CT Only: What One Thing Would You Change About Classic Traveller?

[whartung]

Maybe one could have a tarp to catch tools, the entire big floating frame seems too clumsy, however.

Well, it's not just tools. Its also all the parts and plates and what not that you need to make sure don't get away.

I can see an open frame dock with a netting that just help prevent something important from drifting away. Imagine after several years or decades of orbital manufacture how many bolts, screws, and nut are in some random orbit with anything else. So, I can see there being motivation to help ensure a "clean" work site while working, uh, "out of doors", so to speak.

But that doesn't mean it needs to be as big or as rigid as the Star Trek thing. It can be something akin to an EZ Up that's just emplace over the work site for the duration of the work, at least for repairs.

For manufacture, where you have a 100 space welders blazing away with pocket fusion lances all over the hull, maybe something larger makes more sense.

 

[Dragoner]

Well, it's not just tools. Its also all the parts and plates and what not that you need to make sure don't get away.

I can see an open frame dock with a netting that just help prevent something important from drifting away. Imagine after several years or decades of orbital manufacture how many bolts, screws, and nut are in some random orbit with anything else. So, I can see there being motivation to help ensure a "clean" work site while working, uh, "out of doors", so to speak.

But that doesn't mean it needs to be as big or as rigid as the Star Trek thing. It can be something akin to an EZ Up that's just emplace over the work site for the duration of the work, at least for repairs.

For manufacture, where you have a 100 space welders blazing away with pocket fusion lances all over the hull, maybe something larger makes more sense.

Yes, you're correct, the tarp could catch small parts like that as well. I don't know how much scaffolding or a frame it would need, likely staying in place after rolling out. I guess it could be opaque if one wanted to hide the arc light from welders. Now I'm sort of thinking shake and bake, build or repair a ship in a poly bag, then remove, and roll up the bag for recycling, or other disposal. Have a big 3D printer ring for the bag.

 

[Spinward Flow]

For manufacture, where you have a 100 space welders blazing away with pocket fusion lances all over the hull, maybe something larger makes more sense.

Actually, for that kind of thing, it would make sense to have an open frame dock with a "spall blanket" layer of cladding on it that doesn't need to be airtight ... simply debris tight will suffice. That's because there are going to be bits of slag and droplets of molten metal or ceramic shards and fragments (you name it) that get thrown off in a zero-G environment. Point being that something "thrown off" the worksite on a hull will get captured in the spall blanket and not become a piece of free floating orbital debris (that can ruin someone else's day later on most unexpectedly). The spall blanket is made up of sections that can be removed and replaced easily, presumably for recycling and/or disposal after work has been completed on a contract job. Easier to capture that waste debris "on site" before it escapes into orbit and needs to be tracked down and removed from orbit.

 

[Condottiere]

You have to separate maintenance from, let's say intermediate and major repairs, as well as possible upgrades and refits.

The two weeks maintenance is basically a check up and replacing blown out lamps, so if nothing is discovered that requires more attention, the ship's out within two weeks.

If what's discovered broken is repairable within two weeks, and I would bet there is pressure through overtime to ensure that, the ship clears drydock within two weeks.

 

[Mycenius]

I have yet to see a situation in which LBB2 ship combat is a superior playtime experience than LBB5 ship combat ... even when pitting a pair of Scout/Couriers against each other in a "duel" situation. Vector combat is a tabletop wargaming pastime, which is great if you have multiple m2 lying around to use as your map space. If you're dealing with a table full of "game stuff" in front of Players and nowhere clear to lay out a map of space (let alone ENOUGH SPACE to map ... space) then LBB5 is hands down superior for resolving space combat without needing to "map" anything on a tabletop (or in a model/1+ computer).

[Late response to this comment, but] FWIW we always used Mayday with a large poster sized hex sheet for all ship combat and manoeuvring for our Traveller Campaigns in the 1980's... If you were to change things why would you not just replace the Bk2 Vector thing with Mayday's system?

 

[Spinward Flow]

If you were to change things why would you not just replace the Bk2 Vector thing with Mayday's system?

Not everyone has, had or wanted to use Mayday (even if they had Mayday).
Bit academic now, really ...

 

[whartung]

Having played some "home" Mayday recently, playing on a 42x30 (which is pretty conventional) got tiring really fast. The ships literally flew off that map, and it was shifting almost every turn.

 

[Mycenius]

Not everyone has, had or wanted to use Mayday (even if they had Mayday).

Well you could say that about any aspect of any of the Traveller Space Combat rules really, not just Mayday...

But yeah - academic as you say. My point was really that didn't see it mentioned at least for discussion...

Having played some "home" Mayday recently, playing on a 42x30 (which is pretty conventional) got tiring really fast. The ships literally flew off that map, and it was shifting almost every turn.

True - but as mentioned we used decent big sheets (e.g. at least 2 or 3 sheets x A3 or a couple of Poster size ones), not the hopeless small ones included originally with the game - with the big sheets you just kept moving the last (empty) sheet from the rear to extend the forward aspect of the play area. Anyway as above just mentioned as I hadn't seen it at least raised as an option to replace the original vector system...

The flying off the map issue is true whatever system you use - whether it's the map, the table top, or such - unless you apply Star Trek spaceship manoeuvring!

FWIW IMO Mayday does work quite elegantly for vectors and such and is fine the vast majority of the time for an RPG system...

 

[Spinward Flow]

The flying off the map issue is true whatever system you use

Sounds like a job for an iOS app run on iPads ...

 

[Grav_Moped]

Sounds like a job for an iOS app run on iPads ...

Nobody ever thinks about Android users, do they?

 

[whartung]

Nobody ever thinks about Android users, do they?

The who?

 

[Dragoner]

Last few times I have done LBB2 combat, I have just done it theater of the mind, figuring out turns to intercept, etc.. Went smoothly, I mean a ship rarely lasts more than 5 or so turns.

 

[Mycenius]

Sounds like a job for an iOS app run on iPads ...

That would actually be quite cool... AirPlay onto a 65" TV

 

[infojunky]

I like the idea of a TL X ship requiring a shipyard at a world of at least TL X. I'm thinking of for example the USS Cole being taken back to the US after being damaged - and that ship wasn't even transported by the USN, but by a Dutch ship.

Short note, The number of Heavy Lift Vessels is very small. The Netherlands does a lot of work in the North Seas Oil fields. Note shipping ships is under Military Sealift Comand thus it was probably cheaper it charter the move rather than purchase a ship.

 

[Condottiere]

Can't recall which supplement had the anecdote where one of the Imperium Navy's battle tenders delivered a fifty kilotonne monitor from the seller to one of the planetary navies.

 

[mike wightman]

Supplement 9 Fighting Ships

 

[aramis]

What would you think an orbital yard berth would look like?

A couple things come to mind.

First off, is the obvious "cage" style ala Star Trek. Whole thing is open to space, but you have a rigid, open "enclosure" used for anchoring tools, small vehicles, supplies, etc. with the ship in the middle, perhaps tethered, or hard docked to the structure.

Next is a fully enclosed bay, yet in orbit, with a floor, gravity, ideally pressurized. The ship "lands" on the deck, like a trader would on a surface.

You missed two likely intermediates

Closed bay, in vacuum, zero G. Why? To prevent dropped bits from becoming orbital debris, which the open frame ignores. Also protects from micro-material impacts, solar-thermal expansion, and space weather issues. Zero G allows one or two man handling of even large items... like whole drives. That does require patience.... but one man can move a 20-tonne hunk of drive in zero-G without help... just not quickly.

Closed bay, pressurized, zero G. All the same benefits, plus a shirt-sleeve environment.

 

[aramis]

Having played some "home" Mayday recently, playing on a 42x30 (which is pretty conventional) got tiring really fast. The ships literally flew off that map, and it was shifting almost every turn.

You just zero out the common movement.

 

[Grav_Moped]

You just zero out the common movement.

... and keep track of where the planets and 100D line went, in a general sense. Handwave it if you need to.

 

[Condottiere]

I think the current formula for a completely enclosed dry dock in a space station is one to five in terms of volume.