Small Ships/Big Ships Redux

[saundby]

I'm not so much in favor of a Traveller limit, but in general my campaigns are option 3. I don't pretend to be able to tell others how to run their campaigns, however. If they need a 3,000,000 dTon craft to fetch a bottle of milk from the corner market, and the players are having a good time with it, then that's fine.

 

[Dragoner]

Gigantic ships make for good dungeon crawls.

 

[BytePro]

Is there a poll somewhere for how many years a poll should remain active? o:

Since this poll is about a fantasy of redefining Traveller - no displacement and one set of rules regardless of size gets my vote!

 

[Matt123]

Option 3. I support the big ship universe.

In the border regions I envisage Cruisers encountered on occasion, while the BB's are held in reserve and perhaps met on an occasional navigational exercise.

Away from the borders, I envisage very large commercial carriers between high pop worlds shifting large scale containerized cargo and of course the occasional Cruiser & BB.

Plus of course the occasional huge mining station, generation ship, Planetoid city as the capital of a Belt system, very large fuel shuttles doing the GG to Starport run, etc, etc.

But most commercial & private shipping by far IMTU is sub 5000ton.

 

[robject]

Gigantic ships make for good dungeon crawls.

QFT!

Really, most groups of 4 player characters will have their hands full with a small starship, much less a Lightning-class cruiser. So the small ones are the most used for role-playing, and the big ones are there for events (such as wars).

 

[Enoki]

QFT!

Really, most groups of 4 player characters will have their hands full with a small starship, much less a Lightning-class cruiser. So the small ones are the most used for role-playing, and the big ones are there for events (such as wars).

In terms of play that would be my thinking. If the party were operating a large ship it would become the focus of the game with little time left to do anything else.

 

[aramis]

QFT!

Really, most groups of 4 player characters will have their hands full with a small starship, much less a Lightning-class cruiser. So the small ones are the most used for role-playing, and the big ones are there for events (such as wars).

3-5 PC's adequately support bridge-crew or department head games. Think Star Trek, Mote in God's Eye, Warrior's Apprentice....

 

[Dragoner]

QFT!

Really, most groups of 4 player characters will have their hands full with a small starship, much less a Lightning-class cruiser. So the small ones are the most used for role-playing, and the big ones are there for events (such as wars).

Small ships are often like cars, I would say as a pc to use a ship in a smash and grab or something and the other were like "whaaa...", oh no it might get it's paint scratched.

 

[Nightwind1]

A crew in a type S is sent out to check on an anomaly to find it is a colony ship 10km long and 2.5km wide...from another civilization.

A bright red mining vessel.

 

[Dragoner]

A bright red mining vessel.

With only one crew member, a hologram and a mutated cat on board.

 

[aramis]

With only one crew member, a hologram and a mutated cat on board.

You forgot the AI computer and the Android. And, for a while at least, the Talkie Toaster.

 

[Enoki]

3-5 PC's adequately support bridge-crew or department head games. Think Star Trek, Mote in God's Eye, Warrior's Apprentice....

The problem comes back to the ship being the game. If that's what is wanted then all fine and dandy. But, if the players expect something more than operating the ship.....

 

[Dragoner]

You forgot the AI computer and the Android. And, for a while at least, the Talkie Toaster.

yes, I sure did. One of the best series ever made.

 

[BytePro]

Smeg Yeah! (Oh, and don't forget CARL, what's a starship campaign without an intelligent vending machine! )

There's actually an RPG (about 10 years back) for Red Dwarf... though never played it myself.

 

[Dragoner]

I seem to remember that, never played it either.

 

[aramis]

Smeg Yeah! (Oh, and don't forget CARL, what's a starship campaign without an intelligent vending machine! )

There's actually an RPG (about 10 years back) for Red Dwarf... though never played it myself.

I've got it. Rules aren't bad, but the success chances make Lister's player out to be the luckiest SOB alive... or using loaded dice. Or cheating and using 2d3 instead of 2d6.

It's a 2d6 for ≤(Stat+Skill+DifficultyMod). Roll Low.
Skills range 2-5 for typical starting PC's, with the occasional 6 or 7, skills 0-3, maybe one at 4. No unskilled penalty, per se, but it would make it just too hard.

I find It runs a WHOLE lot better if one borrows the dice pool mechanic from it's mechanical cousin, Arrowflight 1st edition; Roll stat d6's, each for an individual TN of ≤(Skill+DiffMod) with number of dice making it being the margin of success; TN's greater than 5 provide (TN-5) bonus successes if any are rolled, more than 3 1's rolled is roll again and add those successes, and more than half 6's is a botch unless TN is 6+. Todd and Gavin, the designers, disagree, having switched arrowflight over to the 2d6 mechanic. Note that all of Deep7's XPG games are the same basic range of stat and skill for starting characters, and the XP guidelines mean ubermenschen within 48 sessions... It's actually worse with the 2d6 system, since there is no maximum success chance, so a 12 or higher total of stat+skill is always makes.

I've run several campaigns of Arrowflight, with great success, but RD as written falls really flat when everything you try fails.

 

[BytePro]

... the success chances make Lister's player out to be the luckiest SOB alive... or using loaded dice. Or cheating and using 2d3 instead of 2d6. ...

That sounds about right! :rofl:

 

[Nightwind1]

With only one crew member, a hologram and a mutated cat on board.

"It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere..."

 

[saundby]

Let's not forget the scutters. Poor Rimsie-poo would have a hard time without them to lend a hand.

I mourn the lab rats. Still, they've gone to a place where they won't have to salute Lister any more.

 

[Dragoner]

another vote for the big red ship universe... :rofl: