost (MCr.)
Hull	100 tons, streamlined		6.0
M-drive	thrust 1, size reduction x3	0.7	3.0
J-drive	jump 4, reduced fuel x2	15	28.125
power plant	fusion TL15, power 60	3	6
Fuel tanks	jump 4 x2, 12 weeks power plant	73
bridge	small	6	0.5
computer	computer/20		5
sensors	basic
systems
accommodation	small stateroom	2	0.25
software	intellect jump control/4 (10) library maneuver/0		0.42
cargo		0.3

 

[Sigtrygg]

But better yet is:

TL15		tons	cost (MCr.)
Hull	100 tons, streamlined		6.0
M-drive	thrust 1, size reduction x3	0.7	3.0
J-drive	jump 3, reduced fuel x3	12.5
power plant	fusion TL15, power 60	3	6
Fuel tanks	jump 1 x8, 12 weeks power plant	69
bridge	small	6	0.5
computer	computer/20		5
sensors	basic
systems	fuel processor (20 tons/day) fuel scoops	1	0.05
accommodation	stateroom	4	0.5
software	intellect jump control/4 (10) library maneuver/0
cargo		3.8

 

[Terry Mixon]

If they are scouting, they should have better sensors, in my opinion. I was also trying to match the 2xJ4 requirement, so this is a little different. With less lofty jump requirements, there are definitely more options.

Are you putting them in marine barracks or steerage? I don't see small cabins in High Guard for the first option.

 

[Arkathan]

Mine, barely livable and using barracks:

And a slightly more "useful" J-3 one with a (gasp) Full Double Stateroom!

Yes, I left the software off both. Oops.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Mine, barely livable and using barracks:
View attachment 4094
And a slightly more "useful" J-3 one with a (gasp) Full Double Stateroom!
View attachment 4095
Yes, I left the software off both. Oops.

Don't forget a fuel refinery and jump software. Also, while one can have a set of basic sensors, a scout needs more, don't you think?

 

[Sigtrygg]

This thing is not a scout - it is a courier...

 

[Terry Mixon]

This thing is not a scout - it is a courier...

Ah. Okay.

 

[Arkathan]

Don't forget a fuel refinery and jump software. Also, while one can have a set of basic sensors, a scout needs more, don't you think?

Yeah, did those quickly a few weeks ago. I stated I forgot the software.
1st one, no room for a refinery.
2nd one could give up some cargo for it though. Do the J2 first so you can refine the rest on the first jump.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Yeah, did those quickly a few weeks ago. I stated I forgot the software.
1st one, no room for a refinery.
2nd one could give up some cargo for it though. Do the J2 first so you can refine the rest on the first jump.

Without a refinery, is it really viable as a scout? Maybe drop it to one person to handle everything and recover one ton. It would need one more power point but could work.

 

[Terry Mixon]

This thing is not a scout - it is a courier...

I'm still interested in the small stateroom, though.

 

[Sigtrygg]

If you want a scout

TL15		tons	cost (MCr.)
Hull	100 tons, streamlined		6.0
M-drive	thrust 1, size reduction x3	0.7	3.0
J-drive	jump 2, reduced fuel x3	10
power plant	fusion TL15, power 60	3	6
Fuel tanks	jump 1 x8, 12 weeks power plant	69
bridge	small	6	0.5
computer	computer/20		5
sensors	advanced	5
systems	fuel processor (20 tons/day) fuel scoops	1	0.05
accommodation	stateroom	4	0.5
software	intellect jump control library maneuver
cargo		1.3

 

[Terry Mixon]

If you want a scout

TL15		tons	cost (MCr.)
Hull	100 tons, streamlined		6.0
M-drive	thrust 1, size reduction x3	0.7	3.0
J-drive	jump 2, reduced fuel x3	10
power plant	fusion TL15, power 60	3	6
Fuel tanks	jump 1 x8, 12 weeks power plant	69
bridge	small	6	0.5
computer	computer/20		5
sensors	advanced	5
systems	fuel processor (20 tons/day) fuel scoops	1	0.05
accommodation	stateroom	4	0.5
software	intellect jump control/4 (10) library maneuver/0
cargo		1.3

Nicely done.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I'm still interested in the small stateroom, though.

It was a thing in classic Traveller. A small craft stateroom which was later allowed as a half stateroom in TCS for HG designs, 2 tons and 0.25 MCr

"STATE ROOMS
Dual occupancy staterooms are computed at MCr0.25 and 2 tons per person. It is not necessary to purchase an entire stateroom just to accommodate an odd number of crewmembers; a half-stateroom or large triple-occupancy stateroom can be built."

LBB:2
"The small craft cabin is a small, one passenger stateroom for use on longer duration voyages. It can be used double occupancy in a pinch, but the
crowding will increasingly affect the abilities of the crew to function as time passes."
note that this only cost 0.05MCr

 

[Terry Mixon]

It was a thing in classic Traveller. A small craft stateroom which was later allowed as a half stateroom in TCS for HG designs, 2 tons and 0.25 MCr

"STATE ROOMS
Dual occupancy staterooms are computed at MCr0.25 and 2 tons per person. It is not necessary to purchase an entire stateroom just to accommodate an odd number of crewmembers; a half-stateroom or large triple-occupancy stateroom can be built."

LBB:2
"The small craft cabin is a small, one passenger stateroom for use on longer duration voyages. It can be used double occupancy in a pinch, but the
crowding will increasingly affect the abilities of the crew to function as time passes."
note that this only cost 0.05MCr

Thanks.

 

[Longboat]

Mongoose has changed the setting in accordance with their vision for it.

I think that's true of each edition of Traveller, to a larger or smaller extent.

Fusion+ was born in T4, I think. T5 has certainly brought new options to the game. Look at what TNE did with lasers, and they introduced the cold laser, too.

MT introduced the T-Plate thruster panel.

Heck, even in early CT there were things that have now been forgotten. There's the thought that ships with M-1 drives could not make escape velocity from Size 8 or bigger worlds. I actually use that in my games. A lot of people don't like it.

Then, this was revised to say a streamlined craft with an M-1 drive could make escape velocity from a Size 8+ world if the world had an atmosphere. I use that, too.

Those M-1 vessels could purchase one time use rockets that attached to the outer hull, and when ignited, produced enough thrust to take a ship through escape velocity even from a Size 8+ world even without an atmosphere to provide aerodynamic lift. The lift rockets were only available on worlds a specific TL and/or starport class--I've forgotten the specifics.

MT brought to that edition the thought of "overdrive" to make escape velocity--where an M-1 drive would produce more than 1G of thrust for relatively short periods when lifting from a world.

Stick with the version that you like the best. Be careful not to import and adopt things that you don't like.