Hi all. I've been around the fringes (no pun intended) of Traveller for many years, but never really had a chance to play. I've got a copy of the Mongoose Traveller released in 2008 and I'm trying to design a 300 ton ship, but honestly the drives chart is not making sense to me. I want a jump 2 drive and a good maneuvering drive, and I plan on at least two if not three turrets. Can someone help walk the newbie through the table please?
Help with starship desgin
- Thread starter TxStone
- Start date
No problem, you simply cross reference your hull size, with the drive letter to see what performance you get. So for your 300tn ship and Jump 2 you would need a Type C or D jump drive. As for M drives a type B drive gets you 1G, Type C or D gets you 2G up to the type J drive which gets you 6G. The power plant letter must equal the biggest drive letter, so if you had a type C jump drive (J2) and a type F M drive (3G) you would need a type F power plant.
The little table on the bottom of page 107 tells you how much power plant fuel you need for 2 weeks (most designs carry 4 weeks fuel). The main table on page 107 included the cost and displacement of the various drive sizes.
You can get 1 hardpoint per 100tns (so three hardpoints for your ship). Each hardpoint is the mounting position for a turret The tables on page 111 show the turret types and the weapons you can mount in a turret. You can leave hardpoints empty for later use
Hope this helps
Cheers
Richard
The little table on the bottom of page 107 tells you how much power plant fuel you need for 2 weeks (most designs carry 4 weeks fuel). The main table on page 107 included the cost and displacement of the various drive sizes.
You can get 1 hardpoint per 100tns (so three hardpoints for your ship). Each hardpoint is the mounting position for a turret The tables on page 111 show the turret types and the weapons you can mount in a turret. You can leave hardpoints empty for later use
Hope this helps
Cheers
Richard
Last edited:
Working on a 300 ton freighter/adventuring ship
Hull 300 tons Hull 6
Streamlined Structure 6
Armor Crystaliron rating 4
Jump C Maneuver H
Power Plant J
Fuel 48 tons (1 jump plus two weeks)
Bridge
Computer Model 3 Rating 15
Electronics Basic Military Rating 2
Staterooms 8
Lowberths 6
Cargo 112 tons
Weapons
Triple turret - Beam laser x2, Pulse Laser
Triple turret - Beam laser x2, Pulse laser
Triple turret - Missile rack x2, Sandcaster
Software
Jump Control 2
Maneuver 0
Library 0
Extras
Fuel scoop
Fuel Processor x2
Ship's Locker
Ship's Launch
12 Missiles
20 Sandcaster Canisters
This is what I have so far. I have not done the price calculations yet. I'm horrible at drawing so I doubt I come up with any deckplans, and I have not come up with a name yet.
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
just a quick point: if it's M-drive is a H, then it's Power plant only needs to be a H as well, not a J. ergo, you save you about 5 tons in both P-plant a fuel.
that's all for now, a more detailed critque may come later, if you wish
that's all for now, a more detailed critque may come later, if you wish
First ship I tried to design. Absolutely I would like to get more feedback so I can improve on designing. Thank you.
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
ok, basic question that you must ask yourself:
"what do i want this ship to do?"
in this case, the answer is "free trade with enough firepower and armour to survive the odd battle with pirates that i may throw at the players"
now, lets look at parts of the design:
speed: 5g, if i am not mistaken. that's pretty fast, much faster than normal free traders, and faster than most of the things that they may face, save full blown military warships. personally, i would have a 4g drive, which would give more room for you to force a plot critical encounter upon them. however, that's not my call.
endurance: 2 weeks and a jump 2. I would cough up the extra tonnage for another 2 weeks of runtime. this lets you have a session that involves you making a jump 1 into a system where they can't refuel for whatever reason, conduct their adventure thier, and then J-1 back out on a single tank.
weaponry: i would plump for a extra ton of missle ammo. 6 rounds a gun is not that much, and thier is a serious chance of them shooting themselves dry if they can't reload between fights. it's only a ton
lowberths: frankly, i don't like them, but that's a personal grudge rather than a serious complaint.
staterooms: do you plan for the party to carry significant numbers of passengers? on a ship like this, 8 rooms is not much. (havn't worked out he crew required, but it could well be enough for people to be doubling up. 1 pilot, 3 gunners, 1 engineer, small craft pilot, not forgetting the captain. that's 7 right thier, not certian if i have everybody and we only have one stateroom left......)
the ships launch: what do you intend the party to use this for? are you planning them to do extended smallcraft missions away form the main ship? if not, why spend the 20 tons on the craft?
as to a name, are you looking for a "serious" class and ship name, or a "fun" one?
it really depends on your attidude to the game which is better. I can think of a few ideas for both, if you want.
"what do i want this ship to do?"
in this case, the answer is "free trade with enough firepower and armour to survive the odd battle with pirates that i may throw at the players"
now, lets look at parts of the design:
speed: 5g, if i am not mistaken. that's pretty fast, much faster than normal free traders, and faster than most of the things that they may face, save full blown military warships. personally, i would have a 4g drive, which would give more room for you to force a plot critical encounter upon them. however, that's not my call.
endurance: 2 weeks and a jump 2. I would cough up the extra tonnage for another 2 weeks of runtime. this lets you have a session that involves you making a jump 1 into a system where they can't refuel for whatever reason, conduct their adventure thier, and then J-1 back out on a single tank.
weaponry: i would plump for a extra ton of missle ammo. 6 rounds a gun is not that much, and thier is a serious chance of them shooting themselves dry if they can't reload between fights. it's only a ton
lowberths: frankly, i don't like them, but that's a personal grudge rather than a serious complaint.
staterooms: do you plan for the party to carry significant numbers of passengers? on a ship like this, 8 rooms is not much. (havn't worked out he crew required, but it could well be enough for people to be doubling up. 1 pilot, 3 gunners, 1 engineer, small craft pilot, not forgetting the captain. that's 7 right thier, not certian if i have everybody and we only have one stateroom left......)
the ships launch: what do you intend the party to use this for? are you planning them to do extended smallcraft missions away form the main ship? if not, why spend the 20 tons on the craft?
as to a name, are you looking for a "serious" class and ship name, or a "fun" one?
it really depends on your attidude to the game which is better. I can think of a few ideas for both, if you want.
Here I concur. A 300t ship should be able to easily land on most any planet or spacestation. Plus if the crew leaves on the launch to land on a planet who stays behind on the ship.
It makes (a bit) more sense to have the ship able to land so that players can go back (retreat) to the ship if needed in the course of play.
Just part of my opinion.
And others have mentioned some other points as well, that I agree with.
Dave Chase
I appreciate everyone's responses. I wanted the ship to be faster than most ships, but did not realize I had made it that fast. I will adjust it. Originally I had an additional ton of missiles, but lowered it to get to 300 tons. I will correct the power plant to free up some tonnage and allow for fuel and missiles. The launch was designed with salvage missions in mind. I was not sure if the party would risk the entire ship by docking with a derelict ship, or if they would be more comfortable sending the launch while a couple of folks stayed behind to watch the sensors and man the guns if need be. I do agree the ship will most likely land on planets or dock with stations.
As far as the staterooms go I don't foresee the group taking on a large number of passengers, but having the ability to transport some opens up some story-lines. Therefore I will have to increase the number of them. The lowberths are intended for emergency use more than transport use.
I will repost after changes have been made. Again, thanks everyone for your input.
As far as the staterooms go I don't foresee the group taking on a large number of passengers, but having the ability to transport some opens up some story-lines. Therefore I will have to increase the number of them. The lowberths are intended for emergency use more than transport use.
I will repost after changes have been made. Again, thanks everyone for your input.
Updated version
Working on a 300 ton freighter/adventuring ship
Hull 300 tons Hull 6
Streamlined Structure 6
Armor Crystaliron rating 4
Jump C Maneuver F
Power Plant F
Fuel 72 tons (1 jump plus two weeks) I figured it wrong the first time
Bridge
Computer Model 3 Rating 15
Electronics Basic Military Rating 2
Staterooms 8
Lowberths 6
Cargo 100 tons
Weapons
Triple turret - Beam laser x2, Pulse Laser
Triple turret - Beam laser x2, Pulse laser
Triple turret - Missile rack x2, Sandcaster
Software
Jump Control 2
Maneuver 0
Library 0
Extras
Fuel scoop
Fuel Processor x2
Ship's Locker
Ship's Launch
24 Missiles
20 Sandcaster Canisters
Working on a 300 ton freighter/adventuring ship
Hull 300 tons Hull 6
Streamlined Structure 6
Armor Crystaliron rating 4
Jump C Maneuver F
Power Plant F
Fuel 72 tons (1 jump plus two weeks) I figured it wrong the first time
Bridge
Computer Model 3 Rating 15
Electronics Basic Military Rating 2
Staterooms 8
Lowberths 6
Cargo 100 tons
Weapons
Triple turret - Beam laser x2, Pulse Laser
Triple turret - Beam laser x2, Pulse laser
Triple turret - Missile rack x2, Sandcaster
Software
Jump Control 2
Maneuver 0
Library 0
Extras
Fuel scoop
Fuel Processor x2
Ship's Locker
Ship's Launch
24 Missiles
20 Sandcaster Canisters
Easterner9504
SOC-13
Ship Design software
A ship design website exists that also checks your design for rules compliance. The weapons though are annoying with no mixed battery in design. Also if Mongoose has heavily altered anything in ship design it will be out of date.
http://www.downport.com/amv/software/hgs.html
A ship design website exists that also checks your design for rules compliance. The weapons though are annoying with no mixed battery in design. Also if Mongoose has heavily altered anything in ship design it will be out of date.
http://www.downport.com/amv/software/hgs.html
High Guard Shipyard is a great program for Book 5 CT ships, but I don't think it will be very useful to TxStone.
Mongoose altered almost everything... from a starting point of bk 2...
