Ship vs. Lava

[aramis]

A fully fuelled ship can perform 288 accelerations - LBB2 original edition.

1 acceleration is the sticking point.

I assume 1 acceleration is 1g/turn - that's 1g of acceleration per 10 mins.

288/6 = 48 hours of continual thrust at 1g.

Note that this explains the higher fuel requirements of a higher g rated ship.

A 100t ship with a C drive uses 60t of fuel, but is capable of 6g for 48 hours

A 200t ship with the same C drive has 30t of fuel and is capable of 3g for 48 hours.

and a 5000Td ship with Drive Z gets the same time of maneuver for the same 10 tons, but moves 50x the mass on the same fuel.

Fuel it's kicking out at superluminal speeds.
20000000g/(48*3600) is still only 116g/s
Even the venerable Type S is putting 2,000,000 newton-seconds or more on its fuel every second at 2G. which means putting 2E6/1.16E-1 m/s on it. 17,280.kps. 10x that if, as per later editions, mass typically runs 10,000kg per Td, which puts the exhaust around 0.5C.

The 5000Td ship has the same fuel rate, but 50x the size and mass and half the acceleration. Exhaust speed of 432,000.kps.

But note that later CT doesn't have that limit, Mike. It's GONE by 1981 printings. 4 weeks continuous accel. Which means that we need to limit by the allowed continuous acceleration... on 8g/s. And HG2 also allows continuous acceleration.

Also note that exhaust speeds of 0.5C+ get into funkiness of other kinds... not the least of which is that they irradiate whatever is behind them. And that the only way we get particle beams that fast is in multi-kilometer cyclotrons...

 

[shadowcat20]

As I said, let the number crunches figure it out...

These threads are why I like to drop in and read up on them every now and then.

 

[aramis]

As I said, let the number crunches figure it out...

These threads are why I like to drop in and read up on them every now and then.

It proves Drive Z can't be any form of reaction drive using the PP fuel... because the reaction mass would be exceeding the speed of light.

 

[Blue Ghost]

If a starship fell into a volcano, would it melt or would the structure need to be built to withstand such high temperatures anyway?

I never was any good at physics!

I'm going to ask the obvious; how did your players find themselves in this situation?

Or is this just something you've been wondering about?

 

[Blue Ghost]

No more lava talk?

 

[DaveChase]

No more lava talk?

It's too hot of topic to continue talking about.

Dave Chase

 

[Enoki]

Would making sure the ship had a supply of lava lamps for emergancy lighting help here?

 

[Blue Ghost]

You people are killing me

Seriously though. How does one find themselves landing in a sea of lava/magma?

 

[Greylond]

Seriously though. How does one find themselves landing in a sea of lava/magma?

The GM decides that it is happening...

 

[aramis]

Seriously though. How does one find themselves landing in a sea of lava/magma?

Crit Fail a landing roll....

 

[Blue Ghost]

So...you're a PC, and the designated pilot. Say your 200 tonner Type-S is still on the ground in a firefight. Small arms' bullets and energy beams are stitching the hull as the ramp closes. You're at the controls, the other players are aboard, slapping in fresh mags, or tending to wounds. You take the initiative and smack the big red "DO NOT PRESS" jump button. The outside world melts away as your lanthanum grid comes to life. A week or two later you exit jump, and find your ship bobbing in one of these;

Do you hit the jump button again (fuel depending), or call into question the Ref's sanity? Or do you quickly write out a last will and testament, or try to escape via the air raft...which requires you open up the ship's cargo bay.

I mean, just how did this happen?

 

[Greylond]

With the groups that I've played in, I don't think said player would still be alive...

 

[DangerousThing]

So...you're a PC, and the designated pilot. Say your 200 tonner Type-S is still on the ground in a firefight. Small arms' bullets and energy beams are stitching the hull as the ramp closes. You're at the controls, the other players are aboard, slapping in fresh mags, or tending to wounds. You take the initiative and smack the big red "DO NOT PRESS" jump button. The outside world melts away as your lanthanum grid comes to life. A week or two later you exit jump, and find your ship bobbing in one of these;

Do you hit the jump button again (fuel depending), or call into question the Ref's sanity? Or do you quickly write out a last will and testament, or try to escape via the air raft...which requires you open up the ship's cargo bay.

I mean, just how did this happen?

The GM allowed the players to steal the villain's ship, and then later thought it was too good for them and wanted to take it away from them by dumping the ship in lava and allowing the PCs to escape.

To me, this seems like the GM isn't being fair to his players, but I don't know all the details.

The players should have enough problems flying around in a stolen ship...

 

[pendragonman]

There are easier ways of separating a party from a ship that is too powerful from them. Engine failures at planets without repair facilities being the quickest. The ship is still available to the PCs, just unavailable for adventure purposes until repairs are complete.

 

[Enoki]

Crit Fail a landing roll....

Why would anyone try landing in a volcano to begin with?.... Just curious.... o:

 

[Enoki]

There are easier ways of separating a party from a ship that is too powerful from them. Engine failures at planets without repair facilities being the quickest. The ship is still available to the PCs, just unavailable for adventure purposes until repairs are complete.

That works especially well if the party consists of people wanting to be either:

Super soldier - space commando - shoot 'em up types

and

Those trying to prove they are ace Top Gun pilots

No one with any real engineering or associated skills? Break things on them preferably in the middle of nowhere.... Or better yet in the equivalent of a shipyard that charges Neiman Marcus prices to look at things let alone fix them....

 

[Cryton]

Why would anyone try landing in a volcano to begin with?.... Just curious.... o:

Mustafar is just such a great place to pick up radioactive ore cargos cheap! Sad that the pilot made such a lousy role to land! :devil:

 

[pendragonman]

That works especially well if the party consists of people wanting to be either:

Super soldier - space commando - shoot 'em up types

and

Those trying to prove they are ace Top Gun pilots

No one with any real engineering or associated skills? Break things on them preferably in the middle of nowhere.... Or better yet in the equivalent of a shipyard that charges Neiman Marcus prices to look at things let alone fix them....

Even the best engineer with the best tools can only do so much without parts, or the materials to replicate those parts. Works like a champ for every kind of party.

 

[Blue Ghost]

One of our players always said he could fix anything with duct tape.

I wonder how long duct tape lasts against molten rock? o:

 

[aramis]

Why would anyone try landing in a volcano to begin with?.... Just curious.... o:

You don't always land where you aimed, and sometimes, you don't aim where you scanned.