help with Ancients ship design

[c_osborne]

I could use some constructive advice regarding a ship I'm trying to put together for a T20 campaign. It is supposed to be a small Ancients ship (i.e. players will have an extremely difficult time learning to use it, but if they do, it is a very sweet deal, especially in the year 1248).

So I took this droyne scout deckplan;

http://www.downport.com/traveller/tech/Schirf/DroyneScout.gif

I added a turret on top and changed the two large fuel areas to a medical/lab area and a galley (fuel is needed for manuever drives and power, but J-drive is psionic).

Using the T20 book, I came up with the following stats.

Starship
Tech Level: G
Size: Medium (100 tons)
Streamlining: Streamlined
Jump Range: Variable*
Acceleration: 6G
Fuel: 12 tons
Duration: 4 weeks
Crew: 1
Staterooms: None
Small Cabins: None
Bunks: 6
Couches: None
Low Berths: 1
Cargo Space: 20 tons
Atmospheric Speeds: NoE 1475kph, Cruising 4425kph, Maximum 5900kph
EP Output: 9 (0 excess)
Agility: 6
Initiative: +6 (Agility)
AC: 18 (+6 Agility, +2 Armor)
Repulsors: None
Nuclear Dampers: None
Meson Screens: None
Black Globes: 3 tons - USP3
AR: 2
SI: 100
Armament: Plasma Gun USP1
Main Computer: Model/6
Sensor Range: Model/7
Comm Range: Model/9 (Meson)
Cost: N/A
Other Equipment: Air/raft

*This ship has a psionic Jump drive. A telepath is required to use it. The Jump range is 1 per every 4 ranks of Telepathy.

I guess I'm asking for a sanity check. Can anyone take a quick look and tell me if I'm screwing this up too badly?

I'm also a little unclear on how black globes work in T20.

Thanks,

Chad

 

[Border Reiver]

Aim a little higher on tech levels, at least tech 18, probably tech 21+.

Armaments? Disintegrators, jump projectors, white globes, anti matter missiles.

Others? No fuel requirements, supplied from on board pocket universe portal.

I like your design though.

 

[tjoneslo]

GT:Alien Races 3 has one potential design. It consists of a central 200dTon hull with attachment points for 43 additional 6dton capsules. All connected by a teleport gate system with it's own pocket universe. Each capsule has an antimatter powerplant, the teleport gate, a maneuver drive, and whatever else is needed (quarters, labs, etc.). The base hull has the jump drive (J6), plus a dedicated portal the hydrogen supply in the pocket universe, a maneuver drive, it's own antimatter plant, the full set of sensors, And the IQ18, DX14 AI computer system.

GURPS Vehicles rules, even for Traveller, are a little different from the rest of Traveller, but that should give you an idea of what is missing.

 

[c_osborne]

I'm trying to give them something they will eventually be able to use, but at the same time, I don't want it to break the game completely. I figured since the Imperium runs at TL15, but still has lots of TL10 ships around, the Ancients might have slightly lower tech ships too. So this would be one of their less advanced designs. Also, being a scout ship, I didn't think it would have really heavy armaments. But I'm no expert, which is why I'm asking.

So would the Ancients only have TL18+ ships? If so, then obviously the power and armaments would have to change as Border Reiver suggested. The GT ship that tjoneslo mentioned sounds cool, but would definitely throw my campaign for a loop.

 

[kafka47]

Remember, the Ancients can cover the vast array of civilizations that inhabit the time of Antiquity. I made the Gn'aak to be TL G pirates their ships would rival whatever the Imperium had. For lower tech inspirations also check out the Star Wars universe, as most of those are examples of what lower level Ancients could do - ie near instanteous jumps, planet killers, small craft capable of jump, etc.

 

[opensent]

It's a scout ship, so give them sensors. Lots of cool, powerful sensors. If they are smart, they can use them to good advantage. If not, well, at least they are not roaming the galaxy with uber death rays.

 

[parmasson]

Meson sensors that can image anything.

A tiny meson gun that can penetrate screens.

 

[parmasson]

How about a ship’s computer that is an AI?

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

There is an Ancient scout/laboratory vessel IMTU.

I use a modular design that I once though was my original idea, but turned our to have been based on the design of a ship from the Star Trek animated series.

(Hey, who wouldn't suppress memories of that show, eh?)

Anyway, it is a modular vessel resembling a fungal growth, in that each minor section is a 1 to 100 dton pod at the end of a curving, twisting stalk. Many of the pods are interconnected, and all are connected to the central section.

("You are in a maze of twisting passages, all alike...")

Each pod is dedicated to at least one function of Scanner/Sensor, Laboratory, Small Craft, Recreation, Living Quarters, and several unknown functions. Some pods have been ruptured, some seem to have been ransacked, some seem to be missing, and not a few are completely empty. There are about 50 pods.

The central module contains the fuel reservoir and a large, single compartment that combines the functions of Bridge, Cargo Hold, Computor, and Engineering sections.

The ship is unstreamlined, and all controls and furnishings seem to be designed for Droyne or Droyne-like creatures. The controls are minimal, and have no visible legends or labels. One of the characters (a latent telepath) was intently studying one particular control when the life-support system suddenly came online.

Hmm...

Of course, my players found it in orbit around a black dwarf star. Estimates of the ship's age are between 250,000 and 300,000 terrestrial years, based upon the kryptotron emissions of the ship's handwavium alloy construction.

The configuration of the power plant and drive systems make little sense, yet there is just enough energy available to provide minimal life support for 4 to 6 humans ... but for how long?

 

[travlar]

I would up the tech level and make the weapon better. It also might be a good idea to make sure the ship can run or fight its way out of most situations.

 

[c_osborne]

Okay, so if I up the tech level a little (maybe 18 to be conservative), it switches to antimatter power. So no fuel required at all?

I like the idea of near instantaneous jumps, since it is a psi drive, and powerful meson sensors work too.

AI for the computer works, and thus minimal controls with no visible legends or labels makes sense.

I'm still struggling with the weapon. It's a scout ship, not a navy vessel, so the really heavy stuff is out. I'd like the players to be able to stand up in a fight and possibly win against other small to mid sized ships (like maybe up to 600 dTons), but I don't want them to be unstoppable. I figured black globes plus a plasma cannon was decent, although granted a USP1 is pretty weak. Any specific suggestions on weapons that make sense, and how much dmage they should do?

 

[Icosahedron]

Originally posted by Chad Osborne:
Okay, so if I up the tech level a little (maybe 18 to be conservative), it switches to antimatter power. So no fuel required at all?

IIRC, a good fusion plant puts out about 1% of mc^2, so if your AM drive is giving full mc^2 output you will need about 1% of the normal fuel tonnage. At TL18 I'd guess about 1.5 to 2% would be reasonable. You will also need a grav suspension chamber to hold the antimatter (half the fuel), and your ship will probably vaporise if the field fails.
With such a small fuel need, the J-drive could be conventional, allowing the possibility of a jury-rigged bypass to the psi controls?

I'm still struggling with the weapon. It's a scout ship, not a navy vessel, so the really heavy stuff is out. I'd like the players to be able to stand up in a fight and possibly win against other small to mid sized ships (like maybe up to 600 dTons), but I don't want them to be unstoppable. I figured black globes plus a plasma cannon was decent, although granted a USP1 is pretty weak. Any specific suggestions on weapons that make sense, and how much dmage they should do?

How about a meson barbette? or a damper-disintegrator barbette? (with the barrel-separation available to a small ship, it would have quite short range) or an antimatter missile turret with only three missiles left? or a double PA turret? triple fusion turret? and/or give it two or three turrets per 100dt? perhaps an 8g M-drive with agility-8 would be useful?
There are lots of things you could try - just bend those rules!

 

[c_osborne]

Since Meson technology seems to be the theme, I suppose some kind of meson weapon fits.

I'm a little confused about the antimatter drive. So it needs normal fuel (hydrogen?) to react with the antimatter? And does it generate it's own antimatter, or does it need a supply of that too?

 

[tjoneslo]

In general, no the AM plant does not need fuel. It contains it's own supply which lasts several years. This is true for both the MT and GT versions of the AM-plant. In theory you can re-fuel the AM plant periodically, but you need an external supply of Antimatter to do so. Which is expensive stuff.

 

[c_osborne]

So if they recover the ship, but don't have access to AM, then it has a limited (and unknown) duration... That could be interesting.

 

[c_osborne]

If the ship has been encased in ice for 250,000 years, would it most likely have no power available? Perhaps until the PCs figure out that there is a spare AM fuel rod in storage?

 

[travlar]

Originally posted by Chad Osborne:
If the ship has been encased in ice for 250,000 years, would it most likely have no power available? Perhaps until the PCs figure out that there is a spare AM fuel rod in storage?

Only if the ship has been using power while in there. And even then it might be possible for it to still have power.

 

[tjoneslo]

I'd say it would depend upon how it got into the ice to begin with. If it crashed (softly), or simply landed, the power may well all be gone, and the players would have to figure out how to refuel the thing.

If the owner landed it, and powered it down hoping to hide it for a time, then got lost, the plant may have power, but still needs to be turned on.

Be really careful about playing with antimatter, as you make only one mistake.

 

[TheEngineer]

Perhaps the ship has an backup emergency fusion power plant. As its surrounded by ice its also surrounded by fuel.....

Anyway, getting a considerable amount of AM is perhaps a pretty task.

 

[Icosahedron]

Originally posted by tjoneslo:
In general, no the AM plant does not need fuel. It contains it's own supply which lasts several years. This is true for both the MT and GT versions of the AM-plant. In theory you can re-fuel the AM plant periodically, but you need an external supply of Antimatter to do so. Which is expensive stuff.

I've not looked at the canon figures, I'm just going from the real science angle, for which:
Yes, the ship needs fuel, about 1-2% of the amount used in fusion. Half of this is hydrogen, the other half is anti-hydrogen. When anti-hydrogen is brought into contact with hydrogen (or any other matter!) it completely annihilates, ie both the matter and antimatter are disintegrated into pure energy - and lots of it. Figure out the quantity of fuel involved, imagine an H-bomb warhead that size, then multiply by 100!

The antimatter must therefore be stored in some way that ensures it will never accidentally contact normal matter, so it must be electromagnetically or gravitationally suspended. The container is therefore likely to be a large chamber surrounded by machinery, in turn surrounded by armour, rather than a 'fuel rod'. Of course, the suspension field itself needs power, so the stuff cannot be stored indefinitely in isolation - a few decades at most before detonation, I would guess, not 250,000 years. I suppose if the craft were deliberately mothballed, it might conceivably have suspension power supplied by solar panels. I don't know how long they would last?

It may be that the canon antimatter drive includes a small fuel storage tank within its volume, I don't know? Designing a tank from scratch, I'd use a small M-drive capable of accelerating the fuel at the same rate the normal M-drive accelerates the ship.

Antimatter will not be created on board, it will take a huge, dedicated planetary, orbital, or ideally deep-space factory complex to create the stuff atom by atom. It is therefore very rare and very expensive. Prior to TL18 it will only be produced in quantities of a few atoms in experimental research stations as a scientific curiosity. Maybe by TL15 AM power research will be sufficiently advanced that a few naval depots with security way above Area 51 will produce and store a few kg of the stuff, but obtaining fuel will certainly be the craft's Achilles heel.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but hope that helps.