Back with more standard ships from the Traveller universe. There are five more here: The Free Trader (Type A), Subsidized Merchant (Types R & M), the Yacht (Type Y), and the Cruiser (Type C). Remember, these are the discounted 'off-the-shelf' ships.
First up, the Free Trader. If I recall correctly, this is the ship a Merchant can earn from mustering out. Let's see what it's got. It's a type-200 hull, so twice as big as the Scout ship. Ten staterooms, including four for the crew, and twenty death-traps...sorry, I mean 'low-passage berths.' Just like the Scout, it's got Type A everything, but its bigger size limits it to 1 G of accel and a jump distance of 1. But it holds lots of cargo; 82 tons of it, along with 30 tons of fuel. It comes equipped with two empty hardpoints, with two tons of fire control space held in reserve. The computer is the basic one, and it can land on planets. Oh, and it costs just over 37 million credits.
So, it's bigger and slower than a Scoutship. Well, that makes sense; scouts are supposed to be faster than lumbering merchant types. If you want to fight with it, you'll have to put weapons in the hardpoints, at your own expense. Well, hopefully your character mustered out with a lot of cash. And the Gambling skill.
Next up are the Subsidized Merchant ships; two of them are described. The Type R is twice the size of a Free Trader, with 13 staterooms (five for crew) and only nine sucker-beds. It's got C-type plant and drives, which still limit it to accel and jumps of 1. It carries 200 tons of cargo and 50 tons of fuel, comes with two hardpoints and a lifeboat, and can land. It's still got the crappy computer, though. Oh, and it tops nine figures at 100,035,000 credits. Even a forty-year mortgage isn't going to help pay for this sucker.
The Type M is even bigger, three times the size of a Free Trader. 30 staterooms, including nine for the crew, and a whopping 80 passenger death-traps take up lots of space. But it's got a D power plant and maneuvering drive, along with a J-level jump drive, so it can travel. Only 1G of acceleration, but a nice jump distance of 3. It even has a decent computer (level 3), but only has a cargo capacity of 124 tons. It carries 190 tons of fuel! Seriously, when your massive merchant ship only has 150% of the space of a Free Trader, your ship sucks. Sure, it's got three hardpoints, but come on. It isn't even atmosphere friendly. And it costs nearly 220 million credits.
So, the Free Trader actually has the best value of the three merchant ships. That's pretty sad. The Type-M costs almost six times as much as the Free Trader, and doesn't carry enough cargo to make up that cost difference. The only thing it has going for it is that it can go further in a single jump. The Type R is actually not too bad, carrying a decent cargo capacity, but still, it's almost three times as expensive and doesn't go any further on a jump than the Free Trader. All in all, the Free Trader looks to be the best option.
Next up, the Yacht. This is my favorite ship so far, because it doesn't try to kill its own passengers with those stupid low-passage berths. It has 16 staterooms (four for crew), two of which have been joined to make an owner's suite. It's the size of the Free Trader, with the same engine and power configuration, so 1 G acceleration and a jump of 1. Another basic computer, and only 13 tons of cargo space. But it comes with three vehicles: A ship's boat, an air/raft, and an ATV. One hardpoint, 39 tons of fuel space, and four unallocated tons for whatever the owner feels like installing later. It clocks in at just under 60 million credits. Not a bad ship, considering.
Finally, there's the Cruiser. The biggest of the standard ships at 800 tons, it's 'quasi-military'. So, privateers, then? Pirates are cool. Space pirates are cooler. Mercenaries would work, too. But pirates rule. Everyone knows that.25 staterooms for the 45 crew and officers, and no low berths. It's definitely a fighting ship, with type-M drives and plants (good for jump-3 and 3 Gs). It's also got a level-5 computer, 8 tons of fire-control equipment allocation, and 8 hardpoints with triple turrets (but no weapons, so you can customize the mix). Tons of fuel (288 of them), with some of that available for refueling the parasite ships. Those are two pinnaces, two ATVs, and an Air/Raft. This beauty is available for the special price of only 419,670,000 credits.
It's a spiffy ship, no question; the customizable weapons mean the Referee can do a different mix for various planetary navies, pirate ships, or mercenary companies. It could even be a way of telling who's currently wanting your intrepid crew dead; maybe the Arconites use mostly laser weapons, but the Stellar Skill crew like blowing things up with missiles.
The Cruiser bled over to page 20, which is only half full anyway, so I'll do a double-page entry today. The next part is 'Customer Designed Ships'. We get a few additional notes on what goes into customizing ships, and the highest hull size possible is the type-5,000. Considering the prices for the standard ships, I can't imagine anyone other than a system government being able to afford a ship that size. And even then, just one of them. An interstellar empire would be able to do it, but other than that...
Power plants and drives are restricted to certain hull sizes, depending on the power of the plant or drive. Non-starships only cost half as much as jumpships, but you can't upgrade a non-starship with a jump drive later.
So, that's it for building a starship. Maybe next, we'll learn how to blow up these expensive toys, yes? We shall see...
No comments:
Post a Comment