mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Depends on your rules.
T5 and now MgT SOM have ships with lifters, TNE had contragravity.
T5 and now MgT SOM have ships with lifters, TNE had contragravity.
A idea for a big ship universe
- Thread starter infojunky
- Start date
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
RAW assumes a Buck Rogers movie/TV set. I’m more looking at assumptions of how the engineering works for flair/drama/balancing opportunities.
Trying to load extras on for big credits/win? Gotta earn it /take risks.
Absolute inertial compensation doesn’t fix what I am talking about, just any sliding around during maneuvers issues.
Marcatlas
SOC-12
No, RAW assumes using the rules as written. There is not genre or media assumptions with the rules.
OK back to ships in traveller, bigger ones, for use with a clan/family crew doing speculative trade.
What technological level are we talking about here, which era, can we mix and match drives from different tech levels?
Do we trade in the boonies or can we rely on having C+ starports to conduct trade at? Do we need to be armed? Does the government allow us to be armed? Which rulesets are allowed/required for the ship designs?
Customer: "I need a rock!"
Engineer: "how big, what materials and shape?"
Customer: "You are the expert, just give me a rock"
Engineer: "1000 Dt hollowed out asteroid, 20% of the rock's material left after the tunelling is done, internal volume available: 800 DT.
Jump drive 6 TL 15 70 DT with jump governor.
Maneuver drive 1 TL 10 20 DT
Fusion power plant TL 15 (FF&S 2 1 mt/m3, 6MW/m3 +10% power due to scale .1MCr/m3) Power 7 1750MW
Bridge 160 DT
Shall I go on?"
Customer: "What color is the rock?"
Engineer: "Red! no BLUE! ARRGH"
Arthur: "Well then shall we proceed?"
What technological level are we talking about here, which era, can we mix and match drives from different tech levels?
Do we trade in the boonies or can we rely on having C+ starports to conduct trade at? Do we need to be armed? Does the government allow us to be armed? Which rulesets are allowed/required for the ship designs?
Customer: "I need a rock!"
Engineer: "how big, what materials and shape?"
Customer: "You are the expert, just give me a rock"
Engineer: "1000 Dt hollowed out asteroid, 20% of the rock's material left after the tunelling is done, internal volume available: 800 DT.
Jump drive 6 TL 15 70 DT with jump governor.
Maneuver drive 1 TL 10 20 DT
Fusion power plant TL 15 (FF&S 2 1 mt/m3, 6MW/m3 +10% power due to scale .1MCr/m3) Power 7 1750MW
Bridge 160 DT
Shall I go on?"
Customer: "What color is the rock?"
Engineer: "Red! no BLUE! ARRGH"
Arthur: "Well then shall we proceed?"
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
Sure there is. Sci-fi story simulator, not space simulator.
Marcatlas
SOC-12
Ok, show me in the RULES AS WRITTEN where is says these rules are predicated on running a game based on Buck Rogers movie/TV set.
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
There isn’t of course. It’s woven into the fabric of the story sim aspect, plus possibly gaming simplification of ship corridor gun battles.
The launch and escape velocity sequence in a 1929 movie had relatively hardcore physics.
Instead Traveller went with super science that is story effect. Not a bad choice, it just is what it is.
Expanse went with inertial effects and a biomed answer to blackout- but still had magic accel to move the plot along annd not have ‘six months later’ cut scenes. All about effect choices.
In my bespoke setting most ships are spherical because it saves on construction cost and structural integrity. The smallest is about 20 m in diameter. Under this size they cannot have a jump field, again in my setting. That’s about 300 tons in Traveller.
In that same setting, most ships are at least 50 m in diameter. Which is close to 5,000 tons. The largest craft are about 300 m in diameter, which is approximately 1,000,000 tons. Space stations can be 10 times the size but the jump field becomes unstable over 400 m in diameter.
In that same setting, most ships are at least 50 m in diameter. Which is close to 5,000 tons. The largest craft are about 300 m in diameter, which is approximately 1,000,000 tons. Space stations can be 10 times the size but the jump field becomes unstable over 400 m in diameter.
I have a good rational for your limits: structural integerity, a point sourse able to thrust enough for 1G mounted on the outer hull has to push harder and harder as the craft's volume increases after 300m you have to cut the accelleration to not damage the hull by pushing too hard on it. Space stations only have small station keeping thrusters which if mounted on a 300m hull might push that hull at 1g. Granted there may be multiple thrusters mounted every 10m or so on gymbals, perhaps there is a reason to not do that.
Variant ive seen on this is that spheres are unstreamlined, while prolate (stretched) or oblate (squished) spheroids are used for streamlined hulls.
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
I’d argue for spheres being partially streamlined.
Won't argue that point. That set of house rules didn't reach into HG that far....
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Footballs spin.
