AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
If it's a large port with a lot of facilities, there is probably a high port, so no problem.
It's the small outposts on the mains you have to pass that are the problem...
CT Only: Big Far Trader (Type R2)
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If it's a large port with a lot of facilities, there is probably a high port, so no problem.
It's the small outposts on the mains you have to pass that are the problem...
That was kind of the point. I'm thinking in terms of basic CT chargen with its lower skill levels. Skill-4 isn't going to be that common, but it's still a dice roll to get the players worked up.
12+ unmodified on 2D is 1 in 36, which is a lot higher risk than I think either of us want (this is why I went with a 3D roll).
My concept here is:
- Engineer check is to see if something goes wrong, second check to see if they can make it less bad.
- If something bad happens, Pilot gets to try to mitigate the damage.
- This isn't going to be a mechanic to allow increasing drive ratings meaningfully in the context of space combat.
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I'm guessing that by design, all high ports are located at the 1G boundary (or less) influence of the mother world, just for that reason.
If it's my starship, I'm not going to put it somewhere that I need to count on someone else's cooperation to get it back into space. I'll offload 4Td at a time with an Air/Raft if it comes to that!
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
I could be wrong, but my impression is that most inhabited worlds in Traveller have less than one Terran standard gravity.
The average should be Size 5, yes.
Distribution is the 2d6 "pyramid distribution".
Edit: Thanks for the sanity check, GypsyComet.
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GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
More than that, since that occurs on a roll of 9-, not a 7-.
Right. It's 83% to roll 9- on 2D. (I misread my chart, fixed it above.)
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Going by the given formulation, anything less than one standard would give a buffer to a default factor one manoeuvre, or reactionary, drive, to reach for the sky.
2G is worth it for making it more difficult for pirates to run down your ship. Doubles your accel, halves your vulnerability time before/after jump.
Type R2 would probably also be the primary survey ship for a large Scout expedition.
It could also serve as an alternative lab ship, and maybe should be considered for nobles as an upgraded yacht. Plenty of room for customization of that cargo bay- zero-G swimming pools, gravbowling, shooting ranges, gardens etc. and still carry any extra vehicles/small craft desired.
Type R2 would probably also be the primary survey ship for a large Scout expedition.
It could also serve as an alternative lab ship, and maybe should be considered for nobles as an upgraded yacht. Plenty of room for customization of that cargo bay- zero-G swimming pools, gravbowling, shooting ranges, gardens etc. and still carry any extra vehicles/small craft desired.
I like these ideas. Also (though this isn't new) a less-expensive way to deploy a small mercenary force than a Type C Broadsword.
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AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Double the acceleration, 70% of the time (1/√2≈0.7). See the distance formulae and tables LBB'81, p10.
Any reasonable pirate will catch you anyway, if perhaps somewhat closer to the destination world.
... and that world's planetary defenses, if present.
Proneutron
SOC-13
Right Earth sized to 100 D @1G = 6h 20m. @2G = 4h 28m
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Certainly, that is why I mentioned it.
But if the world has several Hi-G SDBs or patrol boats ready to chase, the pirates will likely be elsewhere, unless the 100D limit is very far out because of a GG of large local star.
A typical 100D limit is only about 1 million km, reachable in little over two hours at 6 G, within reach of fire in a bit over one hour. It's a brave pirate that plies his trade that close to enemy warships.
On the other hand, not all low pop outposts can afford warships, not even SDBs.
But they can know where the pirate is and perhaps fly off in the opposite direction.
Earth is 12,000km in diameter. 100D is 1,200,000km. At 2G (10m/s^2 per G), that's 3 hours.
In Mayday, that's 2 turns of play (pretty sure Mayday is 100 minute turns). In Mayday, 100D is 4 hexes (300Kkm per hex). So, the ship has two turns to get away from the pirate.
For most worlds, the 100D limit is not that far.
And for any world with any routine traffic, I still believe there would be "jump lanes" that the bulk of the traffic would use. Firstly, because it's the most efficient trip to the destination world but, secondly, because it dramatically narrows the patrol volume for security and safety forces. If you're going to jump out of the system, best to do it under the watchful eye of the space patrol.
If the pirates are plying the inner system, then ships would likely feel its simply safer to jump than to make the deep space run and worry about pirates.
Proneutron
SOC-13
If the world is outside its star's 100D limit there is no most efficient path to the world. It is anywhere on the imaginary globe that is the planet's 100D limit.
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AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Civilian ships don't have all that great detection range, about 150 000 km according to LBB2. When they see the pirates, they are within effective fire range.
With a standard accelerate from rest, then decelerate to rest that distance takes 4.3 h.
2×√(1200000000/20) = 15 492 s = 258 min = 4.3 h.
A pirate with a decent acceleration advantage will catch you long before that, if he happens to be close to your jump exit point.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Coast Guard cutter, and prearranged approach and departure lanes.
If you take in to account all of the nuances of Jump: vector preservation, the 10% jump window, differential velocities between source and target worlds (including both orbital velocities and system velocities), potential jump masking and shadowing (if you honor that concept), then, yea, there actually are more efficient paths between systems that will potentially net a few hours of savings in travel. You can't control jump, but you can control the rest of it.
Since the bulk of traffic from most systems is limited to a few nearby systems, like the weather, "everyone" will know what those exit vectors are, it's "free" to use them, and saves them a few hours in space, why would they not choose them? If there's 3 common destinations, there may be up to 3 vectors of exodus. Similarly, since they are well known, free to use, they'd certainly be popular -- perhaps to the point that local traffic control strongly suggests to ships that they use those vectors, and thus the local Space Patrol can more efficiently patrol traffic mishaps and shenanigans.
Even for worlds deep within the 100D shadow of the local primary, there's always a "fastest" way out of the hole. If nothing else, it's radially away from the primary. And that's the way most traffic will choose. They aren't REQUIRED to choose those vectors, but they're just the best ones on any particular day, so don't be surprised to see a stream of ships heading that way.
Similarly, incoming vessels will be targeting arrival points that give them the best chance of arriving quickly. So, each day you'll see a cluster of ships flashing in to the systems, all in the same general areas. With the jump window, this area is spread out a bit more than the exodus, but the majority of traffic will cluster in these entry zones, that should be readily patrolled.
While you are certainly capable of choosing to arrive on the wrong side of the primary on any given day, few would consciously choose to do that. It's just a waste of time.
