Biological Ships

[Shard]

I just wanted to throw this idea out here, or get some page numbers if it is in some Traveller book.
The idea of living / biological ships, perhaps giant creatures that can survive in deep space, and have been genetically modified over the years to allow for spaceship-like operation. Their "scanners" could be the creatures own senses. Food could be produced internally, as well as oxygen.
Any thoughts?

 

[BetterThanLife]

Aaaah a Farscape fan.

Closest to a living ship that I know of is from Classic Traveller Adventure 12, Secret of the Ancients. I am sure it could be done but you are inventing rules along the way.

Originally posted by Shard:
I just wanted to throw this idea out here, or get some page numbers if it is in some Traveller book.
The idea of living / biological ships, perhaps giant creatures that can survive in deep space, and have been genetically modified over the years to allow for spaceship-like operation. Their "scanners" could be the creatures own senses. Food could be produced internally, as well as oxygen.
Any thoughts?

 

[far-trader]

I did a bio-ship for a game once long ago. A 20ton gig like ship, just a baby It was to grow and eventually become capable of jumping. I just used HG (I think, might have been MT) and built it as a ship, then "translated" the systems into biologicals. It was symbiotic and had rooms for it's alien (grays of course) symbiots. It fed on psionic energy to grow and grazed in gas-giants to "fuel" it's "engines". When the characters were to find it (the game never got that far) it's "crew" of grays were to be missing, and the "boat" was going to be sleeping. One of the PC's had some psionics and would have started getting "ideas". This was all well before ST:TNG and Tinman and Elbron (or whatever the names were) but very similar in many ways.

I even did some deckplans that were very Giger-esque in feel, probably after seeing Alien, so around '78.

It would heal damage and be self aware and motivated. The idea was to eventually have it become jump capable and take the players (it's adopted symbiots) on a journey well out of Imperial Space searching for it's kind.

As for specific Traveller material I have a vague recollection of some but nothing I can nail down, and I may be confusing it with my own work above.

 

[mike wightman]

Have you looked at this thread

 

[Shard]

Thanks for the link, lotsa good stuff there.
And no, I haven't even seen Farscape (I heard about it after it was off the air). I was thinking of the biological ship idea because I was reading the Expendable series (don't have the author name handy) and it sparked a few ideas.

 

[Scarecrow]

I had a race once that were ripped off the K'Kree, were psychic and used lightsabres and the force.
(yeah I know)
Anyway, they had living ships that would have been, around say 800 tons in Traveller terms and were bonded at birth with their navigator and the two would become telepathically linked and virtually inseperable.
The navigator folded space and steered using the power of their mind ala Dune.
The ships looked kind of like a cross between a potato with large roots and some sort of fungus.

er...

That's it.

 

[mike wightman]

Don't suppose you've done pictures or deck plans for it...

 

[Burocrate]

Shard,

There was a deckplan/short adventure somewhere on the internet using a biological ship. I can not find it in my files at this time but I will keep searching.

Anyone out there remember a deckplan that looked like a large cave complex? In the short adventure the PCs investigate a big rock that appears to have made course changes. Anyone...anyone..Bueller...Ferris Bueller..anyone?

 

[brudin]

another biological ship could be find in x-men comics, in the brood war saga.
and you can find some deckplan in some marvel rpg surely.

 

[Colin]

2320AD features biological ships built by the Pentapods, an alien race. When (if?) the design sequences gets published include rules for biologicial vessels, which could be adapted into the primary T20 ship design system easily enough.

Colin
2320AD writer

 

[Spiderfish]

Biological ships are very very interesting. Moby Dick in space anyone?


"I even did some deckplans that were very Giger-esque in feel, probably after seeing Alien, so around '78"

Christ my little black books are older than my wife... Which is in retrospect a good thing.

 

[cougashika]

There is another reference one can use for biological ships: Dark Conspiracy.
IMTU I have a race that uses quite a few of the organic devices in the "Dark Tek" suppliment, though the energy cost are changed for some items. Still, it was unnerving for some of my PCs to see aliens being broken down to create ship structures. I even took an idea from a Jon Anderson album ("Olias of Sunhillow")and had an aquatic life-form called a solar that would apply itself to a ships frame for hull material.
Like others I translated the FF&S data into organic forms. The only time the PCs had trouble was when one of them was "consumed" by a ship he'd found in an asteroid field.

 

[virushi]

One source of ideas would be Lexx, although it's probably not advisable to let a bunch of PCs get their hands on a ship that can blow up whole planets.

 

[Spiderfish]

I think i've seen that lexx. During the period where wifey was on holiday I watched a lot of crap in the early mornings.

Its got lots of insects and a bird who doesent wear much right? And vampires?

 

[tucker2]

Peter F Hamilton's world in Reality Dysfunction has a cultural spaation of humanity based on using good 'ol hardware or utilizing organics instead-- Adamists and Edenists respectively. The Edenists have living space habitats and starships-- not only alive but aware . Then there's a fairly reasonable use of 'cybertech' by Adamists as well.

His series ought to have enough ideas to gel from, and his universe is kinda Traveler-esque to boot.

Sam

 

[mike wightman]

Check out the "Skin" suits in Fallen Dragon - biotech powered armour.

His latest one, Pandora's Star, has some nice ideas for "cyberware" as well...