Updated Vehicle Handbook in the works

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Why wouldn't animals have Slots? Consider them genetic "Augments". Then it is easy to modify animals for different environments and levels of challenge. Then humans could have slots for determining cybernetics. The whole system would be pretty awesome.

I built an entire biotech supplement based on that idea

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

[[[Box Text]]]

Spaceship-scale Power
A vehicle is assumed to have enough power available to operate its systems and manoeuvre at its maximum rated velocity. In most cases, this is a reasonable assumption, but when adding power-hungry spaceship-scale options, it may exceed its power rating. Many of these systems will not function without a fission, fusion, or Fusion+ system installed in the vehicle. A power point value per Space is associated with each of these power options. At the size required for regular operations, these power plants are scaled to fully support a vehicle’s non-spacecraft rated options and drive systems, but any options or weapons derived from the Traveller Core Rulebook or High Guard which require power points must have additional power available, or the vehicle’s performance will degrade.

A vehicle can fire spaceship-scale weapons and operate spacecraft-scale systems normally if they require less than 10% of the vehicle’s total PP. If the weapon requires more, it must reduce its Maximum Speed Band by 1 for every full 10% and may need to be stationary in order to fire more power-hungry weapons. If the weapons require more than 100%, they cannot be fired at all. To support additional power, the vehicle can install more Spaces of its primary power system.

[[[End Box]]]

Then this seems to work for power points per Space... might need tweaking
View attachment 2337
Probably going to change 'Fusion Plus' to 'Fusion+' so it doesn't sound like underwear for those who are experiencing higher values of BMI, but even though the Zhunastu dynasty tech was pulled almost directly from T4 FFS, it is not exactly lining up with costs for starship grade power plants, hence the lower power numbers. It fixes most of the vehicle range numbers*, though (preview should be in a JTAS article). All of the power systems need work, but this glue should hold for a bit.

(Yes, I know, covering the scar with plastic surgery, not fixing the malfunctioning body part below, but the real question for the 95% out there is: can this work in the game without getting a headache. The 5% will have to take my apology and do with it as they please.)

*This entire thing started because I could not make the hovercraft in Sky Raiders have enough range. And then I kept screwing up vehicle design in general and failed once again to make a functional spreadsheet for it. One thing led to another and then I bounced the Vehicle Handbook off a wall and pretty much begged to be allowed to update it.

Why not just have the Power Points scale, same as weapons? Wouldn't that be easier to have spacecraft scale be 10x or 25x?

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

I built an entire biotech supplement based on that idea

@Geir are you interested in this? I’ll happily share it

 

[Geir]

@Geir are you interested in this? I’ll happily share it

Thanks, but not sure it's that relevant for me right now. At least for what I'm working on or might be in the near future, assuming it is 'people' scale.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Thanks, but not sure it's that relevant for me right now. At least for what I'm working on or might be in the near future, assuming it is 'people' scale.

Not exactly "people scale"

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Not exactly "people scale"
View attachment 2342

Also wanted to add.
@Geir are you including wearable vehicles, aka softsuits, exoskeletons or hardsuits?

 

[Condottiere]

Arguably, augmented external locomotion would be a vehicle.

If you have to do it manually, or leggally, then it's still clothing.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Exoskeletons and battledress are more akin to wearable robots...

shame the scale is broken...

just a thought what if it was
1 dt = 4 spaces
1 space = 256 slots

That would make the slot only 4.5 times its stated volume equivalence in litres rather than 18 times, one slot would be 13.7 litres.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Also wanted to add.
@Geir are you including wearable vehicles, aka softsuits, exoskeletons or hardsuits?

Battle Dress would not be considered a vehicle. Would it?

This seems to Me to be robot-scale, so Slots are used. Just like it says in the CSC and RH

 

[Geir]

Also wanted to add.
@Geir are you including wearable vehicles, aka softsuits, exoskeletons or hardsuits?

In that it would be a single operator walker?
The Aliens-like cargo lifter for sure. And another one or six in the 101 to be developed for the catalogue.
Still working on making the biotech work better - "softsuit" I just had a very scary vision of 'wearing' a giant octopus suit.

 

[MasterGwydion]

In that it would be a single operator walker?
The Aliens-like cargo lifter for sure. And another one or six in the 101 to be developed for the catalogue.
Still working on making the biotech work better - "softsuit" I just had a very scary vision of 'wearing' a giant octopus suit.

Aliens-like cargo lifters are in the CSC, but I am not aware of anywhere that describes rules for building them. Maybe the VH is a good place for them, except they use Slots and not Spaces, since the whole exo-suit would only be like 2 Spaces. Battle Dress, which is a combat version of the same thing, uses Slots as well.

 

[Shardan13]

I always thought there was room for some type "armor" that was one step up from battle dress and which would use vehicle rules and vehicle scale weapons.

 

[Geir]

Aliens-like cargo lifters are in the CSC, but I am not aware of anywhere that describes rules for building them. Maybe the VH is a good place for them, except they use Slots and not Spaces, since the whole exo-suit would only be like 2 Spaces. Battle Dress, which is a combat version of the same thing, uses Slots as well.

There is one in the current Vehicle Handbook (p. 97). From what I can tell it is a 6 or 7 Space vehicle, which seems just silly. I'll include a smaller one than that, for sure.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I always thought there was room for some type "armor" that was one step up from battle dress and which would use vehicle rules and vehicle scale weapons.

Mechs. We need mechs. lol Maybe not in Charted Space, but definitely in Traveller.

 

[Sigtrygg]

We most definitely do not need mechs in Traveller [RTTEFFS]

There is enough science fantasy and rip offs from Star Wars without introducing the ridiculous "mech"

<Looks at 2300> - ok maybe just a little bit about mechs - <looks at cargo loaders at class C starports> - ok maybe mechs could be useful in some circumstances - <looks at assault battle dress> - ok maybe the smaller mechs for combat use...

[RTTEFFS]=read to the end for ..... sake

It's meant in jest.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Arguably, augmented external locomotion would be a vehicle.

If you have to do it manually, or leggally, then it's still clothing.

Leggally? I am using this henceforth

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

In that it would be a single operator walker?
The Aliens-like cargo lifter for sure. And another one or six in the 101 to be developed for the catalogue.
Still working on making the biotech work better - "softsuit" I just had a very scary vision of 'wearing' a giant octopus suit.

I have a table as well

 

[MasterGwydion]

I have a table as well
View attachment 2368

My only question is why use vehicle-scale for what is basically armor? How does Battle Dress fit into this?

 

[Condottiere]

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

My only question is why use vehicle-scale for what is basically armor? How does Battle Dress fit into this?

it flexes between spaces and slots, depending on the size. A walker, even an ultralight is a vehicle. Armor, up to Battledress, is a robot lacking a brain.

Once you plug a vehicle brain or ship’s brain into a larger vessel, the same scale shift happens.

I think there could be an easy scale shift (slots-space-tons) for all (potentially including micro)