Monday, November 2, 2020

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Starships, page 21

Well, so much for combat. First, we get a checklist on how to design a starship. Basically, it just reiterates everything in point form from the starship design section. So, to recap:

First, a hull, by size.

Second, the Engineering Section, including drives and power plant.

Third, the Bridge, including the computer and fire control equipment.

Fourth, Life support. That's a pretty important one. But the low-passage berths are in this section. And they suck.

Fifth, Fuel tank.

Sixth, Weapons. Hardpoints, turrets, and armaments.

Seventh, any ship's boats.

Eighth, streamlining, if you want it.

Ninth, Cargo capacity; whatever you haven't used yet.

Tenth, the naval architect's fee. He gets 1% of the total cost of the ship. Damn; that's a truly spectacular amount of money for a good-sized ship. Building a scout ship earns you 320,000 credits. For the bigger ships, the fee is in the millions. Screw adventuring; my next character is going to be a starship designer.

Finally, the construction time, which is based on the ship's hull size. The dinky scout ships take ten months to build; at a thousand tons, you're looking at two and a half years. So, plan ahead.

Well, that was an easy page. Moving along, maybe we'll get starship combat next.

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