...I believe we have already discussed the use of existing compartments as emergency refuges - store some water and so forth. I do not believe a separate dedicated refuge is necessary or wise.
Hi,
A big issue here to me is that water and air recycling etc may not be self contained into the single space. Specifically, I would suspect that (especially on smaller ships) the air and water reprocessing etc would be shared among all staterooms and adjacent commons spaces. As such, confining yourself to a single space may not really serve all that well as a refuge.
I do believe you've watched Alien recently.
No, not really. I’ve just been trying to brainstorm between stuff in Traveller canon, movies and TV show episodes that I’ve seen and stuff that I’ve read or recall about the existing space program etc.
As I understand it, heat loss is not the issue; it's the lack of heat loss that creates problems.
I don’t believe that to be the case (but I will look into it further).
You clearly want lifeboats very badly. Please don't take any of this as saying you shouldn't have them in your own TU.
Not necessarily. To be honest, although they aren’t really required by the rules, I think lifeboats of some sort already exist in Traveller in the form of the small craft that many vessels carry. A lot of the discussion here, to me at least, is whether they are the best solution for all vessels and/or whether alternate options might not be suitable for some situations.
Your ship's power plant fails. In CT, you have 1 to 6 days of battery power. In MT, you have whatever backup was designed into the ship (I like solar and a bit of battery); if the gamemaster knows Starship Operator's Manual and is generous, he might give you a couple weeks off the power plant's startup batteries. Help will either arrive in that time, or help is not coming. If help is not coming, well that's the time to want a boat, 'cause you're on your own.
One to six days may not be anywhere near enough time for some vessels in many situations.
It takes a very special situation for a merchant to be without help. Free traders might find themselves in that situation, but they're too small for a boat - though a captain could buy a small one and store it in the cargo bay. Other merchants will be going from one port to another, help well within reach. Warships - actually, almost all have a boat or more for just such an occasion.
I would think that there could be many situations where a group’s ship is not operating as a conventional merchant ship. A Noble with a Yacht for instance may likely not be tied to having to tramp about like a ‘merchant’ ship, nor would an adventuring party with a Safari Ship. I could easily see these type vessels as sometimes calling on out of the way locales as the need/desire arises. Additionally, any party on an adventure could easily be chartered by a Patron to go off the beaten path in search of some artifact or such.
Add to this that in the Traveller universe you may also have exploratory ships (searching for new mining locales for exotic minerals in as yet un mined places and such as well as crew transports and cargo haulers serving out of the way mines, refineries and other such operations, plus maybe even large “tankers” skimming gas giants and then transporting that fuel to refineries near an in-system high-port for use by incoming and outgoing vessels, then it seems to me that there may be a fair bit of potential for traffic other than just typical “merchant” type operations.
I can go on at length and in great detail about disease transmission and infection control procedures, but the real bottom line is that there's absolutely nothing that crowding potentially infected people onto a boat is going to do to make the situation better, and three souls huddled in an escape pod hiding from an epidemic, any one of whom might actually be infected, is not an improvement - it's a recipe for a panic attack. A ship in space is not going to have the resources to tell who is infected but hasn't yet shown symptoms, certainly not if they're dealing with a disease that far above their experience.
Whatever the possibilities may be, just such a situation is hinted at in one of the earliest Traveller adventures and if you are in a singular enclosed “environment in the vast emptiness of space, having an alternate means of escape would seem to offer some benefits.
Overall it does seem to be Traveller canon that diseases (some very serious) have been spread through contact between different civilizations and it also appears to be canon that there is a strong possibility that in at least one adventure the individuals onboard a vessels may have taken to a ship’s small craft to escape an outbreak of an illness on a vessel, so whether anyone thinks it’s a good idea to do so or not doesn’t mean it might not happen or that others may not think otherwise.
On top of all this is also an area that no one appears to have addressed yet of the sentient computer “Viruses” of TNE. Although I’m not real familiar with TNE all that much, in such a situation, I could potentially see that some individuals may have considered trying to include a separate “fully self-contained” escape craft onboard their vessel in that event that anything happens to their primary vessel they might have a chance at escape. Such a situation would likely require trying to configure the parent ship and small craft in such a way that they do not have any direct electrical or electronic connectivity, but rather all contact and releases etc are fully manually actuated etc. But, such a system would seem to me something that I would have looked into if I had done any TNE gaming.
I'm going to trust that you're not talking about using lifeboats while the pirates are shooting at you. Yes, it may be that a “parachute” is warranted. Now all that is needed is to find the situation where it is in fact warranted. So far, we're limited to situations involving military ships who are for some reason alone or separated from their usual support, and civilian ships who for some reason happen to be pursuing activities in systems where there's no available rescue.
Using the real world as an example, Piracy can take on many forms other than the iconic “a ship arrives and threatens to attack unless you surrender” image. Someone intent on taking your ship, cargo or passengers could come onboard posing as another passenger (or group of passengers) who try and take over your ship and have you divert to a location in your target system where your passengers of=r cargo could be offloaded. Their intent may just be your ship, or your cargo, or perhaps even ransom of any of the above and/or someone onboard. They may want your ship just for parts, taking it to a “chop shop” or they may just want it for a single “drug/contraband run” or even for use in a terrorist plot.
Whatever their intent and modus of operations there could be numerous situations where, in the event of someone trying to take over a ship you may either have to flee and/or the individuals taking over the ship, whether they are mutineers, terrorists, freedom fighters, or just thieves decide to ‘put you in a long boat’ rather than spacing you (similar to how the HMS Bounty mutineers put the Captain and loyalists into a longboat and set them on their way in that event).
"You" are one member of a crew that consists at minimum of a pilot, engineer, steward, medic, and probably a navigator. "You" control the ship's computer, which most likely has an antihijack program and certainly controls the iris ports, the atmosphere controls, the gravitics systems and so forth. "You" have access to the ship's locker, which likely includes shotguns, snub pistols, body armor and, should you decide to play with the ship's atmosphere to disable or inconvenience a violent person, vacc suits. Unless your opponent is a very skilled and well-equipped group of hijackers or the antagonist from Alien, you have the upper hand. IF your opponent is a very skilled and well-equipped group of hijackers or the antagonist from Alien, then your ship, crew, and so forth still give you a fighting chance.
If I am recalling correctly from CT, an anti-hijack program only runs when loaded and its is not always loaded at all times. Beyond this, there is also the possibility of a crew member being part of the take over attempt. Specifically I believe mutinies are a part of Traveller Canon with one of the ships in the Traders & Gunboats Supplement (I think) being said to have been laid out specifically to segregate officers and crew to help prevent such type of incidents. Additionally, since we know from Canon that the TNE sentient Virus can overwrite and overwhelm such defenses I would suspect that a talented criminal with computer skills could potentially try and do something similar.
As for having the upper hand a lot will likely depend on how prepared you may be. If your ship has a relatively small crew there may be periods where only one crew member may be on duty at a time. By watching and waiting acting when this single crew member (or two) may inadvertently drop his/their guard a group of criminals may be able to get the drop on the crew. Similar events happen in the real world with even some of the places that you would think would be highly protected (such as banks, art galleries, and the homes of wealthy individuals) suffering thefts, kidnappings and the like.
