Detached Duty - Scout Ship For Hire "Missions"

[Spinward Scout]

I've been working on some ideas for a Detached Duty Scout handout. MgT Book 3: Scout only covers recall missions (but covers them very well), so I thought I'd expand it a bit. Of course, you can use this for any version of Traveller. Here are six basic 'non-official' Missions for a Detached Duty Scout ship.

Scout Ship For Hire "Missions"
1 - Cargo Courier
2 - Passenger Transport
3 - Non-Exploration Charter
4 - Independent Exploration
5 - Paramilitary Operation
6 - "Odd Jobs"

A Referee can roll on this table whenever the Scout Ship and Crew needs a random job. Detached Duty Scout Ships should already be gathering Sensor data in each system in their travels to download at the Scout Bases they visit, so I left out any Survey missions. "Odd Jobs" pretty much covers anything not covered by the first five "missions". These are the more 'civilian' missions of the Scout.

EDIT: These are the non-official, non-government sponsored jobs.

 

[Timerover51]

For some "Odd Jobs".

1. Planet survey for a newly settled planet, for resource determination and location.

2. Anti-smuggling patrol for a low-population planet with limited funds.

3. High value, legal small package delivery to an off the beaten path planet.

4. Hunting expedition for the sportsman on a restricted budget.

5. Operating as sort of an inter-system Coast Guard for monitoring ship movements and rescue missions.

6. Intra-system micro-jumps in a large solar system.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I like those, but several of them are more of something that the Scout Service would recall the Scout for. Anything 'official' would probably be a recall Mission. Take a look at my other post about Detached Duty I put up earlier.

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=33166

Unless it's not the Scout Service giving them the job...

Your #3 is a Cargo Courier job, not so much an "Odd Job". #4 is a Non-Exploration Charter. I really should write up descriptions for these, I think.

 

[Enoki]

Revenue "cutter" That is collecting fees and such from ships in a system like ones that would otherwise refuel off a gas giant for free. This is something I usually do with more oppressive, high law, higher population systems. The government wants a pound of flesh from every ship that enters the system.

Convoy escort. Merchant ships moving to the next system need protection form piracy, etc., and there is a shortage of regular escorts so several scouts are hired instead.

Picket ship. Jumps along a line of systems between two points patrolling each system with a number of other scouts. Typically 1 to 3 scouts are in a system moving to other systems in the chain. Sort of a cheap early warning system as well as way to monitor what's going on in each system.

 

[Spinward Scout]

The non-official, non-government sponsored jobs, please.

 

[Timerover51]

I am assuming that something like a Med Ship use of a scout, from Murray Leinster's Med Ship series would qualify as a charter job?

 

[rancke]

I am assuming that something like a Med Ship use of a scout, from Murray Leinster's Med Ship series would qualify as a charter job?

The Med Ship series' med ship was a government-sponsored job. I suppose a humanitarian organization might hire a Scout for a mission, though I see them as more likely to hire a freighter to transport a modular clinic.


Hans

 

[aramis]

The Med Ship series' med ship was a government-sponsored job. I suppose a humanitarian organization might hire a Scout for a mission, though I see them as more likely to hire a freighter to transport a modular clinic.


Hans

For a hurry-up-n-get-there, a Type S can get a person or two and some vaccine or other supplies there in half the time of a Type A (the standard free trader) and for FAR less cost than hiring out a Type A or Type A2.

The Type A or A2 has to be compensated for lost income reasonably well - for a Type A, that's charter rates for at least 75% of cargo capacity if it's on a standard financing as a tramp. (For a line or subsidy, it's actually worse - because you will have to charter the costs for both directions.)

The Op Costs of a Bk 2 Type S are 30 tons of fuel, and about Cr1125 in annual maintenance share, plus a few thousand to motivate the crew... so you can probably charter the one-way trip for about KCr10... KCr20 if they're replaced the IISS Model A JD with a Civilian one.

Under a Bk5 redesign (or the T20 version), you can load a field hospital in its 20 tons of cargo... and it's using only 21 tons of fuel per jump. KCr15 should do it for most crews, and if it can't, you can always attempt to get the local IISS Administrator to reactivate them and assign them the mission...

And the Mongoose version? plenty of cargo space - the corebook one has 8 tons. (And enough fuel for 1j2 +1j1 + 4 weeks. Yeah, they really made it stupidly large fuel.) A more sane version will have 18 cargo tons.

 

[Carlobrand]

If you double-berth it, you can squeeze up to 8 bodies in a scout. For a merc operation, the air/raft could be armed easily enough - put something interesting on a pintel mount in the rear, or one each port and starboard. That gives you room for a fireteam of 4 men in an armed air/raft with the scout flying high altitude as ortillery, with a gunner, pilot, and a medic aboard the scout and room for one more. Add a couple of low berths if you want to be able to stow a couple of unruly passengers.

Small force, but enough for something like a hostage rescue or a bounty hunter operation, if your merc force has enough of a tech edge on the opposition. 4 men in TL12 combat armor and reflec can be wicked difficult for bandits armed only with assault rifles or low tech lasers, especially if the mercs have thermal image to see by night and chameleon covers to deny that benefit to the bandits. Better still if you can get the higher-tech armor.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Great ideas!

 

[flykiller]

something that the Scout Service would recall the Scout for

the best reason to recall any scout is because they are already familiar with the task, population, or planet at issue. "you spent twelve years on this planet, we need you to ....", "you negotiated peace between these seven tribes, they all know you, we need you to ....", "you infiltrated this culture and know everything about them, we need you to ...."

(that last one will play poorly in traveller, but it could be used as a basis for something else)

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

being hired as an "advisor" or somesuch by a start up colony. they desire a jump capable vessel to keep in touch with the wider universe, run fetch quests and so on, and a trained scout with at least half a clue about things like surveys and wilderness survival would be a major asset to a small colony.

 

[Timerover51]

I've been working on some ideas for a Detached Duty Scout handout. MgT Book 3: Scout only covers recall missions (but covers them very well), so I thought I'd expand it a bit. Of course, you can use this for any version of Traveller. Here are six basic 'non-official' Missions for a Detached Duty Scout ship.

Scout Ship For Hire "Missions"
1 - Cargo Courier
2 - Passenger Transport
3 - Non-Exploration Charter
4 - Independent Exploration
5 - Paramilitary Operation
6 - "Odd Jobs"

Aside from the Odd Jobs, it seems that you need sub-categories under the other possibilities too.

A Referee can roll on this table whenever the Scout Ship and Crew needs a random job. Detached Duty Scout Ships should already be gathering Sensor data in each system in their travels to download at the Scout Bases they visit, so I left out any Survey missions. "Odd Jobs" pretty much covers anything not covered by the first five "missions". These are the more 'civilian' missions of the Scout.

EDIT: These are the non-official, non-government sponsored jobs.

This discussion of Detached Scout jobs and the other thread on Scout Ship design got me to thinking about the sensor package for a Scout Ship. Considering that a Scout Ship is supposed to be able to accurately survey a planetary system and do reasonably thorough surveys of selected planets, intuitively is would seem that a Scout Ship would have a fair amount of space, say several dTons, devoted to a sophisticated sensor array. However, the standard Scout Ship design does not seen to allow for this.

Any one else have thoughts about this? And moderators, if you think that this should go into a separate thread, feel free to move it.

 

[whulorigan]

Considering that a Scout Ship is supposed to be able to accurately survey a planetary system and do reasonably thorough surveys of selected planets, intuitively is would seem that a Scout Ship would have a fair amount of space, say several dTons, devoted to a sophisticated sensor array. However, the standard Scout Ship design does not seen to allow for this.

Any one else have thoughts about this? And moderators, if you think that this should go into a separate thread, feel free to move it.

The open area to Port-Aft in the Scout Ship is the area for the "Mission-module" so to speak. For an Exploration Scout, this is where the Sensor Equipment is installed. For a Courier, this is where the Communication Data-Banks are placed. For a Detached Duty Scout, it is normally just used as a lounge.

CT: TRADERS & GUNBOATS, p.16

Interior Details: . . . The rear section (13) serves many purposes; on scouts, it carries laboratory and sensor equipment; on couriers, it carries communication equipment and data banks; on detached duty ships, it is cleared out and become a lounge for the crew.

 

[Enoki]

The non-official, non-government sponsored jobs, please.

Revenue cutter could be interesting. The government sends you into a system to collect taxes... Much like you are a Revenue agent and sent into the back hills of Kentucky to collect on moonshiners...

:CoW:

The agency sending you says you can keep say 20% of what you collect...

You are broke...

:smirk:

 

[Spinward Scout]

Aside from the Odd Jobs, it seems that you need sub-categories under the other possibilities too.

I'm working on it, but I haven't gotten too far.

The only thing I have so far is for Cargo Courier:

1 - Unique Items
Something like a Family Heirloom or an Archaeology Artifact found in some ruins
2 - Important Documentation
The Meeting Minutes of the local Galaxeteers Club to be delivered to the subsector capital
3 - Commissioned Supplies
Emergency supplies for the privately-funded expedition to Sheboygan VII
4 - Expensive Goods
Starlight gems or bottles of Zilan eiswein

Revenue cutter could be interesting.

That is a great idea! I'm just trying to focus on the civilian side of it right now. I'm also thinking about consolidating my other thread about the "Official" missions with this one.

 

[scottscane]

A Elint ship, eavesdropping on transmissions or passive surveillance picket duty.

Dropping off and picking up agents.

Transporting a Planetary Governors' Mistress.

Delivering Bearer Bonds/Finance documents.

 

[Enoki]

A variant of the passenger transport would be the person(s) are up to extremely illegal stuff of some sort....

 

[shadowcat20]

Non gov/scout jobs?

Planetary surveys for mining corps
Small package trade
Transporting VIP's from one planet to the other in a system
Moving expensive ore from a rock belt to a safer area (armored truck heist?)
Being hired to salvage a hulk or dumped cargo
Gun running to Amber worlds
placing comm sats for lower tech worlds

 

[Enoki]

Convoy escort could be a private hire, like you are acting as a security guard. A merchant or merchants are worried that about piracy, etc., and the navy tells them to shove off or "It's safe, you don't need an escort..." leaving them to hire their own security.