----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2012 10:00 AM
Subject: GurpsNet-L Digest, Vol 103, Issue 4
Hello Onno,
Tom wrote:
A derelict can be of any size depending on what your story line requires.
I
played in an adventure that started with a 100 dton derelict and arrived
at
a 1,000 dton derelict. The referee provided stats and deck plans. The
stats
gave some data from sensor scans which included dimensions, locations of
possible entry points. Once we got inside the stats provided interior
dimensions of spaces we could see and scan with portable systems. The
referee also created deck plans for both ships that were used.
Unfortunately, my character didn't complete the adventure.
Hello Tom,
how you envision the use of a ship influences the color text of the
writeup. Say I have a little shuttle. Should I talk about the accel
and endurance, or the position of the seats within the cabin?
I can try both, and deck plans, of course, but that requires a lot of
work. I did it for a trio of Traveller ships which got published by
JTAS, but I don't have that much time these days. Today is the last
day of my Christmas break, and I want to write a vehicle or two.
Spaceplane v1.0 (TL8)
Many space exploration scenarios require a cheap and reusable launch
vehicle. For near future games, this spaceplane should do the job. The
spaceplane carries 10 tons of cargo, passengers and crew.
The spaceplane uses hydrogen/oxygen rockets for a horizontal takeoff
and a rapid climb to low earth orbit (LEO). The acceleration starts at
3 G and increases until the engines are throttled back to maintain 4-5
G. In a few minutes the spaceplane will reach some 8 km/s and over 100
km altitude. The spaceplane docks with an OTV or transfer station with
almost dry tanks. Then it uses the remaining delta-V, perhaps 300 m/s,
to enter the atmosphere and start aerobraking. Finally it returns as
unpowered glider.
The engines burn 1,375 gallons of HO per second. A full load of fuel
is $21,000.
Carter-Class Small Rocket Ship v1.0 (TL9)
In an age when heroes could pilot their rocket ships with slide rules
alone, when industrialist would personally take their latest inventions
into space, this could have been the first ship with a new drive, going
where no man has gone before.
The nose of the sleek rocket ship contains the flight deck with three
seats for the pilot, copilot, and flight engineer. An optical telescope
and a radar help with navigation. The small cabin in the middle of the
ship has five bunks, so there is room for two passengers -- perhaps an
alien princess or a plucky reporter, to stay in genre. Lockers next to
the airlock hold cargo, food, and other supplies. The rear half of the
ship is taken by the engine room, with the reactor, the thruster, and
the life support.
I agree that the ship's function/purpose does influence the color text
when writing up the design specification. Also my apologies for the lack
of detail in my post. Here is what basically happened in the adventure.
Our ship entered a star system and began scanning local space. We
also launched probes towards the asteroid belt and planets. Sensors
and two probes detected an object not consistent with natural
star system bodies. As more data came in the object was determined
to be a manufactured metallic object massing approximately 100-dtons.
The two probes were directed to do fly bys to get more data which
was length, width, and height. Eventually the information came together
as a 100-dton space vehicle similar in shape to a Type-S. The exterior
survey showed what were probably two airlocks, a cargo or small
craft hatch, drive tubes, and other features . The skipper altered course
tried to communicate with the ship and matched velocities with the derelict.
Going on board the referee had both a deck plan and notes to describe
the interior. The party elected to map the interior so the referee kept the
deck plans covered and provided the details as we mapped the ship's
interior.
Of course we did try to determine if the derelict was a known design and
the dice rolled came up not in the data base. Our efforts at extracting
the ships log succeeded and we discovered the larger vessel. The larger
vessel was similar to the first encounter with one minor exception. This
time the first body through the airlock was attacked by a robotic device
and didn't survive the encounter. On the bright side neither did the
robotic device. Guess who the first body through the airlock was?;-)
The details provided for the two designs, in my opinion, might be contained
in a historical data base on space vehicles. Finding a hull number or name
might also be in a data base for ships that are presumed lost.
Does the above help?
Tom Rux
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