Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
Mr Fusion?
What do you do during Jump?
- Thread starter LiminalMask
- Start date
ThunderChilde
SOC-13
Given the general discussions that have drifted around here and elsewhere reguarding 'freshers and life support my ideas are thus.
1. It's the far future, your deposits in the fresher are recyled back into grub on the table, air to breath etc.
2.a The parts that are left over after the life support system gets done with it get tanked, containerized, etc. On a PC ship, this can either be transfered back off ship when you dock at a starport with the other umbilicals and lines connected. Its part of the services you pay for at C class and above Starports for certain, and possible at lower.
b. Get tossed out on approach to a planet and allowed to burn up on re-entry where such services are not provided.
3. Seriously, what traveller ship design carried a couple thousand gallons of water and sewage tankage on its deckplan?
4. Backed up toilets/freshers on a starship in jump is a deaths sentance, air and surface contamination, failure of the lifesupport system, and the eventual cost of remediation and recertifactions before being allowed to fly again. Maker help you if a Bwap is is involved at any point.
Most ship designs are hundreds if not a thousand or more years old, using components designed and endlessly tested, certified and used. Fun as the odd rude and disgusting failure maybe, its unlikely and would in MTU trigger atleast an inspection tear down to determine the point of failure by the SPA.
Standard designs and components are a hallmark of Imperial Technology and more or less safe star travel. You do not have trade and a Government covering 11,000 worlds if travel was hazardous and brutal.
1. It's the far future, your deposits in the fresher are recyled back into grub on the table, air to breath etc.
2.a The parts that are left over after the life support system gets done with it get tanked, containerized, etc. On a PC ship, this can either be transfered back off ship when you dock at a starport with the other umbilicals and lines connected. Its part of the services you pay for at C class and above Starports for certain, and possible at lower.
b. Get tossed out on approach to a planet and allowed to burn up on re-entry where such services are not provided.
3. Seriously, what traveller ship design carried a couple thousand gallons of water and sewage tankage on its deckplan?
4. Backed up toilets/freshers on a starship in jump is a deaths sentance, air and surface contamination, failure of the lifesupport system, and the eventual cost of remediation and recertifactions before being allowed to fly again. Maker help you if a Bwap is is involved at any point.
Most ship designs are hundreds if not a thousand or more years old, using components designed and endlessly tested, certified and used. Fun as the odd rude and disgusting failure maybe, its unlikely and would in MTU trigger atleast an inspection tear down to determine the point of failure by the SPA.
Standard designs and components are a hallmark of Imperial Technology and more or less safe star travel. You do not have trade and a Government covering 11,000 worlds if travel was hazardous and brutal.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
I agree with most of your post, but I'm not sure a fresher fault would be a death sentence.
You're only in Jump for a week, and certainly a small ship with a handful of crew and passengers should be able to find enough containers in the galley to 'contain the problem' for seven or eight days, and there ought to be enough fresh food and water aboard to cover a week's emergency rations.
A liner might pose more of a problem, but then it would have larger stores, too.
Incidentally, I try to get storage areas included on my deckplans - though I don't specify what is stored there.
Of course, a backed-up fresher combined with a loss of gravity and cabin pressure could be a whole lot messier...
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
I actually designed a pot water and drain system for a Far Trader based on a somewhat modified version (internal layout changes) of the CT original. My design needs a capacity of 88 DFU or about 300 gallons liquid / solid waste per day. Most of that of course is liquids.
The CHT would be about 500 gallons and use a combination of rapid breakdown technologies on the solids, liquid seperation and, solids compaction to make the tank relatively small. The liquids would be filtered and recycled while the solids were held until you could dump them.
The pot water side uses a pressurizer rather than a pump to maintain pressure and would be sized for 116 wsfu.
Included changes in the design were a small laundry, a small bar, a full galley and a complete rearrangement of the crew quarters. I would think the passengers would expect decently cooked meals and basic amenities like clean clothes and bedding. Thus the need for a galley and a laundry.
The CHT would be about 500 gallons and use a combination of rapid breakdown technologies on the solids, liquid seperation and, solids compaction to make the tank relatively small. The liquids would be filtered and recycled while the solids were held until you could dump them.
The pot water side uses a pressurizer rather than a pump to maintain pressure and would be sized for 116 wsfu.
Included changes in the design were a small laundry, a small bar, a full galley and a complete rearrangement of the crew quarters. I would think the passengers would expect decently cooked meals and basic amenities like clean clothes and bedding. Thus the need for a galley and a laundry.
I’d like to see that (not just the changed layout, but all the design notes).
I’m not a water and sewage expert so my figures may be suspect but IMTU there is some capacity in the floor space. Decks are 3m apart according to canon but that doesn’t mean the ceiling is 3m high: 2.5m max (could be lower). Now if half that 0.5m difference is taken up by grav plates, power, and lighting, that still gives you 0.25m to play with. If you think of crew capacity in units of stateroom that gives you 8 squares per stateroom (6 in the stateroom proper, 2 elsewhere in the ship ... corridors, common areas, etc). 8 1.5x1.5 squares x 0.25m gives 4.5m3 per stateroom (or 1/3 a dton).
1/3 dton per officer and 1/6 dton per rating (they share double occupancy staterooms) with 25% of that aggregated together somewhere seems a reasonable figure for water and sewage treatment without significant deck plan alteration. At least at typical Imperial TLs.
leo knight
SOC-12
I generally don't like "broke down engine" scenarios myself, so I would only inflict them on my players in a spirit of schadenfreude or sadism. Most of the "Star Trek" stories where the warp core is breaching, or the ship is turning into a pretzel, or whatever, bore me to tears. However, I did enjoy the "Firefly" episode "Out Of Gas", mainly because it was so low tech.
I've recently been on a "Deadliest Catch" spree. The deep ocean seems about as close to space travel as a civilian can get right now. Here you are in the middle of a vast nothing, on a realatively tiny ship, with sudden death awaiting if you make the wrong move. In a few episodes, mechanical failures will sideline a boat. One recent episode (I'm watching re-runs, so it might have actually been firtst season), the crew head broke down. They tinkered with it, then wrapped it in a plastic garbage bag and got back to work. Everyone wound up using the captain's head. IIRC, that boat was plagued with mechanical problems. I got the impression that regular maintenance was not a high priority, even though it could cost everyone involved money, or even their lives.
Both of the above exemplify a tension I've seen in a lot of Traveller sessions: profit and expediency vs. caution and good sense. Yes, we really should get that fixed. Just one more job... To paraphrase Clausewitz, "Ships are maintained by human beings". Most of the accidents and breakdowns I've seen are a result of negligence, usually brought on by time or money pressure. Willful ignorance and laziness can't be ruled out, either.
To bring it back to the game, some of my players have shown a willful disregard for maintenance and repairs, and refuse to spend any money on new parts, or overhauls, or such. I even offer to elide such things, just assume they spend x amount of time and y amount of credits on upkeep, but nooo. I think they see it as a battle of wills between them and me. How can a referee say no to an oportunity like that? I would give them my most innocent look (a sure sign of trouble) and ask, "Are you sure you want to do that?" then make a great show of rolling the dice and making a note. After a few such warnings, trouble strikes. And if it means their ship gets torn apart by inspectors and decertified, well, they were warned. :devil:
I've recently been on a "Deadliest Catch" spree. The deep ocean seems about as close to space travel as a civilian can get right now. Here you are in the middle of a vast nothing, on a realatively tiny ship, with sudden death awaiting if you make the wrong move. In a few episodes, mechanical failures will sideline a boat. One recent episode (I'm watching re-runs, so it might have actually been firtst season), the crew head broke down. They tinkered with it, then wrapped it in a plastic garbage bag and got back to work. Everyone wound up using the captain's head. IIRC, that boat was plagued with mechanical problems. I got the impression that regular maintenance was not a high priority, even though it could cost everyone involved money, or even their lives.
Both of the above exemplify a tension I've seen in a lot of Traveller sessions: profit and expediency vs. caution and good sense. Yes, we really should get that fixed. Just one more job... To paraphrase Clausewitz, "Ships are maintained by human beings". Most of the accidents and breakdowns I've seen are a result of negligence, usually brought on by time or money pressure. Willful ignorance and laziness can't be ruled out, either.
To bring it back to the game, some of my players have shown a willful disregard for maintenance and repairs, and refuse to spend any money on new parts, or overhauls, or such. I even offer to elide such things, just assume they spend x amount of time and y amount of credits on upkeep, but nooo. I think they see it as a battle of wills between them and me. How can a referee say no to an oportunity like that? I would give them my most innocent look (a sure sign of trouble) and ask, "Are you sure you want to do that?" then make a great show of rolling the dice and making a note. After a few such warnings, trouble strikes. And if it means their ship gets torn apart by inspectors and decertified, well, they were warned. :devil:
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
I'll see if I can post them up. The changes internally give 3 crew staterooms, a smaller captain's cabin, a ship's office, 8 staterooms for passengers, a galley, more storage (eliminating the side loading doors). I have drawn out rough systems for electrical, water, waste, air, fuel, etc. as well. These can be used in terms of damage control (the infamous valve you always see spraying stuff in movies etc.) as well as gives a better feel for the internals of the ship.
Basically, I am something of an expert on this sort of stuff. For the water / drain system I used current building code methods as they are pretty much going to be the same as for what is essentially a very expensive RV in space. The electrical is from typical ship systems as are the fuel, air, HVAC etc.
Last edited:
Now returning to the topic that started this thread...
I know that won't be applicable to most RPG campaigns, but in military, combat ship carring large ships (Carriers and BTs), as well as in troop carriers, I posted on another thread there should be officier confeences among the oficiers of the fighters/BRs/troops, planning, last time details about contingency plans and intelligence analysis, etc.
I guess time in jump is also used for the crews of subordinate crafts (or the troops of the units) to know each other and build up unit cohesion (not reflected on the rules, but quite important in reality).
Do not forget those very large ships are true space cities, and surely there is some leisure offer. In Arrival Vengeance (MT), on the statics briefing of the whole trip, it talks about the number of pool balls the crew sank during the whole mission.
I know that won't be applicable to most RPG campaigns, but in military, combat ship carring large ships (Carriers and BTs), as well as in troop carriers, I posted on another thread there should be officier confeences among the oficiers of the fighters/BRs/troops, planning, last time details about contingency plans and intelligence analysis, etc.
I guess time in jump is also used for the crews of subordinate crafts (or the troops of the units) to know each other and build up unit cohesion (not reflected on the rules, but quite important in reality).
Do not forget those very large ships are true space cities, and surely there is some leisure offer. In Arrival Vengeance (MT), on the statics briefing of the whole trip, it talks about the number of pool balls the crew sank during the whole mission.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
Here's a source of ideas of what you might do "underway" (between jumps). Sea stories are a great source of material for incidential goings on to make things entertaining.
http://mooj.com/rxdept_page1.htm
These are totally uncensored so.....
http://mooj.com/rxdept_page1.htm
These are totally uncensored so.....
Priority One: Jump Drive duty (bridge watch and engineering/jump drive crew mostly. RCN Campaign it was clear cut by MOS/duty, but the freelance/trader campaign everyone pitched in, obviously
Priority Two: PMCS
Priority Three: Training
R&R was the usual mix of non MOS-skills/training (for RCN campaign) and mod/repair of weapons/armor/equipment for the rest, though one guy liked to gamble.
Priority Two: PMCS
Priority Three: Training
R&R was the usual mix of non MOS-skills/training (for RCN campaign) and mod/repair of weapons/armor/equipment for the rest, though one guy liked to gamble.
LiminalMask
SOC-12
Great discussion everyone. Thank you. Some good ideas in here.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
On a military ship things would be more structured I would think. Crew would have to stand watches on a rotating basis. In between there would be maintenance to do. There would likely be daily drills for various departments and functions like equipment operation and emergancies like a fire or failure of major systems and damage control drills as well. There might also be weapons drills both simulated and live fire going on.
I could see a call to the equivalent of battle stations / general quarters or whatever it is called at least once a week just for practice.
For troops they would go through various training and exercises to keep them proficent and physically fit.
Then there is the inevidable paperwork to catch up on.....
I could see a call to the equivalent of battle stations / general quarters or whatever it is called at least once a week just for practice.
For troops they would go through various training and exercises to keep them proficent and physically fit.
Then there is the inevidable paperwork to catch up on.....
Similar threads
