X-boat route silliness

[Doyle Hunt]

Can't remember where I first saw it, if it was canon for some version of Traveller or just a house rule…

X-boat routes should be laid out to connect all Class A and Class B starports within a polity, and all Sector and subsector capitals regardless of starport class, by routes not to exceed J4, though they *can* be shorter if the ports are closer together.

Class C and worse ports should only be part of the X-boat route if the Class A/B ports are more than 4 parsecs apart and an intermediate stop is necessary for refueling.

When creating my own sectors/subsectors, I applied this rule of thumb with one modification of my own, in that I included Hi-Pop Class C ports along with the Class A and Class B starports.

When a series of 4~5 ports all in a line and all on a main are shown connected by a series of J1 x-boat routes, it does *not* mean that all x-boats stop at all ports along the way. Four boats could be sent out at the same time, one to the first port, one to the second, and so forth, and info would arrive at all four ports in one week, rather than taking four weeks to reach the fourth world with three intermediate stops. Showing four parallel routes, each of a different length, would unnecessarily clutter the map, and so it ends up *looking* like four J-1 routes in a straight line when mapped.

Yeah, it's retconning. Yeah, it's non-canonical. But it makes sense from nonsense.

 

[HG_B]

Can't remember where I first saw it, if it was canon for some version of Traveller or just a house rule…

X-boat routes should be laid out to connect all Class A and Class B starports within a polity,

That'd be pretty wasteful of J4 ships if the A&B's were close together. You connect the short hops with J2 Couriers...

 

[robject]

Original LBB3 had the rules for randomly generating trade routes. These probably became the x-boat routes of the SM and then the rule was dropped from revised edition.

I seem to recall hearing that the Xboat routes were hand-built by eyeballing a large map of the Marches. The vague rule was apparently to connect the capitals and major worlds, stopping at minor worlds as needed, but not being particularly efficient about it. Like the Xboat itself, a meta-plot device.

 

[atpollard]

Let me tell you about the traffic light where I work.

The Florida Department of Transportation built a new east-west highway and planned on relocating the streetlight on the north-south corridor one block over to align with the new east-west highway. The condominium of retired people who lived near the old traffic light position objected to it because they would now need to turn right, drive one block, and make a u-turn in order to turn left. The FDOT was fully prepared to live with their unhappiness.

... but it was an election year.
... and a US Senator in a close race to retain his seat visited that year.
... and the people were promised that they would keep their Traffic Light.

That was ten years ago, and we now enjoy three traffic lights on three consecutive blocks with nearly a mile gap to the next traffic light in either direction.

I cannot imagine a 3000 year old bureaucracy, but I can very easily imagine three consecutive J1 links on an X-Boat route where one J3 would suffice.

I would suggest that the situation may be even more bizarre if the x-boats actually take the more efficient jumps (skipping worlds) when passing through the region, but change from ship to ship which worlds they stop at in a carefully negotiated schedule handed down by a committee of nobles from all of the worlds involved - including those further along the jump network. Changing the schedule or route would require forming another committee to reopen the negotiation - it took four years to agree upon the current schedule, so good luck getting lots of career diplomats to agree to start that process over again.

Just some thoughts on reality and Traveller.

 

[rancke]

I cannot imagine a 3000 year old bureaucracy, but I can very easily imagine three consecutive J1 links on an X-Boat route where one J3 would suffice.

Can you imagine the pony express building way stations off the direct route and ride in loops? That's a much closer analogy, provided you believe the X-boats were still the primary way to send messages across the Imperium.

But aside from that, X-boats are unusual in that they don't follow tracks or roads. Side tracks to important worlds are plausible; doglegs to insignificant worlds are not, because there is no motive to introduce them and no reason not to have (most of) the X-boats follow the direct route. There is no planetary ruler that scores any political points for running X-boats to Pixie.

Nor is there any upside for the sector duke at Mora in having the X-boats take six jumps instead of three to get to Rhylanor or nine instead of five to get to Regina.


Hans

 

[Senjak]

Imperial Navy and Scout Service

Did I read the thread all the way through? Course not! Partially because I'd gotten enough information that a number of ideas had spun up. They may not work for your game, but my players will have fun. And in the end, that's what counts.

My Imperium is one of conspiracies withing conspiracies. Even when the players drift along just having fun doing *whatever* they get noticed. They are interesting people mostly because they are smart and notice things.

Even though I detest the destruction of the Imperium that GDW published, there were a number of interesting bits in there. The slippery slope that was the end of life as the characters knew it was fueled by secret conspiracies. The fleets that wrecked havoc across known space didn't come out of a vacuum. And the seeds of what might be can be found in 1107 and earlier.

You just have to be a smart character in the wrong place at the right time.

There isn't a giant secrete black budget for a secret Jump-6 route, rather it is a series of favors owed, and boons granted.

There isn't a fleet of secret Jump-6 capable couriers, but rather a fairly quiet few ships with really good legs. You run the occasional package for us anywhere, and we let you keep your ship. Perhaps we even give you fuel when you're doing stuff for us, and spare parts at wholesale.

The Emperor and all the major factions are fighting a secret quiet war. A war against all of the outsiders, and a war against each other. It is like 1950s Berlin all over.

Most people never see the battle. Most people go about their lives and barely travel the subsector they were born in. Most people only see the happy, strong Imperium headed by their Emperor on the Iridium Throne.

Player characters aren't most people.

I have perhaps said too much. I love this thread, because although I don't agree with everything posted here, It has helped me sort out the cobwebs from far too many years of not playing or running Traveller.

And really, all a sector leader has to do is convince just one other sector leader to follow his cause, cause then others will follow.

As to 500 years, well, that really isn't that long if you've got anagathics (anti-aging drugs) available to the ultra-rich. A spider that will live a thousand years or more can afford to wait 500 years...

 

[robject]

I cannot imagine a 3000 year old bureaucracy, but I can very easily imagine three consecutive J1 links on an X-Boat route where one J3 would suffice.

I would suggest that the situation may be even more bizarre if the x-boats actually take the more efficient jumps (skipping worlds) when passing through the region[...]

Seems wrong to me. I would like to think that the Xboat route jumps as nearly close to 4 and 5* parsecs as possible. So when there's a run of three Jump-1 on the route, it wouldn't be followed. HOWEVER I can see politics making things suboptimal. After all, that's a great source of plot hooks.

* There's a 5-hex jump in the Marches, thereby suggesting that there is at least one set of Xboats with Jump-5 capability.

 

[77topaz]

Seems wrong to me. I would like to think that the Xboat route jumps as nearly close to 4 and 5* parsecs as possible. So when there's a run of three Jump-1 on the route, it wouldn't be followed. HOWEVER I can see politics making things suboptimal. After all, that's a great source of plot hooks.

* There's a 5-hex jump in the Marches, thereby suggesting that there is at least one set of Xboats with Jump-5 capability.

I think that route got retconned.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Let me tell you about the traffic light where I work.

Dear Lord, I think I've gotten off the highway to get gas at that intersection. You look around and wonder "how did they manage this?"

 

[inexorabletash]

X-boat routes should be laid out to connect all Class A and Class B starports within a polity, and all Sector and subsector capitals regardless of starport class, by routes not to exceed J4, though they *can* be shorter if the ports are closer together.

That'd be pretty wasteful of J4 ships if the A&B's were close together. You connect the short hops with J2 Couriers...

I seem to recall hearing that the Xboat routes were hand-built by eyeballing a large map of the Marches. The vague rule was apparently to connect the capitals and major worlds, stopping at minor worlds as needed, but not being particularly efficient about it. Like the Xboat itself, a meta-plot device.

When I've put routes together (admittedly, for a whopping one whole sector...) I followed the above rules. Identify "important" worlds (class A/B starports, capitals as potential nodes. Run xboat routes through the sector to try and ensure that all important worlds and most other worlds are within J-2 of a node, and that routes are J-4 or J-3 if necessary.

But most importantly, make it look good, and make it serve as a plot device - e.g. the characters get contracted to do some J-2 courier work to a world not served by the xboat routes.

 

[DangerousThing]

Nope, it was a plot device.

If so, it was a bad plot device. I think that the X-Boat system is something like the bureaucracy would think of to get messages across the Imperium while maximizing communication speed and minimizing cost.

There was nothing stopping the designers from inventing a larger xboat even in 1st printing. A J6 xboat even. With maneuver drives, weapons, a full crew, decent cargo, etc. etc. Nothing except a vision of an interstellar pony express postal service where a single rider (lone pilot, hence the required 100ton max hull) carried the mail and it changed hands at regular stops and a fresh horse (fueled and waiting xboat) would gallop (jump) on with it at full speed to the next post (tender).

I think it was cost that kept the ships at 100t. Despite the almost certain loss of a few ships (and their pilots) each year still made it much less expensive than building 200t ships that had more crew and a higher jump capacity.

As for the vision, having a small M-Drive in the X-Boat would have no impact on the image of the "Interstellar Pony Express" service. It would increase the survivability of the X-Boats and reduce the total operating budget.

And that is why people try to make the xboat idea work with the new rules, to maintain that vision. The problem is people wanting to make the xboat something else, imo, and claiming it makes sense because the rules could "fix" it now. It's not really broken

IMHO it was broken from the start. If they couldn't fit in an M-Drive, they should have gone for J-3 with a better layout of the routes.

And if they really wanted to go for the vision, they should have been armed. One of the most common tropes in the Western movies was the lone Pony Express rider being in a shootout with multiple bandits while still riding to deliver the mail. Now, that would have been stupid, because you'd never have enough weaponry to stop any real ship with either no M-Drive or a fractional M-Drive. Though on the other hand, you should be able to get a lot of agility from that P-4 power plant...

 

[Amber Chancer]

Just a thought ... are the X-boats really modelled on the Pony Express? Or would the Mongol Imperial messenger service of Genghis Khan be a better analogy?

 

[Dragoner]

Just a thought ... are the X-boats really modelled on the Pony Express? Or would the Mongol Imperial messenger service of Genghis Khan be a better analogy?

They took an idealized representation of the pony express, it is on the IISS x boat logo.

 

[travlar]

And if they really wanted to go for the vision, they should have been armed. One of the most common tropes in the Western movies was the lone Pony Express rider being in a shootout with multiple bandits while still riding to deliver the mail. Now, that would have been stupid, because you'd never have enough weaponry to stop any real ship with either no M-Drive or a fractional M-Drive. Though on the other hand, you should be able to get a lot of agility from that P-4 power plant...

Well, they would be outgunned, certainly, but not not necessarily hopelessly, especially with a tender or some other such ship moving in to the rescue. When you've got reinforcements, you just have to hold out until they get there.