100-dTon TL 12 Prison Transport

[coliver988]

One problem with this method is reliability of the transport ship crew (scenario time for gaming). There could be several versions of this. The transport ship is contracted to take the prisoners to planet / system X. They load up and then disappear. This could be for various reasons including:

Payoff of the crew by one or more of the prisoners or their not in prison associates. Here the prisoners include members of a gang, cartel, or other major criminal enterprise.

Same scenario only enemies of one or more of the prisoners want them.

The crew knows where they can get a big reward for showing up with one or more of the prisoners.

The ship is a scheduled transport rather than a government run ship that can be kept off public records as to when and where it's going. Here, the transport arrives and... PIRATES! Bad guys jump the transport because they have a pretty good idea where it will be and when. The crew having no motivation to retain the prisoner module jettisons it and runs. The pirates only want the module anyway.

Anyway, this is less likely if the ship is one where everything or nothing arrives, not two separate pieces. It would help immensely that the crew were professionals that had been fully vetted and are motivated to do the job correctly and honestly.

Escape is more likely to occur with outside help than by the prisoners themselves. Among the prisoners you'd need some that can run a starship for starters. That might be a tall order to meet.

One of the reasons a lot of ships don't make sense in Traveller: they are here for gaming. While I do like ships to make sense, it is more "what sort of adventure can this ship provide us". I spent a LOT of time way back designing really horrible ships simply because it was fun. I have no idea how many deck plans over the decades have been doodled out that, from a real-world perspective, make zero sense.

Sort of like the ever-present dungeons in fantasy games: the environment and creatures lurking about usually make zero sense from a habitat point of view, they are simply there for the adventure.

Though that is really changing I feel now, based on a lot of the things I read about dungeon creation. So perhaps Traveller ships can start to make more sense, as pointed out by several people here (and a shout out to Spinward Flow's extensive thought experiments on ship design, as well as several others who also work on "practical" ships). Though I'll just keep with my badly designed ships because that is how I have fun.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Sort of like the ever-present dungeons in fantasy games: the environment and creatures lurking about usually make zero sense from a habitat point of view, they are simply there for the adventure.

One of the fun things about medieval defensive architecture (towers, castles, etc.) is how deliberately DEFENSIBLE they were made and intended to be. It's all about creating choke points and putting MAXIMUM PAIN onto those choke points to deter/foil attackers (hint: they're called Murder Holes for a reason!).

Then, even if you manage to penetrate a "layer" of defenses, there are fallback defenses and the interior layout can be deliberately obfuscatory (often done in Japanese castle designs) to put maximum "friction" onto any invading forces. So it's really about Defense In Depth ... and on and on and on and on ...

 

[Enoki]

One of the reasons a lot of ships don't make sense in Traveller: they are here for gaming. While I do like ships to make sense, it is more "what sort of adventure can this ship provide us". I spent a LOT of time way back designing really horrible ships simply because it was fun. I have no idea how many deck plans over the decades have been doodled out that, from a real-world perspective, make zero sense.

Whereas my view is that a more realistic ship often makes for good puzzle solving. I really dislike handing players everything on a silver platter, dumbing things down, and making for easy, unchallenging scenarios with obscene rewards.

Sort of like the ever-present dungeons in fantasy games: the environment and creatures lurking about usually make zero sense from a habitat point of view, they are simply there for the adventure.

Though that is really changing I feel now, based on a lot of the things I read about dungeon creation. So perhaps Traveller ships can start to make more sense, as pointed out by several people here (and a shout out to Spinward Flow's extensive thought experiments on ship design, as well as several others who also work on "practical" ships). Though I'll just keep with my badly designed ships because that is how I have fun.

I think the fun should be in having to actually work towards the reward, think things through, and finding creative ways to win the scenario.

 

[yallambie]

That's the basic schism between our perspectives on this point.

I interpret it as being that the technology has been developed to a point where Medical-3 skill expertise is the "baseline assumption" for a "reliable survival rate" when using low berth technology. So it's more a combo of tech+skill that produces the desired results (everybody lives, except when there are DM penalties due to complications).

However, that's not the exclusive ONLY way to use the technology.
It can be used by the "underskilled" (Medical-1 or 2) with an increased risk for death of low berth occupants. It's not "forbidden" to have "underskilled" medical staff (the RAW allows it, the starship crew minimums regulations allow it), but doing so will incur consequences for low berth passengers/frozen watch.

So the tech "works" but you need "skilled" people to make it reliable, rather than "minimally qualified slackers" (or words to that effect).
Lower the skill levels of the medical staff monitoring the low berths and the death rate climbs ... which SHOULDN'T be an acceptable outcome ... except for the "low berth passage at OWN RISK" clauses in ticket contracts, which don't even stipulate that low berth passengers need to be delivered ALIVE to destinations (just delivered ... alive or dead!).

The thing is, you only need Medical-1 skill to serve as medical crew on a starship ... and that's perfectly fine for "live" crew and passengers (high/mid) ... but if you want your low passenger to "live" through the trip, you really want Medical-3+ on payroll as crew to minimize death rates from low passages.

T20 is a bit more generous in some respects. I've been looking through (don't guarantee I've found everything and my book is pre-errata) and it seems one skill rank in T/Medical will allow you to be an acceptable paramedic for starship operations. If there is an attending medic successful revival requires a DC10 T/Medical skill check (d20 + skill rank + Education modifier). The thing that makes this generous is that there is nothing restricting the normal skill check rules so a careful and conscientious medic who takes things slowly can "take 10" and succeed every time unless there are more negative modifiers than they have skill ranks (although in my experience players often forget "take 10" and just automatically roll dice, simulating, I suppose, someone less thorough, or less committed, or who just wants to go home on time). You can't take 20 because there are consequences for failure. If the medic fails (or isn't there) the passenger must make a DC6 Fortitude (D20) check to survive (but if the medic was there and messed up, their skill ranks ( but not Education modifier) are a positive modifier to the check.

So in T20 medical skill is a factor to a much greater extent and variability than in CT RAW, but it also simulates medical negligence .

You can't take 10 if rushed, threatened or distracted.

 

[Spinward Flow]

You can't take 10 if rushed, threatened or distracted.

I'm not familiar with T20 ... but just for the sake of conversation ... let's say that "thawing" a low berth occupant takes 10 minutes per process when not rushed, threatened or distracted (so, "take 10" scenario). That would mean ...

• Sequentially, 1 at a time ... 6 low berths per hour.
• Sequentially, 1 at a time ... 48 low berths per 8 hour shift (not including break times).

24 tons of displacement is enough for either 6x Staterooms (single or double occupancy, optional) or 48x Low Berths (single occupancy) or 24x Emergency Low Berths (single or quad occupancy, optional).

I swear that I did not pick 24 tons displacement = 48 Low Berths (single occupancy) so that an onboard medic would "thaw" an entire 24 ton Box worth of low passengers in a single 8 hour work shift (not including break times).