The importance of Smallcraft.
- Thread starter infojunky
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Last game the players had a lab ship. So the air/rafts and the pinnace was the sole means of getting dirtside. And often the only way to refuel - the pinnace had a collapsible fuel bladder so they could refuel. They also used the fuel bladder to transport a very large fish to the lab ship - a Lord Fish from the art gallery here. The good doctor is still visiting worlds with that huge fish in a giant aquarium taking up a good portion of the lab space. But if he can figure out how to keep the fish from going bad within a few hours of death, he stands to make a fortune!
Usually we play with ships that can go planet-side.
Usually we play with ships that can go planet-side.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
In TL9+ systems they are very important for moving stuff around; facilitating resource extraction from asteroids, moons and comets, and the general efficiency of the space industry.
In ship combat they are important to provide cheap missile directors and sensor extension, not to mention carrying smallcraft effectively gives you extra mobile turrets that you can use to defend the main ship or attack an enemy's smallcraft/missile swarm.
Against civilian ships a few 10t fighters are a major threat, a 6g 30t ship's boat fitted out as a heavy fighter is even more to be feared.
In ship combat they are important to provide cheap missile directors and sensor extension, not to mention carrying smallcraft effectively gives you extra mobile turrets that you can use to defend the main ship or attack an enemy's smallcraft/missile swarm.
Against civilian ships a few 10t fighters are a major threat, a 6g 30t ship's boat fitted out as a heavy fighter is even more to be feared.
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
IMTU they are VERY important, for a few reasons that may not obtain in most people's universes but which they may want to steal, er. utilize.
After really thinking hard about the CT vs. MgT distance scales, I decided I liked MgT's for drama purposes and arguably weapon power reality, but I really love those CT ranges and also the firing solution issue.
To wit, if you are at say 150,000 km distance, sensor data active or passive comes in, firing solutions get corrected and a shot can be arriving on target in a second.
In a second, you simply can't move a ship that much in an unexpected direction even with 6-G or side thrusters.
MgT ranges are worse. 15,000km and dodging? You don't have time to even think about dodging, at best pre-programmed avoidance programs you punch in for anticipation of a shot.
So with that, the hit factor is less 'did you hit at all' and more 'did you scratch the paint or penetrate the target'.
And I figure at closer ranges there is even less probability of avoiding shots, which means the shots can concentrate on damage. Less scattering of beams or possible avoidance of missile fire too.
So my home rule is the damage increases dramatically below ranges of 100,000km.
So for a patrol craft closing on a suspect ship, the last thing they want to do is approach the possible baddie in catastrophic ambush range.
Enter the boarding gig. Send the troops, hover close by for fire support, and use punishing fire should the gig be blown up. Risks far less crew and ship and increases chances of catching criminals and deter them from fighting.
Another use is the corollary of the shot vs. firing solution issue.
Most longer range misses IMO are more in the EW mess with firing solution then location shifting or scraping the paint by the shot hitting along the edge of the hull.
But at 100,000km or less it's harder to throw sensors off, just too much close and up to date data plus the Mk1 eyeball.
As such the classic fighter swarm on big warship is more viable IMTU as the fighters have more firepower and the computer model difference is nullified.
A lot of those fighters are going to heroically die, but they can potentially do outsize damage punching above their weight.
A third reason is they really are the economical pirate craft as opposed to a full warship especially with their higher G and lower costs. A classic Corsair then becomes more of a mother ship and loot hauler. And all the reasons that a patrol craft boards with smallcraft obtains for pirates.
Fourth reason, economic hauler out in the Oort Cloud. A lot of cold shipping, passengers crew and cargo going by low berth in a three month coasting ship rather then paying the exorbitant overhead of jump drive maintenance beyond civilization.
Fifth, as we have noted in civilized circumstances grav craft are cheaper interface craft, but grav is more fragile. Better off with a small craft with starship grade armor and drives.
Sixth, refueling, especially if the ship itself is not streamlined.
After really thinking hard about the CT vs. MgT distance scales, I decided I liked MgT's for drama purposes and arguably weapon power reality, but I really love those CT ranges and also the firing solution issue.
To wit, if you are at say 150,000 km distance, sensor data active or passive comes in, firing solutions get corrected and a shot can be arriving on target in a second.
In a second, you simply can't move a ship that much in an unexpected direction even with 6-G or side thrusters.
MgT ranges are worse. 15,000km and dodging? You don't have time to even think about dodging, at best pre-programmed avoidance programs you punch in for anticipation of a shot.
So with that, the hit factor is less 'did you hit at all' and more 'did you scratch the paint or penetrate the target'.
And I figure at closer ranges there is even less probability of avoiding shots, which means the shots can concentrate on damage. Less scattering of beams or possible avoidance of missile fire too.
So my home rule is the damage increases dramatically below ranges of 100,000km.
So for a patrol craft closing on a suspect ship, the last thing they want to do is approach the possible baddie in catastrophic ambush range.
Enter the boarding gig. Send the troops, hover close by for fire support, and use punishing fire should the gig be blown up. Risks far less crew and ship and increases chances of catching criminals and deter them from fighting.
Another use is the corollary of the shot vs. firing solution issue.
Most longer range misses IMO are more in the EW mess with firing solution then location shifting or scraping the paint by the shot hitting along the edge of the hull.
But at 100,000km or less it's harder to throw sensors off, just too much close and up to date data plus the Mk1 eyeball.
As such the classic fighter swarm on big warship is more viable IMTU as the fighters have more firepower and the computer model difference is nullified.
A lot of those fighters are going to heroically die, but they can potentially do outsize damage punching above their weight.
A third reason is they really are the economical pirate craft as opposed to a full warship especially with their higher G and lower costs. A classic Corsair then becomes more of a mother ship and loot hauler. And all the reasons that a patrol craft boards with smallcraft obtains for pirates.
Fourth reason, economic hauler out in the Oort Cloud. A lot of cold shipping, passengers crew and cargo going by low berth in a three month coasting ship rather then paying the exorbitant overhead of jump drive maintenance beyond civilization.
Fifth, as we have noted in civilized circumstances grav craft are cheaper interface craft, but grav is more fragile. Better off with a small craft with starship grade armor and drives.
Sixth, refueling, especially if the ship itself is not streamlined.
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
I think smallcraft are something that gets overlooked in ship design but would likely be a vital if mundane element of any "real" starship. Since as far as I know none of the 3I's capital ships with hundred thousand Dton plus sizes can actually land on planets, they are dependant on smallcraft to move supplies off a planet to them, as well as transfer personnel off ship, conduct routine customs checks on passing merchants, ferrying repairs crews to a out of the way part of the ships exterior, and all the dozens of other small jobs that a crew of thousands would need doing. Any major warship would, like a real world ship, need at least two or three small craft, and more likely they'd need five or six, since unlike modern warships they cant rely on having a underway replenishment equipped tender at hand for resupply. they would be like the battleships of the 30's that needed a swarm of smallcraft to support them when they were out of their homeports.
MADMANMIKE
SOC-9
So despite being a gamer for 29 years, I've only just started playing Traveller for the first time and only discovered it last year..
That said, the adventure we're in, we find this ship we were hired to retrieve, and it's launch is missing. We split the party with half of us going to look into the accident that destroyed said launch, and as there's a rebellion going on, my character has just managed to swindle an abandoned 100Dt trader out of impound in the hopes of using it to go retrieve his crewmates..
The small craft is critical to the plot line, and would be ideal for the rescue that our new 400Dt ship is just too big to pull off. As it is this 100Dt ship is probably too big as well, but it's what I was able to get ahold of on short notice.
Should we make it to the next system, I'll be making the acquisition of a new launch for the 400Dt and an aircar for the 100Dt high priority. Too much adventure to be had with them to not have the options.
That said, the adventure we're in, we find this ship we were hired to retrieve, and it's launch is missing. We split the party with half of us going to look into the accident that destroyed said launch, and as there's a rebellion going on, my character has just managed to swindle an abandoned 100Dt trader out of impound in the hopes of using it to go retrieve his crewmates..
The small craft is critical to the plot line, and would be ideal for the rescue that our new 400Dt ship is just too big to pull off. As it is this 100Dt ship is probably too big as well, but it's what I was able to get ahold of on short notice.
Should we make it to the next system, I'll be making the acquisition of a new launch for the 400Dt and an aircar for the 100Dt high priority. Too much adventure to be had with them to not have the options.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
epicenter00
SOC-13
Small craft are the equivalent of panel vans or pick-up trucks. On many worlds IMTU large ships are forbidden to simply fly willy-nilly around worlds and have to be berthed at the starport, requiring players to rely on local transport, or if the world's air vehicle laws are pretty liberal, they can fly around in small craft.
Outside of the player realm, they're used for things we'd use panel vans or pick-up trucks for today; short hops moving small amounts of cargo, typical distances might be distant points on a planet, or between a planet and its moon(s). Anything larger or longer and economies of scale come into play and large, in-system haulers are used (basically jump-less free trader size hulls or larger if the trip could be done in a week using thrusters or just a jump ship outright in any in-system trip that would normally take over a week).
"Any ship of configuration 1 to 6 can land on a world with an atmosphere 0 or 1; for all other worlds, streamlining is required."
It's been decades, but I admit, I still do not understand this streamlining requirement for landing on a planet when you have fusion reactor power + reactionless thrusters + ships rated for 6G maneuver.
The arguments I hear against unstreamlined ships landing on planets are:
* They'd burn up on re-entry. I thought burning up occurred because speed of descent generating friction. In the case of modern re-entry vehicles, it's because the upper atmosphere is thick enough to create friction but that capsule is going awfully fast (and iirc, it's too thin to slow it down that much in the upper parts). But with a reactionless thruster and fusion power in Traveller you're not relying on parachutes or aerobraking. You can descend to the planet's surface at a leisurely 10 KPH if you had to; it might take hours and be boring, but reaction mass isn't an issue, neither is power. Obviously you don't want a slow descent like this on some futuristic equivalent of a beach landing under fire, but if nobody's shooting at you...?
* Gusting winds in the upper atmosphere would tear your ship apart and push it around. Really? A ship rated for 6G maneuver using reactionless thrusters is going to be pushed around? A hull rated for the stresses of 6G is going to be torn apart? I don't buy it.
* Reactionless thrusters don't have the power. Of course they do. They have to push the ship around at 6Gs (for instance). I think if your reactionless thrusters have a rating equal to or higher than the gravity of the world you're landing on, you should be fine.
* Unstreamlined ships don't have landing gear. "Streamlining" is just that. The ship is streamlined for atmospheric flight. A streamlined design does not have to include landing gear - in fact you have to retract your landing gear on most vessels to be truly streamlined. I think "streamlining" includes landing gear in a lot of iterations of Traveller rules, but doesn't that mean you could make landing gear an option for unstreamlined ships to have landing gear as well?
* It's dogma. It's the way it was when MWM gave the stone tablets to the printers on Mount CeeTee, so many decades ago. Okay, you got me. I have no reply to this.
It seems to me that given reactionless thrusters and fusion drives and sufficiently strong hulls, any ship should be able to land on a planet. A streamlined ship could do it faster and fly much faster and maneuver in atmosphere as air vehicle, but an unstreamlined brick should be able to land on any world a streamlined ship can; it might have to take it slow and steady instead of zipping around.
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Enoki
SOC-14 1K
I had a system where there were two factions having a civil war between them within the system. One held the main world and a the nearby planets, the other controlled satellites of several gas giants and had nearly equal capacity to wage war.
Neither side had more than basic B level shipyard / starport capabilities so all they could realistically build on their economies were ships less than 100 tons in size. But, they each had well over 100 in service.
Ganging up, they could pose a real threat to smaller star ships and virtually any merchant, but they were not much of a threat to larger warships.
Neither side had more than basic B level shipyard / starport capabilities so all they could realistically build on their economies were ships less than 100 tons in size. But, they each had well over 100 in service.
Ganging up, they could pose a real threat to smaller star ships and virtually any merchant, but they were not much of a threat to larger warships.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
They're canon, and off the shelf.
They should be cheaper than a custom solution and more economical to run and maintain.
There should be a lot of second hand examples and abandoned craft.
They should be cheaper than a custom solution and more economical to run and maintain.
There should be a lot of second hand examples and abandoned craft.
martletsquire
SOC-12
Shells of grounded small craft make excellent 'mobile homes' with airlocks and such. Lots of room in even a Launch once one removes most or all of the avionics, controls, maneuver drive, powerplant and such.
Especially around asteroids and in extreme habitats. Very useful even in the non-functioning way.
Especially around asteroids and in extreme habitats. Very useful even in the non-functioning way.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Small craft are great, but they are also large and very expensive.
They are not small, cheap, and disposable like panel vans. They are more like commercial aircraft, not something you take to pop off to a convenience store or a trip downtown.
It is much cheaper and more efficient to streamline at least small starships, than to carry small craft for interface work.
But I agree large ships, at least military, needs a few utility small craft.
So, consequently, as long as I am playing with small ships I generally do not use small craft much.
Local transport is provided by ground or grav vehicles.
They are not small, cheap, and disposable like panel vans. They are more like commercial aircraft, not something you take to pop off to a convenience store or a trip downtown.
It is much cheaper and more efficient to streamline at least small starships, than to carry small craft for interface work.
But I agree large ships, at least military, needs a few utility small craft.
So, consequently, as long as I am playing with small ships I generally do not use small craft much.
Local transport is provided by ground or grav vehicles.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
As my example demonstrated, there are reasons for numerous small craft. If the system you are in can't build starships, but can build small craft, they're going to be building small craft. This is particularly true if there are other planets or satellites in the system with people living on them.
Extended system generation frequently puts outlying secondary worlds in a system with considerable population. Those need to by supplied and connected to the main world. Small craft are a great way to do that.
Another example is how in MTU the Anubian Trade Confederation (Glimmerdrift / Hinterworlds) operates. They're made out to be pretty ruthless business types and most of the population is indentured serfs and what amounts to slaves (they call them "workers" and other euphuisms). They rarely do planet-side large star ports. Instead, theirs are high ports and tightly controlled with onerous security.
They use tankers to refuel starships as these are crewed by reliable Anubians. They don't let foreign ships dock almost anywhere.
Instead, everything is done with small craft. Most of these are required to be Anubian crewed. That way they can control smuggling and reduce to a minimum the possibility that workers might escape.
So, if you were dealing with them, you'd need small craft to shuttle to and from the high port. There'd be Anubian small craft present in large numbers at their more important starports. Every Anubian ship would have several small craft aboard for cargo and passenger transfer. Most of their starships, merchants included, won't even be atmospheric capable. There's no reason given their security arrangements.
Extended system generation frequently puts outlying secondary worlds in a system with considerable population. Those need to by supplied and connected to the main world. Small craft are a great way to do that.
Another example is how in MTU the Anubian Trade Confederation (Glimmerdrift / Hinterworlds) operates. They're made out to be pretty ruthless business types and most of the population is indentured serfs and what amounts to slaves (they call them "workers" and other euphuisms). They rarely do planet-side large star ports. Instead, theirs are high ports and tightly controlled with onerous security.
They use tankers to refuel starships as these are crewed by reliable Anubians. They don't let foreign ships dock almost anywhere.
Instead, everything is done with small craft. Most of these are required to be Anubian crewed. That way they can control smuggling and reduce to a minimum the possibility that workers might escape.
So, if you were dealing with them, you'd need small craft to shuttle to and from the high port. There'd be Anubian small craft present in large numbers at their more important starports. Every Anubian ship would have several small craft aboard for cargo and passenger transfer. Most of their starships, merchants included, won't even be atmospheric capable. There's no reason given their security arrangements.
Ok, So how do you use them in your games?
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
They're pickups and space utility vehicles.
Smallcraft covered everything sub hundred tonnes, and until recently, acceleration was capped at six gees.
Not counting gunboats and fighters, their primary purpose was orbit to dirtside connectors, and ship to ship transport.
The publisher(s) had prepared neat deckplans, and the specs seemed optimized for however you calculated cost benefit.
As I recall, life support seemed somewhat unstable, so hundred tonne plus ships were used for the long ranged interplanetary travel. If that was required, which in most cases it wasn't, as you tended to jump practically in walking distance of the planet of the week.
Smallcraft covered everything sub hundred tonnes, and until recently, acceleration was capped at six gees.
Not counting gunboats and fighters, their primary purpose was orbit to dirtside connectors, and ship to ship transport.
The publisher(s) had prepared neat deckplans, and the specs seemed optimized for however you calculated cost benefit.
As I recall, life support seemed somewhat unstable, so hundred tonne plus ships were used for the long ranged interplanetary travel. If that was required, which in most cases it wasn't, as you tended to jump practically in walking distance of the planet of the week.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
An example from a game:
The players are the crew of a pinnacle (Traders and Gunboats LBB) that is modified to have two larger "executive" staterooms and one forward for the crew (3 one on duty 2 semi-off duty). Think executive jet today.
They are flying for Ling Standard Products and taking an executive out to an arms factory on a satellite world around a gas giant in the system. Ling owns the satellite world.
This is MT rebellion. A different faction has taken control of the arms plant and is using it to ship arms to an opposing faction to the one the executive represents. The factory management is trying to keep things quiet and hidden from the exec. Lots of shooting ensues...
The players are the crew of a pinnacle (Traders and Gunboats LBB) that is modified to have two larger "executive" staterooms and one forward for the crew (3 one on duty 2 semi-off duty). Think executive jet today.
They are flying for Ling Standard Products and taking an executive out to an arms factory on a satellite world around a gas giant in the system. Ling owns the satellite world.
This is MT rebellion. A different faction has taken control of the arms plant and is using it to ship arms to an opposing faction to the one the executive represents. The factory management is trying to keep things quiet and hidden from the exec. Lots of shooting ensues...
Mostly as niche-application auxiliary spacecraft and additional shipborne firepower (Fighters only).
I find them too limited and cramped for much interplanetary travel -- for which big craft are much more comfortable -- as well as being overly-expensive given their comparative flimsiness in space combat.
Mine is CT B2, small-ship TU, and therefore small craft are very fancy and very costly ship's vehicles, for the most part. Also, there are a few pieces of close reading in CT that are relevant to MTU.
First, CT tells us that "most" small craft are unarmed and uncomputerized; I presume they primarily operate as interface craft between orbit and the surface, under the guns of the planetary defenses and/or their motherships.
Second, they appear to be intended for jaunts of up to 6 hours, but require additional accommodations for use beyond that window. This again suggests short-range applications. I am open to using them for intra-satellite travel within complex moon systems around GGs, but not so much toward using them for interplanetary hauls, except under emergency circumstances.
Last, there is a little-recognized small craft space combat system detailed under the small craft driver skill in CT/BT; the combat mechanic example there suggests that small craft, due to their simpler drive systems, are comparatively stealthy and can slip off of sensors surprisingly easily, throwing pursuers (even perhaps incoming missiles) off their tails at ranges big craft and starships would in comparison be easily-targetable at.
This particular feature makes small craft ideal for daring getaways, blockade running, stealth insertions, smuggling drops, and all kinds of "flying by the seat of your pants" bush operations. Throw in a rough ride from the lack of big craft acceleration compensators (simpler drives, remember), and I can always find an excuse to put PCs in a small craft for an action scene.
As mentioned, the other principal application IMTU is to provide CT warships with additional firepower in the form of supporting Fighter squadrons, but that scenario should be fairly self-explanatory.
I also find myself using them -- when they are reasonably available -- for boarding and inspection duties, either downport-based or mothership-based as fits the locale; this avoids hazarding the larger, higher-value asset, which can then stand guard, training its own guns on the docked vessels as necessary to deter -- or at least realistically complicate -- PC shenanigans.
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I keep playing with these bits of rules. More adhoc than codified.
Which I think is broadly true of the original concept of the game mechanics, back in the day: the Ref just "wings it" as necessary, to make it interesting.
As a method, the CT Skill-Based Small Craft Combat System (as it were) is a highly-relatable exemplar of facilitating play without necessarily turning conflict into a wargaming exercise.
Also, to the point at hand, I suspect that it not coincidentally gives small craft a reason to exist in the rulebook and therefore frequently be in play.
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