Aslan Trader A-DS12 Eakhau class

[robject]

On the wiki, the suggested TL is 14 for the Eakhau, even though this is a trader with only Jump 2 capability .

Any reason TL 14 was chosen? And, isn't that a poor choice of TL for a trader? Or is it highly unlikely to need TL 14 repair facilities?

Perhaps this is a Book 2 holdover for the drive-letter-by-TL thing?

 

[AnotherDilbert]

The original(?) in the wiki metadata appears to be TL-10:

TI-02 pg. 6
ASLAN TRADER Eakhau-4221221-000000-00000-0 MCr124.26 400 tons
Batteries bearing          Crew: x5
Batteries                  TL-10
Passengers=8. Low=16. Cargo=164. Fuel=100. EP=8. Agility=2.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

It's maxed out to TL-14 (Aslan-max?) in TNE, but so are most ships. MT is even worse, most ships are TL.15.

 

[robject]

Okay, thank you AD. I was thinking of "fixing" that. TL 11 was my guess. But maybe TL 10?

Maybe the design leveraged TL 14 stage effects in High Guard to optimize the drives?

 

[Spinward Flow]

CT AM1: Aslan, p32:

E/B/E drives are standard drives.
E-F drives are TL=10 under CT.
10% discount applies to LBB2.81 designs, not LBB5.80 (which are 20% discount for volume production).

But maybe TL 10?

The highest TL required by the components of the design are the E-drives that require TL=10.

If the class used D-drives instead, it could be TL=9 instead.

 

[robject]

^ That specific CT description was my goal when I ported it to T5 -- typically the Book 2 descriptions are flexible enough to port to other rule systems... except for the price of course.

T5 port. I used a fancy name generator for the drives (like Kinunir and Leviathan did) so it's not clear which drives are being used, but I used D/B/D because T5 doesn't have the damage track.

Using a 400-ton streamlined hull, the Eakhau-class Aslan trader is a basic interstellar merchant ship, carrying a mix of cargo and passengers. It is equipped with the Ieya-2 Grid D2 jump drive, the Faleiyeea 117mb maneuver drive, and the Fesaie 2na.D power plant, giving performance of Jump-2 and 1G acceleration. Fuel tankage supports the powerplant and one jump-2. On the bridge is a computer Model/2. There are 13 staterooms and 16 low berths. There are four hardpoints but no weapons mounted. There are no ship's vehicles. Cargo capacity is 164 tons. The ship has fuel scoops for gas giant refueling.

The trader requires a crew of five: pilot, astrogator, two engineers, and purser/steward. A medic and gunners are sometimes carried. It can carry up to eight passengers and 16 low passengers.

 

[robject]

Hey.... they deliberately chose 'E' drives for damage resistance.

I note that that would enable the T5 version to attach an extra 100 tons of stuff at J2. But it wouldn't be able to maneuver. Hmm.

 

[Garnfellow]

It's maxed out to TL-14 (Aslan-max?) in TNE, but so are most ships. MT is even worse, most ships are TL.15.

I've honestly never understood why MT went that way. It doesn't make sense from a setting standpoint -- most civilian ships will be built way below that standard. But it also doesn't make sense from a game mechanic standpoint. A significant pull for PCs is upgrading their ship, and where do they go if they start at the top of the tech level? Give them a TL12 trader with an incentive to upgrade the old power plant . . .

 

[AnotherDilbert]

I've honestly never understood why MT went that way.

My first speculation would be cost of the standard ships. With the massive and expensive LBB5-style power plants at lower TLs the standard designs gets expensive. If you want a Scout to cost closer to MCr 28 than MCr 50, high TL is necessary.

 

[robject]

My first speculation would be cost of the standard ships. With the massive and expensive LBB5-style power plants at lower TLs the standard designs gets expensive. If you want a Scout to cost closer to MCr 28 than MCr 50, high TL is necessary.

That makes sense, and MT ship design is more or less an extended High Guard.