Stranded?

[tpetters]

I am looking at the Stranded module from the free MgT2E Starter Pack. The adventure starts aboard the trader Mathvein with the player characters boarding escape pods and bailing out...

I have looked at the ship plans in the Core Rules for the Free Trader, Far Trader, Fat Trader, and even the ubiquitous Type-S Scout. Unless I am missing something, none of these have "escape pods". The Scout carries an Air/Raft, but giving the PCs an Air/Raft makes for a very short adventure. I see the Rescue Bubble under Survival Equipment, but this is a plastic inflatable bubble and likely would not survive re-entry.

How do I get the PCs to the surface?

 

[Badenov]

Unless your Rescue Bubble also comes with a Grav Belt and your mishap was in Orbit, your Rescue Bubble is just going to give you time to think about how doomed you are. I imagine a Rescue Bubble is fine on reentry if you're also using a grav belt, even one of those single-use belts.

 

[bookwyrm]

1. Mathvein IS the escape pod used to get to the surface. It ends up a pile of scrap metal that the characters are just barely able to survive.

2. Use the escape pods as is and don't worry about what any other sources say.

3. Redesign the Mathvein so that it has enough escape pod space for any crew & passengers.

4. Psionic Teleportation. This is harder to justify than escape pods but makes more sense.

5. They're in a cantina celebrating a profitable score, and when they wake up with a terrible hangover, they're stranded on a strange planet somewhere with just their clothes and whatever is in their pockets and bags they had with them at the cantina.

 

[Vargr Breath]

Drop Capsule - Traveller

wiki.travellerrpg.com

Deck cargo for delivery to the navy.

 

[kilemall]

Fun option to consider- Star Citizen has several ships where the sleep berth IS the escape pod. Slide into the bed, seals up, eject. Easiest way I can think of retrofitting without altering the ship floor plan.

 

[Condottiere]

Interestingly enough, an issue I was just thinking about, as a general concept.

I think it's pretty circumstantial, with spacestations having escape pods specific to get to the next planet surface, safely.

With spacecraft, escape pods are just to get away from a critically damaged vessel in an emergency, as opposed to a sustainable lifeboat, or a jump capable lifeship.

 

[whartung]

Star Citizen has several ships where the sleep berth IS the escape pod.

Not sure how comfortable I am sleeping with my head next to explosive bolts.

 

[Condottiere]

Reboot of Lost In Space, has the Jupiters with entire family suite.

 

[kilemall]

Not sure how comfortable I am sleeping with my head next to explosive bolts.

Apparently comfortable with liquid hydrogen all over your hull.

 

[tpetters]

I like the idea of bunks-as-escape-pods. I rode an ejection seat for six years, so "sleeping with my head next to explosive bolts" is a non-issue for me. The text specifies that "the cabin doors sealed and would not open". This will explain why they can't get to the air raft. I am also considering conventional ejection seats on the bridge and other duty stations, and having the ship enter the atmosphere before the crew bails out.

 

[Condottiere]

If you like explosive bolts, you could repurpose the drop tanks as staterooms.

 

[spank]

As other people have said, drop pods are the most likely answer. MGT 2e High Guard is the most likely source for these, and it lists them as TL-8, costing 20,000 Cr.
They take 1 passenger, and need 1Dton for installation on a ship.
Beyond that the description is fairly basic, heavy re-entry shielding, and provides a bumpy, but safe descent thru the atmosphere.
TBH, that is all the details you really need.
The escape pods have already done their jobs, and are superfluous at this point.
However, the rest of the adventure need filled out in a similar way.
This might help.

https://www.reddit.com/r/traveller/s/DFvcOmuDOZ

I am looking at the Stranded module from the free MgT2E Starter Pack. The adventure starts aboard the trader Mathvein with the player characters boarding escape pods and bailing out...

I have looked at the ship plans in the Core Rules for the Free Trader, Far Trader, Fat Trader, and even the ubiquitous Type-S Scout. Unless I am missing something, none of these have "escape pods". The Scout carries an Air/Raft, but giving the PCs an Air/Raft makes for a very short adventure. I see the Rescue Bubble under Survival Equipment, but this is a plastic inflatable bubble and likely would not survive re-entry.

How do I get the PCs to the surface?

Drop Capsule - Traveller

wiki.travellerrpg.com

Deck cargo for delivery to the navy.

 

[tpetters]

Thanks for the link. Lots of good advice for running the module there.

I have High Guard 2022. Is there a page reference for the "drop pods"? Where on a typical player's ship (Type S Scout or Type A Free/ Far Trader or Type R Fat Trader) would they be located?

I am leaning toward escape hatches and survival kits in the cabins, and ejection seats on the bridge and engineering. The ship would be inside the atmosphere when the crew bails out, avoiding burning up on atmospheric re-entry. If the crew can move about the ship, they would most likely bail out in the air/raft and could use that to bypass all the difficult terrain and float straight to the settlement. That's why the adventure specifies "cabin doors automatically sealed and would not open..."

 

[spank]

High Guard 2016 has them on page 43, and 2022 has them on page 63.
The A or A2 traders or Empress Marava traders are probably your best bet to base the ship on, as the passenger area is separated from the rest of the ship by a lift.
As for the crew, the end of the adventure talks about what actually happened with the ship, after the mis-jump, the jump bubble collapsed and destroyed the bridge, and probably most of the crew. There will be some bodies on the wreck when the players find the ship, See page 28 for details.

 

[whartung]

I mean, I don't know the adventure, but if you ask the players, "I need a quick list of the stuff you have in your pockets, you know wandering around the ship".

Then, "Ok, you all find yourself strapped into a claustrophobia panic inducing coffin of an escape pod, and feels like its getting a bit warm. You notice fiery plasma and a blue planet behind it, spinning in the window. Thankfully, most of the lights are green and the soothing computer tone assures you that you'll be landing in 7 minutes."

Then you can punt on the whole "where are the escape pods" and get on with the adventure!

Put a weeks rations and water, emergency tent, a first aid kit, a radio, and a carbine with 5 magazines of ammunition, along with a "Get to know your GTFO-9000 Escape Pod" manual, illustrated like a comic book in to the box at your feet (the one that with the bright red sticker "OPEN AFTER LANDING" on it). The pod even has a USB port for charging!






HAHAHA!

 

[Condottiere]

Nest egg.

 

[casquilho]

Put a weeks rations and water, emergency tent, a first aid kit, a radio, and a carbine with 5 magazines of ammunition, along with a "Get to know your GTFO-9000 Escape Pod" manual, illustrated like a comic book in to the box at your feet (the one that with the bright red sticker "OPEN AFTER LANDING" on it). The pod even has a USB port for charging!


View attachment 6322



HAHAHA!

I happen to like the image. Thanks for sharing.

 

[spank]

The basic take-away --- don't get too hung up on the details, just roll with the adventure setup

I mean, I don't know the adventure, but if you ask the players, "I need a quick list of the stuff you have in your pockets, you know wandering around the ship".

Then, "Ok, you all find yourself strapped into a claustrophobia panic inducing coffin of an escape pod, and feels like its getting a bit warm. You notice fiery plasma and a blue planet behind it, spinning in the window. Thankfully, most of the lights are green and the soothing computer tone assures you that you'll be landing in 7 minutes."

Then you can punt on the whole "where are the escape pods" and get on with the adventure. That goes for players as well as refs.

Put a weeks rations and water, emergency tent, a first aid kit, a radio, and a carbine with 5 magazines of ammunition, along with a "Get to know your GTFO-9000 Escape Pod" manual, illustrated like a comic book in to the box at your feet (the one that with the bright red sticker "OPEN AFTER LANDING" on it). The pod even has a USB port for charging!


View attachment 6322



HAHAHA!