There are yacht and merchant deck plans for the Safari ship floating around the 'net.
Why wouldanyone want a Type-Y?
- Thread starter Sir Brad
- Start date
There are yacht and merchant deck plans for the Safari ship floating around the 'net.
I'm jealous. I've only ever done casual off shore stuff. The yachts I was on were not racing yachts (not Northstars) but regular "consumer" end yawls with cramped bedrooms. I'm thinking these are not the Traveller analogs that the type-Y is supposed to reflect.
The type-Y, to me, seems to be more of a cabin cruiser than anything else, with a bit more room and a dance or observation area. But since it is seen as a pleasure vessel, then it can slip in and out of places incognito, as it were. That verse something like a Gazelle or Chameleon, both of which would draw attention and inspection.
This matches my take on the Yacht.... A nondescript average performer.
And to be honest the type-Y is very Sylean oriented. Terran space probably has thousands of designs, and ditto the further away you get from the Vilani center of culture.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
I could see that for the "standard" Type Y. The Keah (from FASA) is more in line with Vilani design, though it is not a Type Y (being 400 tons), while the Animal Type K is a Terran homage design and reflects part of that "I'll do what I want" mentality of high variation.
Well, I'm not big on "official canon" for Traveller, because I'm still stuck in that early 80s mode of where the Imperium and all its neighbors are optional settings the player may use if needed. However, for the details of that optional setting, I do defer to "what is written", so to speak. Ergo the Vilani are aesthetically elegant but slow to adopt new concepts.
The Keah, to me anyway, seems like a tip of the iceberg in terms of variants as you get closer to Terran space, or maybe even the Marches. But Lucan or Margaret's realms probably have a lot of type-Ys with a smattering of other designs.
For anyone who needs inspiration for a pleasure yacht for a gaming session, here's a couple of links;
https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-1/alfa-nero.htm
https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-1/alfa-nero-video.htm#yacht-tabs
The Keah, to me anyway, seems like a tip of the iceberg in terms of variants as you get closer to Terran space, or maybe even the Marches. But Lucan or Margaret's realms probably have a lot of type-Ys with a smattering of other designs.
For anyone who needs inspiration for a pleasure yacht for a gaming session, here's a couple of links;
https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-1/alfa-nero.htm
https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-1/alfa-nero-video.htm#yacht-tabs
Reviving an old thread:
It occurs to me that the Yacht's owner won't be traveling to the destination in the yacht itself, in much the same way that they don't do it in our world. They have a crew take it to the destination, and travel there themselves in something faster (today, it's either a private jet or First Class commercial).
Pair a Type Y with a Type S Scout/Courier. Send the Yacht ahead, meet up with it whenever you want. The Type Y's double jump tankage provides range equal to the Type S, and allows in-system (interplanetary) microjumps when you get there.
Oh, and do something about that ATV. You're at least at TL 9, why are you bothering with wheels or tracks when you have grav tech?
Alternately, a good choice would be a variant of the 400Td Type R2 Far Subsidized Merchant (whose existence is implied by the 400Td Standard Hull).
It occurs to me that the Yacht's owner won't be traveling to the destination in the yacht itself, in much the same way that they don't do it in our world. They have a crew take it to the destination, and travel there themselves in something faster (today, it's either a private jet or First Class commercial).
Pair a Type Y with a Type S Scout/Courier. Send the Yacht ahead, meet up with it whenever you want. The Type Y's double jump tankage provides range equal to the Type S, and allows in-system (interplanetary) microjumps when you get there.
Oh, and do something about that ATV. You're at least at TL 9, why are you bothering with wheels or tracks when you have grav tech?
Alternately, a good choice would be a variant of the 400Td Type R2 Far Subsidized Merchant (whose existence is implied by the 400Td Standard Hull).
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
The type Y Yacht is cheap. It's just a variant of the Free Trader, literally the cheapest ship (with some payload) you can build using LBB2. Okay, the Scout is cheaper, but has very limited payload.
Of course a Far Fat Trader is a better chassis to build a yacht on, but it is also triple the cost.
With a few hundred MCr available you can build a pretty decent yacht on a Patrol Cruiser chassis...
The type Y is just an entry level yacht, just as the Free Trader is an entry level trader. Of course there are more expensive and more capable designs available.
The ships in LBB2 are just a few examples of what's available, not the only ships available in Traveller...
With a billion to play with you could get something like this:
2000 Dt, J-6, M-6.
50 staterooms (200 Dt) available for suites and lounges.
40 staterooms for crew (minimum 15 crew + servants, security, and possibly gunners)
Of course a Far Fat Trader is a better chassis to build a yacht on, but it is also triple the cost.
With a few hundred MCr available you can build a pretty decent yacht on a Patrol Cruiser chassis...
The type Y is just an entry level yacht, just as the Free Trader is an entry level trader. Of course there are more expensive and more capable designs available.
The ships in LBB2 are just a few examples of what's available, not the only ships available in Traveller...
With a billion to play with you could get something like this:
2000 Dt, J-6, M-6.
50 staterooms (200 Dt) available for suites and lounges.
40 staterooms for crew (minimum 15 crew + servants, security, and possibly gunners)
Code:
YF-B266662-000000-00000-0 MCr 792 2 000 Dton
bearing Crew=40
batteries TL=12
Pass=50 Cargo=24 Fuel=1260 EP=120 Agility=5
Single Occupancy LBB2 design 24 878
USP # Dton Cost
Hull, Streamlined Custom B 2 000
Configuration Cone 2 220
Scoops Streamlined
Jump Drive Z 6 1 125 240
Manoeuvre D Z 6 1 47 96
Power Plant Z 6 1 73 192
Fuel, #J, #weeks J-6, 4 weeks 6 1 260
Bridge 1 40 10
Computer m/6 6 1 7 55
Staterooms 90 360 45
Cargo 24
Empty hardpoint 10 10 1
Ship's Boat 30 Dton 1 30 16
GCarrier 8 Dton 2 16 2
Air/raft 4 Dton 2 8 1
Nominal Cost MCr 878,20 Sum: 24 878
Class Cost MCr 94,49 Valid ≥0 ≥0
Ship Cost MCr 792,30
Crew & High 50 Crew Bridge 7
Passengers Mid 0 40 Engineers 7
Low 0 Gunners 0
Extra SR 0 Frozen Service 26
# Frozen W 0 0 Flight 0
Marines 0 Marines 0
REHABILITATE THE YACHT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
0. It never seems to have had adequate "support".
1. It's seen as a fluffy, luxurious status symbol. This is an asset for certain missions...
2. It is effective for political and commercial missions.
3. 4 tons of fuel, 3 tons of drive, and 6 tons of powerplant to upgrade it to Maneuver-3... I think this should be part of its standard description!
The idea of a "racing yacht" sounds fun and worthy of an Xboat article.
DETAILS
I think you're on to something there. Let's call it "access" rather than "incognito"... how we make that work?
LBB'77 didn't give a mission, just a name. Its stats were slightly different, but that's no surprise.
LBB'81 has the "modern" text, used by Starter Traveller. "a noble's plaything used to entertain friends and undertake political or commercial missions."
Wikipedia says yachts are used for "pleasure, cruising, or racing". I would love to bring in the racing angle.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
0. It never seems to have had adequate "support".
1. It's seen as a fluffy, luxurious status symbol. This is an asset for certain missions...
2. It is effective for political and commercial missions.
3. 4 tons of fuel, 3 tons of drive, and 6 tons of powerplant to upgrade it to Maneuver-3... I think this should be part of its standard description!
The idea of a "racing yacht" sounds fun and worthy of an Xboat article.
DETAILS
Blue Ghost said:
I think you're on to something there. Let's call it "access" rather than "incognito"... how we make that work?
LBB'77 didn't give a mission, just a name. Its stats were slightly different, but that's no surprise.
LBB'81 has the "modern" text, used by Starter Traveller. "a noble's plaything used to entertain friends and undertake political or commercial missions."
Wikipedia says yachts are used for "pleasure, cruising, or racing". I would love to bring in the racing angle.
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Upgrading your ship is not difficult per se; the problem is that it's not what people think about when they're ship shopping.
Borrowing the CT stats into T5: 50 tons of fuel is more than we need -- that will help.
Upgrade to Maneuver 2?
Very easy porting the CT design into T5. It only requires 5 extra tons of equipment, and 2 extra tons of fuel... so the mods would ALL fit within the fuel tankage, and we end up with 12 tons of cargo.
Upgrading to Maneuver 3.
Use 46 tons to support a two-parsec jump and a month of powerplant-3 operations.
We take the four leftover tons, and five additional tons from the cargo hold, to upgrade our drives. That tacks on MCr12 to the price tag, and the cargo hold is reduced to 6 tons.
Borrowing the CT stats into T5: 50 tons of fuel is more than we need -- that will help.
Upgrade to Maneuver 2?
Very easy porting the CT design into T5. It only requires 5 extra tons of equipment, and 2 extra tons of fuel... so the mods would ALL fit within the fuel tankage, and we end up with 12 tons of cargo.
Upgrading to Maneuver 3.
Use 46 tons to support a two-parsec jump and a month of powerplant-3 operations.
We take the four leftover tons, and five additional tons from the cargo hold, to upgrade our drives. That tacks on MCr12 to the price tag, and the cargo hold is reduced to 6 tons.
Keep it unstreamlined
I figure the reason the Yacht per se is unstreamlined is because ideally it is almost all observation decks and lounges. Massive bubbles and domes with variable lighting, holographic display overlays, sound systems, and other luxury touches.
Under CT you can build an 800-dton J-1 M-1 hull at TL9 that has maybe 600dt available for fittings. That would be the way I would want to go -- have yourself a proper, flying Xanadu-esque playhouse.
I figure the reason the Yacht per se is unstreamlined is because ideally it is almost all observation decks and lounges. Massive bubbles and domes with variable lighting, holographic display overlays, sound systems, and other luxury touches.
Under CT you can build an 800-dton J-1 M-1 hull at TL9 that has maybe 600dt available for fittings. That would be the way I would want to go -- have yourself a proper, flying Xanadu-esque playhouse.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
But nothing else but the drives would be the same, so the T5 Yacht could not be expected to have 50 Dt fuel or 12 Dt cargo.
In CT this would make the ship much more expensive, since we could no longer use a standard hull.
A T5 Yacht would be something like this:
200 Dt, unstreamlined, J-1, M-1, 14 staterooms, 6 Dt cargo, 42 Dt fuel.
Not much extra space to waste...
Code:
TL-10 Y-BU11 Ergo 2 Comfort 4 Demand -1 Agility -1
Yacht Total: 0,0 54,8 Stability 0
SYSTEM # DTON COST
Hull 200
Config: Unstreamlined 7
Structure: Plate Dense AV=7 ( 97 vs Blast, 1997 vs Heat/Beam, 97 vs Pres, 997 vs Rad, 0 vs EMP )
Coating: Reflec AV= 0 ( 1000 vs Heat/Beam )
Armour Std Anti-Rad 1 AV=7 ( 97 vs Blast, 997 vs H/B, 997 vs Rad, 0 vs EMP )
Landing Skids Tarmac
Lifters Installed 1
Jump Field: Jump Grid 2 Flash 8
J Drive A J-1, 100 EP 1 10 10
M Drive A 1 G, 100 EP 1 2 4
P Plant A P 1, 100 EP 1 4 4
Fuel, Jump J-2 40
Fuel, Power 4 weeks 2
Purifier 1 1 0,5
Scoops 1 1 0,1
Console, Control Gen C+S=9 3 6 0,5 Brain: INT=4, EDU=2
Console, Operati Gen C+S=9 6 12 0,6 Brain: INT=4, EDU=2
Computer Gen m/1 1 1 0,8
Sensors
Mod AR Surf Commu-10 +12A+7 PA( 1 1,5
Gen AR Surf Radar-10 +10A+7 PA( 1 1,5 ACS S=6
Gen AR Surf Scope-10 +10A-- P(P 1 1,5 ACS S=4
Gen SR Surf Neutr-10 +10A-- P(G 1 1 ACS S=5
Crew: 4
Stateroom for 1 4 8 0,4
Freshers Shared 2 1 1
Common Areas 7 7
Passengers: -1
Mid :Stateroom (1) for 1 10 20 1
Freshers Shared 4 2 2
Common Areas 18 18
Life Support:
Med Console 1 0,5 0,5
Life Support, Standard 200% 3 2,8 2,8 840 person-days
Escape Capsules 200% 3 3 3 30 people
Standard Air Lock 2
Cargo 6,7
Carried Craft
Hangar Ship's Boat 30 Dt 1 40 8
Interio Air/raft 4 Dt 1 5 0,1
Interio ATV 6 Dt 1 7 0,2
Crew Consoles Panels
Crew 4 9 13
Bridge Crew 2 0
Pilot 1 1 1
Astrogator 1 1 0
Sensor Ops 0 1 4
Engineer 1 0
Engineer 1 3 5
Service Crew 1 0
Operations 0 1 2
Steward 1 0 0
Gunner 0 0
Gunner 0 1 0
Flight Crew 0 1 1
I like the idea of a racing yacht, but how realistically do watercraft translate to a spacecraft analog? Part of the fun of a "wet" yacht is the breeze of the ocean or from the speed of the craft while in motion, and feeling the acceleration/steering.
You could trim back the inertial dampers to bleed some of the acceleration thru, but there is generally no need to rapidly change heading or steady a spacecraft on its course via steering. Unless there is an angle I am missing, I can't help but think a "racing" yacht would be rather a boring experience - you just get to your destination in less time.
Free Prizes!
The Type Y is limited in part because it ends up being a free-and-clear mustering-out benefit (in Sup. 4). So is the Safari Ship, but due to a typo it's not clear what performance that ship has (stated as 1G with no other specs, but its 50Td fuel capacity only makes sense if it's J2/1G built under '77 rules, or is J1/1G and basically a streamlined Type Y with different interior fittings). The Seeker is also free-and clear as a benefit.
There seems to be a strong bias toward Size A drives in ships that are mustering-out benefits.
The greater capabilities of the other mustering-out benefit ships are offset by liabilities: the Lab Ship is on loan (not owned by the PC), and the Corsair is presumably stolen and on the run.
The Type Y is limited in part because it ends up being a free-and-clear mustering-out benefit (in Sup. 4). So is the Safari Ship, but due to a typo it's not clear what performance that ship has (stated as 1G with no other specs, but its 50Td fuel capacity only makes sense if it's J2/1G built under '77 rules, or is J1/1G and basically a streamlined Type Y with different interior fittings). The Seeker is also free-and clear as a benefit.
There seems to be a strong bias toward Size A drives in ships that are mustering-out benefits.
The greater capabilities of the other mustering-out benefit ships are offset by liabilities: the Lab Ship is on loan (not owned by the PC), and the Corsair is presumably stolen and on the run.
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AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
S4 was published in 1979, so presumably uses LBB2'77 rules.
The cost of the ship only makes sense it it is J-2, it's very expensive...
Indeed. Without building it on a spreadsheet, the cost difference looks like the difference between a jump drive A and B (give or take the ship's boat v. launch cost and the custom hull cost).
i think the idea of a "Yacht" for space travel is misplaced.
The simple tenet is that space travel sucks. No matter how "comfortable" they try to make it, you're still locked in a can. And people don't like that, as a general rule.
There's value in viewing a Yacht as a "home away from home". Simply, a floating Winnebago.
Rather going someplace and staying local, you go someplace and stay in your ship.
But that travel part, going from Starport A to Starport B, is simply tolerated.
As a general rule, the picture of a yacht against a sandy beach or floating in crystal blue water is due as much to the overall climate as it is to the beach. Yachts tend to be "open air". Eating and visiting on the deck. When folks think boating, they don't think locked up in the cabin cursing the climate control system. They think drinks with fruit, bikini clad sunbathers, fighting that big fish off the stern.
While I'm sure there are yachts in Norway, most are at anchor and empty 9 mos out of the year, or steaming south.
Space yachts don't get to pick their climate. It's space. Everywhere they go, it's space. Cold. Dark. Deadly. What's the first thing people in space want to do when they dock? Get out of space.
There's not a lot to see in space. Sure, orbital views can be very nice (for those that don't get disoriented or sick viewing them), but it's not that same as walking out on a deck, or balcony, or city street in to a sun filled day.
Unless you're walking out on to the tarmac of a downport, you can't do that in a space yacht. The vaccsuit kind of spoils the whole experience me thinks.
So, there is a place for private, luxury travel between planets. But the primary goal is to get out of space as comfortably as possible.
It would be interesting to see a downport with "luxury berths" for "smaller" starships.
The ships hum down on their anti gravity drives (rather than burning everything to cinders with fusion rocket), and they land in to a well furnished mini-oasis. Private pool, local quarters, easy access to transportation in to town, etc. Definitely a home away from home.
The simple tenet is that space travel sucks. No matter how "comfortable" they try to make it, you're still locked in a can. And people don't like that, as a general rule.
There's value in viewing a Yacht as a "home away from home". Simply, a floating Winnebago.
Rather going someplace and staying local, you go someplace and stay in your ship.
But that travel part, going from Starport A to Starport B, is simply tolerated.
As a general rule, the picture of a yacht against a sandy beach or floating in crystal blue water is due as much to the overall climate as it is to the beach. Yachts tend to be "open air". Eating and visiting on the deck. When folks think boating, they don't think locked up in the cabin cursing the climate control system. They think drinks with fruit, bikini clad sunbathers, fighting that big fish off the stern.
While I'm sure there are yachts in Norway, most are at anchor and empty 9 mos out of the year, or steaming south.
Space yachts don't get to pick their climate. It's space. Everywhere they go, it's space. Cold. Dark. Deadly. What's the first thing people in space want to do when they dock? Get out of space.
There's not a lot to see in space. Sure, orbital views can be very nice (for those that don't get disoriented or sick viewing them), but it's not that same as walking out on a deck, or balcony, or city street in to a sun filled day.
Unless you're walking out on to the tarmac of a downport, you can't do that in a space yacht. The vaccsuit kind of spoils the whole experience me thinks.
So, there is a place for private, luxury travel between planets. But the primary goal is to get out of space as comfortably as possible.
It would be interesting to see a downport with "luxury berths" for "smaller" starships.
The ships hum down on their anti gravity drives (rather than burning everything to cinders with fusion rocket), and they land in to a well furnished mini-oasis. Private pool, local quarters, easy access to transportation in to town, etc. Definitely a home away from home.
