Free Trader
- Thread starter ShawnDriscoll
- Start date
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Shawn, just wanted you to know the old merchant ship is in use.
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We found Captain Ian sitting on a ramp type thing in the middle of the woods. There were two metal plates propped up by old logs. He sat under one and the other was right beside him.
“Whoa.” Forest Rat said. It sounded like she was in chapel.
I wasn’t sure why a set of metal plates was out here and what Captain Ian was doing sitting on one. It looked like the things had been here for years. He seemed to think it was as natural as anything. I thought any place to park my rear and rest looked good to me.
“That’s so cool.” Forest said in that same reverent voice.
“Is this for real, sir?” Lost said. She sounded like Forest.
My brain finally kicked in. The shadows were off and weeds were climbing all over the place. The metal plates weren’t just stuck out in the middle of no where.
Captain Ian was sitting in the cargo bay loading ramp of a star ship.
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We found Captain Ian sitting on a ramp type thing in the middle of the woods. There were two metal plates propped up by old logs. He sat under one and the other was right beside him.
“Whoa.” Forest Rat said. It sounded like she was in chapel.
I wasn’t sure why a set of metal plates was out here and what Captain Ian was doing sitting on one. It looked like the things had been here for years. He seemed to think it was as natural as anything. I thought any place to park my rear and rest looked good to me.
“That’s so cool.” Forest said in that same reverent voice.
“Is this for real, sir?” Lost said. She sounded like Forest.
My brain finally kicked in. The shadows were off and weeds were climbing all over the place. The metal plates weren’t just stuck out in the middle of no where.
Captain Ian was sitting in the cargo bay loading ramp of a star ship.
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Exactly. My players at the table did a similar thing when I showed them that ship in alien overgrown cornfields. The crew were skeletons by then.
When I was a poor high schooler I went to an Upward Bound summer session. Found a gaming group that was playing Traveller and spent the next several months dreaming of fixing up an old star ship and travelling the galaxy like Han Solo.
In the story Ian got this old non-usable ship as a gift and he's dreamed of fixing her up. He can buy a new ship but the old girl of his dreams needs a lot of love. The kids are his students and he's going to teach them about being merchants.
In the story Ian got this old non-usable ship as a gift and he's dreamed of fixing her up. He can buy a new ship but the old girl of his dreams needs a lot of love. The kids are his students and he's going to teach them about being merchants.
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
When I was 14 or 15, I always thought about what it would be like to be Zefram Cochrane, piecing together a cockpit/sleep-pod on an FTL drive.
Stuff like that builds space federations. More drama.
Stuff like that builds space federations. More drama.
I was thought I was being more realistic by wamting to be Harry Broderick when I grew up. What did I know? I was still in grammer school. 
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Once I finish my ship, the two openings in the back will make more sense. The cargo door with freight lifter/ramp will be on the bottom.
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Very nice!
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Thanks. I was thinking of putting those red light things on the tops of the buildings, like high-rise buildings use at night. But the scale is so massive. The lights would be very tiny and dim from this distance, I think.
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Flying over the sea - that's a really nice shot for a garden world (well, assuming that it is actually water down there and not some horrible acid ocean on an exotic atmosphere world).
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
I was thinking of adding small palm tree islands at the time. So maybe it is an atoll world of some kind, with a small base on it.
Very nice!
Actually, let me expand this. First, it looks real. Like a picture, not a creation. I love the clean lines and hull of the ship; she's a business woman well taken care of. The tropic scene says she can go nice places and keep herself sharp.
Yet there's the contrast of the man made environment versus the idyllic seascape. Mental dissonance; do I go for the sleek and professional or the relaxed and free?
Again; very nice!
Actually, let me expand this. First, it looks real. Like a picture, not a creation. I love the clean lines and hull of the ship; she's a business woman well taken care of. The tropic scene says she can go nice places and keep herself sharp.
Yet there's the contrast of the man made environment versus the idyllic seascape. Mental dissonance; do I go for the sleek and professional or the relaxed and free?
Again; very nice!
ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Ha. I do think of this ship as a yacht at times.
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