CT Only: My TC Universe

[kilemall]

In addition, there are support and software market aspects to the pricing model.

For Astronics, a large part of the fee is a 'lifetime' support contract- physical damage replacement still has to be paid for, but there will be upgrades and updates installed for free during yearly maintenance, support for software working with new OR old replacement equipment the computer must interface with, etc.

At the merc/bulk freighter level there would be either a support contract imposed at 5% of the value of the computers and software per year to get the astronic support level, or per service/consultant fee, which should be structured to be punitive enough to make the support contract look good, and ultimately failure of certification if the software isn't updated after X years.

At the small craft level the support contracts are available at 10% or fees as per above, with a lot of the oldest or newest starship hardware being very difficult to get easy functionality with. Most of the time it will be easier and cheaper to just buy a new version of the program.

At the desperate level, you are likely going to have to write everything, contract for it, share programs of dubious value merit or safety on software netsites, or do without. Every replacement of a piece of starship electronics that interfaces with the computer will be a major repair/configuration exercise.

Another aspect is commercial availability of the software on the list.

Astronic level software has everything on the list for sale due to their high profitability and subsequent capacity to QA and hire the best programmers and subject matter experts for their programs.

But at the bulk/merc level, any program that requires a 4 or greater expertise to make is not commercially available. It's just not worth it to incur the extra cost for the more meager rewards.

This means even the ECM and Generate programs will need to be programmed by the players or contracted/negotiated for, and otherwise the self-erasing jump programs will have to be used.

At the small craft level, any program that requires a 3 or greater expertise to make is not commercially available.

At the desperate level, any program that requires a 2 or greater expertise to make is not commercially available. Desperate computing does not even have target/weapons programs, all that will have to be programmed, with the resulting risks- and good luck finding a pilot-6 on the frontier willing to hold still for a few weeks while the program is being created! Favors will need to be called in....


For ships that sport multiple computers for damage control purposes, failover must be to computers of the same basic level, too many incompatibilities between levels of computers to mix and match. Between incompatible levels, computer techs effectively have to switch over as though it were a new install with interface issues to every piece of starship equipment the computer communicates with.

So no you do not get a sub-100K backup system (although I do have virtual machine rules for those clever enough to inquire).

 

[kilemall]

So why bother?

1) To give choice. Players blanch at the cost schedule of normal ship computing? Don't say no, say you have options. And then let them live with their choice.

2) To encourage the play they want. The merc/bulk freighter computer level in particular has a sweet spot for the fighting ship/exploration player who does not give a damn to ever run a High Passage ever again.

This player can get some very nice programs running for just a few million, but the lack of ECM or Generate gives them a built-in quest or task to solve that may prove to be VERY expensive or at least harrowing, getting into shooting/bounty hunting/escorting means a lot of shot up equipment anyway so the cash savings is ultimately nominal, and a few rounds of computer failure may make them reconsider the 'bargain' route.

The small craft and desperate computers are just perfect for that belter with a seeker 2 years past fission plant replacement, it may surprise everyone what can fly how cheaply with salvaged parts and computers, none more then TC safety inspectors that actually make it out to the cloud and recoil in horror.

3) Atmosphere, it just sounds cooler to be getting M-2000 Astronics installed, or having a bug in your own code pop up during an escape from a solar storm, or sweating a jump for an entire week because you had to replace your computer at the D starport with an B-20 that must be babysat or you all die, or taking those computer hits in your strike fighter and silently thanking the Space Gods that you sprung for an F-300 instead of that cheap M-20 your merc commander wanted to foist on you.

4) To Spice Up Battle. The more the ship has quirks or has to be 'handled', the more real it will be to them, and the more hard choices one has to make during the ultimate test of ability and survival, starship combat.

5) Entree to Deeper Play. So what ARE all those people with uncertified ships and substandard computers doing picking up and dropping off cargo AND passengers at Class D downports and Class E iceports in the cloud or lonely rendezvous with parties unknown in the Deep Dark? Stuff Is Going On, and the players may just find themselves in the thick of it- whether they want to or not.

 

[kilemall]

While we are on the topic of certification, here are the classes of certification for cargo carrying for civilian vessels-

Requires Astronics-

B- Biohazard
C- Corrosive
F- Flammable
H- Hazardous
P-Passengers
P(CS)- Passengers (Cold Sleep)
P(HS)- Passengers (Hot Sleep)
R-Radioactives
XP- Pressurized

Requires Bulk Freighter/Merc-
F- Food (Bulk)
GC- General Cargo
G-Gas
L- Liquid
M- Mineral
P(AT)- Passengers (Animal Transport)
PO- Powder
T- Temperature Control

The average player merchant ship certifies in class GC, P, and P(CS).

Certification occurs during the annual maintenance cycle, no additional cost IMTU.

The benefits of certification are that higher profits are possible. The passenger ones are self-explanatory, the others require a bit of explanation.

Specialized cargo certification means the ship can be configured to handle the cargo in bulk with appropriate pumps, protective interior, environmental controls, safety equipment, etc. and the ship's crew is trained and competent in handling it.

Most cargo the players handle come in a GC configuration, where the shipper is responsible for loading the material in an absolutely safe container leased or owned by the shipper.

This allows for the cheapest rates and little to no preparation or handling on the part of the cargo ship. This suits both parties in many cases, but is an inefficient way of shipping per ton as a lot of wastage occurs as a result of the packaging and the container incurs a cost one way or another.

So a specialized hold allows for more effective product to be shipped per ton, without the loss of tare volume or container overhead.

For each specialized cargo type in the top category, an extra 2000Cr is charged per ton per parsec.

For each specialized cargo type in the second category, an extra 1000Cr is charged per ton per parsec.

So an FL load (say Corn Syrup) can be 3000Cr per ton, a BPO load (life support hyperalgae in dehydrated state) is 4000 Cr, and an HMR load (Plutonium) commands 6000Cr per ton.

Hazardous is a catchall for other hazardous terms not covered or indicates particularly hazardous material that is dangerous in an additional way then the main hazard (for instance Plutonium is highly poisonous so it merits the extra designation).

Costs per ton for preparing cargo space vary, but as a rule charge 20,000 per ton per hazardous cargo category and 5,000 per ton per category for the rest.

Other costs will obtain, most notably a cleanout cost of 500 Cr per ton. Dedicated cargo personnel that are part of the crew can perform this service, reducing the cost to 100 Cr for waste disposal/reclamation by the starport.

Common sense should rule, for instance biohazard and food categories should not be mixed in the same hold space.

Cargo holds in smaller ships are normally designed to be configurable, set aside 1 ton for every 10 tons converted back to GC to store the hold walls, equipment etc.

Setup is 8 hours per 10 tons, this can be divided up per person with mechanical or cargo handling skill, and requires a 1000Cr inspection per category after conversion is complete.

Specialized items like this are usually handled by larger shipping firms with dedicated ships and contracts, or subsidized merchants with a specific route servicing a consistent production facility or customer base. A wily aggressive trader captain however may be able to capture this profitable variant on cargo shipping via smart opportunity, 'sales negotiation' or persuasion.

 

[kilemall]

There are standard containers, 10 ton and 5 ton containers, each two tiles wide and 15+ tiles long for the 10 ton and two tiles wide and 7.5+ tiles long for the 5 ton containers, yielding dimensions of 3m x 3m x 15.55m and 3m x 3m x 7.77m respectively.

Containers are mounted on standard divots inside most GC holds, and may be stacked, locked on each other.

This standard form factor has been in place for at least 100 years so very few cargo ships are not set to handle it.

Containers come in two grades of construction, planetary and interstellar.

The interstellar version is built to starship hull standards, and can be strapped to the exterior mounts on a dispersed cargo ship or otherwise exposed to space in non-streamlined hulls. They cost 100,000Cr per ton to build, plus the above costs for unique cargo certification categories. Container specialization once done is permanent, they are not configurable.

The planetary versions are intended for less strenuous conditions, and when used for starship cargo, they require riding in a pressurized internal cargo bay. They cost 10,000Cr per ton to build plus specialization, and do not last nearly as long. They also are not as secure as the starship versions for hazardous cargo so do not qualify for the automatic GC rating, and may require a specialized bay to be safely transported.

Lease rates are typically half of the shipping and cargo specializations fee starships charge per ton.

Leasing containers can be a low cost way for players to gain entree to the interstellar cargo market, and a way for captains to maximize their earnings by providing containers at need.

There is a catch though- liability for a leaking or dangerous cargo that does damage or harms people rests largely with the container provider, ESPECIALLY if that container was rated GC safe. An aggressive captain may be setting his ship business up for a fall.

 

[kilemall]

P (HS), or Passenger Hot Sleep, is another form of passage, sometimes referred to as Fast Passage.

It is predicated on the use of the Fast Drug on a commercial flight basis.

Fast costs 2000Cr to administer, so on that basis alone it would appear to be uneconomical, until one considers life support costs.

Life support for High/Medium Passage people is 1000Cr per week, Low Berthing is 50Cr per week, Fast Drug Life Support is 17Cr per week based on the 60:1 ratio against normal life support.

The drug itself raises costs- assuming a full 60-day 8 week trip and spreading the Fast shot cost over that time, it works out to 250Cr per week, for a cost of 267Cr per week plus Medic support.

Medic crewing laws are strictly enforced on Hot Sleep flights as the people are very vulnerable to any mishap, and need to be monitored for any problems. In addition, any Fast Drug use absolutely requires no more accel or G force greater then 1 due to the fact that the body is not able to regulate blood pressure as per normal.

Fast Passage requires no Stewards.

HS passengers require a safe room to spend the time in, which will seem like a day over the 60 days. Fast Berthing as it is sometimes called requires a Small Craft stateroom with bed, fresher, entertainment and snacks, with a portion of the space dedicated to more medical space.

Fast Passage however does have a market, as it is a way to avoid the risks of low berthing, especially for colonists with young children or breeder animals they do not want to freeze but are on a budget.

Fast Passage costs 3000Cr per parsec.

Due to the economics and undesirability of being 'Fast' for several weeks after arrival, the low availability of Antidote and the commitment of space to this unique form of travel, this is normally done only to frontier worlds that take 7-8 weeks to get to. Therefore most ships that ply this trade are colonial liners.

To book Fast Passage passengers, the ship will need to file a flight schedule to or from a distant world several jumps away in advance.

 

[kilemall]

Alright, a couple more starship entries, then on to the task/combat system.

As I said before, I have been coming back to this system with more adult eyes and an intent on effect on the players, really giving them that 'no really I am in space and it's hard' vibe.

In addition, I have been following some of the Star Citizen tech lore and found myself working through artificial gravity in both systems at the same time.

It occurred to me that you didn't really need 'intertial compensators' per se, you just needed gravitic force applied to keep people on the deck then another in line with the ship's acceleration, increasing or dropping off with the thrust proportionately.

Once I settled that M-drive wasn't a warp field/bubble of some kind (and therefore full effects applied), then that meant the accel component had to be equal to the strength of the acceleration going on.

But that meant that if you accept the 6-G as option to build at face value, that you have 'acceleration compensation' at 6-Gs. Which means that you can build in 'gravitic traps' in your ships and perhaps some special buildings to apply 6-G fields to stop hijackers and other baddies cold, which would force pirates to ALWAYS blow up the power plant, etc.

I also decided that SC gravitics appeared to be all attraction based (positive gravity in the floor plates, tractor beams etc.) whereas Traveller seemed to be all negative gravity (no tractor beam, repulsors, lift modules for vehicles and robots, etc.). SC gravitics pull, Traveller gravitics push.

So there is at least 1 set of gravitic push plates in the ceiling for 'normal' gravity, and another in the aft bulkhead of each compartment providing push to compensate against the force of acceleration. I would tend to put another set in the floor just so people can land on high grav planets and stay in the ship comfortably or scoop gas giants come to think of it, so probably common.

I also came up with the concept of 'grav bags', a gravitic push feature that intends to soften impact with a bulkhead or workstation when thrown violently by a combat or object impact on the ship. A bit dangerous if it is tuned up too high and potentially snap necks while trying to save people. Probably a TL10 thing to differentiate newer ships from old.

Well, I didn't like the play killing prospect of gravitic traps even battle dress could not overcome, but while I was looking over the HG repulsor bay values it hit me- ship gravitics' strength could be a TL variable too.

So what I have worked out is that artificial gravity starts as a TL9 item at a capacity of 1-G, and increases by 1-G for each subsequent TL. I am at TL10 for the campaign, so the most the ships can have to compensate thrust is 2-G.

 

[kilemall]

Well that creates some conundrums.

A 6-G fighter therefore could only take 2-G off the edge, leaving the pilot at 4-G effects, CONSTANT, potentially for hours.

4-G is what shuttle and Apollo astronauts go through for several minutes on the boost up. Mercury and Gemini was apparently 7-Gs at times.

So obviously people can take it, and of course fighter pilots take the same (although those are maneuver Gs and thus a bit different, if anything more punishing). Pressure suits and training get them through.

But they don't do it at CONSTANT accel like Travellers do, strap a big engine on a warship and it could be for days.

Then consider a plain old passenger liner, where even a 3-G burn will yield a constant 1-G even with compensation.

Well, properly speaking, 1-G worth of the aft bulkhead rushing toward an unbuckled passenger or pushing them into a seat like they were taking a sports car trip accelerating to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds- for hours.

Puts a whole different spin on that Ship's Boat aboard the Type Y, the rich people's getaway craft.... it HURTS and is dangerous. Baroness High Society will not like doing that for long. And think of the children.

It's reasonable for military, merchants or scouts to be trained and acclimated to high-G accel, but not civilian passengers.

So one simple rule, passenger ships in general do not impose more then 1-G 'normal gravity' except under emergency conditions.

Also, all that special breathing and other training pilots due to overcome effects isn't going to work realistically over hours. At some point you will have to slow down the ship so everyone can literally catch their breath.

And even for grizzled space vets, repairing, medical work or other effort is less effective if they are having to work against accel. Won't stop them, just may increase difficulty level if it isn't routine work.

I'm thinking temporary endurance hits, 1 hit per accel-G per hour and 2 per accel-G per hour for everyone else (an extra hit per turn if not in P-suit equipped vacc suits, meaning cheaper then the normal 40K ones). 3 per accel-G per hour for Fast Passage passengers, no effect on Low Passage passengers.

After endurance is 0 the crewman/passenger is effectively passed out as per wound rules, recovery requires normal Gs for 1 hour, if the ship continues on high-G accel the exhausted person starts taking 1 hit wound per 4/Gs hours (1G extra is every 4 hours, 4G extra is every 1 hour).

This is where the Frozen Watch comes in handy, when the current shift is incapacitated they can be replaced by the Watch and put in freeze to prevent further damage.

So hey, this is EXACTLY what I want- differentiated ships at different TLs, a difference between civilian and military craft, and above all- SPACE HURTS.

 

[kilemall]

But I took it a step further. I realized the TL7 and TL8 ships had no compensation at all, they certainly would like to use that M-drive to full advantage, what did they do?

Well, they would go vertical. That is to say, the ships would take off and land vertically tail first, and have their decks against the aft bulkhead instead of the 'down' position.

The streamlined ones would end up looking like Willy Ley spaceships, or the Starduster from Space Angel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvLpWmwuyt0

Yes, that's right- female comms officer and Scottish engineer, years before Star Trek. And check out that gunner station, and the Asteroids video game-like weapons. Gotta like those rolling chairs too.

Anyway, there we have a basic 1-G design for M-drive, a vertical ship. Ships head for their destination, have a minute or two of freefall as they spin, then acceleration 'gravity' takes hold as the thrust comes back on.

Military ships could of course run faster.

So we have a definite look and design that is different then 'traditional' Traveller, very retro, and arguably hooked into the Triplanetary look.

Once we get to TL9, then we can have 1-G compensation, and 2-G constant for passenger rated ships with the vertical design.

TL10, 2-G compensation and 3-G constant for the vertical ships.

So as the G compensation increases, the more classic Traveller design ethos kicks in, which is easier for dirtside landing and cargo handling. In many cases the cargo holds on upper decks require an external gantry or ramp, which increases berthing costs and facilities.

Vertical ships have a old school old ship vibe, and stand out, but still have a connotation as the fastest passenger liners to jump.

Some military ships will still be vertical for sustained speed runs, the interceptor and patrol varieties particularly. Others, especially planetary assault, will sacrifice speed to deliver more cargo directly to the surface without need of specialized facilities or delay.

Another nice bit- the vast majority of the detached duty surplus scout ships will be older models, fission powered craft nearing end of power plant life with only 1-G compensation, so the old scouts will provide an uncomfortable ride at 2Gs.

There will be an unofficial pecking order/reward, with TL10 2-G compensator Type S at a premium. Those retired scouts might want to brush up on their buttering up of the Detached Duty Office admins.

So, big payoff- we have a differentiation between TLs on ship design, a look and feel for a reason, and some good choices to make in chase/escape scenarios.

AND, we can have our boarding ship combat. Mission accomplished.

 

[kilemall]

Ahh, one little bit I forget to mention about the deflectors, they have a third function.

Heat shield and conformal virtual aerodynamic lift.

Deflectors are designed to limit the damage of solar flares and CMEs to begin with, reentry is a similar high heat/plasma risk to the hull.

Deploying deflectors can bleed off some of the plasma and limit long-term damage and cracking to the hull, extending ship life and possibly helping in some dicier situations.

In addition, the higher energy more powerful deflectors installed with the higher G drives can act as a conformal lift body, spreading out the plasma to act as a larger lifting body and providing a little bit of 'virtual' wings to allow crude steering.

Most landing maneuver is done with main engines on gimbals/MHD field direction, thrusters, and grav modules for ritzier high dollar ships (or ones equipped for the Earth/Centauri restricted emissions zone trade).

But deflectors can allow for longer glide slopes which many starport traffic controllers take advantage of to spread out incoming ships on different altitude lanes and vectors for busy downports.

At higher techs, this technology can evolve into a full virtual conformal aerodynamic body, which might help partially streamlined ships to land in thinner atmospheres and provide more combat maneverability for both space-based small craft AND grav fighters.

 

[kilemall]

Another item that really bugged me coming back to the system is in a sense the very core of the game- the one week jump.

I just couldn't take it, especially for a hard science feel like I wanted. Several hundred tons of matter just winks out, no conservation of matter/energy issues?

So, I crossed the Divine Law, the one thing Miller tells us not to do- fast jumping.

My ships jump instantaneously, no time loss, no delay (other then the 100D transit and 12 hour between jumps part).

Well, actually, that can be fun, among other things you can have those surprise jump ambushes, dramatic rescues, etc.

But.

One thing that popped to mind immediately is, if you only have 2-10 hour transit times, you don't need those staterooms, and indeed the whole economic structure and build rules of the starships collapse.

Well, as much as I am monkeying with the game, I was and am not willing to undo that 'CT feel' to the ships.

So, when the referee gets weird, the weird rules get going.

I decided that the ship and the crew were going through sort of a reverse dilation at jump- time runs LONGER in the ship then in the 'real' universe.

So the jump from Proxima to the Centauri Main is less then 1 second plus transit times, but its a whole week onboard.

Fuel, food, entertainment, crewing, the whole thing.

Well, this does some odd things.

For vacationers, it's great. Jump out to Faust Vegas, a week of food and messing around on the ship, spend a day at FV, then jump back for another week. A 2 week plus vacation on a 3 day weekend.

For business, its just a few days to get cargo anywhere in human space from the perspective of the planet bound.

For pirates, it's tough sledding at a premium starport. The patrolling ships can be there very fast if they are attacking outside the 100D limit, and even if they are just inside the patrol can be waiting for them. Pretty much the A and B ports don't have to worry about pirate attacks.

On the other hand, the pirates can also turn the tables on the patrols, if they are prepared with their own jump ambush.

Ships can probably count on getting 3 trips in a month, which eases the constant 'looking over their shoulder' part of servicing the mortgage. Which is not a major problem, you just slide a little more currency sump in to make up for it, a little more brutal damage and financing, and they'll be running for those questionable patron missions just as before.

They can just about taste that weapons upgrade, when whoops! stuff goes wrong.

 

[kilemall]

But the real hit is with the merchant crew.

Given that they are doing 2-4 trips a month, each an extra week in addition to the 'real' week, they are aging at 1.5 to 2x the rate of the rest of the galaxy.

Warships pirates and mercs have most of their crew on Frozen Watch to save money/space and allow for high-G maneuver. And they don't jump so hard so consistently- the extra aging is largely negated.

Casual travellers would be spending their time in a week in jumpspace, and only a few times in their life- perhaps a month or two sped up aging check on the calendar, but experientially the same as 'normal' OTU.

Scouts and corporate/national crew on x-boat-like comm duty if anything jump more, but are not left on that station for long, figure at most they are 3-4 years aged 'faster' then their birthday indicates.

But merchies are jump-jump-jumping, and HAVE to be on duty given the spartan crewing for profitability. If they were allowed to run things by bot and be on frozen watch they would, but safety regs and common sense says that is not an option, especially at TL 10.


So, the risk of aging so fast makes for some interesting things culturally about the people who ply the space lanes for a living.

Among other things, any crew that is active during a jump gets double pay, the week that they will work in the 'real' universe, and the week or weeks they work in jumpspace. A pilot who does 4 jumps in a month would earn 10,000 Cr for instance. Do that for a year and he might earn 120,000 Cr- but have also aged two years.

The 4 year term is counted by active duty time not real calendar time, so a merchie might have left her twin at 18, be serving 4 terms, come back as a 34 year old, and the twin would be 26.

This condition makes for quite a constant turnover in this field, if for no other reason then it takes 1.5-2x as many people given that they retire/are retired so much faster, not to mention the by now well known price of the service.

So, given the fast lifetime and fast money, one defining aspect of merchies is that they RELIGIOUSLY take shore time and vacation.

The annual inspection vacation and a day's leave on each trip won't be enough for most merchants. Think more entire month off, two or three times a year.

Some are even flakier and are gone after just a few jumps, just because 'its been long enough'.

And whatever it is they do in their off time, family, carousing, taking in the sights they never get to see since they are busy loading cargo and dealing with passengers, or just fishing and breathing natural air, they do it with a gusto and appreciation that is universal to the breed.

This means that merchant captains must be solicitous of their crew, or pay them well enough to forego vacation, or at least work out a port cycle/shore leave plan fiscally and scheduling-wise, if for no other reason then reputation for giving their people time for life.

Given this fact of merchant life, the typical 40 year financing plan seems particularly cruel, in that virtually no owner/operator is likely to see the end of the loan and own a ship free and clear in their lifetime. The answer is that a lot of the ships in service will be 'owned' by retiree operators who are hiring or leasing a ship for debt service plus possibly profit sharing, and there will be more incentive to 'score big' and get some years of fiscal freedom before final retirement.

There are also cultural impacts, one in particular is an annoying pain for the profession. There is a constant comedic gag meme about the dirty old merchant sailor going on shore leave and lecherously chasing after everything in sight while drunk. Think a Benny Hill character running around a starport with a leer.

The well-known stereotype does not help form or keep permanent relations, both for the womanizing/partying part and the prematurely aged- the latter is what makes the merchies wince.

That's why there are more couples in this service then virtually any other Traveller career. Captains will put up with the domestic issues to get stability with the crew as long as they perform and do not create drama, and merchies have a shot at a 'normal' life, at least for a time (usually not much room for children though, that tends to put at least one parent 'on shore' or being raised by relations).

 

[Adam Dray]

So people who make a lot of jumps age more rapidly than worlders... :smirk:

 

[kilemall]

As for the technical aspects of the jump-

* the ship must have a generated jump plan, via the Generate program or a pregenerated program, and Generate requires a working sensor suite

* the ship must be running the appropriate programs

* the jump capacitors must be charged and fuel available, and reliable power plant and jump drive

* the target jump area must have been 'mapped' for all energy, gravitic and other effects on a jump or risk misjump

* the ship must have a vector pointed towards the target jump point

* the actual jump plan involves a PRECISE position in time and space at a precise vector, often described as hitting a needle in space at an exact speed (so the 'cassettes' with jump plans in LBB2 do not self-erase, they are just useless after a week)

* the Generate or pregenned program will have 100s of such points prepared, part of the navigator's job is to convey the flight plan to the pilot or on some ships/fleets the navigator takes over control of the ship for jump much like bombardiers in a WWII bomber

* therefore a ship has to settle down during the last 100 seconds prior to jump and cannot be exercising evasion or emergency agility maneuvers

* at jump half the jump fuel goes to the drives as mass that opens the jump portal and keeps it open for the duration of the flight, the rest of the fuel going to a high energy plasma surrounding the ship to protect it while traversing jumpspace to the destination, also giving the ship practical immunity from enemy fire once formed (the so called White Globe)

* the above fuel usage is surmised from the HG detachable tank and capacitor rules, and a logical extension of the volume related use of jump fuel

* the plasma field at both jump start and destination is a very active emission impossible to hide or stealth, therefore all jumps will be detected at maximum detection range for a ship or station or starport array unless there is an intervening astronomical body

* and during jump the crew and ship undergo reverse dilation, in which they experience one week in the space of one second of jump for everyone else, during this time the powerplant and jump drive must maintain functionality or a misjump at the least will result.

Other technical factors-

The mapping of destination jump areas will degrade as time goes by, large astronomical bodies' gravitic and energy effects are well known but entire star systems are always on the move, changing the underlying jumpspace relative to each other, and unmapped/unknown interstellar objects are constantly drifting in and out of affecting a system.

So after a few years a mapping will be obsolete, and will require an updated revisit to avoid being reclassified as uncharted. Now you know what a LOT of those Type S ships are used for.

The precision jump timespace point and no maneuver means a 100 second window of higher vulnerability to weapons fire, including disabling the jump via fuel, drive computer bridge or powerplant loss.

Pre mapping is never required for the start point as it is assumed that the latest sensor data is incorporated into the Generate or pregenned jump plan.

Prior inertia is maintained through the jump, so ships have the same vector coming out of a jump as they went in.

Therefore fixed facilities like space stations, starports, O'Neil cities etc. have a ring of sand and rocks to avoid vulnerability to high fractional-C ships which impact and destroy themselves.

There is no such thing as jump shadowing IMTU in the sense that a jump can occur 'through' a celestial body, it just needs to be known and accounted for in the jump and not be in the 10D/100D limits to avoid misjump penalties.

Speaking of misjump, the effects of jumping into an unmapped destination are highly variable as the risk and factors of any given space are unknown.

The positive DM for misjump into unmapped space are 2d6, each 6 rolled triggers the addition of an additional die to add to the DM, cumulative with other misjump DMs.

So daredevil jumps into previously unmapped systems are possible and there may be the desperate or fanatical that are already ahead of the 'safe' scout cruiser pathfinder missions, but the misjump rate is enormous and could veer into certain loss.

 

[kilemall]

So people who make a lot of jumps age more rapidly than worlders... :smirk:

Well that depends, as I indicated earlier low berthing is Alien(s) safe rather then a low cost dance with death (well, I have since adjusted, you get the safe rolls if there are low berth supplies, run out say if you were cheap and are spending 10 years getting back from a misjump and it could be Planet of the Apes/traditional CT disastrous).

Because of the deleterious effects of high-G over an extended period, most fighting ships are going to bunk their crew in Frozen Watch to gain an advantage and be able to swap crews to keep those high speeds up. Also, freezing your troops at the peak of their training and morale saves on space, support costs and delivers more combat power per ton.

So a lot of the jumping military spends time 'on ice' which makes up for duty time while under jump.

Scouts of course run close to the bone if not moreso then merchies and a lot less low berthing, but do not jump on a weekly cycle, spending a lot of time on astrographics, survey, patrol, etc. so do not suffer anywhere near the same impact on their lives, other then what the scout lifestyle already demands.

Personal development such as skills and physical regimen should be by aging and not by calendar date.

Speaking of which, logging and other time functions while under jump are logged as the realtime second the jump occurred, with all happenings noted in time sequence after jump start with an at sign to denote jumptime.

So June 3rd 2215 jump at 22:00:30, a hijack attempt occurs and is defeated 3 days into the trip, that would be logged as 6/3/15 22:00:30@72:01:23.

I'm not tracking on reactor fuel 'aging', ship aging, annual maintenance etc., assuming that commercial ships are designed for rugged reliability and not high stepping performance like warships, and that the annual maint rule clearly shows a disconnect between usage level and the need for the inspections/work.

 

[kilemall]

So I've gone and broke the Big Rule- what does that do to the adventure environment, long term?

Well, much of the feudal/each world it's own governmental entity meme is not functional, but then again I was annoyed at the old Imperiums anyway.

Fast travel is effectively a day per parsec, from a grounder perspective. An absolute emergency message can cross human space in about a day, more typical message streams are about 8 hours per parsec.

So while current human space is a lot more tightly knit comms-wise then the average IMTU/OTU, it's still not like our light speed modern Earth re: comms dominance and potential for rapid LE/military action.

More importantly, this is a different look and feel CT, closer to 2300, where humans are clinging to their nationality in the face of the Big Dark.

But while nations are still powerful, they are not the same thing they were, with their 'heritage' lands effectively an Amber Zone, population base in spacer cities or charter colonies, and unprecedented mobility allowing people to change nationalities that much more readily.

Long term people are going to end up identifying with their planet or settlement moreso then their 'home country', and this theme of 'you don't understand our colonial needs/hey colony we spent trillions of credits on you, work hard to pay up and like it' is going to brew up again and again in this campaign.

I recreated a lot of the Imperium 'limited defense and trade protection' role with nations not wanting the TC to be truly federal and supplant them as subordinate entities.

Nations are not really prepared to go to war with each other anymore, its too expensive and they have too much to lose all hanging up there in the LaGrange cities, but they certainly are up for covert actions, war in the shadows, 'incidents', duking it out with the pirate clans, and colonial uprising suppression.

Some of my players practically demanded Big Bad Corporations, I already had the Pharmabanks in play so I have obliged with all manner of Very Bad Men with Very Expensive Suits.

The map is more 'limited' and cramped by sector standards, and a lot of red dwarf systems with cold rocks that will likely be abandoned long term, but the focus on opportunities like the fueling stations for two parsec J-1 routes, oort clouds, and highly detailed little worlds with Big Secrets makes for just as rich an adventuring environment.

For instance, the whole 'heritage Earth' setup allows me to do four kinds of adventures off one planet-

Amber Zone Park Rangers,

wasteland historical scavenging through abandoned plague cities,

TL3 swashbuckling sailing adventure on Earth itself,

smugglers smuggling in banned tech or mercs for 'heritage wars',

and smuggling genetic tech discoveries, purloined antiques of 'Earth that was', and barbarians out (especially sick ones with plague that won't pass quarantine or get high tech treatment otherwise).

Now you just don't get the worlds that have had 1000 years to Get Weird socially/culturally, that's the price of something recognizable to our current world, but a lot of that fringe stuff can be found in oort clouds or uncharted settlements already, just like the American West had several utopian or religious communities that took advantage of the open spaces.

Probably the biggest hit to gaming options is the fully equipped very busy merc battalion. Most merc contracts will be spec ops in nature, nuanced fast strikes with unlimited political objectives but very limited time, scope and force, which to my mind plays to most player sized groups anyway.

This will change as colonies get more restless and most national forces prove to be moribund job programs.

 

[kilemall]

Whew, expected more commentary, especially that last one.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Dangnabbit Kid, I'm working here...

Whew, expected more commentary, especially that last one.

Just to let you know, I am lurking and do love a good wall of text since I love reading, but honestly I just don't have the time just yet.

But keep on Travelling and I will try and get back and give you some feedback, just things have been a bit messed up and I am in the midst of the recovery phase. So be patient and know there are lurkers.

*Resist temptation to do evil overlord laugh, because that always gives it away to the mortals*

 

[kilemall]

Well, lets take a break and do a quick org Library Data.

Namely, the famous TAS.

IMTU TAS is actually a Masonic organization, basically Shriners in space.

The idea is that the Masons got a surge from being organizationally excited by having a philosophy going forward for space exploration AND the largest construction project in human history, the O'Neill cities. This caused the third major ritual to be written and practiced, the Lunar Rite.

But after all that settled down they were dropping membership as never before. They needed relevance.

They found it in the charity known as the Travellers Aid Society.

Rumor has it that the initiates are referred to as Travellers in the Lunar Rite, but of course that is not confirmed.

Whatever happens behind lodge doors, the TAS is a famous charity that does help members rest comfortably and safely, post helpful advisories that are neutral and widely reported on, and of course helps with the bimonthly passage benefit.

It's considered a charity because TAS membership is rewarded to people who achieve great things that advance the cause of interstellar travel, or in the course of their jobs or careers help travellers or TAS in general. The idea is to reward and promote positive attitudes, culture and support for interstellar travel as a means to improve humanity's spiritual progress.

Between the renumerative aspect of the TAS benefit and the entree into brotherhood with fellow interstellar movers and heroes, there is a reason many rich people will gladly pay the 1MCR fee if they are not invited on merit. This fee helps pay for the continued expansion of TAS membership and passage awards, and usually ensures a certain level of local support from the local gentry.

Unlike the Shriners, TAS members are not required to be Masons as they are the charity, but many TAS brothers and sisters join Masonry, typically the Lunar Rite as that seems most appealing. The people administering TAS must be Master Masons, gone through one of the three Rites, and at higher levels will be 32nd degree and/or ex-Grand Masters.

In keeping with the fun theme, TAS members wear silly space helmets or other traveling head gear from different historical eras at events, and are famous for driving their little grav cars in parades.

There are also TAS conventions, which is an opportunity for members to rub shoulders with many of the great brothers and sisters in Travelling- a social event where Social Standing means nothing and fun and character is all.

Oh, one other thing- like most masonic and mason-affiliated organizations, members are expected to help brothers in need- so TAS membership can also entail an unrenumerated obligation to assist, as well as a service and benefit, and potentially a neverending source of patronage.

Refuse to offer assistance too many times, and one might be drummed out of TAS.

 

[Adam Dray]

IMTU TAS is actually a Masonic organization, basically Shriners in space.

Love it.

 

[boomslang]

IMTU TAS is actually a Masonic organization, basically Shriners in space.

So how do you say "Will no-one help the Widow's Son?" in Vilani, anyway?

:CoW: