MGT Only: Trillion Credit Squadron ships

[McPerth]

How would you like to see the big ships done?

Depending on the use you intend for the designed ships.

If the intended use is for a strategical campaign (as it was CT:TCS, and I guess it is MgT:TCS too), then no deck plans are needed at all, as they won't be used in this kind of game.

If the intended use is for RPG, then the maps sould be Snapshoot/AHL style, but this will involve mainly small ships (the more usual in RPG) or, at most a few large ones, that, even if it is unlike the RPG players own them, may be the setting of a campiagn (IMHO the original intent for the AHL detailed deck maps).

Just my opinion, of course, YMMV.

 

[Condottiere]

What's the equivalent of our current super yacht size? Something a megacorp CEO or Sector Duke might use should top out the civilian private vessel range.

 

[flykiller]

What do you think is the largest a "party adventuring ship" should be?

what do you think is the largest an adventure should be? that depends entirely on the capabilties of the referee and players, and the nature of the adventure. I posted the 4000 dton iss lu hao and was quite prepared to run a long-term game with it. one person responded that they had used it as a setting for an adventure, which is great too - if you don't want to run the big boat you can still be there. I was ready to start a game with wbyrd's gazillion dton alien ship. that there should be any thought as to "max size" is sad.

And thus you have found the reason that T5 caps adventure class ships at 2400 tons.

"And thus you have found the reason that T5 caps adventures at 2400 tons."

 

[mike wightman]

What do you think is the largest a "party adventuring ship" should be?

Depends on the party, the scenario and the campaign type.

For a Firefly like tramp trader type campaign, or classic Traveller merchant campaign if you prefer, then anything from 100t to 1000t

For an exploring the unknown type campaign:
civilian - a merchant cruiser of anything up to 10kt
scout - a scout cruiser base ship of anything up to 70kt
military - could be an entire cruiser division plus support craft.

Active duty campaigns are often popular and players can have multiple characters within the crew:
command staff characters
'away' team specialists
fighter pilots
grunts etc.

FASA Star Trek had deck plans for the Enterprise and D7 and we used them.

 

[Brandon C]

For ship size, I think crew size matters more. If the players each have one PC and the rest of the crew are NPCs, then the crew should be around 10-12. If the players run more than one PC (f=for example, a member of the bridge or department head, a gunner, a small craft pilot and a marine/security, then the crew can be near 100. Once you know the size of the crew you are willing to deal with, then you can select a ship that can handle that size crew (or design a ship).

Personally, I prefer, 8-10 crew, which will work for many ships in the 400-800 ton range, although I have considered a campaign based around a 2000 ton light cruiser with a crew of around 8 *nore depending on the four cutter modules installed for a specific mission).

As for deck plans, while I like seeing the layout of a ship (which, if it is the base of operations for the PCs, is useful as well), it really only needs a gridded deckplan if it is expected to be boarded or hijacked and miniatures are used to resolve combat. Since I don't use miniatures, I prefer ungridded plans. A simple scale for the plans (ig, 1 cm = 10 m) is sufficient for me.

 

[Condottiere]

You can fill out the rest of the ship's roster with grogs, or redshirts.

Magi and companions can hold down the critical posts.

 

[MongooseMatt]

I would like to keep picking at this scab, if I may, and court some opinions from you chaps...

Yup, but it could be done as generic decks with a guide as to which decks to use for specific Imperial ships.

The would have to be specific decks - light cruiser bridge deck, heavy cruiser bridge deck, battleship bridge deck for example but stuff like engineering decks, crew quarters etc would be done generically (I should note I already do this with my AHL deck plans from time to time - Imperial standardisation of features if any player ever asks )

Hmmm... generic deck plans? Really? Seems a bit... dry to me.

However, you also note that you do exactly this with the old AHL plans. Would a good idea be to do a ship-specific set of plans, with the thought that sections would be used on a generic level, as you have been doing? Kind of best of both worlds?

Generic plans for starport areas, space stations, hotels, malls and the like would be useful to me too.

This is a good idea. Did you see our last Starports book? What about something like that but... funkier?

Deck plan "map packs" containing only deck plans won't sell as well as "map packs" coupled with additional materials.

I was thinking along the lines of something like Adventure 1: The Kinunir, but in a box with lots of maps. Kind of a cross between Kinunir and AHL...

None. You already struck out with your "reimagined" AHL.

Well, first off, we did what we were told for the AHL. Second... seriously? We should just give up? Doesn't sound right to me...

What do you think is the largest a "party adventuring ship" should be?

Well, here's the thing. You are going to have to go a long way to find consensus on how big an adventuring ship should be - and that is absolutely not something that Mongoose should decide.

For some refs, a Free Trader is going to be all they need in their campaign, while others are going to be more comfortable in the 400-2,000 ton range. Some are going to be perfectly fine with campaigns that feature a large mercenary/pirate fleet headed by a 50,000 ton cruiser.

Mongoose should not decide that. Instead, it is down to us to provide the tools needed so a ref has everything he needs to pursue his version of Traveller, in whichever universe he wants to explore with his players. So, we need to cover the 50,000 cruiser as well as the 'normal' 100-2,000 ton ships.

I would very much like to give more options for larger scale play. We touched on this in Pirates of Drinax (potential pirate fleet, though it is not compulsory), and it is one of the reasons we have held back from doing a new Mercenary for the current edition - I think a 'proper' Mercenary campaign could be awesome in play, for example, but we need a way to handle squad, platoon and larger engagements while not turning the RPG into a wargame.

I would still be interested to hear what sort of 3I ship you chaps would like to see AHL-style deck plans of, and what else you would like to see in such a box set.

 

[Whipsnade]

I was thinking along the lines of something like Adventure 1: The Kinunir, but in a box with lots of maps. Kind of a cross between Kinunir and AHL...

That could work and, if you're able to plan it right, various maps could be linked to future products. GDW, for example, re-purposed single AHL decks for various Challenge adventures.

Well, first off, we did what we were told for the AHL.

Yes, that's always the reason.

Second... seriously? We should just give up? Doesn't sound right to me...

No, not give up. Instead, take the time needed to actually think about the project rather than rushing something out the door. For example, take the splatbooks full of isometric plans you've been pumping out lately.

They're really nice to look at and it's great to see how the decks stack up in relation to each other, but how do I actually use them on the table top? Even back in the Stone Age of the early 1980s I could lay S:7 Traders and Gunboats flat on a copy machine, hit a few buttons, and produce a copy of the plan I needed enlarged enough for my players to move chits and/or minis on.

Now, nearly forty years later, I can't even do something that was simple in 1980 with your books. Even if I break the splatbook's spine or buy a pdf along with the hardcopy, the deck plans' isometric nature still means they can't be used for chits or minis on my table top.

While the fact that you're mulling over a box with maps rather than another splatbook whose spine must be broken so it's plans can be xeroxed is a step in the right direction, it's just one step in the right direction. You're going to have to provide content equal or better in quality to the maps to make a box purchase worthwhile.

Snapshot and AHL were worth paying 1970s/80s box prices for. They contained complete personal combat systems which were more detailed than the one in LBB:1. They also contained, especially in the case of AHL, setting materials. Finally, and again especially in the case of AHL, you could easily re-purpose the maps.

Can Mongoose produce enough quality content to be worth 2017 box prices? We'll have to wait and see.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Now, nearly forty years later, I can't even do something that was simple in 1980 with your books. Even if I break the splatbook's spine or buy a pdf along with the hardcopy, the deck plans' isometric nature still means they can't be used for chits or minis on my table top.

Ah, I see!

You'll be wanting this: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/highguard2d.zip

We give them away for free

 

[Whipsnade]

Very nice. Thank you.

 

[nats]

Most imaginative and lovely deck plans I have ever seen were those in IISS Ship Files and CT Supplement 7 Traders and Gunboats. They really both were remarkable books which really fired up your imagination when reading through them. Havent seen anything on par with those lovely books from Mongoose as yet.

If Mongoose were to release a deck plan book I would like to see something along the lines of those books - a few maybe ten or so really well thought out and well designed beautiful looking ships that actually are useful to Traveller games - nice merchants and explorer ships, an interesting pirate or two, an assault ship and maybe some police ships. All smallish with nice deck plans - the kind of ships players could own. I dont want to see massive cruisers or daft out of date ships etc.

And they must show illustrtions of the ships docked or landing, or in use, and with people for scale and showing perhaps some furniture layouts.

I want to see quality books from Mongoose from now on not any shoddy stuff. It will have to be very good for me to want to buy it.

 

[nats]

Most imaginative and lovely deck plans I have ever seen were those in IISS Ship Files and CT Supplement 7 Traders and Gunboats. They really both were remarkable books which really fired up your imagination when reading through them. Havent seen anything on par with those lovely books from Mongoose as yet.

If Mongoose were to release a deck plan book I would like to see something along the lines of those books - a few maybe ten or so really well thought out and well designed beautiful looking ships that actually are useful to Traveller games - nice merchants and explorer ships, an interesting pirate or two, an assault ship and maybe some police ships. All smallish with nice deck plans - the kind of ships players could own. I dont want to see massive cruisers or daft out of date ships etc.

And they must show illustrations of the ships docked or landing, or in use, and with people for scale and showing perhaps some furniture layouts.

I want to see quality books from Mongoose from now on not any shoddy stuff. It will have to be very good for me to want to buy it.

 

[flykiller]

nice merchants and explorer ships, an interesting pirate or two

what, specifically, would make them "nice" and "interesting"?