A One Way Hyperdrive ?

[rust]

The players of our campaign are currently planning the ship that will bring
their characters and a lot of other colonists to their new homeworld.

The idea the players came up with is a huge streamlined colony ship that
will land on the planet and will stay there as the colonists' base during the
construction of the first habitats and will then be dismantled to provide ur-
gently needed materials for other projects.

While this is a rather standard plan, I have no idea how to handle the cost
of the ship's hyperdrive. On the one hand, the drive has to be as reliable as
any other drive, on the other hand it will be used for one voyage only, and
therefore does not have to be built for any extended lifetime - and this is
why the players expect it to be much less expensive than a normal drive.

Unfortunately I was unable to find any "precedent" in any of my Traveller
materials, so I am now hoping for advice: How would you handle this ?

Thank you.

 

[lucasdigital]

*snip*

Unfortunately I was unable to find any "precedent" in any of my Traveller
materials, so I am now hoping for advice: How would you handle this ?

Thank you.

I recall having a bit of a debate about the nature of quality back in my student days. Most of the other students in the discussion felt that high quality had to mean long lasting and durable. I pointed out that the Apollo space programme features some of the highest quality items ever made - and yet everything was designed for a "one shot" deal. Now are you intending for the one shot drive to be a design feature (made this way because the ship is not intended to return) or because of a technological limitation (one-shot Hyperdrives are the only type available in your setting)? Have you considered having the hyperdrive and engineering section remain in orbit while the "payload" section glides to it's colony landing zone? In this case the drive could have a normal cost - and maybe even return to the home system using an automatic guidance system - reading for a later colony flight.

If one-shot drives are a technological limitation, I'd still use the standard drive costs as this sounds like an immature techology that still very expensive to field.

It's an interesting campaign setting, one I'd never considered...

 

[Kilgs]

If it's only going to be used once, why do you need the cost? Is it for their budget? You could also just make it require tons of fuel and burn out the engine after one jump. A crude, one-time, jump drive where the power fries the lanthanum grid. A precursor to the more stable jumps of the Third Imperium.

 

[rust]

Now are you intending for the one shot drive to be a design feature (made this way because the ship is not intended to return) or because of a technological limitation (one-shot Hyperdrives are the only type available in your setting)?

It is a design feature, the hyperdrives of my setting are a quite mature tech-
nology.
To separate the drive section from the colony ship and leave it in orbit is a
very interesting idea, although the technology to send it back home unman-
ned does not exist, and it could take years until another ship will visit the co-
lony's system.
But I will think about it, just in case the players have the same idea (I will
not propose it to them - it is their job to design the ship ... ).

If it's only going to be used once, why do you need the cost? Is it for their budget?

Exactly, the players are trying to reduce the costs of the entire colonization
project in order to reduce the mortgage their colony will have to pay to the
bank (much like a ship mortgage, but for an entire colony), and they see the
extremely costly drive as an especially annoying expenditure.

 

[cvrader]

They are brave if they are going to colonize without a 'lifeboat'. I would recommend that you rule that the drive costs the same, but you assemble it like a rider/tender. If you want to lower the cost, have the colonists build a colonization pod and hire a ship big enough to transport. I always viewed engine cost as a fixed price. (Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy...). Plus, a usable hyperdrive ship is an asset. Allows the colony to trade on its own, allows exploitation of the colony system, lifeboat, allows you to return home to pick up anything you forgot.

 

[rust]

I would recommend that you rule that the drive costs the same, but you assemble it like a rider/tender.
(...)
I always viewed engine cost as a fixed price. (Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy...).

Thank you, the rider/tender is an interesting idea.

From what I have seen of the colony's equipment list, the colony ship will
have to be closer to 10,000 dtons than 5,000 dtons, and will require a cor-
respondingly powerful drive. To use that drive for a ship used for trade or
errants would be "overkill" for the colony, and the maintenance costs alone
would be extremely high.

However, I could allow the colony's engineers a research project to build a
smaller drive from the parts of the big one, and a smaller starship from parts
of the original colony ship.
Such a project would take a couple of years, but it would give the colonists
something to look forward to (and the characters an opportunity to earn ad-
ditional training time, because in our campaign the time spent on reserach
projects counts as training time).

 

[dmccoy1693]

One of the ships I am working on (distant future product) is a MegaTon freighter with detachable sections. Those sections would be large intra-system ships. Something like that might be what you're wanting. A large superfreighter would enter a system, drop off your 10,000 ton ship for colonization and move onto the next system where it does the same thing all over again. No need for a jump drive system at all.

This way, you don't need the expense of multiple jump drives, expense of training multiple pilots whos skills may not be useful once you land. All those are taken care of by the freighter who will probably return to the home world for a resupply run or to pick up whatever materials the colony is suppose to extract from the land there.

 

[rust]

A large superfreighter would enter a system, drop off your 10,000 ton ship for colonization and move onto the next system where it does the same thing all over again. No need for a jump drive system at all.

The more I think about it, the more I like it.

I hope the players will have that idea, otherwise I could use a friendly NPC
at the shipyards to tell them of this option. It really would make things much
easier, and it would reduce the cost of the colonization project enough to
make the project's finances a bit more plausible.

 

[aramis]

Nothing official in CT nor MGT... but I'd use the following (and Mongoose has my explicit permission to use it if I get a credits entry "Contributed by WF Hostman")
I'd allow 50% cost, 75% size, and it fails anytime you Roll less than or equal to the number of jumps since last overhaul. Figure an overhaul is done during annual maintenance, and costs 25% of drive cost.

Size reduction is lack of maintenance access space.
I'd allow same, weekly rolls, for other drives, too.
Makes PP a risky proposition.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Nothing official in CT nor MGT... but I'd use the following (and Mongoose has my explicit permission to use it if I get a credits entry "Contributed by WF Hostman")

Mind if I use it (with above stated credit)?

 

[aramis]

Mind if I use it (with above stated credit)?

Sure. I'd appreciate a comp of the PDF, but won't require it, and it's non-exclusive... just for clarity.

 

[Mark Morgan]

what about just hiring a one or More Battle Riders taking a seris of small colony vechiles esp cheap might be last TL's tender a couple of week use of a tender should be leasable form the navy

 

[Whipsnade]

Rust,

Let me ditto the many lighter/tender suggestions. A jump drive is just too expensive for a one way trip. A tender, either owned by the Colonial Office IYTU or more likely leased from a commercial freighting firm, will take the colony out to the target world instead.

Once there, the tender would release both powered "lighters" and those orbital deadfall gliders seen in 2300AD. The colonists themselves and anything delicate would be landed aboard the lighters/shuttles while their more robust supplies would land by glider. (Hunting down and unloading a misdirected glider could make for a good session.)

Both the lighters and the gliders will be designed for disassembly so that their various components could be used by the colony. The lighter power plants for instance would become the colony's power supplies. While I think a dedicated modular cutter and several modules would be of great use for any colony, I suppose you could have the colonist's fashion a small shuttle of sorts out of the much larger lighters. A long term project could involve the colonists putting together a jump-capable courier out of "re-purposed" lighter components and other single purpose equipment brought with them.


Regards,
Bill

 

[rancke]

Let me ditto the many lighter/tender suggestions. A jump drive is just too expensive for a one way trip.

>Cough< Ihatei >cough<!


Hans

 

[dmccoy1693]

Sure. I'd appreciate a comp of the PDF

Consider it done.

 

[aramis]

The Gliders would be airframe hulls, with PP1 and no MD, and would serve as community power plants, as well, for the colony. So add an FPP to it... and it becomes instant colony!

 

[Whipsnade]

>Cough< Ihatei >cough<!

>Cough< Not all ihatei are sent on long distance one-way suicide missions with obsolescent equipment in order to save scrapping costs >cough<


Bill

 

[Jacqual]

I was thinking that the colony ships instead of 1 10Kton craft why not 5 2kton craft. each one being streamlined with a Modular 1g Manuever Drive. The 5 ships have no jump drive so they get taken there by a large Tender. Now this is where I deviate a little from the other suggestions, if colonization is popular the Tender is owned by a large Corp that produces the actual colony ships as well. The colonists place an order for these standard colony ships from the company that has the tender to transport them. Being a package deal there is a 10% price reduction granted the colonists for the completed deal. This would grant the colonists the ability to purchase a couple of free traders for themselves. Now the 5 colony ships are loaded up with the colonists gear including the free traders which are loaded full of gear themselves. Transported to the new colony world, where they land and get all the gear off loaded. The engineers in the colony strip down the modular 1g Mdrives on the colony ships and loads them into the free Traders the free traders then return them to the company for a refund as they can be used on more colony ships this reduces prices even more. The Free Traders use the refund money to purchase even more goods the colony will need but did not have room for in the first place, or puts the money towards the payments to the bank which is done as needed by the colony. The colony ships all have fuel refineries on them which have 2 uses. 1 is a continual supply of fuel to the power plants, and 2 pure drinking water for the colony. I would recommend that the colony ships have some minor form of weapons for colony protection. This setup has the advantage of giving the colony 5 power plants and water refinery's. They can spread out just little bit more granting elbow room so to speak. And also doing it this way I feel would help promote the area for additional settlement, which could bring in more money for the colony helping with the bank bill.

 

[rancke]

>Cough< Not all ihatei are sent on long distance one-way suicide missions with obsolescent equipment in order to save scrapping costs >cough<

Um, Bill, didn't you argue in a recently-abandoned thread that those landless Aslans who didn't weren't true ihatei but merely colonists?


Hans

 

[Icosahedron]

I'm afraid I'm also with the tender suggestions.

As you say, the costs involved in building a large starship are considerable, and I'm of the opinion that whoever is funding the colonisation will want to re-use that ship - either for bringing further supplies in later, or for colonising another world.

I see the starship acting as a carrier, depositing colony modules on the new world before returning to base. The modules may be carried craft capable of exploring the rest of the system, or may even be smaller starships for communication purposes, but the big one is going to be too costly to waste IMHO.

The idea of hiring a freighter is a good option if the 'company' doesn't do this sort of thing often.

With small starships available for a few MCr, I can't see a colony being set up without at least an interstellar 'lifeboat' for emergency evacuation/communication.