Modifying the Type-J

[robject]

So the ship creaks a bit, some doors open fine in flight but stick when the landing feet are on a flat surface, certain controls have a 5% failure rate AND a lag, the sensors have a case of cataracts, and the nice big cargo bay smells of sulfur no matter how ofter you purge it and looks like it was used to pop space popcorn once too often. Or twice too often.

A free ship may have character, or BE a character in many respects.

Jim, we need to turn THAT post into an Imperiallines article. Secondhand Starships. Ships with Character.

 

[kilemall]

Jim, we need to turn THAT post into an Imperiallines article. Secondhand Starships. Ships with Character.

As I recall MgT has a table for that, for every decade you get a roll, sometimes good, often bad, some just quirks.

The whole aftermarket thing should be a way for players to get out from the tyranny of the 40 year mortgage.

The ships should cost less or possibly be modded up, there should be opportunities to sublet or earn shares in ships (operate and pay off monthly mortgages for original owner/operators who are retiring or otherwise occupied yet need someone to service that debt).

Of course a classic would be to charter- get ship use, make your mint on speculation or whatever shenanigans, then walk away.

But, TANSTAFFL- should always be a counterbalancing 'cost' to that advantage, and not just in quirky equipment. For instance, any of the subletting or chartering options could have a meddlesome owner representative to look out for the ship along for the ride with some level of veto power on the group's actions (up to and including lockout of ship functions).

 

[jawillroy]

Although - unless I'm doing it totally wrong - in T5 it is hard for a merchant to NOT swiftly rack up at least six ship shares, and sometimes more: between four PCs, of which perhaps two or three have the opportunity to get a ship share, it should be trivially easy to have full ownership of at least a free trader, if not something a bit nicer.

And indeed, if ship shares buy you tonnage rather than capability, it's only GM fiat that would prevent the party from getting a REAL hot rod.

"Okay, two hundred tons - Jump 4, 2 G..."

 

[Sir Brad]

Well I'm using CT (with a bit of MT thrown in).

like with money I've got nothing against ships (makes travelling so much easier), I'm looking for configs for the Type J so I don't have WTF moments mid game when the player sais something like "My cut is a couple of MCr, after I fix XXX & YYY, do a bit of preventive maintenance on ZZZ, I want to pull my 2nd stateroom and install a pair of service arms that recede in to the cavity".

 

[savage]

Well it's not Free-free, it cost the character their only Benefit Roll, so I figure it's their inheritance that cost them their life savings to get the title transferred over.

Just give them the ship. I'm not a Money is Evil GM either. I think tossing a few bucks around gets people into more trouble than penny pinching.


Make it a ship worth fighting for. It's great when the players like their ship. Give them a tender. :rofl: However, it was bought by a mining millionaire and upgraded for mining operations, faster than a normal tender, tougher, more comfy.

 

[GypsyComet]

Secondhand Starships. Ships with Character.

Quite a few of those conditions I mentioned were all from the same ship a few years back. A century old Type S-J-"something" as it has been converted halfway back to the S configuration and was missing chunks of hull plating. The diagnostic robot the Engineer bought to get the old bird going again let out a scream when plugged into the ship, and they frequently had to fly it from a jury rigged set of controls in the hallway next to Engineering.

The name, taken from an inspired bit of TML silliness about Scoutships named after types of pie, was the Crustless Pumpkin.

 

[savage]

Aged ships are also covered in TNE. I used a spin on that IMTU opting for overhauls ever 10 years or major overhauls every 40 years. It's the best way to go, but i prefer a Firefly or Millennium Falcon to a titanium bucket of bolts.

 

[kilemall]

Well I'm using CT (with a bit of MT thrown in).

like with money I've got nothing against ships (makes travelling so much easier), I'm looking for configs for the Type J so I don't have WTF moments mid game when the player sais something like "My cut is a couple of MCr, after I fix XXX & YYY, do a bit of preventive maintenance on ZZZ, I want to pull my 2nd stateroom and install a pair of service arms that recede in to the cavity".

Well I haven't run heavy belter campaigns so I don't have a lot of Jx mods lying around, but a few thoughts off the top of the head....

1) Ditch the jump drive. You're going to spend months if not years crawling over rock after rock in the same system, that jump drive is just fuel and space baggage 98% of the time. The 'if I need it' part is costing millions over the years in lost cargo tonnage and operational limits.

The drive AND the fuel will up that cargo nicely, although you may wish to hold onto some so you can last months out there without leaving the claim.

Plus, if your guy does strike it rich, it would be a nice cash sink to cost 500,000 Cr to ship to the next system.

2) Containerize the basing. Use the Seeker for what it is good for, transporting and hanging out there investigating, and haul space habitat and refining/smelting/power equipment containers to drop off, not base off the ship. That way the crew still works the claim while the Seeker gets more supply, hauls the ore in or finds new territory.

In our starship design contest, a big winner was the 200-ton modular ship designed for serious prospecting, and a core element is a 100-ton container girder mount (the engineering/bridge part detaches so the whole girder base can be dropped off while the ship part can head off to do whatever).

3) Put a premium on sensors. Being able to find those nuggets others have overlooked or not waste time on dead rocks when profitable ones await has a real time/cost value. Such a refit should be unusual, possibly difficult to get, costly, and be coveted by others in the belt.

4) Botbay. Using bots extensively is a great move for prospectors as crew can be hard to come by, especially the loyal kind, and they cost precious space. Bots can be fit in to multiply one's ability, but there should be a storing AND a repair/fix overhead especially for the operations that stay out there for a long time. And the whole 'bots don't solve problems' tradeoff applies, especially for belters not operating the Imperials' finest.

5) Probes/sats. A definite investment, especially for extending that sensor range and using time effectively, and for defensive warning for claim jumping. May also need them for comms, for dense fields and for tight beam for confidential transmissions.

6) Thruster sleds. In constant zero-G grav belts and the like are near to useless, and there are a lot of heavy items to push around- ore, containers, mining equipment. Rather then trying to use waldos off the Seeker, better to have a few thruster sleds about, ranging from 1m³, that have a lot more fuel and engine then suit packs. Remote control or bot expert options make them even more useful.

7) Demolitions locker. In addition to what should be a very hefty ship's locker, there is enough demolitions work to do with asteroid mining that having a ton or three set aside to hold, lock and armor explosives supply might be a good idea.

One thing that comes to mind, the canon TDX explosives could probably be very useful if it were able to be made in 0⁰ versions as well as the 90⁰ default.

 

[esampson]

. . .
1) Ditch the jump drive. You're going to spend months if not years crawling over rock after rock in the same system, that jump drive is just fuel and space baggage 98% of the time. The 'if I need it' part is costing millions over the years in lost cargo tonnage and operational limits.

The drive AND the fuel will up that cargo nicely, although you may wish to hold onto some so you can last months out there without leaving the claim.

Plus, if your guy does strike it rich, it would be a nice cash sink to cost 500,000 Cr to ship to the next system.

2) Containerize the basing. Use the Seeker for what it is good for, transporting and hanging out there investigating, and haul space habitat and refining/smelting/power equipment containers to drop off, not base off the ship. That way the crew still works the claim while the Seeker gets more supply, hauls the ore in or finds new territory.

In our starship design contest, a big winner was the 200-ton modular ship designed for serious prospecting, and a core element is a 100-ton container girder mount (the engineering/bridge part detaches so the whole girder base can be dropped off while the ship part can head off to do whatever). . .

These two points actually bring up something I was thinking about. A truly successful Seeker probably isn't a Jack of all Trades, Master of None. It is probably a bit more specialized. That might mean a ship that is designed to work in an inhabited system and which doesn't have a jump drive and/or space for jump fuel. Such a ship probably concentrates mostly on FeN recovery due to high demand from the populace and the presence of lots of other people looking for 'big' strikes with radioactives and other rare materials. Staterooms are probably close to Scout standards to accommodate people who spend 99% of their lives living on their ships.

Another variation might be almost the opposite. It specializes in uninhabited systems and is designed for multi-month loitering, seeking out high value targets such as radioactives and partially refining the ore in order to maximize the value per ton. Staterooms for this style ship are probably very cramped with some of the space used for the storage of collapsible tent-like living structures.

"Gas" Seekers could be designed to support other prospectors in uninhabited systems. They spend their time skimming and refining fuel and delivering supplies for events that prospectors haven't anticipated (spare parts, medicine, etc.) during their prolonged stays. While the first two versions have sensors specialized to locate a given resource the "Gas" Seeker has an expanded communications system making it more sensitive to long range transmissions and increasing its own broadcast power.