General Does a Detached Scout/Courier come stocked?

[McPerth]

From CT:TTB, page 30, about the Type S scout received as mustering out (same as the what Spinward Flow has quoted above):

The type S scout/courier is a 100-ton dispatch vessel of a type very common within human space. It is the policy of the scout service to make available such surplus scout ships to selected individuals on a reserve basis. The vessels are (hopefully) put to good use while they are not required in service, and both the ship and its pilot are available for recall to duty when needed.(…) Fuel is free at scout bases. Maintenance is free at the scout bases at class B starports. The character is responsible for all other costs (berthing, upkeep, and crew costs) as the ship is used.

(Boldened parts are mine)

See that the ship and the character receiving it are considered on reserve, and, while most costs are responsibility of the character, two of the highest ones (fuel and maintenance) may be supplied by the IISS…

Do you believe this ship, on those conditions, will be bare bones? I, personally, don’t believe so, and I guess it would be fairly well equipped, and probably even (lightly) armed, ready for duty as transferred.

See also that, at the character’s death, the IISS will reclaim it, as it seems to be (according the description) on a usufruct basis, not as property.

 

[McPerth]

I am not sure where but i thought somewhere I had read that scouts will be debriefed at scout bases about their travels

From CT:LBB6 (scouts), page 5, Detached Duty branch description:

In addition, the Detached Duty Office controls all surplus IISS craft (scout ships and courier vessels), making them available to some ex-Scouts if that will help the IISS in its missions, The office is divided into two branches- Records and Intelligence.

(…)

The Intelligence Branch is an information gathering agency for the Scouts. Its primary function is to debrief detached duty Scouts when they visit scout bases for refuelling or maintenance on their vessels. The Intelligence Branch also maintains active agents (spies) in areas where information is vitally needed

 

[whartung]

usufruct basis

Boy that word just rolls off the tongue, where did you dig that one up?

 

[McPerth]

Boy that word just rolls off the tongue, where did you dig that one up?

The truth? from the transator...

It's quite a usual term, both in Spanish and in Catalan, and that's what the translator gave me as translation (and an on-line English dictionary confirmed). Is unusual in English? How would you say it?

 

[Vargr Breath]

It could be when a reservist is recalled for service their ship would be upgraded for the mission.

 

[Spinward Flow]

it seems to be (according the description) on a usufruct basis, not as property.

Link: Usufruct

Is unusual in English? How would you say it?

I for one have never heard the word before in my life ... but given that it's a legal specific term, that's not entirely surprising. It also seems to be a somewhat archaic term, but it is definitely an accurate translation word for the term you were wanting to use.

 

[whartung]

How would you say it?

I would probably say "authorized" or something along those lines.

And, yea, I've never seen that word before either. I appreciate looking at the definition, how this is a quite correct word, it's simply not in my vocabulary.

 

[Black Vulmea]

IMTU the IISS wants its DD scouts ready to take on assignments immediately, so the recipient of a type S is issued the following as standard:

• a TL 15 vacc suit, the standard IISS uniform as per Grand Survey but in oxide green instead of the horizon blue of active duty Scouts - DD Scouts are sometimes called "olives" or "greenies" by active duty Scouts
• a TL 15 personal communicator as per Grand Census
• an emergency vacc suit for each bunk in the type S (eight typically, assuming double occupancy)
• a standard survival kit for each bunk in the type S
• mechanical, electrical, and metal-working tool kits and a map box in the ship's locker
• a high-end 3D holographic entertainment system, standard on IISS ships for crew morale

A DD scout can request additional items at a Scout base or way station; if they can demonstrate a need and relevance to the service, it may be issued.

All ships IMTU are subject to the 77 Quirks rules; an IISS type S automatically has the bad air scrubber and premium entertainment system quirks. They may be armed and/or modified, as per "New Ideas for Old Ships" in Dragon 51 (July 81).

In my BeltStrike campaign, the DD Scout character's type S, the Kikarmur, came armed with a pulse laser, a stateroom converted to a break-bulk cargo hold to store supplies for long missions, fancy ergonomic bridge consoles and couches, and non-standard fuel scoops that increase the time for wilderness refueling by 50%.

 

[Condottiere]

If the scout and his ship are being activated, then it behooves the Service to ready it.

If the vacuum suits disappear between every maintenance period, it's rather likely that the scout himself, has to cough up their replacement cost.

 

[McPerth]

If the scout and his ship are being activated, then it behooves the Service to ready it.

But at times they may be activated for a short but immediate mission (let's say, take a drug or vaccine to a nearby, lower TL, planet enduring an epidemic). So, they'd better be ready at all times.

OTOH, if so, to modify it requires IISS permission (that uses to be given upon asking if it's a clear improvement)

 

[Condottiere]

I rather doubt there's a single procedure involved.

As I recall, one way to bribe the scouts to come in and report back anything that happened, is free servicing.

Those reports are likely fed into an artificial intelligence programme, to detect and predict patterns.

Also, how many scouts are jaloping around the Imperium, with their antiquated scoutships?

 

[whartung]

Also, how many scouts are jaloping around the Imperium, with their antiquated scoutships?

This suggests some mandatory reporting regimen as well (could be as simple as checking in at a starport), but go off grid for 6 months, there may be consequences.

In order to recall the ship, they need to know where it is. They could certainly grant the Scout a 6 month window, but they'd have to request it in advance.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Although this isn't exactly Traveller setting stuff ... it's uncomfortably adjacent enough to ... "count" ... as being Almost Traveller™ if you squint a bit, so ...

Jill is just way too good at this kind of thing ...

 

[Janitor_Prime]

Just a big bottle of slivo

View attachment 7252

Oh No! It's "Slip in a Ditch!"

Violent KFOR suppressed memories begin roiling.

 

[Dragoner]

Oh No! It's "Slip in a Ditch!"

Violent KFOR suppressed memories begin roiling.

The pic is a good cure for the Promaja. I was at a big Serbian wedding, and the Bride's Father kept getting us to do shots, and then there was the big circle dancing:

Getting faster and faster until you fall down.

 

[Janitor_Prime]

The truth? from the transator...

It's quite a usual term, both in Spanish and in Catalan, and that's what the translator gave me as translation (and an on-line English dictionary confirmed). Is unusual in English? How would you say it?

I personally have never seen or used this word. I don't think anyone the speaks American English outside of a legal profession in contract law or real estate has ever seen it.

However, I understand translator pain. I was assigned to Cuartel de la OTAN outside Madrid. The Castellano Espanol uses words and phrases that fell out of use in British English long before Christopher Columbus heaved off from Portugal for fame and riches.

 

[Spenser TR]

I'd go for plot points - maybe someone in authority at the granting waystation (or whatever) leaves some gear or something specific for this crew. Maybe a buddy there of one of the intended crew does, for old times sake. Maybe that's a tradition in this subsector - friends and frenemies all leave stuff in the ship you get; some of it's inside jokes, some useful, some a PITA. I'd use the gear to tell part of a story, dangle some stuff for later. Especially in the software...

 

[kilemall]

I'd go for plot points - maybe someone in authority at the granting waystation (or whatever) leaves some gear or something specific for this crew. Maybe a buddy there of one of the intended crew does, for old times sake. Maybe that's a tradition in this subsector - friends and frenemies all leave stuff in the ship you get; some of it's inside jokes, some useful, some a PITA. I'd use the gear to tell part of a story, dangle some stuff for later. Especially in the software...

Shipwarming ‘gifts’.

 

[Condottiere]

The fuel processor can probably be tweaked to produce ethanol.

Water to wine, so to speak.

 

[Grav_Moped]

The fuel processor can probably be tweaked to produce ethanol.

Water to wine, so to speak.

Edition-specific. The LBB2'81 version of the Type S did not need one; the drives were hardened to handle contaminated fuel.

IMTU (and probably what they originally expected for collecting unrefined fuel) the raw "fuel input" gets converted in an empty fuel tank cell. Water is electrolyzed into 2H2 and O2; the H2 gets chilled and compressed, most of the O2 gets discarded, and some water gets left un-cracked and used to sluice out leftover crud. Scooped gas gets thermally separated, and anything that's not H2 gets discarded.

This is an emergency fallback procedure built into streamlined ships even without fuel processors.