Yes the jump remains the same, but the manuever drive is upped to 4, kind of making it a hotrod Merchant. increase in fuel/powerplant/manuever drive is not as much as if it had a jump increase. I believe it losses like 5 tons of cargo, but I do not have my books with me.
MGT Only: Specs upgrade A2 to A3?
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Yes the jump remains the same, but the manuever drive is upped to 4, kind of making it a hotrod Merchant. increase in fuel/powerplant/manuever drive is not as much as if it had a jump increase. I believe it losses like 5 tons of cargo, but I do not have my books with me.
I won't go so far out on a limb as to say that a high maneuver rating is always counterproductive for a merchant, but I will claim that you'd need some extraordinary circumstances to make anything over 1G worth while. A world with a weeks deep jump shadow and no insystem shuttles, for example. But most of the time, no, not worth the reduction in cargo space.
Hans
Or possibly a Blockade Runner or vessel otherwise operating in potentially hostile territory carrying very lucrative cargo. Which would make the ship a more specialized design.
CT called it a "Fast Trader".
At which point, it's much better for the world to build a non-shadowed tradestation and build 4G system ships to stock it.
A Far Trader design (P2 J2 M1) has a LOT less to lose than a type A for adding a second Gee (P2 J2 M2). The primary benefit of the second Gee is in being able to land on size 8+ worlds without engines in overdrive on the way back up.
Agreed, but there may be reasons why the world can't afford to.
That's true if you believe that ships with 1G can't land on and take off from worlds of size 8+ (actually >1G gravity). But IIRC there's no rule that says so. Common sense may say that that's the way it must be, but then, common sense would also say that fractional maneuver drives would be standard designs. I can totally see a merchant on a route with higher-than-1G-gravity worlds having P2 J2 M1.1 or P2 J2 M1.2. Presumably such ships exist in "reality" and the ship design rules are simplified for game purposes.
Hans
Only one edition actually specifically allows taking off from ≥1G local effective gravity worlds with a 1G thrust available drive - MegaTraveller. And that's dodged by declaring that, for short periods, the drive can go to 400%.
TNE and T4 dodge it, by using a second (4th actually, but who's counting the niggles) type of drive to reduce the effect of local gravity and thus make the ship experience less than 1G.
Several CT articles (one in Dragon, one each in a couple fanzines) used repulsor bays at the starports to launch and land ships with 1G drives. (The one you're likely to find: Exonidas Starport, Dragon 59, pages 34-48.) Note that Mr Swycaffer has some unusual fuel rules, presuming a reaction drive for the M-Drive.
TNE pretty much does. It notes that you need thrust in excess of local gravity unless you have working CG lifters. It ignores the potential edge case of aerodynamic lift, as the regime in which it will work is limited.
Note that CG lifters are optional in TNE, so not all ships carry them, and further, they can be damaged separate from the HEPlaR, so it's not a foregone conclusion that a ship reaching a world can land safely.
I guess I'll have to grant you that. I still think that if you're implementing the effects of fractional Gs, you should allow for fractional G maneuver drives. I don't suppose TNE does so? It's either 1G or 2G, nothing in between?
Hans
None of the published are anything but, however, FF&S, the design sequence, works in Tons of Thrust, so, technically, yes it allows for fractional. No published designs that I've seen do so, however.
If CG reduces the effective weight of the vessel, then the drive is applying pure directional thrust that doesn't have to counteract the gravity of that size 8+ world, doesn't it? Even if the escape velocity is greater than 9.8m/s/s the ship has less to fight because of the CG, doesn't it?
The B3 p320 describes them and p334 gives costs in T5, where they appear to be a pretty standard hull fixture. The TL is even given as 8 - everybody can have these things! Hey, Marty McFly's hoverboard is now back!!
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Odd, none of my editions of CT say a 1G ship can't take off from a size 8+world?
But then, very few aeroplanes generate 1G thrust so i suppose they can't fly on size 8+ worlds either... :CoW:
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Speculative trading is one use of a small ship, but there are several other reasons to make use of a J-3.
I don't see the A3 being a ship that's built in numbers and sold off the showroom. Instead, A j-3 would more than likely be a ship built in smaller numbers to exploit specific situations. Such as odd quirks of stellar geography, world placement etc...
It might be profitable for a small ship owner to Be able to bridge a gap in a cluster, or cut weeks off a route which requires a ship traversing several intervening systems to reach in a market in a J-1, J-2 ship.
instead of thinking along the lines of sailing ships and oceanic trading, think of trucking and interstate shipping...which would suggest another use for a A-3 vessel, as a Hotshot, or express vessel.
For those who don't know what a "hotshot" hauler is. They are smaller trucks that carry a limited load. However they will carry to specific locations, or run single customer loads that won't fill up an entire semi trailer. In addition they can usually handle unusual loads, or loads that require specialized handling.
Normally, Unless you pay for dedicated service, express service, or can fill up an entire trailer, most large trucking companies do not pick up your cargo then carry straight to the destination and unload it. they take the cargo to a warehouse, mix it in with several other loads headed to the same area. the ship it out when a full load is ready.
In real life Hiring a "Hotshot" truck lets a shipper cut days off his shipping schedule, in an interstellar setting it could shave weeks or months off a schedule. Or it might simply allow the shipper to carry loads other shipping companies won't carry.
if the owner is running hotshot service, or has a broker who finds him such jobs. Having a J-3 ship might open up opportunities for the owner. The custom nature of the shipping, and expedited service, would also allow him to charge higher rates than normal.
I don't see the A3 being a ship that's built in numbers and sold off the showroom. Instead, A j-3 would more than likely be a ship built in smaller numbers to exploit specific situations. Such as odd quirks of stellar geography, world placement etc...
It might be profitable for a small ship owner to Be able to bridge a gap in a cluster, or cut weeks off a route which requires a ship traversing several intervening systems to reach in a market in a J-1, J-2 ship.
instead of thinking along the lines of sailing ships and oceanic trading, think of trucking and interstate shipping...which would suggest another use for a A-3 vessel, as a Hotshot, or express vessel.
For those who don't know what a "hotshot" hauler is. They are smaller trucks that carry a limited load. However they will carry to specific locations, or run single customer loads that won't fill up an entire semi trailer. In addition they can usually handle unusual loads, or loads that require specialized handling.
Normally, Unless you pay for dedicated service, express service, or can fill up an entire trailer, most large trucking companies do not pick up your cargo then carry straight to the destination and unload it. they take the cargo to a warehouse, mix it in with several other loads headed to the same area. the ship it out when a full load is ready.
In real life Hiring a "Hotshot" truck lets a shipper cut days off his shipping schedule, in an interstellar setting it could shave weeks or months off a schedule. Or it might simply allow the shipper to carry loads other shipping companies won't carry.
if the owner is running hotshot service, or has a broker who finds him such jobs. Having a J-3 ship might open up opportunities for the owner. The custom nature of the shipping, and expedited service, would also allow him to charge higher rates than normal.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Nor should there be
- it's basic physics that the streamlined spaceships that can enter the atmosphere generate lift, which allows them to take off and then accelerate until they reach orbital velocity.
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mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
I agree, and the place to look is MT Hard Times, there are a couple of fractional g low TL ships in that supplement IIRC - there may have been a couple more in a Challenge article around the same time but I can't be certain until I dig out my box with Challenge magazines.
Indeed. Like J3 being the cheapest way to transport goods and passengers along the route the ship is designed for. That happens quite a lot.
I don't see any ship being built and sold that way.
Astrography can increase the relative profitability of a J3 ship, but over three parsecs it's cheapest anyway.
Hans
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