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Yachts larger than 200 tons.

Blue Ghost

Blue Ghost

SOC-14 5K
Knight
In the real world of yachting, there are sort of small regular sized yachts that are roughly 30 to 45 feet in length. Larger yachts go up to 90, sometimes 100 feet.

Then there are "mega" yachts like Spielberg's "Seven Seas", or that Russian billionaire who built a CWIS on his yacht that is, in all respects, an mid sized ocean liner The Eclipse, or others like "Octopus", "Le Grande" and a host of others.

So, that being the case, and thinking of the venerable 200ton in Traveller, would it not make sense that there are larger private vessels owned by trillionaires or quadrillionaires, maybe which are effectively luxury warships?

Thoughts?
 
If you have the cash you build what you want.

So yes, the multi billionaires of the OTU would be able to fund 1000t or even larger yachts for themselves if they so choose.
 
There is a yacht based on the 600dt TypM Subbie in LKW's PDF about the craft. Good legs and quite some space. The front disk makes a nice „0wner/lounge" space.

QLI's Lorimar frighter and Quasar scout would make a nice base. Rip out the backup drives and you have lots of space
 
Blue Ghost said:
So, that being the case, and thinking of the venerable 200ton in Traveller, would it not make sense that there are larger private vessels owned by trillionaires or quadrillionaires, maybe which are effectively luxury warships?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

It is my belief that the handful of offcial ship designs we know of is just a small fraction of the different ship designs that exist in the OTU. The reason we only see one or perhaps two versions of each ship type isn't that they're the only ones there are of each type but simply because the publishers prefer to publish new ship types to publishing variants of existing types.

I once ran an adventure based on the old looney-billionaire-kidnaps-vagrants-and-hunt-them-for-sport plot. Said billionaire had a ship with deckplans that looked amazingly like those of a Tukera longliner (1000T) for his yacht.


Hans
 
Well, of course. When you figure the personal staff a trillionaire needs with him - personal secretary, butler, maids, personal physician and nurse, fitness aide, business aides, and so forth, security staff, cooking staff to feed them all, and housekeeping staff for all of that - and then figure in room for recreational needs and guests, I figure something like a thousand dTon jump-4 Tukera Long-liner's about the bare minimum, especially after you reconfigured it with larger passenger suites and the necessary recreational areas. 2000 dT's probably more fitting.

That 600dT subsidized liner has some nice lines. It might interest multimillionaires or single-digit billionaires, or the fabulously wealthy might buy one for his kids to party in with their friends. The 200-dTonner's for your garden-variety millionaire with a small "m" - Doc Osgood who franchised his plastic therapy salon, old MacDugal with his local chain of Quickieburgers and big dreams, that miner who struck iridium in the Zaibon system.

Eclipse, which you mentioned, had space for a crew of 70, presumably including all those personal staff, and either 15, 18, or 24 passenger suites - depending on which source you read - plus the usual recreationals like swimming pools and hot tubs.
 
On a somewhat personal note...why on earth would you need one of those massive boats anyway? Wow. Incredible.

On a Traveller note; yeah, all those thoughts make sense.
 
Blue Ghost said:
On a somewhat personal note...why on earth would you need one of those massive boats anyway? Wow. Incredible...
Click to expand...

Networking.

You invite rich and influential peers onto your boat, you show them a good time, you impress them with your own wealth and power, and when it comes time to negotiate the contract or seek investors for some big project, they're more receptive to your proposals.
 
5900 Dtn Planet Class Yacht.

I'd post that Stats but they are on another machine. Mostly used for the trip back and forth as a Mobile embassy for the major noble houses far from Imperial Core.

The Pool was a Nice touch, one must say.

Missile bays? Why those are for Anti missile missiles.

Fighter Bays? No, No, those are for Grav Limo's and Security Speeders.

Troop bays? Oh, Well that maybe. The Household Security people to use for their doings.

Why Yes those are Mithril Twist Wood Railings... Pricey I know, But they are Solid and do add to the decor.
 
Carlobrand said:
Networking.

You invite rich and influential peers onto your boat, you show them a good time, you impress them with your own wealth and power, and when it comes time to negotiate the contract or seek investors for some big project, they're more receptive to your proposals.
Click to expand...

All of whiich would make for few brilliant Trav scenarios, rangung from the "we are the hired help to replace some sick crew" ('natch, this was a set-up for a kidnapping, with the players caught up in it), to the PCs being bodyguards, right up to high-level (rich) PCs _being_ the ones doing the hob-nobbing... ;-)
 
The second Traveller character I rolled up (summer 1983) retired from the IN as an Admiral... I designed a 600dt yacht for her.

I based it on a kitbashed model I had made back in Jr. High school (mid-1970s), using parts of a Klingon D7 cruiser model. I made deck plans as well.

I'll put it up in the appropriate place later.
 
As a pre-teen for three or four summers I got to spend a few weeks of summer vacation a year on these things;

http://www.cowesonline.com/d/Solent racing bcup08d1 cc Paul Wyeth.jpg

Recently I found a yachting forum, and the most of the people there own something like this;

http://www.superyachtrentals.com/images/exterior_large2_blue.jpg

Or this;

http://erwinnavyanto.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sailing-boat.jpg

But there's an entirely different class of folks who own these;

http://www.modelshipmaster.com/products/Super_yachts/eclipse/Princess Mariana Night Lights(1).jpg

Me, I'm just a dude who used to sail, and who now lives paycheque to paycheque. I will never own one of these things, nor would I want to, nor do I feel the need to be on one. But someone, and it's not just a dozen rich folks around the world, but thousands of super-wealthy people own these kinds of vessels. I mean, wow.

This thing;

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Octopus-yacht.jpg

... rivals frigates and destroyers in size. Heck, it may be as big as a small cruiser or regular cruiser (minus the armaments). A small abode for you and a thousand of your best friends.

So, getting back to Traveller, there're some good thoughts on the mega-wealthy and their rich mobile homes (minus the cinder blocks and Winnebago markings).

I think this is rich fodder for adventure material, as a couple people posted here.
 
Carlobrand said:
Well, of course. When you figure the personal staff a trillionaire needs with him - personal secretary, butler, maids, personal physician and nurse, fitness aide, business aides, and so forth, security staff, cooking staff to feed them all, and housekeeping staff for all of that - and then figure in room for recreational needs and guests, I figure something like a thousand dTon jump-4 Tukera Long-liner's about the bare minimum, especially after you reconfigured it with larger passenger suites and the necessary recreational areas. 2000 dT's probably more fitting.

That 600dT subsidized liner has some nice lines. It might interest multimillionaires or single-digit billionaires, or the fabulously wealthy might buy one for his kids to party in with their friends. The 200-dTonner's for your garden-variety millionaire with a small "m" - Doc Osgood who franchised his plastic therapy salon, old MacDugal with his local chain of Quickieburgers and big dreams, that miner who struck iridium in the Zaibon system.

Eclipse, which you mentioned, had space for a crew of 70, presumably including all those personal staff, and either 15, 18, or 24 passenger suites - depending on which source you read - plus the usual recreationals like swimming pools and hot tubs.
Click to expand...

All that makes sense. And if said rich type is a do-gooder, then he probably has one of these things that act as his command in control and not just his head office as he hires honorable mercs to rescue kidnapped children, overturn or resist a hostile local government and the like.

That would make for an excellent campaign.
 
Here's Romanov's yacht "The Eclipse", which is about 2/3 the size of the Bismark, and nearly just as tall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLPG75MbjsY

A Traveller equivalent for some Trillionaire would make for an excellent campaign base. I know I already mentioned this, and ergo someone's going to run with the idea, but I thought I'd reinforce the point here to help vary the Traveller zeitgeist for everyone.

Here's a news' piece on the beast;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nojuCX1N-Z0

Me, I'd be happy with one of these;

http://www.lasersailingdirect.com/images/LaserSailingDirect/newboats.jpg

Anyway, Romanov's yacht also has an "escape submarine" in case of attack. Can you imagine? Wow.

In Traveller, would such a yacht carry something like a 200 ton scout ship for a quick getaway?
 
Blue Ghost said:
...Anyway, Romanov's yacht also has an "escape submarine" in case of attack. Can you imagine? Wow.

In Traveller, would such a yacht carry something like a 200 ton scout ship for a quick getaway?
Click to expand...

Getaway? For the most part, I expect these ships to go places that are pretty secure, at least from outside threats. When they don't, I expect the fabulously wealthy will have a small jump-capable private escort or two along that can intervene and cover its retreat if needed. Against internal threat, a stout saferoom is his best bet, a secure room he can retreat to where he can call for help from the local system while taking control of the computer to coordinate the automated defenses and prevent enemies from controlling the ship's drives.

If he really wants an escape ship, a 100dT scout/courier is actually very well designed to mount externally the same way you mount a gig to a Gazelle, and it has adequate range to get to someplace civilized. Convert the three tons of cargo to emergency low berths, maybe convert the 4 tons of Air/Raft space to emergency low berths, and you've got room to pull off 12 to 28 passengers - the master' guests and key staff. 4 staterooms: the pilot and a gunner double-berth one, three left for the master and 2 to 4 others. I call it a ketch.

Using Book 5 rules gives you greater flexibility because at TL 15 you've got 26 dT available on top of the usual 4-stateroom+air/raft design, plenty of room for added speed or range or more passenger rooms.
 
Carlobrand said:
Well, of course. When you figure the personal staff a trillionaire needs with him - personal secretary, butler, maids, personal physician and nurse, fitness aide, business aides, and so forth, security staff, cooking staff to feed them all, and housekeeping staff for all of that - and then figure in room for recreational needs and guests, I figure something like a thousand dTon jump-4 Tukera Long-liner's about the bare minimum, especially after you reconfigured it with larger passenger suites and the necessary recreational areas. 2000 dT's probably more fitting.

That 600dT subsidized liner has some nice lines. It might interest multimillionaires or single-digit billionaires, or the fabulously wealthy might buy one for his kids to party in with their friends. The 200-dTonner's for your garden-variety millionaire with a small "m" - Doc Osgood who franchised his plastic therapy salon, old MacDugal with his local chain of Quickieburgers and big dreams, that miner who struck iridium in the Zaibon system.

Eclipse, which you mentioned, had space for a crew of 70, presumably including all those personal staff, and either 15, 18, or 24 passenger suites - depending on which source you read - plus the usual recreationals like swimming pools and hot tubs.
Click to expand...

Currently you can buy the Boeing Business Jet... originally a private aircraft using a B737-700/800/900 airliner (126-189 seats in airline service).

Boeing now also offers B777/B787-based BBJs, as well as one for those corporate heads who consider themselves as important as the leader of a nation... based on the 467-seat B747-8!

747 VIP: version of the 747-8 ordered by the Boeing Business Jet division. There are currently nine orders for this aircraft (one has been delivered)*. The VIP 747 is delivered by BBJ in a "green" condition, meaning there are no interior furnishings so that the owner can design it to personal preference. This plane has a range of 9,260 nm.
Click to expand...

* as of 15 July 2011




So yeah, your yacht can be as big as any passenger liner if you can afford it!
 
Non-standard Yatch

Based on something that I am working on in my real life, I would lean toward having something on the order of a modified subsidized merchant, with Jump-2 drives installed and enough fuel internally for 2 successive Jump-2, along with 4 hard points with turrets mounted, a couple of air rafts, an ATV (wheeled, based on a modified BTR-60) and maybe something on the order of a WW2 DUKW, for moving cargo from a base camp to a more remote site. Given that the space allotted for state rooms is more than generous (it is more than is allowed on your cruise ships for a 4 person cabin, been there, sailed multiple times on them), I would boost the ship's life support system to handle a lot larger crew, and increase supply allowances accordingly. I would probably go with a bit larger ships boat as well. Essentially, I would be looking at a private research and exploration ship, not a rich man's plaything.

Now, the following is the kind of yacht that I would be interested in.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.mi0609.sheet.00001a/?co=hh
 
I would imagine amidships to be the worst possible place - a hovering helicopter preparing to land does not need all that superstructure moving around.
 
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